The preposterous accusations against Huma Abedin, a deputy chief of staff at the State Department, are too familiar to Muslim Americans like myself. Eleven years after the Sept. 11 attacks, xenophobia persists, even at the highest levels of society.
Representative Michele Bachmann and the four other Republican members of Congress falsely connecting Abedin to the Muslim Brotherhood are not alone in their association of Muslims with terrorists.
Louisiana Rep. Valarie Hodges recently withdrew her support for Gov. Bobby Jindal's school voucher program when it was revealed that funding could be diverted to Muslim schools, in addition to Christian ones.
"We need to insure that it does not open the door to fund radical Islam schools," Hodges said. "There are a thousand Muslim schools that have sprung up recently. I do not support using public funds for teaching Islam anywhere here in Louisiana."
It should be understood that in our global world, religious association does not always define individual beliefs. And it's a falsity that Muslims in America wish to impose our religious beliefs on others.
In 2003, during the height of islamophobia following the Sept. 11 attacks, I was pregnant with my daughter. As a feminist, I wanted her name to reflect both her father's and my heritage. But as a mother, I worried that bestowing upon her my Muslim last name would expose her to discrimination and hardship in life. In the end, we gave her both last names, along with a first name rooted in Arabic and Ki-Swahili that translates to "aspiration" and "peace." She's being raised -- not only by her Muslim mother and Christian father, but also by her Jewish step-father and Buddhist step-mother -- to respect all religions equally.
I have made a conscious choice to self-identify as a Muslim, despite my secular upbringing. I believe it's important to lead by example to shatter the preconceived notions that Muslims are anti-Semitic, that we are opposed to gay rights or that we don't share the same values as other Americans.
I am a Muslim American and yet far more multi-faceted than that. I am a feminist, a lawyer, an art lover and a foodie. And I am an immigrant from Bangladesh doing my part to promote equality for all Americans, irrespective of our race, religion, gender, national origin or sexual orientation. I am also a mother struggling to raise an 8-year-old in a world that may view her with suspicion. I imagine that's a challenge that Abedin already anticipates with her 6-month-old son.
Sarah Jawaid: Reduce, Reuse, Ramadan
Imam Abdullah Antepli: Living Ramadan More Meaningfully
Jalees Rehman, M.D.: Bridging the Atlantic Divide Between Muslims
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If secularism means the absence of the Sacred, that is, absence of the Divine, then you can't be a Muslim and a secularist at the same time. It's oxymoron.
But if you're conscious of the Divine and being a secularist means co-existence of all outer expressions of religion, then that's what Sufi Islam, as understood by the likes of Ibn 'Arabi, Rumi, Frithjof Scheoun, and Seyyed Hossein Nasr, is all about.
If you "are" a Muslim and he "is" a Christian, I am sure that you have some real knock-down drag-out fights over Truth in your home. I am sure when your daughter comes to him and tries to share how you told her that Abraham took Ishmael to be sacrificed and he leans in and says to her "your mother is lying to you, it was Isaac" that really instills a sense of peace in your home.
...and that doesn't even begin to cover Jesus. Wow, talk about diametrically opposed views. Your daughter is in for it.
Think of religions as radii of the same circle, with it's circumference representing their outer forms.
As one moves along a radius towards the center, where the Truth lies, one crosses the boundary between the outer form and the inner reality.
So, at the center all religions converge.
They are like different paths leading to the same destination.
You are making the fallacious assumption that all criticism, critique or disquiet about the content of Islam has to come from uninformed opinion (in your case you are calling islamic scholars like Tabari, Bukhari, Muslim, Ishaq, Hisham, Imams Hanfi, Malik, Shafi, Hanbal as uninformed) not mention scholars like Hitchens, Sam Harris, Dan Dennett and Dawkins among the uninformed.
Muslims are not the problem BUT islam has serious problems stemming from bronze age thinking of tribal arabs who formulated Quran.
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2012/08/nonie-darwish-why-muslims-must-hate-jews.html
Recent studies have shown that prenatal development is impaired by mothers' Ramadan fasting, causing lasting damage with lifelong effects, including learning disabilities.
"We use the Islamic holy month of Ramadan as a natural experiment for evaluating the short and long-term effects of fasting during pregnancy. Using Michigan natality data we show that in utero exposure to Ramadan among Arab births results in lower birthweight and reduced gestation length. Preconception exposure to Ramadan is also associated with fewer male births. Using Census data in Uganda we also find that Muslims who were born nine months after Ramadan are 22 percent more likely to be disabled as adults. Effects are found for vision, hearing, and especially for mental (or learning) disabilities."
http://www.chicagofed.org/digital_assets/publications/working_papers/2007/wp2007_22.pdf
"Each year, many pregnant women fast from dawn to sunset during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Medical theory suggests that this may have negative long-term health effects on their offspring. ...Using Indonesian cross-sectional data, I show that people who were exposed to Ramadan fasting during their mother's pregnancy have a poorer general health and are sick more often than people who were not exposed... The exposed are a bit smaller in body size and weigh less."
http://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/dp0926.pdf
http://cee.lse.ac.uk/ceedps/ceedp134.pdf
Even if a woman intends to avoid fasting during pregnancy - how many days go by, after a woman conceives, before she realizes that she is pregnant? If she is fasting during these days, damage may be done.
The studies simply compared babies resulting from pregnancies which overlapped Ramadan with babies from pregnancies which did not overlap Ramadan. Mothers were not asked whether they actually fasted - it was assumed that they did fast, if the pregnancy overlapped Ramadan. Therefore, to the extent that some pregnant women actually did not fast, the reports UNDERESTIMATE the actual likelihood of fetal damage due to Ramadan fasting.
some other muslims will probably say to you just because you have made that choice doesn't make you a good muslim after all you are not anti semite, not opposed to gay rights
as for me, i'd say good on you, may you live happily ever after with that choice
based on what you have said above you don't object to gays having the same rights as heterosexuals, your objection is a mere word i.e. marriage
it's 21 century so why don't you move on with time, gay used to mean happy etc. etc. also do the heterosexuals have monopoly on the word?
"BTW, I suppose an animal rights extremist might argue the right of a human being to marry his/her dog...that ok with you?"
as long as it is not against the law, i'm not going to rain on his/her parade
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This is a very interesting observation. Most Muslims who benefited from a 'secular upbringing' and were raised without prejudice against their fellow Americans, are choosing to "self-identify" as Muslims.
In most cases, it's just a benign expression of cultural identity; but, in many instances this is a path to radicalization. In fact, it is no longer possible to ignore the later, malevolent strain because of their dangerously large numbers.
It is true that Ms. Abedin must have had a harrowing week. And, perhaps what extremist right-wingers say affects you emotionally. But, to say that children of partly Muslim backgrounds will be victims of discrimination, when their parents are presidents, CEO's, or politically connected to the very top would be to mention the very unlikely. Though I can understand that such thoughts would cross the parents' minds.
What you believe is your 'personal faith' and is commendable. What 'Islam' has to say about the matters you listed is no secret. I don't think there is any way to shield these children from questions about their beliefs, or the general picture of their religion in the world.
Just as there are many who make the mistake of assuming that Muslims think alike, I think you are making the fallacious assumption that all criticism, critique or disquiet about the content of a particular religion has to come from uninformed opinion.
You don't count people like Hitchens and Dawkins among the uninformed, do you?
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What are we non Muslims to think when we read your words and then compare them with Sharia law which contradicts you?
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"Maybe I don't know as much about Muslims or the sharia as I think I do?"
Wrote Hans Jansen: "Allow one example of how Sharia and clergy operate. In 2006/2007, a Dutch comedian got into trouble with an Islamic activist about the Theo van Gogh assassination. The comedian, on his own initiative, then consulted a local Amsterdam Imam and the board of his mosque, asking them directly whether they wanted to k!ll him. The Imam only looked stern, and did not say anything, acting as if he did not understand Dutch — which perhaps he did not. However, a smiling board member assured the comedian that they had no plans to k!ll him, because ‘that's what radicals do’. This perfectly illustrates the situation. The majority is silent, the Imam limits himself to looking dignified, his direct supporters bring the bad news, and the elite soldiers, true commandos, true mujahidin, do the dirty work."
"I believe it's important to lead by example to shatter the preconceived notions that Muslims are anti-Semitic, that we are opposed to gay rights or that we don't share the same values as other Americans."
Sharia law of the Shafii school says:
"The Penalty for Fornication or Sodomy
“o12.1 The legal penalty is obligatorily imposed upon anyone who fornicates or commits sodomy [...]
no matter whether the person is a Muslim, non-Muslim subject of the Islamic state, or someone who has left Islam.
o12.2 If the offender is someone with the capacity to remain chaste, then he or she is stoned to death…”
http://www.shafiifiqh.com/maktabah/relianceoftraveller.pdf
Please explain what that example of deceptive dishonesty by you and the Imam has to do with Catholic priests who violate canon and civil law by sexually assaulting kids.
"Homosexuality is considered to be one of the worst sins in Islam and one of the greatest crimes punishable under Islamic law. The Prophet Muhammad not only condemned homosexuality but even the 'appearance' of homosexuality (effeminate men and masculine women). With the rise of the Islamic population in the West, also comes the rise in persecution. For example, while Muslims comprise just 2% of the total British population, they commit 25% of all anti-Homosexual crimes. However, this ongoing and increasing persecution of homosexuals by Muslims around the world, rarely makes the mainstream news. The fear of offending Islamic sensibilities and enraging the Muslim populace has effectively silenced the free world in many areas."
http://wikiislam.net/wiki/Persecution_of_Homosexuals
http://goatmilkblog.com/2010/08/10/muslims-americans-cannot-deny-the-right-of-gays-and-lesbians-to-marry-the-goatmilk-debates/
There were two guest bloggers each on both sides of the issue and lots of back and forth in the comments section. All or virtually all the participants were Muslim and yet I'm sure you would be surprised by the range of opinion.
No one has ever met my challenge to find even just ONE single erronious statement on wikiislam.net - even though it contains over two thousand articles.
As anyone can see for themselves, the wikiislam articles I have referenced consist almost entirely of direct quotes from Islamic sources.
Every statement on wikiislam is supported by the provided references. That'a why no one has ever succeeded in finding even ONE single error.
If you think wikiislam is not "correct," then I challenge you to find ONE single error in any article on wikiislam. Tell us what article contains the error.
"WikiIslam's goal is to become the one-stop source of information critical of Islam. This information is based primarily on its own sources, the Qur'an, hadith and Islamic scholars...
"Contrary to what is sometimes claimed, the site exhorts editors to use non-polemic and scholarly secondary sources, and to attribute statements wherever possible. It makes copious use of authoritative primary and secondary pro-Islamic sources, such as the Compendium of Muslim Texts, The History of al-Tabari and fatwas from some of the most popular mainstream Islamic sites on the net."
http://wikiislam.net/wiki/WikiIslam#About
Posted on July 17, 2012 by jcarroll
Governments are not businesses, and they shouldn’t be run like one. Any person who thinks that governments should be run like a business is not qualified to be President. Governments are not in business to make a profit. All governments at local, state and federal distributes money that businesses get one way or another and makes a profit on it. Governments do not compete with business. There are no Walmarts owned by governments or factories that makes tanks and airplanes. They own no supermarkets, banks or oil corporations. Governments provide the infrastructure so businesses can start and be successful. Thanks to governments, the best friend that business has. Read more Internet Free Press.