Last month, an annual fundraiser was held in Yorba Linda, Calif., to raise money for combating homelessness and domestic abuse in the local community. Sounds great, right? It's something that Christians, Jews and other faith groups do frequently, except this event happened to have been organized by Muslims.
Families who had given up a relaxing Sunday evening at home to attend their community's chicken dinner fundraiser were forced to walk past an angry mob that had gathered hours earlier in protest of their banquet. Shouts of "We don't want you here! Go back home! Go back home! Go back home!" and awful insults to the Prophet Muhammad were yelled as Muslim parents and their children entered the community center. Local news covered the protest, and a video was made of the ugly scene. Please take a few moments and view it here.
In the last year there have been quite a few anti-Muslim demonstrations around the country -- in front of mosques, at city council meetings, in marches around small towns, and other places -- but watching adults screaming, "Terrorists!" at children made me cry. Local Orange County residents shouted at the Muslim families, "You beat your women and you rape your children!" And, "Take your sharia and go home, you terrorist lovers. Your hands are bloody! Your money is bloody! Get out!"
This protest included elected officials standing in front of American flags spewing intolerant rhetoric aimed at their Muslim constituents. Deborah Pauly, local Councilwoman & Vice Chair of the Orange County GOP said, "I know quite a few Marines who would be very happy to help these terrorists to an early meeting in paradise." To the surprise of many, two United States Congressmen stood and spoke in support of the protests at this rally as well.
Things may get worse, Rep. Peter King (R-NY), Chair of the Homeland Security Committee of the House of Representatives, is holding McCarthy-like Congressional hearings beginning this Thursday on the "Radicalization of American Muslims." Quite a bit of the proposed witness list has looked like a who's who of Islamophobes, and we Muslim Americans are holding our collective breath waiting for the fallout from these hearings. We wonder: will we see more hate mobs outside our mosques or events due to hysteria being whipped up by these hearings? It's certainly possible, and Muslims around the country are strategizing on how to respond to protect our faith community from more bigoted protests, or even dangerous attacks on our places of worship and individuals.
Many have commented on the poise and dignity displayed by the Muslims at the Yorba Linda event. They marvel at how those children and teenagers walked through that line of screaming maniacs without responding in kind. I think I know why they were able to do it so gracefully.
Muslims have the Quran and the example of the life and words of the Blessed Prophet Muhammad. Like all of God's Prophets, he suffered greatly while delivering God's Word to the people in the early days of being a Messenger of God. The Quraish of Makkah, Muhammad's own friends and relatives, turned on him after he began to receive divine revelations of monotheism. Muhammad had been a well-respected member of one of the society's most prestigious tribal families, but when he declared that God forbade idol worship his place in society disappeared. Many people in the city turned on him with spite and malice. People threw rotting offal onto his back while he was prostrated in prayer; they threatened his life and those lives of his followers. He eventually had to flee from his oppressors in the night to save his life.
His early companions suffered greatly as well. One well-known example is of Bilal, a young Abyssinian (from modern day Ethiopia), who was tortured and dragged through the streets and then laid out on the hot sands while heavy rocks were piled on his chest in the effort to get him to renounce his belief in One God. It didn't work. Bilal was a constant companion to Muhammad thereafter, and he was Islam's first muezzin, the one who calls the faithful to prayer. The early Muslims remained strong, and did not compromise their beliefs, nor did they respond to the hate from the lowest depths of their character. Instead, they held strong to the words of God and drew their resolve from His message, and His Messenger. The accounts of persecution are many; we relate them to our children as they learn about Islam.
We teach our children that if those early Companions of the Blessed Prophet Muhammad could withstand physical torture, exile from their homes, and severe condemnation from family and neighbors, we can withstand a few idiots with signs and a bullhorn. We talk about how the early Muslims were a small minority among a majority of people who didn't understand them, and who often hated them. We celebrate the stories of those faithful who stood firm in their belief in One God.
When teaching our faith we also use contemporary examples of Muslims who struggle for justice through peaceful and dignified ways. The Egyptian Revolution is a prime example of Muslims standing strong for justice through nonviolent means. Our children watched the young people of Egypt peacefully win their freedom from oppression with love for each other -- Muslim and Christian both. We talk about how it's our obligation to God to continue this noble legacy of peaceful living and worship despite adversity.
My husband and I don't shield our children from harsh realities like this hate rally-it would be pointless to do it. They have experienced bigotry in small, insidious ways on many occasions. They've been called a terrorist out of earshot of teachers, they've felt the disdain from various people in public places, they've been shunned when it's time to pick teams in gym, or give out party invitations; they've heard people tell us, "go back home," when we are home.
However, it's our duty to God as Muslim parents to teach our kids to recall the child who befriended them when they were new in school, or the daily smile from the driver as he opens the yellow school bus doors, or our neighbor who told them they were the best behaved children she had ever met. It's all a matter of how you look at life, and what you choose to focus on. My kids are doing their best to stay strong in their faith, ignore the insults, and to cherish the love they get from friends and family-just as those families in Yorba Linda did.
My family wants to tell the Orange County Muslim families that we, and America's Muslim community are proud of them for showing the world what true Muslim character is all about.
Follow Kari Ansari on Twitter: www.twitter.com/KariAnsari
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“Last month, an annual fundraiser was held in Yorba Linda, Calif., to raise money for combating homelessness and domestic abuse in the local community. Sounds great, right? […]
“Families who had given up a relaxing Sunday evening at home to attend their community's chicken dinner fundraiser”
The "chicken dinner fundraiser" was a great deal more—this is a video of one of the Yorba Linda speakers:
http://pajamasmedia.com/tatler/2011/02/16/video-muslim-student-association-pledges-allegiance-to-the-muslim-brotherhood/
Questions have been raised about how much of the money raised went to the homeless and abused and how much to the extremist speakers.
Enough of the empty apologies and window dressing. The councilwoman has gone beyond her first amendment rights. Her brainless diatribe is a tantamount to a physical aggression and threat. Particularly, deriving from a community leader. I suggest the Muslim community of Yorba Linda take a legal approach to the situation, at least to establish a precedent of verbal abuse and threats. A criminal blemish should be the result of the Congresswoman's air-brained nonsense. If the Muslim community tolerates this, it could result in the threats materializing.
THe Muslim community needs to stand up for itself right now!
Human animal can ONLY take so much.There is no surprise to me that crime is high among minorities of all nations,I mean how much can a person take?When you R constantly rejected & picked on, U COULD SNAP, In happens everywhere and among ALL ethnicity and races. Americans MUST take their heads out of SAND SOON before it's late.
As someone once said it's a pity the French don't have a word for entrepreneur isn't it?
Seen this video anywhere else, course not, now had it been Christians being screamed at in that manner the land of the free would never have stopped telling us all about it. America - Land of the free as long as you look the same as the majority and don't have a different word for God or anything then it's the land of the free for all.
Yes - for anyone who has missed it .... Allah is simply God ("the God" - al-Lah) in Arabic; Christians and Jews who speak Arabic pray to Allah, too.
Likewise, when an Islamic text which uses the word Allah is translated, God is the correct word to use in place of Allah.
Know what I read in the Quran this morning? If a Muslim kills another Muslim unintentionally, there are consequences that must be followed; however, if it is intentional, the only consequence is eternal damnation in Hell. This prohibition against intra-Islamic murder is in line with the Muslim ethos of war only against sworn self-declared enemies. Anyone who is remotely familiar with terrorism will know how indiscriminately it kills, and how it is thus anathema to the rules of engagement, Islamically speaking.
Most educated Muslims (the vast majority in America) realize that these people do not and cannot represent the Christian religion. But I appreciate your kind words.
I hope any Muslim reading this will know how ashamed the majority of us feel when we see this and how sorry we are that it happened.
You won't find mention of them in the article.
Though none of this excuses the actions of the protesters, it does explain them.
Siraj Wahaj once opened a session of Congress. He was invited because of his tireless efforts in improving inner-city conditions for all of the local residents. He does not advocate the overthrow of democracy. He has not rejected democracy in his neighborhood. What he has said is that the way of life that he follows is the best way for all Americans. If you want to interpret that as being a disciple of Fidel Castro, that's your prerogative.
ICNA advocates that following Islamic guidelines is paramount for setting up an Islamic community. They don't advocate trashcanning the Constitution. I don't expect your understanding of Sharia Law to be any more comprehensive that the cribbed Wikipedia definition offered by the State of Alabama last week.
I don't know the other guy, but with your track record, I would hazard a guess that he once said something negative about Israel, possibly? That usually does the trick.
I'm grateful that you did not attempt to excuse the actions of adults screaming 'terrorist' at young children.
I'm not worried. A lot of racists had kids that loved Hank Aaron (for example) and Walter Payton and and and...... While these guys are out hating, their kids might be sitting at home downloading the latest Lupe Fiasco
I'm really not sure who you're referring to, or what you mean, here.
Would you mind clarifying?
Thanks.
if he wasnt indicted means they had no proof he did anything wrong; believe it or not you were also unindicted for that crime ...
The first map of America to have ever been created was by Piri Muhyid Din , a Muslim, in 1513!
The Muslims were masters of the sea. They had maps, equipment and experience that were far beyond what was available in Europe. One of the most famous geographer is Al-Idrisi who made a globe or sphere of silver weighing 400 kilograms for the Christian King Roger II of Sicily.
Columbus had two captains of Muslim origin during his first voyage, one named Martin Alonso Pinzon the captain of the Pinta, and his brother Vicente Yanex Pinzon the captain of the Nina. They were wealthy expert ship outfitters who helped organize Columbus’ expedition and repaired the flagship Santa Maria. The Pinzon family was related to Abuzayan Muhammad III, the Moroccan Sultan of the Marinid Dynasty (1196-1465).
So what have they done lately?
Great post, Bill; Faved.
I like your new pic/hairstyle, btw!!
Anti-Muslims tend to easily go into "smear mode", regarding Muslim and Muslim organizations.
Three key examples in my own experience are:
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf (of lower Manhattan proposed community center fame).
Tariq Ramadan
Reza Aslan
Imam Rauf is a respected cleric with three decades of interfaith work; that's why so many non-Muslims in NYC, including ministers and rabbis, support his proposed community center.
Professors Ramadan (Oxford) and Aslan (University of California) are Professors of Islamic Studies, practicing Muslims, and authors of multiple books about Islam (as is Imam Rauf).
All three men are exactly the type of Muslim that anti-Muslims say they want to hear from.
Yet, all three men are regularly smeared by anti-Muslims who could only continue to do so in willful ignorance of the facts .... yet they do it anyway.
Much as they do with the Quran, and Islam itself, anti-Muslims take carefully cherry-picked sentences from the given author's entire body of work, and try to spin it as though it shows the author to be "in favor of Sharia" or "sympathizing with the Muslim Brotherhood" (whatever either of those things are supposed to really mean, in any case).
It's ridiculous, and anyone with a sincere interest in the facts will be smart enough to see right through it.
When making Muslims look bad becomes more important than facts, something is very wrong here.
For anyone who is worried about shariah, and how it may "take over our government" should read this very intelligent and easy to understand interview:
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/03/rabb_interview.html
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Does that apply to your entirely unwarranted and fact free smear of Dr. Zuhdi Jasser?
Hey, you're starting to sound like me! There's hope! Or something ......
And so:
1. Touche', fair enough, "Ok, ya got me", etc. etc.
2. Please outline exactly what you feel is unwarranted, and/or fact free, concerning my opinion of Dr. Jasser, and I will be more than happy to respond to each item, and offer either an explanation or a "mea culpa" - fair enough?
My opinion of Dr. Jasser is, admittedly, just my opinion ... however, it is not formed lightly.
I'm truly willing to give anyone the benefit of the doubt -- however, if someone seems to have a rather clear and evident agenda from the "get go", I admit that I have a more difficult time hearing/reading what they say in an even-handed manner.
This is not because I'm that "anti-agenda" (heck, Gandhi had a major agenda, and I deeply, deeply respect what Gandhi did with his life, overall -- including his near super-human sincerity and willingness to self-criticize) -- but because, in my experience, negative agendas, where educating/inspiring others concerning how bad, threatening, etc. a person or group is, in the opinion of the detractor(s), always equal distortion (away from facts), in my experience, and I have seen this many times over the course of decades ... and I have yet to see an exception to this hypothesis of mine.