Maybe I Should Get a Clue
My wife reminded me we were running late. I closed an article about Peter King's self-aggrandizing radicalization hearings and grabbed my car keys.
My phone buzzed -- an email from a reader. "I wish Muslims would stay the hell out of our Christian country and go back where they came from." I sighed and finished securing my 2-year-old in his car seat. (And I was just beginning to like it here.)
As we hit the road, I hit the radio in time to hear Herman Cain certify that Muslims would not serve on his Presidential cabinet. I decided I wasn't in the mood for talk radio anyway and turned on John Lennon instead, desperately in need of instant karma.
Instant karma didn't quite make it.
Instead, as I stopped at a red light a not so gentle man rolled down his window to tell me to "Go back home you ----ing Ay-raabs, you don't ----ing belong here you stupid ----ing Ay-raabs! Get out of my ----ing country you God ---- Ay-raabs."
Did I mention he thought I was Arab?
I swallowed my ego, wished peace upon him as the Quran teaches (25:64) and moved on.
Am I Naive, or in Denial?
Is America trying to tell me something?
"Was that guy a radical, or a Christian radical?" I asked my wife. She sighed. (She was also just beginning to like it here). I decided he was just a radical because of something Peter King and his ilk don't understand.
Peter King, understand that radicalization does not have a religion. The Quran condemns disorder (7:57) and promotes universal freedom of conscience (2:257). Your obsession and bigotry against American-Muslims will only confirm you as the 21st-century Senator McCarthy.
Herman Cain, help me understand how you preach about your childhood pain for having to use colored drinking fountains for being black, yet want to cause similar pain to my child for being Muslim? This is a case of the pot calling the kettle, ahem, black (no pun intended). And Mr. Cain, I know you don't have a law degree, but even second graders can read the First Amendment.
Email guy, take a History 101 class and email me in the morning. Please understand that the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion. How do I know? Well, for one, the 1797 Senate ratified Treaty of Tripoli, which says, "the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion." Still not convinced? The Treaty also says, "The United States has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility of [Muslims]."
But then again I'm assuming you care what our Founding Fathers believed.
Finally, anti-Arab guy: First of all, don't curse around my 2-year-old. Two-year-olds repeat every thing they hear! If you feel the need to curse around my, or any, 2-year-old, don't. Second, understand that not all Muslims are Arab, and not all Arabs are Muslim. In fact, the vast majority of Muslims -- more than 90 percent -- are Southeast Asian, South Asian and African. I am South Asian, which, you'll keenly note, means I am from South Asia, not Arabia. But if I was Arab, like former Heisman Trophy winner and New England Patriots Quarterback Doug Flutie, then what's the problem?
If America Is First Come First Serve, Then...
But, King, Cain, email guy and anti-Arab guy, if you truly believe being here "first" makes America undeniably your nation (Native American genocide blatantly ignored), remember this: Historians like Ivan Van Sertima note that West-African and Arab Muslims arrived on American shores as early as 889 C.E., six centuries before Columbus. So, unless you are Native American (which I suppose is possible), my Muslim ancestors were here well before your ancestors! (Oh the humanity!) So, as an American-Muslim, I welcome you all to my country.
You'll really like it here. King, rest assured we won't reference your IRA ties and hold blanket Congressional hearings to question every Irish-American's loyalty. Cain, we won't look at the color of your skin, but at the content of your character in determining employment. Anti-Arab guy, we won't stereotype or use racial (or any kind of) vulgarity against you. And email guy, we won't ever tell you to "go back where you came from." This is America and as Americans (Muslim or otherwise), we don't tolerate such bigotry.
So now that you've arrived, feel free to embrace this nation as your own.
I Don't Eat Pork
We finally arrived to our destination -- a 4th of July barbecue. I grabbed a (root) beer, a (beef) hot dog and watched some magnificent (legal) fireworks. I'm not naive or in denial, I just want people to understand. And on a full stomach, I understand that some just don't like Muslims. And they're entitled to their opinion. But as Muslim poet Micah Taair points out, "Just cuz I don't eat pork, doesn't mean you gotta have beef with me."
It's true, you don't.
Though, if you are one who thinks America today supports such bigotry, then maybe, just maybe, you should get a clue.
Follow Qasim Rashid on Twitter: www.twitter.com/QasimRashid
Keli Goff: Is Religion a Greater Political Barrier Than Race?
Islam in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Five myths about Muslims in America - The Washington Post
- What are you talking about. The verse is about sending rainy clouds to dry land .. Catharina hurricane was hardly intelligent order by any means unless someone up there sneezed or something.
Al-A´râf 7:57
It is He Who sendeth the winds like heralds of glad tidings, going before His mercy: when they have carried the heavy-laden clouds, We drive them to a land that is dead, make rain to descend thereon, and produce every kind of harvest therewith: thus shall We raise up the dead: perchance ye may remember.
[7:57] And create not disorder in the earth after it has been set in order, and call upon Him in fear and hope. Surely, the mercy of Allah is nigh unto those who do good.
http://www.alislam.org/quran/search2/showChapter.php?submitCh=Read+from+verse%3A&ch=7&verse=56
I am an atheist and I don’t see any universal freedom of conscience in what you refered to, on the contrary. Are you counting on that no one would check your info references?
Surat Al-Baqarah (2:257)
Allah is the ally of those who believe. He brings them out from darknesses into the light. And those who disbelieve - their allies are Taghut. They take them out of the light into darknesses. Those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide eternally therein.
[2:257] There should be no compulsion in religion. Surely, right has become distinct from wrong; so whosoever refuses to be led by those who transgress, and believes in Allah, has surely grasped a strong handle which knows no breaking. And Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.
http://www.alislam.org/quran/search2/showChapter.php?submitCh=Read+from+verse%3A&ch=2&verse=256
I liked your blog, you made some great points, but keep in mind that there are others in this country who are being discriminated against as well, and we are going through exactly what you are.
Also, true, the Qur'an forbids eating pork. But to think that's the only reason why Muslims don't eat pork is incorrect. The pig is a filthy, disgusting animal that is known to carry parasites, worms, bacteria, and other harmful things unique to the pig. The Qur'an forbids it for a logical, scientific reason, not as a random holier than thou statement.
Regardless, there is an incorrect assumption in some of these comments that this article was about pork v. beef. Someone correctly noted that it was merely a metaphor, and not to be taken too literally.
So do a variety of other animals that we consume, from cows and chickens to sheep and ducks.
And I won't even get p-oed if y ask me to come to your place of worship, after all, it's no big deal to say, "No thanks"
In my opinion, Muhammad never heard those voices.
that makes him a medium and explains a lot about his conduct leading armies.
but at least you stated it as an opinion most materialists state such things as fact.
mediums are seldom advanced in their level of awareness but if they do have a high level of awareness or a sincere interest they can often bring forth very advanced spiritual teachings.
now materialists and the religious know little of these advanced spiritual teachings that come through some mediums.
this is another example of the similarity of materialists and the religious. ie rejection before investigation. neither understands what science really means. in the world of science, materialistic scientism has replaced the meaning of science.
the history of mediumship is filled with fraud and low level mediums pretending to be great mediums. best advice proceed with caution.
saying that all mediums are frauds is like saying all politicians are corrupt. ok bad example.
saying that all mediums are frauds is like saying all capitalists put profits over people. ok another bad anology.. how about lawyers. ok enough of that. :-)
First of all... I'm vegan, and I'm a lot more fussy about food than somebody who only cuts out pork. If I expect a confrontation I'll just bring my own stuff to eat. If people are having a problem with your not eating pork perhaps you aren't being considerate to the situation. Perhaps the problem lies with announcing your religion like a billboard instead of just ordering the hamburger (that's irritating to me whether it's my annoying southern evangelist cousins who look for any reason to talk about their faith or whether it's a Muslim).
Second of all, I'm a trans woman and, statistically, I face a lot more discrimination in this country than you do, and yet I rarely ever run into confrontation besides the occasional snicker. People may feel strongly about an issue but rarely do they muster the energy to actually start screaming at people.
I find it odd that, to me, I am amazed at the amount of tolerance, understanding and freedom my country has given me and yet you find nothing but persecution. Odd that even though I am the more maligned minority our experiences are so different.
First of all... Did you read the article? Nowhere is there any talk about an actual confrontation taking place over that fact that he doesn't eat pork. That was a metaphor. No one was "announcing [their] religion like a billboard". Met-a-phor.
Second of all... While transgendered persons obviously face vast discrimination no senators are holding hearings that call for a witch hunt of transgendered persons in this country. There is an organized campaign across this nation to deny Muslims their rights and it is being wrongfully legitimatized more and more every day. Rather than having an oppression pissing contest, maybe you should look hard at the realities of discrimination and find some solidarity in others who share a struggle similar to your own.
I find it odd that you could be so narcissistic. This article is NOT about *your* experience, it is about the author's. Odd that you have had your eyes so closed when all around us discrimination and prejudice against the LGBT and Muslim communities has become so fashionable it is almost a requirement for candidacy for office.
To call Peter King's hearings a "witch hunt" or "McCarthyism" is an absolutely ridiculous statement that is at worst high drama and hysteria and at best complete ignorance of history, McCarthyism and the legislative process. It is an affront to the people who actually suffered at the hands of Joseph McCarthy. Nobody is trying to take Muslim rights away. If anything Muslims are asking for special rights based on their silly religious beliefs. Something I would oppose for Christians and something I oppose for Muslims.
As for your final comment. Don't you dare tell me that my experiences aren't relevant to this discussion. They most certainly are. I've experienced more discrimination in my life than most people can possibly imagine. My reality and yours are about a universe apart. I understand people and I understand discrimination and I think the author is making up stories to feed his maniacal religious-driven persecution complex.
To hate an arab person for being arab is wrong. To disagree with and criticize the belief system Islam is a valid point of view, neither racism nor discrimination. He's falsely trying to say that people who criticize Islam are racists and using phony personal anecdotes as pathos to highlight his point. I called him out on it.