Prayer Issues in the Public Schools Town Hall meeting Wednesday night November 16, 2005 at 6:00 pm in the Multi Purpose Hall at the Islamic Association of North Texas, Dallas Central Mosque, 840 Abrams rd, Richardson, TX 75081
Washington based Becket fund lawyers are coming, on Wednesday evening, to Dallas with the purpose of meeting our community parents and students of Berkner high school. They will be meeting with the school officials as well to discuss the prayer issue. This is a good opportunity to gain much needed knowledge regarding our religious freedom rights in the public school system and how it interrelates with federal and state laws. All are invited; please spread the word. Jazakum-Allahu-Khairan ---------------------------------------------------- Comments: 1. Discussion should not focus on anything but the issue - issue should be weighed from the consequences. Is the winning "worth it"? 2. Please honor every one's opinion, and no one should be given more than 3 minutes to make their point. I will request the moderator to keep announcing the rules and not let any one cross the line. Cut off the first two beyond three minutes unless they are making a point.. 3. Don't let a few people's screaming and emotional bursts deter you from doing what needs to be done. 4. A few may even call you Kafir (disbeliever in God) or Munafiq (say one thing, do one thing), these are the old dirty tactics to let you run, so they can have their say, and you will find a few to support them too. You may hear more of such words, these are the tactics of people who lack wisdom to explain and wisdom to forsee the future, and instead throw things that have no bearing on the subject, but most people reel from it and run. Don't allow any one but God to shake you. Islam really means peace, and we should be the peacemakers. Remember the example of Prophet (pbuh) of setting the Aswad in Kaabah, he has set numerous examples of inclusiveness. Please do not throw equally non-sensical things at them like look at Saudi or some of the Muslim countries... Both tactics will derail us from going forward. 5. Whatever we earn, we have to earn thru goodwill and not hostility. The winning that bodes ill will, isn't worth winning at all. 6. This issue benefits Muslims exclusively because of the nature of our prayers. Different faiths have different options including the meditative prayers, whereas, Islam prescribes ritualistic prayers and they are time specific. I am sure our learned Scholar Dr. Yusuf Kavakci may bring his wisdom to the discussion. 7. There is always the lunch hour that students can use to pray. 8. Mobcracy is the term, I have learned from a scholar where people thrill themselves in pushing for their gains, as the numbers are on their side. That is utterly selfish. What about their own kind where they make up the miniscule minority? Are we saying that let the majority run, meaning we are willing to take an unjust lower berth if we are the minority? It sounds like let's get what we can and not worry about others. Just because others are unjust, we don't have to be their mirrors. We sincerely hope, we do not push for the school to give a dedicated place. Instead we may request the schools, budget permitting or private funding, consider creating a "general purpose room" for any one of any faith to go meditate/pray. Let the availability of that room be planned at the beginning of the school year, as all other events are planned. I do hope that we will not even consider asking the schools to carve out a time for prayers from their class time. Let the students pray in their lunch hour, prayer is something you do from your own free time as devotion to God. Due to the preparation for thanksgiving celebrations on Sunday, and the pre-planned meetings, I am having difficulty in making the time. Insha Allah, I will do my best to attend, but please attend if you can, even if you are not in the Richardson School district. One bad act, will affect us all. Sanity has to prevail. Down below, I have posted some excerpts from the Constitution some one had posted, I have not verified the authentic of it. Mike Ghouse ================================================================================================================= >From Zafar Siddiqui: Assalamu alaikum, I am writing on this forum after a long time. I think before we go tangential let's take a look at the religious freedom that is accorded to students under the first amendment guidelines and under the Equal Access Act. We must appreciate this freedom that you can't find elsewhere in the world. Please read the following before coming to conclusions on this issue. http://www.cie.org/ItemDetail.aspx?id==N&m_id=)&item_id=#0&cat_id=V http://www.theislamproject.org/pdfs/1st-Amendment-Guidelines.pdf "The Equal Access Act is designed to ensure that, consistent with the First Amendment, student religious activities are accorded the same access to public school facilities as are student secular activities. Based on decisions of the Federal courts, as well as its interpretations of the Act, the Department of Justice has advised that the Act should be interpreted as providing, among other things, that: > Student religious groups at public secondary schools have the same right of access to school facilities as is enjoyed by other comparable student groups. Under the Equal Access Act, a school receiving Federal funds that allows one or more student noncurriculum-related clubs to meet on its premises during noninstructional time may not refuse access to student religious groups. > A meeting, as defined and protected by the Equal Access Act, may include a prayer service, Bible reading, or other worship exercise. > A school receiving Federal funds must allow student groups meeting under the Act to use the school media including the public address system, the school newspaper, and the school bulletin boardto announce their meetings on the same terms as other noncurriculum- related student groups are allowed to use the school media. Any policy concerning the use of school media must be applied to all noncurriculum-related student groups in a nondiscriminatory manner. Schools, however, may inform students that certain groups are not school-sponsored. > A school creates a limited open forum under the Equal Access Act, triggering equal access rights for religious groups, when it allows students to meet during their lunch periods or other noninstructional time during the schoolday, as well as when it allows students to meet before and after the school day. > Students have a right to distribute religious literature to their schoolmates on the same terms as they are permitted to distribute other literature that is unrelated to school curriculum or activities. Schools may impose the same reasonable time, place, and manner or other constitutional restrictions on distribution of religious literature as they do on nonschool literature generally, but they may not single out religious literature for special regulation." Jazak Allah Khair, Zafar Siddiqui ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/TXWolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************************************************** {Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.} (Holy Quran-16:125) {And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33) The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim] The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all." 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