Boycott Israel [IslamCity] Turkey Army conspiring against Islam and democracy
Dear members, Assalamu Alaikum.Please see the statement of the Turkish Army top-brass, a ultra secularist and anti-Islamic outfit at the top (supported by western and other anti-Islamic forces ).It appears that they are out to create new trouble and I am sure western powers and the UN will remain silent on this military challenge to democratic and civilian rule who believe in freedom for all including Islamists.I can only request the conscientious people to condemn this evil action of the Turkish Army. Shah Abdul Hannan Turkey Army in Stern Secularism Warning IslamOnline.net News Agencies The Turkish army carried out three coups in 1960, 1971 and 1980. ANKARA The Turkish army has sternly warned that it there to protect the secular system in what analysts called the strongest statement in a long time showing the military's disapproval of the presidential nomination of the candidate of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul. The problem that recently came to the forefront of the presidential election process has focused on the issue of questioning secularism. The Turkish armed forces are observing this situation with concern, the army said in a statement on the General Staff's website, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported Saturday, April 28. It should not be forgotten that the Turkish armed forces are a party to this debate and staunch defenders of secularism. Earlier, parliament held a first, inconclusive round of voting to elect a president, in which the AKP was left almost alone after opposition legislators boycotted the session. Gul failed to garner the required two-thirds majority. Although the military communique may have dealt a new hand, a second round is scheduled for Wednesday, May 2. If the vote goes ahead, the AKP, which has 352 members in the 550-seat parliament, is virtually certain to elect Gul at the third round on May 9, when an absolute majority of 276 will suffice. Most AKP members, among them Gul and Erdogan, belonged to the Welfare Party of Turkey's first Islamist prime minister Necmettin Erbakan, which was forced from power as a result of a harsh army-led secularist campaign in 1997 and was banned the following year. The army, which carried out three coups in 1960, 1971 and 1980 had kept a relatively low-profile in recent years as Ankara carried out democratization reform to boost its EU bid. Brussels has routinely urged Ankara to curb the army's political influence. When Necessary The army warned it would not sit on the fence, threatening to intervene when necessary. The Turkish armed forces... will openly and clearly display their position and attitude when necessary. No one should doubt this, it warned. The military accused the AKP, the offshoot of a now-banned Islamist movement, of failing to prevent rising anti-secular activity in the country. The problem is even more serious because a major part of these activities were held with the approval and within the knowledge of the administrative authorities who are supposed to prevent them, it said. For defenders of Turkey's secular system, who include the judiciary and the most academics, the prospect of a president with an Islamist background is proof of religion steadily creeping into politics and public life, analysts say. Government supporters respond with charges of crisis-mongering and point to surveys that show an increasing number of Turks identifying with Islam. The AKP has made it clear it is committed to the secular system and secured the opening of membership talks with the European Union. But some of its actions, such as attempts to criminalize adultery, isolate alcohol-serving establishments in special zones and encourage Qur`anic courses, have fuelled suspicions of its Islamist ambitions. Outgoing President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, whose seven-year term ends on May 16, often vetoed laws he deemed anti-secular and blocked the appointment of senior officials he saw as Islamists. Unwelcome Analysts said the extraordinarily harsh statement was an ultimatum that could result in early general elections, and a clear indication that the powerful military does not welcome Gul as president. This was the strongest army statement in a long time that shows that Gul's candidacy is unwelcome, to say the least, Political commentator Cengiz Candar told AFP. Another commentator, Faruk Bildirici, agreed. The only meaning the statement can have is that they do not want Gul to become president, he said on NTV television. The most appropriate way now to try to keep democracy on track is to hold an early general election. The main opposition, the secularist Republican People's Party, which insists the presidency cannot be left to the AKP, petitioned the Constitutional Court to
Boycott Israel [IslamCity] is there a Theologian among us ???
is there a Theologian among us ??? A temple is a place of worship although my God , and most probably yours too, would accept our prayers where ever we perform them, anywhere. If one is sincere in his or her prayers , God would appreciate it, more than any Hypocrite is any Golden or marvellous-Temple . Thus the size or the beauty of any Temple does not matter but rather what matters is the sincerity of the believer,himself. Far more less would the location of the Temple matter. If we all agree here , allow me to go further. After agreeing that the Temple is only a tool and it is far less relevant than the faithful themselves , you must also conclude that the location of any Temple must be even lesser important. This bring me to the point I am hoping to make , which is simple and has no ambiguity attached to it. If the Temple of Solomon must be rebuilt , for the sake of Judaism.and at any cost. should it be in Jerusalem ?? would God not forgive them , and accept if they would rebuild that Temple in Brooklyn ?? Imaging a Salomon Temple In Brooklyn , full of happy Jews praying honestly to (their) God and with no blood on their hands nor any blood on the foundations of that Temple !! Would that not please God ?? Why should religion and geography go together ?? Christianity which was born in Jerusalem survived without Jerusalem and its most majestic and most splendorous Churches are in Istanbul and Rome and Moscow. Islam rooted and inspired by the teachings of Jerusalem has its greatest Mosques all over the World . Why would God allegedly wish a peculiar-Temple in a peculiar-Place , when the Temple is irrelevant compared to the faith of the believers and even lesser relevant when it comes to its location. Did God make a mistake , in that case, or simply the Jews misinterpreted his wish ?? Raja Chemayel not a theologian 28 April 2007 - Yahoo! Mail is the world's favourite email. Don't settle for less, sign up for your freeaccount today.
Boycott Israel [IslamCity] The Swan Song of Mr. Tony Blair!
Newspapers say, Mr. Blair will leave office within a week. May be he did some good for us but all will remember him for his dark sides, dishonest acts, especially for his actions against vulnerable British Muslims and supporting invasions and killing innocents in Iraq and Afghanistan. He will go but the miseries from his mistakes will haunt us forever and he will not bear any load! Now, we will wait to see his Boss, Mr. W, leaves office and let the world remain in peace. Arif Bhuiyan UK *I've been tough on crime: now we have to nip it in the bud.* By Tony Blair. About 15 years ago, I more or less made my name on changing Labour's traditional stance on law and order. I sought to get away from what I regarded as an unnecessary polarity: the Right would argue for tougher penalties; the Left for tackling social conditions. The choice was false. The reality was: you need both, a combination of personal and social responsibility. Over these 10 years of government, crime has fallen. This is in fact the first post-war government to buck the rising trend. There has been a huge investment in regeneration, schools, youth facilities. The prison population has risen by more than 20,000. Sentences have got longer. But for many people, it simply doesn't feel like that. This is because our feelings of safety or security can't be measured by statistics alone. If there is an air of intimidation in a community or discourtesy in the way people are treated, then that creates a feeling of fear, discomfort, unease. Fifteen years ago I recognised this happening and recognised, too, that it couldn't just be ascribed to lack of jobs or poverty. There was something deeper going on, to do with society changing, an absence of mutual respect and a failure to take responsibility for the way we behave to each other. In government, this became known as the Respect agenda. We introduced the first anti-social behaviour laws, much criticised, but also undoubtedly much used. However, there is one big difference between what I think now and what I thought 15 years ago. Then I analysed this issue as a breakdown in society. The tough on the causes of crime bit was all about social investment. I regarded this an issue about the nature of society as a whole, curable by Sure Start and the New Deal on jobs, better and improved schooling and so on. The rising tide would lift all ships, including those families in a hopeless and often helpless situation, bringing up feckless and irresponsible children. I was reminded of this by reading David Cameron's recent speech on Civility. Though coming at this from a different perspective - wanting to show how society, and not the state, was the answer to disrespect - he had a very similar analysis to mine of 15 years ago. He argued that there was a breakdown in society, a culture that was becoming decivilised. He went on to say: There are two ways you can try to make those kids behave better. You can put a policeman on every bus, an Asbo on every teenager and a parenting order on every parent. Costly, bureaucratic, short-term, superficial and in the end, counter-productive - because it takes responsibility away from people and puts it in the hands of the state. Alternatively, you can build a society where those kids know how to behave in public, because that's how they've been brought up and that's what society expects. He, too, sees this, as I did in 1997, about society as a whole. However, after 10 years of experience immersing myself in this issue, I no longer agree either with the Blair of 1992 or the Cameron of 2007 in one very central part of the analysis. I don't believe this is an issue to do with society as a whole. Obviously it impacts on society as a whole. But it is not part of a general breakdown in society, a tearing of our social fabric or a descent into a decivilised culture. Investment in the public realm has helped a transformation in city centres and improvements in public services, but I no longer think that social investment - essential though it is - is the complete solution. I realised this most strongly when I was in Moss Side in Manchester a few months ago. Moss Side was a byword for guns and gangs and deprivation. Ten years ago, its school results were terrible; its housing poor; unemployment was high. Ten years on, Moss Side has radically improved in schools, housing, employment. Its residents want to live there. All those I spoke to acknowledged the progress. But a small minority of out of control children and families still caused a huge problem, leeching into drugs and gangs. In short, the rising tide had not lifted all ships. The problem with David Cameron's words is the same. There is no earthly need to give every teenager an Asbo or every parent a parenting order because not every teenager or parent deserves one. In fact, the vast majority don't, even in the toughest neighbourhoods. But a tiny minority do. In other words, what we both identified as a
Boycott Israel [IslamCity] Qaradawi Speaks Against Suicide Operations
Dear members, Assalamu Alaikum.This is an important statement. I am of the view that sucide operation is never valid and some Ulama did commit mistake in their view in this regard.I feel that they failed to consider the long-term effects and that a permanent principle should not be violated for a short term reason. Shah Abdul Hannan - Original Message - From: mohebbollah Sent: Sunday, April 22, 2007 5:29 PM Subject: Qaradawi Speaks Against Suicide Operations Targeting Civilians Qaradawi Speaks Against Suicide Operations Targeting Civilians The Peninsula - Qatar, Qatar Sunday, April 22, 2007 Prominent Islamic scholar Dr Yousuf Al Qaradawi has called the militant groups in the Islamic world to re-examine their concept of 'Jihad' and open a dialogue with Muslims scholars. He was speaking at a symposium organised by the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) titled `human rights in Islam' on Monday at Doha Sheraton. There no justification for the suicide operation in Iraq where civilians are being killed, as Iraq has many developed weapon to fight the enemy. This was acceptable in Palestine in a certain time of period when the Palestinian people didn't have weapons to fight their enemies. Now, thank Allah, they do have some weapons and there is no much of that kind of operations, Qaradawi said answering a question from the audience. Qaradawi condemned the bomb attacks which target innocent people. Right to life is the first and foremost human right upheld by Islam and in its view, no one has the right to take it. A person does not have the right to kill himself, not to say others, in the Islamic view, he said.
Boycott Israel [IslamCity] Re: Master of the Jinn in Turkey, India and Thailand
Salaam and Greetings of Peace: Some good news to share with my Brothers and Sisters: Master of the Jinn will be translated into Thai later this year, inshallah. Also, the translation into Malayalam, the language of the Kerala State of India, will also come out later this year. And the Turkish translation has just been published, so all you readers in Turkey, please check your bookstores :) Alhamdulillah, that a self-published Sufi novel is already finding an audience in six languages: English, Russian, Indonesian Bahasa, Turkish, Malayalam, and Thai. Read excerpts, comments and reviews at _http://www.masterofthejinn.com_ (http://www.masterofthejinn.com/) or press the Sufi Novel tab at top of the Darvish blog.for Master of the Jinn as an Ebook for only $5.00 _http://darvish.wordpress.com_ (http://darvish.wordpress.com/) Ya Haqq, Irving ** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.
Boycott Israel [IslamCity] Muslim woman runs for Danish parliament
Muslim woman runs for Danish parliament http://www.adn.com/24hour/world/story/3609021p-12897569c.html COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) A Muslim woman denounced and ridiculed by nationalists for wearing an Islamic head scarf announced Friday she was running for Parliament - a move bound to rekindle heated debate about Islam in Denmark. The next election is not expected until 2009, but the mere thought of Asama Abdol-Hamid entering the legislature has revived fears of clashing cultures that emerged last year when Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad sparked riots in Muslim countries. Even mainstream politicians and party colleagues in the left-wing Red-Green Alliance have questioned whether Abdol-Hamid, who moved to Denmark at age 6 with her Palestinian family, shares the fundamental values of Danish society. Besides covering her hair, the 25-year-old refuses to shake hands with men. Instead, she greets them by laying her right hand on her heart in Muslim tradition. I want another Denmark where we talk about the difference between groups, she said at a news conference announcing her candidacy. When we talk about values, (we need) to be open to whatever people are, Muslim or non-Muslim. Abdol-Hamid has repeatedly been questioned about her views on the death penalty, gender equality and gay rights - issues on which many Danes believe Islam conflicts with their values. Abdol-Hamid said she does not support the death penalty, which is outlawed in Denmark, and is unconcerned with whatever sexual or ethnic background people have. We have a constitution in Denmark and it will be upheld, she added, smiling broadly under a shimmering, turquoise head scarf. A social worker from the central city of Odense, Abdol-Hamid made headlines in 2006 when she became the first woman to host a Danish TV show wearing a head scarf. The program sought to promote dialogue between Muslims and non-Muslims in Denmark in the wake of the prophet cartoon crisis. Danes were shocked last year when massive protests erupted in Muslim countries against the 12 drawings first published in a Danish newspaper and reprinted in several Western media. While Danish embassies were set on fire in some countries, Muslims in Denmark demonstrated peacefully, denouncing violence and calling for more respect for their religion. Still, many Danes feel Muslim immigrants, who number some 200,000, have brought with them conservative views on women and sexuality that clash with traditionally liberal values in this country of 5.4 million. After her plans to run for Parliament became known last week, members of the anti-immigration Danish People's Party, a partner of the center-right government, took turns explaining why she was not fit for the assembly. One said the Islamic head scarf was a totalitarian symbol and compared it to a swastika. Another suggested Abdol-Hamid had been brainwashed and needed psychiatric help. Most other parties dismissed such comments, while Muslim leaders said they underscored a lack of respect for Islam in Denmark. I thought we had learned something from the cartoon crisis but we haven't, said Zubair Butt Hussain, spokesman for Muslims in Dialogue. We are still engaging in monologues, blaming each other and making generalizations about Islam. But even among those who rejected the People's Party's comments, there were some who felt Abdol-Hamid's religious views could be problematic. If you don't shake hands with men, you can't be a part of the Danish Parliament, said Hamid El Mousti, a member of Copenhagen's city council. I'm from Morocco and we shake hands with women. If you do not salute people, communication between you and others will be very bad. Comment: Its quite funny actually, on some issues she refuses to commit haram and on others she compromises, I wonder what type of Islam shes following and which Quran shes reading? But it seems no matter how hard she tries, it still isn't good enough for her critics, reminds me of several verses from the Quran about certain people not being happy with you until you leave Islam and follow their ways not slightly but TOTALLY. - Yahoo! Mail is the world's favourite email. Don't settle for less, sign up for your freeaccount today.
Boycott Israel [IslamCity] How I Came to Islam : by Abdul Malik Hamidullah
How I Came to Islam By Abdul Malik Hamidullah Field Artillery Officer in the U.S. Army http://www.usislam.org/converts/abdulmalik1.htm My father was a Jew and my mother a not very religious Christian. With this mix I started and ended up taking first communion in the Catholic Church. I do not remember attending church regularly as a child. However, I do remember that once when I was very young (perhaps seven or eight years old) having a powerful experience in a Catholic church, a feeling that I was suddenly very light; a feeling that I was being lifted. Although I was too young to have burdens, it was a feeling that the burden of the world was being lifted from me. This was my first profoundly spiritual experience. As one of my earliest memories it remains with me to this day. As a teenager, I was really into the psychedelic sixties and all that came with it. I looked for a deeper meaning in the lyrics of the Beatles, Cat Stevens, and the Moody Blues. I read metaphysical books, some philosophy, Carlos Castaneda, and more. I attended a Baptist church, and was even baptized one afternoon when I felt that powerful feeling again. I started reading the Bible in earnest and found myself reading only the 'red-ink-words' of Christ (as). Still, the people and the religion seemed to be lacking something that I knew was out there somewhere. I continued to read and search. I practiced yoga, joined an ashram of Sikhs, read the Guru Granth Sahib; I married a Muslim woman that wasn't practicing Islam and began living in an ashram. Even though her father prayed five times a day, her parents did not teach her. [Hence, she too was always searching for the straight path.] This was a good thing for me. Otherwise, we would not have married and I would not have been placed in the life situations that I have found myself in that eventually led me to Islam. At any rate, we soon left the ashram. Soon I went to India, practiced Krya yoga, and joined SRF (Self Realization Fellowship). Still I always had this feeling that something was missing. I continued to study Taoism, and Buddhism and other religious teachings. During much of this period, I was a Field Artillery Officer in the U.S. Army. After Desert Storm, and a few days in Iraq fighting the ground war, I attended a military school in Pakistan for a year. Of course, most of my classmates were Pakistani Muslims, and several were from other countries: Malaysia, Brunei, Syria, and Bangladesh, to name but a few. I became a close friend with two officers that were not what we would consider very good examples of Muslims [they smoked and drank on occasion!] However, despite their shortcomings, I was very impressed with them. And there were several Pakistani Muslims that impressed me even more. They were devoted; they had strength and dignity, humility and kindness, and many more traits that I had rarely seen in others in my travels. And certainly I had never seen so many people at one time with so many fine qualities. I decided that it must be their religion that had made them this way. I read some about Islam and discovered the logic and simplicity that I had looked for in other dogmas. I was really struck by the fact that al-Qur'an was still in the original unchanged form [If there is a King James Version, then I'd like to see the version published before that?!] And that ANYONE could read Hadith and learn what the Holy Prophet [PBUH] would have we Muslims do. One does not have to have a Pope, a priest, or a monk tells you what to do; there is no guesswork; it's all right there! Hence, towards the end of my year in Pakistan, I told two of my close friends that I would like to become a Muslim. They were astounded. Nonetheless, they met with two more of our friends that were following the Sunnah a bit more closely than they had been, and we arranged for me to say Asshadu anlaa ilaaha ilAllah... Four of us met, I became a Muslim, and was taught how make salah. I thank Allah for that glorious day and the days that led up to it. There is a lot more to this, but the bottom-line is that: It was the kindness, humility, and excellent manners of Muslims, coupled with the system of straightforward Islamic ideals and way of life, which appealed most to my reason and my heart. This is why I am a Muslim now. And yes, now my wife also practices Islam, as does our grown daughter. Even my mother has become a Muslimah! Al hamdu lilLah! __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
Boycott Israel [IslamCity] For Pakistan, there is an urgent need to reclaim Rumi and Iqbal�s message
Pakistan urgently needs to reclaim Rumi and Iqbals message for stemming the slide into the home-grown swamps of aspiring suicide bombers, who are threatening to set the country ablaze in the name of Islam and Sharia. The 13th-century mystic Maulana Rumi and the 20th-century poet-philosopher Iqbal have a common message for Muslims: dedan daygar amuz, shanidan daygar amuz (learn to see and think in a new way). The message sums up an outlook of life as a forward assimilative movement, even as one remains rooted in an Islamic heritage. Indeed, the message arose in a historical context when old certainties were crumbling and the new were struggling to be born: Rumi lived at a time when the Muslim world was traumatised by Mongol invasions, while Iqbals was a time of awakening of the colonised masses that eventually led to the independence of India and Pakistan. The above message also reflects what Iqbal believed to be the purpose of the holy Quran: to bring about a transformation in consciousness, open new vistas of creativity and a new understanding of faith. It is in this sense that Iqbal has been aptly termed Rumi- e-Asr (Rumi of our Age), which is the title of a book by Khawja Abdul Hamid Irfani that introduced Iqbal to Iranians in the 1950s. Small wonder that in representing a new Muslim consciousness, the most frequent references in Iqbals poetry are to the holy Quran, the Prophet (PBUH) and Rumi. A sequence that resonates with the popular notion that Rumis poetic magnum opus, the Masnavi is the Quran in Persian language. It is therefore a matter of little surprise that the spiritual nexus between Iqbal and Rumi runs through much of Iqbals poetic imagination and philosophical lectures. For example, if a vision of Rumi underpins Iqbals first groundbreaking philosophical poem, Asrar e Khudi (Secrets of the Self 1915), Rumis voice also rings through the last poetic work published during Iqbals life. Entitled What is to be Done, O Nations of the East? (Pas chay bayad kard aei aqwam e sharq) (1936), here Rumi urges Iqbal to act like the prophet Abraham and demolish the fossilised temples the worn out ways of thinking that have paralysed Muslims into inertia. Indeed, Rumi tells Iqbal that as the East begins to wake up, a singular role awaits Iqbal as the Abraham of his age. Hailing Iqbal as the only Muslim to have unlocked the secrets of the West by enduring the trial by fire of Western knowledge, Rumi then urges Iqbal to act like prophet Abraham and demolish the fossilised thought-idols holding back the Muslims. Such reading of Abraham as a symbol of intellectual renewal is voiced by Iqbal himself in his Urdu verses: Vou ilm jou apnay bouton ka hae aap Ibrahim Kiya a jis ko Khuda nay dil o nazar ka nadim What we have here, then, is a symbolic understanding of prophet Abrahams idol-smashing mission as a critical impulse generating new knowledge a deconstructive project of creative thought demolishing the idols (of ones own making) which are holding new ideas back. Abrahamic defiance, then, is the ilm that God has made an instrument of Heart and Vision. These verses signify a radical shift in the religious consciousness of a Muslim at the turn of the 20th century. It is about broadening the traditional understanding of the Abrahamic narrative from an event in sacred history into a symbol where the trial by fire of prophet Abraham also becomes a trial by fire of another kind for the Muslim intellectual: a struggle for broadening human horizons through knowledge and dialogue, and opening new pathways for Muslim renewal. However, one of the most dramatic manifestations of this Abrahamic dynamic in modern times is exemplified by two leaders of Irans Islamic Revolution: Imam Khomeini and Dr Ali Shariati. While millions of Iranians hailed Khomeini as Khomeni e Bot shaykan (Khomeini the idol-breaker) for demolishing Irans age old monarchic system, Iranians hailed Shariati as the Teacher of Revolution, (Moalem e Enqelab) for casting the Revolutions intellectual foundations in a contemporary light. As is well known, Shariati was profoundly inspired by Rumi and Iqbal and presented Iqbal as a role model for the Iranian youth. Indeed, the infusion of intellectual and social activism into what Iqbal regarded to be a degenerate Sufism resonated with Shariatis spiritual politics of Islamic spirituality, equality and freedom (erfan, berabari, azadi) a slogan that epitomised dynamic Sufism, which Shariati described as a socially committed and politically combative Sufism. Such Sufism is very different from quietist mysticism indifferent to injustice and oppression. Shariatis dynamic Sufism drew inspiration from the traditional notions of spiritual chivalry, Javanmardi in Persian culture, and Futuwwat in Arabic a word derived from fata, a handsome and brave youth . The Quran uses this word with reference
Boycott Israel [IslamCity] Islamic street preachers
*Islamic street preachers* From Boston to Lahore and beyond, the tentacles of taqwacore - aka Islamic punk rock - are spreading. And it's giving disenfranchised young Muslims a voice, says Riazat Butt. There can't be that many female playwrights who are deaf, punk and Muslim, so Sabina England is something of a find. With a lurid Mohawk and leather jacket slathered with slogans, she looks every inch the rebel and has an attitude to match. Sabina, who says she lives in the shitty midwest of the United States or the HELL-HOLE OF BOREDOM AND YUPPIES, is part of a subculture that, until a few years ago, existed only on paper. The Taqwacores - a novel about a fictitious Muslim punk scene in the US - has spawned an actual movement that is being driven forward by young Muslims worldwide. Some bands - such as the Kominas - have a cult following. Others, such as Sabina, are virtually unknown. In a brief email exchange, she lays out some harsh truths. *You're a playwright. What do you write about?* I write plays about fucked up people in fucked up situations, because we're all fucked up human beings that live in a fucked up society. People need to quit whining and shut up and realise that we're all freaks, whether we admit it or not. *Where are your ideas from? * Being a deaf woman from an Indian Muslim family growing up in both England and the US, I've never felt I fit in or belonged anywhere. So I was always forced to be an outsider, and because of this, I'd just watch people and observe their actions and words. I guess a lot of my ideas come from my alienation and anger. *How well known is the taqwacore phenomenon where you are? * Muslims around here would rather act like a model minority and don't really want to rattle anybody's chain. I really want to move to New York City, if I can get my plays produced there. Unfortunately it seems many theatre companies are too scared to do my works, or think I only cater to Indians and Pakistanis and won't attract white people. But they're fucking wrong, and they can't see beyond racial boundaries. Fucking worthless piece of shites. *What does taqwacore mean to you? * It means being true to myself, having my own faith, and interpreting Islam the way I want to, without feeling guilty or being looked down at by other Muslims. *What is the future for taqwacore? * It's gonna get bigger. A lot of Muslim kids are tired of being told what to do, how to think, what to believe in, and how to act, by their parents. There are 'the angry muslim kids' who wanna grow beards and pray five times a day, and then there are the OTHER 'angry Muslim kids' who wanna get drunk and say a huge big 'fuck you' to the Muslim population. Or maybe they just don't care and wanna sit at home and not think about Osama's video speeches about how America is the Great Satan. How her words would fare with Michael Muhammad Knight, author of The Taqwacores and an unwitting idol to the young and restless, is anyone's guess. Knight, who is 29 and lives in New York with his dog Sunny - not as in Sunni Muslim - downplays his achievement of single-handedly inspiring this subculture that has produced artists such as the Kominas, Secret Trial Five, Vote Hezbollah, Al-Thawra, 8-Bit and Diacritical. There was a scene already, says Knight modestly, whose next novel will be titled Osama Van Halen. I just gave it a name. There were kids out there, doing their thing. I don't think of it as a movement, though, just a group of friends supporting each other. Knight wrote the book to deal with his own issues. He converted to Islam as a teenager and admits he burned out from being so religious. I was so intense. I felt Islam was so black and white and there were no grey areas. These Muslim kids, who are punks, they are in these grey areas. The kids he refers to have all devoured Knight's work, some taking it literally. One kid, he says, thought the book was non-fiction and thought that stuff in the book actually happened. He got in touch. He said if it wasn't real, that he would make it real. He sounds worried by the suggestion that his book will be a manifesto for Muslim punks. If the scene develops, I don't want it to be based on my book. The words stable, door, horse and bolt spring to mind. Some Muslims are deeming his book to be nothing short of a revelation. When I read The Taqwacores, says Basim Usmani, frontman of The Kominas, all my reservations about Islam melted away. Usmani was born in New York and moved around the US when he was growing up. I had this identity that stretched way further back than these disenfranchised white kids I was hanging out with, but they were the ones who showed me the most respect. I entered America where I was weird and, when I went back to Pakistan, I was weird there too. I was too Pakistani to be American and too American to be Pakistani. His aggression was ongoing, although he freely admits his rage didn't come from social dynamics. In Boston I was middle class.
Re: Boycott Israel [IslamCity] Re: PEACE TV - A worthy 24-Hour Channel
www.islam-qa.com - Original Message - From: anwar ansari@etaascon.com To: eGroup For Muslims Around The World Sent: Saturday, April 28, 2007 1:26 PM Subject: Boycott Israel [IslamCity] Re: PEACE TV - A worthy 24-Hour Channel Assalam Alaikum Der Brother How can i reach Peace TV on my laptop? I am interested in reading the messages delivered by our Muslim scholars, insted of watching on TV. Is there any website or email from where I can get the info? Wassalam Eng Anwar Shaukat ansri
Boycott Israel [IslamCity] http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Israelwithdraw/
- Original Message - From: Hajj Ahmad Thomson Sent: Friday, April 27, 2007 1:27 AM Subject: FW: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Israelwithdraw/ Please go to the link above and sign the petition on the Downing Street Website, also pass this link on to everyone you can think of who cares about the world enough to take 20 seconds to sign this. s.hussain
