CNN has released clips of an audio message from Anwar al-Awlaki directed towards American Muslims. I am not claiming that Awlaki would never say such things, nor am I usually one for conspiracy theories, but as someone who listened to a good amount of Awlaki audio in the past, it is undeniable that there is something off about the recording. Perhaps its just the audio source or quality, but it sounds off.
Latest Updates: American Muslims RSS
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abunoor
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abunoor
Well know American Muslim speaker and activist Aminah Assilmi has returned to Allah
CAIR Offers Condolences on Passing of Aminah Assilmi
WASHINGTON, March 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The board and staff of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today offered their sincere condolences to the family of Aminah Assilmi, a national Muslim community activist, scholar and leader who died earlier today in a car accident outside of Newport, Tenn. She was returning with her son from a speaking engagement in New York. Her son, who was injured in the accident, was taken to a hospital in Knoxville.Inna Lillaahi wa Inna Ilayhe Rajioon
Sister Sabiwabi who has the OyHabibti blog did a post on Assilmi a couple of months back.
Assilmi was director of the International Union of Muslim Women in the United States — their website is here.
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abunoor
A farewell message to the Islamosphere from Umar Lee
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abunoor
Imam Zaid Shakir — Thomas Friedman : Prisoner in a Glass House
I will make Mr. Friedman a wager. I bet that Muslims will wage an ideological civil war to address their violent extremists long before Americans will. I bet that long after Muslims have reclaimed their subjectivity in this regard, most “objectified” Americans will still be passively acquiescing to the imperatives of the military, and now, terrorist, industrial complexes. Like Mr. Friedman, their failure to meaningfully address America’s militarism, aggression and violence will render them prisoners in a glass house.
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abunoor
Fox News is coming after Rashad Hussain, recently named by the Obama Administration as envoy to the OIC and previously working as Deputy Associate Counsel in the White House. The charge is allegedly sympathetic comments (or more accurately criticisms of the prosecution of) Sami al-Arian that were attributed to Hussain when he was a law student in 2004.
The publication that originally attributed the quote to Hussain later changed the story on its website and claims the quotes were actually those of Al-Arian’s daughter and not Hussain’s. The original author of the story, who’s also working for the administration, claims she was always very careful about attributing quotes and would not have made such an error.
The right wing anti-Muslim bloggers will be working to find some other connections, such as to MSA or ISNA, which they will find very suspicious.
Mr. Hussain seems to be a dream as a Muslim appointment as he is a hafidh of Qur’an but at the same time seems to have been ambitious enough from a young age to try his best to avoid doing anything controversial.
It will be interesting to see if these kind of flimsy charges blow over quickly or if they become an issue. If they do become an issue, the message to politically ambitious American Muslims will be crystal clear, you must separate yourself from the Muslim community completely from high school.
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aziz
Being white, muslim, and American – a great debate a couple of years ago between bin Gregory and Umar Lee. Abu Noor makes an appearance in comment threads.
I sometimes feel like there’s an ocean of amazing debate out there in the Islamsphere that we are all too willing to forget about, and thus we often reinvent the wheel.
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abunoor
The Department of Justice confirms it has launched an investigation into the killing of Imam Luqman Abdullah, but says it is “routine” and connected with the receipt of the FBI’s own internal investigation, the contents of which are not public, and not the result of any pressure from Rep. John Conyers or the public.
Also, the Imam’s wife, who is from Tanzania, claims that the government is seeking to deport her from the United States.
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abunoor
Muslim blogger Tarek Mehanna is continuing to write and communicate while awaiting trial on charges of “providing material support to terrorists.” This is from his latest post:
So, that first time I was here in November ‘08, I was brought in to a dormitory – style unit that resemble a summer camp. It was an open space where inmates walk freely between the rows of bunk beds, as opposed to being hunkered down in cells. This is called ‘orientation,’ and population inmates spend three days here before being classified to their respective units. I’d never been to prison before, and had no idea what to expect walking into this unit. But, my instinct told me that i had to put up my flag, now or never. The one thing I did know about prison was that even as a new comer, I wasn’t going to act like one. So, rather than conceal myself and retreat to the shadows, I decided to pretend that I owned the place. I walked to the center of the unit where there was a bit of open space, laid out my bed sheet, put up a sutrah, and prayed Maghrib with about a hundred inmates looking on. Thus, I was able to break the intimidation factor of prison environment from my first hour inside.
This is a method that can be applied at work, school, etc. for Muslims who might be nervous or intimidated into hiding their beliefs or practices. Rather than let the environment control you, be strong and proud and establish your presence from day one. This is the only way your co-workers, classmates, boss, etc. will respect you, and it is the only way other inmates will respect you in prison. People will respect us when they see that we respect ourselves.
Mehanna’s attorney is framing the case as an issue of freedom of speech:
“The indictment is based primarily on statements made by Tarek electronically on the Internet in a blog or through e-mail,” his attorney, J.W. Carney Jr. said Monday. “It’s thus consistent that both he and his supporters would continue to communicate by those means.”
Carney has framed the case as a battle over freedom of speech.
“There are many people that believe that parts of the Muslim world are under siege by the United States and that American soldiers should not be in Iraq or Pakistan or Saudi Arabia. There are many Americans who disagree with this point of view,” said Carney. “The Internet has taken the place of the town square … as a place to have these discussions.”
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abunoor
3 months after he was killed, the autopsy of Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah is scheduled to finally be released on Monday. The autopsy has been complete since December, but was withheld from the public at the request of the Dearborn Police.
Dawud Walid is quoting a Detroit reporter on his blog (who is quoting a confidential source) indicating that the autopsy will confirm what has long been rumored: that the Imam was shot 21 times, including in the back, and that he was handcuffed.
The Detroit Free Press reports on a forum that took place Thursday where the special agent in charge of the FBI office defended the actions of the FBI in the case, although from the story it seems like he defended it with platitudes (“We did what we had to do”) rather than explaining what happened.
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johnpi
CNN has posted this op-ed piece on ‘flying while Muslim’ by Nafees A. Syed, currently an editor at the Harvard Crimson and at the Harvard-MIT journal on Islam and society, Ascent. She is also chairwoman of the Harvard Institute of Politics Policy Group on Racial Profiling. The article is mostly addressed to a non-Muslim audience, but she does speak to Muslims at one part:
And Muslims, here’s something to think about: If your knowledge of Islam came from common stereotypes, wouldn’t you also be misinformed about the faith and its followers? The Quran says, “[God has] made you into nations and tribes, so that you might come to know one another (49:13).” So get to know your fellow Americans.
There are some Americans who think Muslims are terrorists and some Muslims who think that other Americans are willfully ignorant. Neither group deserves such a label. Psychologist Henri Tajfel, who was a Holocaust survivor, explained how we isolate ourselves into an “in-group” and facilitate discrimination of an “out-group.”
It probably wouldn’t have been appropriate for a CNN article, but I would have liked to hear her reconcile this advice with the concept of al-wala’ wa al-bara’ (doctrine of loyalty and disassociation). I know we’ve discussed this before, but here’s a refresher on the concept from this source:
Abd al Wahhab argued that it was imperative for Muslims not to befriend, ally themselves with, or imitate non-Muslims or heretical Muslims. Furthermore, this enmity and hostility of Muslims toward non-Muslims and heretical Muslims had to be visible and unequivocal. For example, it was forbidden for a Muslim to be the first to greet a non-Muslim; and even if a Muslim returned a greeting, a Muslim should never wish a non-Muslim peace. Likewise, Muslims could convey their condolences to non-Muslims, but they should never pray that God have mercy upon them or ask God to forgive their sins. Muslims were only allowed to say “May God guide you to the right path” or “May God compensate you for your loss.”
If a Muslim violated any of these rules, he or she was to be treated as an apostate. The same dire consequences would follow if a Muslim referred to a non-Muslim as “brother” or “sister.”
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johnpi
American prejudice against Muslims, Islam higher than bias against other major faiths.
Americans are more than twice as likely to express prejudice against Muslims than they are against Christians, Jews or Buddhists, a new survey found. Nearly two-thirds of Americans say they have little or no knowledge of Islam. Still, a majority dislike the faith.
….Personally knowing a Muslim is not linked to a lower level of prejudice, although not knowing a Muslim is related to the greatest level of bias. The authors of the report say this finding underscores the need for better education on what Islam teaches.
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abunoor
Abdul Malik Mujahid is leading a campaign to push the U.S. government to send 100 helicopters to assist in disaster relief in Haiti immediately.
Haiti needs 100 helicopters, the miracle workers of disaster relief
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johnpi
Third Muslim free clinic to serve American poor opens in Columbus, Ohio.
The Noor Community Clinic is restricted to those without insurance or government help such as Medicaid or Medicare.
Haque said the primary aim of the clinic is to serve those who need care, Muslim or not. But the doctors also want to give the community a positive view of Islam, to counter the reports of Muslim extremists and violence that pepper the news.
“Right now, the image of Muslims in general is kind of on the low side,” Haque said.
“We love our country, we love our nation and we love our community. We want to do our best in helping out, especially in these economically challenging times.”
The clinic grew out of a meeting of Muslim physicians at Noor Islamic Cultural Center in Hilliard in 2008. The doctors decided to open free clinics for the uninsured under the name “Muslim Clinic of Ohio.”
Already, the group has opened clinics in Cincinnati and Dayton.
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abunoor
Keith Ellison is No. 56 on the Telegraph (UK) list of 100 Most Influential U.S. Liberals. (As far as I can tell from a quick glance the only Muslim on the list. Top 20 haven’t come out yet.)
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johnpi
“As a community we feel very frustrated by the misconception and misinformation portrayed by the media,” Nour Matar said. “We can understand that there are a lot of bad actions done in the name of Islam. In order for us to combat that we have to let our voice be heard as Muslims Americans living in the U.S.”
OneLegacyradio.com can be downloaded as an application on any smart phone, providing listeners with a daily dose of Islamic teachings on everything from weight loss to relationship advice at any time of the day. It even tackles contentious topics, such as the radicalization of Muslim youth.
“We don’t just talk about what the Koran says and that’s it,” Matar said. “We are beyond that. We talk about social issues, but from an Islamic perspective or Islamic background. We’re a place where people can come in and learn about Islam and to communicate with the Muslim community.”
And it’s not just for Muslims:
On a recent afternoon, Matar, a Jordan immigrant, urged the radio hosts to not use as many Arabic words in their greeting to ensure that non-Arab listeners feel welcome.
There’s also an interesting discussion of the different character of the New York Muslim community versus the Orange County Muslim community which boils down to one thing: Physical proximity to 9/11.
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abunoor
Interesting interview with Anwar al-Awlaki’s father on CNN.
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abunoor
Abdul Sattar has an excellent post on How to Survive (and Then Benefit from) a Boring Khutbah over at SuhaibWebb.com
Maybe I should print this out and hand it to people before they listen to my khutbahs.
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johnpi
American Muslim community in Michigan stages rally against extremism.
During a news conference, Imams reiterated that Islamic teachings are peaceful teachings and that Muslim-Americans are an important weapon in fighting Al-Qaeda.
“Killing innocent people is against our faith and against all faiths. Blowing up a civilian aircraft is not a ticket to paradise, but a ticket to hell,” said one Imam.
Local Islamic leaders call on people of all faiths to join them in a day of prayer for peace and justice.
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johnpi
A new study titled “Anti-terror lessons of Muslim-Americans” was published today by Duke University (pdf).
Here’s the number one recommendation:
1. Encourage political mobilization.
Increased political mobilization is the most important trend identified by this study, as it both stunts domestic radicalization and provides an example to Muslims around the world that grievances can be resolved through peaceful democratic means. We recommend that policymakers in the major political parties embrace this mobilization by including Muslim-Americans in their outreach efforts and by organizing them to gain their support, as they do with other ethnic and religious groups. Similarly, public officials should attend events at mosques, as they do at churches and synagogues. Muslim-American groups should also be fully included in American political dialogue.
The debate about whether or not US Muslims should engage in the American political system may be a good proxy conversation to determine who is on the side of the devils and who is on the side of the angels in the US Muslim community. And remember to take your kids with you the next time you vote so they can see your good example…
The other six recommendations:
2. Promote public denunciations of violence.
3. Reinforce self-policing by improving the relationship between law enforcement and Muslim-American communities.
4. Assist community-building efforts.
5. Promote outreach by social service agencies.
6. Support enhanced religious literacy.
7. Increase civil rights enforcement.
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johnpi
Top 10 good news stories from the Muslim world in the last year, according to Juan Cole.
10. Saudi Arabia opened its first coeducational college campus, the King Abdullah Science and Technology University.
9. Qatar is on track to average 7.5 percent per annum growth for the next few years.
8. A Pew Forum on Religion and Life poll finds that American Muslims are unusual in the degree to which they are integrated into mainstream American society and demonstrate moderate attitudes, condemning religious extremism and violence.
7. The information revolution is making strides in the Arab world.
6. Albania has averaged 10 percent a year growth for each of the last four years, and was the fastest-growing economy in Europe in 2009.
5. The small Gulf oil monarchy of Kuwait took steps toward greater democracy and rule of law.
4. Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country in the world at about 230 mn., had successful parliamentary elections in 2009, further consolidating the country’s decade-old democracy.
3. Turkey, which averaged 5.8 percent a year economic growth between 2002 and 2008, was slowed but not devastated by the world’s financial crisis.
2. Stability returned to Lebanon.
1. The greatest political awakening in Iran for 30 years.
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abunoor
Imam Suhaib Webb gave a lecture called “Between Cisco and Sujud” in which he tries to address some of the specific concerns and issues related to Muslims working in corporate America. The lecture has been transcribed over at his website. The final part of the series which links to the previous parts is available here.
Number one: As people involved in Cisco and Sun and the MCA (Muslim Community Association), the most important thing is balance. Balance in your life. Allah said, “[Do] not transgress within the balance” (55:8). Especially for young professionals coming out of college; I remember when I came out of college. There is the propensity to get sucked in and lose priorities. The first and foremost priority is to be the servant of Allah. And that job and that money and that profession are used for Allah. If that intention is there you will find Allah will bless it, wallahi. Allah will put a blessing in those things.
I remember when I worked for AT&T there was a brother who worked there with me. Wallahi they loved us Muslims over there. We’re the best workers. We don’t come in with hangovers on Monday. Maybe we watched some cricket over the weekend but other than that we weren’t complaining, “Oh no, it’s Monday.” We were like, “Oh alhamdullilah it’s Monday. I’ve prayed Fajr in the masjid, got my dhikr down and I’m ready to get busy.”
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johnpi
US Muslim response – Dearborn-area group plans protest to tell the world: Islam is peaceful.
Majed Moughni, a Dearborn attorney, said Sunday afternoon that Muslims need to let the world know that those who would commit terrorism do not represent Islam.
“It’s very frustrating to know that these guys are using Islam and committing terror,” he said. “Islam stands for peace.”
His Facebook group, Dearborn Area Community Members, is calling for local Muslims to hold a protest during the scheduled Jan. 8 hearing in U.S. District Court in Detroit for Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.
….Information about the protest is being posted on the group’s Facebook page: “Please bring your signs, and American flags: theme: ‘NOT IN THE NAME OF ISLAM,’ ” according to one post.
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johnpi
Muslim students find similarities with Mormoms at Brigham Young University.
Both Siddiqui and Sameer Ahmad, 20, who is originally from Lahore, Pakistan, came to BYU on the advice of friends and family members who had attended or visited.
They were impressed with the Marriott School of Management, the low tuition and the high moral standards.
But the unique Provo/Mormon culture has been a bit of an adjustment, even though Ahmad grew up in New York City.
“Back in New York City if you say ‘hi’ to someone, they assume you’re selling them drugs,” Ahmad said. “Over here, every other person (says hi). You have to get used to that. It’s unusual in a nice way.”
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abunoor
My friend and blogger Omer Mozaffar is given a forum by Roger Ebert to discuss Islam and Movies in his life (among many other topics mainly revolving around growing up as a Muslim in these times) and to give his thoughts on Avatar.
Omer was also the winner of this year’s Brass Crescent award for Best Writer.
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johnpi
Profile in Al Jazeera of US Muslims.
Similarly, a 2009 Gallup report found that 70 per cent of American Muslims have a job compared with a national average of 64 per cent. Muslim men have one of the highest employment rates of religious groups; Muslim women are as likely as Catholic women to say that they work.
After Jews, Muslims are the most educated religious community in the US. Muslim women (unlike their Jewish counterparts) are as likely as their male counterparts to have a college degree or higher. Forty per cent of American Muslim women have a college degree as compared to 29 per cent of Americans overall.
American Muslims are as concerned about extremism and terrorism as other citizens. Their families and friends in “the old country” have been the primary victims of terrorist attacks. Like other Americans, Muslims were also victims; they too lost loved ones and friends in the 9/11 attacks.
Moreover, they have seen their religion, not just the terrorists, vilified and as a result those in the mainstream majority have been victims of profiling, discrimination and hate crimes.
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johnpi
Chicago-area Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid first Muslim to head global interfaith group.
He’s about to take on a global role as chairman of the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions, an international interfaith group based in Chicago.
….Mujahid was picked in part for his history of community organizing. The imam’s the president of Sound Vision Foundation, which produces Radio Islam. He’s the former chair of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago.
I’ve linked and excerpted Imam Mujahid’s writing here at TI, and once excerpted something he wrote and then cited two imams for authority – not knowing that Mujahid was an imam himself. It’s an unusual characteristic of the Internet that you get introduced to someone through the good qualities of their writing or insights, and only later discover their titles and accomplishments.
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johnpi
Houston, the city with the largest Muslim population in Texas, has elected its first openly gay mayor.
“Houston is a multiracial, multicultural, international city. And I think my election will send a message to the world that Houston is a city that might surprise a lot of folks,” Parker said before the runoff.
Parker, 53, has never shied away from, nor made an issue of, her sexual orientation. She has been with her partner for 19 years and they have two adopted children.
Houston, is the fourth largest city in the country, and is the first among that group to elect an openly gay mayor.
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buzz
But with this increased awareness of the Muslim, there is a lack of appreciation of the nuances within our group. The reality is that many Muslims are secular. We do not pray five times a day, do not read the Koran and have not spent much time inside a mosque. We only turn to Islam when a child is born, someone gets married or someone dies.
We certainly have no interest in participating in civilizational battles. We are, in fact, loathed by the religious minority. And yet we have no clear voice, no representation and no one in the Western world appears to be aware of our existence. Every time a terrorist attack occurs, we suffer the most.
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buzz
Review of Alia Malek’s New Book:
In “A Country Called Amreeka,” Malek chronicles the lives of a dozen Arab Americans. Their stories are markers on a timeline that stretches back to the legendary Alabama-Auburn football game of 1948 and runs through the riotous Detroit of the ’60s, the fraught tensions over Palestine in the ’80s, up to the election of George W. Bush. Each chapter focuses on an individual (often, a family) whose personal lives dramatize the political concerns of the age or the timeless personal anxiety of living, as an outsider, in a foreign land. In between each chapter, Malek fills in the historical gaps, recapping for the reader the changes in Middle Eastern politics or in American immigration policy necessary to understand the next narrative.
The book looks at America through the eyes of a minority so often viewed as its enemy. As the book progresses through time, a bigger story begins to emerge. With delicate cues from Malek, the reader begins to see how the image of Muslims has hardened over time. They have always been outsiders; in the early 20th century, politicians went to great lengths to classify newly arrived Arabs as nonwhites, a form of social exclusion. But by the ’80s, the outsider has become the other, the “swarthy-looking,” turban-wearing villain in Hollywood’s good-versus-evil dramas. (Never mind that it’s Sikhs who wear turbans, and Sikhs aren’t Muslim.)
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abunoor
Is anyone aware of any statement by any organized Muslim group in America about the proposed surge in Afghanistan which Obama will address tomorrow night taking a position either for or against the surge?
