http://ww4report.com/node/3227
Cheney: terrorists seek new caliphate
he gave an interview to the national ABC network’s PM program Feb. 23, in which he invoked Anglo racial solidarity in the most blatant terms—and raised the threat of a new Caliphate stretching from Spain to Indonesia. The PM headline, actually not quoting Cheney verbatim, invoked a “terrorist caliphate.” The relevant passage follows.
First, narrator Louise Yaxley notes that Cheney said the requisite nicities about Prime Minister John Howard.
LOUISE YAXLEY: Not surprisingly he’s also had warm words for the US-Australian alliance.
DICK CHENEY: We were born in the same era, sprang from the same stock and live for the same ideals. Australia and America share an affinity that reaches to our souls. Over time that deep affinity has grown into a great alliance.
LOUISE YAXLEY: He’s told his Australian audience it’s vital to keep up the fight.
DICK CHENEY: The business of our alliance goes forward and it begins with the fundamental duty to protect our people from danger. Having stood together in every major conflict of the last 100 years, the US and Australia now stand together in the decisive struggle against terrorism.
And it is they, the terrorist, who have ambitions of empire. Their goal in the broader Middle East is to seize control of a country so they have a base from which they can launch attacks against governments that refuse to meet their demands.
Their ultimate aim, and one they boldly proclaim, is to establish a caliphate covering a region from Spain, across North Africa, through the Middle East and South Asia, all the way around to Indonesia. And it wouldn’t stop there.
Dick seems to be getting this angle from the National Intelligence Council, or maybe from Daniel Pipes.
See our last posts on Dick Cheney, Islamophobia and the struggle within Islam.
http://ww4report.com/node/3216
American Muslims issue Shia-Sunni unity resolution
A resolution from a Dec. 25 conference in Chicago, “Sunni Shia Dialogue to Save Lives,” online at
Resolution: Shia-Suni Dialogue to Save Lives
To be signed by immams, khateebs, masjids, Muslim organizations and opinion leaders
Whereas, the Quran mandates Muslim unity in the verse: “And hold fast, all together, by the Rope of God, and be not divided among yourselves; And remember with gratitude God’s favor on you when you were enemies, and He united your hearts so by His favor you became brothers; and you were on the brink of a pit of fire, then He saved you from it; thus does God make clear to you His signs that you may follow the right way.” (Quran 3:103)
Whereas, the Quran makes an unequivocal stand for justice in the verse: “Oh you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to God, even though it be against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, be he rich or poor, God is a Better Protector to both (than you)” (Quran 4:135)
Whereas, although sectarian divisions and some conflicts have existed among Muslims, the magnitude of the Shia-Sunni conflict in Iraq has little precedent in the Muslim history with the indiscriminate targeting of innocent men, women and children, and the destruction of ancient, venerated mosques
Whereas, the seeds for divisiveness for the entire Muslim world, including Muslims in the United States, are being sown through the Shia-Sunni conflict in Iraq
Whereas, the Muslim community in the United States is composed of thoughtful, caring Shias and Sunnis concerned about the future of Shia-Sunni relations in this country and around the world
Whereas, the differences between Shias and Sunnis have not precluded Shias from making the annual Hajj to God’s House in Makkah, Saudi Arabia or being accepted as Muslims by an overwhelming majority of past and present Sunni jurists
BE IT RESOLVED
That we call upon all Imams, Khateebs, Masjids, Muslim Organizations and Opinion Leaders in the United States to engage their local/national constituencies in critical intra-faith dialogue and education about Shia-Sunni relations and how to promote cooperation. Dialogue helps to isolate extremist fringes. Best practices should be shared
That Muslim scholars, from both the Shia and Sunni communities, including the various Fiqh councils and Imam organizations in North America, issue fatwas:
a) Reaffirming that the adherents of both Shia and Sunni Schools of Jurisprudence are Muslims
b) Condemning sectarian violence, killing, and destruction of property as un-Islamic and inhuman
That Muslims of Arab and South Asian origin residing in the United States organize intra-faith dialogue between Shias and Sunnis of their area of origin residing in this country, share best practices, and promote, finance, and transplant similar dialogues in their home countries with the help of relatives, friends, and leading Muslims
[…]
Please get as many Muslims as possible to sign the
to encourage our community leaders to act.
The
was issued by Abdul Malik Mujahid, chair of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (CIOGC). The Militant Islam Monitor website paints Abdul Malik Mujahid as a “Wahabist.” But we note that he issued a statement, “Islamophobia & Anti-Semitism: Bitter Fruits From the Same Tree of Hate,” after a Chicago synagogue was defaced with swastikas last February. CIOGC organized a delegation to help wash clean the synagogue wall.
See our last posts on the Iraq war, the sectarian cleansing and the struggle within Islam.
http://www.ww4report.com/node/2964
Muslims appeal for prayers in Spain’s Cordoba Cathedral
A potential opening for the kind of universalism that could go a long way towards chilling the planet out—and taking the wind out of
al-Qaeda’s Iberian franchise. But the local Catholic hierarchy isn’t going for it. Maybe the Pope will exercise better judgement? From the Italian news agencyAKI, Dec. 28:
The Bishop of the southern city of Cordoba, Juan Jose Asenjo, has turned down a request from its Muslim community to be allowed to pray with Christians in its cathedral – a former mosque. Asenjo was quoted as saying the joint use of consecrated places of worship would “generate confusion” and lead to “religious indifference”.
Asenjo also said that the Bishopric had valid legal documents entitling the Catholic Church to sole use of the building. Moreover, while Catholics are able to live in peace with other faiths, and the Cordoba Diocese wants to maintain its good relations with local Muslims, Cordoba’s Christian roots should be respected, Asenjo argued.
Spain’s Islamic Board, which represents a community of some 800,000 in a traditional Catholic country of 44 million, argued in a letter to Pope Benedict XVI that such a move in Cordoba could serve to “awaken the conscience” of followers of both faiths and help bury past confrontations.
The organisation stated that they were not aiming at re-establishing the Cordoba Mosque – now a Unesco world heritage site – nor reviving Andalusia, the pre-Christian Muslim civilisation of Spain, of which Cordoba was the capital. Rather, the demand should be seen as a move to encourage tolerance and reconciliation, the Islamic Board argued.
“What we wanted was not to take over that holy place, but to create in it, together with you and other faiths, an ecumenical space unique in the world which would have been of great significance in bringing peace to humanity,” said its letter to the pontiff.
The Cordoba mosque was turned into a Catholic cathedral in the 13th Century after the city was conquered by King Ferdinand III in the war to drive the North African Moors from the Iberian peninsula.
See our last posts on
Spain, the
Vatican and the struggle within Islam.
Daniel Pipes makes it a tit-for-tat
Submitted by Bill Weinberg on Mon, 01/08/2007 – 22:42.
>From his blog: The Muslim demand is all very reasonable – but only if Muslims permit reciprocal rights to Christians. For example, the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus is built over a Byzantine church and to this day contains a shrine said to contain the head of John the Baptist; Christians should be granted leave to pray there. Or the grandest church of Byzantium, Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, for centuries a mosque and now a museum – it too should be made available for Christian services. The Vatican has made reciprocity the cornerstone of its relations with Muslims, and this looks like a simple place to start implementing that policy.
http://ww4report.com/node/2941
Bahrain’s top Shi’ite cleric, opposition figure dies; streets filled for funeral
Shaikh Abdul Ameer al-Jamri, a Shiite cleric who led pro-democracy protests in Bahrain in the 1990s, died Dec. 18 at the age of 67. Shiites throughout the small island state went into mourning, hanging black flags and banners outside their houses and pasting pictures of al-Jamri on walls and car windows. Over 10,000 poured in the streets of the capital, Manama, to escort al-Jamri to his final resting place at the Bani Jamrah graveyard. Black-cloaked women and young men beating their cheasts chanted slogans in his honor, as police sealed off the main streets of the city. “He was a father figure for Shiite Bahrainis,” said his son, Mansour al-Jamri, a leading columnist and editor. “His legacy will start today.”
A local rights group, the Movement of Liberties and Democracy (HAG), described al-Jamri as “the spiritual father” of Bahrainis and a figure “who struggled for real constitutional citizenship where people live in peace without distinction between Sunnis and Shiites.” Al-Jamri was also mourned by the opposition Islamic National Accord Association (INAA), the main political society of Bahrain’s Shiites. Bahraini state radio and television ignored his death on their news bulletins, but word quickly got around, with many receiving the news in cell phone messages.
Al Jamri, a graduate of the Shiite seat of learning in the Iraqi city of Najaf, led demands in the early 1990s for the restoration of the elected parliament which was scrapped by the government in 1975 after only two years. Al-Jamri, who sat on the short-lived parliament, joined leftist and Sunni Islamist figures in 1992 in a petition demanding the reinstatement of the legislature. The government still has no plans to reestablish the legislature. (Gulf News, UAE, Dec. 19;
AP, Dec. 18;
Library of Congress Country Stdues)
See our last post on
http://ww4report.com/node/2879
Islamic scholars condemn female genital mutilation
Here’s a glimmer of hope. Emad Mekay writes from Cairo for IPS, via South Africa’s
Mail & Guardian, Nov. 30:
‘I thought Islam told us to do so’
Om Samar didn’t believe the news. “Muslim scholars banning [female] circumcision? This must be a joke,” she said.
Samar, a mother of four who works as a maid cleaning apartments and houses for a daily rate, was planning to circumcise her five-year-old daughter, Shaimaa, when she turns eight or nine.
But an international conference in Egypt on female circumcision funded by the German government and sponsored by top Islamic scholars last week brought tidings she didn’t expect.
Eliminating the Violation of Women’s Bodies, as the conference was publicised in Arabic, was attended by some of Islam’s most senior and influential scholars. Most of them spoke against the common practice. The main message was that “female genital mutilation was never mandated in Islam “.
“I thought Islam told us to do so,” said Samar, one of many Muslims who believe that the practice is Islamic. She is not the only one who has been mistaken about what the religion says about circumcision.
Anti-circumcision activists say many parents actually believe the practice prevents their daughters from being unfaithful to their future husbands and draw links between Islam’s emphasis on chastity and their own cultural beliefs.
Cultural tradition
Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi, the Grand Sheikh of al-Azhar, Sunni Islam’s most prestigious university, said at the conference that “circumcising girls is just a cultural tradition in some countries that has nothing to do with the teachings of Islam”.
“During my studies and research in Islam, I didn’t find anything that I can trust as beseeching female circumcision,” said the scholar, whose fatwas, religious edicts and words are followed by millions of Muslims around the world for direction in their lives.
The conference was attended by other heavyweights, whose endorsement of the public denunciation of the practice was seen as a landmark. Grand Mufti of Egypt Ali Goma’a, considered the most senior judge of Islamic law, was a patron of the conference. Others included Hamdi Mahmoud Zakzouk, Minister of Religious Affairs in Egypt; Sultan Abdelkader Mohamed Humad of Djibouti; and Sultan Ali Mirah Hanfary of Ethiopia.
Participants also came from countries where the practice is prevalent, such as Somalia, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Eritrea, Nigeria, Djibouti, Morocco, Turkey and even the Russian Federation.
German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, who addressed the gathering, said the statement issued from al-Azhar University, one of the most renowned theological academies in the Islamic world, “cannot be estimated highly enough in its significance for religious policy and with regard to the positive consequences for the inviolability of young girls and women”.
Mutilation
The general perception in Egypt among Muslims is that female circumcision is required under Islamic law. But the scholars argued that this does not explain why female genital mutilation (FGM) is also so widespread among Egypt’s Christian community. It also fails to account for why the practice is nearly non-existent in Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf region.The World Health Organisation puts the number of girls and women who have undergone female genital mutilation at between 100-million and 140-million. It says that each year, two million girls are at risk of undergoing FGM.
The procedure, which some experts say dates back 5 000 years, can cause massive and fatal bleeding. It can lead to chronic infections, sterility and serious complications in childbirth, doctors say.
Performed mainly in Africa but also in some Asian and Middle Eastern nations, FGM is often practised without
anaesthetic on infants and girls by medically unqualified persons.A 2004 report funded by the United States Agency for International Development found that the incidence of FGM in Egypt, for example, was as high as 97%, while it was 45% in Côte d’Ivoire, 89% in Eritrea and 34% in Kenya.
No backing
In their statements, the Muslim scholars said “some Muslims were practicing female genital mutilation without any backing or evidence in the Qur’an or an authentic tradition of the Prophet [Muhammad]”. The Qur’an and the Prophet’s teachings and sayings are the two main sources for Islamic law.
Taking a rare proactive approach, the clerics collectively called upon international, educational and media institutions to “explain the damage and the negative effect of this practice on societies”.
But while the clerics’ call carries much weight, it is not clear if it will be sufficient to discourage parents from the practice. An official ban on circumcision enacted in 1996 remains ineffective in stopping it in this country.
“What will produce change is not just a fatwa or an opinion from clerics. What will change things is an alteration of the economic and social conditions that lead people to believe in the importance of circumcision,” said Ahmed Abdallah, a professor of psychology at Zagazig University.
Abdallah appeared to fault the approach by the German human rights group that organised the conference because it assumed that religion was behind the practice.
“Fatwas will help but they will not do the whole thing,” he added. “In this case, parents practising circumcision didn’t do it because they received a religious edict asking them to do it in the first place. When they stop it they will not do so because of a religious edict either.”
For Om Samar, this seems to make sense. “All women are circumcised and we do not see too many problems because of that,” she said. “Nobody cares about my daughter like me. I will do what’s best for her and I know what it is.”
See our last posts on the
http://ww4report.com/node/2850
Islamophobes exploit Islamist intolerance in Tulsa imbroglio
Around it goes. One Jamal Miftah, a Pakistani immigrant in Tulsa, OK, to his great credit, sent a letter to the Tulsa World Oct. 29 entitled “Message of Islam is not jihad, fatwahs,” taking Ayman al-Zawahri and other al-Qaeda leaders to task for hijacking his religion. For this (as he related to Tulsa’s News 9 in a video interview) he was expelled from his local mosque, the Tulsa Islamic Center, for publicly condemning Islam (which, of course, he didn’t do). The affair was picked up, with predictable glee, by the right-wing Islamophobic blog
(yuck!)—which, of course, will only fuel the ultra-defensiveness of folks like the Tulsa Islamic Center. So a plague on all their houses. Except Jamal Miftah.
Oklahoma Mosque Members Support Al Qaeda
News from Oklahoma, in the form of a video from News 9. Jamal Miftah (pictured) is a recent migrant to the United States. He wrote a letter to the Tulsa World newspaper after seeing a video by Ayman al-Zawahiri, the second in command of Al Qaeda.His letter, entitled “Message of Islam is not jihad, fatwahs” was published in Tulsa World on October 29. In this letter, which we reproduce below, he stated that Zawahri and bin Laden were cowards, getting young and ignorant men to become suicide bombers to kill innocent civilians.
His letter was impassioned, but it was well-intentioned. He said that Muslims throughout the world should stand up to those who advocate jihad, and to decry such behavior as being against Islam. But the letter caused only recriminations at his mosque, the Islamic Center at Tulsa.
He was threatened by several members. He protested, and then was told by the management of the mosque that he cannot return until he has apologized.
Miftah was told by members of the congregation that he should never have criticized Islam in front of non-Muslims. The thing is – he did not criticize Islam, only the radicals who preach jihad. It is a sad testimony to the fact that many Muslims in the West make no distinction between Al Qaeda and Islam. There is a concept in Islam called takfeer, which is the action of condemning a Muslim as a heretic.
Takfeer is a Muslim “crime” if not made by a senior cleric. Islam is a club which welcomes any members into the Ummah, no matter how despotic or murderous they may be…
This is the letter that Jamal Miftah sent to the Tulsa World:
Message of Islam is not jihad, fatwahs
By Jamal Miftah.
I moved to the United States in March 2003, with my four kids and wife from Pakistan bordering Afghanistan. There was a call by a local jihadi organization to fight the coalition forces in Afghanistan. One of my dearest friends, Mirza Kohistani, fell prey to that call and joined the group, despite my advice and that of his wife to him.
All the leaders of that organization returned safely after the fall of the Taliban empire, but they left behind the body of my friend and hundreds of other innocent people like him.
I am obliged to respond to Ayman al-Zawahri’s recent video message, portraying himself as champion of Islam and others as liars.
My message to Ayman al-Zawahri and Muslims of the world: “Islam” means submission and is derived from a word meaning “peace.” Islam, Christianity and Judaism have the same origin, the Prophet Abraham. The prophet of Islam has said that God has no mercy on someone who does not have mercy for others.
I ask that al-Zawahri look at his deeds and those of his master, Osama bin Laden, and other so-called Islamic jihadists.
Because of lack of knowledge of Islam, Muslim youth are misguided into believing by the so-called champions of the cause of Islam that the current spate of killings and barbarism, which has no equal in the recent civilized history, is jihad in the name of Islam. They are incited, in the name of Islam, to commit heinous crimes not pardonable by any religion and strictly forbidden in Islam.
Cowards like al-Zawahri and bin Laden are inciting the ignorant and innocent youths to commit suicide bombings to kill innocent civilians including children, women and the elderly, while they hide in spider holes and caves. They never send their own sons and daughters, born out of half a dozen of their wives, to get killed in the name of Islam. They are themselves hypo crites, cowards, thugs and liars. For 12 years
they misappropriated aid received from the U.S. and the West to fight Russia. Now they are ensuring smooth flow of petro dollars from Arab countries in the name of jihad against the West.Even mosques and Islamic institutions in the U.S. and around the world have become tools in their hands and are used for collecting funds for their criminal acts. Half of the funds collected go into the pockets of their local agents and the rest are sent to these thugs.
They are the reason for branding the peaceful religion of Islam as terrorism. The result, therefore, is in the form of Danish cartoons and remarks/reference by the Pope.
I appeal to the Muslim youth in particular and Muslims of the world in general to rise up and start jihad against the killers of humanity and help the civilized world to bring these culprits to justice and prove that Islam is not a religion of hatred and aggression.
I appeal to the Muslim clerics around the world that, rather than issuing empty fatwas condemning suicide bombing, they should issue a fatwa for the death of such scoundrels and barbarians who have taken more than 4,267 lives of innocent people in the name of Islam and have carried out more than 24 terrorist attacks on civilian installations throughout the world. This does not include the chilling number of deaths because of such activities in Iraq and Afghanistan, which is well over 250,000.
I appeal to al-Zawahri and his band of thugs to hand themselves over to justice and stop spreading evil and killing innocent humans around the world in the name of Islam. Their time is limited and Muslims of the world will soon rise against them to apprehend them and bring them to justice.
See our last posts on
and the struggle within Islam.
Letter backlash
Submitted by Jamal Miftah (not verified) on Wed, 11/29/2006 – 01:51.
I am Jamal Miftah and I stand by what I have written. America is great country and so its people and I hope and pray that one day justice is done to the victims of 9/11, no matter what Mr. Kabbani, the Imam of Tulsa mosque or Mr. Abu Waleed, the spokesman for Islamic Society of Tulsa feel or say. God bless America »
reply
Jamal Miftah
Submitted by Carson McCullers (not verified) on Wed, 11/29/2006 – 18:49.
Dear Mr Miftah, I have just read your excellent and peaceful letter and then your comment. You are a good man and a brave man. It must be hard for you now but I think in the long run it is people like you who will succeed. Well done for standing-up to be counted, and you will have plenty of other people who agree with what you say and who have noticed and admire your stand. Bless you. C. »
reply
An In-Depth look into Mr. Jamal Miftah’s Intentions
Submitted by Fooad Muhammad (not verified) on Sat, 12/16/2006 – 00:44.
As an American Muslim, born and raised, who has read the actual article that Mr. Jamal Miftah wrote, along with subsequent interviews, it seems that there is extreme ambiguity about why exactly Mr. Jamal Miftah was asked to leave his Islamic center. Mr. Jamal Miftah wrote an entire article denouncing terrorism, which every American Muslim already agrees with, but in the middle of the article Mr. Jamal Miftah accused American mosques of supporting terrorist when he said:
[“Even mosques and Islamic institutions in the U.S. and around the world have become tools in their hands and are used for collecting funds for their criminal acts. Half of the funds collected go into the pockets of their local agents and the rest are sent to these thugs”].
I have personally been to many mosques around the U.S. and I have never seen any American Muslim who supports terrorism either financially or ideologically. Therefore, Mr. Jamal Miftah was most likely excused from his Islamic center because he accused all the Islamic institutions in the U.S. of supporting terrorism (financially), not because he was anti-terrorism.
Lastly Mr. Jamal Miftah has only been in the United States for a relatively short period of time: three years! Who is he to say whether mosques around the U.S. are supporting terrorism or not? Does Mr. Jamal Miftah even have a legal status in the United States, or is he looking for one!?
It is obvious that Mr. Jamal Miftah has twisted a seemingly harmless issue into one that has neither any credibility nor standing into one wherein he is the wronged one for being anti-terrorism. It is apparent that Mr. Jamal Miftah is either looking for a quick way to kiss up to the immigration officials to give him asylum by accusing innocent, hardworking, American citizens of supporting terrorism or looking to get his 15-minutes of fame; only God knows.
Can Mr. Jamal Miftah openly come out and reveal how he came to this country after being “dearest friend [with] Mirza Kohistani”, an Al-Qaeda terrorist? Before he goes around accusing others, can he give us more information about his background? I don’t know what’s behind that baby face! »
reply
My Dear Fooad Muhammad,
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 12/19/2006 – 21:20.
My Dear Fooad Muhammad, It appears to me that you either ignorant about contents of my article, happenings at the mosque, subsequent interviews by myself and the self contradictory statements by mosque leadership or are attempting to confuse the serious situation with Tulsa mosque leadership with base less accusations. Mirza Kohistani and many more like him have been the victims of deceits and treachery by AL Qaida and the like into believing that killing innocent people or terrorizing civilized world is Jihad and that was the main theme of my article. There are confirmed reports of involvement of managers of mosques at Brooklyn (AlFarooq Mosque) New York, Albany New York, Bridgeview IL, Allentown PA, and a mosque in Texas were found to be involved in such activities, besides part of the funds collected for earth quake victims in Britain were funneled to the terrorist plotting to blow American bound Air Planes and as such was a general statement because Mosques are places for worship and their sanctity needs to be preserved and as such the statement was a reminder to the worshippers to watch for any such activities. >From day one since the unfortunate incidence, I have the same statement! I was expelled from the mosque by the mosque leadership after accusing me of being anti Muslim and Anti Islamic because of the article. Mosque leadership sent me messages through other members of the community to apologize in public for the article, which I refused. – On the November 24th, 2006, the mosque leadership shifted their position from the earlier one and stated to the news on six reporter that I was asked to leave from the mosque for being loud, which is a false statement. – On November 29th, 2006 Dr. Sandra Rana made the following comment about my expulsion from the mosque:
Quote, “Then, about the incident. The man was physically removed from the mosque’s prayer center by the Tulsa Police Department after a discussion about the article became an argument which ended with the author cursing, threatening to hit someone and refusing to leave when requested. The building supervisor called the police at that time. A restraining order was filed but was ended after 2-3 days by request of the mosque’s leadership. He can attend prayer services at the mosque without restriction as long as he acts in an appropriate manner during prayers” Unquote. What are the names of Police Officers who came to remove me from the mosque? No further comment on this one. Then on December 01, 2006 following was published in Tulsa World on behalf of the mosque leadership:
Quote “The governing board of Tulsa’s AI-Salam mosque ruled Wednesday night that a Pakistani native who had been banned from the mosque can return. Houssam Elsoueissi, president of the operating council at the mosque, said he would announce at Friday’s service that Jamal Miftah is free to attend services as long as there is no disturbance, and that no one at the mosque should confront him. Elsoueissi said he talked to police about getting a restraining order against Miftah to prevent further incidents at the mosque. Mosque spokeswoman Sheryl Siddiqui said the matter should have been quietly resolved, but because of the media and the Internet, “It’s had such legs.”
The story was carried by local television and radio stations and spread nationwide on the Internet. “This was not about the article; it was about a disturbance in the mosque,” she said. “We agree with most of his article, except the one statement that American mosques support terrorists.
“Our mosque does not, and I don’t know of any that do,” she said.
Tulsan Mujeeb Cheema, executive director of North American Islamic Trust, said Miftah’s views on bin Laden were “mainline views among American Muslims.” However, he said, “I was surprised that a person who has been in the U.S. for only three years, and not part of any national Muslim organization, would speak so confidently about Islamic institutions in the U.S.” Unquote. My response to the above generousity by Islamic Society of Tulsa leadership was as under, which Tulsa World preferred not to publish: Quote “Mr. Joe Worley,
Executive Editor,
Tulsa World
Fax # 918 581 8353 Sub: Miss-representation of facts by Office Bearers of Islamic Society of Tulsa, Published in your Publication of date. Dear Sir,
I am perturbed and disappointed by the comments made in today’s publication of Tulsa World (copy attached for your ready reference) by Houssam Elsoueissi (Abu Waleed), president operating council of IST mosque and Mr. Mujeeb Cheema Executive Director of North America Islamic Trust. I will first take Mr. Hussam comment. While attempting to appear very generous for having agreed to make the following announcement on Friday services (that is today): Quote: Mr. Jamal Miftah is free to attend services as long as there is no disturbance and that no one at mosque should confront him” unquote. – Is it a conditional permission? >From the tone of his language it appears that permission is conditional and that they have no remorse or regrets for the incidence. – Is he implying that I was responsible for causing disturbance, if any, in the mosque, while confronted by ordinary Muslims in the mosque? He is trying to create the impression that I was responsible for causing disturbance. So far as this allegation goes I was only responsible to the extent of writing the article which was published in Tulsa World on October 29, 2006. Any subsequent disturbance or excessive actions were initiated by Mr. Kabbani, Imam (leader) of the mosque and Mr. Houssam Elsoueissi him self. The accused me of being traitor, anti Muslim and threaten me while inciting others to rise against me on the night of November 18, 2006.
I am also surprised why office bearers of IST are so defensive about channeling funds to illegitimate organizations by them. My article does not say anything to that effect by IST mosque in Tulsa rather it was reference to the mosque in Brooklyn (Al-Farooq Mosque) New York, California, Albany New York, Bridgeview Illinois, Allentown Pennsylvania and one Texas and the result of investigation on the London bombing plot leading its trails to funneling of earth quake donations collected in Britain to the terrorists involved. I have not yet made any allegation about IST on this count yet some of their activities that I am aware of and have evidence certainly create doubts about legality of some of their activities. Now to Mr. Mujeeb Cheema’s following assertion: Quote “I was surprised that a person who has been in US for only three years and not part of any national Muslim Organization would speak so confidently about Islamic Institutions in US” Unquote. – Is he implying that for a Muslim, three years is too short a period to form an opinion and then in order for him to be confident, he has to be a member of national Muslim organizations to have knowledge any illegal activities! Mr. Cheema, I was not born three year ago. I have been a reader of Times, Newsweek and World Economist since 1980. There was, off course, a small break during 2003 and 2004, when I was in the process of settling in US. I am very well informed about what’s going on around the world and in US and especially with the internet revolution since 1990’s; events around the world are only a click away. The current state of affairs of the Muslims around the world is a result of the typical psychology of the leaders of so called Muslim organizations where they are barred from expressing their views, as the leaders of such organizations for the fear of being exposed keep those voices suppressed by accusing them of being un Islamic or Anti Islamic, when they speak or protest and that’s what exactly happened during the shame full incidence at IST’s mosque in Tulsa. After going through the current ordeal, I feel and believe that majority of the office bearers of IST that I have dealt or experienced are unfortunately liars and I would prefer to boy-cot them and rather say my prayers on my own instead of saying it after a hypocrite like Mr. Ahmad Kabbani, the Imam of Tulsa mosque. Thank you very much Mr. Housam and Mr. Cheema! I, however, thank Madam Sheryl Sidiqui from the depth of my heart for her honest efforts to diffuse the situation, but her efforts seem to have faded with the comments made by the others. She has also tried to communicate wrong impression by relating my expulsion from the mosque by suggesting that it was as a result of disturbance. If at all any one was to be expelled from mosque for causing disturbance, then it should have been Mr. Ahmad Kabbani and Mr. Houssam and the group of 10 to 15 Arabs incited by them against me on the night of November 18th, 2006 and in all fairness not me. I expect from the Tulsa World to publish my clarification in its entirety. Thanks and regards, Jamal Miftah
[PHONE NUMBER DELETED PENDING VERIFICATION—WW4R ]
jamalmiftah@sbcglobal.net Unquote. – On December 6th, 2006 Madam Sheryl Siddiqui in an interview with KRMG stated that she did not believe that the trouble was started by me, which is true. She further stated that I along with others was asked to leave, which is a false statement. I was the only one person, humiliated, terrorized and virtually kicked out from the mosque by Imam of the mosque, Ahmad Kabbani and President of the Operating Council of the Mosque Houssam Elsoueissi. They were the ones who started the trouble and they were the ones who were trying to incite others to cause harm to me. I fail to understand why the mosque leadership is not accepting the blunders it made and instead of apologizing for the incidence, are continuously lying about the situation and changing keep on changing their statement every time they face a new question or person.
They are exploiting the wit, wisdom and connections of an influential IST member to cover their misdeeds and at the same time engaged in a propaganda campaign through their well established propaganda machine to tarnish my image with in the community. Dear Fooad, I was sponsored by sister in late 80’s and landed USA in March of 2003 and immediately after my arrival here was issued a green card and by the grace of Allah, will soon be a very responsible US citizen. I hope that the above clarifies t
he situation and I request and urge you to use your influence and good writing skills to persuade IST leadership to acknowledge thei
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Struggle within Islam 伊斯兰内部的斗争 完整版： http://lihlii.blogspot.com/2012/02/struggle-within-islam.html
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