Hot new stuff, Muslim Quarterly is the first magazine exclusively for Muslim men.

In the aims of addressing challenges faced today, Muslim Quarterly is a male-orientated publication for the American Muslim man. We saw an absence of the magazine for a while, which Editor-in-Chief Omar Haq explained was because the team worked towards defining its unique identity.

Muslim Quarterly is back, with a culturally sleek and broader depth. It arrived on my desk in October, shrink-wrapped in opaque plastic and ready for a woman's critique.

The magazine is published four times a year, giving rise to its name, and explores areas that are typically a man's arena. Sexual appetite, budget spending on the other half, and easy cooking for the laid back bachelor.

A great shot of American Muslim comedian Ali Ardekani made the front cover of the latest issue, accompanied by fellow Alis - finalist of HBO's Lucky 21 Comedy Festival, Asif Ali, and one half of the 30Mosques duo, Aman Ali. The three Alis give an candid interview of how they got into performing. It's one of the better parts of the magazine.

Designed by Nazia Sharif, MQ is based in Chicago and backed by an experienced team of writers. The first issue of MQ launched in 2009, dedicated to Ramadan with nutritional guides, lessons on control and an interview with Muslim 'celebrity' Omar Regan.

A weaker area is in the multiple full page spreads of men modelling contemporary Muslim fashion. I understand and appreciate advertising spaces but ten pages, six of which make up the first section, dominate the entire magazine. On that note, a power-fist-in-air gesture to Lomar Thobe for their clothing line.

The magazine itself covers an increasingly interesting range of topics, not that dissimilar to a popular science or health publication. Algerian Chef Muhammad Benabdelmalek writes about aphrodisiac food groups, categorising them by their uses and nutritional value and referencing Islamic texts.

Following fruity concoctions and Arab inspired recipes, we see a spectacular feature of Egyptian Kickboxing Champion, Khaled Fahim. Sharing his training routine and athletic family background, I go on to flip a page where Khaled Fahim is shown with his leg in mid-air in an almost horizontal split. As a Muslim woman I think two thoughts: A and E. Awra exposure.

Women writers have the marital columns with great gift-giving tips for husbands and signs that a guy is having an 'emotional affair': sharing more personal information with female co-workers, hiding new friendships, "innocent" online and text flirting, and relaying fantasies about another woman. It's valuable information and a slap in the face for Muslims everywhere.

Here's the winning quality of MQ, it actually provides solutions to such pitfalls and instead of side-stepping the issues, seems to say, Muslims can make mistakes, they are human, but this is how to stop it recurring. Excellent.

Our favourite Muslim dude blogger, Halim Naeem has an informative advisory piece for single Muslim men on successfully finding a wife, and eating your wedding cake too. His personal marriage experience is clearly translated into his 'internet or intersex?' chapter. He says,

"How you find a wife is just as important and where you find her. Brothers, we have to make sure we are approaching potential woman with as much respect for them as we would have for ourselves".

I hear myself chiming, ame(e)n. Halim Naeem is engaging, he's being 'real' when analysing the process behind online matrimonial sites and he seems to know what he's talking about.

A surprisingly good read is an article on sickle cell disease around the world and its implications for a marriage. More on love, marriage fashion and wedding traditions can be found in MQ, which I suspect will be a focal point for all future publications, for who doesn't love a good dig at the Muslim marriage scene?

In light of current magazines for Muslim audiences, Muslim Quarterly is heavily reliant on Quranic verses and traditions narrated from Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. With the technological driven lifestyles of American Muslims, and indeed Muslims from around the world, MQ shares a concern to bring Muslims back to the roots of understanding faith, mental health and who they are - not who they're supposed to be.

Subscribe to {Muslim Quarterly}.

Award-winning Californian based film maker and photographer, Mustafa Davis shares his personal identity crises when faced with trying to explain the phenomenon of the 'American Muslim'.

Mustafa Davis is founder of Cinemotion Media, and co-founder of the Ta'leef Collective. This post was originally published on MustafaDavis.com:


Recently, my Facebook posts about my American Muslim identity have caused a slight uproar from certain people who have taken it upon themselves to inform me who I am and who I am allowed to be. To inform me that it is either impossible for me to be an American Muslim or worse, that my loyalty to my religion is now somehow in question because of it. I've been referred to as an "Uncle Tom" that doesn't care about oppressed people and likened to the Right Wing bigots that push policies to harm the disenfranchised. And all of this was decided about me by the mere fact that I said I was an "American Muslim." I've decided to write this note so that there is no ambiguity about who I am and how I got here.

I'm a decendant of Black Africans who came to this country as slaves (enslaved Africans). Who were stripped of everything they knew and everything they were (including names, identity, culture, and religion). They left them without a single trace of dignity or honor. Not only did they take everything away from my ancestors, they erased our entire history. For years I have tried to get people to understand what this means, how this feels and how it is a permanent part of who we are (whether we are conscious of it or not). If one doesn't know who they were, its nearly impossible to know who you are. I write this with tears in my eyes and with disbelief that the people who I have supposedly united with in GOD can be so crass and insensitive.
I was born in the Bay Area, California. My parents divorced when I was two years old and I moved with my mother to Sacramento and we lived in an impoverished neighborhood called Lincoln Village. I have no memories of my two parents together. I've tried many times over the years to try and conjure up at least one memory of my family living happily together, but unfortunately no such memory exists. My mother is German with blond hair and blue eyes. I am the only child she had with my black father and she remarried a white man which means all of my siblings are full white, making me the only black child in my family. I remember being teased by my black friends because I lived with a white family. I was called "Webster" and "Arnold" growing up (in reference to television sitcoms which depicted black children being raised by white families). My mother used to bring my birth certificate with her to sign me up for school and sports because they didn't believe I was really her son.

I grew up poor as a latchkey child in a broken home. My mother worked as a waitress and my step-father worked for the local phone company. Arguments were the norm. Fists punching through walls, dishes breaking, yelling, and cursing were routine. My parents thought I was psychologically affected by being the only black child in a white family and so I saw my first psychiatrist at age 5. By the time I was 16 years old, I was on drugs, failing all my classes, and I was eventually kicked out of high school. My mother could no longer deal with me and sent me away to live with my biological father.

My father was an educated man but had recently lost his job. We spent the next two years living in different apartments and staying on couches at some of his friends houses. We were staying in a cockroach/rat infested halfway house and one day my father asked me to take a walk with him. We walked for about 4 hours (we didn't have a car) to the Greyhound bus depot in downtown San Jose. He bought me a one way ticket to Sacramento and said very clearly to me: "I've been poor all my life and I can handle it. But I can't watch as you go through it too. I'm sending you back to your mom until I can get on my feet again." And he put me on the bus back to Sacramento. My mother told me that I could not stay with her (as it wasn't possible for my step-father and I to be under the same roof). I had gotten so jacked up on drugs and other "less than favorable" activities that none of my friends wanted anything to do with me. I had nowhere to go. I was exhausted.

Tired of my lifestyle, tired of my family, but mostly I was tired of myself. I decided that I was done with the world and that it was time to check out. I took a bottle of muscle relaxants and a bottle of Tylenol, sat down on the kitchen floor and swallowed almost every single pill.

My sister came home from work early that day and and found me lying face down on the kitchen floor in a pool of saliva with a few pills scattered around me. She knew instantly what I had done and called my mother for help. My memories from this point on are blurred. Time was no longer linear. I remember my mother and sister dragging me to the bathroom and putting me in the bathtub filled with cold water and ice cubes to try and prevent me from falling asleep. My mother kept shoving her fingers down my throat to get me to vomit. It wasn't working and I was fading very quickly. My next memory is arriving at the hospital. I was put on a gurney and rushed into the emergency room. I remember pushing the nurses off of me because I didn't want them to help me. They eventually brought some nurses in to hold my arms and legs down as the doctor put a 1/2" tube up my nose and down into my throat. They pumped charcoal into my stomach to counter the effect of the drugs. (The doctors later told me I was about 3 to 5 minutes away from complete cardiac arrest.)

My next memory is waking up in excruciating pain laying on a bed in the ICU (the tube was still in my nose and down in my throat). My mother was in the corner of the room crying and my first thought was "Damn... it didn't work" (I was upset that I was still alive). By California law I was required to serve 3 months in Sutter Memorial Mental Institution and I hopped the fence and escaped on my first night. I was picked up about 3 hours later by the police, brought back and put in the maximum security unit. It was in this place that I saw people who were truly mentally disturbed. A girl who used to bang her head against the wall until she bled, a boy who would scratch the skin off of his cheeks, another who would pull off her own finger nails and sit with bloody hands. Others who walked around screaming at imaginary friends.

Within a couple weeks I decided that if I got out of that place that I would dedicate my life to helping people. It was the very first time in my life that I called on God for assistance. There were many things that led up to me wanting to end my life. But now as an adult looking back, I can admit that identity struggle played a major role.

Fast forward to age 24 when I converted to Islam. I thought that converting to Islam would help me with my search for identity but instead it execerbated the problem. I was told that I couldn't be American because America was the land of disbelievers and Muslims could not emulate disbelievers. In fact, I was told that if I emulated them, I would be one of them and that the place for a "disbeliever" was in the hell-fire. So, I left America and made Hijra (migration) to Mauritania. I spent the next 11 years traveling the Muslim world in search of a culture that I could relate to and make my own so I could leave my "Americanness" behind and have a chance at getting to Paradise. It didn't work.

It took me a long to realize that the very people who were telling (and continue to tell me) that I cannot be American, hail from Muslim majority countries that have very beautiful, rich cultures. They know who they are (regardless if they want to be it). They know who their ancestors were, what they did, how they lived. I've never had that luxury. I don't know who my ancestors are. I don't know if they were kings and queens or criminals. My history was erased. Other Muslims get to say "I am Afghani, Pakistani, Malaysian, Sudanese, Egyptian, Nigerian, Palestinian, Bosnian, Moroccan, Indian, Algerian, etc." I will never be able to say that. "American" is not an ethnicity. It is a cultural identity. Black Americans have no cultural ties to our homeland. We cannot go back to Africa. We have no idea where in Africa to go? Are we from Nigeria? Senegal? Niger? Chad? Ivory Coast? Etc. We have no idea.

Black Americans don't have any home other than America. We have no other place to go. America is the ONLY home we know. We were stripped of everything else. I most certainly do not praise American politics or its treatment of minorities and/or impoverished, disenfranchised communities. That would mean I agree with the enslavement of my own people. But when Muslims tell us that we cannot be American because that means we support ALL things America, it means they are telling us we cannot exist. I will say that again: it means they are telling us that WE CANNOT EXIST. They can always fall back on their rich cultural heritages (that are often mistakenly called Islamic cultures. They are not, they are merely cultures where the majority of the inhabitants are Muslims). But I don't have that luxury or ability. America is the only culture I have to identify with. Telling me it's not possible is pushing me into nonexistence. I don't think people with such rich cultures and heritages fully understand what its like to not have that to fall back on.

My only recourse is either to reject American culture altogether and adopt some other culture (which all have nationalistic nuances just like America) or accept the elements of this society that do speak to my people while rejecting those that don't. Now put Islam in the picture and the very real cultural imperialism that exists within the Muslim community, and you have a lost people.

You have a people who are already down and doing all they can to pick themselves up - yet continually getting kicked back down by people who claim to be their brothers and sisters.

It's easier for people who have such rich cultures to shun American culture entirely. In fact, I do not blame them. If I had some other culture that I could adhere to, I most probably would. I travelled the world for 12 years looking for that culture but instead what I found were different manifestations of the same problems (obviously not as grand) as I found in America. So I was then left with a choice. If all cultures have both positives and negatives then it would make sense to accept the fact that I am American now by design from God and take the good aspects of it and leave the bad.

I'm not an "Uncle Tom". I'm a man that believes in fighting for my people. And a major issue plaguing my people is that of having no real cultural identity and the self hate that comes along with that. I tried to commit suicide when I was 18 years old because of identity issues.

We of all people understand the systematic oppression that certain aspects of the government impose on all people (at home and abroad). But all we can do is take what's good and then work hard to fix the ills that we are also victims of. I want social justice just as much as everyone else. I just don't want to have to not exist to get it. I don't want America to disappear, I want to make it a better place. I don't want my children to go through the same identity issues that I went through. I don't want them to feel the pain I feel. I want them to be strong, confident, Muslims that fight for social change.

I am an American Muslim and no amount of arguing how that is an impossible dichotomy will change that. I don't have a choice. I am who I am, regardless if people would prefer that I was something else. My story is not over and it is certainly not unique. There are many people from many different backgrounds who are struggling in one way or another. They don't need to be told who they are or who they can't be, especially by people who haven't cared enough to take the time to find out the slightest thing about them first before passing judgement. My father once told me: "You influence every person you come in contact with. It is up to you whether or not that will be a positive influence or a negative one." May we all be of benefit to ourselves and others and may we all realize the potential for greatness that lies within each one of us.


More art activism:
American Muslim Youth And The Tar Sands
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Muslims In The West, Cool Photo Journal
British Photographer: The Art Of Integration by Peter Sanders
UK's First Ever Kuwaiti Pop Art Exhibition

From California on the day of `Eid-ul-fitr, renowned Muslim figure shaykh Hamza Yusuf gave the `Eid sermon (khutba) on Wednesday, 31st August, after completing 30 days of fasting in the Islamic month Ramadan. We have provided a transcript of the speech and encourage all viewers to learn, implement and share the beautiful wisdom of Allah and his Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf begins with a du`a (supplication).

"`Eid mubarak. Alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, all praise belongs to Allah. Allah in the Qur'an says,

'They ask you, [O Muhammad], about the new moons. Say, "They are measurements of time for the people and for Hajj"...' (Qur'an, 2: 189)

The sighting of the new moon with the human eye has historically been the way of determining the new month, despite the fact they were quite capable of doing calculations for centuries.

We're living in a time where we have incredible technology, to monitor the the galaxy, to monitor planets. At one time we thought there were only five planets. Now we're discovering there could be up to 4 billion planets just in our own galaxy.

Th Prophet, peace be upon him, determined that the 29th day of Ramadan day is where we go out to search for the 30th moon, he called it, "The day of doubt". This is because there's no certainty whether you can sight the moon or not. According to the Naval Observatory website, it says it's not possible to sight a moon with certainty with the naked eye in the first 24 hrs of the new month. This is exactly what the Prophet's calling it. To eliminate it means there's absolutely no doubt and this still is not true. There is an uncertainty.

To those Muslims who hold onto tradition, "Sumu ri ru' ya tihi, fast when you see the moon." Here, "Ru' ya tihi" is a sight, it has to be seen with the eyes. "Wa afturili ri ru' ya tihi", the fuqaha determined that a group should see it, but not everybody has to see it. And Muslims end the month with what is called "jam`uh ghafeer", which is a majority, a large number of people confirming the new moon.

Two days ago we went out but we did not see the moon. There was one report in South America of a moon sighting; I personally did not feel comfortable, and I want to commend the SPIA for taking that same position just because if you hasten an act of worship (`ibadat) before its time, it's unacceptable. But if you delay an `ibadah for gaining certainty, you get a reward. So, by waiting an extra day to have certainty, all you can do is benefit!

Even yesterday when we went out to see the moon, it was a tiny sliver, a new moon. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "The end of time will not come until people who see a first day moon say, 'this is two days old!'"

Having said that, the people who broke their fast yesterday, insha'Allah that's valid because they were following their leadership and those who give fatwah, the accountability is on them - not everyone is responsible. I'm not saying in anyway it was invalid, I'm just saying that I certainly feel more comfortable having completed 30 days. Praise Allah.

Now at the end we learn Ramadan is a madrasah, a school to learn certain behavioral patterns to take for the rest of the year. So let us remind ourselves: The Lord of Ramdan is also the Lord of every month of the year - The Lord of Shawwal and Dhul Hijjah and Dhul Qa`da. Ramadan has ended, our behaviour needs to continue.

In Ramadan, people get closer to Allah because of the nature of Ramadan. They don't backbite (although this is prohibited outside of Ramadan). We're extra vigilant in order to train ourselves.

Imam Ghazali says, if you can control yourself with food and sexuality, then you can control all other things easier. These are two primary drives in the human being. The Eros drive, and the need for satiation, for food.

In learning to discipline the soul, we get closer to Allah. Prophet Muhammad said in a hadith placed in An-Nawawi's collection, which indicates it primacy as one of the central ahadith in Islam:

1) "At-Tahoor, shatrul 'imaan - Purification is half of faith".  (Hadith number 23, on Kalamullah)

An-Nawawi mentions in his commentary that Imam Ghazali said "at-tahoor" here means purification of the heart. Purifiying your heart is half of faith. One half is to enter into faith and the other half is tazkiya. Allah says about the soul, "He has succeeded who purifies it, And he has failed who instills it [with corruption]." - who stunts it. (Qur'an, 91:9-10). Tazkiyah is central to Islamic tradition and Ramadan is the month for tazkiyah, the purification of the heart and disciplining the soul.

Allah says, "O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous." (Qur'an, 2:183)

Ramadan is so that you can learn spiritual discipline, getting closer to God, being more obedient.

Then the Prophet said, saying alhamdulillah will fill the mizaan, the scales, which according to tradition is bigger than heavens and earth. And saying Subhan'Allahi aalhamdulllahi is filling what is between the heavens and earth.

He further said, "was-salatu noorun - prayer, the salah is a light". How is it a light? In a factual (muttawatir) hadith, he said, "Give good tidings to those who go in the darkness (at night prayer, 'isha and fajr) of complete light on the day of Judgement."

On Judgement Day, when you're moving forward there are stages where it becomes completely dark. And those who did not have prayer in this world, they don't have any light to see. So prayer is a light, it will guide you.

"Inna salata tanha anan fa` sha'i wal munkar - Prayer will prevent you from doing foul and disobedient things". It increases your light. The more spiritual light you have, the more you can contribute to the elimination of darkness in the world. Darkness cannot succees because it is not a positive quality, it is a negative quality.

If you enter darkness into a room filled with light, it can't dispel the light. But if you have a room filled with darkness, one bit of light that enters the room will illuminate all the darkeness. Light is positive! And that is what we are accruing with our spiritual practice, LIGHT, in order to dispel the negativities that exist in this world.

THIS Is the role of those who believe in God. Of those who believe there's a Day of Judgement and that you're going to be taken into account.

The Prophet went on to say, "Wa-sadaqah tu burhaan - And charity is a proof."

Charity is a proof of your belief, in how you give to others. Allah says "Inna al-insana khuliqa halu`a - Indeed, mankind was created in a state of anxiety" (Qur'an, 70:19). We come into the world screaming, in a state of 'hala'. Allah says in the same verse, "When evil touches him, he's impatient," he becomes completely destablised. And "when good touches him, he withholds," he's greedy, he's covetous, he wants to keep it for himself, he doesn't want to share -"Ill'al musalleen - EXCEPT those who pray."

This is a different state of mind, these believers are connected to Allah. They are constant in their prayer, some say it's "sujud al-qalb", the prostration of the heart that is in constant prayer. The heart has a prostration like the head. These are the believers who give in their wealth - for those who ask, those who don't ask and you can still see they have a need.

At the end of Ramadan we pay zakat-ul-fitr. Zakat-ul-fitr is a dedicated "sa'a" from each person, a portion that's given to those who need. It used to be a portion of grain but now, in the Hanafi madhab (school of thought) we pay money and distribute because it faciliates it for places that need it more than we do. We give zakat at the end of Ramadan because we have just spent learning about hunger, that there are many people who are hungry.

It's inexcusalbe that we have famine today! We have a globalised system and the means to take food anywhere on the planet, and yet we have people starving in East Afrca. Completely unacceptable. And then we have people vomiting from over-eating. You can go to the store and see rows and rows of dyspeptic medicines for indigestion, for people who eat too much, who don't need that food. Really, it's a billion dollar industry in the United States, from people over-eating. We have become an obese society. People taking more calories than they need.

`Umar radhi Allah `anhu (may Allah be pleased with him) once saw a large bellied man making tawaf (circumambulation of Kabah) and put his stick next to his stomach and said, "this would be better on someone else who needed it." Right?!

One of the Muritanian poets said, "I'm amazed at a religion that calls for the fraternity of mankind, and yet we see some dying from hunger and some from over-eating, from satiety." He's amazed at this, asking well, how can a religion who takes care of the needy allow this?

The Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him said, "Nobody is a believer who goes to bed full and his neighbour is hungry". It negates your faith! And now in a globalised society, your neighbour can be a thousand miles away. Because we know about all the people now, before they had exuses of distance, today we know!

Brothers and sisters, this religion calls us to reflect on death. The Prophet peace be upon him meditated on death, not in a morbid way, but to teach us the fragility of life. We're moving through life, and we'll be confronted with a momentous ovent.

Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said to hold onto the rope of Allah, this Book. Everything you need is in the Qur'an as explained by Prophet Muhammad.

In conclusion, the central theme of the book of Allah is to believe in Allah and live righteously. What does this mean? When the Prophet, peace be upon him, was asked by a man for advice, he "Qul aman tu billah thum-mustaqim - say, I believe in Allah and then BE upright." And what is uprightness? All of the Qur'anic ethics can be summarised in one verse where Allah calls for us to come! Elevate yourself. When you ask someone "ta aala" it means to stand, to get up. Elevate yourselves!

And I will tell you what God says you should and should not do in the Qur'an, chapter 17, verses 22-35:

• Don't associate partners with God
• Show goodness to parents - filial piety. We're living in a time where parents are denegraded but you need to show filial piety.
• Don't kill your children - no abortions or a fear of poverty. Allah says He will provide for you and for them! So the usool (above the head) and the fur'ooa` (below), the roots and the branches, are like the parents and the children.

Each one of us is a trunk and these are the roots to our trunk; our roots are our parents and our branches are our children. You need the whole tree to be holistic. You have to have a healthy whole tree, if you cut off the roots, you kill the trunk, and if you cut off the branches, there's no fruit. This is the tree of life. And this is why we're here - because of our parents, and this is why we continue - through our children. This tree of life needs to be nurtured and that is what Allah is calling us to do, to nurture this tree.

• Don't go near fornication, do not go to theft and these other forbidden (haram) things that cause destruction to your societies. These are diseases of the heart, and diseases of society.
• Do not kill any soul that Allah has sanctified - Muslim, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, it doesn't matter, it is a sanctifed soul. Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, stood up for the funeral of a Jew, it's recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari, and it was at a time when there was friction between the Jews and Muslims. The Prophet stood up and the Sahaba said, "this is a Jewish man," and the Prophet said, "wa laysat nafsa? - isn't this a human soul?" He respected the soul, he stood out of respect for that soul going back to its Lord, irrespective of its creed or its colour or cast. It doesn't matter! It's a soul and we cannot judge that soul. Alalh will judge that soul. Don't kill any soul! Allah is telling you to do this in order ot behave rationally, to believe.

We've got madness in our community, just recently an idiot went into a masjid and killed 50 people thinking it was a good idea. We've got madness in these cycles of violence. The only thing tht will break this cycle is intelligent people refusing to be part of this madness and demanding that there will be a different way. Allah says, do not kill a sanctified soul. That is your religion.

• Don't go near the orphans' wealth, don't touch it.
• And be just in your economics. That's the basis of healthy society, is just economics. Look at the economic systems of other countries and look at ours. People were robbed, their houses were robbed. These banks that committed daylight, bank robbery. It used to be where you went in and robbed a bank but now the banks are robbing the people! This is how distorted it's gotten. The banks were bailed out with billions but Mr and Mrs B weren't bailed out, their house was taken. Allah says, don't consume one another's wealth with lies, with vanities. Don't do it. Allah says a balanced economy is for commercial transactions where both sides are pleased with it. Don't kill one another because when you have unjust economies you have wars. These are economic transgressions.

You wanna know about Afghanistan? Look at lithium. The trillion dollars of lithium that's in Afghanistand land - you wanna know why people are in Afghanistan? Because Afghanistan has the most important minerals for high tech industry in the world. This is the world we're living in, a world of greed. A world where politicians feed us lies, telling us it's going to better society. Zbigniew Brzezinski said there is a political awakening, making it very difficult for politiians to do what they used to do. People now see the inequities, the exploitation, they read it in the newspapers. It's not like the old days where they could hide.

Politicians need to step aside to let human beings live with dignity and justice. Really, just let them live. Because it's wrong what they're doing, it's evil. People deserve better than this. Human beings are trying to raise their children without having a fear that secret police will take their children away, or ending up in an orange suit somewhere off Cuba. A place with blindfolds and earphones to block out hearing - sensory deprivation, which a New York Times articles asked "Is torture justified?" What happened?! In my world, I grew up in an America where we had civil society, things like torture weren't even questions to be asked.

We were founded on principles of human dignity. They used to hide these things, like the syphilis studies. Yes - the very Nazis who did things to the Jews, had done on them. People are passing on these forward because some aren't seen as 'human' in South America as they are. Those things are hidden, they are nefarious deeds that were done in the past, in the dark, we can't do anything about that, but when they become OPEN: What responsibility do we have then when? When we can see what's being done in broad daylight?

Shame on us, shame on all of us. What's done in the dark is God's business, but what do we do when it's done in broad daylight (?)

Allah says, "We do not charge any soul except [with that within] its capacity. And when you testify, be just, even if it's against near relative." (Qur'an, 6:152) - Even if it's your community, your own Ummah. It doesn't matter what it is, if it's wrong we condemn that wrong. This is a high religion, a religion of ethics and community.

The Prophet peace be upon him said, a time will come when you will see darkness followed by darkenss. `Ali (ra) asked, what is the way out, and the Prophet replied,"Kitab Allah, book of God". The Qur'an has news of what went before us and what will come after, it is a judge and an arbitrator between you. Whoever leaves the Qur'an, does it out of arrogance, Allah will break his back. And if you seek guidance in other books, you will be lead astray.

The Prophet said to hold onto the strong rope of Allah, His Book. To make dhikr, the remembrance and learning the wisdoms of Allah, and this takes you to a straight path. Tongues will not be confusing if they quote the Qur'an, and he said you will not have diverse opinions if you follow the Qur'an, the ulema will never tire of it, and the pious will never grow bored or weary reciting it.

This is the book of God that even when the jinn heard it they said we've heard a wondrous book that must have a guidance.

If you judge by the Qur'an, you will be just, if you speak by the Qur'an, you will be truthful. If you act according to it, you will gain a reward, and if you call to it, you will be taken to a straight path. The Qur'an is a protection, a safety for whoever follows it."


Eid al-Fitr 2011 sermon delivered by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf at the Santa Clara Fairgrounds in San Jose, California, on August 31, 2011.


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Imam Fights Street Crime With Mosque Fight Club
Eid 2010 Sermon by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf
Message Of The Week: Ugly Pursuits
Shaykh Hamza Yusuf's First Blog Raises Social Issues
It's Tough With Cultural Parents

Featuring alleged attacks, physical threats and identity clashes, a diverse group of American communities has brought attention to discrimination against Muslims, Sikhs, Arabs and others almost ten years after the attacks on September 11th, 2011.

The website, titled "Unheard Voices of 9/11", officially launched online in September with a call for people to share their experiences about being targeted because of their spiritual and cultural beliefs and appearance.

Viewers are invited to upload a video of their personal stories or post an image of victims with words of support.

"We were all affected by 9/11, but the mainstream media has not always covered our stories... This website is our chance to tell our stories, so that our voices are no longer unheard," said Sapreet Kaur, executive director of The Sikh Coalition.


Shawn Sing, a NY student, recalled on a video posted on the "Unheard Voiced" how his childhood was affected by the attacks, and Banjot Sing shares how a police officer questioned him and a friend aboard a train out of Manhattan because a fellow passenger "thought we were dangerous."

"We didn't face the problem, but we were running away from it by trying to change our identity and who we are," Sajid said at an August hearing in New York City, portions of which are now on the "Unheard Voices" website. "We don't know how to face the problem ... I don't know what we can do."

Several high-profile cases of alleged hate crimes have been reported and cases in which Muslims and Sikhs faced opposition to projects due to their religion and heritage.

One that received significant international attention was Park 51, an Islamic community center proposed for two blocks from ground zero in Lower Manhattan. Many city residents opposed the effort, characterising the location of the center - which would mostly house cultural, social and recreational programs, as well as a prayer space - as inappropriate and insensitive.

"These 10 years have been pure fear, being scared of the next step, being scared of the next place we're going to go ... what my brother might face, what my dad might face, what I might face," said Manpreet Kaur, 21, from Oak Brook, Illinois. "It's that fear that, everywhere we go, something might happen because we are Sikh - because our men wear turbans, because we look different, because our names are different."

Anoop Prasad, a northern California resident who works for the Asian Law Caucus, said he's known many people who have been visited in recent years by FBI agents, claiming that such treatment sows widespread distrust against authorities among Muslims and others.

"In my community, people are very afraid - that's the reality," he said.


Link to video {http://youtu.be/s68KJxyW2tc}


Image {flickr}

More:
Muslims Mourn On 9/11 Alongside Fellow Americans
Video: President Barack Obama On Death Of Osama Bin Laden
Inside The Mosque At Ground Zero, On Channel 4

Matthew Naim Abdullah, an environmental activist from California writes during Ramadan about why the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline is a bad idea.

It is nearing the onset of sunset in San Diego, California – an idyllic suburb in many respects, although mere kilometers away from a Mexican border that is wracked with blood, sweat, and tears. The Islamic maghrib prayer will occur soon, and dutiful Muslims arrive hungry and tired for one of the final nights of Ramadan, a time for spiritual contemplation and self-purification.

Some will spend the time sleeping and praying for redemption in their preferred mosque. Some will gorge on high-cholesterol Middle Eastern food, and consequently endure abdominal pain and insomnia most of the night. Others will simply spend quality time with their families.

My path is a little different, however, as I will most likely spend the last day or two of Ramadan in jail.

Over the next few days, I will travel to Washington DC to participate in the Tar Sands Action {tarsandaction.org}, a nonviolent civil disobedience gathering in front of the White House to protest the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline, repping individuals from all 50 states and all walks of life.

Muslims from around the world are aware of the insidious effects of oil and other fossil fuels on our daily lives. Gulf states regularly exploit workers from South Asia in their pursuit of hyper-industrial development, air pollution ravages nations such as Egypt and Iran, and African resources such as the Niger delta have been systematically raped and pillaged by post-colonial powers and multinational corporations.

These woes are precisely why many wince when they hear about this pipeline, which will purportedly run from Alberta, Canada all the way to refineries on the Gulf Coast of Texas, criss-crossing through multiple Midwest regions on the way there. If you take a look at the map on the aforementioned link, it rivals the transcontinental railroad in all its megalomaniacal glory.

Sadly, the Obama administration shows no sign of withstanding the onslaught of energy lobbyists salivating over this pipeline. According to the New York Times, the State Department just released a report concluding that the pipeline would exert only minimal environmental effects.

Never mind that the report minimizes - that is, completely ignores, the effects of the pipeline on carbon emissions, which will be so nasty that they will ‘essentially [spell] game over for the climate,” according to the world’s top climatologist James Hansen. Never mind that the pipeline runs straight through the Ogallala Aquifer - one of the largest freshwater reserves in the world - as well as the Yellowstone River and fragile ecosystems such as the Nebraska Sandhills. Never mind that yet another oil pipeline will further obstruct our ability to move towards a clean-energy economy. Not like we were moving in the first place. We didn’t even get a climate bill.

As Muslims, we are required to stand up to injustice wherever we see it - with our hearts, our bodies, and our minds. 

This remains true whether we are struggling against oppressors in Egypt or Libya, or whether we are fighting for policy reforms in the United States that will have transnational effects on poor and marginalized populations. The Qur’an reminds us that we need to ‘strive hard’ against the actions of ungrateful and two-faced entities that value private gain over public welfare (9:73). In addition, the sacred book states that our civil struggles are a necessary sociological phenomenon if we wish to avoid the physical or moral corruption of all people. As the brilliant Qur'an translator Muhammad Asad noted,

“….if God had not enabled people to defend themselves against one another, corruption would surely overwhelm the earth.“  (Qur'an, 2:251).

As young people, we will all suffer from the hazards of climate change, no matter what we adhere to in terms of religion, ethnoracial identity, or socioeconomic standing. If we as Muslims wish to provide a vital contribution to global movements such as climate justice, we need to reduce the fragmentation, insularity, and often-cynical identity politics seen in many of our communities and civil society organizations. Yes, we encounter struggles against discrimination and alienation, many of us almost daily. But let’s not let issues such as Islamophobia divert us entirely from our participation in movements such as climate change, which require the attention of our entire world.

And we do have reason to participate in efforts such as the Tar Sands Action, as our communities around the world will be affected. Not all Muslim groups around the world respond to climate collapse in a civil or peaceful way, as we have seen from the genocidal massacre related to resource conflicts in the Darfur region.  In fact, they might respond in a much more violent and reactionary manner. And in an era where resource-related conflicts will be exploited by wealthy special interests, war profiteers and corporate media outlets might realize that they have much to gain by creating a caricature of ‘eco-terrorist Muslims’ as evil villains. This could potentially cause scapegoat-like rage against the Muslim world, with elite land grabs and Great Game-like wargames expressed as euphemisms such as international ‘interventions’ and local ‘security incidents.’

However, there is reason for hope. Our Arab Spring brothers and sisters overseas have singlehandedly taken down decades-long dictators such as Ben Ali, Mubarak, and Gaddafi, mostly through civil and non-aggressive means on their part. Therefore, this vibrant revolutionary environment in the Arab Spring nations serves as the perfect opportunity for us to affirm the civil and peaceful principles that will guide future climate justice efforts in Muslim-majority societies. Hopefully, we can then begin to push the tide towards peaceful protests and international solidarity, rather than towards reactionary violence and balkanization.

Ramadan arrived, and it has left us. Many words have been spoken about the value of putting faith into action, but it is now time for action itself - which is why I will be joining over 2000 individuals at the White House this week to make a stance.

{Tar Sands Action}

By Matthew Naim Abdullah, an environmental and political activist from California.

Image:: flickr

"I just wanted to make a place for my community to pray. Nothing more. Nothing less."

Sharif El-Gamal, the charismatic property developer from Brooklyn behind 'Park 51', gives his account for the first time in a film by Bafta award-winning director Dan Reed (Dispatches: Terror in Mumbai).

Reed's film untangles the hysteria, fury and politics surrounding the 'Mosque at Ground Zero'. His film explores how this proposed mosque and Islamic community centre, two blocks away from the site of the 9/11 attack in lower Manhattan, has thrown into sharp focus the tensions at the core of American democracy regarding the country's Muslim population.

With unique access to the major players in the project and the unfolding events, Inside The Mosque At Ground Zero recounts the press frenzy surrounding the plans. The vitriolic attacks on its high-profile spiritual leader Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf affect his vision for the centre. The film shares heartrending stories of some of the 9/11 families who oppose the building and reveals the driving force behind the mosque. In demand for the centre to be prevented or relocated, Evangelical Pastor Terry Jones gathered media attention to host a Quran burning day.

"I'm not a community activist," said Sharif El-Gamal, "I'm not a community leader... I'm not an Islam academic. I'm a New Yorker who is a real estate junkie. That's who I am." El-Gamal was brought up as a church-going Christian named Alexander, the son of a Polish Catholic and an Egyptian Muslim. After rediscovering Islam in his 30s, he purchased the Burlington Coat Factory in 2009, a disused building that was struck by the undercarriage of the second plane that hit Tower Two. His place was twofold - to make money from building condominiums on the site but also to provide a place of worship for the local Muslim population.

American community leader Imam Feisal propsed the entire site be transformed into a community centre that would act to counter extremism and give a platform to the American Muslim voice. When El-Gamal agreed, little did he know of the outrage he would ignite.


"What has my community done? We have done nothing. We have to get our identities back through our actions." - Sharif El-Gamal.

The opposition to the so-called 'mega mosque' caught the attention of Fox News which was at the vanguard of the US media storm. The controversy gathered political mementum and even President Obama felt compelled to take sides and endorse the mosque.


Reed follows El-Gamal as he battles to garner support and funds for the project he has dubbed 'Park 51'. Run from a back room in his property, the two staff members are students who feel underprepared to delivery El-Gamal's vision.

Of all his challenges, the most sensitive is the hostility towards the project from some of the 9/11 families. Reed films the highly-fraught and emotional meeting between El-Gamal and Lee Hanson who lost his son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter on the second plane.

But not all families oppose the mosque; Charlie Wolf lost his wife on the plane that hit the first tower. He says,

"You can't say that we can't have anybody, any Muslims near Ground Zero - that is a bunch of bull. Because as soon as you say they can't be two blocks, then where can they be? Three blocks, five blocks, ten blocks, half a mile, a mile, sixteen miles?"

Ten years on from the events that shaped a nation, this is the story of a derelict building that has become a lightening rod for America's struggles to reconcile its own psyche.

Transmission date: Monday 5th September at 8.00pm on Channel 4.

Ramadan is here. It is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, when Muslims fast from dawn to dusk for a whole month.

The four benefits of fasting are self-restraint, knowledge, gratefulness and the ability to differentiate between right and wrong. Ramadan is also a time for community building and renewal. Fasting reinforces the bonds of brotherhood and sisterhood.

Families will gather Monday evening at local mosques to participate in prayer services.

"We fast a month, from sunrise to sundown. Ramadan teaches us humility and reminds us of the people today who are living in famine," said Muslim Anas Chraibi.

The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago {www.ciogc.org} is a federation of more than 60 organizations, mosques, and schools representing the Muslim community. Monday, they focused on needed relief efforts for Somalia.

Civil wars have been ongoing for two decades in Somalia. The UN has officially declared the region as a drought and famine-stricken area. Close to 4 million people, including 2 million children, are suffering from this calamity of epic proportions. The council states that half a million children are at an imminent risk of dying and help is needed.

"How can we prevent something like this from happening and how can we provide a peaceful life for the Somali children? By giving them food. That is saying we prevent you from starving today. What about his or her life tomorrow and the years to come?" said Ifrah Magan of the East African Community Center.

"What is happening in Somalia is the worst humanitarian crisis in the world," said Rashid Issack of the American Refugee Committee.

The council also announced its Green Ramadan Initiative for the month, encouraging environmental awareness in issues such as water usage reduction, recycling, and decreasing carbon production.

"We are encouraging people to donate to people who are starving to death in Somalia and think of long-term solutions, to be green, to think about our environment," said the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago's Zahar Sahloul.

The council has partnered with The Field Museum for a green Ramadan.

"We see a real opportunity here for Islam and the faith of Islam to tie their values and actions to addressing climate change," said Field Museum's Mario Longoni.

The hunger epidemic grows daily, damaging the health of children and rupturing the well being of families.

Ramadan is not only a time to build one's faith, it is also a time to build a stronger community. It is a time to be more charitable to others.

The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago wants Muslims to remember this Ramadan, when you break your fast, to reflect on this blessing of having a warm meal every day and being able to live without the struggle to preserve a healthy environment for your families. It is a time to be generous and to remember that one person can make a difference.


Source: {ABC Local} | Theresa Gutierrez
(Copyright ©2011 WLS-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the launch of TechGirls, an educational initiative for girls from Muslim countries interested in technology.


"It will bring teenage girls from the Middle East and North Africa for an intensive month of educational activities here in the United States," Clinton said Wednesday.

Clinton made the announcement at the closing luncheon honoring the first class of participants from TechWomen, a public-private partnership that brought emerging female leaders in technical fields from predominately Muslim countries to the United States for one month.

The women were paired with 24 leading, U.S. technology companies in Silicon Valley and the greater San Francisco area, including giants Google, Facebook and Intel, for a project-based professional mentorship.

"Being a woman in the field of technology is not always easy. Being a woman in any field is not always easy, but there are so many opportunities in technology that we just have to forge ahead," Clinton told the group of 37 Muslim women and their U.S. mentors.

The participants were from Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Jordan and the Palestinian Territories. TechWomen will expand next year to include Tunisia and Yemen.

Select U.S. mentors will complete the professional exchange program and travel to Lebanon and Morocco this year to conduct workshops for women in the technology sector as well as for young girls who have expressed an interest in tech-based careers.

TechWomen, a State Department initiative, was introduced by Clinton at the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship last spring.

The U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs awarded a $1 million grant to the Institute of International Education. The IIE, in partnership with the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology, implemented both the exchange in the United States and the exchange in Lebanon and Morocco, a State Department spokeswoman said.

Clinton encouraged the first class of TechWomen to help other women in their home countries, stressing that the work between TechWomen and the United States is just beginning.

"We will continue to work with you, we will continue to support you and we will continue to look for ways that we can empower women and girls through technology," Clinton said.


From: UPI | 6th July 2011 | Hannah G Vickers

“Ramadan: It’s Not All About Fasting”. The fantastic Multi-faith and Cultural Charity Event organised by Tent of Scattered Pearls - (TSP) A Muslim Woman’s Study Group.

"It will be a fun and informative time with prizes, gifts, shopping, and a lunch of wonderful International Cuisine."



Tent of Scattered Pearls - (TSP), based in Kansas City, Missouri, are a non-profit charity ran on volunteer work to improve local community relations, projects of social awareness and educational development.



What’s in the works for TSP now?
After completing a successful Janazah Seminar, TSP are currently structuring continued educational classes on this topic.

How YOU can help
If you live in the Kansas City metropolitan area, TSP could use your help on the following - get in touch no later than July 6th please:

• Contribute towards covering the cost of renting the facility. Currently $300 are needed.
• Have your business, study group, or organization sponsor a table at just $40. You may then choose to use these 8 seats for your own group, invite your own guests, or donate them. You will be provided with your company/group name on the table and be listed in our program as a supporter of the event.
• Donate gifts and/or gift certificates to be used for prizes and gifts at the event. Again, a public announcement will be made for whomever kindly donated the item.
• You could give cash donations to help cover advertising and printing costs.

"Our goal, insha'Allah, is to exceed our costs and apply our gains to our future projects which include classes and other projects supporting our community." - Tent of Scattered Pearls.

For more information and to participate behind the scenes, get in touch:
w | tentofscatteredpearls.blogspot.com  e | tentofscatteredpearls@gmail.com
t | 913-787-1646

Khadijah, the beloved historical figure in Islam, successfully tied various traditions to a common route. Inspired by her example, we now interpret the caravan - which was once used to transport goods across the desert - to serve as a vehicle for cross-cultural exchange across the urban oasis.

What the Heart Sees, our photography and oral history program for Muslim youth in New York City, is heading to the Allied Media Conference (AMC)! The AMC takes place every summer in Detroit, and is all about independent grassroots media-making, with skill-shares, panels, open meeting spaces, and more, with diverse attendees and a DIY attitude. We want to go to participate, network, grow, and learn, from the hundreds who are coming to the AMC from all over North America, in order to improve and expand our own media-making initiatives, such as our youth photography workshop series. We will also be presenting a workshop with Muslim media-makers based in Toronto.

We need to raise money to get to the AMC, and that’s where you come in. We need your help. If you can donate 10, 20 or more, that will allow us to get Khadijah’s Caravan to the AMC in Detroit near the end of June, that would be great! We need to raise money so that we can take KC folks, especially some of our youth members, to represent media-makers who are Muslim, who are youth, and who are from NYC.

If you can donate to help Khadijah’s Caravan get What the Heart Sees to the AMC from NYC (like the rhyming?) please email us at khadijahscaravan@gmail.com and let us know how you’d like to contribute.

Here’s more info about us and our photography workshop series, and check out our {video} from last year’s series in Queens!

About Khadija's Caravan
Khadijah’s Caravan connects people, places and communities through spiritually-based activism. Our aim is to support and encourage values of compassion and justice by focusing on art, education, and entrepreneurship.

Khadijah's Caravan welcomes you to join us as we journey to understand and connect the spaces we move through, the issues we encounter, and the communities we claim.

About Our Program 
What the Heart Sees is a photography workshop series created for Muslim youth in New York City. In our first edition of this series, the program worked closely with those living in Queens who were within the ages of 13 -18 years old.

The 16-week long program enabled participants to connect photography with activism. As American Muslims continue to have the glare of the spotlight on their communities, it becomes imperative that we take control of how we are pictured and who tells our stories. A significant voice that often goes missing is the voice of our youth. Out of this need to for safe space in which youth can discuss topics that impact their daily lives and can effectively advocate for themselves, What the Heart Sees was created. We just finished our second series which took place in Staten Island, and will be having our third series this summer in the Bronx.

Thank you for your time and support!