Engage Minnesota

by Fedwa Wazwaz, Engage Minnesota

In various parts of the Muslim world, protests erupted over an anti-Islam film produced in the United States.  In addition, protests turned deadly at U.S. Embassies in areas struggling with revolutions and political unrest. 

Violence Condemned

Various leaders and activists from the Twin Cities Muslim community came forth to condemn the violence.

Star Tribune front page article:

Twin Cities Muslim leaders condemn overseas violence

And here is the joint statement from MN Muslim leaders/activists:

MN Muslim Leaders Condemn Killings of American Diplomats

Zafar Siddiqui, Islamic Resource Group Outreach and Interfaith Director wrote the following blog on the Star Tribune.

Minnesota Muslims Condemn Violence in Libya

Hate Speech vs. Free Speech

“Every time that there is an offensive piece written to target Muslim sensitivities, there is the temptation to cast it as an issue of ‘freedom of speech’, held to be absolute, vs. the religious sensitivity of Muslims. That framework is either unhelpful or at best only partially helpful,” said Omid Safi, professor of Islamic Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in an article for the Religion News.  He added: “The so-called film are best classified as ‘hate speech’, as they seem to be of the same genre as anti-Semitic films of the 1930’s or Birth of the Nation KKK movies.”

Sheila Musaji has done an investigative piece on the film here.  On the site, The American Muslim, Musaji has well written pieces on the Islamophobia industry and their desire to psychologically terrorize Muslims.  Here is an excerpt from one of her pieces, Islamophobia Manifesto Clearly Lays Out Plot Against Muslims:

“The Muslims themselves have shown us their most vulnerable spot, which is the questionable (though unquestioned) character of the ‘Prophet’ himself. We need to satirise and ridicule baby-bonking Mo until the Muslims fly into uncontrollable tantrums, then ridicule them even more for their tantrums, and repeat the process until they froth at the mouth and steam comes out of their ears.”

Prophetic Response to anti-Islam film

Prophet Muhammad, upon him peace and blessings taught Muslims how to respond in such situations.  Muslims need to remind themselves of his life and how he dealt with such situations and follow his footsteps.  These psychological games are clearly designed to manipulate and harm.  But the spirit and our faith in God is more powerful than any psychological terrorism.

See the following video as a reminder on how the Prophet responded to insults:

Prophetic Response

 People Are in a State of Agitation and Insecurity

When They Insult Our Prophet

Education is key.  You cannot give something that you do not have.  If you do not know his life, then the answer is not to yell or shout but to first educate yourself on his life.  Seek out scholars and knowledgeable people that can educate you on his entire life.  Then share that knowledge with others beginning with your family.

Use media available to you to tell his life story using whatever skill you have, while keeping in mind that no film or anyone can eradicate Islam or change Prophet Muhammad’s life story.  The strategy used now has been tried in the past many times, and it has failed and will fail again.  See the following examples:

Spoken Word Response

Lupe Fiasco counters anti-Islam video

Poem on Character of Prophet Muhammad

Twitter Gives Muslims A Voice, A (Seriously) Funny Voice #MuslimRage

13 Powerful Images of #MuslimRage

Educational Presentations Available

For speakers or presentations on the life of Prophet Muhammad, upon him peace and blessings, contact the Islamic Resource Group, an educational outreach organization in the Twin Cities.

By Zafar Siddiqui, Engage Minnesota.

The horrendous attack against the US consulate in Libya and the killing of our ambassador needs to be condemned in strongest possible terms. There can be no excuse for such cowardly acts of violence. Muslims around the world must take heed from the American Muslim community that rightly ignored the movie and the vile attempts to promote it. Minnesota based Islamic Resource Group issued the following statement in response to this tragedy.

Read the rest of Zafar’s piece here.

By Naaima Khan, Engage Minnesota

Since the introduction of the budget bill in Congress with multiple funding changes, activists have responded fiercely to what has been labeled “The War on Women.”   The budget bill, among a variety of measures that affect women’s health, includes a cease on funding for Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest reproductive health care provider.  Other controversial measures that the bill proposes include elimination of support for Title X, the federal family planning program for low-income women, as well as measures to stop funding agencies associated with providing abortions.

In the response to the War on Women, a lot of the rhetoric has been focused on women’s right broadly.  However, it’s important to note that, for activists, the focus of the War on Women is specifically in response to limiting the health care choices of women, namely those of getting an abortion and using contraception.   As we all know, abortion has been a raging debate in the United States that has ebbed and flowed, but always remained in the shadows of the nation’s conscience especially since the passage of Roe v. Wade.  This media battle is perhaps the latest resurfacing of this issue in the public domain.

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