Archive for the ‘Guest’ Category
The “B” Word
By Hani Hamdan, Engage Minnesota
Whenever I hear a question being asked about an issue of public debate, I can’t help but notice the verb “believe.”
“Do you believe in global warming?”
“Do you believe that President Obama is a secret Muslim?”
“Do you believe that silver amalgam dental fillings will make you sick?”
“Do you believe in vaccinations?”
Is it just me, or is the word “believe” being patently misused here?
Read the rest of Hani Hamdan’s MPR piece here.
My 9/11 experience
Filed under: Guest | Tags: 9/11, al qaeda, discrimination, Islam, Islamophobia, Muslims, post 9/11, terrorism, terrorists
Leave a Comment By Rihab Naheel
I rarely think of 9/11. I know that almost every one has been affected by this day in one way or another. It was 10 years ago and yet it feels like yesterday. I had to remember that day against my will the other day, long before the actual date came, while teaching a grammar lesson. Yes, this day creeps up in unexpected places, unexpected times. Read more »
Countering Islamophobia on the Tenth Anniversary of September 11 Attacks
Filed under: Guest | Tags: al qaeda, asma adam, Islam, Islamophobia, muslim-americans, terrorism
Leave a Comment By Asma Adam
If asked whether Muslim-Americans should be treated fairly, most Americans would answer “yes.” However, America has had its struggles with racism, bigotry, prejudice, and discrimination in its history and it seems that Muslim-Americans are now on the receiving end of these hateful reactions. Since the attacks of September 11, 2001 by Al-Qaeda terrorists, Muslim-Americans have had to deal with mistrust, fear, discrimination, and greater scrutiny. For instance, Muslim-Americans experience traveling restrictions, extra airport searches, denial of immigration cases, and deportations. Just because some Muslims commit horrific atrocities in the name of Islam does not mean that all Muslims are responsible for such actions. There needs to be a more fair way of viewing current issues. There must be a balance between security concerns and protecting civil rights. Read more »
Minnesotans Standing Together on 9/11/2011
Filed under: Guest | Tags: 9-11, 9/11, 9/11 10th anniversary, 911-11, interfaith, Islam, Minnesota Muslims, minnesotans standing together, Muslims, muslims against terror, terrorism
Comments (1) Islamophobes’ authoritarian contemptuous attitude toward the American public
Filed under: Guest | Tags: anti-muslim, bigotry, CAP report on islamophobia, david horowitz, david yerushalmi, fear inc, hate speech, Islam, Islamophobia, pam geller, racism, robert spencer, terrorism
Comments (2) By Hani Hamdan, Engage Minnesota
Much of the industry of Islamophobia these days seems to operate based on a perceived existential threat to the American identity – the threat that somehow Americans may become “Islamicized” en masse and be brainwashed by Muslims either into converting to Islam or adopting Islamic viewpoints. The rhetoric of bigots like Robert Spencer and David Horowitz warns America from being nobbled into somehow becoming a Muslim nation.
Regardless of the hilarity of such a claim, there is something else about it that should be deeply insulting to Americans: It presumes that Americans are stupid. Read more »
The rich pay taxes at a lower rate? That’s a problem in need of fixing
Filed under: Guest | Tags: Islam, Muslims, rich pay less tax, warren buffett
Comments (1) By Hani Hamdan, Engage Minnesota
That an ultra-rich man sends an op-ed piece to the New York Times, pleading for Congress to tax him and his wealthy friends more, is something I hope will serve as a big eye-opener for all of us. I don’t need a long list of facts to support an argument. All I need is to mention a small, yet hugely important, fact:
Last year, Warren Buffett paid only 17.6 percent in federal income tax, while most of us paid a much higher percentage.
See the rest of Hani’s op-ed piece here.
American pundits’ anti-Muslim hate speech predictably ends up costing lives
Filed under: Guest | Tags: Anders Breivik, anti-muslim, ayan hirsi ali, hate speech, Islam, Islamophobia, norway attacks, pam geller, robert spencer, terrorism
Comments (1) By Hani Hamdan, Engage Minnesota
This is not to say that Islamophobia has not already cost a barrage of human lives. In addition to direct hate crimes committed against Muslims and Muslim-looking individuals in the US and Europe, hate speech against Muslims or at least the broad criticism of Muslims’ way of life is to blame, in my opinion, for the general public’s inaction toward the thousands of lost lives deemed “collateral damage” during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Read more »
Appreciating and utilizing our freedom
Filed under: Guest | Tags: Abu Bakr Al Siddiq, arab spring, egyptian revolution, freedom, Omar ibn Abdel Aziz, revolution, syrian revolution, tunisian revolution
Leave a Comment By Hani Hamdan, Engage Minnesota
As much as we welcome the recent revolutions in parts of the Arab world, we need to acknowledge an important fact: Revolutions are no fun. Although they are necessary at times in order to correct rampant tyranny and corruption, it’s better not to ever have to resort to them. Revolutions cost lives, bog down the economy, and typically it takes several years of instability and even violence after the end of a revolution before its objectives are somewhat achieved. Read more »
Organisation of The Islamic Conference condemns the killing of UN Staff members during protests in Mazar-i- Sharif
Filed under: Guest | Tags: Islam, Muslims condemning UN killings, OIC, quran burning, terrorism, terry jones, UN killings
Leave a Comment Recalling his warning against unforeseen and volatile consequences of the outrageous and irresponsible act of burning the Holy Quran, Prof. Ihsanoglu reiterated OIC’s position on a normative approach to deal with the acts of discrimination and incitement to violence on religious grounds – through concerted efforts by the international community- with a view to avoiding recurrence of incidents caused by inflamed religious sentiments.”
The Muslim Public Affairs Council Condemns Senseless Killing of U.N. Workers in Afghanistan
Filed under: Guest | Tags: Islam, Muslims, Muslims condemning UN killings, quran burning, terrorism, terry jones, UN killings
Leave a Comment (Washington, DC – 4/1/11)—The Muslim Public Affairs Council today condemned the killing of at least 12 people, including seven United Nations workers, in Afghanistan by protesters as “barbaric, atrocious and senseless.” This afternoon, MPAC will hold press conferences in Washington, DC and Los Angeles to respond to today’s events.
Read the rest of The American Muslim’s article here.
Dishonoring the Qur’an in the West and East
Filed under: Guest | Tags: afghanistan violence, Islam, Muslims, quran burning, terrorism, UN killings
Leave a Comment By Zafar Siddiqui, Engage Minnesota
Terry Jones, the pastor of a little known church in Florida, first came to attention during the hysteria that surrounded the proposed Park51 project in New York last year. His threat to burn the Qur’an was given way too much attention than it deserved and he ended up topping the list of the most notorious. At that time, he backed off from his threat to burn the Qur’an. However, he apparently missed being in the spotlight and decided to go ahead and burn the Qur’an on March 20, 2011.
Read the rest of Zafar’s Star Tribune article here.
To learn about Islam, why not ask a Muslim?
Filed under: Guest | Tags: dick durbin, durbin, homeland security, Islam, islam hearings, Islamophobia, mosques, pete king, peter king, terrorism
Leave a Comment by Hani Hamdan, Engage Minnesota
Quite refreshing were new hearings led by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., on protecting the civil rights of American Muslims, especially after a slew of anti-Muslim events within the past year or so. Those culminated in a House committee’s hearings on the “radicalization of American Muslims” a couple of weeks ago.
As glad as I am about Durbin’s hearings, I have to maintain that the way to gain the best understanding of Muslims in the United States starts not by listening to politicians or pundits, left or right, but by shutting them off.
Read te rest of Hani’s article here.
Hearings on Islamic extremism set the worst example
Filed under: Guest | Tags: commission on homeland security, Fedwa Wazwaz, Islam, Islamophobia, Muslims, peter king, terror hearings, tolerance
Leave a Comment By Fedwa Wazwaz, Engage Minnesota
Next month, the chair of the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security plans to launch hearings on so-called domestic Islamic terrorism.
To justify the hearings, Rep. Peter King, R-New York, has made grossly irresponsible statements to right-wing broadcasters — claiming that 80 percent of U.S. mosques are extremist hotbeds and that Muslims aren’t cooperating with law enforcement.
Read Fedwa’s full article here.
Why do U.S. allies so often turn out to be the bad guys?
Filed under: Guest | Tags: egypt, egypt revolution, egypt uprising, egypt violence, Islam, mubarak, Muslims, Tunisia, tunisian revolution
Leave a Comment By Hani Hamdan, Engage Minnesota
The events in Tunisia a few weeks ago and the ones unfolding in Egypt at the moment have been quite revealing of the type of leadership these two countries have had for the last few decades.
In Tunisia, as the ruling party was clinging to the last shreds of power in the final days of protests, it resorted to unmentionable measures in trying to quench the revolution.
See the rest of Hani’s article here.
Reflections on a senior center
Filed under: Guest | Tags: Islam, islamic school, madrassa, Minnesota, Muslims, respecting elders, seniors, terrorism
Comments (2) Read more »
In Times of Anger
Filed under: Guest | Tags: arizona shooting, Islam, loghner, terrorism, tuscon shooting
Leave a Comment By Fedwa Wazwaz, Engage Minnesota
As we reflect on the life of Martin Luther King Jr., it is beneficial for us to see the whole person and not just one moment of his life where he gave the “I have a dream speech.” King was angry at the sufferings that African Americans were enduring. He was not passive, a dreamer or in denial of what was happening around him. People who are in denial of what they are experiencing cannot solve their problems, but resort to escapism solutions like drugs and alcohol.
Read the rest of Fedwa’s article here. Also read the Part II article here.
Hate Kills
Filed under: Guest | Tags: arizona shooting, dupnik, giffords, hate, Islam, media, Muslims, terrorism
Leave a Comment “…the vitriolic rhetoric that we hear day in and day out from people in the radio business and some people in the TV business…. When you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government—the anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous, and unfortunately Arizona has become sort of the capital…. People tend to pooh-pooh this business about all the vitriol we hear inflaming the American public by people who make a living off of doing that. That may be free speech, but it’s not without consequences.”
Egypt’s Muslims express solidarity by acting as “human shields” for Coptic Churches
Filed under: Guest | Tags: coptic, egypt, Islam, jihad, muhammad, Muslims, terrorism, tolerance, violence
Comments (2) We thought it is important to show examples of solidarity and tolerance in a time when contention and division are celebrated by the media. In case you missed it, here are a few links:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/01/07/egypt.coptic.church.attack/index.html
http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/news/29940-egyptian-muslims-serve-as-christian-body-shields
Monitoring Muslim Americans
Filed under: Guest | Tags: civil rights, FBI, Islamophobia, law enforcement, Minnesota Muslims, monitoring america, Muslims, tolerance
Comments (1) By Hani Hamdan, Engage Minnesota
Some time ago, a friend told me a story about his workplace. A Sudanese client came in for a visit. One of my friend’s colleagues met the client, and afterward described him as “a very smart guy.” He said it as though it were a cause for concern.
Read the rest of Hani’s piece here.
My New Year’s Resolution
Filed under: Guest | Tags: american red cross, donate blood minnesota, Islam, islam donating blood, islamic teaching, new year resolution
Leave a Comment By Hani Hamdan, Engage Minnesota
New Year’s resolutions frequently seem to involve putting an end to an embarrassing aspect of one’s life. I am no exception and I have a long list of resolutions for many new years to come. I need to eat healthier, because it is embarrassing that I seem to consume more cheese than water. I need to exercise more because I’m embarrassed that my only physical activity seems to be walking to and from the car. I need to watch less TV because, let’s face it, I can never be as cool as Horatio. His deadly combination of red hair and trendy shades oozes with can’t-be-like-me-ness.
I can also live with a little less sarcasm. Read more »
