Too Good to be True: A Positive, Level-headed Article about the "Ground-Zero Mosque"

Feisal Abdul Rauf, the Imam Behind the 'Ground Zero Mosque'

By BOBBY GHOSH – Tue Aug 3, 6:00 pm ET

The last legal hurdle to the proposed Islamic center near the site of the World Trade Center has been removed, but ignorance, bigotry and politics are more formidable obstacles. The unanimous vote Tuesday, Aug. 3, by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission means the building that currently occupies 45-47 Park Place can be torn down, clearing the way for Park51, a project known to its critics as the "Ground Zero Mosque." Criticism spans the gamut, from the ill-informed anguish of those who mistakenly view Islam as the malevolent force that brought down the towers to the ill-considered opportunism of right-wing politicians who see Islam as an easy target. (Ironically, Islam's roots in New York City are in the area around the site of the World Trade Center, and they predate the Twin Towers: in the late 19th century, a portion of lower Manhattan was known as Little Syria and was inhabited by Arab immigrants - Muslims and Christians - from the Ottoman Empire.)

With city authorities now out of the way, it is the people spearheading the project who must bear the enormous pressure to give up their plans and scrap the building. They are being accused of sympathizing with the men who crashed the planes on 9/11 and of designing the project as, in Newt Gingrich's reckoning, "an act of triumphalism."

And yet Park51's main movers, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and his wife Daisy Khan, are actually the kind of Muslim leaders right-wing commentators fantasize about: modernists and moderates who openly condemn the death cult of al-Qaeda and its adherents - ironically, just the kind of "peaceful Muslims" whom Sarah Palin, in her now infamous tweet, asked to "refudiate" the mosque. Rauf is a Sufi, which is Islam's most mystical and accommodating denomination. (See the very best #Shakespalin tweets.)

The Kuwaiti-born Rauf, 52, is the imam of a mosque in New York City's Tribeca district, has written extensively on Islam and its place in modern society and often argues that American democracy is the embodiment of Islam's ideal society. (One of his books is titled What's Right with Islam Is What's Right with America.) He is a contributor to the Washington Post's On Faith blog, and the stated aim of his organization, the Cordoba Initiative, is "to achieve a tipping point in Muslim-West relations within the next decade, steering the world back to the course of mutual recognition and respect and away from heightened tensions." His Indian-born wife is an architect and a recipient of the Interfaith Center Award for Promoting Peace and Interfaith Understanding. (Can Sufism defuse terrorism?)

Since 9/11, Western "experts" have said repeatedly that Muslim leaders who fit Rauf's description should be sought out and empowered to fight the rising tide of extremism. In truth, such figures abound in Muslim lands, even if their work goes unnoticed by armchair pundits elsewhere. Their cause is not helped when someone like Rauf finds himself being excoriated for some perceived reluctance to condemn Hamas and accused of being an extremist himself. If anything, this browbeating of a moderate Muslim empowers the narrative promoted by al-Qaeda: that the West loathes everything about Islam and will stop at nothing to destroy it. (See Daisy Khan explain the role of women leaders in Islam.)

Rauf and Khan have said Park51 - envisaged as a 15-story structure, including a mosque, cultural center and auditorium - will promote greater interfaith dialogue. The furor over the project only underlines how desperately it is needed.

Be People with Minds of Your Own...

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Do not be people without minds of your own, saying that if others treat you well you will treat them well and that if they do wrong you will do wrong. But (instead) accustom yourselves to do good if people do good and not to do wrong if they do evil."

Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1325

An important hadith for our times....

For Parents: Understanding the L.E.T.S. Phenomenon

The following is an excerpt from a magazine interview on parenting and popular media:

(Q) In your opinion, do you think that Reality TV featuring young children opens doors to pedophilia? (You would probably answer that "some may run the risk of doing so," so maybe you can elaborate on well-constructed shows that protect the dignity of children as compared to those that leverage on young children's vulnerability).

(A) This is a really difficult question to answer, because scientifically it is a bit difficult to make the claim that reality TV leads to pedophilia. That being said, however, I think there is a bigger issue at play and Reality TV is just one aspect of it. There has been an explosion in reported cases and incidents of pedophilia and sex crimes against children across the planet in recent decades. Now there are many possible factors that could be contributing to it, but one factor without a doubt is the explosion of what I like to call the L.E.T.S. phenomenon -- the Latest Expendable Teenage Superstar. This is the Britney Spears phenomenon; the young – too young, sexy, anorexic, paper cut-out superstar that is good for a few million in sales before they are discarded for the next, big upcoming LETS. I’m not sure if people in Malaysia heard the news, but the most recent controversy is over a new LETS named Miley Cyrus. She starts in the hit Disney Channel show Hannah Montana. This young woman is 15 years old and is now embroiled in ‘controversy’ over racy photos in a popular U.S. magazine named Vanity Fair, in which the young woman is seductively shown wrapped in a bed sheet. The thing about the LETS phenomenon is that the girls are getting younger and younger. The next big up and coming star is another 15 year-old named Selena Gomez, also a Disney product. The irony is that others like Britney, Christina Aguilera, Hillary Duff and Justin Timberlake are all former Disney products. Disney is becoming a major contributor to the LETS phenomenon. As we see, for many of them, like Britney, life gets pretty gruesome and by the time they are in their 20s many of them are burned out, on drugs, broke, divorced, etc.

The LETS phenomenon most definitely creates a very dangerous norm, that is, it not only objectifies woman more than they are already, but now involves teens as well, for these girls are only 15 years old! Fifteen year olds wrapped in bed sheets on the cover of magazines is as pretty close to exploitation as it gets. Soon it will be 14 year olds, then 13, then 12 -- the trend is getting younger and younger. So when does it become a ‘contributor’ to pedophilia? I don’t know, but again, look at the statement that they are making by using such young girls as sex symbols. Having a popular, half-naked 15 year old in seductive poses in adult magazines is not about selling children’s shows for Disney! It’s about the sickening reality of sexual attraction to very young women and girls, and when it becomes a norm and part of the culture, we can see what the results have been.

If you notice, many of the young, female music stars now are young and young-looking, which is what they are selling. They’re taking pretty, young girls and using their sexual allure to sell records, videos, and everything else. Of course, the bottom line is still about economics but it just shows the lengths they are willing to go now to sell – pushing the boundaries of what’s considered decent, ethical and acceptable. Being old is not cool and now, being 30 is old! That’s why we see older stars trying to desperately to appear young – the lengths people are going to in order to appear young is astounding. They are even injecting poison into their bodies and faces to attempt to slow down the aging process (e.g., Botox). Youth truly is king and getting old is very uncool. That is the message that Disney and others are constantly sending by plastering LETS across the TV’s and every other form of mass media.

The Problem with Negativity...

I just finished reading a post from a Muslim commenting (or lamenting) about politics in Malaysia. Though somewhat insightful and factual, much of the article, like too many we read today, was one-sided and negative. It made me reflect. Is all this negativity that we pre-occupy ourselves with getting us anywhere? Can it possibly lead to anything positive?

I have a good friend, a convert, who some look down upon because they say he's not a 'real' Muslim; after all, he converted to marry a Muslim woman. Even though he keeps up with his fardu 'ain and his other responsibilities, he doesn't look the way other more 'religious' Muslims look. The funny thing about my friend is that he has a heart of gold. He spends his days and nights working on scientific projects aimed at helping the Muslims and the world at-large improve their well-being through science-based development. He is a child of the 'atoms for peace' era where the dreams of the young people were to develop the entire world using science and technology, including nuclear energy. He's a holdover from that era and still believes that science and technology is the greatest weapon in the hands of those wanting to do good for ending poverty and other humanitarian crises. He puts his money where his mouth is. He is a freelancer who works with anyone who has the same goals and aspirations.

The interesting thing about my friend is that he doesn't get bogged down in the endless negativity plaguing the Muslim community, where everyone is a scholar, everyone is a critic and everyone has something to say but few actually DO anything to improve things. We have some brilliant critics in our midst. They spend hours on the web, blogging about how bad everyone else is, even their own countries, but couldn't tell you five good things they actually did in their lives. My friend has taught me an invaluable lesson and has reminded my about the importance of a unfettered, brilliant mind guided by a pure heart. This combination has the power to transform people and nations and is the greatest weapon against ignorance, greed, racism and every other evil out there. The Prophet (SAW) never spent a moment of his time talking about how bad his enemies were. He hated negativity and spoke about it in the following hadith: "Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should say something good or keep quiet."

My theory is that we spend so much time on the negative because we have little positive to offer. We lack ideas and the creative ability to envision a better future. We don't really believe in Allah's promise of success through surrender and trust in Him. We need to learn, acquire knowledge and act on it. We need to envision something better and take small steps to work towards it, without expecting all the worldly rewards that so many are selling themselves everyday to attain. My friend is an inspiration for what good ideas and good intentions combined can do towards helping the less fortunate and building a better world.

This has been a great reminder to myself -- shut up and do something, no matter how small, to improve this world. Until we act, nothing will change.

Knife Training with my Guru...

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Malaysia’s Young ‘Nuclear Ambassadors’

by Mohd Daniel Davis

June 4—Like an old general addressing his army before
an important battle, Prof. Noramly Muslim, father of
Malaysia’s 1970s civilian nuclear power program that
has never been enacted, gave us a crystal-clear mission.
“Malaysia hopes to have nuclear power by 2021.
You are now our ambassadors for nuclear power in this
country. I want you to be proactive and become opinionated
citizens who will speak up to the media by writing
to the newspapers and magazines when people come out
and attack nuclear power as unsafe. After this, I want
you to give advanced reasons rather than just layman
reasons for the usage of nuclear power in this country.”
Professor Noramly gave the the closing speech at the
2nd Nuclear Power and Engineering Summer School
program, held May 17-27, in collaboration with National
University of Malaysia (UKM) and the Korean
Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).
In the 1970s, Noramly was the founding director general
of the Pusat Penyelidikan Atom Tun Ismail (PUSPATI),
now renamed the Nuclear Malaysia Agency.
Back then, Malaysia’s brightest students were sent overseas
for training in nuclear science and engineering.
This first generation of nuclear experts is now retiring.
Now, here we were, at the Nuclear Summer School,
a fresh generation of mostly young, under 35, working
professionals, who hope to further their studies at the
world’s top nuclear universities.

Three professors from KAIST, and one from the
Korean Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS), were invited
to UKM to lecture on nuclear reactor design, fuel,
instrumentation, and radioactive waste management.
The program attracted numerous professionals from
Malaysia’s research and energy industry, including,
Tenaga Nasional Berhad (Malaysia’s main electricity
supplier), Nuclear Malaysia Agency (responsible for
handling Malaysia’s experimental reactor), Atomic Licensing
Board, and other government and private educational
institutions.

Malaysia, sandwiched between Thailand and Singapore,
has long prided itself as being a leader among developing
countries, demonstrating how to progress in a
multicultural society without racial conflict. In the
1970s, when oil prices were soaring, Malaysia initiated
its own civilian nuclear power plan under the umbrella
of President Eisenhower’s 1953 Atoms for Peace program.
Its first experimental nuclear reactor, Triga, was
built in the early 1980s. The 1-MW reactor has been primarily
used for isotope production for agricultural and
medical use, and research into radioactive applications
of fertilizers, crops, and the study of soil sedimentation.
Today, with no coal reserves, oil reserves expected
to last for only five more years, and natural gas a bit
longer, Malaysia is looking back wistfully at the shelved
nuclear program that Noramly and his colleagues initiated
nearly 40 years ago.

South Korea Leads the Way in SE Asia
Few could have believed that South Korea could
beat out the United States, France, and Japan last year for
a $20 billion contract to build state-of-the-art 1,400-MW
nuclear power plants in the United Arab Emirates by
2020. It was a first for the South Koreans. How could this
small Asian country have beaten traditional nuclear
heavyweights? South Korea has come a long way since
its first 563-MW Kori-1 reactor in 1978. It now has 20
nuclear power plants, which produce 40% of the nation’s
total electricity. This has sparked heightened interest in
other developing countries, especially, in Southeast Asia,
where Korean-built nuclear plants are cheaper. It costs
only $3 billion for the South Koreans to build a unit, while,
the cost for United States to build one will be $5-6 billion.
What about the doubts that many people express
about “nuclear waste”—fears which largely stem from
the hysteria of the anti-nuclear crowd and the mass
media hype about Chernobyl and Three Mile Island? I
am reminded of the powerful message that Prof. Jong
Kim of KAIST gave a year ago, during a public lecture
at UKM. South Korea initially had problems finding a
suitable place for the nuclear waste from their power
plants. Jong explained:

“In the end we simply asked any areas which wanted
to have the nuclear waste facility to submit their entries.
Four areas submitted their entries; the winner went to
the area with an 80% resident approval for building the
nuclear waste management facility. The technical aspect
of it had been solved long ago. It is relatively safe. If it
wasn’t safe why would South Korea build not only one
but 20 nuclear power plants? What is left for other
countries is only the political will power to do so. . . .”
To date, people who live in areas that operate a nuclear
power facility are healthy and happy, as is evident
in France, for example, where over 70% of the energy
is generated by nuclear power.

As a physics undergraduate, and the youngest “nuclear
ambassador” attending the summer school program,
I feel the following points needs to be addressed
with urgency:

• With nuclear power, the Malaysian monthly
household electricity bill will be reduced from the average
RM100-200 per month, to an average of only
RM40-50 per month. This is because nuclear power
plants can generate a stable base load of electricity 24
hours, 7 days a week, with shutdowns only every 18
months to service and re-fuel, during their 50-60 year
lifetime. Electricity generation using nuclear power
costs only $.39 per KW-hour versus $.54 for coal, $1.47
for natural gas, and $1.95 for oil.

• Nuclear power produces 10 grams per KW-hour
of CO2 (this figure, from the South Koreans, includes
uranium ore mining and nuclear plant construction),
against 991 grams per KW-hour of CO2 produced using
coal, and 782 grams of CO2 for oil. So for those worried
about CO2 emissions, nuclear has the least greenhouse
gas emission in the energy industry.

As young nuclear ambassadors, how then will we win
over other youth to take up nuclear as a career? We must
catch them in their final school years, and inspire
them with the future of a Nuclear Malaysia. But this will
not happen unless Malaysia makes a clear decision to go
nuclear. The youth are not stupid. They have seen their
parents’ generation, which answered the nuclear call in
the 1970s, rot in the government nuclear establishments,
without being allowed to produce a single kilowatt of
electricity or to launch hi tech industries as South
Korea has done. Until Malaysia makes a clear commitment
to go nuclear, the youth will boycott nuclear as
having no future in Malaysia.

Malaysia often brags about being the role model for
other developing countries. This is only partly true (with
its successful urbanization and some low-tech industries).
But it is impossible to live and raise a family on the
low salaries most young people receive, even as graduates,
without considerable financial assistance from their
parents. But, by partnering with South Korea in nuclear
power plants and other technologies, such as cars and
electronics, Malaysia can achieve the stated government
aim for a high-wage, hi-tech transformation of the economy.
South Korea stated loud and clear at the summer
school, that it is eager to work alongside Malaysia.
In the words of Prof. Kun Jai Lee, a senior professor
from KAIST, in his closing speech: “Korea will gladly
help Malaysia to build its first nuclear power plant.
Since your government has stated that it aspires to have
the first nuclear power plant by 2021, we don’t have
much time to waste!”

As Malaysia’s newly appointed “nuclear ambassadors,”
we were impressed. This is an offer from our
Asian technological “big brother,” which has proved to
the world its mastery in safely harnessing nuclear
power, that is simply too good to refuse. What on Earth
is stopping Malaysia from making the simple decision
to Go Nuclear? Half of Malaysia’s population, like me,
is under 23 years old. We want an answer and a future.

(From: Executive Intelligence Review - June 18, 2010)

Worship is for Al-Khalaq, the Endless Creator of All

The duty of the human being in this world is to responsibly care for the trust which we have been given: to have freewill, to exercise self-reflection, to worship and know one’s Lord, to live and work in harmony with the creation and to adopt one’s correct position to God and life. We are here to love, to appreciate, to learn and to move on. Worship is only for the Creator, not for the created. If you worship the created, then you will find yourself in loss, because whatever is created is going to change; it will disappear and die before your eyes. If you worship the Creator, you find yourself fixed on that which never changes or dies.

Over time, verily the human being is in loss, except such as have faith and do righteous deeds and band together in the mutual enjoining of Truth, Patience and Constancy. (SURAH AL-ASR, HOLY QUR’AN 103)

- Sheikh Din Muhammad al-Dayemi

On true thankfulness...

[The Prophet] David (peace be upon him) once said:

"My God, how can I thank You, when my thankfulness to You is itself a blessing from among Your gracious favors?"

So Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) conveyed to him by way of inspiration: "Now you have thanked Me indeed!"


- Sheikh Abdul-Qadir al-Jilani (ra)


Too often, we look for Allah's blessings in the the form of reward, i.e. the products or outcomes of good deeds. What we too often fail to appreciate is that the real gifts of Allah are in being given the opportunity and means to do good. For example, rather than focusing on the reward we hope to receive by performing a good deed, we often overlook the fact that it is Allah who facilitated the entire situation to begin with! Thus, the real gift lies is in the desire, knowledge, opportunity and ability that we have been given to perform the act. When we are able to see in this manner, then gratitude to Allah takes on a new form: I don't hope for reward from fasting, but am grateful for even being given the opportunity and ability to fast; I don't hope for reward in praying, but am overwhelmed with gratitude and humility in being chosen by Allah to have the honor of bowing down to Him five times a day; I do not perform a service in hope of reward, but am awe-struck when I receive inspiration - seemingly from out of nowhere - to even want to do something good for someone. Thus, by being grateful for being given the opportunity to serve Allah is -- according to the great Sheikh -- the greater gratitude, if you will, that we should be striving and hoping for, insya-Allah...

A Muslim Response to 'Draw Muhammad Day'

A Muslim Response to 'Draw Muhammad Day'
By Nihad Awad

[Nihad Awad is national executive director for the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil liberties organization. He may be contacted at: nawad@cair.com ]

I will be the first to defend anyone's right to express their opinion, no matter how offensive it may be to me. Our nation has prospered because Americans value and respect diversity.

But freedom of expression does not create an obligation to offend or to show disrespect to the religious beliefs or revered figures of others.

In reaction to the recent controversy over a depiction of Islam's Prophet Muhammad in an episode of Comedy Central's "South Park," a Seattle cartoonist apparently declared May 20th to be "Everybody Draw Muhammad Day."

I say "apparently" because cartoonist Molly Norris -- the creator of the cartoon showing many objects claiming to be a likeness of the prophet -- now says she never intended to launch "Draw Muhammad Day."

On her web site, she has since posted a statement that reads in part: "I did NOT 'declare' May 20 to be 'Everybody Draw Mohammed Day.'...The cartoon-poster, with a fake 'group' behind it, went viral and was taken seriously...The vitriol this 'day' has brought out, of people who only want to draw obscene images, is offensive to the Muslims who did nothing to endanger our right to expression in the first place...I apologize to people of Muslim faith and ask that this 'day' be called off."

Norris even visited a mosque at the invitation of the local Muslim community.

The creator of a Facebook page dedicated to the day also repudiated the "inflammatory posts" it inspired. He said, "I am aghast that so many people are posting deeply offensive pictures of the Prophet...Y'all go ahead if that's your bag, but count me out."

Despite the cartoonist's and the Facebook page creator's seemingly sincere attempts to distance themselves from the fake event, Muslim-bashers and Islamophobes made sure the call to "draw Muhammad" went viral on the Internet. They are hoping to offend Muslims, who are generally sensitive to created images of the Prophet Muhammad or any prophet.

[The majority of Muslims believe visual representations of all prophets are inappropriate in that they distract from God's message and could lead to a kind of idol worship, something forbidden in Islam.]

So how should Muslims and other Americans react to this latest attempt by hate-mongers to exploit the precious right of free speech and turn May 20 into a celebration of degradation and xenophobia?

Before I answer that question, it must first be made clear that American Muslims value freedom of speech and have no desire to inhibit the creative instincts of cartoonists, comedians or anyone else.

The mainstream American Muslim community, including my own organization, has also strongly repudiated the few members of an extremist fringe group who appeared to threaten the creators of "South Park." That group, the origins and makeup of which has been questioned by many Muslims, has absolutely no credibility within the American Muslim community.

I, like many Muslims, was astonished to see media outlets broadcasting the views of a few marginal individuals, while ignoring the hundreds of mosques and Muslim institutions that have representatives who could have offered a mainstream perspective.

Next, one must examine how the Prophet Muhammad himself reacted to personal insults.

Islamic traditions include a number of instances in which the Prophet had the opportunity to retaliate against those who abused him, but refrained from doing so. He said, "You do not do evil to those who do evil to you, but you deal with them with forgiveness and kindness."

Even when the prophet was in a position of power, he chose the path of kindness and mercy. When he returned to Mecca after years of exile and personal attacks, he did not take revenge on the people who had reviled him and abused and tortured his followers, but instead offered a general amnesty.

In the Quran, Islam’s revealed text, God states: "Invite (all) to the way of your Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching, and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious: for your Lord knows best who have strayed from His Path and who receive guidance." (16:125)

Another verse tells the prophet to "show forgiveness, speak for justice and avoid the ignorant." (7:199)

This is the guidance Muslims should follow as they express concern about an insulting depiction of the Prophet Muhammad, or of any other prophet of God.

Instead of reacting negatively to the bigoted call to support "Draw Muhammad Day," American Muslims -- and Muslims worldwide -- should use that and every other day as an opportunity to reach out to people of other faiths and beliefs to build bridges of understanding and respect.

The best and most productive response to bigoted campaigns like "Draw Muhammad Day" is more communication, not less communication -- including not restricting the free flow of ideas with measure like banning Facebook.

Research has shown that anti-Islam prejudice goes down when people interact with ordinary Muslims and have greater knowledge of Islam.

Therefore, the best reaction to those who would mock the Prophet Muhammad (or the religious symbols of any faith) might be a mosque open house for the local interfaith community, a community service activity organized by Muslims and involving people of other faiths, or a newspaper commentary describing the life, legacy and personal character of the prophet, which is the opposite of the calumny some people fabricate about him. This should be of concern to all decent and objective people.

We will all benefit if each of us -- whether Muslim, Jew, Christian, Buddhist, or Hindu -- exhibits the common human decency required by our respective faiths.

Developing the Muslim Self Through Martial Arts

Developing the Muslim Self Through Martial Arts

By Hwaa Irfan

Al-jihad al-akbar the greater jihad, is the inner battle; the invisible war towards self development and unity of mind, body and soul. Many Islamic scholars view this as the prime ambition in Islam, for without this inner jihad, man’s will over his personal and public life is meaningless as man’s physical tendencies and weaknesses cannot be overcome. The modern exterior of life created by man has added ugliness where the signs of Allah (SWT) through nature once added beauty, meditation and reflection. The Qur’an states:

{…Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change their own condition…} (Surat ul Ra’d 13:11).

However, before the external changes (political and social) can take place, the internal must transpire first; otherwise it is all short lived.

In the past for Chinese Muslims, the martial arts were a means to bring the innerjihad into a tangible method of self development.

Many reports have shown that the proper learning of martial arts has helped troubled youths claim and earn self-respect and understanding. The enemy within is thus tamed and understood.

“A man’s enemies can be of more benefit to him than his brothers, for they draw attention to his faults from which he can then turn away.” – Ali ibn Abi Talib

Mind-Body-Spirit Union

Martial arts is seemingly a physical art form that has undergone many transformations over the years making it appear to focus on defense and attack. Yet in its truest form, as in Islam, it uses the physical world of man to understand the non-physical world to create a mind-body-spirit union.

Christian educator and theosophist Rudolph Steiner once pointed out that a great debt was owed by western natural science to the spiritual stream of what he called ‘Arabism’. He argued that Western natural science was the product of the Christian Crusades and Muslim Holy War in a martial age. It was during the battle for Christendom in Northern Spain that the works of ibn Sina (Avicenna) and others’ overwhelming belief in the transcendence of Allah (SWT) affected and influenced such prominent Christian scientists of the times such as Roger Bacon. Crusaders perceived Muslims as having a spiritual power and sense of unity that moved them with elemental force.

Kung fu is part of our long history as Muslims in seeking to learn and develop within ourselves. The word “Kung fu” actually means the ‘mastery of a difficult task to a standard of excellence’. It is the origin of most of the Asiatic martial arts, but focuses on the development of the complete person mentally and physically. The art of energy management, however, is not confined to Chinese martial arts forms which Muslims have helped to develop and even originate as some might claim!

Energy as in the life force directed through the human energy field in Chinese is called chi and shan. In Islam it is nafas and ruh. Used in spiritual cultivation, the direction of the life force plays a different role – the inner jihad.

Islam and the Martial Arts

Muslims in Malaysia and Indonesia practice Muslim forms of martial arts like Silat. In China, where the Muslim place of worship is called Qing Zhen Si (Temples of Purity and Truth), Muslims have contributed to the development of chi kung and kung fu.

Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang was the founder of the famous Ming Dynasty, and although he never proclaimed to be a Muslim, his six most trusted commanders were. They were Chang Yuchan, Hu Dahai, Mu Ying, Lan Yu, Feng Sheng and Ding Dexing. They were all wushu (Chinese for martial arts) masters. As commanders they defeated rebellious activities including that of the Mongols. A significant number of Muslims died between 1644 –1911 AD in the attempt to restore the Ming Dynasty, which was instituted to bring harmony and fellowship amongst all the different groups of China.

The leaders of the Hui, a Muslim minority of five million, called on the people to learn wushu as a “holy practice in the struggle for survival and self-improvement.” During the Lesser Bairam (Eid ul Fitr) and the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) birthday, the Hui local mosques held wushu contests or exhibitions. The Chinese martial arts technique called “Tan Lui” (spring leg) was actually developed by a Hui Muslim named Chamir from Xingjiang during the Ming Dynasty (1368 –1644 AD).

Cha Kungfu is a Muslim technique from Northern Shaolin also named after a Muslim Kung Fu master – Cha Mi Er. Another Muslim master was Cheong Ho, an admiral of the Ming Dynasty.

The Baijiquan (8 extreme fists – rake hand) was first practiced by Wu Zhong, a Chinese Muslim from the Mong village in Kang country. In 1936, Zheng Wen Guang, a Muslim, attended the 11th Olympic Games as a specially invited member on the Chinese Wushu team.

This is a glimpse at what once was. Last August, China’s military completed a large-scale ‘exercise’ in the Muslim region of Xingjiang.

Not acknowledging our religion and the wealth that has been offered to us is a reflection of our inability to bring into focus the inner jihad, as we seek to develop understanding and further control over our lives.

This was orginally written in 2002…

Sources:

Boardman. Terry. “ ‘Asia’ and ‘The West’ at the End of the 20th. Century. 01/31/00. 1-9. Monju.pwp. 08/30/01.

Coralweb.net “Chinese Muslims Developed What We Now Call ‘Kung Fu’. 08/08/99.1-2. Coralweb.net. 08/16/01.

Geocities.com. “Answers to Readers Questions – August 2000. Pt.2”. 1-18. Wong Kiew Kit’s Home Page. Geocities.com. 08/30/01.

Haeri, Fadhlalla. “The Sayings & Wisdom of Imam ‘Ali”. Britain & N. Ireland. Muhammadi Trust & Zahra Publications. 1992.

Kabiling. Karen. “History of Chinese Muslims Discussed”. Spartan Daily. 03/15/01. 1-3. News. Webcom.com. 08/16/01.

Lohan.8k.com. “About Kung Fu”. 1-3. Kung Fu History. Lohan 8k.com. 08/30/01.

McGregor. Richard. “China Completes Military Exercises in Muslim Region”. 08/14/01. 1-2. Asia Pacific: News & Analysis/World. FT.COM. 08/20/01.

Stark. Michael, J. “Chinese Martial Arts and the Hui”. 01/06/97. Takalmakan.org. 08/16/01.

Xianging. Ma. “Han Chinese Muslims Developed Many Forms of Wushu”. Singapore News Forum. 07/01/01. Singapore. Asiaco.com. 08/16/01.

Zheng Dao Lo Martial Arts Academy “Zheng Dao Lo Martial Arts”. 1-4. Members.tripod.co.uk. 08/18/01

Muhammad Ali's Message to His Daughter

The following incident took place when Muhammad Ali's (KELAY) daughters arrived at his home wearing clothes that were not modest. Here is the story as told by one of his daughters:

When we finally arrived, the chauffeur escorted my younger sister, Laila, and me up to my father's suite. As usual, he was hiding behind the door waiting to scare us. We exchanged many hugs and kisses as we could possibly give in one day.

My father took a good look at us. Then he sat me down on his lap and said something that I will never forget. He looked me straight in the eyes and said, "Hana, everything that God made valuable in the world is covered and hard to get to. Where do you find diamonds? Deep down in the ground, covered and protected. Where do you find pearls? Deep down at the bottom of the ocean, covered up and protected in a beautiful shell. Where do you find gold? Way down in the mine, covered over with layers and layers of rock.
You've got to work hard to get to them."

He looked at me with serious eyes. "Your body is sacred. You're far more precious than diamonds and pearls, and you should be covered too."

Source: Taken from the book: More Than A Hero: Muhammad Ali's Life Lessons Through His Daughter's Eyes.

The Missing Link in the Education of Our Boys

April 27, 2010 at 1:08 pm (Education, Gender, Life, Self Development, Story Time for Adults)
Tags: U.S., gender, girls, schooling, factory education, boys, male, coed, unisex,coeducation, teachers, pupils, learning, curriculum, U.K., Hong Kong, E.U.

The Missing Link in the Education of Our Boys

By Hwaa Irfan

It has become generally accepted that the education of boys and girls in a mixed environment is far superior to single-sex education. With the 1994 European Community resolution ending single sex schools on the basis of sex discrimination, further moves by the European Union towards standardizing the curriculum of schools throughout Europe have been taking more entrenched steps to make this the norm through sex education despite long term research projects in the U.K. providing strong evidence towards a negative impact on boys academically. The reasons for this general acceptance may have more to do with the focus on gender equity when it comes to girls academically speaking, negating the socio-psychological implications on both genders, and that boys have needs to.

The U.S., has seen a renaissance in single sex education. Since 2004, 445 single-sex classes, and 95 single sex public schools have sprung up across the U.S in response to a change in federal law. One of those schools, the Public School in New York, returned to single sex education in 2009, in response to falling grades and increasing behavioral problems. Attending that school, Samuel Little’s son, Gavin is in his second year of single sex education at Public School. Little told New York Times:

“Before it was all about showing the girls who was toughest, and roughing and being cool” “Now I never hear a word from teachers about behavioral problems, and when he talks about school, he actually talking about work”.

One satisfied parent and son who have done what they have considered best for them despite coeducation being the main mode of education in the U.S. today. Coeducationalists continue to argue against single sex schools, often falling on the belief that single sex schools reinforces stereotypes. Certain things can be taken for granted, as long as the key element desired is in place. Advocates against single-sex education usually measure success of coeducation in the measureable terms of grades, losing oversight of the overall repercussions in the long term.

The coeducation movement began in 1890, when the call for mixed education was based on social reasons rather than academic ones. Brehony in his Coeducation: Perspectives and Debates in the Early Twentieth Century” argued that “… no record of cognitive outcome was ever presented”, and Carol Dyhouse in her “No Distinction of Sex? Women as British Universities 1870-1939 found that coeducation was for the benefit of boys not girls, out fear of homosexuality occurring in boys’ only schools. Dyhouse was referring to the resolutions of the Association of Headmistresses in 1905. That move was essentially a financial one, due to the difficulties of procuring endowments for girls/women’s education. The changes in the U.S. were at the forefront of this movement, influencing the move towards coeducation in the U.K via the Bryce Commission at a time when resources (qualified female teachers, and financial support) were limited for girls’ only schools.

The reasons for seeking coeducation at the turn of the 19th century, were simple ones, but the consequences were a little more complicated. Boys do behave differently under certain situations, and so do girls, but because of certain social movements, we are supposed to not acknowledge the truth of our lives. We consider children as products of our minds, neglecting their souls. We assume that through the narrow secular meaning of the word “education” that future generations will be less predisposed to acts of nature. To demonstrate, is the study from the University of Alabama, U.S. by Barton and Cohen “Classroom Gender Composition and Peer Relations”. There were 46 boys (5th and 6th graders) and 47 girls who had attended single sex schools in a study, along with 45 students who had attended coed. It was found that:

• Mutual friendships had improved for boys on changing to single sex classrooms • Aggressive behavior (both overt aggression and relational aggression) had increased for girls on moving to single sex classrooms • Victimization behavior increased for girls and not for boys on moving to single sex classrooms In the follow-up after first year transition into single sex classes, it was found that: • Boys continued to show an increase in establishing mutual friendships, but also overt aggression began to increase. • Negative behavior in girls’ classes increased within the 5th grade, but began to tail off in the 6 grade along with victimization.

It has been found that boys tend to lean towards overt aggression, which is more demonstrative and physical, whereas girls demonstrate a relational aggression which is based on the manipulation, intimidation, victimization of relations, and rejection. It is interesting to note that girls exhibited both overt and relational aggression after separating from coed classes, but tailed off what is considered “boys” behavior, and increased on what is considered “girls” behavior within single sex schools. Whereas for boys they were more likely to have peers amongst their own gender the longer they remained in single-sex classes.

This clearly demonstrates the effect of one gender upon the other, and vice versa. Transference is a psychological term that everyone is prone to. We are bound to transfer behaviors and feelings when in the presence of others. The cost of such exercise is prolific in our schools today in the form of school violence, and teenage pregnancies.

Impact on Boys

Concerns were raised as to the benefits of coeducation on male self concept as early as the first decade of 20th century. The concerns arose out of the fact that mixed schools had a larger female population than boys. Members of the British Mosely Education Commission (1903), compared American boys with English boys because coeducation in the U.K. was still in its infancy. Member of the Commission, C.J. Hamilton felt that coeducation “… no doubt softens the manners (some would say to the point of effeminacy) of the boy”. There was also concern that:

“The great preponderance of women teachers threatens the virility of the nations”.

The above might seem irrational, but even today one American headmaster based on his observations had the following to say in the report “Give Boys Their Space”:

“[When we switched to single-sex classrooms] the guys really came together. They worked, their guards came down, they revealed the really caring side of themselves. Once we removed the girls from the equation, all of this “I’m this big tough guy” stuff just completely disappeared. One time we had a coed lunch, and it was a disaster. We had guys talking loud, and girls acting sassy”

This confirms what members of the Bryce and Mosely Commission at the turn of the 20th century had expressed, and confirms the result from the Barton and Cohen study whereby the boys after transferring to single-sex classes had more mutual friends.

From an in-depth study “The Effects of Schooling on Gender Differences” in Hong Kong there were additional considerations to their findings. The cultural backdrop played a major role as Hong Kong is a traditional male oriented society that had been subject to the implementation of a Western education system, along with a single-sex education system that has a male (physical sciences, and Math) oriented and female (Arts and Social Sciences) oriented curriculum. Carried out over a period of years, with investigation of 45,000 secondary school students in Hong Kong, the authors Kam-cheung Wong, Raymond Lam, and Lai-ming Ho found that:

“…while boys performed better on average in SSPA (Single Sex Placement Allocations) when entering secondary schools in Hong Kong, five years later, the situation was reverse. Girls out performed in almost all subjects [coed]. The findings coincide with the results observed from studies in United Kingdom and Australia that girls did better than boys in all areas of the high school curriculum…”

The authors suggested, which is affirmed elsewhere that girls perform better than boys in coed. It is believed that the reason for this is that girls respond better to the systemized method of schooling, school work, and seeking advice from classmates and friends, however girls still did better in single-sex schools.
Bear in mind that this is reference to schooling (factory education) in general, as there are other factors that affect the success or lack thereof including the quality of teachers, the social background of the pupils, and the resources that are made available. The academic success of coeducation cannot be denied, as the resources offered to it allowed for girls to be educated like boys. Later one will find that although there are still some subjects like math and the physical sciences which are still male dominated, and the Arts, which is female dominated, within coed, which does not follow through in single-sex education, particularly for boys.

The State of Education for Boys Today

The American Academy for Educational Development in their 2005 “A Report in the Growing Crisis in Boys’ Education” found that:

• Boys were more likely to be referred to a school psychologist • Boys represented 70% of the students with learning disabilities • Boys represented 80% of the students with social and emotional disabilities • Boys (particularly minorities) represented 70% of school suspensions • Boys were behind 80% of the school violence, and were the main victims

The hype some feminists and pro-coeducationalists do cry. Clearly the research has centered on U.K., Germany, Belgium, the U.S, Sweden, and Australia that may have peculiarities pertaining to their system of coeducation, and given that adolescence is a cultural paradigm that is heightened or abated by the cultural context in which one lives, the facts bear out further. Additionally, some of the concerns would not have received much attention if boys did well academically, but did not so well on a personal level.

At a conference of the International Boys’ Schools Coalition that took place in the U.K. in 2010, a report was presented to headmasters of both private and state schools. In favor of boys schools, the findings were as follows:

• Boys in single sex schools were more likely to do cultural and artistic activities, which develops their emotional side, because they did not feel obliged to “perform” to stereotypes that called on them to “behave like a man” • Boys in single sex schools were more likely to express their emotions • That despite the stereotypes, boys are more emotional than girls • Boys performed badly in mixed schools because they are demoralized by their female counterparts when it comes to verbal and reading skills, because the left side of the brain develops faster in girls • Boys felt the need to be “cool” rather than studious in mixed schooling • That the British education system has become too focused on girls education • Boys learn best through touch, and hands-on experience, as they are more spatial, more impulsive, and more physical, so they need to walk around without being made to feel disruptive • “In the present sexualized atmosphere prevalent in mixed schools, boys feel coerced into acting like men before they understand themselves well enough to know what that means”

The 4-year project “Raising Boys Achievement” undertaken by the reputable University of Cambridge, U.K looking into the forces that undermine boys’ education took place in the U.K., from 2000 – 2004. Over 50 primary, secondary and special schools were explored for the following reasons as stated in the report:

“Rather more boys than girls fail to achieve level 4 in English national tests at the end of key stage 2; rather more boys than girls fail to achieve the 5A*-C benchmark grades in GCSE examinations taken at 16+. These patterns of academic achievement are evident in most schools in England”

The report rested firmly on the academic issues that have led to a gender gap, and how schools can overcome them through various teaching and classroom strategies, including mentoring. However, to consciously know what one is doing to eradicate a problem one has to understand all the dynamics at play, and in this situation that is the admittance, and applicable knowledge that how boys learn, and how girls learn differ, and what girls need, and what boys need differ too without falling into preconceived stereotypes which are void of the laws of nature! This means an evaluation on not only the school ethos, curriculum etc., but also on the maturity of the type and age of the teachers employed, and whether they are employed to do admin work (which has forced so many good teachers to leave), or to whether they are employed to teach.

However, back to the report “Raising Boys Achievement” the authors commented on the advantages of single sex schools as perceived by the teachers:

• “ The opportunity to use a variety of teaching strategies which were targeted to boys’ needs and interests”
• “Provision of a context in which teachers could challenge boys’ stereotypes more effectively”
• “The existence of an all-male environment which was more conducive to learning, with fewer distractions and less embarrassment, enabling boys to be more open and responsive in class, and able to concentrate and participate more”.

In the projects review of single sex education the researchers felt to do what many liberalists do as in the case of standardizing sex education, and that is to ask the opinion of those who wish to feel comfortable with their lower desires – in this case the students. Of course the students themselves would say that learning in a mixed environment is good for them, and so they did. However, there was a leaning towards learning in a single-sex setting.

Boys felt:

• “My hormones are not dancing to the beat of the night!’

• “It gives you a lot more confidence to answer questions in class because there is not so much pressure and embarrassment if you are wrong as there would be with girls about”.

Girls felt:

• “You don’t need to act as though you’re really cool, especially when you’re not
feeling as though you are!”

• “You feel braver and less embarrassed in offering answers, because there are no boys to make fun of you when you are wrong”.

As one headmaster to an American school pleaded in “Give Boys Their Space”

“When we switched to single-sex classrooms, the guys really came together. They worked, their guards came down, they revealed the really caring and nurturing side of themselves. Once we removed the girls from the equation, all of this, “I’m this big tough guy” stuff just completely disappeared. One time we had a coed lunch, and it was a disaster. We had guys talking loud and girls being extra sassy”.

Conclusion

It has to be noted that the above is a reflection of “factory education”/schooling, and cannot be said to represent all forms of mixed education today. The problem is though, a growing percentage of the global population is being force-fed through this system of education, which we all take to be quite normal, when the above studies only represent a small percentage of the studies researched for this article, which echo the same results. These studies not only reflect on the education of boys, but on the conduct of females in the presence of males. Boys today will be the colleagues, co-workers, husbands, fathers, and heads of family, organizations, and societies of tomorrow; and if they are hindered from going through their natural stages of development, then society as a whole will suffer. How many women complain about their men, and how many young male Muslims complain about the lack of male role models?

Islam advises a certain code of conduct between men and women in our daily lives, but it is to our own downfall if we allow ourselves to believe as those who defame Islam want us to believe, that Islam is “out of date”. It is far from out of date, but is always “in date” with the actual needs of the human heart, soul and mind as long as we “update” our knowledge of Islam.

If anything is to be learned, by the societies in which we live, it is and has been to ensure fair treatment and allocation of resources to both girls and boys, both men, and women, and both child and adult regardless of status, and ethnicity with generations in mind. We can no longer afford to neglect the needs of any member of society, and we must reflect on our role in that neglect.

Sources:

Albisetti, J. “Un-Learned Lessons from the New World? English Views of American Coeducation and Women Colleges c. 1865 – 1910” History of Education, 2000. Vol. 29: 5 p473 – 489. History Department, University of Kentucky.

Barton, B.K. & Cohen. R. “Classroom Gender Composition and Children’s Peer Relations.” Child Study Journal. Vol. 34: 1. 2004. Department of Psychology. University of Alabama.

Froschl, M & Sprung, B “Raising and Educating Healthy Boys: A Report on the Growing Crisis in Boy’s Education” Academy for Educational Development.

Medina, J. “Boys and Girls Together, Taught Separately in School” New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/11education/11gender.html.

Smith, I. D. “Gender Differentiation: Gender Differences in Academic Achievement and Self Concept in Coeducational and Single-Sexed Schools”. Australian Research Council. Institutional Grants Scheme.
Williams, R. Single-Sex Schools Help Boys to Enjoy Arts, Study Says. Guardian.co.uk.

Wong, K. et al “The Effects of Schooling on Gender Differences” University of Hong Kong. 1997.
Younger, W. et al. Raising Boys Achievement. Department for Education and Science.

Perception

THE SITUATION

In Washington , DC , at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After about 3 minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.

About 4 minutes later:


The violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.


At 6 minutes:


A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.


At 10 minutes:

A 3-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time. This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent - without exception - forced their children to move on quickly.


At 45 minutes:


The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

After 1 hour:

He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one applauded. There was no recognition at all.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.


This is a true story. Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.

This experiment raised several questions:

*In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?

*If so, do we stop to appreciate it?

*Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?


One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made . . .

How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?

Muslim Youth and Anger

Youth
The challenge of anger among young Muslims in America
By Abdul Malik Mujahid

In a Gallup survey last year, 26 percent of Muslim youth in the United States reported feeling angry as compared to 14 percent of Protestant youth and 18 percent of the general American population. They are angrier than their parents. This survey had 10 questions on mental health and almost all results when it came to young Muslims revealed that they were the least happy and the most angry.

It is important to note that this March 2009 report, entitled, “Muslim Americans: A National Portrait”, is not just any poll or survey. It is highly reliable since it compiles results of almost 500 Gallup surveys. The Gallup surveys America every day and for this report, they picked a year and a half worth of surveys and cross- tabulated the results among different faith groups between Muslims, Protestants, Catholics, Jews, Mormons and the general American population.

It is critical that all community leaders, Muslims and non-profit foundations, as well as our government, pay more attention to this demographic group and find effective ways to address its challenges.

My reaction: so stunned I had to meet with Gallup’s pollsters

Only 40 percent of Muslim youth surveyed by Gallup considered themselves to be “thriving” as compared to 61 percent of Protestants and 53 percent of the general U.S. population. That is the lowest level among all youth groups surveyed.

After reading the whole report, I was so concerned about the findings revealing the anger and frustration of our youth that I interviewed one of the report’s senior analysts for Radio Islam and met the other two in person to discuss these statistics.

I asked them what they thought would be the three major reasons for American Muslim youth’s lower level of happiness and higher level of anger. Unfortunately, Gallup did not ask those questions in their survey. But I found in their study and in other ones, some other information which might provide insight into this.

What young Muslims are facing in America

Islamophobia clearly seems to be playing a role in shaping the attitudes of young Muslims. According to one Zogby international poll, 75 percent of young Muslims said they or someone they know has been discriminated against. A Columbia University survey of Muslim students in New York public schools found that 28 percent had been stopped by police as a result of racial profiling and seven percent of them said they had been physically assaulted because of who they are.

This may explain why young Muslims are also the least likely to feel safe at night in their communities. According to the Gallup survey, only 59 percent of young Muslims responded yes to the question “do you feel safe walking alone at night in the city or the area in which you live” as compared to 70 percent of youth in the general U.S. population.

The Gallup survey found that young Muslims are also less likely to be employed. Sixty-seven percent as opposed to 79 percent of young Protestants who have jobs. Muslim youth were also the least likely youth group to report being satisfied with their jobs.

The human face of this pressure from Islamophobia can be found in cases like that of a Muslim girl featured on the NPR program “This American Life” in December 2006 (). The show detailed how she went from being a well-adjusted student to a pariah mocked by both fellow students and teachers for her faith This was at a school in an unnamed small town in the state of New York. As a result, she wanted to leave Islam. The crisis also resulted in her parents splitting up.

Harassment and discrimination are hardly news to older American Muslims, who have become accustomed to hearing or even experiencing it on a regular basis. The FBI has conducted more than 500,000 interviews of Muslims in America; American Muslim leaders, advocates and activists are routinely harassed when traveling, especially when returning home; mosques in America have been checked for nuclear bombs; a majority of Americans think very negatively of Islam and Muslims and 22 percent don’t even want a Muslim as their neighbor.

In addition, America’s wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, its heavy military presence in all but 19 of the world’s 195 countries and the deadly acts of terrorists have led to deep-seated animosity towards Islam and Muslims.

What had not been known on a quantitative level until the Gallup survey was how deeply this has all affected Muslim youth. It’s obvious that there has been a serious trickle down effect.

For instance, Muslim wages post-9/11 have gone down by 10 percent and scholars, counselors and community activists have reported that there are a higher number of mental health issues Muslims are grappling with. All of these factors affect youth in our community as well, who are not immune to their environment.

How young Muslims are responding to these pressures

Young Muslims are responding differently to these pressures. Forty seven percent of college-going young Muslims drink alcohol, while 16 percent engage in binge drinking; 29 percent of Muslim students in New York public schools sometimes use a non-Muslim name to get by. Some have changed their names to Christian names. A small number have joined urban gangs. Some have left Islam and some have become more religious.

These pressures and the resulting anger may explain why Muslim youth are the most disengaged among all the youth groups surveyed by Gallup when it comes to voting. Young Muslim Americans are the lowest percentage of any youth group registered to vote.

This marginalization of the community and alienation of its youth constitutes a breading ground for extremism, while proper engagement has only benefits for both Muslims and the United States in general.

The risk of rising extremism among young Muslims

When a Pew survey in May 2006 asked “can suicide bombings of civilian targets to defend Islam be justified?”, 69 percent of American Muslims, aged 18 to 29, said never; 26 percent said ever; 15 percent said often; 11 percent said rarely and 5 percent said they didn’t know.

These 31 percent who did not choose the “never” option are a real concern for this author, considering that in Islamic law, taking a civilian’s life is never justified. Period. To figure out who this particular subset of young Muslims is, we need to ask the following questions:

Are these Muslims driven by any ideology?

Have they accepted extremist interpretations?

Why have they come to this conclusion?

Were the Pew’s questions clear enough?

Were they thinking of a battlefield while answering these questions or of their neighborhoods?

No matter how we look at the data, these are serious numbers which require serious deliberation in our society, our Muslim communities, as well as for people concerned with peace and justice, our governments as well as those responsible for keeping our neighborhoods safe and healthy.

Muslim Americans are concerned about youth radicalism

It seems as if a good number of Muslims are concerned about this issue of youth and radicalism as well. A Pew survey question asked respondents “how concerned are you about the rise of Islamic extremism in the U.S.” Thirty-six percent said “very concerned” and 25 percent reported being “somewhat concerned”.

While this author has never been worried about Osama bin Laden having any appeal to Muslim Americans, I am not so sure about Anwar al-Awlaki. The latter is a U.S.-born citizen who has served as an Imam in three Masjids in America, and has reportedly been considered a balanced source of Islamic education through his audio cds for a number of years. His audio lectures have sold far more widely than the most popular American Muslim preacher, Hamza Yusuf. The fact that Al-Awlaki has reportedly condoned violence is the most authoritative challenge to date for the Muslim community in North America, despite the fact that he currently lives in Yemen.

The challenge of engagement: start with the schools and colleges

Almost 99 percent of Muslim children attend public schools. Only one percent attend an Islamic day school. About four percent attend some form of additional Islamic education like weekend schools which are mostly limited to 40 hours of instruction per year. Therefore, the place where almost all Muslim youth are found are in American schools, colleges, and universities.

Our schools, our foundations, and people in the field of youth development must urgently develop programs and devise strategies which focus on engaging Muslim youth positively.

The mainstream media must equate Islamophobia with racism

Considering that most youth over 50 hours a week consuming media, it is important that responsible media discuss the challenges of Islamophobia and demonization of Muslims in American society. We cannot have healthy children unless we improve the environment we are raising our children in.

Although many Muslim organizations are trying to reach out to the media, their efforts seem to have not had little impact on Islamophobia in society. The vilification of Muslims and Islam has become relentless. Muslims are consistently portrayed as “the other”, not part of the United States, and unworthy of tolerance. Millions of dollars are being spent on a focused program that emphasizes that Muslims are inherently violent, holding them responsible for WWI and WWII, along with recent conflicts.

Even organizations like The ADL (Anti-Defamation League) , which was established to fight hate, suggested that Islam’s declaration of faith, the Shahada, is an “expression of hate” that is “closely identified” with terrorism. They later apologized.

FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting) has done an excellent job of documenting how Islamophobia is becoming mainstream. http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3648

Public policy must engage Muslims

While President Barack Obama has been reaching out to the Muslim world since he took office, it is critical that he engage Muslims at home first. America needs its Muslims, except that the only Muslim serving in the White House who helped the President with his speeches, is no longer working there.

The last presidential administration treated American Muslims as virtual enemies of the state, discouraged our civic involvement and suppressed our voices. We were isolated and essentially shunned. In this new era of change, however, it is vital to U.S. interests to engage American Muslims as partners in building relationships with the Muslim world. This is not only a matter of respect, but one of common interests.

American Muslims are a global village made up of diverse communities of African-Americans and immigrants from many nations. Among Muslims, they are one of the largest groups of highly educated professionals in the world.

Tens of thousands are physicians and surgeons. Others serve in higher education. Many proudly serve in the U.S. military. I personally know of at least six Muslims in Chicago who played critical roles in key Muslim governments. Many are directly connected with the ruling elites of the countries of their birth.

Part of the change that American Muslims hope for is to be valued as an asset by their country rather than viewed as suspects.

Muslims are not looking for handouts. We're simply striving for equal opportunity and inclusiveness. That will give a far better message to the Muslim world than speeches. This will send a far stronger message to Muslim youth in America than anything else.

The Muslim community must reallocate its resources for youth development

The Muslim community in the United States is a strong and self-reliant community. It is pouring in hundreds of millions of dollars every year in Islamic education. However, most of these funds are going into Islamic schools. This author is personally committed to Muslim schools. However, these institutions educate less than a one percent of Muslim students. The above described challenge requires our community to reallocate a substantial amount of its resources to reaching out to it’s youth in public schools and campuses for supplemental education, moral support and counseling.

Just looking at five campuses in Chicago, I noticed that Hillel chapters, which represent Jewish students, have more than 30 full-time staff including rabbis. However, there is not a single full-time or part-time staff member at Muslim organizations on campus, much less an Islamic scholar. We can learn a great deal from the Jewish community in the U.S. in their struggle to keep young Jews connected to their Jewish heritage and community.

Sound Vision intends to develop a great amount of content this year focused on topics like Islam in a pluralistic context and discussing objections to Islam. However, we and others who have been concerned about the challenges and frustrations of Muslim youth in America are unable to do much because of the absence of resources.

Please donate to Sound Vision and other institutions providing assistance to the 95% Muslim youth who are not connected with the Muslim community.

Generous Peace