Friday, July 09, 2010 28 Rajab 1431
PATRIOTISM
Thank those who serve our country
It is possible to be a good American and a good Muslim. More of one does not mean less of the other. Weaving American patriotic traditions into Muslim events will make this point loud and clear.
BY PARVEZ AHMED, JULY 9, 2010
Chaplain Abdul-Rasheed at ISNA
Over the July 4th weekend I was one of the speakers at the 47th Annual Convention of the Islamic Society of North America, the largest gathering of Muslims in North America. At their Community Service Luncheon I was seated next to Lieutenant Colonel Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad, the first Muslim chaplain in the US military. After some initial small talk I leaned over and thanked him for his service.
Chaplain Abdul-Rasheed with a wide grin accepted my thanks and then with sadness in his voice said that in his experience not too many Muslims extend such appreciation to our men and women in uniform. Some even question the Islamicity of being in the US army. This despite the fact that, according to American Muslim Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Council, upwards of 15,000 Muslims serve in the US armed forces. Chaplain Abdul-Rasheed went on to say, “If America is worth being inhabited by Muslims, reaping her many benefits, then Muslims have a natural obligation to serve in her defense against those who choose to do harm to its citizens, property, or values.”
Extremists, both from within the Muslim community and outside, fail to grasp the importance and necessity of Muslims serving in the US armed forces. The American Family Association, a conservative Christian group, has published an article on its website calling for Muslims to be barred from military service.
PATRIOTISM
Thank those who serve our country
It is possible to be a good American and a good Muslim. More of one does not mean less of the other. Weaving American patriotic traditions into Muslim events will make this point loud and clear.
BY PARVEZ AHMED, JULY 9, 2010
Chaplain Abdul-Rasheed at ISNA
Over the July 4th weekend I was one of the speakers at the 47th Annual Convention of the Islamic Society of North America, the largest gathering of Muslims in North America. At their Community Service Luncheon I was seated next to Lieutenant Colonel Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad, the first Muslim chaplain in the US military. After some initial small talk I leaned over and thanked him for his service.
Chaplain Abdul-Rasheed with a wide grin accepted my thanks and then with sadness in his voice said that in his experience not too many Muslims extend such appreciation to our men and women in uniform. Some even question the Islamicity of being in the US army. This despite the fact that, according to American Muslim Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Council, upwards of 15,000 Muslims serve in the US armed forces. Chaplain Abdul-Rasheed went on to say, “If America is worth being inhabited by Muslims, reaping her many benefits, then Muslims have a natural obligation to serve in her defense against those who choose to do harm to its citizens, property, or values.”
Extremists, both from within the Muslim community and outside, fail to grasp the importance and necessity of Muslims serving in the US armed forces. The American Family Association, a conservative Christian group, has published an article on its website calling for Muslims to be barred from military service.
The radical Muslim cleric Anwar al Awlaki, who influenced the Maj. Nidal Hasan to go on a killing rampage at Fort Hood said that the only way a Muslim can justify serving in the U.S. military is if he intends to “follow in the footsteps of men like Nidal.” Awlaki went on to say that Hasan, “is a man of conscience who could not bear living the contradiction of being a Muslim and serving in an army that is fighting against his own people.”
American Muslims are sickened by the views of radicals like Anwar al Awlaki as much as they are alarmed by the anti-Muslim rhetoric loudly reverberating among the extreme right of American politics. However, simply expressing outrage is not enough. Collectively and individually American Muslims need to take concrete and meaningful steps that marginalize the views of radicals like Awlaki and also win the hearts and minds of those who stay silent when powerful forces align to marginalize the Muslim community.
One useful step is making a conscience effort to make overt gestures of patriotism even when such gestures are symbolic. Regardless of whether the men and women in uniform are Muslims or people of other faiths they all deserve our gratitude and appreciation. Showing that gratitude is not symbolic and does not undermine any advocacy against current US foreign policy and armed conflicts.
American Muslim events generally begin with the recitation of the Holy Quran. This can easily be followed with a Pledge of Allegiance or the singing of the National Anthem. A few organizations have been doing this despite the cynicism of the misguided few.
Flying the American flag on the premises of the Islamic centers will also be a step in the right direction. Several Islamic centers already do this. More need to follow their lead. Incorporating the "Changing of the Colors" flag ceremony could also be an appropriate fixture at American Muslim events.
In 2001 when the US was preparing to invade Afghanistan, Taha Jabir Alwani then president of an institute that trains Islamic military chaplains, issued a fatwa (religious decree) that allowed Muslims to fight for the United States in Afghanistan. The fatwa also gave Muslims the option of refusing to fight on grounds of religious conscience. With the gathering danger of radicalization looming over the American Muslim community, a case can be made for a more clearly worded fatwa that encourages, instead of merely allowing, Muslims to serve in the US army.
The presence of American Muslim soldiers can be beneficial on many fronts. Besides being appropriately reflecting of our national diversity the presence of American Muslim soldiers can mitigate abusive incidents such as the ones at Abu Ghraib that justifiably deserve our condemnation. At a time when the American mission in Afghanistan and Iraq is not merely to win a conflict but also to win hearts and minds, American Muslims in the U.S. military can be a valuable bridge between the U.S. military and the Muslim world.
It is possible to be a good American and a good Muslim. More of one does not mean less of the other. Weaving American patriotic traditions into Muslim events will make this point loud and clear. Thanking our men and women in uniform is not just keeping up with finest traditions of being American but it is also authentically Islamic. God loves people who express their gratitude towards those who serve us. The men and women in the armed forces volunteer to lay their lives so that we can live free. Undoubtedly they deserve our thanks.
Professor Parvez Ahmed is a Fulbright Scholar and Associate Professor of Finance at the University of North Florida. He is also a frequent commentator on Islam and the American Muslim experience.
Thank Those who serve our Country…. an Islamist Insult !!!!
by Randy McDaniels ACT Jacksonville
Those in the know and who understand the TRUE NATURE OF THE THREAT in regard to Political ISLAM will immediately have alarms go off by not only who is hosting the event, but by who its guest speakers are and who is in attendance. However, to understand this, one must understand JIHAD and the dualistic nature of Islam.
Those in the know and who understand the TRUE NATURE OF THE THREAT in regard to Political ISLAM will immediately have alarms go off by not only who is hosting the event, but by who its guest speakers are and who is in attendance. However, to understand this, one must understand JIHAD and the dualistic nature of Islam.
In reading this article, those unfamiliar with the dualistic nature of political Islam need to know; is for 14 centuries, there has been a perpetual call to JIHAD (war on non-Muslims) until all the world and their religions submit to Allah.
There were (3) major ways this was done until the advent of oil becoming a commodity worldwide.
(1) Was to wage violent Jihad as the Taliban & Al Qaida.
(2) Wage Jihad by the pen and the mouth (which, I believe this article does a good job of).
(3) Wage Jihad in the heart (e.g. to hate and despise the government you live under until it submits and to vote and act accordingly).
(4) Now we have what the Islamist call JIHAD with money or Sharia Compliant Finance, which are now being offered by AIG, HSBC, Citibank, UBS, Bank of America, DOW Jones, and others, of which all interest on these products must go to ISLAMIC CHARITIES ONLY and part of this is MANDATED to fund JIHAD.
NOTE: Of course there is the personal struggle we hear so much of in the west, however, this has virtually no authority within the Quran and is only about 3% of the verses which deal with JIHAD.
THE PLAYERS:
ISNA: or the Islamic Society of North America is host of the conference and is designated as a co-conspirator in the largest terrorism funding case in U.S. history.
Ingrid Mattson: (In Picture beside Chaplain Muhammad) President of ISNA, Obama’s inaugural prayer leader, Teaches the writing of Sayyid Qutb and Abul ‘Ala Mawdudi, Most radical writers of the Muslim Brotherhood as examples of “ways in which the Quran functions as sacred scripture in Muslim history and contemporary life.”
Mattson wrote in a book she published in 2002, “People of faith have a certain kind of solidarity with others of their faith community that transcends the basic rights and duties of citizenship.” In other words, Mattson implies that the Muslim identity transcends the American identity.
Parvez Ahmed: Supports Hamas & Hezbollah as well as convicted terrorist Sami Al-Arian, said the following when speaking to Foreign Ministers in Dubai after 2006 Port Deal fell thru: “Do not think about your contributions as donations. Think about it from the perspective of rate of return. The investment of $50 million will give you billions of dollars in return for fifty years,” “If a sufficiently Arab-friendly environment can be created in America to allow SHEIKS to buy up key U.S. assets.
Arab Press: “UAE Hamdan Okays Setting Up Endowment in U.S.”
Because Alamoudi is currently serving 23 years for supporting the terrorist group Al Qaida. Another of his chaplain selectees, U.S. Army Captain James Yee, was arrested in Cuba for espionage and other crimes. In addition, he also wrote America’s public school guidelines with the ACLU under the Clinton administration, which is pushing out Christianity while promoting Islam under the guise of diversity.
All of these groups and individuals are associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, whose stated goal is to establish a (1) Sharia or Islamic law and (2) a worldwide caliphate. They propose to subvert and destroy America from within according to a previously secret document discovered in the early 1990’s titled “
ISLAMIST DOUBLE SPEAK
The Chaplain reply about not very many Muslims extending appreciation to our men and women in uniform may have its roots in the Quran and Sunna, the authoritative text of Islam. These exhort Muslim to not take non-believers as their friends, to not war against fellow Muslims with not believers (e.g. can’t fight against fellow Muslims, which the fatwa discussed below give them a way out…..double speak).
He also mentions defending America from those who choose to do harm to America’s citizens, property, and values. What I would like to know is have Muslims now claimed America as Muslim land, and the citizens he speaks of are Muslim Citizens as Obama has now said we are a majority Muslim nation? So when he speaks of protecting America’s citizens, does this only apply to Muslims? Because per the Quran a non-Muslim or infidel has no rights and is considered the lowest form of life and not considered human. Is this more Islamist double speak and can we get clarity on the issue?
While there are a great many peaceful Muslim in America, they are because they are what I call MINO’s or Muslims in Name Only. I do so because to follow the Quran and Sunna in a fundamental fashion and emulate Muhammad as prescribed, we would have over 2.5 million terrorist in America. I agree most Muslims are peaceful, however the according to a brief by form Director of the CIA, James Woolsey, I attended about a week and a half ago approximately 2% of the worlds Muslims are Radical, however they control about 90% of the worlds Mosques and institutions. In other words the silent majority is irrelevant, and the radicals or more appropriately the fundamentalist are in charge.
The one Main question we in the west need to ask; where is this vast majority of peaceful patriotic Muslims? Why is there silence so deafening? Where is their condemnation of the many terrorist acts every day? Or are they not speaking against their fellow Muslim because they are waging Jihad in their hearts per the Quran?
The Chaplain, in my opinion implements double speak saying “to make overt gestures of patriotism even when such gestures are symbolic”. Further, he essentially says that if you show gratitude in a way which is not symbolic…”it does NOT undermine advocacy against U.S. policy and armed conflicts”. You must understand that in Islam taqiyya (holy deception) is allowed and the fact he is addressing a Muslim audience, is this for instruction purposes?
The Chaplain, states that recitation by the Holy Quran can easily be followed by the Pledge of Allegiance or the National Anthem, however this is not followed by mainstream Muslim Groups, as he stated. It was not done at this event, and to do so is swearing Allegiance to a man made republic/form of government and a Christian god, both of which are against the many versus in the Quran. He does mention that some Muslim do this… but fails to mention which groups.
In regard to the Fatwa it is clearly gives Muslims the right to not fight their fellow Muslims worded in a way that is palatable to those in the west.
The Chaplain then goes on to say that “the case can be made for a more clearly worded FATWA that encourages, instead of merely allowing, Muslims to serve in the US army”. This statement does not address the real issue is can a Muslim fight a fellow foreign Muslim without becoming an apostate per the Quran.
He hides this in more double speak about encouraging Muslim to Join the Army… but what will they do when the time comes to fight. We have already seen Muslims kill fellow American soldiers on and off the battle field and each time a verse of the Quran or a reference to the Sunna could or was sited to justify their actions. None can be found to justify what the chaplain proposes except verses in regard to the use of deception, but as Muhammad said "War is deceit"
The Chaplain believes having Muslim Soldiers to be beneficial in the above statements reminds me of the same mantra CAIR used to work their way into conducting sensitivity training to our federal and local law enforcements. They were found to be working both sides. Aiding Hamas on the one hand and deceiving our law enforcement and promoting policies which diminished their effectiveness to protect Americans form the terrorist threat.
Lastly, Parvez Ahmed, makes the statement “thanking men and women in uniform is authentically Islamic… REALLY… since America was not present at the inception of Islam and Islamic Law or Sharia calls for the destruction of all other forms of government and man mad laws I am confused.
It is true to thank those fighting Jihad is authentically Islamic… Does he use taqiyya here separating out the American Tradition and thanking those who fight??? I believe he answers with the next sentence… just replace or substitute another possible meaning if you were trying to deceive and see what you come up with.
This is one possible meaning: “God (Allah) loves people who express the gratitude towards those (Jihadist?) who serve us (Muslims?)”.
Bottom line… associations and words do have meanings and you need to understand the doctrines of Islam and Sharia to get a true read on our Islamist friends meanings.
Randy McDaniels ACT for America – Jacksonville Chapter www.actjacksonville.com
The Chaplain believes having Muslim Soldiers to be beneficial in the above statements reminds me of the same mantra CAIR used to work their way into conducting sensitivity training to our federal and local law enforcements. They were found to be working both sides. Aiding Hamas on the one hand and deceiving our law enforcement and promoting policies which diminished their effectiveness to protect Americans form the terrorist threat.
Lastly, Parvez Ahmed, makes the statement “thanking men and women in uniform is authentically Islamic… REALLY… since America was not present at the inception of Islam and Islamic Law or Sharia calls for the destruction of all other forms of government and man mad laws I am confused.
It is true to thank those fighting Jihad is authentically Islamic… Does he use taqiyya here separating out the American Tradition and thanking those who fight??? I believe he answers with the next sentence… just replace or substitute another possible meaning if you were trying to deceive and see what you come up with.
This is one possible meaning: “God (Allah) loves people who express the gratitude towards those (Jihadist?) who serve us (Muslims?)”.
Bottom line… associations and words do have meanings and you need to understand the doctrines of Islam and Sharia to get a true read on our Islamist friends meanings.
Randy McDaniels ACT for America – Jacksonville Chapter www.actjacksonville.com
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