VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH

VOICE OF THE GLOBAL UMMAH
St. Louis, Missouri
Vol 26, May 5, 2008

Editors: Mohamed and Rashida Ziauddin

In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent and the Most Merciful

DECLARING ALLAH'S TRUTH, ONE SURAH AT A TIME:

"Do you enjoin right conduct on other people and forget to practice it yourselves, and yet you study the scripture ? Will you not understand?" (2:44) Holy Quran

"Freedom of the Press is free only to those who own them":
Rick Carle, Publisher of Harpers Magazine.

SAMPLE OF COMMENTS FROM READERS:


(1) As'salamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatu

I am a regular visitor to http://www.voiceofglobalummah.blogspot.com/ !
It is educative and I was able to learn about Islam in Germany. May Allah SWT reward you for your noble work!

Kind regards!

(2) Dear Editor:
Salams:

"U reported in Ur earlier E-Zine that Islam is a way of life. If what U say is true, it should be inclusive of what V do in our leisure time too. I for one, watch hindi movies and recommend two movies (with English sub-titles): (1) Jodaa Akbar (Besides entertainment, U learn about the historical strengths and weakness in practicing Islam of the Muslim King whose forefathers had invaded India). If U love romance, U sure could watch "U, Me aur Hum" a unique, superbly romantic suspense movie". U will not be disappointed (Please ignore or look away the satan's influence - obscene dances. Every rose plant has thorns). Thanks.

(3) "Good work on educating us on global Ummah. How about educating global Ummah on St. Louis where your newsletter originates ? Are we Muslim St. Louisians not worthy of mention ?"

(4) "I dont agree with re-publishing these pictures because pictures speak a thousand words. Unfortunately, I dont know if readers will actually read all the text and condemnation of the pictures. But these tasteless pictures will be etched in one memory forever".

(5) (PRESUMABLY FROM THE SAME ABOVE ANNONYMOUS READER):
"Please remove the negative things and pictures. Its been on your post long time already. Thanks".


(6) "With regard to our anonymous brother who posted on the blog above request to "remove the negative things and pictures", as a reader, I would like to express my opinion on the same.
First of all I am glad that a reader has come forward in expressing an opinion and I take this positively assuming that it may be in the best interest of our Ummah, hence I appreciate this kind of participation.
On the other hand I disagree with our anonymous brother. I did not know these kind of things had happened until I read and saw pictures from the Voice of Global Ummah blog and I did fully read everything. Yusuf Estes had rightly pointed out during one of his lectures that Muslims have the best product that is Islam but the worst sales men that are the Muslims. A good Muslim would definitely read through what was written in order to find ways to voice out against these kind of unfair acts. And to do that, first of all he must be aware of it. As this blog is targeted to Muslims to raise awareness about Islam, I am at a loss to understand why a Muslim would expect pictures and content similar to that of a comic or entertainment magazine in terms of taste or distaste OR positive or negative. Hence I request the editors not to delete or remove that valuable piece of information.
Saying of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) "When you see an evil action, try to stop it with your hand, tongue or heart". Our Prophet never advised us to hide or run away from it but to confront it and try to stop it. Hence it is not an issue of "taste vs distaste" or "negativity or positive", but rather a fact and reality that all Muslims should be made aware of. I therefore encourage the Editors to continue to enlighten us to the depths of negativity unleashed by Islam haters. And not to force it under the rug and pretend that such harsh realities, however offensive it may seem never exists. Let's face such reality and as Muslims unite ourselves and do the best we can to correct such wrongs done by Islam haters.
However I once again appreciate our anonymous brother for expressing his views, keep it up. We need more participation from our other readers.
Wasalam"

EDITORIAL:

As you can see from the above comments of our readers, there are opposing opinions which needs to be heard and respected. There is lot of room for improvement when it comes to the style of communication among Muslims when dealing with difference of opinion. You don't need to look at the WORLD MUSLIM LEAGUE or the 52 Muslim countries to confirm the need for such improvement. Look at your own social circle of family and relatives and see the difficulty an average Muslim has when responding to a difference of opinion. Recall the last social party that you attended and try to recall those who were essentially like actors in a stage and put up a mask and pretense of what they really were not. If walls could speak, you would then know how certain members of the same party would later involve in active back-biting which is contradictory to how they presented themselves during the social get together. OR better yet, see the politics around your local Mosque Management Committee and it shall speak volumes on this same issue of dealing with difference of opinions.

Instead of generalizations, if you need an example of a specific case, see what initially happened to Br. Jamal Miftah of Tulsa, Oklahoma, a moderate Muslim, who does not approve of terrorism or believe that all infidels must die. He had the courage to write a piece in the newspaper "Tulsa World" in which he criticized Al-Qaeda and called on other Muslims to condemn terrorism. For his efforts, he has been threatened and initially kicked out of his Mosque. Later, luckily the local Mosque Management was smart enough to reverse their decision and the ban for him to enter the Mosque was lifted...."Tulsa World" (12/19/08). In Arizona, in one Mosque (House of Allah) two Board Member's difference of opinions & subsequent arguments escalated to the point of physical fight between the two. We know for sure that there is tremendous room for improvement among the Ummah to be able to deal with difference of opinions in a peaceful and mutually respectful manner.

We encourage you to be as open as realistically possible to see divergent perspectives. Most important of all, we encourage you the readers to express your
opinions on the above issue.

The positive aspect that arose from the opposing comments of above readers was that their intention to look out for what in their personal opinion was the "good" of the Ummah seems sincere. We encourage YOU the readers to give feedback to above discussion. After all this whole blog is not about the editors, but about the GLOBAL UMMAH, we need your feedback. If there is overwhelming support from the readers on either of the opposing perspectives, we may then reconsider our mode of publishing. So in a nutshell, dear brothers and sisters, LET'S TOGETHER FURTHER EXPLORE THE PRO'S AND CON'S OF THE ISSUE OF POSTING NEGATIVE THINGS AND PICTURES ET.C AND THEN IMPLEMENT WHAT THE MAJORITY OF THE READERS WOULD WANT US TO IMPLEMENT. IF YOU WANT TO SUPPORT OR OPPOSE SUCH A CHANGE, YOU NEED TO RESPOND. SORRY WE CANNOT "READ YOUR MIND" OR UNDERSTAND YOUR PERSPECTIVE WITHOUT ANY RESPONSE FROM YOUR SIDE. IF YOU FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE DISCLOSING YOUR NAME AND E-MAIL ADDRESS, YOU HAVE OPTION OF POSTING IT ANONYMOUSLY. WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO BE AS CRITICAL AS POSSIBLE. BY DOING SO, YOU ARE GIVING US AN OPPORTUNITY TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF OUR WEEKLY E-ZINE AT A FASTER PACE.

As part of informing the Ummah on the diversity of ISLAM from a national and cultural perspective, our focus of the week is on MUSLIMS IN MEXICO.

ISLAM IN MEXICO:

For the first time in Mexican history, Islam is being talked about in public . The presence of Muslims in Mexico is hard to trace, though there are many immigrants mainly from Turkey, Lebanon and Syria. A study by Theresa Velcamp, from Georgetown University has shown that approximately 10 per cent of the immigrants of Syrian or Lebanese origin were Muslim. Today the Syrian Lebanese community is one of the richest in Mexico and exceeds 200,000 people. Among them is the richest man in Latin America, Carlos Slim, son of Yusof Salim.

Among this wave of Arab immigrants, Islam has for the most part been removed from their daily lives. There is no proof that Islam was present in any way in Mexico before these waves of Arab immigration. There is one specific exception in a book called "Un hereje y Un Musulman" by Pascual Almazan. The book mentions a story of Yusof bin Alabaz who was one of those expelled by the Christians in Reconquista of Spain and went to Morroco where he was robbed by the Pirates, so he found his way to Mexico in the 16th century. It is reported that Yusof bin Alabaz hated the Christians who obliged his father, who accordingly was from the family of the Prophet Muhammed (Pbuh) to leave Islam and become a Christian. He started corresponding with the Muslim world and received a letter from a Qadi in Morroco encouraging him to be steadfast. It has been reported that he used to try and make everyone in Veracruz, Mexico accept Islam. Islam today is beginning to be noticed and recognized by thousands of Mexicans, including dozens of institutions, universities and governmental bodies. This is due to Allah's grace and a group of organized Muslims who are working hard to raise the honour of Islam.

In September 1995, Muslim Center de Mexico (MCM) was registered as a non-profit organisation. From 1995 to September 2001, MCM managed to establish the five prayers in congregation on a daily basis, the attendance has gradually increased and lots of Mexicans are accepting Islam. The new Muslims are receiving lessons on the fundamentals of Tawheed and the essentials of Fiqh. Monthly meals and weekly gatherings are held at the Center for all the Muslims. Islam, for the first time in Mexican history, is being talked about in public. "Talk Shows on Islam" on Mexican National television, radio programmes. Islamic Book Stands in the International Book Fairs of Mexico City and around the country have been instrumental in the spread of Islam here.



MCM has established Islamic Centres in Monterey, Guadalajara, Ciudad Obregon and Chiapas. A clear objective of MCM directives has been to send Mexican Muslims overseas to study Islam and since it's formation it has sent eight male students to study Islam in the Madinah University in Saudi Arabia. The women students are taking up Islamic Studies through correspondence courses. Muslim Center de Mexico has purchased a land in a beautiful lake front area of Mexico, 80 kms from Mexico City and 30 kms from Cuernavaca, which is a big and well known city in Mexico. The purpose of this project is to have a permanent center to teach the rapidly growing Mexican Muslim population. MCM is all set to introduce Islam in the rural areas of Mexico too.

Dawah in Mexico has been a unique experience with a community of Mexican Muslims committed to practicing the great favour they received from Allah and sharing this blessing with others. A common scenario in this Dawah is to see a member of a large family accept Islam and gradually see how other members of the same family come to the fold of Islam. Before the opening of the Center, Islam was nearly unknown to the public, today it is a different story. Guadalajara is the third biggest city in Mexico, the story of Islam started when Abu Bakr (one of the fortunate new Muslims who studied in Madinah), visited a book fair at Guadalajara. He found two brothers of Mexican origin, "Omar and Khaled, however Omar was of Algerian origin, he narrates that his grandfather came to Mexico decades ago with his son and his son fell in love with Omar's mother. Business was not good, so the grandfather returned leaving his son married to Omar's mother. When Omar was six, his father passed away, he remembered that his father used to pray and it led him to seek Islam. Muslim Center De Mexico receives hundreds of emails and it's web site (www.islam.com.mx) has received over 100,000 visits in a single month. MCM's web site is the most informative site (in accordance to Quran and Sunnah) in Spanish on the World Wide Web. Among the main objectives of MCM is to produce beneficial and sound knowledge in Spanish. MCM has translated dozens of books and over 100 articles on Islamic topics.

(To know more about Islam in Mexico, click on to www.islam.com.mx
(From islamicvoice.com)

INTERNATIONAL LEGAL NEWS IN FAVOR OF GLOBAL UMMAH:

Vote on Freedom of Expression Marks the End of 7th Session of Human Rights Council

– With the support of their allies including China, Russia and Cuba the Islamic States succeeded in forcing through an amendment to a resolution on Freedom of Expression. The amended resolution was adopted on Friday, March 28, 2008 in Geneva by 32 votes in favour. There were no votes against, but 15 abstentions. The resolution intended to renew the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and turning it into an order to report on defamation of religion. It requires the Special Rapporteur: “To report on instances in which the abuse of the right of freedom of expression constitutes an act of racial or religious discrimination…” (For global Ummah, above translates to victory, since IT WOULD BE CONSTRUED AS WRONG TO DEFAME A RELIGION (including Islam).

As usual, feel free to send your valuable comments to mehrunyusuficds.com.