VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH

VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH
Volume 149, September 19, 2010
St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Editors: Mohamed & Rashida Ziauddin

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

Editorial:

While Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world, there is also a minority of anti-Muslims who are attempting to demonize the peaceful religion of Islam. Their hate of Islam is exhibited in various ways. In this E-Zine, we are focusing on web-based anti-Islamic pages through the social networking site of Facebook and other sites. We thank Sister. Jabeen Mubasheshera for forwarding below e-mail and the authors of the below article are Khalid Baig, Shakir Parvez Khan and Shadman Saquib. We have also highlighted two organizations within the United States (United Voices of America and Council of American-Islamic Relations) who have been advocates for the American Ummah.

PART I:

(RESPONDING TO ANTI-ISLAMIC PAGES/WEBSITES)

Brothers and Sisters:

(those from the disbelievers who love to mock and slander) would continue to create more and more of such blasphemous anti-Islamic pages as they know nothing else but to abuse and slander. The more we react to them the more they are prompted by their Shaytaan to create such pages. Remember that this is exactly their plot to make us boil with anger and in the process lose our focus on our Da'wah and Is'lah activities. When we come across any Anti-Islamic Page/Group on Facebook, the first thing we do is tell our friends to report it. But little of us do realize that we are actually helping the very Anti-Islamic Page/Group that we are trying to fight.

In the click-click world of the Internet, the first thing most people will do is click on the URL, thereby increasing the hit counts and boasting the morale of the site owners. Second, it will help it with search engine placement, as some of them will use the increased curiosity traffic as a sign of popularity. You just helped create the monster you wanted to fight! It is very easy to setup a Facebook Fan Page/Group. It is very difficult to draw traffic to it.

The most anti-Islamic Page/Group will die if it faces a frozen counter. That would happen if you just leave it alone.

But if you are out there telling everyone about it and asking them to report, you are in effect volunteering as their publicity department. That is exactly what they need. It is a common sense. If you don't want people to visit a site/page/group, just don't tell them about it. If there is a well-established site (like CNN) it makes sense to launch a protest campaign. But for most of the sites the prudent course is just the opposite. Leave it alone.

Let it die of neglect. A natural death.

The greater the lack of attention, the faster will be the death of this would be monster. So the next time you receive an alert letter about an anti-Islamic site Facebook Page or Group, just delete it. If you respond to the sender, do not include the original text of his alert email, because even that may help some search engine ranking.

There were thousands of anti-Islamic websites sites and anti Islamic Facebook Page/Group that sprang up recently but died soon after because, luckily, our enthusiasts had not noticed them and had not publicized them through their alert letters. The ones that receive the alert letter mention will, unfortunately, survive and may thrive.

So, then what is a better alternative?

1. We should instantly report the page without informing others.

2. We should instantly share instead a link to our favorite Islamic page here on facebook as our status and ask our friends to join.

So, what will this accomplish?

1. We will have the page reported.

2. We will not unintentionally become its marketing agents.

3. We will prevent the page from becoming popular by the number of clicks/likes it would have gotten, therefore increasing the probability of it getting deleted by facebook.

4. We will save our Brothers/Sisters in Islam from seeing inappropriate material.

5. We will save our Brothers/Sisters in Islam from getting angry.

6. We will save our Brothers/Sisters in Islam from responding against the teachings of Islam.

7. By sharing the link to our favorite Islamic page instead & asking our fb friends to join, we will be doing Da'wah - which is an obligation upon all Muslims.

8. For all the friends who join our favorite Islamic page & learn/follow the teachings, we will Insha'Allah gain the same amount of good deeds as them without any extra effort.

9. We will all instead use our time wisely and properly.

10. We will all become better Muslims Insha'Allah. There maybe more benefits, but let's start following this from now onwards so that we can prevent another anti-Islamic (e.g Draw Muhammad Day) situation - at least on Facebook. Insha'Allah. On the Internet, the best use of your energies is to promote the good Islamic sites.

Let the good drive out the evil.

Please help spread this message by sharing it on your profile/Islamic pages.

JazakumAllahu khayran. : )

and Allâh (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala) knows best.

By Khalid Baig, Shakir Parvez Khan, Shadman Saquib - Manners in Islam

PART II:

(Ed Note:
We appeal to the American Ummah to support United Voices of America (UVO) who are doing a great job to advocate for minorities in America. Below is a condensed version of an e-mail received from UVO.)

UNITED VOICES OF AMERICA
(unitedvoices.com)
Sept 3, 2010
Manal Fakhoury
Board Chair
United Voices for America

As the mid-term election season heats up, right-wing extremists are getting tons of media attention. The recent Republican primaries across the country saw ultra-conservative candidates who seem to want to turn the U.S. into a Christian nation with little or no diversity. Some conservative Democrats are even stepping into the fray, running against centrist Democratic incumbents.

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With this so-called anti-establishment sentiment saturating the airwaves and the Web, political discussion in this country has become startlingly racially-charged - the Manhattan Muslim community center (fabricated) being a striking and sinister example of this.

You might wonder how some elements of the tea-party movement has so quickly wedged itself into the political sphere this election season; how, despite the lack of an actual political platform (other than being pro-Christian, anti-minority, anti-government, anti-tax, and angry) they've secured the mainstream media's ear. You might wonder how Muslims and people of color can garner the same kind of attention.

Protesting may seem like a direct route to change, but in the long term it won't cause a lasting impact. The answer is engaging in the process. During the last week of Ramadan, please help United Voices bring better representation of the real America to the political sphere. By donating to United Voices, you help us carry out our mission of training young minorities on all aspects of policy making - from community organizing to lobbying and the process of drafting legislation

This is a critical moment in American history. Help steer this country in the right direction by donating to United Voices today.

Thank you for your continued Support,

Manal Fakhoury
Board Chair
United Voices for America

United Voices For America (www.unitedvoices.com) is a non-profit, non-partisan civic engagement organization dedicated to increasing minority participation in the political process. We're an IRS section 501c3 approved tax-exempt organization, donations are 100% tax deductible. Our tax id is 26-3167994.

PART III

COUNCIL ON AMERICAN-ISLAMIC RELATIONS
(www.cair.com)

According to Wikipedia:
"The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is America's largest Muslim civil liberties advocacy organization that deals with civil advocacy and promotes Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam. It is headquartered on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., with regional offices nationwide and in Canada

Through media relations, lobbying, and education, CAIR presents what it views as an Islamic perspective on issues of importance to the American public, and seeks to empower the American Muslim community and encourage its social and political activism. Annual banquets, through which CAIR raises the majority of its funds, are attended by American politicians, statesmen, interfaith leaders, activists and media personalities

(ED NOTE:
COUNCIL ON AMERICAN ISLAMIC RELATIONS - CAIR has been an excellent advocacy organization for the American Ummah and below is a condensed version of an e-mail titled "Good News" received (Sept 9, 2010) from their Executive Director Nihad Awad).

As-salamu alaykum. (Peace be to you.)

I would like to ask you to take a moment and watch the television public service announcements -- or PSAs -- CAIR created this week. I believe it will leave you feeling proud to be an American Muslim.

Already these PSAs, which were only released a few days ago, are having an impact. Initial reports show that more than 12 million people have viewed CAIR’s PSAs on TV. One of them was featured on the Yahoo! homepage, which resulted in more than 400,000 viewings. On YouTube there are already more than 80,000 views.

As you can see, the announcements strike directly at the massive smear campaign currently being waged in an effort to de-legitimize Muslims in the United States.

Corey Saylor, CAIR

Believe it or not, these PSAs went from conception to distribution in only a week and a half. They have now been distributed to some 800 television stations nationwide, and have been featured in segments like this one on CNN.

Right now, in these last few days of Ramadan when an active good deed is rewarded multiple times, I ask you to take a few minutes and donate to CAIR. Remember, all contributions to CAIR are both zakat-eligible and tax-deductible.

Muslim-bashers are raising funds to purchase ads to smear Islam. Our campaign is designed to turn the tide. We've started to see positive results. If everyone donates, we will reach our goal of $180,000, which we need to do our work.

Please consider giving $5,000, $2,500, $1,000, $500, $250, $100, $50, $25, or whatever you can. We appreciate any contribution you give. All contributions to CAIR are both zakat-eligible and tax-deductible.

You can donate online or send a check to CAIR at 453 New Jersey Ave, S.E., Washington, D.C., 20003. (cair.com)

We are confident that with your help we will reach our goal insha'Allah.

Your decision to lend your financial support to the campaign to promote these PSAs can help American Muslims define ourselves to people like those who live around you. You and I both know that a lot of what our neighbors learn about Islam comes from television -- why not help ensure that message is positive?

So are you up for the challenge? Will you be one of those who help CAIR make sure these TV ads are viewed by as many people as possible?

DONATE

Sincerely,

Nihad Awad
CAIR National Executive Director

P.S. Please send this appeal to your friends and family and post on Facebook, Twitter, and other such sites. Follow up with them to make sure they take action.

To learn more about us, visit our website to see our vision, mission and core principles as well as CAIR at-a-glance detailing information about CAIR. You can also read about CAIR national board and key staff and see the leaders of each of our 35 chapters.

THE END