VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH
Volume 238, July 28, 2013
Editors: Mohamed & Rashida Ziauddin
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent and Most Merciful
(www.xeniagreekmuslimah.wordpress.com)
EDITORIAL:
In this issue, our focus continues to be on Ramadan. When anti-Islamists continue to spew venomous hatred of Muslims in different ways and are blinded to see anything positive about this great and fastest growing religion, it is really awesome that President Obama who holds the most powerful position on planet Earth had stated that "Islam has contributed to the character" of US and also his appreciation of the positive contributions of Muslim Americans is truly reflective of ISLAM IN AMERICA. We also wanted to share other positive news including Mehdi Hasan's argument at Oxford House about Islam being a religion of peace, Muslims ranked as the most generous donor group in a British survey, Hollywood actor Ben Youcef who gives eloquent call to prayers three times each week at his Mosque, and many had come just to hear his voice, interfaith issues and last but not the least, Kazakhstan recently opening one of the largest Mosques in Central Asia.
PART I
Obama celebrates
Ramadan: 'Islam has contributed to the character' of US
By Kyle Balluck
07/25/13
President Obama late
Thursday celebrated Ramadan with a traditional dinner in the State
Dining Room, saying that throughout the nation's history, “Islam
has contributed to the character of our country.”
In remarks before the
Iftar dinner, eaten by Muslims after sunset to end the day of
fasting, Obama quoted from the Koran, according to a White House pool
report. "As the Koran teaches, whoever does an atom's weight of
good will see its results."
"Muslim-Americans
and their good works have helped to build our nation, and we've seen
the results," he added.
Obama, who has hosted
five Iftar dinners, focused on entrepreneurship during much of his
speech.
“Every day,
Muslim-Americans are helping to shape the way that we think and the
way that we work and the way that we do business," he said. "And
that’s the spirit that we celebrate tonight — the dreamers, the
creators whose ideas are pioneering new industries, creating new jobs
and unleashing new opportunities for all of us.”
Obama recognized
three entrepreneurs, including Shazi Visram, the founder and chief
executive of Happy Family Organic Superfoods; Aunim Hossain, chief
executive of Tista Games; and Iya Khalil, who co-founded GNS
Healthcare, a biotech research company.
“So Shazi, Aunim,
Iya and so many of you who have traveled here tonight — each of you
have traveled your own path, but each of you have also lived out an
American story.
“And of course,
this isn’t just the American Dream; it’s the aspiration of people
around the world. It’s the basic human desire for progress, to find
dignity that comes from work, to give our children something better.”
Members of Congress,
local elected officials and dozens of ambassadors were on the White
House guest list.
Read more:
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/313665-obama-celebrates-ramadan-with-white-house-dinner#ixzz2anz7MKst
Follow us: @thehill
on Twitter | TheHill on Facebook
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press
Secretary
For Immediate Release
July 25, 2013
Expected Attendees at
the White House Iftar Dinner
This evening, the
President will continue a White House tradition of hosting an Iftar
celebrating Ramadan in the State Dining Room. This is the fifth Iftar
hosted by the President. The Iftar is the meal that breaks the day of
fasting, when Muslim families and communities eat together after
sunset.
Below is a list of some
of the expected attendees at tonight’s White House
dinner celebrating Ramadan:
Members of Congress:
The Honorable Debbie
Stabenow, United States Senator, Michigan
The Honorable André
Carson, United States Representative, Indiana
The Honorable John
Dingell, United States Representative, Michigan
The Honorable Keith
Ellison, United States Representative, Minnesota
The Honorable Eliot
Engel, United States Representative, New York
The Honorable Dan
Kildee, United States Representative, Michigan
Local
Elected Officials:
Mayor Arjumand Hashmi,
City of Paris, TX
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, 6th
District, Michigan House of Representatives
Diplomatic
Corps:
Suleiman Salem Hammad
Abulhul, Charge d'Affaires of Libya
His Excellency Lukman Al
Faily, Ambassador of the Republic of Iraq
Her Excellency Hunaina
Al Mughairy, Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman
His Excellency Mohamed
Abdullah M. Al Rumaihi, Ambassador of the State of Qatar
His Excellency Mohammed
Al-Hussaini Al Sharif, Ambassador of the League of Arab States, Arab
League Mission
His Excellency Adel
Ahmed Al-Jubeir, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
His Excellency Yousef
Mana Saeed Alotaiba, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates, Embassy
of the United Arab Emirates
Adel Ali Ahmed
Alsunaini, Charge d'Affaires of the Republic of Yemen
His Excellency Abdallah
Baali, Ambassador of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria
His Excellency Othman
Bin Hashim, Ambassador of Malaysia
His Excellency Seydou
Bouda, Ambassador of Burkina Faso
His Excellency Rachad
Bouhlal, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco
Her Excellency Alia
Mohamad Bouran, Ambassador of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
His Excellency Antoine
Chedid, Ambassador of the Lebanese Republic
His Excellency Blaise
Cherif, Ambassador of the Republic of Guinea
Kais Darragi, Charge
D'affaires of the Tunisian Republic
His Excellency Maitine
Djoumbe, Ambassador of the Republic of Chad
His Excellency Muktar
Djumaliev, Ambassador of the Kyrgyz Republic
His Excellency Mohamed
El Haycen, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania
His Excellency Bienvenu
Joseph Charles Foe-Atangana, Ambassador of the Republic of Cameroon
His Excellency Gilbert
Galanxhi, Ambassador of the Republic of Albania
His Excellency Bakhtiyar
Gulyamov, Ambassador of the Republic of Uzbekistan
His Excellency Eklil
Hakimi, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
Baboucarr Jallow, Charge
d'Affaires of the Gambia
His Excellency Bayney
Karran, Ambassador of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana
His Excellency Al
Maamoun Keita, Ambassador of the Republic of Mali
Asad Majeed Khan, Charge
d'Affaires of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
His Excellency Michael
Moussa-Adamo, Ambassador of the Gabonese Republic
His Excellency Stanislas
Moussa-Kembe, Ambassador, Central African Republic
Her Excellency Liberata
Rutageruka Mulamula, Ambassador of the United Republic of Tanzania
His Excellency Cheik
Niang, Ambassador of the Republic of Senegal
Her Excellency Huda Ezra
Ebrahim Nonoo, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain
His Excellency Segbe
Oguin, Ambassador of the Republic of Benin
His Excellency Roble
Olhaye, Ambassador of the Republic of Djibouti
His Excellency Akramul
Qader, Ambassador of the People's Republic of Bangladesh
His Excellency Ebrahim
Rasool, Ambassador of the Republic of South Africa
His Excellency Maman
Sidikou, Ambassador of the Republic of Niger
His Excellency Elin
Suleymanov, Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan
His Excellency Namik
Tan, Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey
His Excellency Mohamed
Mostafa Mohamed Tawfik, Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt
His Excellency Kairat
Umarov, Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Her Excellency Oliver
Wonekha, Ambassador of the Republic of Uganda
His Excellency Dato
Paduka Yusoff Abd Hamid, Ambassador of the State of Brunei Darussalam
His Excellency Adebowale
Adefuye, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
His Excellency Daouda
Diabate, Ambassador of the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire
His Excellency Sheikh
Salem Al-Sabah, Ambassador of the State of Kuwait
PART II
Mehdi
Hasan at Oxford Union: “Islam is a religion of peace”
09 July 2013
(www.loonwatch.com)
(www.loonwatch.com)
by Emperor
A brilliant argument by
Mehdi Hasan for the affirmative side of the debate on the motion:
Islam, a religion of peace.
Update: The motion,
“Islam is a peaceful religion” passed: 286 to 168.
http://www.loonwatch.com/2013/07/mehdi-hasan-at-oxford-union-islam-is-a-religion-of-peace/
PART III:
Muslims
Rank as Most Generous Donor Group in British Survey
23 Jul 2013
PHILANTHROPY
TODAY
A U.K. poll found that
Muslims in that nation donate more on average to charity than other
religious groups, NBC News reports.
Adherents of Islam gave
an average of $567 to charity in 2012, according to the survey of
4,036 U.K. residents by ICM Research. Jews gave $412, Protestants
$308, Roman Catholics $272, and atheists $177.
The U.K. findings follow
a recent international survey by the Pew Research Center that found
that 77 percent of Muslims give to charity, and data from
philanthropy Web site JustGiving.com show nearly 70 percent growth in
the last two years in Muslims’ use of online methods for Zakat, the
Islamic practice of donating to charity.
PART IV:
Ben Youcef: The
Hollywood Actor Who Gives the Call to Prayer
24 Jul 2013
www.loonwatch.com
Ben_Youcef_Hollywood
NPR has a story on a
Muslim actor from Algeria who gives a sonorous rendition of the
Islamic call to prayer (Adhan) three times a week at his mosque; many
come just to hear his voice.
For the next year, NPR
will take a musical journey across America, which is one of the most
religiously diverse countries on earth. We want to discover and
celebrate the many ways in which people make spiritual music —
individually and collectively, inside and outside houses of worship.
It is said, in Los
Angeles, that Abdulwahab Benyoucef’s call to prayer is so lovely
and so clarion that Muslims come to the mosque just to hear him.
About three times a week, the Algerian actor — who has shortened
his name to Ben Youcef — comes here in his traditional tunic to
stand before the men kneeling toward Mecca. He closes his eyes, holds
one hand over his ear, leans into a microphone and sings out the
Arabic words in extended phrases.
“It’s a way to call
people to come to worship God,” Ben Youcef says. “That’s the
purpose of the adhan [the Arabic name for call to prayer]. I bear
witness that there’s no God except God. I bear witness that
Muhammad is a messenger of God. Come to what’s good, come to
prayer.”
In his other life, the
34-year-old Ben Youcef is one of Hollywood’s A-list Muslim actors.
Lately, because of his complexion, he’s been getting more and more
generic ethnic roles. “Because in commercials,” he says, “a lot
of times I’m actually playing a Latin guy or an ethnically
ambiguous guy.”
While the story is
feel-good it does oddly descend into a bit of Orientalism. For some
reason writer John Burnett could not type up an article on a Muslim
without including a reference to “Aladdin.”
Ben Youcef, with his
Aladdin-like good looks and mellifluous voice, has the goal of
becoming Hollywood’s most recognizable Arab actor — the next Omar
Sharif — just so long, he says, as he can remain true to Islam.
PART V:
INTER-FAITH ISSUES:
St.Louis Church Sign:
Ramadan Mubarak
PART VI:
Kazakhstan Opens Huge Mosque
By James Kilner, Almaty
www.telegraph.co.uk
09 Jul 2012
Kazakhstan has opened
one of the largest mosques in Central Asia to commemorate the 14th
anniversary of the Kazakh capital’s switch to Astana.
(Mosque photo) The
Hazrat Sultan Mosque in Astana, Kazakhstan Photo: AP
The mosque, called
Khazret Sultan, is big enough to take 5,000 worshippers and stands on
a 27 acre site, roughly the size of 18 football pitches.
“This celebration is a
celebration for all Kazakh people. I congratulate you on opening Kazakhstan’s biggest
mosque,” AFP news agency quoted Kazakh president Nursultan
Nazarbayev as saying when he opened the mosque on Friday.
Kazakhstan, the largest
economy in Central Asia, is predominantly Muslim.
Mr Nazarbayev, who has
ruled since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, switched the
Kazakh capital to Astana from Almaty in 1998.
Astana, which lies on
the windswept steppe, has since become Mr Nazarbayev’s pet project
and new, ornate buildings rise up into the city’s skyline every
year.
(www.xeniagreekmuslimah.wordpress.com)
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