A day in the life of a Moderate Muslim

BK blogged As most of you may know, RN, HS and I were verbally attacked this past Saturday by an elderly white couple. When news of the incident reached CAIR National, and furthermore that I, as a CAIR employee was one of the victims, I was told to issue a press release. So here it is. I have issued many press releases in the past, but it definitely felt weird writing one about myself :)

Also, I wanted to hear Don's comments about the incident. As someone who works for CAIR, my job and my efforts solely focus on promoting a positive image of Islam, condemning any violence wrongfully associated with it, and building bridges between mainstream society and Islam.

I have mixed emotions about CAIR. I have seen them doing some very good work, and then I have seen them stand up for some pretty extreme people. It is my assumption that they stand up for Muslims regardless of what they do. If I was a Muslim myself, I would find that good, since I would have someone to protect my rights. As a non Muslim, I would wish they would focus on protecting those that follow true Islam, and that they would speak out against the very small group that have hijacked that honorable faith, and misrepresent what is said in its Holy Book, the Qu'ran.

What happened to us was very, very wrong. And if I get the chance to send a message to those who used such harsh and unnecessary words with us, it would simply be this: Shame on you.
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In the Name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,

AZ MUSLIMS ACCOSTED BY 'UNITED 93' VIEWERS
Women told: 'Take off your f***ing burqas and get the f*** out of this country'

That is totally wrong.

(PHOENIX, AZ, 5/2/06) - The Arizona office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-AZ) reported today that several young Muslim women were verbally abused by two people who said they recently saw the movie "United 93" about one of the planes hijacked on 9/11.

The people that hijacked those planes and flew them into buildings also hijacked an honorable monotheistic faith. I dont recall anything in my Holy Bible about Islam, but if we look at their holy book, We are all "People of the Book" (or ahl al Kitâb) Surat Al 'Imran, 64 (Qur'an 3:64) says "O People of the Book! Let us rally to a common formula to be binding on both us and you: That we worship none but God; that we associate no partners with Him; that we erect not, from among ourselves, Lords and patrons other than God."

The three Muslim women say a white middle-aged couple approached them on April 29 at the Desert Ridge Marketplace in Scottsdale, Ariz., and asked whether they were Muslim. After learning that the women were in fact Muslims, the couple indicated they had seen "United 93" and then said: "Take off your f***ing burqas and get the f*** out of this country. We don't want you in this country. Go home". Two of the three women are native- born American citizens.

I wonder if they were even wearing Burquas. I doubt it, if the couple had to ask if they were Muslims. My guess is they just had on hijabs (head scarves). My mother used to wear a head scarf, to protect her permanent wave, when she was alive; is it ok for a Christian woman to do that, but not for a Muslim woman to wear one because her faith requires it? A jew wears a yarmulka (or skull cap) in synagogue (and elsewhere) because his faith requires it. I believe a Muslim wears a skull cap for the same reason. Interestingly in the Christian faith we remove any headcovering when we enter a church. To tell the truth, I dont know why we do it one way, and both of the other monotheistic faiths do it exactly the opposite way. Since we all worship the God of Abraham I dont know why he wants to see our heads, but not the heads of Jews or Muslims, but I guess that is His business.

However whatever the three ladies were wearing, I would think that was their business.

"The couple's verbal abuse had obviously been prompted by their associating all Muslims with those who took part in the 9/11 terror attacks," said CAIR-AZ Office Manager Bushra Khan, who was one of those accosted by the couple. "The best way to prevent this type of stereotyping and intolerance is to educate ordinary Americans of all faiths about Islam and Muslims."

Khan said CAIR launched several post-9/11 educational campaigns to promote mutual understanding. CAIR's campaigns included a "Not in the Name of Islam" public service announcement rejecting terrorism and religious extremism, the "Explore the Quran" campaign offering free copies of Islam's revealed text to Americans of all faiths, the "Explore the Life of Muhammad" initiative, which offers free DVDs and books about the life and legacy of Islam's Prophet Muhammad, and the recently concluded "Explore Islamic Civilization and Culture" campaign that distributed materials about Islam to more than 8,000 public libraries nationwide.

I wonder if CAIR would be able to persuade the Saudi's to at least allow Christians in that country to have their own Holy Bibles.

A recent CAIR survey showed that just two percent of Americans said they were "very knowledgeable" about Islam. Some 60 percent of respondents said they "are not very knowledgeable" or "not at all knowledgeable" about Islam.

Have they run a similar survey among Muslims in this country, to see how knowledgable they were about Christianity and Judaism?

SEE: CAIR: American Public Opinion About Islam and Muslims.: Summary   Detailed Results (both PDF files)

A similar poll by the Washington Post and ABC News found that one in four Americans "admitted to harboring prejudice toward Muslims." That survey indicated that 46 percent of Americans have a negative view of Islam.

Unfortunately that is understandable, because the main things they read about in the paper are what people that call themselves Muslim are doing to innocent people. I personally believe that those people, who I call Islamoterrorists, have hijacked the Muslim faith just as they hijacked airplanes to fly into buildings, but we need see more moderate Muslims stand up and say what true Islam believes.

In Islam the word jihad means struggle. If all I knew was what the MSM says, I would assume that it means that Islam is in a continual struggle with all other faiths, and that it was not just acceptable, but required, that all Muslims had to try to kill every Jew and Christian they could reach. Actually I believe that for most Muslims, jihad refers to the inward spiritual struggle to attain perfect faith, but if I am right, then we need for organizations like CAIR to shout as loud as they can the real meaning of Jihad.

If all I knew was what I read and hear in the MSM I would think that Islam allows people to become suicide bombers and kill innocent people, even Muslims, an even promises them that doing so is how they get into Heaven (Paradise). Well Jesus tells me that it is wrong to kill innocents, so if all I knew was what the MSM tells me, I would assume that all of Islam was bad.

But I don't believe everything I hear in the MSM, and in reading the Muslim's Holy Book I see: Surat an-Nisa,093 (Quran 4.93) says "If a man kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell, to abide therein (For ever): And the wrath and the curse of Allah are upon him, and a dreadful penalty is prepared for him." Now that sounds more like it. It does not get them into Heaven, it gets them into Hell. But where do the clerics find a basis for telling them it gets them into Heaven?

Surah 9:111 says "Lo! Allah hath bought from the believers their lives and their wealth because the Garden will be theirs: they shall fight in the way of Allah and shall slay and be slain. It is a promise which is binding on Him in the Torah and the Gospel and the Qur'an. Who fulfilleth His covenant better than Allah? Rejoice then in your bargain that ye have made, for that is the supreme triumph."

That sounds pretty bad, doesn't it. Especially if you just read the hilighted parts. But let us look at the rest.

"Lo! Allah hath bought from the believers their lives and their wealth because the Garden will be theirs: they shall fight in the way of Allah and shall slay and be slain. It is a promise which is binding on Him in the Torah and the Gospel and the Qur'an. Who fulfilleth His covenant better than Allah? Rejoice then in your bargain that ye have made, for that is the supreme triumph."

First this verse does not say kill everyone you think God/Allah wants dead. Do you think that He does not have the power to take anyone He wants, when and how He wants?

Then this offer is made to those who fight in the way of God. What way is that? Well it is covered in the Torah and the Gospel as well as in the Qur'an. The Torah is the first five books of our Old Testament, and in it are the Ten Commandments, one of which is "Thou shalt not murder", so maybe it means if you are attacked you may defend yourself, and if you are killed you will see God. But not if you kill people for personal gain. And there are many places in the Gospel of Jesus where He says peace is the answer. He does recognize that occasionally violence may be necessary. Luke 22:36: He said to them, "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one." But is certainly not the first choice, and it is not the way you get to Heaven (as their own Quran indicates, that will get you a special place in Hell. I am not sure how many virgins will be there waiting for you, but I would not count on 72. In fact having 72 wives, and 72 mothers in law, sounds like Hell to me.)

The Post's report on the poll findings quoted experts who say negative attitudes about Islam are "fueled in part by political statements and media reports that focus almost solely on the actions of Muslim extremists."

CAIR, America's largest Muslim civil liberties group, has 32 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

CONTACT: Bushra Khan, 602-262-2247, officemanager@cairaz.org