homeland mentality

i struggle to figure out at what point a minority mentality and tieing yourself to a piece of land can become an obstacle to a peaceful existance. very interesting how Sharon believed that the palestinians already have a state - Jordon. an article a while ago mentioned that some anti-israeli american jew had said WWI was manipulated by the zionists to get palestine. at the root of any jew's self identity is that he or she belongs to a dislocated people, a minority with a unique identity and a shared struggle to survive. that self identity seems to effect the choices made and the methods used in their survival struggle. a couple of days ago on PBS, i saw a documentary on the armenians. it appears that they also carry that oppressed, displaced unique people mentality. another example -gypsies. there are probably several others... hold up! - we have a complication - the jews got thier promised land (by shady zionist efforts), and armenians got thier homeland (through communists). now... having a homeland again, - shouldn't those who identify with that land return? and if they choose to stay in the host country, shouldn't they just admit that they really are no longer an outcaste people? shouldn't the no-longer persecuted armenians or homelandless scattered jews accept a new identity, a new reality and move on with life? ...lets put aside the fact than many probably don't move to the homeland because, lets face it, would you move to a place of bloody conflict or no jobs. ...but i'm not talking about the reality, i'm trying to understand meanings (hernalmanewrticks). ...another problem is those who already have home countries that they willfully left behind, discarded, brain-drained. they should be the last ones running around claiming to be anything-anything (pakistani-american, indian-american, etc, etc) but wait - african-americans and palestinian-americans don't quite fit into the above two models. the african-americans decended from slaves are oppressed and displaced, but unlike jews or armenians, when they arrived, whatever unique identity was there was tortured out of them until all that was left was a skin color (even that was diluted through rape). several have accepted the new reality and moved on.... and the palestinians, they too are an oppressed, and displaced group, but i think Sharon may be on to something. they do have a Jordon, a Lebanon/Syria. don't get me wrong, i think if your home is taken, you fight, regroup, fight, regroup, and fight again (three times sunnah). but if you lose that war, and a whole generation of the conquerors establish themselves on that land, you move on. i don't think you want your decendants to be like the jews or armenians, wandering the land. like a small group of muslims dreaming of what was and will be again some day when a mahdi comes to the rescue. i say integrate into the host country (which should allow you to integrate in the first place) or move to Jordon to be with your 3-generation removed cousin. Of course, i understand that some segments of Lebanese and Jordonian society don't allow the refugees to intigrate. That is a definately an issue that must be dealt with because it does not allow for progress. ...in india, my mom's mamo(uncle) a major north indian scholar, told me that he went to baghdad for some meeting. the arab religious scholars were going on about how palestine should be liberated. he (a hanafi/qadiri shaikh) said to them, yes i feel for the palestinian people, but you know i think we should liberate Mecca and Madina first. After those bastards who prevent little girls from escaping burning buildings are overthrown, the decendent of the Hashimi Shareefs of Hijaz (the current king of Jordon) can come rule in his grandfathers old territory. and the Palestinains can have their state in Jordon. wow, i thought it was a pretty good solution. everyone wins. the wahhabis would no longer be there to whip women at the Sacred Masjid, the King of Jordon should be happy, he now has a higher status and a more developed country. and the palestinians get to control the land they should rule. (through Lawrence of Arabia i learned how everything got mucked up, and its entertaining too). you know what, our liberal Muslim leaders lack the cohonez to do it on our own, and we don't demand such an overthrow of the tyrants over Mecca. instead we cry. instead we wait until Israel or the US offers us a similar solution and we will not accept it then because that will mean we are selling out the West or to the Jews. why the ---k does Mubarak come and humiliate himself at the white house? if we can't take care of our own business and must let Bush decide what we can or can't do, shame on us! we deserve to have bastards who allow girls to burn to death ruling over us. i've managed to become confused all over again.

grab a marshmellow

the following is an argument regarding the allowablity of eating gelatin derived from a pig, i think its weak: "...it is impossible to differentiate between a chemical derived from an animal source and the same chemical derived from a plant source or formed synthetically. What used to be animal fat, possibly even lard, is now a chemical compound that could have been made in a laboratory or derived from vegetable oil." ...this takes us out of the realm of unlawful things being lawful in times of necessity... with all the advances in science, if we know that the same chemical is available through something halal, why intentionally use it from something haram. or, after finding out that an ingredient came from a WILLFULL use of the haram, why continue to eat it, or make an argument to justify wanting to eat it. (its like placing the dead carrion in that lake yourself, pee in the lake yourself, and then offering me a glass, saying to me "hey bro, it got diluted." well, no thank you! i like my water filtered. some people say that we need to keep things simple, that islam is not about making things complicated. well, i think going to the level of chemical compounds in order to say that derivatives of pig (or alcohol) are ok is also guilty of getting into technicalities. hamza yusuf's tapes of "Food for Thought" are excellent. he describes the eating habits of the prophet and the companions. eat healthy, eat natural, eat pure. if folks want to make lists of things they found to be pork derived, more power to them, do whatever you want in your struggle to attain allah's pleasure, and if others want to ignore those lists, and instead go to the chemical level to justify eating skittles or starburst or marshmellows, i hope its not based on whim, hiding behind a common slogan: "islam says no hardship." peace.

islam awareness week and MSA @ UT

I was asked about the origins of Islam Awareness Week at UT. I'm glad I was asked. I finally get to tell our story. But I feel hesitant to speak about my role for fear that my façade of humbleness will shear at the anchor bolts. here goes... for us at UT, IAW started way back in Fall 95 and I was its coordinator for its first few years. but the real origins go back further, what follows is based on legends and exagerated truth: I believe our IAW's roots lie with the first among the american born/raised muslim generation to enter college back in the late 80's, (folks like Asim Ghafoor Sahib). Those were the dark ages of MSA. Up till the mid-80's MSAs were more than campus clubs, they did community activities. But after masjids were built and the community activities shifted, the MSAs were left with nothing to do. A few students (members of international islamic movements) kept the orgs alive on most campuses with the simple OLSP (One Lecture Per Semester) formula. But wait, the ground was rumbling, some of the freshman american muslim youth had been community activists since high school (taking part in MYNA-Muslim Youth of North America). And now, desiring to be active on campus they joined the MSAs and by 1991-92, some of them had become officers. An OLPS MSA was boring, these kids wanted more (when do they find time to study??). I think it was some of these students in the mid-west that did the first “Islam Week” in 1990-92. and because most of the young activists around the country knew each other, the idea spread. By 1992 these american youth had revived MSA-National (Muslim Students Association of United States and Canada) and commissioned the “Ad-Hoc Task Force for the Establishment of Islam Week” which eventually evolved into today’s MSA Islam Awareness Week Task Force. (asad blows the dust off of his moldy “MSA Box”)*. The task force decided in late 1992 that “if 50 different MSAs conducted Islam Weeks at the same time, we could go from addressing issues concerning Islam in the Cincinnati Enquirer to USA Today, ABC News, and so on...In addition, coordinating Islam Weeks creates the much needed interdependency between MSAs.” So, all affiliate MSA's were told about it and “Islam Week – a resource book” was available at the MSA national convention (held with theISNA annual convention) I still have a copy of that first draft manual. It quotes the objectives taken from a U of Cincinnati Islam Week Proposal: “1) To present Islam; its teachings, applications, culture, and civilization... 2) To expose and educate school teachers... presenting Islam, clearing up misconceptions, and explaining the needs and rights of Muslims... 3) To foster collective work among the different components of the Muslim community... through joint sponsorship... Each local organization can play a significant role. 4) To maximize the participation from every member of your MSA through events that require particular talents and interests not found in many MSA activities. At the same time, MSA workers should be exposed to Islamic organizational work and leadership principles. 5) To reach out to “unknown” Muslims on your campus and invite them to become part of the community... 6)To fully cooperate with other MSAs across North America who have conducted similar events and the Continental MSA office with the intention of eventually having a continent wide Islam Awareness Month Insha’Allah...” It also quotes from a U of Illinois Islam Week Proposal: “One may ask, but why in a week? Well basically, it appears that by having an Awareness Week, it becomes a sort of official, formal, ‘hey it must be something important’ kind of event, which could lead to some curiosity, if not genuine interest in finding out about this thing called ‘islam.’ Thus the average Joe U of I, ‘leave me alone, I could care less’ will Insha’Allah be attracted to find out what everyone is talking about – Islam Week! In addition, think about how much attention national campaign projects, designed weeks and months with a particular theme get. During Black History month…all recognize the rich history of African-Americans. Many follow-up projects result. Whether its African studies Departments at universities… or documentaries about the civil rights movement, all gain credibility and steam from the month.” ... - Basically, for the early young activists that created the idea, it came down to “if others can do why not us”, and by 1994 it was officially named Islam Awareness Week and it was becoming a reality on a national level. Now... BACK IN TEXAS... there was no IAW in the wild west when I arrived in Fall 94. The MSA at UT was classic OLPS (OK fine, maybe we had a newsletter a few years before, or did some prison dawa, and many Palestine and Bosnia rallies). I credit to Rizwan Jaka and the rest, they did take OLPS to a higher level, they could’ve written a book ‘Zen and the art of Lecture organizing”. Our MSA worked like machine, when it came to our Big lecture per semester. (Shaikh Quick in Fall 94 and Imam Jamil in Spring 95 were awesome) but we were ready to evolve. I had come to austin from miami, where my sister and friends at UM were planning their first IAW that semester. I had also been a member of MYNA and attended the ISNA conventions - there was a buzz around doing IAWs. all of my friends at various MSAs were exchanging e-mails of what they were planning. And it wasn't until a year later, Fall 95 that I coordinated our first at UT. I was selected VP of our MSA, and since Mairaj (the prez) had little experience, i was in charge, the big dog, noombro uno muchacho. Of course everything wrong that happened that semester was his fault (stemming from his “6th Street is Haram” fatwa at welcome dinner 95. nice move bro) IAW was just one of the many events we planned for Fall 95. we created a list of events at our Beginning of Semester “I can’t wake up that early on Saturday” Fajr Meeting: #1 - HIGH PRIORITY -“We Must Do” Events included: Prayer on West Mall (never happened); Campout on the Capitol (never happened); PeaceNet (died a quick death at UT); Islam Awareness Week; Daily Dawah Table; Annual New Student Welcome Dinner; Establish the MSA office; Establish weekly halaqas (evolved into the legendary Cookie Halaqas); Late Jumma; Weekly Meetings open to All; and a Sports Event (Zeyn and Asif’s Basketball Tournament - Zeyns life has never been the same since). #2 - MID PRIORITY -“We Should Do” Items included: MSA Shirts, Caps, etc (happened a year later); Pool / Bowling Tournament (ie Zeyn Patel Night); Voter Registration Drive (never happened); Knowledge Competition (never happened); Homework / Old Test Collection (never happened); MSA 1995-96 Scrapbook (happened a year later); and a Picnic (turned into a Bar-B-Q after a Lecture by Shabir Aly. #3 - LOW PRIORITY -“We Could Maybe Do” Items included: Nutrition Classes by RAYFlex (never happened); Quranic Memorication Competition (never happened); and Paintball Jihad (happened 2 years later)... We didn’t let this list stop us from organizing other things: Dawud Adib Workshop (that was Mairaj flirting with Wahhabism); Islamic Relief Presentation on Chechnya; a Sisters’ Dinner; Qiyam ul-Layl-1; and Qiyam ul-Layl-Strikes Back... looking back at it, that Fajr Meeting where we decided that IAW and weekly halaqas will be a priority, (taken along with whatever happened during Hussam and Riz’s time that established our Dawah Table and Weekly Meetings), laid the foundations of MSA UT as we know it. Keep in mind that all of the above was just in Fall 95!!... (I won’t go into all the Texas M’s Intrigues of Spring 96.) I was told by the lady that used to guard the Office keys that no other group seemed more active! our MSA’s history is amazing... Anyways, back to IAW: ...Before that exhausting semester of greatness, I used to be a simple helper. i used to design flyers once in a while. and on a couple of important occasions, at our dawah table (which needs a history of its own to be written by Monem), I would display the handicrafts I had bought on recent trips to Pakistan. Now I (and/or Mairaj) had placed me in charge of our first IAW. I incorporated all the goals from the various resource manuals i could find (and my own love of Muslim history, art, and culture) to create a vision of an event that I saw as a CELEBRATION of Islam and Muslim Culture. Aside from simple opportunities to pass out flyers, I wanted to show that Islam was much more dynamic and beautiful than anyone thought. So, I wanted it to be BIG. Bigger than all those other awareness weeks out there (BLACK, LATINO, ASIAN, GAY, etc). I wanted to pack it with events. The resource manual from 92 had a flyer from U of Cincinnati which showed that they did an event every day. I thought that was great, for those who weren’t able to make it to one event, I could say "howdy, don't stress yall, there's something tonite too! And don’t forget our beautiful cultural exhibit, its runnin all week, you can’t miss it! just head towards the sounds of music as soon as you enter the Union!” SO... We (the IAW committee) planned one event each night plus 2 daytime events and a big opening or closing dinner (which never happened), everything was to be free. here's the events we did: our lectures included: one of our national leaders, Imam Siraj Wahhaj speaking on Liberty and Justice for all…; one of our texas leaders, Imam Qasim Ahmed on the Universality of Islam; one woman speaker, Mary Ali on Women in Islam (I don’t remember who suggested her, but she wasn't impressive); and a local student speaker, Usama Aziz on the Quran – (he had quite a following); we also had a free Movie; a Culture Fair on West Mall with student group participants; a Human Rights day where I posted up gruesome pictures of Muslim victims of oppression while Asim Ghafoor and Rehan Jalali made fiery speeches on West Mall; and lets not forget my center piece for IAW, my week long culture exhibit (Open every day from 10-3). It was an expansion of my past Dawah Table exhibits with additional contributions from other students.; I had even planned for a lecture by Dr. Abou El Fadl (I was in his Quran class and knew that he could speak on Justice in Islam - but it never happened)... - The previous MSA@UT generation had established a culture of co-sponsoring the big lectures with the Texas Union, Student Government and Office of Dean of Students. For example, to raise the thousands of dollars needed for the Imam Jamil lecture the previous semester, Rizwan Jaka (past prez) had dragged me around all over campus to various meetings. He gave me a taste of what needed to be done. we assigned volunteers to do various tasks and we (like those before us) dragged younger students with us as we went to submit our proposals for funds. Various campus sources gave us most of the close to $4000 we needed to pull of our first IAW. While some of the lectures had poor turn out, and the daytime events seemed sloppy, Imam Siraj and the daily cultural exhibit was a big hit with our volunteers, with the Union staff, and all who went to see it (though I did get a couple of complaints from conservative activists about my music being a part of the exhibit.) ...In the end, Alhamdullilah, our IAW was received as a successful event. Due to family and school reasons I decided not to be an officer the following year, but I stayed on as IAW coordinator. I was givin an opportunity to refine my vision for the event and improve upon the mistakes that we made the year before. My refinements over the next few years led me to create a planning guide which some other MSAs now use. We learned our lesson from our first IAW, and In 1996, we did fewer lectures and added: the Sounds of Islam Concert; a mini mosque (which I was asked to design and build with some local brothers for separate dawah purposes); Jumma on South Mall; and a Calligraphy Exhibit; our Culture Exhibit grew to include the Discover Islam Posters... that Culture Exhibit introduced the beautiful sounds of Raihan and Yusuf Islam’s latest offering... The next generation of MSA officers added a Poetry Reading and College specific talks... IAW will continue to evolve and its focus will change as organizers change, maybe even its relevance. For me, IAW was just an excuse to share with everyone my love of muslim arts and crafts, and history. I guess I felt like I was alone in seeing its beauty and wanted some company. I can’t describe how much joy I felt every time someone asked about a handicraft object in the exhibit and I got a chance to tell them about the region, its people and their art. I always ignored MSA-National’s corny themes (“Islam a Mercy for Humanity” or whatever) and instead encouraged the Arts in our IAW, because a thought from Seyyed Hussain Nasr’s book on Islamic Art and Spirituality has always guided me. it is relevent to minority life in America. it proved its truth to me after the response I got from our first culture exhibit. He said that when trying to tell others of the greatness of Islamic civilization, no amount of apologetic talk can match the results of showing them a single example of a masterpiece of Islamic art. Out of all the events we’ve done over the years in IAW, and all the press releases we've sent out, nothing got press coverage like the calligraphy exhibit we did in 97... I've learned that i don’t need a masterpiece, even my box full of over the counter handicrafts gave people a glimpse of the glimmers of beauty that linger on from our glory days. peace and love.

a non-violent high moral ground

A friend of mine said this regarding the terrorist acts commited by muslims in Palestine: "...it is difficult to talk about without being in that situation... seeing your close friends, family, neighbors, little children getting abused or killed. I think that would awaken a rage in anyone, especially when the world has not done anything about it..." ...- True. it definately would awaken a rage, but... his words suggested that those acts are OK. that non-violence need not be advocated and/or will not work. that, the Palestinian's tactics should not be criticized as unjust because they are excusable. some go as far as to say that they are allowable. a few make them required.... so, is this how it works: considering that we MUST support any part of our ummah that suffers, we should excuse and/or support their violent reactions.... and the only reason i would not support them is because i've been influenced by THE MAN who's world i've sold out to; and THE MAN always thinks HE knows better than all of us poor folk out here suffering. How arrogant of THE MAN to define the moral high ground.... - NO! i like to think of it this way: my argument has nothing to do with being opposed to suicide in particular. its about being militant vs. being non-violent... the King vs the X... the Mahatma vs skinney brown men swinging fists and axes.... - Can we say that MLK or Gandhi did not experience the suffering and the rage? NO! i've heard Gandhi-lovers say that non-violence is not passive resistance it's an active engagement with the enemy using universal teachings of love not hate. his method was clear and has been applied by people of all religions throughout the world. I hear, Gandhi's efforts brought the British to there knees. why can't we analyze his approach as an option in Palestine. i've recently come to learn: one of Gandhi's greatest supporters was a practicing muslim. Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan - aka Badshah Khan (king of khans), i'm reading a book about him right now. a noble and pious non-violent warrior who, aside from ridding his land of British occupiers, desired his muslim pathan people stop killing each other over every petty dispute. he wanted to show them that there is more to being human than a violent code of honor. he was a muslim freedom-fighter that could've let rage guide him. but he didn't, and is now considered by some pathans as a noble champion of pathan independance. also... we complain that the media doesn't tell us the whole truth. and we somehow tend to think that because we know some people who fight in the resistance, we have a clearer picture. but maybe we fail to see the other efforts which are also going on and could be supported. maybe there is a group of non-violent palestinians who have a better solution. hamas/PLO/jihad/PLFP these are about political affiliation, only a few speak of spiritual affiliation. we rarely hear of the few muslim activists who choose none of the above, they want independance and affiliate themselves with a universal higher moral ground. i say "universal" because almost all scriptures and philosophies believe in that love is greater than hate. and muslims believe that god's mercy is greater then his wrath. peace and love.

unsettled state of being

Dr. Abou el Fadl wrote some beautiful words recently: "What an unsettled state of being when the mind thunders with longings, as the eyes crave to be filled with beauty.""Are we dwellers in the ruins of a dead civilization bewailing the lost memories, or are we the inventive architects of history? Are we the refuse of bygone historical experiments, or are we a part of the timeless truth etched in the conscience of humanity? Are we an ongoing revolution liberating human beings from their primal fears, or are we simply a mindless reaction to the deconstructions of modernity?" "I can understand how a people constantly under siege, and a people kept away from the Conference because of the demands of survival, lose the temperament that would cradle their search for beauty. But regardless of the reasons, I cannot understand how without such a temperament, a nation can be “given” so that it will transcend itself, and give to all of humanity." "But pillared in place by impenetrable fogs of confusion, I wrap myself in shields of patience, and in an unwavering belief in the illuminations of beauty. I long to dismantle this arrogant edifice in perfect submission to the primordial beauty, for can the mundane find a greater liberty than in its submission to divinity?" "free-willed decision to migrate to You in full dignity. I long to submit my strength not my weakness, bonded by love not undone by fear. God, bless me and bless my people with the magnanimity of love, and the strength to long, and cure me from the desolations of despair and distortions of fear."... well, ... - i want to apologize to my scholars and friends. i'm desprately trying to evolve beyond simple minded activism. I've been an activist at leadership positions since age 15 and in moments of frustration and foolish arrogance, i say things that have no meaning. the scholarly writings of Nasr, Murad, and Abou el Fadl(the philosopher, the sufi, the faqih) give me the strength to keep evolving. a few years ago i would not have understood the ideas in thier books, or the things that their students say and write. but i do now and i would'nt change one word, i wouldn't want them to dumb anything down. their words are all extremely meaningful to me... to heck with the stupid masses. my own journey to be able to understand profound words of insight had little to do with the scholar and all to do with my own state of mind. and i was glad to have scholarly books available for me to read and contemplate upon. it's said that we all have different roles to play in our society... Let the individual decide his or her own role and let's back off each other. a spark was lit a year and a half ago in me, and it was not by any inspiring lecturer, book, or event. it happened when i took a step back and looked at what was going on around me at the time. with RUMI by my side, i started an examination of myself and my own role in my surroundings, i was abolutely not expecting the longings for beauty that then began to take hold of me. while i long for a world in love with god, i pray to god that my own "unsettled state of being" does not end anytime soon.

thats poo as in poo-poo

i'd pass it around, but my stash is runnin low. my supplier in candy-haaar got nailed by a daisycutter. dude...my posts start out "normal" - i swear. but then i get mustt and in my haal, i'm no longer in control. yeah, i'm in the car, but i can't feel the road baby...i fasten my seat belt and step on the GAS anyways! by the way, i found it interesting that in my emotional response to communal riots i did not distort any facts and ended up finding a great example to reinforce amina wudood's analysis. she seemed to me to be stating in scholarspeak exactly what i wanted to say. also, i've heard her speak and she not a dynamic speaker either, its probably why she appears to want others to speak to the masses.