Remembering 9-11, How can I forget?

NEVER FORGET!

I remember 9-11 as if it happened yesterday. I came downstairs after awakening and turned on the TV like I always did. For some reason, the TV was muted as I saw the scenes. I was not wearing my contact lenses so I could not see with clarity but I saw the aircraft hit one of the towers. Still dozy, I assumed it was some special effects scene, which is what I told my wife as she came down. Then the sound got turned on, I put on my contacts and with a shock, I realized this was real; someone had hijacked aircraft and they were crashing them into buildings. With a sick feeling, I saw the buildings collapse, judging from the size of the towers, I assumed there must have been at least over ten thousand people killed in the collapsed buildings.

Then I learned that the hijackers were Muslims and their purpose was presumed to be “Islamic”. I cursed the people involved in the slaughter as I do to this day, May God hold them responsible and keep them in Hell for the horrors they perpetrated on innocent people!

A few people called me and asked what kind of response should Muslims make?

How can one respond, thoughts and prayers? It would be foolish to say anything that could mean that we, as Muslims, were collectively assuming any responsibility for the heartless, thoughtless, inhuman and definitely un-Islamic, actions of a few.

As the day unfolded, I realized that the decision to respond would ne with massive military resources and that Muslims would indeed, be held accountable.

In the, months and years that followed, the sympathy for the victims and their families transformed into concern for Muslims and fear for the Muslim families that were (and still are) being targeted as “terrorists” by the President, Congress and by all US agencies, most notably, the FBI. We were suspects and targets of unrelenting persecution. Within a year, under the direction of John Ashcroft, the US Attorney-General, the FBI had “detained” or jailed, over 14,000 Muslims in all jails…City, county, state and all.

I remember at one time there was a Congressional hearing in which Ashcroft admitted there was nothing material against the Muslims being held, but that he looked upon them “as pieces of a mosaic” and that some patterns will emerge from them. Nothing ever did, but most of the Muslims held, had their lives destroyed in the time they were “detained”, some for years, without charges or trials. They lost jobs, finances, their homes and in some cases, even their marriages.

There was mourning across the nation and across the world. In Muslim-majority countries, people marched in support of the victims and condemned the terrorist actions of the people. With tears in their eyes, Muslims were seen showing solidarity with the American victims.

Muslims mourning 9-11

In the US, there were efforts to compensate victims, memorials were built. It was as if Muslims did not exist as humans, Muslim survivors of the attacks were denied support in the face of the solidarity shown to other victims of 9-11. It was as if Muslims could not exist among the virtuous; only among the evil ones. Even newspaper cartoonists ignored Muslims as among the innocent. We were never recognized.

No Muslims

Radio talk shows and TV programs pivoted to focus on Muslims and Islam as the focus of all evil, even school books were re-written to show Islam and Muslims in as terrible a picture as possible. The FBI planted paid “informants” in Mosques and other Muslims communities, who were actually agents provocateurs tasked to find vulnerable, impressionable Muslims, incite and motivate them to violence so they could then be arrested by the FBI with great fanfare. A massive industry was born, with the sole goal of proving Islam and Muslims to be evil, but done disguised as “Anti-Terrorism Training”.

“Islam=Terrorism”

The nation’s Police sucked it up; there were no safe places in America to be a Muslim. Even many Churches and Synagogues got into the act, venting their hatred against Islam and Muslims by inviting self-declared “experts” on Islam AND Terrorism, to explain to their congregations why a Muslim cannot possibly be a good American. Targeting us Muslims, still remains a good source of fundraising for many of them.

Personally, I had people call me all sorts of names, “traitor” being the least of them. I was accused of being “a Sleeper-cell leader”, an “Islamist”, “Terrorist”, “Terrorist Sympathizer” and that I belonged in Gitmo. Friends turned against me, joining the accusations of being a terrorist, one threatened me with implied shooting claiming, HE was afraid for his family from me. There were other incidents where people threatened to shoot me just because I am Muslim. It became so serious that I feared someone would shoot at me while I was in the car with my kids. I was pretty sure they would miss me but I was equally certain they may injure or kill my children. I proceeded to train my 11 year-old daughter and my 7-year old son to unbuckle and fall on the van’s floor if I yelled, “Get down!”. I almost purchased a gun to protect my family then reason prevailed and I decided not to join the gun-nuts. Most Muslims went quiet, dressed more “American”, they lived in constant fear for themselves and their families, not from the local civilian, but from the agencies such as the FBI, The Police and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). Not far behind them were other agencies, even the USDA (Department of Agriculture) got in on the Muslim-hunting game. For the same “crime”, Muslims were imprisoned for as many as 17 years, while non-Muslims doing even more, were praised for their heroic work.

The chronicles of individual attacks and humiliations to Muslims are so many that it would take books to write them. But this should suffice for now.

Today, on the 20^th anniversary of 9-11, it is time to rip off the collective scab of the pain of the attacks and feel it afresh; that is the patriotic thing to do. In the meantime, one might assume that targeting of Muslims, the persecutions and the hate-industry would have finished by now, sadly, not so. Bush Jr, opened the gates and lit the fires of Islamophobic hate, making it a Across America, Anti-Semitism has been declared a hate-crime, racism against Blacks has been declared a crime but Muslims have to beg to get the Police or the FBI to recognize violence against Muslims as such. Islamophobia has yet to be even defined; it is met by an indulgent shrug.

In my own country, agencies and administration still consider me to be “The other”.

Today in America, it is a mark of patriotism to target Muslims, Obama did not move the needle down. Trump actively fueled it, generating active hate towards Blacks, Muslims and everyone from, as he termed it, “Shithole countries”. Biden has yet to show any signs that he recognizes the threat to Muslims.

Will Biden win?

Will Biden Win?

 

Well, Biden is coming back from the Dead to become a real possibility, he may even overrun Bernie. That would not be my choice.

Biden is winning because of the huge Black voter-turnout who seem to collectively suffer from amnesia. Do Black voters not recall how Biden colluded (yes, colluded!) with the Republicans to make sure there were no witnesses called on behalf of Anita Hill and then he watched in silence as Hill was lynched by the Republicans?

Biden is also unable to admit he made a mistake even when faced with it. He is also unable to apologize for his wrongs. Both issues make him unfit to lead this nation as a Democrat but perhaps as a Republican he would work out.

Is Islam dead in Pakistan?.

Is Islam dead in Pakistan?.

Religious fraud is where religion is used to mask fraud and hypocrisy. There are MANY such countries in fact, I doubt if any country is safe from such practices but I am not here to discuss the world’s ills, I am here to talk about my birth country that I want to be so proud of and yet, I am so ashamed of…Pakistan.

Pakistan is a land where religion is obvious at every corner, people have sprouted beards to show how religious they are, politicians invoke Islam whenever they get a chance, leaders and religious “scholars” spout Islam and God at every step and these last are usually seeking to exert their power and oppress people.

Oh yes, sadly Islam is used as cover to show the country how powerful and influential a certain religious “Scholar” or Mullah (imam) may be, where they rouse up masses of the ignorant and unemployed to demonstrate against things they do not like including what may have happened overseas. The “demonstrations” take the form of thousands of angry people, many of whom don’t even understand why they are there except that they need to “defend” Islam, God and the prophet Mohammed. During the “demonstration” people smash stores that may be on their way, burn cars, buses and trucks, all owned by innocent people, their own brothers and sisters in Islam, just so they can show how enraged they are.

Intolerance for Muslims, what about intolerance BY Muslims?

Intolerance is everywhere, we cannot finish it off but we can and we must, stand against it wherever we are. I often rail against the US for its intolerance of Islam and Muslims and its targeting of Muslims inside and outside of the US; I rail against many European countries for the same reason. Arabia, commonly known by its misnomer “Saudi” Arabia is another country worthy of condemnation for its intolerance towards Shia and other Muslim sects and for its lethal intolerance for any un-approved behavior. I am also always taking a stand against Israel, the ultimate anti-Muslim country, for its genocide of the Palestinians.  For these expressions of outrage, I am variously called “Anti-American”, “Anti-West”, “Anti-Pakistan”, “Anti-Muslim” and of course, “Anti-Semitic”.

To its lasting shame, Pakistan stands in front among the ranks of the disgusting because of its carte blanche to its religious, ignorant, fanatics who have so much mass-appeal (of illiterate Pakistanis) that they can call thousands of people ready to destroy their own country just because their leader has told them that Islam/the prophet Mohammed must be defended.

The duty to protest…

CAIR (Council for American Islamic Relations (USA) alerted me to a story exposing the Islamophobic library of the US Marine Corps. After reading it, I decided to write my own letter to the Secretary of Defense and the Commandant of US Marines (see below). Note the stamps I use on this letter, they all  carry an important message.

It is not enough to have an organization take on the fight, we, all of us, Muslim or not, must get off our duffs and add our voices to the protest against Humanity that we see regardless of who the victim may be at the time. Our silence not only marks us a cowards, it also lowers the importance of the fight any organization is picking up on our behalf. Then again, if we do not speak when the targets are others, who will speak for us? Sadly for us Muslims, it is only going to get worse and worse so the time to lend our voices is now.

Condemning Quran Translation?

When can we condemn a translation of the Quran?

A simple answer is, when it is misleading or false like the one “The Jews” have created in order to mislead Muslims. Yes, I am sure such a mistranslation and its authors should be roundly condemned. A lot of people have mentioned a certain Quran translation produced by “The Jews” but in spite of searching for one, I haven’t seen such a copy and nobody who tells me about it can say they have seen one either. How to condemn a bad translation of the Quran or its supposed authors when it can’t be found?

Try This! Ramadan, Fasting and Self-improvement

The month of Ramadan (Muslim year 1438 AH) and fasting is expected to start on the 28th of May 2017. Expected because it is calculated according to the sighting of the moon.

First Published August 24, 2008

The Quran was first revealed to the Prophet Mohammed during this, the ninth month of the Muslim Lunar calendar, making it one of the holiest months for Muslims. This is the month for not only physical, but even more importantly, spiritual cleansing for Muslims.

The Muslim calendar is about 10 days shorter than the Common Era (Gregorian) calendar, thus, Ramadan begins about ten days earlier each C.E. Year, cycling through every season, over a period of about thirty-three years…including Summer! For those living in mild climates like the North-West United States, summer fasting is not a problem. However, in the heat of the Middle-East, Africa or Asia, fasting is a major test of endurance as well!

Observed with great ceremony, Muslims may not eat or drink from dawn to dusk each day, but there are exemptions. Under-age children, the infirm, the elderly and the ill, are exempt from the requirements of fasting while those who are traveling and  menstruating women, may make up afterwards. Some schools of thought allow for medications that do not provide nutrition, such as insulin, heart medications etc., while other schools believe nothing may be ingested during the fasting period.

Coup Against God

A fanatic is someone who does what he believes God would do, if only God had all the facts” (Finley Peter Dunne-Chicago Tribune) . This is by far the best and the most accurate definition of a fanatic that I have come across. Tragically, we are getting more and more fanatics around us with each year that passes. Just in Pakistan alone, the population of fanatics has gone exponentially up since the calm, relatively tolerant days when I used to live there in the 1970s.

No matter what God says in the Quran, our beloved fanatics know better. They know that God really did not mean what He said, He meant what these fanatics believe to be “The Truth” so they contradict almost everything He says in the Quran.

“Bismillah irrahman irrahim” (In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful). Instead of listening to the exhortations of Peace, Mercy, Forgiveness that are found throughout the Quran, our fanatic friends choose the most severe punishments they can conjure against people who break the many, imagined rules of faith:

Try This! Ramadan, Fasting and Self-improvement

First Published August 24, 2008

This year, the Muslim month of Ramadan in the year 1436, begin on Thursday June 18th, 2015.  The Quran was first revealed to the Prophet Mohammed during this, the ninth month of the Muslim Lunar calendar, making it one of the holiest months for Muslims. This is the month for not only physical, but even more importantly, spiritual cleansing for Muslims.

The Muslim calendar is about 10 days shorter than the Common Era (Gregorian) calendar, thus, Ramadan begins about ten days earlier each C.E. Year, cycling through every season, over a period of about thirty-three years…including Summer! For those living in mild climates like the North-West United States, summer fasting is not a problem. However, in the heat of the Middle-East, Africa or Asia, fasting is a major test of endurance as well!

Observed with great ceremony, Muslims may not eat or drink from dawn to dusk each day, but there are exemptions. Under-age children, the infirm, the elderly and the ill, are exempt from the requirements of fasting while those who are traveling and  menstruating women, may make up afterwards. Some schools of thought allow for medications that do not provide nutrition, such as insulin, heart medications etc., while other schools believe nothing may be ingested during the fasting period.

The Anti-Shia Alliance

President Barack Hussein Obama

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington, DC 20500

May 5th, 2014

Dear Mr. President,

 

On April 30th 2014, members of the United Muslims of Washington issued a statement of condemnation of the “Anti-Shia Alliance” conference in Indonesia. This is a particularly dangerous because it has the blessing of major Muslim organizations in Indonesia, the participation and encouragement of the Governor of West Java and the encouragement because of their inaction, by the Government of Indonesia. In effect, this creates an atmosphere of the pre-genocide days of Rwanda except that this call to destroy Shia Muslims has the prospect of spreading throughout the world.