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وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالإِنسَ إِلاَّ لِيَعْبُدُونِ [Qur'an, 51:56]

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Occupy Masjid: A Proposal for Reviving Mosques of the Ummah

April 17, 2012 By Basem 2 Comments

Mekka Masjid Al Haram

بِسْــــــــــــــــــمِ اﷲِالرَّحْمَنِ اارَّحِيم

Our mosques have been paralyzed by governments and “scholars for dollars” for the last century. These where once centers of communities; a place for Muslims to pray, to educate, to find shelter, battle poverty, a think-tank, strategize military, initiate political campaigns, economic planning, set up agriculture, celebrate, and so much more. Today, mosques are just a place to pray on Friday’s. This atrophy of the mosques worldwide is no doubt tied to the atrophy of the Muslim mind. The oppression and calamities facing the Ummah are only symptoms of this problem. This proposal is aimed to target the source of the problem rather than getting distracted by the symptoms.

Reviving the mosques can be quite an overwhelming topic. For this reason, revival will be categorized into 3 areas: housing, permaculture, and economy. These areas have been chosen due to the self-sustaining aspect of this mission. Our Muslim communities should not have to go to governments, banks, or corporations to fulfill their needs. Instead, the mosques will be molded to facilitate the needs of the community in a self-sustaining manner.

  1. Housing

    To grasp the impact of this area, ask yourself how many Muslims do you know that are renting, mortgaging, or investing in real estate? Probably all. Now ask yourself how many are neighbors of one another. Probably none. This sad reality translates into being a major factor in the disunity of the Ummah. Muslims need to be living in the same communities to actually build their community. So the first step of this proposal is a call for all Muslims to live as close as possible to the mosques. This will naturally result in the cultivation of Muslim communities with the masjid as its nucleus. With the economic downfall, Muslims should use this opportunity and find foreclosed homes around mosques… better yet, MULTI-FAMILY HOMES around the mosques. There is no sense for Muslims to be buying million dollar homes when a few quad-plexes or apartments buildings around the moques will do just fine. Live like the Prophet ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) and the sahaba. This will result in lower housing costs and shared expenses while more importantly, build Muslim communities around the mosques. It is important to note here that there should be at least one learned scholar from amongst the community since these Muslims will be responsible for their masjid in the form of a working group committee.

  2. Permaculture

    With shelter taken care of above, next comes food. Permaculture is an important concept that you need to be familiar with. It is an ecological design which attempts to develop sustainable human settlements and agricultural systems modeled from natural ecosystems. It draws from several other disciplines including organic farming, agroforestry, sustainable development, and applied ecology. The primary agenda of this area is to assist Muslims to become more self reliant through the design and development of productive and sustainable gardens and farms around housing and the masjid itself. This will ensure the long-term survival of the Muslim community without the need of poisonous and expensive corporations.

  3. Economy

    The diversity of businesses amongst the congregations of mosques is staggering. Developing an economy for the congregation can render itself self-sufficient. Selling, bartering, and donating around the masjid and amongst the congregation can help promote the livelihood of our Muslim community without the need of government currency or bank lending. Furthermore, mosques can trade and procure with one another on a local and international scale.

Goals

The areas mentioned about are the means to the goal. What is the goal? First is unity. Without unity, we will continue to be numerous, but as weak as foam of the sea. This will channel our numbers through the mosques to empower us. Second goal is sovereignty. If Muslims depended on mosques rather than the institutions of our oppressors, our Islamic sovereignty will naturally be established worldwide through the network of mosques and will only help build a landscape for the Khilafah.

Steps

There are steps we need to make this a reality:

  1. Talk to the sheikh at your masjid about this proposal
  2. Talk to your Muslim peers about this proposal
  3. Talk to Muslim real estate agents about this proposal
  4. Advocate for free Wifi Internet in your masjid
  5. Advocate for keeping the masjid open 24/7 (raise extra funds and rotate occupiers)
  6. Create a Facebook page for your masjid if not done already
  7. Create a Twitter account for your masjid if not done already
  8. Register your masjid at Occupy Masjid
  9. Notify Occupy Masjid if your masjid does NOT have a website
  10. Discuss this proposal on various masjid and imam Facebook pages
  11. Organize general assemblies at the masjid (a global assembly is in the works)
  12. Discuss your progress on Occupy Masjid’s Facebook page
  13. Copy and redistribute this proposal on emails, blogs, websites, etc

Conclusion

The time is now for the Ummah to make a move! If this proposal can be summarize into one statement, it would be “to move as close to the masjid as possible.” This is imperative for our unity, our spiritual growth, and the effectiveness of our actions. No other organization in the world share a single book in its original form with weekly and annual meetings (Friday’s and Hajj). To top this off, we have been given the worldwide infrastructure of the mosques. We just have to use it!

*Only Muslims can join this religious-based movement (draw inspiration from Masjid Al-Aqsa).
*Women must make up 50% of the working group committee.
*One learned scholar must be in the working group committee.
*This is a working draft. Please leave comments, feedback and ideas below.

Mekka Masjid Al Haram

And who are more unjust than those who forbid that Allah’s Name be glorified and mentioned much in Allah’s mosques? ―Whose zeal are (in fact) to ruin them? It was not fitting that such should themselves enter Allah’s Mosques except in fear. For them there is disgrace in this world, and they will have a great torment in the Hereafter. [Qur’an 2:114]

And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of Allah, and be not divided among yourselves, and remember Allah’s Favour on you, for you were enemies one to another but He joined your hearts together, so that, by His Grace, you became brethren (in Islamic Faith), and you were on the brink of a pit of Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus Allah makes His Ayat (proofs, signs, revelations, etc) clear to you, that you may be guided. And let there arise out of you a band of people inviting to all that is good, enjoining what is right, and forbidding what is wrong; they are the ones to attain felicity. [Qur’an 3:103-104]

Filed Under: Politics, Spirtual Tagged With: aqsa, Islam, masjid, mosque, revolution, ummah, unity

Tarek Mehanna’s Sentencing Statement: Terrorist or American Revolutionist?

April 13, 2012 By Piece of Mind 1 Comment

Free Tarek

Tareks Mehanna Sentencing Statement

Read to Judge O’Toole during his sentencing, April 12th 2012.

In the name of God the most gracious the most merciful

Exactly four years ago this month I was finishing my work shift at a local hospital. As I was walking to my car I was approached by two federal agents. They said that I had a choice to make: I could do things the easy way, or I could do them the hard way. The “easy “ way, as they explained, was that I would become an informant for the government, and if I did so I would never see the inside of a courtroom or a prison cell. As for the hard way, this is it. Here I am, having spent the majority of the four years since then in a solitary cell the size of a small closet, in which I am locked down for 23 hours each day. The FBI and these prosecutors worked very hard—and the government spent millions of tax dollars – to put me in that cell, keep me there, put me on trial, and finally to have me stand here before you today to be sentenced to even more time in a cell.

In the weeks leading up to this moment, many people have offered suggestions as to what I should say to you. Some said I should plead for mercy in hopes of a light sentence, while others suggested I would be hit hard either way. But what I want to do is just talk about myself for a few minutes.

When I refused to become an informant, the government responded by charging me with the “crime” of supporting the mujahideen fighting the occupation of Muslim countries around the world. Or as they like to call them, “terrorists.” I wasn’t born in a Muslim country, though. I was born and raised right here in America and this angers many people: how is it that I can be an American and believe the things I believe, take the positions I take? Everything a man is exposed to in his environment becomes an ingredient that shapes his outlook, and I’m no different.  So, in more ways than one, it’s because of America that I am who I am.

When I was six, I began putting together a massive collection of comic books. Batman implanted a concept in my mind, introduced me to a paradigm as to how the world is set up: that there are oppressors, there are the oppressed, and there are those who step up to defend the oppressed. This resonated with me so much that throughout the rest of my childhood, I gravitated towards any book that reflected that paradigm – Uncle Tom’s Cabin, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, and I even saw an ethical dimension to The Catcher in the Rye.

By the time I began high school and took a real history class, I was learning just how real that paradigm is in the world. I learned about the Native Americans and what befell them at the hands of European settlers. I learned about how the descendents of those European settlers were in turn oppressed under the tyranny of King George III. I read about Paul Revere, Tom Paine, and how Americans began an armed insurgency against British forces – an insurgency we now celebrate as the American revolutionary war. As a kid I even went on school field trips just blocks away from where we sit now. I learned about Harriet Tubman, Nat Turner, John Brown, and the fight against slavery in this country. I learned about Emma Goldman, Eugene Debs, and the struggles of the labor unions, working class, and poor. I learned about Anne Frank, the Nazis, and how they persecuted minorities and imprisoned dissidents. I learned about Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, and the civil rights struggle. I learned about Ho Chi Minh, and how the Vietnamese fought for decades to liberate themselves from one invader after another. I learned about Nelson Mandela and the fight against apartheid in South Africa. Everything I learned in those years confirmed what I was beginning to learn when I was six: that throughout history, there has been a constant struggle between the oppressed and their oppressors. With each struggle I learned about, I found myself consistently siding with the oppressed, and consistently respecting those who stepped up to defend them -regardless of nationality, regardless of religion. And I never threw my class notes away. As I stand here speaking, they are in a neat pile in my bedroom closet at home.

From all the historical figures I learned about, one stood out above the rest. I was impressed by many things about Malcolm X, but above all, I was fascinated by the idea of transformation, his transformation. I don’t know if you’ve seen the movie “X” by Spike Lee, it’s over three and a half hours long, and the Malcolm at the beginning is different from the Malcolm at the end. He starts off as an illiterate criminal, but ends up a husband, a father, a protective and eloquent leader for his people, a disciplined Muslim performing the Hajj in Makkah, and finally, a martyr. Malcolm’s life taught me that Islam is not something inherited; it’s not a culture or ethnicity. It’s a way of life, a state of mind anyone can choose no matter where they come from or how they were raised. This led me to look deeper into Islam, and I was hooked. I was just a teenager, but Islam answered the question that the greatest scientific minds were clueless about, the question that drives the rich & famous to depression and suicide from being unable to answer: what is the purpose of life? Why do we exist in this Universe? But it also answered the question of how we’re supposed to exist. And since there’s no hierarchy or priesthood, I could directly and immediately begin digging into the texts of the Qur’an and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad, to begin the journey of understanding what this was all about, the implications of Islam for me as a human being, as an individual, for the people around me, for the world; and the more I learned, the more I valued Islam like a piece of gold. This was when I was a teen, but even today, despite the pressures of the last few years, I stand here before you, and everyone else in this courtroom, as a very proud Muslim.

With that, my attention turned to what was happening to other Muslims in different parts of the world. And everywhere I looked, I saw the powers that be trying to destroy what I loved. I learned what the Soviets had done to the Muslims of Afghanistan. I learned what the Serbs had done to the Muslims of Bosnia. I learned what the Russians were doing to the Muslims of Chechnya. I learned what Israel had done in Lebanon – and what it continues to do in Palestine – with the full backing of the United States. And I learned what America itself was doing to Muslims. I learned about the Gulf War, and the depleted uranium bombs that killed thousands and caused cancer rates to skyrocket across Iraq. I learned about the American-led sanctions that prevented food, medicine, and medical equipment from entering Iraq, and how – according to the United Nations – over half a million children perished as a result. I remember a clip from a ‘60 Minutes’ interview of Madeline Albright where she expressed her view that these dead children were “worth it.” I watched on September 11th as a group of people felt driven to hijack airplanes and fly them into buildings from their outrage at the deaths of these children. I watched as America then attacked and invaded Iraq directly. I saw the effects of ‘Shock & Awe’ in the opening day of the invasion – the children in hospital wards with shrapnel from American missiles sticking out of their foreheads (of course, none of this was shown on CNN).  I learned about the town of Haditha, where 24 Muslims – including a 76-year old man in a wheelchair, women, and even toddlers – were shot up and blown up in their bedclothes as the slept by US Marines. I learned about Abeer al-Janabi, a fourteen-year old Iraqi girl gang-raped by five American soldiers, who then shot her and her family in the head, then set fire to their corpses. I just want to point out, as you can see, Muslim women don’t even show their hair to unrelated men. So try to imagine this young girl from a conservative village with her dress torn off, being sexually assaulted by not one, not two, not three, not four, but five soldiers. Even today, as I sit in my jail cell, I read about the drone strikes which continue to kill Muslims daily in places like Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen. Just last month, we all heard about the seventeen Afghan Muslims – mostly mothers and their kids – shot to death by an American soldier, who also set fire to their corpses. These are just the stories that make it to the headlines, but one of the first concepts I learned in Islam is that of loyalty, of brotherhood – that each Muslim woman is my sister, each man is my brother, and together, we are one large body who must protect each other. In other words, I couldn’t see these things beings done to my brothers & sisters – including by America – and remain neutral. My sympathy for the oppressed continued, but was now more personal, as was my respect for those defending them.

I mentioned Paul Revere – when he went on his midnight ride, it was for the purpose of warning the people that the British were marching to Lexington to arrest Sam Adams and John Hancock, then on to Concord to confiscate the weapons stored there by the Minuteman. By the time they got to Concord, they found the Minuteman waiting for them, weapons in hand. They fired at the British, fought them, and beat them. From that battle came the American Revolution. There’s an Arabic word to describe what those Minutemen did that day. That word is: JIHAD, and this is what my trial was about. All those videos and translations and childish bickering over ‘Oh, he translated this paragraph’ and ‘Oh, he edited that sentence,’ and all those exhibits revolved around a single issue: Muslims who were defending themselves against American soldiers doing to them exactly what the British did to America. It was made crystal clear at trial that I never, ever plotted to “kill Americans” at shopping malls or whatever the story was. The government’s own witnesses contradicted this claim, and we put expert after expert up on that stand, who spent hours dissecting my every written word, who explained my beliefs. Further, when I was free, the government sent an undercover agent to prod me into one of their little “terror plots,” but I refused to participate. Mysteriously, however, the jury never heard this.

So, this trial was not about my position on Muslims killing American civilians. It was about my position on Americans killing Muslim civilians, which is that Muslims should defend their lands from foreign invaders – Soviets, Americans, or Martians. This is what I believe. It’s what I’ve always believed, and what I will always believe. This is not terrorism, and it’s not extremism. it’s the simple logic of self–defense. It’s what the arrows on that seal above your head represent: defense of the homeland. So, I disagree with my lawyers when they say that you don’t have to agree with my beliefs – no. Anyone with commonsense and humanity has no choice but to agree with me. If someone breaks into your home to rob you and harm your family, logic dictates that you do whatever it takes to expel that invader from your home. But when that home is a Muslim land, and that invader is the US military, for some reason the standards suddenly change. Common sense is renamed “terrorism” and the people defending themselves against those who come to kill them from across the ocean become “the terrorists” who are “killing Americans.” The mentality that America was victimized with when British soldiers walked these streets 2 ½ centuries ago is the same mentality Muslims are victimized by as American soldiers walk their streets today. It’s the mentality of colonialism. When Sgt. Bales shot those Afghans to death last month, all of the focus in the media was on him—his life, his stress, his PTSD, the mortgage on his home—as if he was the victim. Very little sympathy was expressed for the people he actually killed, as if they’re not real, they’re not humans. Unfortunately, this mentality trickles down to everyone in society, whether or not they realize it. Even with my lawyers, it took nearly two years of discussing, explaining, and clarifying before they were finally able to think outside the box and at least ostensibly accept the logic in what I was saying. Two years! If it took that long for people so intelligent, whose job it is to defend me, to de-program themselves, then to throw me in front of a randomly selected jury under the premise that they’re my “impartial peers,” I mean, come on. I wasn’t tried before a jury of my peers because with the mentality gripping America today, I have no peers. Counting on this fact, the government prosecuted me – not because they needed to, but simply because they could.

I learned one more thing in history class: America has historically supported the most unjust policies against its minorities – practices that were even protected by the law – only to look back later and ask: ‘what were we thinking?’ Slavery, Jim Crow, the internment of the Japanese during World War II – each was widely accepted by American society, each was defended by the Supreme Court. But as time passed and America changed, both people and courts looked back and asked ‘What were we thinking?’ Nelson Mandela was considered a terrorist by the South African government, and given a life sentence. But time passed, the world changed, they realized how oppressive their policies were, that it was not he who was the terrorist, and they released him from prison. He even became president. So, everything is subjective – even this whole business of “terrorism” and who is a “terrorist.” It all depends on the time and place and who the superpower happens to be at the moment.

In your eyes, I’m a terrorist, I’m the only one standing here in an orange jumpsuit and it’s perfectly reasonable that I be standing here in an orange jumpsuit. But one day, America will change and people will recognize this day for what it is. They will look at how hundreds of thousands of Muslims were killed and maimed by the US military in foreign countries, yet somehow I’m the one going to prison for “conspiring to kill and maim” in those countries – because I support the Mujahidin defending those people. They will look back on how the government spent millions of dollars to imprison me as a “terrorist,” yet if we were to somehow bring Abeer al-Janabi back to life in the moment she was being gang-raped by your soldiers, to put her on that witness stand and ask her who the “terrorists” are, she sure wouldn’t be pointing at me.

The government says that I was obsessed with violence, obsessed with “killing Americans.” But, as a Muslim living in these times, I can think of a lie no more ironic.

-Tarek Mehanna

4/12/12

While the real terrorists roam free…

Free Tarek

Go to “Free Tarek” Website!

Filed Under: Politics, Spirtual

US to “BEGIN” Profiling Air Passengers

April 3, 2010 By Sarah Leave a Comment

body_scanners

Yesterday, CommonDreams.org ran an article about how the US will announce its plans to begin profiling US-bound passengers in a major shake-up of air travel security measures.

First of all, if everything they have been doing up until this point was not called ‘profiling’ then I’m not sure I want to find out what is. Secondly, when the US begins openly acknowledging and even legalizing policies/actions which they previously only did covertly and under the radar, that’s when you know you should be scared.

I can’t help but to refer to the recent Supreme Court ruling which overturned two precedents that upheld restrictions on corporate spending for election campaigns. Basically, we already knew that corporations were heavily involved in funding election campaigns of their favorite candidates; but what this Supreme Court ruling did was not only open the flood gates on the corruption which will undoubtedly ensue because of this, it also made a once covert and under-the-table act one that is now open, legal, and totally “on-the-books”.

The same thing is beginning to happen with these new profiling measures for US-bound air passengers. I’ve included the article below but I thought I’d highlight some of the more interesting parts in bold.

The best part is the last quote from Peter King.

Under the new measures to begin this month, which will apply to US citizens as well, the level of screening of travellers will depend on how closely their personal characteristics match against intelligence on potential terrorists.

The measures will replace mandatory enhanced screening of all passengers travelling to the United States from 14 mostly-Muslim nations, put into place following a failed Al-Qaeda attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound flight on Christmas Day.

“It’s much more tailored to what intelligence is telling us and what the threat is telling us, as opposed to stopping all individuals from a particular nationality,” said an unnamed US official quoted by The Washington Post.

The announcement to be made by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) comes after a three-month review of security protocols, said the Post, citing a senior administration official.

“It is much more surgically targeting those individuals we are concerned about and have intelligence for,” the official said, according to the New York Times.

The current “no-fly” list is to remain in place under the new procedures, but supplemented by cross-referenced information that may see passengers subject to further screening even if their names are not flagged, the Wall Street Journal said.

Characteristics such as nationality, age, recently visited countries, and partial names will be used alongside the “no-fly” list, the Journal said.

The move aims to avoid the intelligence failures that allowed the alleged Christmas Day bomber, Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, to board the Detroit-bound flight from Amsterdam wearing underpants rigged with explosives, even though US intelligence had been alerted to information on him.

Fragmentary intelligence on a possible attacker — a partial name, certain physical characteristics, or nationality — would be forwarded by the DHS to airlines and foreign governments, the Los Angeles Times said, and the information used as a guide on who would be screened.

“This is not a system that can be called profiling in the traditional sense. It is intelligence-based,” said the official, quoted by the New York Times.

US government guidelines prohibit authorities from singling out people on the basis of race or ethnicity, but the Christmas Day plot swiftly recharged the delicate debate surrounding racial profiling.

In the wake of the botched bombing at least one lawmaker, Republican Peter King from New York, called for US authorities to be less hesitant on the issue.

“The fact is, while the overwhelming majority of Muslims are outstanding people, on the other hand 100 percent of the Islamic terrorists are Muslims, and that is our main enemy today,” he told Fox News after Abdulmutallab was apprehended.

Since December the Obama administration has meanwhile also pledged to boost airport security by speeding up the installation of full body scanners at US airports, and to increase funding for federal air marshals on flights deemed most at risk.

Filed Under: In the News, Politics, War on "Terror" Tagged With: 911, airports, christmas day plot, full body scanners, inside job, obama, planes, security, war

CODEPINK activist disrupts Netanyahu at AIPAC Gala: “Lift the siege of Gaza”

March 23, 2010 By Piece of Mind Leave a Comment


codepink_logo images (2)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 22, 2010

CODEPINK Protests Netanyahu inside AIPAC Gala
Activists call for end to siege on Gaza and illegal settlements

Washington D.C.: Shortly after announcing Israel’s commitment to defense in his address to the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Gala, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was disrupted by a demonstrator.  Rae Abileah, 27, from Half Moon Bay, CA, jumped onto AIPAC Executive Director Howard Kohr’s private table alongside the stage and unfurled a pink banner that said “Netanyahu: Build Peace Not Settlements!”  Abileah shouted, “Lift the siege of Gaza! No illegal settlements!” as she was forcefully removed from the building.  A second disruption came moments later from Joan Stallard, from Washington, DC, who shouted, “Stop the settlements!”

CODEPINK’s protests of the policies of AIPAC during their national conference this week have included daily morning protests, staging of a checkpoint for attendees, an afternoon press conference announcing the launch of a city-wide boycott of products illegally made in the settlements, and the release this morning of a spoof press release from AIPAC announcing that the organization was calling for a settlement freeze.  Tomorrow, Tuesday, March 23, at noon CODEPINK is planning to build a settlement (including homes and beds) inside Senator Schumer’s and Senator Lieberman’s offices (Hart Senate Building, offices 313 and 706).

CODEPINK condemns AIPAC’s silence on the illegal settlements and calls for continued military aid to Israel, which last year was used in the attack on Gaza, breaking international law.  With the new tensions between the Obama administration and the Israeli government over settlements, activists believe that now is the time to stop AIPAC from dictating US foreign policy in the Middle East.  “The timing is right to the break the detrimental influence of AIPAC, which demands unquestioning public and financial support for Israeli despite its illegal actions,” said Rae Abileah, a national organizer with CODEPINK and a Jewish-American of Israeli decent.

American Jewish peace activists are outraged at the influence that AIPAC has on U.S. policy. “AIPAC supports policies of aggression that damage Israel’s reputation, harm innocent Palestinians, and contribute to making America less safe in the world,” said Jewish-American activist Medea Benjamin of CODEPINK. ”

###

CODEPINK is a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, stop new wars, and redirect our resources into healthcare, education, green jobs and other life-affirming activities.  More info at:www.codepinkalert.org

Filed Under: In the News, Palestine, Politics

Al-Azhar’s Future: A Chance for Alternative Movements? (VIDEO)

March 18, 2010 By Sarah Leave a Comment


300px-Al_Azhar1

Last week, Sheikh Mohamed Sayed Tantawi, Alazhar University’s top cleric, passed away of a heart attack at the age of 81. He was indeed a very controversial figure both within Egypt, as well as the Muslim world as a whole. As Egypt scurries to find a replacement for Sunni Islam’s most prestigious seat of Islamic learning, many are wondering what this means for the future of Al-Azhar, its role, and whether it has been hijacked by the state.

Interesting tidbit of which I was previously unaware, and ashamedly so: the seat which Sh. Tantawi held, as the leader of Al-Azhar University, is actually a government post. Basically, the leader is a presidential appointee, instead of one who is chosen based on a general, scholarly consensus, as according to the traditions of Islam. This has been the case since the ’60s when Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the university and made civil servants (public employees) of its entire staff. Yep, the whole of Al-Azhar University is on the Egyptian government’s payroll, so now you know where ridiculous religious rulings like the “Wall of Shame” fatwa come from. Indeed, Al-Azhar University is cleverly used as a mouthpiece for the Egyptian government.

Regardless of what your personal views of Sh. Tantawi are, one thing seems to be very clear: his controversial, and at times, provocative nature has only served to strengthen the general, predominant view in Islam which opposes the idea of a single individual scholar with superior, unquestionable status (ie: “The Pope” syndrome). When just about anyone, from the most renowned university professor to the country-bound shepherd tending his flock, can criticize and ridicule a fatwa given by the highest authority in Islam, then the case for an Islamic super-authority is completely delegitimized, and rightfully so!

But the question still remains: will this be an opportunity for alternative movements to come into play? Or will it once again, be more of the same? Between this and the run up to the 2011 presidential election (and El-Baradei’s very public fight for candidacy), it looks like it will be a couple of very interesting years in Egyptian politics!

 

[youtube fzngz1MUOP8 Al Jazeera English – Al-Azhar’s Future]



Filed Under: In the News, Politics, Spirtual Tagged With: alazhar, egypt, Islam, video

George Galloway & Cynthia McKinney Break it Down (VIDEO)

March 14, 2010 By Sarah Leave a Comment

A very refreshing short video of George Galloway interviewing Cynthia McKinney for his PressTV show, “The Real Deal”.

 

[youtube 5xNVVKRHyFc The Real Deal with George Galloway – Cynthia McKinney]



Filed Under: In the News, Palestine, Politics Tagged With: canada, gaza, george galloway, israel, obama, Palestine, video, war

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