Mu'ath ibn Jabal, r.a., related: "I was riding behind the
Prophet-- peace be upon him --when he said to me:
'O Mu'ath! Do you know what is due to Allah from His
creatures, and what is due them?'
I responded: 'Allah and His Prophet know best.' He
continued:
'What is due to Allah from His creatures is to serve Him
alone and never to associate any other being with Him. What
is due them is not to punish any person who does not
associate aught with Him."
[Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim]
Comment by Kaukab Siddique:
The Oneness of Allah is linked to the oneness of mankind.
There is no place in Islam for racial, national and gender
superiority. If we accept Allah Alone as our Lord, we cannot
accept bondage to anyone else..
Dr. Imam Alauddin Shabazz: Distinguished Scholar.
Outstanding Islamic Activist.
by Kaukab Siddique
Our old friend Dr. Alauddin Shabazz, comparable in scholarly
brilliance to my friend Dr. Abdulalim Shabazz, passed away
peacefully in Chicago after an extensive ailment owing to
the bodily harm he sustained in a tragic car accident.
He was very close to the African American Muslim Black
leadership at many levels, including Imam Warith Deen
Muhammad and Minister Farrakhan. He embraced Sunni Islam
years before most other top level people did. He kept me
informed of the innermost developments and controversies of
Muslim movements in the Black community.
In the early years of New Trend and Jamaat al-Muslimeen he
used to stand with me and my daughter Nadrat Siddique
against the oppression and exploitation of our ummah. He was
a prolific writer and wrote the earliest critique coming out
of the Black community of the ideology of homosexuality. He
also uncovered the pagan origins of the main American
festivals. .
After the accident, he was physically paralyzed but his
strong faith in Allah and his clear thinking sustained him.
His learned wife, Dr. Constance, and his highly educated
children stood by him throughout his ordeal. This is indeed
a family which I feel honored to have known. I felt about
Dr. Alauddin that he was spiritually part of my family.
May Allah grant him al-Jannah and forgive his sins.
It is with a heavy heart that we share the news that Imam
Alauddin Shabazz returned to Allah Subhanna Wa Ta'Ala, on
Tues. Jan. 12, 2016. The following are the Janazah
arrangements.
Mon. Jan. 18, 2016
Services: Viewing 10 a.m. - 11 a.m.
Service 11 a.m. - 12 Noon
Location: Seals Funeral Home
8354 S. Marquette Avenue
Chicago, IL 60617
Gravesite Ceremony: to follow prayer service.
Repast:
Clubhouse at Dolphin Lake
2700 W. 183rd Street
Homewood, IL
Time: 3 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Please keep the Shabazz Family in your dua's.
As-Salaam-Alaikum
- Dr. Constance D. Shabazz, and Family
Why is the Muslim World in such a mess and What's the
solution?
by Shamim Siddiqi, Long Island, NY
Each of us is constantly lamenting about the poor and fast
deteriorating condition of Muslim Ummah but to no effect as
the requisite leadership is not forthcoming. I have, by the
grace of our Lord, prepared her features in brief with the
CURE at the end as to how to get it out of her own created
MESS.
I Request you all kindly to go through it minutely and
suggest as to how to share it with the Ummah and in what
pattern and how to get together to this effect. The CURE is
in your hands but perhaps we couldn't care to study it in
this context?
Now I have put the entire scenario in a written form to get
the talented brothers and Sisters of theUmmah together and
draw a working strategy in the context of the modern world
where the Super Powers of the time are openly acting against
Muslims and the VERY concept of the Islamic State is target
number one on their Agenda and Uncle Sam is its supreme
leader.
In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the merciful:
WHERE the UMMAH
STANDS TODAY?
It has no say in the world affairs.
It has no free will of its own.
The West is constantly interfering in the internal affairs
of all MUSLIM countries.
Islam is no-where traceable in the body-politic of any
country.
Western secularism is Prevalent and Rampant in all the
Muslim Lands.
West is determined not to allow Islam to emerge as a
political entity anywhere.
All Islamic Movements of Indo-Pak Subcontinent & ME stand
bogged down. And there is no Islamic Movement worth its name
anywhere in entire Europe and the two Americas - North and
South;
No common platform, no united leadership, no vision -
divided in different sects and various cults, inalienable
camps, division on issues of Fiqh are rampant, etc.
Trustworthy Muslim Leadership is not forthcoming anywhere
and the process to build such leadership is nominal. That is
the dominant reason as to why IM couldn't succeed any where
so far;
Institutions of Zakah/USHR, Salah, eradicating Munkar,
establishing Ma'roof are totally absent from Ummah as a
whole [As required by Verse # 41 of Surah Al-Hajj].
As such, Allah's Deen has become a religion as Judaism and
Christianity are:
Muslims recite the Qur'an but don't understand it; they
offer Salah but don't follow in depth; they observe Sawm but
don't inculcate Taqwah; they RUSH for Hajj/Umrah every now
and but don't become the "Servants of God" on return. So is
the case of their all ritualistic Ebadah'
Islam, therefore, looks today like a dilapidated house
with weak foundation, shattered walls, leaking roofs, broken
doors and windows devastated and defaced condition - a
plundered house by people who are Muslim in name only
boasting " PIDRAM SULTAN BOOD"
We have become the so-called Muslim: We have the best man
power and material resources but are known as beggars to the
Western technology; Scientific developments; arms and
armament; capital investment and what not?
NOW WHAT TO DO? - How to get out of this mess? THE SOLUTION
IS: The Book : GLOBAL ISLAMIC MOVEMENT - WHY & HOW? i.e.
Organizing/Resurrecting Muslim Ummah at Global level as
"Ummatun Wasatan"
FULFILLING THE OBLIGATIONS OF The Universal Prophethood of
Rasulullah (S) - The Mission to fulfill by the Resurrected
Muslim Ummah.
War News
Iraq: US Air Force Leads the Way
January 16:
US jets dropped 2 two thousand bombs on the ISIL
banking hub in Mosul . Casualties are not known. One report
says 7 people were killed but a US video shows stacks of
money flying into the air.
January 11.
ISIL fighters attacked Shia targets in Baghdad,
Muqtadia [15 km from Baghdad] and Baquba. The heaviest
casualties, 23 killed and wounded were among the shia
militia. Baghdad's Mall was attacked by 4 ISIL fighters and
several people were killed before the 4 were killed. A
casino was attacked in Baquba.
ISIL retaliation for the shia destruction of large parts of
Ramadi continued.
January 8:
US air strikes continue across Iraq. In one
strike, Shaykh Adnani, a top leader of ISIL was said to be
seriously injured.
Fighting in parts of Ramadi continued two weeks after
Baghdad declared victory. A very small ISIL force held of
the large shia army in spite of intense air strikes around
the clock.
Somalia: Shabab Strikes Big Time
January 15: Al-Shabab fighters captured a Kenyan military
base inside Somalia. The Kenyan force was almost wiped out,
with 65 reported killed and scores wounded. Al-Shabab's
quarrel with Kenya stems from the Kenyan invasion of Somalia
at the behest of western powers.
The Al-Shabab control most of Somalia but lost two major
cities to the superior fire power of west-oriented
occupation forces from Ethiopia. Kenya and Burundi.
Burkina Faso: Serious Blow at Western Support.
January 15-16. Al-Murabitoun, an affiliate of al-Qaida in
the Islamic Maghreb, attacked the Splendid Hotel in the
capital Ougadougu where westerners congregate. The 4
fighters were killed by French Special Forces backed by
American advisers. They killed 28 people and wounded thirty
three. The dead included 6 Canadians, 4 Swiss, 2 French, an
American missionary and various others.
Two Australian visitors have been kidnaped by another
African militant group.
The mysterious Algerian leader Mokhtar Bel Mokhtar is said
to be directing the Murabitoun.
Burkina Faso reportedly funds American forces in West Africa
which in turn protect westernized leaders of African
countries.
GERMANY
German Demand for New 'Annotated' Edition of Mein Kampf
- With thanks to Mark Weber in IHR.
[Comment from the Editor: We can see here the Zionist idea
of "freedom of expression." Hitler's book is being allowed
in print after SEVENTY years. More than 3500 notes have been
added to it to try and rebut each point made by the greatest
leader Germany has ever known. By contrast, the Zionists do
not permit any response to the steady stream of lies they
publish globally on World War 2 as well as the Islamic
Caliphate, Palestine, Hamas, Taliban and all other
mujahideen groups.]
Heavy demand for the first edition of Hitler's "Mein Kampf"
to be printed in Germany since his death is taking its
publisher by surprise, with orders received for almost four
times the print run ... It has been re-issued as a
2,000-page annotated version after its 70-year copyright
expired. The head of the Munich Institute for Contemporary
History, which published the work, said it had received
orders for some 15,000 copies against a print run of just
4,000 ... The book became a bestseller in Germany in the
1930s, after Hitler had become chancellor, and sold 12
million copies by the time World War Two ended in 1945. It
was translated into 18 languages, but after the war it was
banned in Germany by the Allied occupying powers.
UK.Reuters.com/article/uk-germany-hitler-idUKKBN0UM1ZE20160108
Br.Kaukab's Second Khutba for 2016
America's Election Activity is Anti-People, anti-Islam and
Exploitative. What does Islam say about Political Activity
and Political Power?
On January 15 Dr. Kaukab Siddique gave the Juma' khutba and
led prayers at masjid Jamaat al-Muslimeen in central
Baltimore, Maryland. The masjid was packed with worshippers,
African Americans, Africans, Arabs and Pakistanis but it's a
small mosque, so the outline of the khutba is given here for
countrywide distribution on line. [After the prayer, an
Arab brother came forward to thank Br. Kaukab for speaking
on Palestine.]
Those who hearken to their Lord, and establish regular
Prayer; who (conduct) their affairs by mutual Consultation;
who spend out of what We bestow on them for Sustenance;
He may say (boastfully); Wealth have I squandered in
abundance! [Sura 90:6]
To begin: We honor and believe in all the prophets and
messengers including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph,
Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, peace be on them all.
Send salutations to Muhammad, his family, companions and
wives and all those who are with them.
Today the Muslim world is smeared with kingships,
dictatorships and military regimes, camouflaged and open.
They often call themselves Islamic republics in their
constitutions if they have any constitutions. These are not
Muslim regimes but violators of Islam.
Many Muslims are being lured into the facade of democracy
in America and other western powers.
The voting blocs in America are created by those who have
massive funding. Media play a prominent role in this
process. Without media power, even the best person cannot
win.
The power brokers here formulate and shape the thinking
of the masses. Millions of dollars are spent on the creation
of "consent."
Even then significant segments of the citizenry do not
vote. They know that the political activity is nothing but
manipulation. Huge crowds are "managed" and gathered to
cheer on the self styled leaders.
Such is the power of the media that they can switch the
entire nation almost overnight from peace to war, from
Christianity to homosexuality, from the murder of Dr. King
and Malcolm X to their adulation as heroes.
Islamic Polity
Islamic power is based on mutual consultation and
consent. The entire ummah has to be involved in decision
making. As Maulana Maudoodi wrote, husband, wife and
children should be involved in decisions which concern
them.
The leadership has to be based on SERVICE, not on
publicity and self-advertisement.
Even at the time of the trauma of the passing away of the
Prophet, pbuh, when Muslims were perplexed for a moment,
they had no hesitation in selecting Abu Bakr, r.a., as the
Caliph because he had given everything he had in the service
of Islam. He had always been with the Prophet, pbuh, putting
his own life on the line.
Even after the leaders are chosen, Islam obliges EVERY
Muslim to indicate acceptance or rejection through personal
BAYAH or oath of allegiance, both men and women. [Sura
mumtahina.\
No police control or publicity or propaganda is required
or permitted except to obtain the FACTS.
Slavery and Captives:
The Islamic State must aim at freeing the slaves and the
captives. Right at the beginning of the Prophet's mission,
the Qur'an declared that the Islamic mission is aimed at
freeing the slave. Chapter 90:13
When Islam became a community and a State, Allah
commanded that a part of its funds be spent on freeing the
slaves and captives, along with other good deeds. The Qur'an
makes it part of our faith: 2:177.
Today in America, almost two MILLION people are
imprisoned; many of them are poor and Black. It is our
religious duty to help them. Thousands have embraced Islam
in prison even without our help. Can't we send a Qur'an to a
prisoner or a money order for basic requirements?
Then we have Muslim political prisoners who have done
nothing other than wanting to join Islamic groups overseas.
Their families need to be comforted and cared for.
Caliphate
The only valid Islamic political system is the Caliphate.
For decades we have not had a caliphate, however weak. Today
we have a Caliphate and it is being bombed EVERY DAY by
America and Russia and the tyrants of Syria and Baghdad.
Not only are they bombed, but they are systematically
demonized in the media. Muslims have become so accepting of
the western narrative, they accept every abuse spread by the
media.
Remember that any Islamic entity which is independent of the
West will be attacked by the western powers.
What to do in America:
Establish Muslim communities with their own shoora
independent of big money and regimes.
Do not become part of any political entity which is not
Islamic.
We must honor and respect our sisters and they should be
part of our decision making process.
Remain peaceful, do not break the laws of the land, but
speak clearly:
Against occupation.
Again the bombing of Muslims.
For the rights of women.
Focus on the Qur'an and the authentic hadith.
For the rights of 4 million Syrians, homeless and
starving.
For the liberation of Palestune.
For Africa.
Dua: O Allah: Give us health, jobs, success in this world
and the Hereafter; give us understanding of the Qu'ran and
hadith.
O Allah! Give us the unity required to free Palestine.
Spotlights
by Imam Badi Ali
Arabs & Oil: Wasted Wealth and Neglected Opportunity.
If you are trusted with a big farm of chickens for
years and you insist in giving it for pennies to your
enemies, and whatever you make - it is for you and your own
family and nothing for your village. This is the story of
oil in the Arab world.
The golden age (of fossil fuels) has gone; and the
age of crude oil will go too.
Some Arabs kings claim they worship Allah but they
are worshiping oil. Look at their history and records.
Be truthful. What do you think these Kings and
Princes of the wealthy Arab countries are worth without
oil?
I do not think they understand that oil may run
out.
This is the way Arab monarchy understands oil. Oil
buys good life, life without work, life for free. Oil is a
resource to buy pleasures, women, tall buildings, luxury
cars, boats, and slaves.
Because of oil, Arab leaders sold their own brothers,
their own countries, history, neighbors, and honor.
A nation's greatness depends on its leader. Arab
leaders remind me of drug lords.
Oil in the Arab world became a source of corruption,
ignorance, confusion, chaos, hate, segregation,
discrimination, hypocrisy superficiality, immaturity,
secrecy, destruction, lies and oppression.
Soldiers were sent off to die with beautiful slogans
and dreams painted for them. No one told them that they will
be fighting and dying for oil. The objective of the West
became securing a safe, abundant supply of cheap oil.
Oil is cheap and that is why we continue to use
it.
If the Arab kings were smart they would create a
civilization with oil profit by now.
Arab leaders created lingerie factories with their
oil profit but Iran created arms factories and a variety of
industries.
Because of oil, the largest hotels in the world are
now in Dubai, the biggest factories in the world are in
China.
Arab oil is lighting the lamps of the whole world
except their own towns.
Arab oil is a blessing, but Arab kings turned it into
a curse.
- Imam Badi Ali leads a large Muslim community in
Greensboro, NC
War News
Syria
IS Victory in Dar ez Zour: Assad's Troops Slaughtered.
Russia bombs Damascus suburbs & Latakia hills. Aleppo Under
Attack by Hizbullah. Raqqa hit by American bombers.
How the Relief Supplies for Medaya Came About after 40,000
faced Death by Starvation.
January 15-16: Mujahideen from the Islamic State [IS] broke
through Assad regime's defenses in the northwestern region
of Der ez Zour city [south eastern Syria]. Readers might
remember that half of Der ez Zour was in the control of
Assad regime's forces and the southern half in the hands of
IS with ongoing clashes between the two sides for
months.
On January 15, mujahideen sliced through the Alawite-Shia
defenses and captured the area known as Balighia. Now 65 %
of the city is in IS control. Latest reports indicate that
135 regime troops have been killed, 50 of them regular
forces and 85 Shia militia. The ENTIRE Ba'ath party
organization of the Assad regime power structure has been
captured by IS [about 300 people]. Assad regime is
presenting this as "atrocities" against "civilians." The
danger is that the Ba'athists who are seen as violators of
human rights for 20 years might be executed by IS.
The Islamic State advance could not continue owing to a wave
of bombing raids by Russian jets which killed 42 Islamic
fighters [stats from SOHR].
From January 11 onwards convoys of relief goods have been
reaching Medaya where the entire population was starving.
It's on the Lebanese frontier. Hizbullah encircled the city
and would not allow any food supplies to enter for 5 months.
The UN was able to convince the Shias to allow supplies to
enter after al-Nusra and other groups besieged the shia
villages of Foia and Kefraya in the western edge of Idlib
province and did what Hizbullah was doing to Medaya. Finally
an exchange was made: supplies for Medaya in exchange for
supplies for the two shia villages.
Bombing campaign Continues:
January 16. The IS capital of Raqqa was bombed by jets
suspected of being American, killing 16 civilians and
injuring 30. The toll is expected to rise as some people are
buried under smashed buildings.
Also on January 16, Russian jets bombed a village in Idlib
province killing 6 babies and 3 women.
Assad's jets bombed parts of Aleppo killing 4 children. They
also bombed Ghouta and Deraya [in the outskirts of Damascus]
killing a number of people.
Hizbullah supported by Russian jet bombers are again
advancing towards Aleppo against al-Nusra.
Another Hizbullah-Iranian-Assad advance has been against FSA
eastwards from Hama..
However America's Communist supporters, YPG, and the newly
formed SDF attacking ISIS from the northeast were unable to
advance.
Libya
Islamic State Rapidly Taking over Parts of Libya. Frantic
Efforts by Western Powers to create a United Front against
IS.
According to Al-Jazeera, the Islamic State has established
itself in the city of Sirte and from there it has taken over
Harawa, 60 km east of Sirte, Nufaliya 130 km east of Sirte,
and now Bin Jawad 20 km east on the coast.
On January 7, IS blew up a police training center at Zliten,
160 km east of Tripoli, killing 65 police and injuring more
than 100. A serious blow.
Some reports indicate that former supporters of Gaddafi are
joining IS.
IS is attacking oil terminals to stop flow of oil to Italy
and West in general.
The western powers are cobbling together a united front of
various factions to counter IS.
PAKISTAN
Jamaate Islami Pinpoints Source of Corruption. JI Hails
efforts to make Saudi Iranian Peace. JI slates Sindh law
amendment.
LAHORE, Jan. 16; Ameer, Jamaat e Islami, Pakistan, Senator
Sirajul Haq, has condemned the Bill passed by the Sindh
Assembly empowering the provincial government to withdraw
any case before the courts, and said this was a blatant
attempt to protect the criminals.
Commenting on the passage of the controversial Bill, he said
that the amended law would be used to achieve political ends
and all political parties would come up to protect their
criminals.
Sirajul Haq said that crime had been considerably reduced in
Karachi because of the operation and the citizens had heaved
a sigh of relief. However, he said the amended law would
encourage criminals and law breakers and the ruling parties
would not be prepared to hand over their workers to the law
enforcement institutions.
He said if the other assemblies also adopted similar laws,
none of the criminal would remain in jails. He said that
such moves would serious harm the judicial process for the
eradication of crime and for the supremacy of the law.
Meanwhile, the JI Ameer has welcomed the Prime Minister's
decision to visit Saudi Arabia and Iran and expressed the
hope that this would yield positive results and help in
ending the tension between two Islamic states as was the
need of the time.
Pak Taliban are Back: Damaging Attack in Quetta
On January 14, Pak Taliban blew up a police contingent
guarding a polio clinic in Quetta, killing 13 police
officers and a paramilitary officer.
Ever since the polio program was used to trace Osama bin
Laden, the Pak Taliban target such clinics.
Earlier there was a horrific attack on a government NADRA
information office in Mardan wirh serious casualties.
Our America
Flint, Michigan
Water in an American City Dangerously Contaminated
by Karin Friedemann [Boston]
Last week, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder declared a state of
emergency because of elevated levels of lead in the city of
Flint's drinking water - 900 times the EPA limit. According
to the Centers for Disease Control, lead exposure can affect
the entire bodily system especially the brain. There is no
safe blood level.
Now, a new deadly threat has appeared. 87 cases of
Legionella or "Legionnaires' Disease" have recently occurred
in the county, 10 of which were fatal. Legionella is a
bacteria found naturally in untreated water. It can cause
fever, headaches, shortness of breath and aching of the
muscles. It is contracted by inhaling airborne water
droplets, which cause a pneumonia-like infection in the
lungs.
This is not Flint's first state of emergency because of
water contamination. In the 1980s, water was flown in by
helicopter because of a leaking gas station. This week, the
National Guard was called in to distribute bottled water and
water filters to people's homes. However, their efforts are
too little and too late. Michigan State Police have been
trudging through the snow with volunteers to distribute lead
testing kits.
The radical deterioration of environmental safety standards
is directly related to Flint's bankruptcy. Public Act 436,
passed in 2012, allowed the governor to appoint an emergency
manager over the financially distressed city. The emergency
manager has broad dictatorial powers. Elected city officials
have no standing against him. This unelected, governor
appointed overseer can unilaterally overturn union
contracts, sell off city assets, whatever it takes to make
sure Bondholders are paid. Debt service to the banks has
already been a strain on the city budget for decades.
"In 2014, the city of Flint, under the control of an
'emergency manager' appointed by the governor, was looking
for ways to save money. To that end, the Snyder
administration approved a plan in which the city would
switch its water source: instead of getting water from
Detroit, Flint would cut costs by drawing water directly
from the Flint River... But in order to make Flint River
water safe for people, it has to receive a special
anti-corrosion treatment. Failing to treat the water sends
corrosive river water through local pipes, it starts to eat
through plumbing, and the result is lead poisoning,"
explains Steve Benen on MSNBC.
"The Snyder administration did not take the necessary
precautions. What's more, as the community grew concerned
about its water, administration officials initially told
local residents not to worry and to keep drinking the water.
The result, of course, is a public health crisis in which
countless city residents, including many children, have been
poisoned, which leads to severe and long lasting
consequences. Snyder last week declared an official
emergency - he also issued an apology of sorts on New Year's
Eve - but the people of Flint still don't have safe, clean
water."
"The decision to unhook from Detroit and get Flint's water
from the highly polluted Flint River was made by Ed Kurtz,
the unelected Emergency Manager of this majority
African-American city. Kurtz's unelected successor, Darnell
Earley, carried out the switch. After Flint emerged from
emergency management, Snyder had the nerve to appoint Earley
EM over Detroit Public Schools," writes Martha Grevatt in
Workers World. "The pollutants in the Flint River — a
result of decades of unchecked chemical dumping by General
Motors and other companies — have made the river water
highly corrosive. This allowed lead to leach from the aging
pipes in Flint's system... Now, the corrosion of the lead
pipes has destroyed the entire infrastructure. Even though
the city has reconnected to the Detroit system, the water is
still not safe because of the corroded pipes."
The emergency manager paid the notorious Veolia Corporation
$40,000 to conduct a study which recommended reducing other
unsafe pollutants with chemicals and using filters. Veolia
did not address the lead pipe corrosion issue. Now that it
will cost well over $1 billion to replace the corroded
pipes, will Veolia emerge with an offer to rebuild the
infrastructure in exchange for being allowed to privatize
the water department? Unlikely.
Ignoring people reporting stomach problems, skin rashes and
hair loss after the switch to the Flint River, Governor
Snyder and officials in the state Department of
Environmental Quality repeatedly assured Flint residents the
water was safe to drink and bathe with. It took two years
for the government to acknowledge the lead in the water, so
that people would start drinking bottled water. Now with the
outbreak of Legionnaire's Disease, it is not even safe to
take a shower.
It was only because of community activists like pediatrician
Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, and Michigan ACLU investigative
journalist Curt Guyette that a federal investigation ensued.
Community members got their tap water tested and exposed the
lead poisoning in the local children. University of Virginia
professor and water safety specialist Marc Edwards played a
leading role by filing a Freedom of Information Act request,
obtaining emails between the governor and his of staff,
Dennis Muchmore that clearly demonstrate their knowledge of
the people's health problems and their deliberate decision
to sweep them under the rug.
People are calling for Governor Snyder to go to jail. But
meanwhile, many community members who refused to pay their
water bills in protest, are getting shut-off notices. The
United Nations has already gotten involved investigating
water shut-offs in Detroit, where 10,000 people are living
without running water in the city's attempt to get rid of
blighted neighborhoods by making them uninhabitable. On
January 15, 2016, US Congress passed a bill that blocks the
EPA's clean water protection plan.
Idaho
Why are the Bundy militia being treated with kid gloves? Why
were Black Panthers Treated differently?
by Sis. Aisha [Jamaat al-Muslimeen]
New York City - My opinion on the Ammon and Ryan Bundy
stand-off is a typical one by anyone who is aware of this
racist American government's history. Why is it that Black
criminal gangs like the bloods and the crips are celebrating
their 40th or 50th anniversaries, while an activist group
such as the Black Panther Party was eliminated within 5
years of its existence? The Panthers were not an armed group
of rebels but, a group of citizens aware of the 2nd
Amendment right to bear arms to defend themselves.
However, a law-abiding group of legally armed Black people
made and continues to make White Americans
uncomfortable.
The Bundy Brothers' recent protest (January 4th) is for
their father, avowed White supremacist Cliven Bundy, and
other local East Oregon land owners. Now, Cliven Bundy's
claim to fame was his stand off against the federal
government when they tried to take his land as a result of
his owing over a million dollars in grazing fees, in June
2014. In a scene out of Birth of a Nation, armed White men
crossed state lines to show support. The government backed
off.
In this new stand off, the Bundy Brothers claim that the
federal government has used the 100 year old Malheur
National Wildlife Reserve to encroach on the local land
owners in that East Oregon area. This takeover began after a
rally, in support of 74 year old Dwight Hammond, Jr, and his
46 year old son, Steven Hammond, in Burns, Oregon. They were
convicted 3 years ago for setting fire to federal land in a
dispute over grazing rights. The federal government ordered
the Hammonds to go to jail after a federal judge ruled that
their original sentences were too short.
Eminent domain has been used to take many people's lands,
especially that of Native American and people of
African-descent! Now, eminent domain has been made stronger
with the Supreme Court ruling that corporations can even use
it. However this Bundy fight has nothing to do with eminent
domain. it is a complex dispute over whether or not
federally owned land should be federally owned and cries of
unfairness over the payment of grazing fees. In other words,
it is, as usual, a battle for power.
This militia, whom the White media carefully refers to as
activists, have taken over three out of five wildlife refuge
buildings. The FBI claims to be in negotiations with the
Bundys and their supporters. By the way, the Bundys deny
being a militia. They claim to be a group of concerned
citizens. The same claim that the Black panther's made all
those years ago. The Obama Administration seems to be biding
its time and in no rush to end things.
I just believe that things would have ended already in the
deaths of either Black, Native American, or Muslim
activists, as it has in the past. (Source: CBSNews.com and
Andrew Romana of Yahoo.com).
Viewpoint
The Wise Man's Banquet
by Cassey Coul [Virginia]
A wise man once had a very large banquet. He invited all of
his friends as well as random people. He invited people who
were seen in society as righteous as evil, as good, as bad,
as young, as old as tolerant, as intolerant. He invited
everybody that he could. The guests did not know each
other, they had no idea what to expect.
Prior to the banquet, he asked each guest to treat others
the same, to leave any preconceived notions and past
experiences at the door. He asked everyone to have a
judgment-less experience during the banquet and to not
pretend but to try to get along and show an interest in each
other.
During the banquet, some guests were well behaved, some were
annoying, some were indifferent, some were agitated due to
excitement, some were fighting, some were very quiet, some
were laughing and some were just crying. Throughout the
banquet, the wise man took time to sit and converse with
each guest, to have their opinion on the festivity. Despite
all of the differences they had, each guest was happy to be
at the banquet, each guest was genuinely happy to be around
others. The guests were tolerant toward one another, they
were forgiving of one another's behavior and differences
throughout the banquet. Each guest took time to get to know
each other, to help each other, more importantly, the guests
were willing to help each other. No one was appalled with
another. The guests displayed sincere happiness and genuine
concern and desire to spend time together. Nobody wanted the
festivities to stop. The guests were looking forward to
having an endless night of joy and judgement- free time.
At the end of the banquet, the wise man thanked his guests
and asked them about their opinions and thoughts about the
banquet. They all gave their approval and their desire for
another banquet.
With his infinite wisdom, the wise man told them that there
will be a banquet everyday that will never end, a banquet
that will be bigger and better, a banquet in which each
person will be a host and a guest at the same time, a
banquet that will open the door for endless possibilities.
The guests were befuddled, they did not understand but they
were happy about the endless banquet.
One of the guests asked him where and how to get to such
banquet as they all wants to be part of it. The wise man
told him, the endless banquet is life itself.
He reminded them of the behavior they had during the
banquet, of how they saw each other, their willingness to
help each other, to care for each other, to overlook the
differences among them, to not judge but to help correct
each other's mistakes, and to be genuine toward each other.
HE told them that his little banquet was a display of how we
should live in order to properly enjoy each other. He
reminded them that as human beings, we are pleasure seeking
creature and have a desire to help and be around each other
but sometimes we forget it and become engulfed into our own
thoughts, preconceived thoughts, we become stuck on our
inability to see beyond each other's mistakes, we forget
that a mistake or a behavior is not permanent but
temporarily, we even forget that we are not permanent up
until death comes for us and when it comes, we regret not
living life as a happy banquet. Prior to leaving, he told
them that everyone is a guest of God, some guests misbehave,
some guests behave properly, some guests wreak havoc, some
guests are forgiving. Each guest comes with his/her
qualities as well as his/her faults, but more importantly,
they should remember that the one host does not hold any
judgement toward them and is eager to see them display
kindness toward one another. Therefore they should always
look at themselves prior to judging and acting on impulse or
in evil way toward another as we all have the potential of
rectifying our behavior at any given time. How many times
have we seen people rectifying their behaviors and life? We
are taught in religion that when we see an individual no
matter what notions or thoughts we might have of him or her,
we should always look at the best qualities even if the
individual has 99% bad qualities but we should build on the
1% good.
Now the question is: do we see the potential in others to be
good?
