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WPRESS: America’s Islamic Blind Spots | pg 26

Natl: Calif Killing Shakes Muslim Community | pg 20

Recession Puts More Pressure on Islamic Org Employees | pg 11

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ICCL Pushes To Begin Masjid Expansion | pg 6

ISlaM: Seven Productive Habits To Develop | pg 30

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MoCo Holds Off On Sister City Relationship For Now | pg 8

>> abortion Pg 12

Islamic View On Abortion Could Be Debate’s Middle Ground, Say MuslimsBy Wafa UnusMuslim Link Staff Writer

Abortion is a hot button is-sue and with election sea-son in full swing it’s being pressed hard.

Few political debates, tele-vision addresses or passion-ate platform pleas can es-cape the seemingly morally decisive viewpoint that of-ten puts perspectives on one

side or the other of the issue.

While religious groups have entered the debate providing perspectives based on holy scripture and moral stan-dards the American Muslim community has not yet en-tered the discussion.

Islam allows abortion in par-ticularly instances, in cases

DC Based Media Connecting the Ethiopian Muslim DiasporaBy Fatimah WaseemMuslim Link Staff Reporter

An Ethiopian man returned to his village to die peace-fully; kidney dialysis clean-ings were expensive – some cost an average person’s monthly salary – and the three required for a full re-covery were too expensive. But they stepped in: the man’s brother appeared on

>> MEdia Pg 13

3RD GRADER oN His WAy to sCRiPPs NAtl sPElliNG BEE

Ethiopian Muslim American protest the Ethiopian government’s attack on religious freedom in Ethiopia at a Washington DC march earlier this year. Many of the pro-testers learned about the repression in Ethiopia from Badr Communications news reporting. File photo.

Anti-Abortion activists stage a rally in Washington DC. Across the nation, anti-abortion protesters are appear-ing on street corners and schools with graphic signs against abortion. A protest occurred earlier this year at Al-Huda School in College Park, MD as parents arrived.

March 30th 2012 - April 12th 2012 4 | INDEX

inside This issue03 Community News

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Al-Rahmah Third Grader To Compete At Scripps National Spelling Bee By Muslim Link Staff

Danyah Imam and her little brother Shaheer have quite a few things in common. The both attend Baltimore’s Al-Rahmah School, love to read mystery books, love learning about sea life, and they both enjoy deconstructing the occasional unfamiliar lexeme.

In other words, they are really good spellers.

So good, in fact, that Danyah, in 5th grade – she won Al-Rahmah’s Bee last year -- and Shaheer, in 3rd grade, tied for first place at last month’s Al-Rahmah’s spelling bee, beating even the top performing 8th grade competitors.

The dual win last month meant that

both Imam siblings would represent Al-Rahmah School at the county wide Baltimore Bee on March 17, 2012 at Towson State University. About 50 Baltimore County students ranging from 3rd grade through 8th grade participated. The winner would represent Baltimore County at the famed Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington DC, this year to be held May 30-31.

Besting most of the county’s top school age spellers in the one-mistake elimination spelling contest, Danyah was eliminated on her thirteenth word, making the top ten spellers. Shaheer, one of only three 8-year olds at the Baltimore Bee, took the top prize.

Now, big sister Danya is helping her little brother prepare for the national tournament, testing him from the voluminous Scripps word list, which Danyah says is “basically the entire

dictionary.” The younger Imam will compete against 276 of the nation’s best school age spellers and the final rounds will be aired live on ESPN.

Asked to describe the experience spelling

on stage, Shaheer said he visualizes the word.

....

Community News

bEE Pg 14

Right, 8-year old Shaheer Imam holds his Baltimore Spelling Bee 1st place trophy. The 3rd grade Al-Rahmah student will compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee this summer. His sister Danyah (left) will help him train. Photo courtesy of the Imam family.

March 30th 2012 - April 12th 2012 6 | COMMUNITY NEWS

>> ExPansion Pg 14

Central VA Qur’an Competitors Told: “Qur’an Is Your Buddy”By Rana KhanMuslim Link Staff Reporter

The Central Virginia Quran Competition held the award ceremony for it’s seventh annual memorization and newly intro-duced reading competition at the Islamic Center of Virginia in Richmond on Sat-urday, March 24, 2012.

This year saw record participation, with approximately 250 contestants ranging in age from 2 years to over 30 years old, taking part in 10 categories. The test-ing for the competition had taken place a week earlier and was undertaken by three panels of judges using a meticu-lous system of grading for the quality of memorization, as well as aspects such

as the correct application of the rules of recitation and control of the voice during recitation. The day-long judging process

yielded three top winners in every mem-orization category, and three winners for the reading contest.

The awards’ ceremony drew more than 400 people, with some families of partic-ipants coming from as far away as Col-lege Park and Baltimore, Maryland. Af-ter recitation of the Quran by one of the winners, Br. Bassel Al-Tinawi from the Quran Competition Committee, intro-duced the program. This was followed by a speech by Imam Ammar Amonette, imam of the Islamic Center of Virginia, reminding the attendees that every one who participated in this effort was a win-ner, and that the rewards from Allah for those who exert themselves in this cause will be infinitely greater and permanent,

>> buddy Pg 16

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New Parking Lot In Place, ICCL Pushes To Begin Masjid ExpansionBy Contributing Writers

Large, full-color posters stood on ea-sels around the walkway and foyer of the Islamic Community Center of Lau-rel (ICCL)’s Fundraising dinner Sunday evening, entrancing attendees. Beautiful and ambitious, the clean lines, bright green trees and a shining new building were presented from different angles. A new lane connected the original parking to the newly completed large parking lot to complete a circle around the beautiful expanded masjid.

There were over 450 people present at the dinner held on Sunday, March 25th. Attendants were welcomed at the regis-tration table with badges and gift pens with the ICCL logo on it. They were then escorted to the foyer area for appetizers as they mingled with other guests. The atmosphere was filled with excitement as men, women and children greeted friends and exclaimed over the posters showing the new plans for their masjid.

The program started off with entertain-ment from ICCL Academy’s students performing nasheeds and songs. The evening program was topped off with an amazing rendition of the nasheed ‘The


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Congressional Hearing Highlights Plight of Indian Minorities, Gujarat VictimsNarendra Modi To Remain Persona Non-Grata With No Change To Visa Status FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEThursday March 22, 2012

Indian American Muslim Council (http://www.iamc.com) an advocacy group dedicated to safeguarding India’s plu-ralist and tolerant ethos has thanked Dr. Najid Hussain (son-in-law of slain Indi-an Parliamentarian Ahsan Jafri) and Dr. Angana Chatterji for their Congressional testimonies at the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission today. The Com-mission held a hearing on Wednesday (March 21, 2012) on the plight of reli-gious minorities in South Asia, at which Dr. Najid Hussain represented IAMC, in

response to an invitation by Commission Co-Chair Congressman Frank Wolf. Congressman Joseph Pitts’s pointed questions about Modi’s visa status made it clear that Modi remains a persona non-grata in the US. In 2005, the US State Department had revoked Narendra Mo-di’s US visa under the International Re-ligious Freedom Act of 1998, for egre-gious violations of religious freedom. “The testimonies of both Dr. Hussain and Dr. Chatterji gave the Commission

>> hEaring Pg 16

Award Winning National Geographic Photographer Deeply Moved By Time In Muslim LandsBy Wafa UnusMuslim Link Staff Writer

If a picture is worth a thousand words, seasoned photographer Lynn Abercrom-bie could fill a book. And that’s exactly what she did.

Lynn Abercrombie presented her book entitled “Traveling the World for Na-tional Geographic” on March 23rd at the National Press Club.

The book chronicles the decades her and her husband Tom Abercrombie, who worked for National Geographic and lived in Maryland, traveled the world and captured the nuances of the culture and people they encountered.

It allows the readers a unique and inti-mate glimpse into the lives of two com-panions whose lenses refocused their worldview and provided a glimpse into

the most frigid corners of the globe.

While Lynn is a institution in her own

right, her husband Tom, who died in 2006 at 75 years old, carved out a legacy

with the renowned magazine, most nota-bly introducing its readers to the Muslim world in ways they had never been intro-duced before.

Tom Abercrombie spent 38 years with National Geographic beginning in 1956 and traveled to Japan, Cambodia, Tibet and Venezuela, Spain, Australia, Alaska and Brazil. Abercrombie is even credited as being the first civilian correspondent to ever document the South Pole.

In a 1991 article published in National Geographic, Abercrombie recounted the year he spent traveling in the foot-steps of famed 14th-century Arab ex-plorer Ibn Battuta. The article titled “Ibn Battuta: Prince of Travelers” es-corts the reader through 35 countries from Morocco to China.

>> MovEd Pg 14

Photographer Tom Abercrombie in an undated photo from National Geographic.

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Montgomery County Puts Hold On Sister City Relationship After CriticismBy Wafa UnusMuslim Link Staff Writer

Montgomery County’s controversial plan to make Israeli city Beit Shemesh an official Sister City has hit a snag due to increasing pressure from human rights activists.

Beit Shemesh has made news as a re-sult of increasing friction between the secular Jewish population and ultra orthodox Jews resulting in a series of violent acts. In addition the city has be-come notorious for its active segrega-tion of women and several documented incidents of violence.

One particular incident caught national attention when a young girl was spit on and had rocks thrown at her on her way to school. Israeli government officials have denounced these acts as isolated incidents by extremists.

Sister City talks between Montgom-ery County and Beit Shemesh began in 2007 when Montgomery County, County Executive Isiah Leggett visited the Israeli city.

The issue has now become a hotbed for human rights activists.

“We are known for being a county that values human rights,” said Susan Kerin, a local human rights activist.

Kerin presented an overview of the hu-man rights concerns in a March 13th meeting with the board attempting to formalize the process to make the Beit Shemesh a Sister City.While she didn’t feel as though her presentation made as big of an impact as she would have hoped, she felt it was her responsibility to make the con-cerns known.

“Our reputation is on the line,” said Kerin.

Kerin said her argument isn’t about finding solutions for the situation in Beit Shemesh or even raising aware-ness but rather making sure that Mont-gomery County isn’t inadvertently supporting what she described as “in-stitutionalized” human rights viola-tions.

“We may not be the cause of it. We may not be the solution. But we won’t be contributing [to this] by endorsing [a sister city relationship],” she said.

Bruce Adams, Montgomery County Sister City board member, said that though he does not agree with incidents that occurred in Beit Shemesh regard-ing the young girl who was assaulted, he doesn’t think complete withdrawal from the Sister City program is the an-swer.

“I don’t understand how we would help the little girl by walking away,”

he said.

Adams said the Sister Cities are cho-sen based on the demographics of Montgomery County. The county es-tablished a relationship with El Salva-dor because there is a large immigrant population in Montgomery County from the Central American country.

Likewise, when The Jewish Federa-tion, who has had an informal fifteen year relationship with Beit Shemesh proposed the formalization of the Is-raeli city as a Sister City, Adams and the Sister City Board began discus-sions.

“We were moving toward [establishing the Sister City]. It was our intention to formalize that relationship by now. We were talking about late fall or this [past] winter,” said Adams.

When opposition arose regarding hu-man rights violations the project was delayed but has not been canceled.

“I think we will keep it on hold. It’s a question on which people of good will can disagree,” he said. “Right now it’s a little too murky.”

As the opposition continues to raise questions, Adams said the argument of the city not meeting standards has its complexities.

“The world is a messy place. If you put a Montgomery County human rights standard virtually no country in the world could meet it,” he said. “All communities have variety of human rights issues...Certainly they are trou-bling. There are plenty of things that happen in the United States.”

While a decision has yet to be made, Adams assures that the issue is not be-ing ignored.

“The Sister City board will set a meet-ing. We will discuss what we are hear-ing. We are watching what is happen-ing,” said Adams.

Imam Faizul Khan Recovering From Bypass Surgery

(Monday, March 26, 2012 at 5 PM) Praise be to Allah, The Al-mighty, Imam Faisal Khan has successfully completed his by-pass surgery and is in recovery at this time. He will be in recovery for the next 24 hours at least. The family is asking that you refrain from visiting at this time and to continue to hold Imam Faizul up in your prayers. We will provide an update on his condition tomor-row please share this information with the community. [Source: Imam Johari Abdul-Malik, The Council of Muslim Organization]

ISB Elects New PresidentThe Islamic Society of Baltimore held its Presidential Election on Sunday, March 25th, 2012. The ISB Election Committee thanked all the members who participated in the elections and issued with fol-lowing results: the total number of votes were 341. Brother Moham-med Jameel received 165 votes. Brother Mohammed Abdul Khadeer received 176 votes.

Based on the vote counts, Brother Mohammed Abdul Khadeer was declared the President-Elect, wrote ISB Election committee chairman Job Rushdan. His term will begin next year, In Shaa Allah.

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Muslim Arrested One Day Before He Was to Participate in Press Conference On EntrapmentIllustrates the Danger of Preemptive Prosecution to Civil FreedomSOURCE: NCPCS

Washington D.C. – March 21, 2012

At a press conference at the National Press Club on Tuesday called by the National Coalition to Protect Civil Free-doms (NCPCF), NCPCF Executive Di-rector attorney Stephen F. Downs pro-vided details about how, on the pretext of an old gun violation, the FBI abruptly arrested Kalifah Al-Akili the day before he was to participate in a press confer-ence to detail what he charges are efforts to entrap him into some kind of terrorist-type activity and for introducing into his life a dangerous individual linked to fraud and murder.

Nadhira Al-Khalili, legal counsel for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) explained such incidents have had a chilling effect on the Muslim com-munity, making them fearful of cooper-ating with law enforcement officials lest they end up targets of an investigation.

Shahid Buttar, Executive Director of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, not-ed that this case is not unique and that such tactics undermine the credibility of law enforcement agencies and keenly il-lustrate the need for accountability. The press conference moderator, NCPCF spokesperson Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad noted that there is an important distinc-tion between a sting operation that seeks to trap someone who would engage in an illegal activity into showing his hand and the active recruitment of people into committing a serious criminal activity in which they have never previously en-gaged or have any intention of engaging.

After the press conference concluded, Executive Director Downs delivered a letter from the coalition calling on At-torney-General Eric Holder to open an investigation into the alleged abuses and letters to eight members of the U.S. Sen-ate and House of Representatives calling for Congressional hearings. These letters state, in part, “These ‘fake terrorism in-

vestigations’ create ‘crimes’ where none exist and divert resources from actual threats; improperly target innocent com-munities and discriminate against whole communities by raising the specter of ‘terrorism’ where no such plots exist, ex-cept those created by the FBI and agents provocateur the FBI rewards; and, put the civil liberties of all in jeopardy by turning every new ‘friend’ at church, or at the mosque, into a possible infor-mant.”

Here follows the text of the briefing distributed at the press conference:

FBI Entrapment and Preemptive Prosecution:

The Case of Khalifah Al-Akili

(Washington D.C. – March 20, 2012) The National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms (NCPCF) planned a press con-ference for Friday, March 16, in Wash-ington, DC featuring Khalifah Al-Akili, a Pittsburgh man names who sought to sue the FBI for what he charges are ef-forts to entrap him into some kind of ter-rorist-type activity and for introducing into his life a dangerous individual who has been linked to fraud and murder. The press conference was not held because at 6 a.m. on the preceding day Al-Akili was arrested on weapons possession charge. As the suspiciously-timed arrest has prevented him from telling his own story, the details as he reported them to the NCPCF, and as they have been con-firmed by his friends and publicly avail-able records, are reported here.

Khalifah Al-Akili, 34, is an online mer-chant who converted to Islam about twenty years ago. Six years ago he start-ed religious classes for Somali refugees in his home. He says he had received vis-its from open FBI agents as well as per-sons he suspects of being covert agents as far back as 2005. About six months ago, a man introduced himself to Al-

>> EntraPMEnt Pg 18

TOP - “Preemptive prosecution is convicting people of fake or contrived crimes and locking them up before they have a chance to perform a real crime [and] this is based on [Dick] Cheney’s one percent theory, that if there is a one percent chance that some-body might be a terrorist, you have to act as though its a certainty. The corollary to Cheney’s rule is that it is better for 99 innocent people to be convicted than to allow even one possible terrorist to let free. That flies in the face of all of American jurispru-dence which [holds] that it is far better for a guilty person to be released than for an innocent person to be convicted.” – Attorney Steve Downs

LEFT - When the Muslim asked NCPCF representatives what Muslim community leaders should do if they suspect a new commnuity member is an informant, Shahid Buttar responded: “Your question makes clear why this is problematic from a civil society stand as well as a counter terrorism standpoint. We want Muslim communi-ties – as a civil society matter as well as national security matter -- to have strong robust community networks [since] that is how you find out about plots. What happens when you send informants into mosques? People get scarred and they stop coming. It destroys the social network … and that’s what’s been happening the last 10 years in the Muslim community. It places congregations in untenable positions because [the mosque] is supposed to be a place where you welcome new comers, but when you introduce this very pervasive but unfortunately very well placed fear [of informants] in the community, you see a fracture in the Muslim community that is antithetical to the national security and civil society aims that the FBI holds as the core of its mission.”

RIGHT - “There is a distinction between spying and entrapment and my own personal suggestion to the mosque since a mosque is supposed to be a place where you go to learn about Islam is that if there is an informant there – inform them. Let them learn something they can take back to counter the stereotypes. But if its entrapment, if you hear anyone talking about illegal activity, then report them.” – Imad-ad-Deen Ahmad

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NoVA Youth Wins Fairfax Science Fair By Showing Black Seed’s Effect On CancerBy Wafa UnusMuslim Link Staff Writer

Herndon High School junior and AD-AMS community member, Syed Shad-man Hossain won the Alternate Grand Prize in the Medicine and Health Scienc-es category in the 2012 Fairfax County Regional Science and Engineering Fair for his project entitled, Cytotoxicity of TQ on Bacteria and Cancer Cells.

Hossain presented a project that origi-nated as most scientific endeavors do, in a bout of curiosity.

While reading a book on prophetic medi-cine, Hossain became curious as to the medicinal value of the black seeds, a common alternative treatment used in the East but largely untested in the Unit-ed States.

“I was actually reading a book called “The Prophet’s Medicine” and I found a hadith that said the black seeds have a cure to everything except death. That got me really interested,” he said.

As any budding scientist might, Hossain decided to put the black seed to the test and see if it was truly as effective as his book suggested.

After drafting a comprehensive proposal for his research, Hossain submitted his

idea to researchers at the National Insti-tute of Health (NIH) and awaited a re-sponse.

When a graduate student took interest in Hossain and his project, Hossain jumped at the opportunity to test his theories in the Institute’s prestigious laboratories.

Hossain tested the chemical found in black seeds on various bacteria. What he found was that in low concentrations, the chemical was able to stop the growth of the bacteria and in some cases kill the bacteria itself without harming healthy cells.

This finding lead Hossain to pursue a larger question. Can Thymoquinone work on cancerous cells?

Through in-vitro testing, testing per-formed within a test tube or petri dish, Hossain tested Thymoquinone on four different cancer cell lines including co-lon, lung, skin and prostate.

Testing the Thymoquinone in different concentrations on the cancer cells led Hossain to the discovery that 250 micro-grams per milliliter was able to kill all four types of cancer.

Hossain decided to present his work in the NIH labs as a project for his high school science fair.

When he won alternate grand prize for his category he was surprised but hum-bled by the projects of his peers as well.

“I was pretty happy,” he said. “A lot of people had really good projects in engi-neering and physics and these were real-ly novel ideas. There is one person who is getting his project patented.”

Hossain’s project is still in its infancy and while he’s received accolades for his work, he explained his findings with pause, saying that while they are prom-ising, they are not definitive. His next stage is to test his finding on mice in an in vivo, testing done within a living or-ganism, study to determine if they hold true.

“If it works in the mice it can be furthered and hopefully it can be established as an antibiotic or chemotherapeutic drug,” he said. “This is the really early stages of the research. A lot of testing is neces-sary.”

As for science education, Hossain hasn’t always been impressed by the opportuni-ties available. However, he does believe that science fairs, like the one that he competed in, give young people the op-portunity to expand their minds in new ways.

“They make people more competitive

and make people want to do more rigor-ous research and do better and they are a gateway for people who have amazing ideas and want to get recognized,” said Hossain.

While religion and science are often put at odds, Hossain has found a connection between the two.

“You use the religious references and then test them scientifically and then make conclusions from there,” he said.

And he hopes to continue to use reli-gious resources as starting points for his continued scientific endeavours.

“It opens up my optimism of religion as a background on research,” said Hos-sain.

Hossain hopes to continue his research on the medicinal value of Thymoqui-none in black seeds.

While he wants to keep his career op-tions open he thinks biomedical engi-neering might be a good path for him and his work.

Hossain will be presenting his project at the Muslim Interscholastic Tournament science fair as well as at the State Sci-ence Fair in the coming weeks.


Despite Spiritual Perks, Recession Means More Pressure On Islamic Org EmployeesBy Wafa UnusMuslim Link Staff Writer

Maryland’s unemployment rate sits at 6.7 percent, its lowest in three years.

As the country attempts to bounce back from a recession and individuals still clamor for lucrative jobs where stability trumps salary in a time of layoffs, some have chosen to move from big business to small town community jobs in search of more than a paycheck while others find they can no longer afford to pick passion over pay and growth potential.

Sayeed Jaweed formerly worked at NASA but left his IT job for a far less financially lucrative position at Dar-us-Salaam, the community building project that is the home of the Al Huda Islamic school in College Park, Maryland.

The D.C. metro area is rich with Muslim organizations and masajids. Major na-tional organizations have headquarters in the nation’s capital and its surround-ing cities.

Dar-us-Salaam itself employees approx-imately 100 individuals.

Moving from a large company to a small

non-profit venture was not an easy tran-sition for Jaweed, but the desire to work in a Muslim environment trumped the financial cut. Despite his family’s ini-tial objections, he decided to make the switch.

“It was a difficult [decision]. My fam-ily was questioning such a move and parents were questioning such a move,” said Jaweed. “From [the family] they see the materialistic side. You’re at NASA. You have a nice job. In their mind when you see working at the Islamic school or the masjid they’re thinking of the mas-jid they are used to which is one or two people, an Imam and no infrastructure.”

For Jaweed, the everyday task of finding a place to pray in his NASA office build-ing, skirting around coworkers conver-sations about personal relationships and avoiding the after work drinks simply wasn’t the work environment in which he felt comfortable.

“It’s one of those things where you’re in an environment where you can’t really express any Islamic or religious type of identity,” said Jaweed.

Having volunteered at the school for four years, he began to realize that the work-load between a full time job at NASA

and his volunteer work at the school was taking its toll.

“As the school kept growing and grow-ing and the things I needed to do for the school kept increasing to the point that it became very difficult doing [it only] on weekends and evenings. It came to the point that I needed to just make the switch full time.”

Jaweed was faced with a decision. Ei-ther leave his volunteer post at Al Huda to someone who had the time to put in the work needed, or leave his well pay-ing position working at one of the most recognizable names arguably in the world, to dedicate all his time to an Is-lamic school.

“I felt like what was going on here at [Al

Huda] was really positive and I couldn’t turn my back on it,’ he said.

While Jaweed admitted his job change resulted in a pay cut and stagnation in annual growth potential, he still didn’t feel the financial hit had the impact most might expect it to have had. He credits that to the fact that his wife is also em-ployed and that their collective income allowed for a similar standard of living.

That was not the case for Omar Madani, who made the the opposite switch, mov-ing from a masjid job to a for-profit edu-cation software company.

>> PrEssurE Pg 18

Full-Time Teacher, Part-Time Photographer Establishes

Photography Club At Al-RahmahBy Farha MarfaniMuslim Link Staff Writer

Along with reading, writing, and arith-metic, Al-Rahmah school students are also taking photography lessons, through a new afterschool club.

Combining his passion for photogra-phy and his students, Br. Adil Zaman, a middle school social studies teacher started the afterschool club this year. As part of an effort to offer middle school students a way to express themselves artistically while in a supervised Islamic

setting, Zaman and his fellow middle school teachers came up with the idea to offer middle school students two clubs: photography and drama. The drama club is led by teachers Sister Taihissa Abdel-Aziz & Sister Deborah Cason,.

“I often noticed my students drawing pictures in their notebooks during their free time in class or at lunch, and wanted to provide them with a setting in which they could really let their ideas and

>> club Pg 22

“While Muslim organizations may provide their employees with a sense of intangible fulfillment, gaps in pay and concerns about possible career advancement cause some to seek long-term employment elsewhere.”

Two aspiring photographers get the camera fixed on them at the Al-Rahmah School photography club. Photo courtesy of Adil Zaman.

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where the mother’s life is in immediate danger or in cases of rape. However, some feel as though abortion in politi-cal discussion should not be viewed as it would be from a religious perspective.

“Are you voting on it based on your per-sonal opinion on it or [from] the perspec-tive of someone else’s right to decide,” said Asma Hanif, a nurse practitioner by profession and the Executive Director of Muslimat Al-Nissa, a women’s shelter in Maryland. “That is what we are ask-ing as Muslims in this country, to not have someone infringe on our right to decide...When I look at it from the as-pect of someone else having the right to decide I don’t think it should be put on a religious level,” said Hanif.

Hanif, who is pro-life religiously, said she would never assist in or perform an abortion herself.

That stance cost her a job early in her career.

While employed with the Howard Uni-versity Hospital in Washington D.C. she was asked to assist a physician in per-forming an abortion. When she refused, she was fired.

“Their position was that I was hired to work as a nurse and as such whatever assignment I was given, it was incum-bent on me to perform the task as so as-signed,” said Hanif.

Hanif took the case to court.

“My position was that I was religiously opposed to abortion and that they could not force me to do something that would be something that was against my reli-gion,” she said.

Hanif won her case against the hospital on grounds of religious freedom.

As a executive director of a women’s shelter, Hanif said she’s been witness to abused women seeking abortions as a way of severing ties all potential ties to their abusers.

“If a woman comes and she’s been phys-ically, emotionally and verbally for years

I’m already sympathetic to her. Then she says that she’s possibly already pregnant and she sees the baby as being perma-nently tied to the [abuser],” said Hanif.

Hanif said she does not counsel people on cases of abortion because of her per-sonal bias. However, she does offer her two cents.

“[I] tell them about the potential but [they’ve] condemned this child to be nothing but a reminder of something negative,” she said. “ You’re condemn-ing the child based on the sins of the fa-ther.”

In a recent survey conducted by the Mus-lim Link Newspaper, nearly seventy six percent of survey respondents said they were pro-life with approximately sixty eight percent saying that the Muslim community should side with the pro-life movement because Islam forbids abor-tion with exception.

“We have to look at what Islam says about this and what the prophet (s) says about this particular issue. Before we jump to anything else we need to first look at what our deen says,” said Hassan Amin, Chaplain at Johns Hopkins Hos-pital in Baltimore, Maryland.

Amin said that the Islamic rules place Muslims somewhere in between pro-life and pro-choice but the community hasn’t yet taken advantage of middle ground.

“In the beauty of of Islam, Allah Subha-nahu wa ta’ala covers everything for all time. You name the issue and Islam tack-les it. [The Islamic perspective on abor-tion] could be the bridge but right now Muslims are on one side of the bridge or the other side of the bridge without being the bridge,” said Amin. “We can’t close the door on either one of them because of our deen. In our deen the door is open on either side.”

According to the survey, fifty eight per-cent agreed with Amin, that Muslims can create a bridge between the two stances while forty two said it wasn’t possible.

Even so, eighty three percent said that it was a responsibility for the Muslim com-munity to weigh in on the abortion de-bate. Twenty six percent said that abor-tion was a non-issue and shouldn’t be actively discussed by Muslim leaders in the community, a perspective that Hanif felt could be a detrimental. She said that

she has seen firsthand the result of ignor-ing larger social issues.

“I say this with a heavy heart because this is the same thing. [The Muslim com-munity] is using [ignoring] abortion as they [ignore] domestic violence,” said Hanif. “It absolutely occurs.”

Hanif said the religious and social rami-fications of pregnancies out of wedlock is a primary reason for Muslim women to seek abortions. While those who are not concerned with religious or social retribution may not find reason to hide a pregnancy, those who are part of reli-gious communities with a strong stance on premarital relations may be drawn to any alternative that would allow them to escape perceived social or religious per-secution.

Amin agreed that the issue of abortion should not be ignored in the community discussion.

“Yes it should be discussed in the Mus-lim community,” said Amin. “We can bring something new to the table instead of sitting at the table and eating what ev-eryone else is eating.”

Aisha Raheem from Laurel, Maryland said she knew people who had under-gone abortions in college out of fear for their future. Her concerns are not based in the act of abortion itself, but rather, the lifestyle that necessitates the action.

“I just think the whole pro-choice isn’t about right or wrong, just about choice, a woman’s choice, and her independence and not having her be the one to suffer alone if the man decides not to stick around. Raising a child alone is definite-ly a challenge but the real problem isn’t really abortions but the situations that lead to it. That’s the ultimate challenge,” she said. “Abortion is only a symptom of a disease and banning it is only a pain-killer.”

As for why the Muslim community is seemingly mum on the issue, Raheem said it’s a matter of facing an unfavor-able reality.

“I think the Muslim community may have a false notion that it doesn’t have much to do with us. No one would want to admit to even the idea of his or her daughter engaging in activities that would lead to such a thing let alone com-mitting the act of abortion,” she said.

abortion >> continued from pg 3

....


TV and a stream of money poured in – from PalTalk, from their radio, from the cable show – and the treatments were paid for. Such is the work of Bilal Communica-tions, an Islamic communication net-work based in Washington’s First Hijrah masjid that has woven together a web of support for Ethiopian Muslims, working behind the curtains to pull in news from Ethiopia and fan it out to Ethiopian Mus-lims around the world. Operating through 24 journalists based in Ethiopia, the Muslim network is Ethi-opia’s first to jump into a world where muddy citizen journalism and traditional reporting spearhead social change. “We’re really a community,” Zenith Mohammed, the organization’s support group chairperson who joined in its early days, said. Its three projects, Bilal Radio - the na-tion’s first Islamic online radio - the Bilal Show - its cable interfaith dialogue show - and its Paltalk platform, EthioMuslim Interfaith Dialogue for Justice, have created a Bilal world, spanning across nearly a dozen countries and serving up social, civil rights, Islamic dawah news and discussion. Established in 2010, the network is a lifeline for Muslim Ethiopians caught under an oppressive republican govern-ment that has made practicing traditional Islam a challenge for the country’s 34 percent Muslims population.

Hiding behind the Al-Ahbash, an Islam-ic movement based in Lebanon that falls outside fundamental Islamic teachings, the government has begun importing Al-Ahbash Muslim scholars to impose their interpretation of Islam on the Muslim of Ethiopia by revamping Muslim school curricula, removed Arabic studies, and restricted women from wearing hijab and men from growing beards. With a media clenched tightly by the government, awareness of these civil rights violations went beyond the public eye. “We needed to touch base with these Ethiopian Muslims more than ever,”

Mohammed said. “We needed to find a voice for the voiceless.” Its first pioneering project in October 2009 – purchasing a shortwave radio fre-quency based in Ethiopia - quickly end-ed as financial burdens of over $17,000 a month put pressure on their pockets and as the government – wary of Ethiopian Muslims not affiliated with the Al-Ah-bash sect and fearful of the possibility of an Al-Qaeda sown-movement - began to intercept their lines. However, in 2010, the group sprang back up, using the benefit of the Internet and headquarters outside of Ethiopia to curb the possibility of government inter-ference. The Paltalk platform began as an inter-faith dialogue chat room and continues to bridge understanding between Ethio-pia’s Christian majority and Muslims, drawing Ethiopian scholars, daees, and politicians into hour-long discussions.

On the heels of its success, Bilal Radio, an internet radio which presents weekly news, was quickly followed by it’s cable show which airs one hour every week.

Since then the network has assumed the role of not only voicing Ethiopian Mus-lims civil rights violations, but also pro-viding a platform for topics as varied as interfaith dialogue, discussions on mar-riage, and health treatment options. All of its transmissions are in Amharic, Ethiopia’s official language.

In And Out

A team of 24 journalists based in Ethio-pia is at the heart of this communication web. Some with no experience and oth-ers with 30, these journalists collect re-ports on the ground and launch them to Ethiopian Broadcast Systems in the U.S. With the speed and immediacy of the In-ternet, the group has been able to expose key events in the nation. In the Christian holy city of Axum – a land where Mus-lims emigrants once sought safe harbor during the Prophet’s (Sallallahu ‘alyhi wa salaam) time - Muslims cannot be buried. Their bodies must be carried 10-20 kilometers to burial grounds outside the city. “You’re born there, raised there, but you can’t die there,” Mohammed said.

The past few Fridays, over 30,000 Ethio-pian Muslims have gathered for Jumu’ah to protest the Al-Ahbash’s tightening role over the school system.

“It’s not like how it used to be. They’re sending out these stories from their smart phones. It’s liberating. We don’t have to go through censorship or harass-ment. The layman can contribute. It’s something of its own,” board chairper-son Najib Mohammed said.

Viewed in the backdrop of a new age of social media, Bilal Communication’s programs echo the driving role of the In-ternet in the Arab Spring. But for Najib, the only parallel between Bilal and the Arab Spring is the use of technology, il-lustrating a key point about Bilal: it is first and foremost a platform for social and civil rights discussion. “We don’t dwell in politics. That’s what’s keeping us going,” Mohammed said.

Just A Voice? Despite avoiding politics, Bilal Commu-nications has become more than a news aggregator, making it difficult to pin-point exactly what it is. It blurs the space between citizen journalism and profes-sional reporting - its news is a blend of news from the ground and from profes-sional journalists – and it gives Ethio-pian Muslims a voice and monetary sup-port, with the hope that its investments will reap fruits for the community. It has sponsored needy college stu-dents that would have otherwise left the school system, began a Hifzh program for countryside orphans to spread the Quran, sponsored 20 ‘Ulama who have abandoned spreading the true message of Islam in order to beg for money, and it has raised awareness of kidney dialy-sis. Many dialysis patients without the means to purchase the life saving equip-ment have their hopes pinned on donors plugged into the Bilal network. “It’s really supporting the whole country – Muslims and Christians,” Mohammed said.

Given how spread out Bilal Communi-cations is, it is difficult to determine how many people watch and listen to their shows; however, organizers estimate the numbers reach thousands. Bilal Radio averages a thousand hits per day.

A Look Back – And Ahead

The days of its lost radio frequency, how-ever, have not gone past the group yet. The network still walks shaky grounds in a country where the state controls most broadcasting outlets, including the sole national TV network, and where private stations are closely monitored - a kind of legislative arsenal that has erod-ed “the democratic space and freedom of expression,” said media rights group Reporters Without Borders in 2012. The government owns the sole ISP, “allow-ing it to censor when and where it sees fit”, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported in 2011. “They’re watching us,” Mohammed said, “We’re afraid they can shut us down if they want.”

The government’s hawk-eye, how-ever, has taken a backseat, since Bilal network’s funding from a variety of sources, covering topics that bridge un-derstanding between Muslims and non-Muslims, and operating on the Internet prevents the Ethiopian government from letting down a hard hammer. Financing – the main cause of the lost radio frequency – is a day-to-day worry. Bilal Communications has expenses of $14,000 a month and has now launched a campaign to raise funds.

Its first fundraiser in the Washington DC area will be on April 8th at Clarion Hotel, 6400 Oxen Road, Oxenhill, Md. from 4 – 10 p.m. “If we can get 12 communities around the world to cover each month, we’ll cover finances for the entire year,” Mo-hammed said, “For a community this big, we can afford that.” As far as the ever-changing world of journalism is concerned, the question mark is even bigger, Mohammed said. “It’s really hard to tell what will happen next. There may be peaceful revolution everywhere – not just in Ethiopia. Tech-nology is advancing fast,” he said, “We can too.”

------------------------------------------------For more information on Bilal Commu-nications, visit: http://www.bilalcommu-nication.com/bci/.

MEdia >> continued from pg 3

....


Still, his most notable work is considered to be his documentation of the Muslim world throughout his career with the magazine. He produced 16 articles on the religion and captured images of the Muslim pilgrimage, allowing the non-Muslim world a glimpse at what is con-sidered one of the most coveted acts in Islam.

Abercrombie converted to Islam in 1964 after his time spent in the Muslim world. Through the scope of a lense, Abercrom-bie captured more than images, but a way of life that moved him to redefine his own. He remained extremely private about his conversion to Islam but once described his article and photographs

for “The Sword and The Sermon” as his proudest professional work. The article journeys through the history and culture of the Islamic world. While working on the piece he attended Friday prayers in a mosque in Kazakhstan. He wrote in a letter home that it was among the most emotional moments of his life.

Abercrombie’s adventures have been described as Hemingway-esque, but per-haps a little more perilous. He faced 100 degree below zero weather in the South Pole where he was stranded for weeks af-ter an assignment. Later he dangled over a gaping chasm in a mountain pass in Afghanistan from the stirrup of a horse.

Not merely a photographer and journal-ist, Abercrombie was also a connoisseur of language, fluent in German, English, French, Spanish and Arabic.

He befriended many who he met on his travels, from farmers to kings and is even known to have become friends with the Saudi royal family. Abercrombie ef-fectively became National Geographic’s expert on the Arab world.

Alongside his social accolades, he was a distinguished professional, having re-ceived the award for newspaper photog-rapher of the year in 1954 for his contri-butions to the Milwaukee Journal and in 1959 was awarded magazine photogra-pher of the year for his work at National Geographic, making him the first person to win both of the prestigious awards.

After his retirement in 1993, Abercrom-bie taught geography at George Wash-ington University.

In the year before his death Abercrombie recounted the breadth of his career. His

lens not only captured a different place on a map in a different time in history, but a different world entirely.

“Much of that world has changed since our days in the field—not always for the better. Many of the smiles we cap-tured are no more—bleached by tour-ism, stricken with war, and battered by revolution. Multi-faith Lebanon is torn by sectarian anger; Saudi Arabia is con-strained more than ever, as a government of wealthy princes faces off against its more fanatic citizens; Cambodia strug-gles to rid itself of a decade-long night-mare; Afghanistan bleeds from foreign invasions and its own medieval funda-mentalists; Iran remains at loggerhead with the West; and Iraq lies in ashes. So, in a sense, my work records history as much as geography. As has often been said: The past is another country.”

MovEd >> continued from pg 7

“It’s like flipping through the [word] list in my mind. Sometimes I look at the judges, and sometimes I look up and its like I see the word up there … sometimes when I ask the language of origin then I see other parts and it comes together,”he explained. “Like puzzle pieces,” added his sister.

His classmates at Al-Rahmah school held a party for Shaheer after his win at the Baltimore Bee, and the Islamic Society of

Baltimore (ISB) issued a community wide congratulatory announcement. Muslims outside of Baltimore are just as proud.

“[Shaheer] will represent all the Islamic schools [in the region] at the national [Scripps] spelling bee, and we are all behind him. It’s important that the community as a whole gets behind him and his family. I would even say that community members who are English language experts should step up and offer their help to coach Shaheer, I think it’s that important,” said Aisha Elahi, a vice-principal at Al-Huda School in College

Park, Maryland.

Unlike many homeschoolers who took home the national spelling bee title and the $25,000 award money in previous years, Shaheer has to squeeze in time to memorize words after his daily routine. He gets up around 6 am to pray and get ready for school. After school he attends Qur’an class – he has memorized two juz of Qur’an while his sister has memorized seven juz – and then gets home for dinner around 6:30pm. After dinner he dives into his homework and school projects, and then he and his sister prepare for

the national spelling bee. He gets to bed somewhere between 10 and 11pm.

Father Qaiser Imam is grateful for Al-Rahmah School – the only school his children know – and he stresses that parents “need to spend time working with their children”. Brother Qaiser and his wife decided early on that television was not going to have a central role in their household – but there are some exceptions.

Asked if she watched any movies, Danyah admits she did see “Spellbound”.

bEE >> continued from pg 5

ExPansion >> continued from pg 6

....

Heart of a Muslim’ by Br. Masihullah Bhaiyat and a breathtaking call to prayer (adhaan) by Br. Abu Bakr Lamin.

The keynote speaker, Imam Abdullah Madyun, from Masjid ul-Ihsan in Chi-cago, spoke about giving sincerely for the sake Allah. He encouraged attendees to give with their heart, in open and in secret.

The community raised over $300,000 in cash and pledges for 2012, and over

$500,000 in pledges over 5 years. Other members donated gold jewelry, an iPad and an umrah package, which were auc-tioned off for handsome amounts. Some items, like the iPad, were returned to the auction after heavy bidding, to be auc-tioned off again. This spirit of giving in the way of Allah was apparent through-out the event.

The President of ICCL, Br. Hayder Qa-adri, presented the plans saying, “As someone who has been around since the masjid was first opened, seeing the pictures just brought tears to my eyes. To see where we came from, and how

the community has grown – it is just amazing.” He outlined the needs of the community and stressed that the current classes, the ICCL Academy, and other programs have all been stretched to the limit. “We want to do more, we just need the space to accommodate it,” he said.

Brother Yaqeen Hasan, Chairman of the Board of Directors, also took to the stage to give thanks and encouragement. “It was truly heartwarming and humbling by the grace of Allah to see the support and involvement that the community supplied towards the expansion project at the fund raising dinner.”

Imam Javid Bhaiyat and Shaykh Ab-dul Mateen Nomani concluded the event with closing remarks and a duaa’ (prayer).

With fresh funds in hand, the Islamic Community Center of Laurel is ready to submit the architectural drawings for engineering plans, and then onto the county to receive the permit to start con-struction.

For more information and to donate to-wards the masjid expansion, please visit www.icclmd.org or call 301-317-4584.

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March 30th 2012 - April 12th 2012 16 |COMMUNITY NEWS ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

compared to the trophies and gifts they may win then.

A short break for dhuhr prayer and a catered lunch, provided free of charge for all attendees, followed. Despite the dreary start earlier in the day, skies had cleared up by the afternoon and families were seen enjoying the food and compa-ny both inside the masjid and under the arched brick passageways outside. For many in the city, this has become a much anticipated annual event in their family calendars, with the joy and enthusiasm on the children’s faces clearly evident - especially when a giant, five pound Her-shey chocolate bar in honor of the young contestants, was revealed.

“Is that real or plastic?” exclaimed one of the excited participants, as he rushed to touch it.

After the break, Br. Haroon Baqai, Prin-cipal of Al-Huda school and Director of the Hifdh program at Dar-us-Salaam in College Park, Maryland, gave a speech entitled, “The Quran is My Buddy”. He

explained how, in the company of one’s “buddy”, one feels very comfortable and does not get distracted. Similarly, when one makes the Quran his or her “buddy”, one spends time with it everyday, and doesn’t get bored reading it.

“True believers are those who, when the Quran is recited to them, their hearts tremble with fear and they feel the iman rush in their hearts,” said Br. Haroon. He related a story about the noble compan-ion of the Prophet (peace be upon him), Uthman ibn Affan, who would stand up in prayer at night, reciting the entire Quran. In spite of this, Uthman (may Al-lah be pleased with him) would say, “If our hearts were pure, we would never have enough of the Quran.”

Br.Haroon also pointed out that one often turns to one’s buddy for sincere advice and, upon getting the advice, one usu-ally listens and acts upon it because one knows that one’s buddy cares and truly wants what’s best. Similarly, one should follow the advice given in the Quran and act upon it, believing it to be what’s best for all of one’s affairs.

Following this speech, the youth speaker - Br.Suleman Mian was introduced to the

community.

Br.Suleman, a graduate of the Al-Rahmah Quran Academy in Baltimore, Maryland, and one of the judges at this year’s testing, spoke about how his journey to memorization of the Quran changed his life for the better. As the young audience listened attentively, Br. Suleman reflected on the hurdles he ex-perienced, including the difficulty he had felt in memorizing his first “juzz”. He then warmly recounted how he was inspired to memorize by the unwavering resolve of his father, who memorized the Quran after 30 years of commitment to his goal. Br. Suleman related how he had set out to “race” his father on his last two surahs to completion -surah al-Ahqaaf and surah Muhammad - ones that Br.Suleman himself had found espe-cially difficult.

He ended his speech with five points of advice for those aspiring to memorize the Quran. Those included; obeying Al-lah, following the sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him), respecting one’s mother, respecting one’s father and re-specting one’s teacher.

The awards ceremony was conducted

after this speech. The top three contes-tants for each category were called up to the front and seated on chairs as the first place winner was then asked to recite a surah from that category. Apart from the Tots’ categories (who received toys as gifts), all three winners in every catego-ry received cash prizes, and the winners of the reading category each received a “Touch and Learn” digital Quran reader generously donated by one of the com-munity members.

The Quran Competition Committee ex-pressed their gratitude to all those who participated, assisted and financially contributed to this event.

“Your support and enthusiasm goes a long way towards instilling, by the Grace of Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala), a love of the Qur’an in the hearts of our children and solidifying their Muslim identity. Events such as this encourage our children to feel a sense of pride in their deen, and we hope they will look back upon these formative experiences as having a very positive impact on their Islamic identity and connection with the Book of Allah,” said the committee.

buddy >> continued from pg 6

a starkly different picture of Gujarat than the one painted by the recent TIME Asia cover story and a Brookings Institution blog article,” said Mr. Shaheen Kha-teeb, President of IAMC. Both stories were largely seen as promotional articles aimed at rehabilitating the tainted Naren-dra Modi for higher office even as the ju-dicial process is tightening around him.

Dr. Hussain noted with regret that despite the killing of over 2,000 Muslims during the carnage, glaringly low number of ar-rests have been made to date with even fewer convictions. “An inclusive India would also be a stronger India, that could provide power for our mutual progress, economic development, and growth,” Dr. Hussain said in his testimony. “That goal cannot be realized without ensuring justice to the minorities of Gujarat,” the testimony added.

Dr. Hussain urged the Commission to deny any recognition to Mr. Modi and to use the United States’ influence and friendship with India to ensure freedom, justice and security for the minorities in Gujarat as well as other Indian states. Dr. Hussain also deplored the continued suf-fering of more than 16,000 people still living in squalid refugee camps. Most people displaced during the pogrom have to date not been allowed to return to their homes as the state government has turned a blind eye to their boycott and ghettoization.

Dr. Angana Chatterji testified before the Commission on similar targeting of Christians by right wing Hindu ex-tremists organizations. Violence against Christians resulted in the murder, rape and massive displacement of thousands of people in the state of Orissa.

Dr. Chatterji’s testimony covered the vast number of disappearances in the state of Jammu and Kashmir and the un-

earthing of unmarked mass graves based on her report. This highlighted the impu-nity enjoyed by the Army despite gross violations of human rights. She also re-ferred to the denial of independent reli-gious identity to Sikhs.

Dr. Chatterji further called attention to the various Indian diaspora charitable or-ganizations affiliated with the Hindutva ideology operating in the West and their efforts at influencing public discourse and policy in the United States in rela-tion to India.

IAMC has also noted with regret the ris-ing discrimination and violence against religious and disadvantaged minori-ties. “The harassment of minorities and the lack of due process in the arrest of Muslim youth after every terror attack have eroded the people’s confidence in the impartiality of the nation’s law en-forcement agencies.” said Mr. Shaheen Khateeb. Several terror attacks for which Muslim youth were arrested were

later found to be the handiwork of right wing Hindu extremists, In addition to extrajudicial killings and the denial of constitutional rights to large sections of the Muslim population, their increasing marginalization in education, essential services and employment have reached alarming proportions.

IAMC hopes the awareness created by the testimonies of Dr. Najid Hussain and Dr. Angana Chatterji will lead to con-crete steps by the Government of India to redress the grievous injustices com-mitted against minorities in Gujarat and other parts of India. Indian American Muslim Council is the largest advocacy organization of Indian Muslims in the United States with 10 chapters across the nation. For more information please visit our new website at www.iamc.com.

hEaring >> continued from pg 7

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Akili as “Shareef” in the East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh, PA. Subse-quently, “Shareef” would insinuate him-self into conversations after the dawn prayers among some of the worshippers at a local mosque and offered Al-Akili rides home and to the mosque. Al-Akili reports that, before long, he became sus-picious of “Shareef” who with increas-ing frequency turned the conversation to fighting, and boasted that “he knew peo-ple that were ‘real’ and ‘had a lot of re-sources’ at [their] disposal,” all the while assuring Al-Akili that he could trust him if he shared similar views. Soon, “Sha-reef” tried to get Al-Akili to procure a gun for him, claiming that he needed it for personal protection. When Al-Akili, who, having served time on drug charges a decade ago cannot possess a firearm, refused, “Shareef” persisted, asking if there were anyone else he could get to obtain one for him.

Learning of Al-Akili’s desire to open a “halal” restaurant (one serving food con-sistent with Islamic dietary laws), “Sha-reef” told Al-Akili that he could help with the financing, but only if Al-Akili would do something for him—which Al-Akili understood to mean some “act of violence against others.” After this, Al-Akili tried to avoid Shareef, but he

was living only two blocks away. When “Shareef” offered to introduce Al-Akili to a man he called his “brother,” Al-Akili tried to avoid the meeting, but as he was walking back to his apartment from the store one night, “Shareef” pulled his ve-hicle up to Al-Akili. A man got out of the passenger side, introduced himself as “Mohammed,” and said that he wanted to talk to Al-Akili over coffee. Al-Akili made excuses, but when he got home the phone began to ring; it was “Shareef” and “Mohammed” downstairs, wanting to come in. Al-Akili pretended not to be at home.

The next morning, as Al-Akili and his friend Daoud Carter were walking back from the post office, “Mohammed” ap-peared from “out of nowhere,” again insisting over Al-Akili’s objections that they have coffee together. “Mohammed” said that he was from Pakistan near the Afghani border and began talking about his concept of “jihad.” Changing the subject, Al-Akili asked “Mohammed,” who professed to be an importer, if he had advice as to how he could take up a former teacher’s offer to send him a large number of religious books from South Africa. “Mohammed” offered to arrange and pay for delivery of the books in his company’s name and they exchanged numbers, but “Mohammed” did not call back. Failing to find the alleged import business on the Internet, Al-Akili instead

discovered that the telephone number “Mohammed” had given him belonged to an FBI informant named Shahed Hus-sain. Hussain had been used by the FBI in a plot to implicate an Albany pizza parlor owner and an Albany imam in an imaginary plot to kill the Pakistani am-bassador in New York with a surface-to-air-missile.

Al-Akili’s concern turned to fear for himself and his family when he learned that prior to working for the FBI, Hus-sain had been arrested on charges of murder in Pakistan and convicted of fraud in the U.S. Hussain had been pro-filed in Mother Jones magazine for his role as informant in the Newburgh Four case, in which US District Judge Colleen McMahon said the FBI “created acts of terrorism out of [a defendant’s] fantasies of bravado and bigotry, and then made those fantasies come true.” Carter, who would have appeared with Al-Akili at the press conference, confirms that Internet photos of Hussain reveal him to be the man who called himself “Mohammed.”

Al-Akili had hoped legal action against the FBI for what he calls “their continu-ous harassment and attempts to set” him up might protect others from tactics that critics consider to be illegal entrapment. As precedent for such a case, the NCP-CF points to a case in which the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California got

a restraining order against FBI informant Craig Monteilh. Later the ACLU filed a lawsuit on the mosque’s behalf and the judge granted sanctions against the gov-ernment for lying to the court about its activities, and Monteilh also sued the FBI. The NCPCF is calling on the FBI to stop such dangerous practices that do not enhance our national security but rather provoke greater divisions within our so-ciety, disgrace our image in the world and erode the rights enumerated in the U.S. Constitution.

Additional Information: Trevor Aaron-son, “The Making of an FBI Superinfor-mant,” Mother Jones (Sept.-Oct. 2011), and also Paul Harris, “Newburgh Four: poor, black, and jailed under FBI ‘en-trapment’ tactics,” The Guardian (Dec. 12, 2011)

The National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms is a coalition of national and local organizations, whose mission is to educate the public about the erosion of civil and political freedoms in our soci-ety. For more information, visit www.CivilFreedoms.Org. NCPCF will hold its first fundraising dinner on Sunday, April 15 in Northern Virginia featuring popu-lar journalist and civil liberties advocate Glenn Greenwald. See the advertisement on page 19 for event details.

EntraPMEnt >> continued from pg 9

While he enjoyed the perks of working in a Muslim environment, the compen-sation just wasn’t enough to support his new family.

“One of the main things was the amount of compensation available,” he said. If the compensation at my old job was anywhere near what I’m mak-ing here I would have stayed there. I’m making about more than twice what I was making there.”

Still, he misses some of the non mon-etary perks of his old position work-ing at Dar-Us-Salaam in College Park, Maryland.

“One of the intangible benefits is the

community support you get from a [Muslim] organization. They care about your life and not just your pro-ductivity,” said Madani.

However, Madani does feel the ben-efits of working for a more structured company. Over his nearly seven years working within Muslim business and organizations he found little oppor-tunity for employee improvement through formal training.

“There are also opportunities for train-ing [at my new job]. A lot of training in my old job was self training,” he said.

To the Muslim organizations and busi-nesses he’s worked for in the past, and to others like them Madani urges they provide what they can to help their employees improve their skill sets on

a regular basis.

“I’d say that if you can’t outright give them compensation try to make up for it in intangible benefits,” said Madani.

Madani also noted a distinct difference in employee management.

“Muslim organizations tend to be un-derstaffed,” he said. “You learn what you need to in order to get the job done. You kind of tailor yourself to the needs of the organization.”

In his current job he’s found that the basic needs of the employee are better looked after. While they may be more formal, they are regular and efficient.

“In the Islamic organizations it seems to be a little more informal and person-

al but personal doesn’t always mean responsive,” said Madani.

Madani said he understood the situa-tion of the average cash strapped and understaffed Muslim organization but when he had to make a decision be-tween staying at an organization where he enjoyed the camaraderie and the cause of the work and a career that catered to skills development and pro-vided the pay he needed, he chose the latter.

While Muslim organizations may pro-vide their employees with a sense of intangible fulfillment, gaps in pay and concerns about possible career ad-vancement cause some to seek long-term employment elsewhere.

PrEssurE >> continued from pg 11

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March 30th 2012 - April 12th 2012 20 | NATIONAL NEWS

National NewsFasting Can Help Protect Against Brain Diseases, Scientists SayClaim that giving up almost all food for one or two days a week can counteract impact of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s

Robin McKie, science editorguardian.co.uk, February 18, 2012

Fasting for regular periods could help protect the brain against degenerative illnesses, according to US scientists.

Researchers at the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore said they had found evidence which shows that periods of stopping virtually all food intake for one or two days a week could protect the brain against some of the worst effects of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other ailments.

“Reducing your calorie intake could help your brain, but doing so by cutting your intake of food is not likely to be the best method of triggering this protection. It is likely to be better to go on intermittent bouts of fasting, in which you eat hardly anything at all, and then have periods when you eat as much as you want,” said Professor Mark Mattson, head of the in-stitute’s laboratory of neurosciences.

“In other words, timing appears to be a

crucial element to this process,” Mattson told the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Sci-ence in Vancouver.

Cutting daily food intake to around 500 calories – which amounts to little more than a few vegetables and some tea – for two days out of seven had clear ben-eficial effects in their studies, claimed

Mattson, who is also professor of neuro-science at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.

Scientists have known for some time that a low-calorie diet is a recipe for longer life. Rats and mice reared on restricted amounts of food increase their lifespan by up to 40%. A similar effect has been noted in humans. But Mattson and his

team have taken this notion further. They argue that starving yourself occasionally can stave off not just ill-health and early death but delay the onset of conditions affecting the brain, including strokes. “Our animal experiments clearly suggest this,” said Mattson.

He and his colleagues have also worked out a specific mechanism by which the growth of neurones in the brain could be affected by reduced energy intakes. Amounts of two cellular messaging chemicals are boosted when calorie in-take is sharply reduced, said Mattson. These chemical messengers play an important role in boosting the growth of neurones in the brain, a process that would counteract the impact of Al-zheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

“The cells of the brain are put under mild stress that is analogous to the effects of exercise on muscle cells,” said Mattson. “The overall effect is beneficial.”

A vertical slice through the brain of a patient with Alzheimer’s, left, compared with a normal brain, right. Photograph: Alfred Pasieka/Science Photo Library

Killing of Iraqi Woman Leaves Immigrant Community ShakenBy IAN LOVETT and WILL CARLESSNew York Times, March 27, 2012

EL CAJON, Calif. — Shaima Alawadi’s family says they found the first note taped to the front door of their house on a quiet suburban street here. It said: “This is my country. Go back to yours, terrorist,” according to her 15-year-old son Mohammed.

Like many others in the neighborhood, Ms. Alawadi and her husband, Kassim Alhimidi, are immigrants from Iraq. Mr. Alhimidi says he wanted to call the po-

lice. But his wife said no, insisting the note was only a child’s prank. In 17 years in the United States, they had been called terrorists before, he said.

But last Wednesday, her 17-year-old daughter found Ms. Alawadi in their din-ing room, lying unconscious in a puddle of blood with a severe head wound. Nearby lay another threatening note, similar to the one the family found a week earlier.

Ms. Alawadi, 32, died three days later,

and the police say they are still trying to determine whether she was, indeed, tar-geted because of her religion or ethnic-ity, calling that just one possibility.

“At this point, we are not calling it a hate crime,” said Lt. Mark Coit of the El Cajon police department. “We haven’t made that determination. We are calling it an isolated incident, because we don’t have any evidence of anything similar going on at this point.”

Isolated or not, the crime has shattered the sense of security for Iraqi immigrants in El Cajon, exposing cultural tensions and distrust that have often simmered

just below the surface since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Hanif Mohebi, director of the San Diego chapter of the Council on American-Is-lamic Relations, said that many Muslim women in the area were worried that Ms. Alawadi had been targeted because she wore a headscarf in public, as many ob-servant Muslim women do.

“The majority of the community that wears scarves are concerned,” Mr. Mo-hebi said. He cautioned against a rush to judgment before the police had fin-ished investigating. Still, he added, “the community has gone through some hate

>> fasting Pg 21

>> killing Pg 21

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| 21March 30th 2012 - April 12th 2012 NATIONAL NEWS

The link between reductions in energy intake and the boosting of cell growth in the brain might seem an unlikely one, but Mattson insisted that there were sound evolutionary reasons for believing it to be the case. “When resources be-came scarce, our ancestors would have had to scrounge for food,” said Matt-son. “Those whose brains responded best – who remembered where promis-

ing sources could be found or recalled how to avoid predators — would have been the ones who got the food. Thus a mechanism linking periods of starvation to neural growth would have evolved.”

This model has been worked out using studies of fasting on humans and the re-sulting impact on their general health – even sufferers from asthma have shown benefits, said Mattson – and from experi-ments on the impact on the brains of ani-mals affected by the rodent equivalent

of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Now Mattson’s team is preparing to study the impact of fasting on the brain by using MRI scans and other techniques.

If this final link can be established, Matt-son said that a person could optimise his or her brain function by subjecting them-selves to bouts of “intermittent energy restriction”. In other words, they could cut their food intake to a bare minimum for two days a week, while indulging for the other five. “We have found that from

a psychological point of view that works quite well. You can put up with having hardly any food for a day if you know that for the next five you can eat what you want.”

------------------------------------------------In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Sec-tion 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have ex-pressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

fasting>> continued from pg 20

crimes before, and the assumption the people have is that they’re going through one now.”

Just two decades ago, El Cajon, just northeast of San Diego, was largely white and English-speaking. But as wars in their homelands pushed more and more Iraqis and other people to emigrate, the Middle Eastern population here has ex-ploded. El Cajon now houses one of the largest Iraqi communities in the country. Middle Eastern groceries and restaurants dot both sides of Main Street, while on the sidewalks, many families stroll by speaking only in Arabic.

Ms. Alawadi and her family moved to the United States from Saudi Arabia in 1995, after fleeing Iraq during the first Gulf War. They have five children, and, for the most part, Mr. Alhimidi said, the neighbors made them feel welcome.

Still, even before this month, he was al-ready familiar with the kind of language he says was on the notes left at his house.

“Some neighbors, I say ‘hi’ to them, and they just turn away,” Mr. Alhimidi said in Arabic, with his son Mohammed translating. “More than 95 percent of the time, I feel welcome. But once in a while, people shout at you. They shout ‘terrorist,’ or ‘go back to your country.’ ”

Most people in town lamented Ms. Ala-wadi’s killing as a tragedy. Janet Ilko, a middle school teacher, said the news had come as a shock to students.

“It was upsetting to everyone,” Ms. Ilko, 47, said. “Our community is very close-knit. Our students get along very well. People have been here a long time.”

But tension between the newcomers from the Middle East and some of the town’s other residents was also readily apparent on Main Street, even this week.

One woman, 30, who was at a park with her children and refused to give her name, called the city’s Iraqi residents “territorial,” adding, “maybe because we are at war with them.” She said her own background was Mexican, though she had grown up in Southern California.

That tension extends to non-Muslims as well.

“I’ve lived here for 32 years, and I’ve been told many times to go back to my country,” said Sascha Atta, an immigrant from Afghanistan. “Here in El Cajon, most of the Iraqis are not even Mus-lim, they are Christian, but people don’t know the difference.”

One of those Iraqi Christians is Lara Yalda, 18, who fled the country with her family in 2004, living in Syria for six years before coming to El Cajon, where she is now in high school. She said that last year one teacher told all of the Iraqi students to go back to their country, complaining that they took wel-

fare and other money from the United States. That teacher does not teach Iraqi students any more but still works at the school, she said.

Ms. Yalda said Ms. Alawadi’s death frightened her.

“Yeah, I’m scared,” Ms. Yalda said. “I feel sad, because here it is a free country, and there is no reason to kill her. She has a family. So why they kill her? ”

The killing does not make sense to Ms. Alawadi’s son Mohammed either.

“There’s only three people that know what happened,” he said. “God, my mom and the guy who did it.”


killing>> continued from pg 20

301-982-1020C a l l T o d a y T o A d v e r t i s e i n T h e M u s l i m L i n k

Write to us! Stop venting at dinner parties and in masjid parking lots. Cool down, get your points together, and send us a letter to the

editor or post a comment online. ReACh us AT [email protected] or http://www.muslimlinkpaper.com

....

March 30th 2012 - April 12th 2012 22 |CONTINUED

imagination take off,” said Zaman.

The club meets once a week for an hour. Currently, the club is for 8th grade boys only, but next month, when students re-turn from spring break, the boys club will end and approximately 10-15 enthu-siastic girls will join. Sister Taihisaa will

assist Zaman with the club.

So far, the students have learned the ba-sics of SLR film photography. “We use film because it teaches students to give more thought and consideration to each shot they take, knowing that there is no delete button,” added Zaman.

After learning how to adjust the basic settings of the camera, from the shutter size to the lens aperture, students are

learning composition, including basic photography concepts such as rule of thirds. They then take their gear outside, trying out several different types of pho-tography, ranging from landscapes to portraits.

In addition to a nominal fee, most of the equipment is purchased secondhand through online sites like Ebay. Zaman has also donated some of his equip-ment. There are also plans to raise funds

through bake sales.

The school administration, including Principal Laura Abdul-Rahman and Sis-ter Donna Khan, administrative assistant active in student activities, have shown support for the club. Some students are hoping to take their photographs to fu-ture MIST competitions.

club >> continued from pg 11

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To Advertise in the Muslim Link Call

301.982.1020

or email us at

[email protected]


....

March 30th 2012 - April 12th 2012 24 | ISLAMuncovereD: Finding the Stories That Matter

What Is An Economic Hitman?

In 2003, I departed Quito [Ec-uador] in a Subaru Outback and headed for Shell on a

mission that was like no other I had ever accepted. I was hoping to end a war I had helped create. As is the

case with so many things we EHMs [Economic Hit Men] must take respon-sibility for, it is a war that is virtually unknown anywhere outside the coun-try where it is fought. I was on my way to meet with the Shuars, the Kich-was, and their neighbors the Achuars, the Zaparos, and the Shiwiars—tribes determined to prevent our oil com-panies from destroying their homes, families, and lands, even if it means they must die in the process. For them, this is a war about the survival of their children and cultures, while for us it is about power, money, and natural resources. It is one part of the struggle for world domination and the dream of a few greedy men, global empire.

That is what we EHMs do best: we build a global empire. We are an elite group of men and women who utilize international financial organizations to foment conditions that make other nations subservient to the corporatoc-racy running our biggest corporations, our government, and our banks. Like

our counterparts in the Mafia, EHMs provide favors. These take the form of loans to develop infrastructure —electric generating plants, highways, ports, airports, or industrial parks. A condition of such loans is that engi-neering and construction companies from our own country must build all these projects. In essence, most of the money never leaves the United States; it is simply transferred from banking offices in Washington to engineering offices in New York, Houston, or San Francisco.

Despite the fact that the money is re-turned almost immediately to corpora-tions that are members of the corpo-ratocracy (the creditor), the recipient country is required to pay it all back,

principal plus interest. If an EHM is completely successful, the loans are so large that the debtor is forced to default on its payments after a few years. When this happens, then like the Mafia we demand our pound of flesh. This often includes one or more of the following: control over United Nations votes, the installation of mili-tary bases, or access to precious re-sources such as oil or the Panama Ca-nal. Of course, the debtor still owes us the money—and another country is added to our global empire.

----------------------------------------

Excerpt from New York Times Best-seller “Confessions of An Economic Hitman” by John Perkins

The Muslim Link Matters Because You Matter.Since 1998, the Muslim Link has been covering the Muslim community in the nation’s capital.

From Baltimore to Northern Virginia, we’ve reported on the challenges and the victories, the growth and the growing pains of our masajid and or-ganizations. During these times when the Muslim community is under the glare of an intense, motionless spot-light, it helps to know there is at least one media organizations that has you covered.

While mainstream news outlets choose to focus on the same few top-ics whenever they cover our communi-ty – terrorism, hijabs, and Ramadhan – the Muslim Link covers the Muslim community in all of its aspects, includ-ing all of its diversity, with honesty, candor, and respect.

Our stories generate discussions and raise issues that need to be talked about. One of our stories on masjid architecture generated spirited discus-sions on assimilation and American culture. Another Muslim Link story on

Ron Paul’s presidential campaign had readers asking each other what pri-orities the community should set when deciding whether to back a political candidate.

Our coverage of our community’s growth – masjid construction, new or-ganizations putting forth new efforts in protecting our rights, the changing demographics of the community – is a critical part of documenting our his-tory. Every story we run adds another page of history for our future genera-tions.

Our stories are stories that matter.

Our annual fundraising dinner is Sat-urday, April 14 at 5pm at Montgom-ery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland. If you think the Muslim Link matters, please make sure to buy your ticket today and attend our event.

We only have one fundraising event a year for our non-profit community newspaper. Let’s make it an event that matters. – TML

We are an elite group of men and women who utilize international financial organizations to foment conditions that make other nations subservient to the corporatocracy running our biggest corporations, our government, and our banks.

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| 25March 30th 2012 - April 12th 2012 ISLAMuncovereD: Finding the Stories That Matter

Playing With the Lives of Desperate PeopleBecause of EHM projects, Ecuador is awash in foreign debt and must de-vote an inordinate share of its national budget to paying this off, instead of using its capital to help the millions of its citizens officially classified as dan-gerously impoverished. The only way Ecuador can buy down its foreign ob-ligations is by selling its rain forests to the oil companies. Indeed, one of the reasons the EHMs set their sights on Ecuador in the first place was because the sea of oil beneath its Amazon re-gion is believed to rival the oil fields of the Middle East.8 The global empire demands its pound of flesh in the form of oil concessions.

These demands became especially urgent after September 11, 2001, when Washington feared that Middle Eastern supplies might cease. On top of that, Venezuela, our third-largest oil supplier, had recently elected a populist president, Hugo Chávez, who took a strong stand against what he referred to as U.S. imperialism; he threatened to cut off oil sales to the United States. The EHMs had failed in Iraq and Venezuela, but we had suc-ceeded in Ecuador; now we would milk it for all it is worth.

Ecuador is typical of countries around the world that EHMs have brought into the economic-political fold. For every $100 of crude taken out of the Ecuadorian rain forests, the oil com-panies receive $75. Of the remaining $25, three-quarters must go to pay-ing off the foreign debt. Most of the remainder covers military and other government expenses—which leaves about $2.50 for health, education, and programs aimed at helping the poor.9 Thus, out of every $100 worth of oil torn from the Amazon, less than $3 goes to the people who need the money most, those whose lives have been so adversely impacted by the dams, the drilling, and the pipelines, and who are dying from lack of edible food and potable water.

All of those people—millions in Ecua-dor, billions around the planet—are potential terrorists. Not because they believe in communism or anarchism or are intrinsically evil, but simply be-cause they are desperate. Looking at this dam, I wondered—as I have so often in so many places around the world—when these people would take action, like the Americans against Eng-land in the 1770s or Latin Americans

against Spain in the early 1800s.

The subtlety of this modern empire building puts the Roman centurions, the Spanish conquistadors, and the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Eu-ropean colonial powers to shame. We EHMs are crafty; we learned from his-tory. Today we do not carry swords. We do not wear armor or clothes that set us apart. In countries like Ecuador, Nigeria, and Indonesia, we dress like local schoolteachers and shop own-ers. In Washington and Paris, we look like government bureaucrats and bankers. We appear humble, normal. We visit project sites and stroll through impoverished villages. We profess altruism, talk with local papers about the wonderful humanitarian things we are doing. We cover the conference tables of government committees with our spreadsheets and financial projec-tions, and we lecture at the Harvard Business School about the miracles of macroeconomics. We are on the re-cord, in the open. Or so we portray ourselves and so are we accepted. It is how the system works. We seldom resort to anything illegal because the system itself is built on subterfuge, and the system is by definition legitimate.

However—and this is a very large ca-veat—if we fail, an even more sinister breed steps in, ones we EHMs refer to as the jackals, men who trace their heritage directly to those earlier em-pires. The jackals are always there, lurking in the shadows. When they emerge, heads of state are overthrown or die in violent “accidents.”10 And if by chance the jackals fail, as they failed in Afghanistan and Iraq, then the old models resurface. When the jackals fail, young Americans are sent in to kill and to die.

As I passed the monster, that hulking mammoth wall of gray concrete rising from the river, I was very conscious of the sweat that soaked my clothes and of the tightening in my intestines. I headed on down into the jungle to meet with the indigenous people who are determined to fight to the last man in order to stop this empire I helped create, and I was overwhelmed with feelings of guilt. How, I asked myself, did a nice kid from rural New Hamp-shire ever get into such a dirty busi-ness? – Excerpt from New York Times Bestseller “Confessions of An Econom-ic Hitman” by John Perkins

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March 30th 2012 - April 12th 2012 26 | WORLD PRESS

World PressAmerica’s Islamic Blind SpotsBy Naomi Wolf

New York, NY - In the wake of the Quran-burning by troops at the United States’ Ba-gram Airbase in Afghanistan, protests con-tinue to escalate and the death toll mounts. In the process, three US blind spots have become obvious.

One is that of the US media, whose cov-erage simply underscores - and amplifies - the stunning cluelessness that triggered the protests in the first place. Professional journalists are obliged to answer five ques-tions: who, what, where, why and how. But, reading reports from The Associ-ated Press, The New York Times and The Washington Post among others, I searched exhaustively before I could form any pic-ture of what had actually been done to the Qurans in question. Not only did accounts conflict; none offered a clear notion of who had allegedly done what, let alone why or how.

Were Qurans burned, as one US report had it, under the oversight of US military of-ficials? Or were they brought by soldiers for incineration, as another version main-tained, as part of a haul of “extremist liter-ature” and prisoners’ personal communica-tions, with Afghan workers alerting others at the base to the nature of the material?

These murky accounts - with no clear sub-jects or actions (The New York Times, incredibly, managed not to describe the burning at all) - reflect what happens when major news outlets appear simply to take dictation from the Pentagon.

The second US blind spot is the politici-

zation of this terrible affront. Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has called Obama’s apology a “surrender”, while another Republican contender, Rick Santorum, is offended that anyone is suggesting that the US should bear any “blame”.

This absence of perspective reveals the cultural ignorance that has turned recent US foreign interventions into political ca-tastrophes. I, too, come from an Abraha-mic religion, Judaism, which shares strong roots with Islam. In both faiths, sacred texts are treated as if they are, in a sense, living beings. Jews, too, give them “buri-als” when they are too old to use and treat them ritualistically while they are “alive”, using silver pointers to avoid profaning them with human hands, dressing them in velvet jackets and kissing them when they

No One Asked Their NamesBy Qais AzimyAl-Jazeera, March 19, 2012

In the days following the rogue US sol-dier’s shooting spree in Kandahar, most of the media, us included, focused on the “backlash” and how it might further strain the relations with the US.

Many mainstream media outlets chan-neled a significant amount of energy into uncovering the slightest detail about the accused soldier – now identified as Staff Sergeant Robert Bales. We even know where his wife wanted to go for vacation, or what she said on her per-sonal blog.

But the victims became a footnote, an anonymous footnote. Just the number 16. No one bothered to ask their ages, their hobbies, their aspirations. Worst of all, no one bothered to ask their names.

In honoring their memory, I write their names below, and the little we know about them: that nine of them were chil-dren, three were women.

The dead:Mohamed Dawood son of AbdullahKhudaydad son of Mohamed JumaNazar Mohamed PayendoRobeenaShatarina daughter of Sultan MohamedZahra daughter of Abdul HamidNazia daughter of Dost MohamedMasooma daughter of Mohamed Wazir Farida daughter of Mohamed WazirPalwasha daughter of Mohamed WazirNabia daughter of Mohamed WazirEsmatullah daughter of Mohamed WazirFaizullah son of Mohamed WazirEssa Mohamed son of Mohamed Hus-sainAkhtar Mohamed son of Murrad Ali

The wounded:Haji Mohamed Naim son of Haji Sakha-watMohamed Sediq son of Mohamed NaimParweenRafiullahZardanaZulheja


>> blind Pg 27

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| 27March 30th 2012 - April 12th 2012 WORLD PRESS

fall to the ground.

Burning a conquered people’s sacred texts sends an unmistakable message: you can do anything to these people. As Heinrich Heine put it, referring to the Spanish In-quisition’s burning of the Quran, “Where they burn books, so too will they in the end burn human beings”. Jews understand that very well: from the Inquisition to Cossack massacres to Kristallnacht, the aggressors destroyed Torahs as a logical and well-understood precursor to destroying Jews.

The third blind spot is almost too pain-ful to bear having to address - which, on a charitable interpretation, might explain why not one mainstream US media report has done so: the burnings were not carried out on some street in Kabul, but at Bagram. That is, Qurans were burned at a US facil-ity that meets the dictionary definition of a concentration camp.

Bagram versus Guantanamo Bay

In 2009, Spiegel Online ran a portrait gal-lery about Bagram titled “America’s Tor-ture Chamber”. In “The Forgotten Guan-tanamo”, it reported that 600 people were being held at Bagram without charge. All were termed “unlawful enemy combat-ants”, allowing the US to claim that they have no right to the protections of the Ge-neva Conventions. A military prosecutor said that, compared to Bagram, Guanta-namo Bay was “a nice hotel”.

Indeed, Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, invari-ably described in the US as “the self-pro-claimed chief architect of 9/11”, told the Red Cross that at Bagram he had been sus-pended by shackles and sexually assaulted: “I was made to lie on the floor. A tube was inserted into my anus and water poured inside”. Another prisoner, Raymond Azar, testified that 10 FBI agents had abducted him, shown him photos of his family and told him that if he didn’t “co-operate”, he would never see them again.

The BBC collated testimony in 2010 from nine prisoners, confirming that human-rights abuses continued at Bagram. The prisoners independently described “a se-cret prison” inside the prison, called “the black hole”. Prisoners were still being sub-jected at the time to freezing temperatures, sleep deprivation and “other abuses”. One testified that a US soldier had used a rifle to knock out a row of his teeth and that he was forced to dance to music whenever he needed to use the bathroom.

Another investigation confirmed similar al-legations in 2010 and last month, the BBC reported that Bagram’s prison population had reached 3,000, while an Afghan-led investigation found still more allegations of ongoing torture, including freezing tem-peratures and sexual humiliations.

Of course, since the US military can detain anyone in Afghanistan and hold him or her without charge in these conditions forever, the entire country lives under the shadow of torture at Bagram. The Quran burnings are a potent symbol of that systemic threat.

So, while Obama should continue to apol-ogize for the Quran burnings, we must un-derstand that Afghans’ rage is a response to an even deeper, rawer wound. Obama should also apologize for kidnapping Af-ghans; for holding them at Bagram with-out due process of law; for forcing them into cages, each reportedly holding up to 30 prisoners; for denying them Red Cross/Red Crescent visits; for illegally confiscat-ing family letters; for torturing and sexu-ally abusing them; and for casting a pall of fear over the country.

The Quran forbids that kind of injustice and cruelty. So does the Bible.------------------------------------------------Naomi Wolf is a political activist and so-cial critic whose most recent book is Give Me Liberty: A Handbook for American Revolutionaries. This article was first pub-lished by Project Syndicate.------------------------------------------------In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Sec-tion 107, this material is distributed with-out profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

blind >> continued from pg 26

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March 30th 2012 - April 12th 2012 28 | CIVIL RIGHTS

Civil RightsCivil RightsCivil RightsFOIA Documents Show FBI Using “Mosque Outreach” for Intelligence GatheringFBI’s Activities Raise Constitutional Concerns and Violate Federal Privacy Law, ACLU SaysMarch 27, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; [email protected]

NEW YORK – For several years, the FBI’s San Francisco office conducted a “Mosque Outreach” program through which it collected and illegally stored intelligence about American Muslims’ First Amendment-protected beliefs and religious practices, according to govern-ment documents released today by the American Civil Liberties Union from a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by the ACLU of Northern Cali-fornia, Asian Law Caucus and the San Francisco Bay Guardian.

The San Francisco FBI’s own documents show that it recorded Muslim religious leaders’ and congregants’ identities, per-sonal information and religious views and practices. The documents also show that the FBI labeled this information as “positive intelligence” and disseminated it to other government agencies, placing the people and organizations involved at risk of greater law enforcement scrutiny as potential national security threats. None of the documents indicate that the FBI told individuals interviewed that their information and views were being collected as intelligence and would be recorded and disseminated.

“Everyone understands that the FBI has a job to do, but it is wrong and counterpro-ductive for the bureau to target American Muslim religious groups for secret intel-ligence gathering and place innocents at risk of investigation as national security threats,” said Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU’s National Security Project. “The FBI is casting a cloud of suspicion on American Muslim religious organiza-

tions based on their faith alone, which raises grave constitutional concerns. The bureau’s documentation of religious leaders’ and congregants’ beliefs and practices violates the Privacy Act, which Congress passed to protect Americans’ First Amendment rights.”

The “Mosque Outreach” documents, from between 2004 and 2008, detail in-formation and activities including:

• FBI visits to the Seaside Mosque five times in 2005, documenting the sub-ject of a particular sermon and congre-gants’ discussions regarding a property purchase for a new mosque. Despite an apparent lack of information related to crime or terrorism, the FBI’s records of these discussions show they were classified as “secret,” marked “positive

intelligence” and disseminated outside the FBI.• FBI meetings with members of the South Bay Islamic Association four times from 2004 to 2007, documenting discussions about the Hajj pilgrimage and “Islam in general.” FBI documents show this information was classified as “secret,” marked “positive intelligence” and disseminated outside the FBI.• FBI contacts with representatives of the Bay Area Cultural Connections (former-ly the Turkish Center Musalla), describ-ing the group’s mission and activities, as well as the ethnicity of its members. A memo indicates the FBI used a meet-ing participant’s cell phone number to search LexisNexis and Department of Motor Vehicle records and obtained and recorded detailed information about him, including his date of birth, social

security number, address and home tele-phone number. FBI documents show this information was classified as “secret.”

“The FBI can only be successful if the American public supports its mission and methods, and community outreach plays an essential role in building the trust and mutual understanding to en-sure the FBI is effectively and appro-priately protecting both our security our civil rights,” said Mike German, ACLU senior policy counsel and a former FBI agent. “By exploiting the good faith of Muslim groups and their members, the FBI is undermining community support for the government’s legitimate law en-forcement activities.”

In light of these new documents, the ACLU is renewing its call on the Jus-tice Department’s Inspector General to investigate Privacy Act violations in the FBI’s San Francisco Division and to initiate a broader audit of FBI practices nationwide to determine the scope of the problem and identify solutions. The ACLU is also urging the FBI to stop us-ing community outreach for intelligence purposes, to be honest with community organizations regarding what informa-tion is collected and retained during community meetings and to purge all in-formation collected improperly.

A detailed description of examples (with links to FOIA documents) showing the FBI’s improper collection of informa-tion at community outreach meetings is available at:www.aclu.org/FBI-mosque-outreach

More on the ACLU’s documentation and analysis of the FBI’s improper surveil-lance and intelligence gathering activi-ties is available at:www.aclu.org/mappingtheFBI

“By exploiting the good faith of Muslim groups and their members, the FBI is undermining community support for the government’s legitimate law enforcement activities.”

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| 29March 30th 2012 - April 12th 2012 HEALTH & FAMILY

Stress Is A ChoiceRoom for Coffee?

A professor stood before his Philoso-phy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He

asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous “yes.”

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effec-tively filling the empty space between the sand.

The students laughed.

“Now,” said the professor, as the laugh-ter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

“The golf balls are the important things - your God, family, your children, your

health, your friends, and your favorite passions - things that ifeverything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

“The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car. “The sand is everything else--the small stuff.

“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.

“The same goes for life. “If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things

that are important to you.

“Pay attention to the things that are criti-cal to your happiness. “Play with your children.“Take time to get medical checkups.“Take your partner out to dinner.“There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. “Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter.“Set your priorities.“The rest is just sand.”

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled. “I’m glad you asked.

“It just goes to show you that no mat-ter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a cup of coffee with a friend.”

----------------------------Source: anonymous

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March 30th 2012 - April 12th 2012 30 | ISLAM

Islam7 Daily Spiritual Productive Habits to DevelopBy Abu ProductiveProductiveMuslim.com You should aim to develop the following 7 Spiritually Productive activities into habits so that you can hopefully continue benefiting from them throughout your life. I consider these activities as the spiritual ‘bread and butter’ of any ProductiveMuslim. To develop them as habits is the essence of embarking on your journey towards the love of Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala) and constantly increasing in your eman, inshaAllah:

1) Pray the Sunnah Prayers before and/or after Prayer:

I know it’s easier to just pray the obligatory prayers and rush out of the mosque! However, when we realise the rewards we’re missing from not praying these Sunnah prayers we won’t leave them. Over the years I have learnt there’s only ONE way of getting yourself to pray these Sunnah prayers constantly: Get into the habit of praying them! They’ll soon become part and parcel of your Salah and your Salah will feel incomplete without performing these acts.

2) Remembrance of Allah after Salah:

Again, it’s easy to rush out after Salah due to our busy lives, though if we are honest, how long does it take to recite the supplications after Salah? (The Answer: 5-7 minutes!). If you’re not sure what I’m referring to, you may find the supplications at MakeDua.com. Nowadays you’ll find pocket notebooks/or phone applications with these supplications. Get into the habit of reciting them daily after each Salah to enrich your Salah experience.

3) Morning/Evening Remembrance of Allah:

Step 2 is also included in this habit. There exists a beautiful set of duas/remembrances from the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) which he used to say before sunrise and after sunset. They are true stress relievers and energy boosters which never fail to make my days and evenings feel blessed. [You can find the duas at MakeDua.com]

4) Night Prayer:

Hamdulillah, during Ramadan we have

the wonderful Taraweeh prayers to attend. However, outside of Ramadan there are many opportunities to still obtain the reward of the night prayer. If you’re new to night prayer or you don’t pray it constantly during the year, make sure you try to attend prayers each and every night in congregation at the mosque (particularly brothers), and give yourself a ‘no-excuse’ policy. Develop a habit of praying Tahajjud and continuing to pray them for an entire 30 days; this will set you on better footing to continue with the Night Prayer for the rest of the year inshaAllah.

5) Duha Prayer:Here’s a Productive Muslim’s top secret to a productive day: 2 rak’ahs known as the Duha prayer which you may pray at anytime after sunrise till before the sun reaches it’s zenith (around 30 minutes before Dhuhr). The reward of this prayer is similar to giving charity on behalf of every bone in your body, and the energy and buzz you feel during the day is amazing.

6) Supplications before you Sleep:

You’ve just had a long day and you’re super tired. You climb into bed and you want to hit the sack… but wait! Before you do, can you give yourself just 10 more minutes to recite the supplications before sleeping? That’s all. Try them and find yourself experiencing the most beautiful sleep ever and waking up for Fajr easily, inshaAllah. For more information on waking up for fajr, constantly, everyday, without fail Read How to Wake up for Fajr.

7) Reciting one hour of Quran each day:

Notice: I said here recite one hour of Quran each day and not one juz’ or one Surah. The amount of Quran you read is not as important as the quality of your understanding. If you spend one hour reciting one verse but understand it fully, that’s more important and beneficial then reciting lots of Quran at break-neck speed yet not understanding a word.

So there you go, 7 spiritually productive habits you can develop throughout the year starting from TODAY!

Prioritizing the Qur’an When Seeking KnowledgeBy Shaykh Abû Anas Hamad al-’Uthmân

Hudayfah - radiallâhu ’anhu - said:

The Messenger of Allâh sallallâhu ’alayhi wa sallam related two matters to us. I have seen one of them, and I am waiting for the other. He informed us: “Trustworthiness was sent down in the depths of the heart of the people, then they learned it from the Qur‘ân, and then they learned it from the Sunnah.” [Related by al-Bukhârî (no.7086)]Al-Hâfidh Ibn Hajr (825H) - rahimahullâh

– said about this hadith:

“His saying: “then they learned it from the Qur‘ân, then they learned it from the Sunnah.” So it occurs in this narration with the repetition of “then”, which contains an indication that they would learn Qur‘ân before learning the details of the Sunnah. And what is meant by the details of the Sunnah is anything that they would learn from the Prophet sallallâhu ’alayhi wa sallam - whether it was obligatory or recommended.” [Fathul-Bârî (13/39)]

Ibn Taymiyyah (d.728H) - rahimahullâh - said:

“As for seeking to memorise the Qur‘ân, then this is to be given preference over many of the things that the people consider to be knowledge, but are - in reality - either totally useless, or having little benefit. It is also to be given precedence in learning especially by those who wish to acquire knowledge of the Dîn, its principles and its particulars. Since what is prescribed for such a person at this time is that he should begin by memorising the Qur‘ân, as it is the foundation of the branches of the knowledge of the Dîn. This is contrary

to what is done by many of the people of Innovation from the non-Arabs and other than them, in that one of them will pre-occupy himself with superfluous parts of knowledge; such as kalâm (rhetorical speech) and argumentation; or very rare matters of differences; and blind-following; which there is no need for; or very strange and rare ahadîth, which are not established, nor of benefit; and many discussions which do not establish proofs. And he abandons memorising the Qur‘ân which is more important than all of this.”

quran Pg 31

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| 31March 30th 2012 - April 12th 2012 ISLAM

.

quran >> continued from pg 30

[Fatâwâ al-Kubra (2/54-55)]

Al-Hâdfidh an-Nawawî (d.676H) - rahimahullâh - said:

“So the first thing he should begin with is memorization of the mighty Qur‘ân, which is the most important branches of knowledge. And the pious predecessors did not use to teach Hadîth or Fiqh, except to one who memorized the Qur‘ân. So when he has memorized it, then let him beware of pre-occupying himself from it with Hadîth, Fiqh or other things, to the

extent that it leads him to forget anything of the Qur‘ân, or makes that likely.” [From the introduction to Al-Majmû’ Sharhul-Muhadhhab (1/38)]

Seeking Knowledge in Due Amounts Allâh, the Most High - said:

“And this is a Qur‘ân which We have divided into parts, in order that you recite it to men at intervals. And we have sent it down in stages.” [Sûrah al-Isrâ 17:106.]

Al-Khatîb al-Baghdâdî said:

“It is fitting that he take care in acquiring

knowledge and that he should not take too much in one go. Rather, he should take a little at a time, such that he can bear it, memorize it and be able to understand it. Because Allâh - the Most High - says: “And those who disbelieve say: Why is the Qur‘ân not sent down to him all at once? Thus (is it sent down in parts) that We may strengthen your heart thereby. And We have revealed it to you gradually, in stages.” [Sûrah al-Furqân 25:32] [Al-Faqîh wal-Mutafaqqih (2/101).]

Supplicating for an Increase in Knowledge [19]

Allâh - the Most High – said:

“Say: My Lord! Increase me in knowledge.” [Sûrah Tâ Hâ 20:114]

Atlas bin Mâlik - radiallâhu ’anhu – said: I heard Allâh’s Messenger sallallâhu ’alayhi wa sallam supplicated: “O Allâh! Benefit me with knowledge. Teach me that which will benefit me, and provide me with knowledge from which I can derive benefit.” [Related by Hâkim (1/510) and he said: “It is authentic upon the condition of Muslim.” Adh-Dhahabî also agreed.] ----------------------Source: islamicstudies.islammessage.com

Living Within Our MeansBy Sohaib N. Sultan

We live in an age of extremism. No, not just violent manifestations of extremism that the media tends to focus on almost exclusively. Extremism of every kind: from the way we eat to the way that we indulge in materialism to the way that we entertain ourselves. One of the most evident manifestations of extreme behavior is in people spending way beyond their means, leading eventually

to the collapse of an entire economy. As such, in this age - if we are to be spiritually and financially successful - we must rediscover the value of temperance and begin, once again, to live within our means.

One of the great ethical teachings of our religion is the principle of balance and moderation. This principle, the Qur’an teaches us, must permeate everything we do from the way that we eat and drink to the way we spend our wealth. For instance, God - glorious and supreme -describes the servants of the all-Merciful as “those who when they spend are neither wasteful nor miserly, but rather maintain a balance between the two”

(Qur’an 25:67). As such, the Prophet (Sallallahu ‘alyhi wa salaam) frequently urged his community to live within their means and discouraged the acquiring of debt, especially the excessive crippling type of debt that has come to define the modern economy. The Prophet (Sallallahu

‘alyhi wa salaam) frequently sought divine protection against debt in his supplications. “O Allah, suffice me with what You have allowed instead of what You have forbidden,” said the Messenger of God. “And make me independent of all others besides You.” Interestingly, one of America’s founding fathers and most cited philosophers - Benjamin Franklin - also often preached against excessive spending by warning his fellow citizens: “Buy what thou hast no need of, and before long thou shall sell thy necessaries” and advising them: “Rather go to bed supper-less than rise in debt.” In reality, the ego can never be satisfied, it only grows in its wants. True and everlasting happiness is found in freeing ourselves from ouregos, and attaching ourselves to Allah. Given that our feet are still wet from the blessed month of Ramadan in which we learn how to restrain ourselves from over indulgence in earthly pleasures, it is important for us to seriously consider how we use our wealth in three particular areas: eating habits, attainment of material possessions, and entertainment. Even if we have enough money to indulge freely

in these three areas, we have to consider whether or not it is the best and wisest way for us to be spending our money given the fact that we will be asked about every single penny that we spend on the Day of Accountability. According to a non-profit organization that monitors food usage in industrialized countries - Next Generation Food - it is estimated that forty percent (40%) of food in the United States is thrown out. Sadly, from personal observation the wastage within the American Muslim household is probably no less. This is truly tragic given that there are so many people who die every year in this world from lack of basic nutrition. Furthermore, in America we tend to eat more than any other country leading to a national epidemic of obesity. This over-indulgence in eating is simply contrary to the sunnah of our beloved Messenger (Sallallahu ‘alyhi wa salaam) who taught us, “The children of Adam fill no vessel worse than their stomachs. Sufficient for the children of Adam are a few morsels to keep their backs straight. But, if they must eat more then let one-

living Pg 32

The Prophet (Sallallahu ‘alyhi wa salaam) frequently sought divine protection against debt in his supplications. “O Allah, suffice me with what You have allowed instead of what You have forbidden,”

“The children of Adam fill no vessel worse than their stomachs. Sufficient for the children of Adam are a few morsels to keep their backs straight. But, if they must eat more then let one-third be for food, one-third for water, and one-third for easy breathing.”

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March 30th 2012 - April 12th 2012 32 | ISLAM

Salaah times for March 30th - April 12th, 2012If a person had a stream outside his door and he bathed in it fi ve times a day, do you

think he would have any fi lth left on him?” The people said, “No filth would remain on him whatsoever.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) then said, “That is like the fi ve daily prayers: Allah wipes away the sins by them.”

---Hadith in Sahih al Bukhari and Muslim

Day Date Hijri Fajr Sunrise Dhuhr Asr Maghrib IshaFri March 30 7/5 5:40 6:55 1:13 4:47 7:31 8:46Sat 31 8/5 5:38 6:53 1:13 4:47 7:32 8:47Sun April 1 9/5 5:37 6:52 1:12 4:47 7:33 8:48Mon 2 10/5 5:35 6:50 1:12 4:48 7:34 8:49Tue 3 11/5 5:33 6:48 1:12 4:48 7:35 8:50Wed 4 12/5 5:31 6:47 1:11 4:48 7:36 8:51Thu 5 13/5 5:30 6:45 1:11 4:49 7:37 8:52Fri 6 14/5 5:28 6:44 1:11 4:49 7:37 8:54Sat 7 15/5 5:26 6:42 1:11 4:49 7:38 8:55Sun 8 16/5 5:25 6:41 1:10 4:49 7:39 8:56Mon 9 17/5 5:23 6:39 1:10 4:50 7:40 8:57Tue 10 18/5 5:21 6:38 1:10 4:50 7:41 8:58Wed 11 19/5 5:19 6:36 1:09 4:50 7:42 8:59Thu 12 20/5 5:18 6:35 1:09 4:51 7:43 9:01

Prayer times generated from www.islamicfinder.com for the

WASHINGTON, DC area.

living >> continued from pg 31

third be for food, one-third for water, and one-third for easy breathing.”

In the Qur’an too, God says: “Eat and drink, but not excessively, for God does not love the excessive.” If we live according to these marvelous teachings not only will we live healthier lives, but we will find it easier to live within our means. Undoubtedly, controlling the appetite of the stomach is one of the more difficult spiritual disciplines. But, if we eat with the intention of gaining strength to worship and do good deeds rather than satisfy our pleasures; begin eating by mentioning God’s Name; and eat in the good company of others, then there will be so much blessing in the food that we eat that only a little bit of food will suffice in giving us energy and in satisfying our hunger. So, the first task in living within our means is to carefully look at how and how much we spend on satisfying the appetite of the stomach.

In a similar fashion, our need for material possessions is so much less than what we think. Consumer society has convinced us that the more we have the happier we will be. But, as the Prophet (Sallallahu ‘alyhi wa salaam) beautifully observed, “If the son of Adam was given a mountain of gold he would only desire a second.” In other words, material goods - no matter how much - can never satisfy our desire to be happy and fulfilled. How can something that is in itself fleeting lead to a state of permanent contentment? Not only is materialism financially foolish, it is also spiritually detrimental. The Prophet (Sallallahu ‘alyhi wa salaam) warned, “Wretched is the slave of the dinar and dirham.” So, we need to take a good look at our closets and our garages and ask ourselves how much of what we have do we really need, and given how much we have do we really need more? And, instead of buying the biggest car or most spacious house because it’s the “thing to do,” we have to pause and ask ourselves if that money can be better spent or saved.

The world of technological inventions has seen a rise in people’s desire for fun gadgets that are rarely particularly useful and more often just simply entertaining. The entertainment industry has permeated almost every home in the guise of a twenty-first century babysitter. The irony is that the entertainment industry has found a way to distract people in useless entertainment for longer periods of life so that now many forty some year old men spend their weekends playing video games and watching football. As Muslims we have to guard against living for the sake of entertaining ourselves to the point that we make play and passing delights our religion (Qur’an 7:51). God tells us in the Qur’an that the illusory life is nothing but “play and amusement” (Qur’an 6:32) But, the real life is not about “mere idle play” (Qur’an 21:16). So, this lack of seriousness about life leads to an excessive amount of money spent on frivolous things and activities. This is not to deny the need for fun and relaxation; but it is to question how much fun and

relaxation we really need to de-stress in life and how much money we really need to spend to entertain ourselves. The underlying cause of excessive human behavior in matters of spending is this prevalent but false notion that happiness comes from satisfying the ego’s needs and desires. In reality, the ego can never be satisfied, it only grows in its wants the more that we feed it. True and everlasting happiness is found in freeing ourselves from our egos, and attaching ourselves to Allah. In seeking God’s pleasure, we find a sweetness and pleasure in life that no fleeting thing can ever give us. Our spiritual challenge is to become a zahid or one who engages in zuhud - which is about non-attachment more than non-possession. If we can learn to detach ourselves from “things” then living within our means will not only give us a financial path to success but also a spiritual path to everlasting joy.

-----------------Source: islamicstudies.islammessage.com

301-982-1020C a l l T o d a y T o A d v e r t i s e i n T h e M u s l i m L i n k

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March 30th 2012 - April 12th 2012 34 | OBITS & UPCOMING EVENTS

Global deaf Muslim Annual Fundraising dinner saturday, March 31 2012, 6:00pm - 10:00pmPlease Join us for Global Deaf Muslim’s (GDM) Annual Fundraising Dinner. Reaching the financial goal for the Qur’an in American Sign Language (ASL). This is a follow up effort to raise funds for the Qur’an project that started last year. Admission: $30 per person in advance, $35 per person at the door. To order tickets, please visit http://gdm-vafundraiser.eventbrite.com/. Come and support us!Location: Herndon Community Center, 814 Ferndale Avenue, Herndon, VA 20170 Contact: Any questions or concerns, email: [email protected] or visit our website: www.globaldeafmuslim.org

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------islamic Relief hope For Africa Fundraising dinner saturday, March 31 2012, 6:00pm - 10:00pmIslamic Relief USA is organizing a fundraising dinner for the poverty stricken countries in Western Africa. The food crisis is three times worse than in 2010 according to the UN World Food Program report and thousands of people are going to die without our efforts and support. Moreover, the political unrest in the region has strained resources, and a recent drought decimated livestock and severely damaged livelihoods. Guest Speaker: Imam Johari Abdulmalik. Tickets: $30. Tickets will also be available at the door.Location: Shahi Grill, 1724 Woodlawn Drive, Gwynn Oak, MD 21207 Contact: Belkacem Nahi, [email protected] or 703-236-0427; Islamic Relief VA office, 703-370-7202; Umar Jawaid in MD 240-422-7715

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------dar Al-hijrah Annual Fundraiser T.e.A.M. sunday, April 01 2012, 6:00pm - 10:00pmDar Al-Hijrah cordially invites you to its annual fundraiser T.E.A.M. (Together..Everyone Achieves More). Speakers: Osama Abuirshaid and Sheikh Okasha Kameny. Special features: DAH Youth, WIA Students, Scouts. Children’s program free of charge (ages 1-12). Tickets: $45 individual, $80 couple. Buy tickets from the office, online or from the volunteers.Location: Mark Center Hilton, 5000 Seminary Road, Alexandria, VA 22311 Contact: To sponsor a table or advertise, please contact [email protected] or Dar Al-Hijrah 703-536-1030

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Muslim Youth Forum saturday, April 07 2012, 5:00pm - 8:00pmAvondale Islamic Center presents a Muslim Youth Forum. Topic: Balancing career and family life, while making it to Al-Jannah. Panelists: Essam Tellawi, MD; Amidu Oloso, PhD; Sis Zaynab Alwani PhD; Sis Lateefah Sanusi; Sis Zulikhat Segunmaru; Ibrahim Coker. Avondale Islamic Center is at the junction of Queens Chapel Road and Eastern Avenue, in front of Sun Trust Bank.Location: Avondale Islamic Center, 4637 Eastern Avenue, Mount Rainier, MD 20712 Contact: 301-779-7272

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------special Monday night discussion with Tariq Ramadan Monday, April 09 2012, 7:00pm - 9:00pmMuslimat Al Nisaa presents: Tariq Ramadan for One Night Only. A special monday evening discussion. Topic: Social Responsibility and Domestic Injustice. Free Admission. Light Refreshments will be served.Location: Reston Community Center, 2310 Colts Neck Road, Reston, VA 20191 Contact: Must RSVP for guaranteed space at www.mnisaa.org

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Communication Management units Panel discussion Tuesday, April 10 2012, 12:00pm - 1:00pmGuantánamo North: Examining Secretive Communication Management Units in the U.S. Prison System. Featuring Professor Peter G. Danchin, International Law Professor at UMD (moderator); Alexis Agathocleous, CCR Staff Attorney; Avon Twitty, former CMU inmate; Carrie Johnson, NPR investigator. More speakers to be announced. This event is open to the public and lunch will be provided.Location: UMD School of Law, Carey Law Building Room 205, 500 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD Contact: RSVP at the facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/events/116657218464513/

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Project downtown national day Friday, April 13 2012Muslims Without Borders is working on an amazing new initiative that we hope will take Project Downtown to the next level. Our mission is to get all the Project Downtown chapters from around the nation to combine their efforts, and feed their respective homeless communities during the weekend of April 13-15. PD chapters around the nation are quickly jumping on board this project, excited about the impact they are about to make on our community. Don’t miss out on an opportunity to take this amazing initiative that has changed the lives of thousands of people to the next level! Bring PD to your community insha’Allah!!Contact: If you are interested in being part of this change, please contact [email protected]

Upcoming Events In Your AreaRequest For Dua’s{ To Allah We Belong, and to Him is Our Return }

“Everyone is going to taste death, and We shall make a trial of you with evil and good, and to Us

you will be returned.” (Surah Al-Anbiya:35)”

3-15-12 Sr. Sughra Begum, mother of Br. Mahmood Khan and mother-in-law of Br. Abdur Raheem, has passed away. May Allah (swt) in His infinite mercy forgive her shortcomings and accept her in Jannat ul Firdaus, Aameen. Salaat ul Janazah was on March 16, 2012 in Gaithersburg, Maryland. (Source: ICM)

3-25-12 It is with great sadness and heavy heart that we inform you of the passing of Brother Luful Kabir. We ask Allah (SWT) to shower him with His mercy, compassion and forgiveness, and to grant him the highest ranks in paradise, and give his family support and patience during these difficult times. (Source: DAT)

301-982-1020To Advertise in the Muslim Link Call

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| 35March 30th 2012 - April 12th 2012

--------------------------------------------------------------------------- NORTHERN VIRGINIA

---------------------------------------------------------------------------All Muslim Brothers Association3900 King Street, Alexandria, VA 22302Tel: 703-647-0515Jumma Prayer Only - 1:15 P.m---------------------------------------------------------------------------IcNA VA center:2913 Woodlawn Trail, Alexandria, VA 22306.Tel: 703-660-1255---------------------------------------------------------------------------Idara Dawat-o-irshad:4803 VAlley St, Alexandria, VA 22312Tel: 703-256-8622ww.irshad.org---------------------------------------------------------------------------Mustafa center:6844 Braddock Rd., Annandale, VA 22003Tel: 703-658-7134 www.mustafacenter.orgE-mail: Mustafacenter@gmail.com---------------------------------------------------------------------------Baitul Mukarram:2116 S Nelson St., Arlington, VA, 22204,Tel: 703-778-1550---------------------------------------------------------------------------Zakaria Islamic Academy:Galesbury Lane, Chantilly, VA 20151Tel: 571-969-2123www.ziacademy.orgE-mail: Contact@ziacademy.org---------------------------------------------------------------------------Badr community center Of Dumfries:17794 Main Street, Dumfries, VA 22026Tel: 703-585-1689/703-554-7983 www.bccd.orgE-mail: Info@bccd.org---------------------------------------------------------------------------Dar Ul-ghuraba (Masjid Ur Rahmah):155 Baker St., Emporia, VA 23487---------------------------------------------------------------------------Dar Al Hijrah:3159 Rowe St., Falls Church, VA 22044,Tel: 703-536-1030www.hijrah.org---------------------------------------------------------------------------Islamic center Of NorthernVA Trust (Icnvt):4420 Shirley Gate Road, Fairfax, VA, 22030Tel: 703-591-0999www.icnvt.orgE-mail: Info@icnvt.org---------------------------------------------------------------------------Dar Al-noor (Muslim Assoc. Of VA):5404 Hoadly Rd., Manassas, VA 20112,Tel: 703-580-0808Fax: 703-221-8513www.daralnoor.org---------------------------------------------------------------------------Manassas Mosque:12950 Center Entrance Ct, Manassas, VATel: 703-257-5537---------------------------------------------------------------------------Islamic center Of Virginia:1241 Buford Rd.,

Richmond, VA 23235Tel: 804-320-7333www.icVA1.com---------------------------------------------------------------------------Islamic Society Of GreaterRichmond (ISGR):6324 Rigsby Road, Richamond, VA 23226Tel: 804-673-4177www.isgr.org---------------------------------------------------------------------------Masjid Al Rahman:1305 Hull St., Richmond, VA 23224Tel: 804-232-7640---------------------------------------------------------------------------Masjidullah Of Richmond:211 North Ave., Richmond, VA 23222Tel: 804-321-8864/804-647-4297---------------------------------------------------------------------------Dar-ul Huda:6666 Commerce St., Springfield, VA 22150,Tel: 703-922-0111www.darulhuda.org---------------------------------------------------------------------------Islamic Foundation of America:6606 Electronic Drive, Springfield, VA 22151Tel: 703-914-4982---------------------------------------------------------------------------Masjid Noor:8608 Pohick Rd, Springfield, VA 22153Tel: 703-451-7615---------------------------------------------------------------------------Adams center:46903 Sugarland Rd, Sterling,VA 20164,Tel: 703-433-1325www.adamscenter.org---------------------------------------------------------------------------Islamic Heritage center (IHc):262 A-3 Cedar Ln., Vienna, VA 22180Tel: 703-206-9056---------------------------------------------------------------------------

WASHINGTON D.c.---------------------------------------------------------------------------First Hijra Muslim comm. center:4324 Georgia Ave, NW Washington, D.C. 20011www.firsthijrah.org---------------------------------------------------------------------------Ivy city Masjid:2001 Galludet St. NE, Washington, D.C. 20002Tel: 202-529-3100---------------------------------------------------------------------------Masjid Al-islam:4603 Benning Rd., SE, Washington, D.C. 20019E-mail: Imammusa@hotmail.com---------------------------------------------------------------------------Masjid Muhammad:1519 4th St. NW, Washington D.C. 20001Tel: 202-483-8832 | www.masjidmuhammad.com---------------------------------------------------------------------------Muslim Society Of Washington, D.c. (MSWDc):Howard Center, Room 805 (Above Hu Bookstore)Tel: 202-328-3236---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Islamic center:2551 Massachusetts Avenue NW Washington D.C. 20008Tel: 202-332-8343www.theislamiccenter.com---------------------------------------------------------------------------

MARYLAND--------------------------------------------------------------------------- Islamic Society Of Annapolis (ISA):2635 Riva Rd. Suite 110, Annapolis, MD 21401Tel: 410-266-6660www.isamd.orgEmail: Info@islamannapolis.org---------------------------------------------------------------------------Bait-Allah Masjid of Baltimore Inc1935 Frederick AveBaltimore, MD 21223Imam’s cell: 571-721-9938email: baitallahmasjid@yahoo.com---------------------------------------------------------------------------Bilal Dawah center, Inc:1910 Frederick Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21223Tel: 410-945-1515---------------------------------------------------------------------------Dar ul Uloom:6334 Dogwoood Rd, Baltimore, MD 21207,Tel: 410-493-0785Email: Darululoommd@aol.com---------------------------------------------------------------------------Masjid Ul-haq:514 Islamic Way (Wilson St. ), Baltimore, MD 21217Tel: 410-728-1363---------------------------------------------------------------------------Masjid Al-mumineen:2642 Harford Rd., Baltimore, MD 21218Tel: 410-467-8798---------------------------------------------------------------------------Masjid Jamaat Al-Muslimeen:4624 York Rd., Baltimore, MD 21212Tel: 443-622-2962 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------Masjid Al-rahmah/ISB:6631 Johnnycake Rd., Baltimore, MD 21244Tel: 410-747-4869 | www.isb.org---------------------------------------------------------------------------Masjid As Saffat:1335 W. North Ave., Baltimore, MD 21217Tel: 410-669-0655---------------------------------------------------------------------------Islamic Society Of Easton126 Port Street Unit # 1Easton, MD 21601Tel: 410-829 7924 islamicsocietyofeastonmd.yolasite.com---------------------------------------------------------------------------IRHScA (Islamic Research And Hum. Services center Of America):1 Chambers Ave, Capitol Heights, MDTel: 301-324-5040www.irhsca.org---------------------------------------------------------------------------Islamic Society Of Southern Pg county (ISSPGc):P O Box 99, Clinton, MD 207355410 Indian Head Hwy, Oxon Hill, MD 20745Tel: 240 603 4618

---------------------------------------------------------------------------Dar-us-Salaam:5301 Edgewood Rd., College Park, MD 20740,Tel: 301-982-9848www.duscommunity.org---------------------------------------------------------------------------Masjid Zamzam1510 Lynch Road, Dundalk, MD 21222Tel: 410-284-2840www.masjidzamzam.com---------------------------------------------------------------------------Dar al-Taqwa:10740 Rte. 108, Ellicott City, MD 21042,Tel: 410-997-5711www.taqwa.net---------------------------------------------------------------------------Masjid Al-Hikmah:11064 Livingston Road Unit L (101) Ft. Washington, MD 20744,Tel: 301 292-9009---------------------------------------------------------------------------Islamic Society Of Frederick (ISF):1250 Key Parkway, Frederick,md 21702Tel: 301-682-6090www.isfmd.org---------------------------------------------------------------------------Islamic center Of Maryland (IcM):19411 Woodfield Rd. Gaithersburg,md 20879Tel:301-840-9440www.icomd.org---------------------------------------------------------------------------Makkah Learning center (MLc):814 Brandy Farms Ln., Gambrills, MD 21054Tel: 410-721-5880www.isamd.orgEmail: Info@mlcmd.org---------------------------------------------------------------------------Islamic Society Of Germantown (ISG):19900 Brandermill Rd., Germantown, MD 20876Tel: (240)-277-7758www.isgtown.org---------------------------------------------------------------------------Masjid Ibn Taymiyyah:8000 Mlk Highway, Glenarden MDTel: 301-461-9325 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------Islamic Society of Western Maryland:2036 Day Rd., Hagerstown, MD 21740Tel: 301-797-0922---------------------------------------------------------------------------Southern Maryland Islamic center (SMIc):1046 Solomons Island Rd, Huntingtown, MD, 20639Tel: 410-535-0000---------------------------------------------------------------------------Avondale Islamic center:4637 Eastern Ave., Hyattsville, MD, 20782Tel: 301-779-9292---------------------------------------------------------------------------Prince Georges Muslim Assoc.(PGMA):9150 Lanham Severn Rd., Lanham, MD, 20706,Tel: 301-459-4942

www.pgmamd.orgImam’s Office: 301-459-1441E-mail: Imam@pgmamd.org.---------------------------------------------------------------------------Turkish American community center9704 Good Luck Rd, Lanham, MD 20706Tel: 301-459-9589www.taccenter.org---------------------------------------------------------------------------La Plata Masjid:111 Howard Street,La Plata, MD 20646Tel: 301-609-8769---------------------------------------------------------------------------Islamic com. center Of Laurel (IccL):7306 Contee Rd.,Laurel, MD 20707Tel: 301-317-4584www.icclmd.org---------------------------------------------------------------------------Masjid Al-Ghurabaa:8220 Washington St., South Laurel, MD 20724.Tel: 301-604-3295---------------------------------------------------------------------------Islamic center Of Lexington Park22583 Three Notch Road, Lexington Park, MD 20619Tel: 240-538-7839 or 561-414-0994 www.iclpmd.org---------------------------------------------------------------------------Medina center:11600 Falls Road, Potomac MD 20854www.medinacenter.netE-mail: Admin@medinacenter.net---------------------------------------------------------------------------Randallstown Islamic center9019 Marcella Ave. Randallstown, MD 21133Tel: 410-971-4018www.ricbaltimore.orgE-mail: Info@ricbaltimore.org---------------------------------------------------------------------------Islamic Society Of The Washington Area (ISWA):2701 Briggs Chaney Rd., Silver Spring, MD 20904Tel: 301-879-0930www.iswamd.org---------------------------------------------------------------------------Muslim community center (Mcc):15200 New Hampshire Ave. Silver Spring, MD 20905Tel: 301-384-3454 www.mccmd.org---------------------------------------------------------------------------Imaam: (Jumuah Only)Jumuah: 12:50pm3201 Randolph Rd, Wheaton, MD 20906www.imaam.orgEmail: Fridayprayer@imaam.org---------------------------------------------------------------------------Masjid An-nur:5418 Ebenezer Road, White Marsh, MD 21162Tel: 410-663-9637Fax: 410-663-9817---------------------------------------------------------------------------Masjid Al-inshirah:7832 Fairbrook Road, Windsor Mill, MD 21244Tel: 410-298-2977

maSJId lISTINGDo you have additions, changes, or corrections to the event listings in the Muslim Link? Email us at [email protected], or call us at 301-982-1020.

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March 30th 2012 - April 12th 2012 36 |

editor-in-chief:Minhaj Hasan

Office Manager:Stephanie Benmoha

Layout & Design:Fadlullah Firman

Staff Writers:Fatimah WaseemWafa UnusRashad Mulla

Sharia advisors:Sheikh Salah as-SawiImam Safi Khan

The Muslim Link (TML) is published every other week on Fridays and distributed throughout the Washington, Baltimore, and Northern Virginia Metropolitan Areas. TML is a non-profit publication and is based at Dar-us-Salaam in College Park, Maryland, USA. Staff and contributors are not necessarily affiliated with Dar-us-Salaam.

The views expressed in The Muslim Link do not necessarily reflect those of Dar-us-Salaam or TML management or their underwriters. Dar-us-Salaam and TML are not responsible for the accuracy of information presented by advertisers, or for the religious compliance of events, products, or services published in TML.

This publication contains the names of ALLAH (Subhanahu wa ta’ala). Please keep, recycle, or share it with others

The Muslim Link5301 Edgewood RoadCollege Park, MD 20740Phone : (301) 982-1020Fax: (240) [email protected]

Advertising:301-982-1020 or email us at [email protected]

The Muslim Link. All Rights Reserved 2012

ATTENTION INMATES: As much as we would like to, we are unable to honor requests for free subscriptions at this time. To subscribe, follow the instructions above.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE MUSLIM LINK! To get the Muslim Link print edition in the mail, send $5 for shipping and handling per issue using check or money order payable to: The Muslim Link, 5301 Edgewood Road, College Park MD 20740. To make payments over the phone using a credit card, call the Muslim Link office at 301-982-1020.

Subscribe to the online version of the newspaper so you get it in your email inbox FREE each issue. To subscribe for free, go to muslimlinkpaper.com.

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SISTERSInterviews / Advertorials / Product Reviews

Muslim women are at the forefront of our community, highly involved in activism while raising the next generation of lead-ers. But sometimes our sisters don’t get the special appreciation they deserve.

The Muslim Link’s special SISTERS Market-place section seeks to change that.

With pages devoted to products and ser-vices catering to the unique needs of Muslim women, the SISTERS Marketplace section will be read by thousands of ac-tive Muslim women who often direct the purchasing power of the Muslim commu-nity.

Coming out May 4, 2012 In Shaa Allah,

the SISTERS section will highlight female Muslim entrepreneurs and women owned businesses, and products and services geared towards our sisters. If you need business from Muslim women, you need to be in the SISTERS section.

The Muslim Link is offering paid space for advertisements, advertorials, feature in-

terviews, and product reviews. Let our writers and graphic designers make you shine.

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One company that has believed in the restorative power of honey for a long time is HoneyDerm, Inc., a Lansing, Michigan based company that spent years bringing the healing power of honey to people suffering from hair loss, dandruff, and skin disease.

Their most famous product line is Hairback Lotion and Hairtonix Shampoo, that “helps stimulate new hair growth and thicken existing hair”. Honeyderm, Inc also claims the products solve dandruff and scalp psoriasis.

The Muslim Link requested access to some of Honeyderm’s customers, and Brother Mahmoud from Honeyderm gladly offered us some phone numbers.

Brother Hasan, in his late 30’s is from Maryland and suffers from the common skin disease eczema. “I’ve had eczema

since high school, and it got worse as the years went on. I went to a dermatologist and he recommended a cortisone-type prescription cream. It did stop the itch, but my skin was still dry and tight. I’ve tried lotions and shampoos from Aveeno, Lubiderm, Vaseline, and others. Alhumdulillah, I found Honeyderm’s Dermatonic-P, and it is really, really a blessing for people with Eczema or other skin illnesses. I no longer wake up sweating at night! Allahu-Akbar!.”

We called Abdurihman Khalil from Chicago. He did not know we were going to call. Abdurihman started losing his hair when he was about 28. He discovered the Hairback product line at a convention and decided to test its claims. “The hair loss stopped completely,” said Abdurihman. “It’s excellent, and I’ve been using it now for 6 years.”

We also called Brother Mustafa Al-Omary in Sterling Heights, Michigan. He decided to do something about his thinning hair at age 40 and tried the Hairback treatment. Asked how long it took for him to see results, he told us “Oh gosh, less than a month. My thin spots filled in within 3 months,.” He said he would “absolutely” recommend the product to anyone. “It’s not a fly-by-night product, its awesome,” said Mustafa.

We also called Najeebudheen Appat, a 30-year old living in

Los Angeles, CA. He’s had a severe dandruff

problem for a long-time, and had been searching for a solution. “I tried so many different products like tonics and shampoos, I can’t even remember them all, until I found this product around 2002. My problem was solved completely, the entire thing is taken care of. I even called [Honeyderm] with the great feedback,” recalled Najeebudheen. He told us that Allah creates shifa in many things, and Honeyderm’s products are a part of that. “For dandruff problems, this is the total solution,” he told us from his mobile phone.

On Honeyderm’s website, there are many more testimonials from Muslims and non-Muslims from around the nation and the world. There is also a gallery of “before and after” pictures of both hair loss treatments as well as skin treatments. And best of all, for those of us who’ve “tried it all”, there is a full money back guarantee.

Allah said honey heals. The Prophet Sallallahu’alyhi wa sallam said honey heals. The people we called said honey heals. With a money back guarantee, there is absolutely nothing to lose, and everything to gain – your hair and skin!

Honey Heals Skin Disease and Hair Loss

....

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| 47March 30th 2012 - April 12th 2012

Place a personal classified ad. Call us at 301-982-1020. [email protected] invite you to place a classified on the web FREE of charge at www.muslimlinkpaper.com. Classifieds in the print edition of the Muslim Link newspaper are only $1 for every 3 words. All classifieds run for 3 issues in the Marketplace section. Get started by emailing your exact text to [email protected] and then call in your credit card payment to 301-982-1020 or send a check or money order payable to: The Muslim Link, 5301 Edgewood Rd, College Park MD 20740.

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EMPLOYMENTOFFICE MANAGER POSITIONOpen position for part/full time office assistant/manager for local Construction Management Company in Greenbelt, MD.Must have excellent communication and organizational skills, and be proficient in Microsoft Office Programs including Outlook, Word and Excel. Salary based on experience/capabilities, starting at $8-$10/Hr. Email resumes to [email protected].

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RENTAL5 BR FOR RENTTwo separate units, upstair: 3 BR & 2 bath with 1 ensuit, eat in kitchen with a big lounge. Downstairs: 2 BR, 1.5 bath with a eat in kitchn and a spacious living room, Address: 4713 Quimby AV Beltsville, MD 20705. Rent $1900; Available from Feb.2012. Email: [email protected]

SERVIcESHOME SERVICESLicensed contractor. Home Improvement work, interior/exterior painting, drywall install/repair, brick/concrete repair. License #30385946 Estimates done. Contact Br. Allen Scott at 410-467-1259 or 443-538-7643(cell) ------------------------------------------------LICENSED PLUMBERReduce Major Plumbing Bills. Give Twirl-A-Drain a call at 410-963-5807 for sewer and water pipe replacement underground. Free estimates given, Michael D. Shahid.

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