Episode #1: The "Religion" of Islam?

This is the first episode in a series that would be an attempt to understand the concept of the "Islamic State" ... Your comments will sure help be build more arguments :)

When one talks about an Islamic state, people ­­– especially in the west – tend to waffle! A religious rule! Wasn’t that the reason why world was in the dark ages? Wasn’t that why scientists were getting killed? & wasn’t that why people kicked religion out of their personal lives? … Well, I think Yes, but please know this:

Go through any English dictionary and type the word "religion", most results you will find that religion is referring to rituals and spirituality .. Which is true for Christianity.

However, he nearest word in Arabic to "religion" is "Deen" or "دين" which is not only rituals, spirituality, and prayers. Mohamed M. Yakoot tried to extract the meaning of Deen from Quran and Sunnah and the results were interesting.

In his article "Conceptualizing Deen .. Where to?" Yakoot concludes that Deen is a complex set of meanings. Deen mean creed; manners, prayers, and rituals; rule, judiciary, and government; means source and Shari'ah; obedience, love, and subordination to Allah; judgment and rewarding in the hereafter; Deen means to take up a promise with Allah to reach subordination and achieve succession.

So, saying that Islam is a "religion" would be unjust; in other words, equating Islam to Christianity would not be the best way to understand the former.

Once i was asked about the Palestine, how much was was the cause representing in my life; my answer was simple, yet important enough to turn my attention to a big fact. I said, Al-Aqsa is a holy Islamic site, we pray daily 5 times .. thus, we are in direct contact with our religion - or Deen in this case - which includes the sacred places every day.

Muslims do not practice religion, they live it. Islam would be a way of life rather than a priest a person would visit to cancel off his sins every week.

Thus, to rephrase, voices that are calling to "separate religion from state," i would perfectly agree with; and Deen is inseparable from state.

I'll leave you here for now...

To be Continued...

Changing the "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week"

The "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week" was announced to be taking place in about 142 US campuses ... Now they are only 100.

The announced purpose of the week was fighting "global jihad and Islamic supremacism"

now it is fighting "the terrorist threat"

It seems that the counter-campaign was effective!

...hehe

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Details:

The campagin's description began as following:

"During the week of October 22-26, 2007, the nation will be rocked by the biggest conservative campus protest ever – Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week, a wake-up call for Americans on 200 university and college campuses."

Now:

"The Center will be conducting its week-long program on more than 100 college and university campuses throughout the nation to draw attention to a leading issue of our time, radical Islam and terrorism."

In the begining it was:

"The purpose of Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week is as simple as it is critical: to confront the two Big Lies of the political left: that George Bush created the 'war on terror' and that global warming is a greater danger to Americans than global jihad and Islamic supremacism," the Project says on its website.

Now:

"The purpose of this protest is as simple as it is crucial: to confront the two Big Lies of the political left: that George Bush created the war on terror and that Global Warming is a greater danger to Americans than the terrorist threat."

الحمد لله ...

... & thanks for all those who

helped in making this change

Playing The Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week

It has been hyping recently in media ! "The Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week"
As we say in Arabic: رُب ضرّةُ نافعة or something that may seem harmful can turn out to be actually beneficial!

I'll start the story from the beginning .. (in short as usual ;)

It all started like 5 month ago when David Harowitz (remember that name Well) decided to organize an "awareness week" to point at the "threat" that Islamo-Fascism has on the American people ... Now this notorious week is planned, organized, and already campaigned media wise. It will take place on Oct. 22 covering more than 140 of the top US universities; also hosting some REALLY notorious (from a Muslim point-of-view) guest speakers - one name would be Daniel Pipes.

OK, let's take it logical .. the Islamo-Fascism week would be perfectly achieving its goals if it had enough influence upon academia and students in those over 140 US influential top uni., correct? I mean if it was leaked outside it would be tracking criticism (as it is now) than support, which would surely ruin the whole campaign's objective.

A detailed guide of how to participate and take action in favor of such week was detailed on the campaign's website .... Clock was ticking and everything seemed as great as it is planned to be.

Now, Adam Kokesh (another name to remember) and six other friends of George Washington University realized all that ... (sure, Muslims were expected to do that first !! Yet, Adam's team did).

I would say that Adam is honest about his intentions, I know him personally i mean. We met somewhere in California 2 years ago and chatted for sometime.

Adam's team saw such Islamo-Fascism campaign - of David Horowitz - as racial, defamatory, and discriminatorily against Muslims and Islam .. So the team did what Horowitz wasn't ready for, he publicized the campaign in the "proper" way it should be .. hehe

Adam & the six others went to their home university of GW and went all around campus postering an Anti-Islamo-Fascism campaign poster.

Provocative, instigative as it is, the poster stated: "HATE MUSLIMS? SO DO WE!!!"

Adam saw that a media hype about the campaign would draw its failure .. & it is working!
The poster is dragging a mounting media debate about the upcoming event ..Muslim organizations are currently putting more efforts to counter the event.

However, Adam's poster was misunderstood to be advertising for the Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week ... maybe now the story is becoming more clear to media after Adam's team letter to their university that clarified their intentions.

"Brought to you by Students for Conservativo-Fascism Awareness

PS Seriously, do a google video search for 'The Power of Nightmares'"

Actually, Adam in this poster is trying to be sarcastic of the event, and by pointing at the "Power of Nightmares" video one would get deeper understanding of some of Horowitz' real intentions behind the campaign.

Now, that poster not being the real advertising poster for the campaign, then which one is .. ! Here comes the sarcasm. Horowitz' campaign is using a poster taken out of a Dutch film !!

IslamOnline.net reported, "the campaign's main poster was said to show a Muslim teenage girl being buried before being stoned to death. It later proved to have been from a 1994 Dutch film."

Next blog post, GOOD News !

..... Stay Tuned