You’re a terrorist – That’s what makes you beautiful?

Apparently, listening to the boy-band “One Direction” makes you an American-hating jihadi terrorist.The worst part is, according to lunatic Debbie Schlussel, is that American teenage girls are being subconsciously recruited to become terrorists by  seemingly innocent, but (to the trained, psychotic eye) obviously anti-Western tweets by Muslim member of One Direction, Zayn Malik. Malik has had tweets wishing Muslims a Happy Ramadan and an easy fast. To people like Schlussel, Pamela Geller, and Robert Spencer those tweets actually mean: “Death to America, Allahu Akbar!” I can’t believe people actually take this woman seriously. At the end of the day though, this is a fun article to laugh at. I feel bad posting links to Schlussel’s page on this blog, but sit back and enjoy the paranoid racism that is somehow ignorantly hilarious. I never listened to this boy-band much before, but I am going to blast their songs in my car. Someone call the FBI, this must be subliminal terrorist recruitment!

Hey kids, Arabs suck! Don’t you ever forget.

Some proponents of conservative federal austerity measures (i.e. Ron Paul, Gary Johnson) have proposed that a good way to reduce the national debt, is to cut the department of education. Education would be handed to states or private companies. After reading about recent happenings in Philadelphia and Texas, this seems like a horrible idea. 

Earlier this year, the Texas State Board of Education made headlines by trying to eliminate key American historical figures who were often viewed as skeptics of religion from textbooks (goodbye Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin,and Thomas Paine). The Texas State Board of Education is back in the news for further trying to elevate Christianity over all other ideologies while simultaneously degrading other non-Christian movements. This is exemplified by attempts to omit violent acts committed by Christians during the crusades while emphasizing violent events in Islamic history. Furthermore, the books also blame Arabs and Muslims (presented as essentially interchangeable terms) for the violence in the Mid-East peace process. The aim of these moves is to embed Pro-Israel and Anti-Muslim sentiments through lies in the mind of young children. 

If these are the steps made to reform education, I fear the hate, ignorance, and intolerance that will be planted in the minds of future American generations. 

Tensions stemming from Islamophobia in Dearborn, Michigan

This past week saw two publicized incidents of Islamophobia in the nation’s most densely populated Arab-American center. The first, on Wednesday, saw a seeming act of bigoted arson in which an event center associated with a Dearborn mosque was burned and sprayed with anti-Arab graffiti. I think that it is no coincidence that this event occurred just days before the annual Arab International Festival in Dearborn. This festival often draws anti-Arab and anti-Islam sentiments, with fundamentalist groups protesting alongside the festivities, often not knowing the difference between Arabs and Muslims, or conflating both identities.

This seems to have happened again this year as a Christian “missionary” group once again targeted the festival, seemingly ignorant of the many Christian Arabs in the area. While many Arabs are Muslims (although only less than 1/5 of Muslims are Arabs), it somehow made sense to the leaders of this group to lead anti-Muslim demonstrations at an Arab festival. (I wonder if this group also targets Indonesian or South Asian festivals as these regions actually have the highest  number of Muslims in the world).  As expected, there were a series of ugly exchanges from protesters and festival-goers. While many of the festival-goers did react disrespectfully, one cannot completely blame them. They live in a society where they cannot peacefully celebrate their own roots. They cannot embrace America’s “melting pot” rhetoric. Their city is under constant scrutiny, and some may identify as  Arab without identifying as Muslim, which given by the circumstances of the protests, seems to be an absurdity to many who don’t know whether they oppose Arabs or Muslims or which one of these “insults” they should direct at Barack Obama.

While these anti-Arab/Muslim/diversity groups have the right to exercise freedom of speech, I think they should be more clear as to what they are, exactly, protesting. I will end by saying that I refuse to refer to these protesters as missionaries. How is belittling others and appearing as bigoted hate-filled individuals going to call people to your religion? The fact that these individuals label themselves as missionaries is beyond comical.

Want a successful commercial? Just include a “funny Indian” accent

It seems that many companies are resorting to using “funny Indian” accents to market products. I first saw this with the MetroPCS Tech and Talk commercials that showed two South Asian men discussing some of the company’s promotions. The men had thick accents and were presented as, for lack of a better description, “uncool losers.” The commercial plays on stereotypes that often desexualize South Asian men due to their accents and also use other stereotypes that paint South Asian men as “nerdy” and socially awkward. The MetroPCS commercial paints these men as being tech-savvy but lacking in other social departments as one of them later goes on to display his (lack of) dancing skills. 

Other companies have followed suit. Recently, Boss Revolution aired a commercial in which an “idiotic” South Asian man talks about his hand-injuries resulting from dialing so many pin-numbers when calling internationally. His over-exaggerated accent adds to the idea that he is somehow out of touch with technological advances and oblivious to their existence. At the end of the commercial, he is slapped by a WHITE hand, sending a message that says: Don’t be like this idiotic foreign buffoon, and make calls like a more “civilized” person… This commercial is absolutely repulsive, and in no way humorous. It plays on colonialist, “White-man’s burden” tropes and blatantly champions one racial group over another.    

Finally, a Clearwire Corporation commercial involves two South Asian male hot-dog vendors. They too, also possess, “funny” (obviously fake) South Asian accents and are also portrayed as cheap; another characteristic stereotypically attributed to South Asians. Again, Clearwire attempts to sell a product by equating their competitors to “cheap, out-of-touch” South Asian men. I really do not know if this ridiculous, bigoted tactic is successful, but it really concerns me that so many companies a resorting to playing off of racist stereotypes to sell products.

These commercials are offensive and should be spoken-out against.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jHcbM0jgGQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VCwm4cfPFY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZqPySAmxRc

Muslim Chaplain at the University of Michigan encounters hate-speech

Earlier this year, Mohammed Tayssir Safi became the first Muslim Chaplain at a public university. Safi has quickly developed many meaningful relationships with students, worked on interfaith efforts, and aided with campaigns to combat campus Islamophobia. While these efforts have been applauded by many, there seem to be a select few who disapprove of the existence of a Muslim chaplain on campus, or maybe even the visible presence of Muslims on a campus.

Earlier this week, Safi, was studying at a cafe when a man (who was on the phone) sat near to him. The man’s phone conversation included many inflammatory remarks directed at Islam and Muslims, seemingly to anger Safi and bait him into reacting in a violent or angry way. When this did not happen, the man began to speak about the cowardice of Muslims on the phone.

It is unclear to me whether the man knew if Safi was the campus chaplain, but if he was aware of this, one could claim that this was a deliberate attempt to bait Safi into losing his temper and then launch campus-wide criticisms of the chaplain and the position altogether. Either way, this event shows that Islamophobia is prevalent, even on campuses often deemed as diverse and tolerant.

Here is Safi’s full account of the event:

I wanted to share with you all an incident that just took place an hour or so ago. I had a wonderful morning, alhamdulillah. We were in great talks with the Board of Trustees about the future of the Muslim community at the U of M this morning at a retreat in Canton. It ended and I made my way to campus to get some work done before my meeting with the Islamophobia committee. I was suppose to have a logic class online but it got canceled last minute. I made my way over to Espresso Royale where the meeting would be taking place thinking I could grab a lemonade and a light lunch.

After sitting down for a moment or two a man walked across a nearly empty coffee shop and sat next to me on a sofa in the back. I continued to work diligently as the man pulled out his laptop and began to fidget with the keys. Within a few moments I could hear someone speaking over some type of audio or video from his computer. When I glanced over I found it odd that he had ear phones on but the sound was clearly coming from the speakers since I could hear it. I paid it no mind and got back to work. I thought if he couldn’t figure it out in a few minutes I’d play some qasa’id on my computer and put on some headphones.

A few moments later I began to hear Arabic over his speakers. As my ears perked up I could hear the beautiful name of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and grant him peace). I concentrated my listening and it became obvious to me that the voice was attacking our beloved Prophet and accusing him of all of these malevolent things. I glanced over at the man but he now had the laptop up to his face and it was as though he was attempting to listen to what it was saying. I turned back to my screen and I could hear him playing it a few times.

My mind began to race. I was trying to figure out what would be the appropriate response. The man was clearly in his late 30’s or early 40’s, white, and dressed casually. I began to wonder if the poor guy knew what filth was being spewed from his speakers. I then heard those same speakers repeat the same vitriol in English.

At this point my ego was in full swing. My ego many ages ago would have taken a swing at the man right then and there. However I knew that was not the Prophetic way and that doing so would be a sin and not pleasing to the Messenger of God (Allah bless him and grant him peace). I thought to myself, should I speak to him? Should I argue with him? Should I ask him to play his vitriol to himself? I couldn’t effectively separate my lower desires and ego from what would be the wise, prophetic, and Muhammadan way to do things.

I decided to text my good friend and ask him his opinion. A fellow alum and a good friend of mine, Amjad Tarsin, quickly replied. He told me to ignore him and “turn away from the ignorant.” I decided to follow his advice, particularly because I couldn’t trust my own feelings at the moment due to any hidden desire I might have to want and respond to such hateful speech.

By this point the man with the computer had moved to taking a “phone call” in which he was supposedly talking to a friend about how Timothy McVeigh (the Oklahoma city bomber) had the right intentions but had failed and why Islam was wrong. As I packed up I could hear him shouting to the man on the phone, “why does he have to run away with his tale between his legs.”

I walked out and moved to the register. I informed the barista of the man’s hate speech. The barista without hearing another word moved away from the register but before he could even head over to the back of the store found the man walking out himself on the phone repeating over and over, “why does he have to run away.”

The barista and I looked at one another and he apologized for the incident. I explained to him that I wanted to do something but I didn’t own that space and I didn’t want to cause the owner any harm or disturb other customers. The barista quickly dismissed those concerns telling me he would remove any such person immediately and ban them for good. We exchanged names and a strong handshake signifying our support for that which is good.

As I sat back down feeling so saddened at hearing such horrible things about our beloved I couldn’t help but think about all of you. I am sure many of you have experienced similar incidents or God forbid, worse. I also began to think about the women in our community who so nobly carry themselves, veil and all. These beacons of piety and prophetic practice follow in the footsteps of the mothers of believers and the righteous of the ancients. While what we wear by no means dictates our piety I think one would be hard pressed to ignore that the women in our community who do choose to wear the veil are representing our faith on a daily basis. This representation puts them at risk of such hatred much more than the men of our community who can clearly fade into the masses.

I am not righting this to encourage this type of dress or that. What you wear on your body is your business and I support you as a believer regardless. I just wanted to share with you an incident that hit home for me and to highlight the plight many of our sisters face day in and day out, may God reward them.

To think that the ladies in our community face such disgusting behavior is indeed troubling. I plead with all of our community to stand by them as is befitting. That should any of us experience bias or hate we report it. You can always email or call me or the Islamophobia committee. Similarly the very fact that the barista was also disgusted by the man’s behavior proves that there good people willing to help and removing the hatred in our communities. We should be optimistic and assume the best in people.

I pray God grants us all eternity in heaven in the companionship of our beloved Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) who was treated worse than we can imagine by the ignorant of his time and was always calm, peaceful, loving, merciful and never played the part of a victim. May his beauty radiate throughout your heart and mine

 

Sir, you have a Muslim-sounding name, I can’t let you board this flight

An American citizen, Kevin Iraniha, who just finished receiving his Masters Degree from a university in Costa Rica, was banned from flying home to San Diego to reunite with his family after graduation due to somehow being on a no fly-list. He then flew to Tijuana and then walked across the border to reunite with his family. To watch the video for this story, follow this link:

http://www.crescentpost.com/2012/06/american-muslim-citizen-forced-to-walk-across-border-because-of-no-fly-list/

American Muslim men uniquely Muslim and American in their own way

A new book called “ All-American: 45 American Men on Being Muslim (I SPEAK FOR MYSELF)” has been released and it features 45 American Muslim men who are very different, yet share the same faith. Some are activists, some are artists, some are scientists, and some are politicians. These men show that is possible to be American and Muslim, while also creating positive change. For more on this, click here. 

First American Muslim on California Bench!

As Muslims in America, we should applaud Muslim attempts to be involved in politics and the legislative branch of government. Congrats to Halim Dhanidina on being the first American Muslim appointed to a California Superior Court judgeship. 

Terrorism as uniquely Muslim? Fox News analysts seem to think so

It seems like every time a shooting or bombing happens, I find myself praying “Please God, please don’t let it be a Muslim.” Most of the times I make this prayer, it comes true; so why are Muslims always the first to blame? More importantly, why is it when Muslims commit acts of violence, it is considered terrorism, but when other groups do, the word terrorist is not used? The word “terrorist” has become increasingly associated with Muslims. When people think of a terrorist, they automatically think of someone with a big beard yelling “Allahu Akbar.” This is because there seems to be a conscious effort to use the word terrorist when Muslims commit violence. This is part of an effort to not only associate terrorism with Muslims, but with Islam as a whole, perhaps to justify certain wars abroad or domestic Islamophobia,.

For example, during the terrorist attacks in Norway in 2011, the attacker,  Anders Behring Breivik, was constantly referred to as a gunmen, and not a terrorist. Although he considered himself Christian, Bill O’Reilly was quick to say that Breivik wasn’t truly Christian, and that including Breivik’s religion in news stories was part of an anti-Christian liberal agenda.O’Reilly then states, “No one believing in Jesus commits mass murder.” Has this guy ever heard of the crusades? Funny how O’Reilly quickly begins to talk about “Muslim terrorists” though instead of talking about the actual Norwegian terrorist.

It is disturbing to me that there are countless acts of terrorism that are not reported as terrorism simply because the perpetrators are not Muslim (i.e. Oklahoma city bombing (well, this was initially reported as a terrorist attack. it seems however, that it is not remembered as such, because a Muslim wasn’t involved, but a Christian fundamentalist), recent women’s health-clinic arson, anthrax scare, etc). Recently, on Fox News (lol at “news” being included in the title), Eric Bolling, co-host of “The Five” claimed that every terrorist on American soil has been Muslim. How someone can make such a ridiculous claim on national television without being fined or fired is ridiculous to me. It seems like terrorism is being advertised as a uniquely Muslim thing and that is sickening

Then again, maybe I am being harsh. Fox News has gone from declaring every Muslim is a terrorist to saying every terrorist is a Muslim. Maybe that is a step in the right direction. Maybe? I hope you sense my sarcasm.

Here is a great picture of some crazy Jihadi terrorists

The Muslims are Coming: What does it really say about Muslims?

The Muslims are Coming is documentary coming out that highlights the efforts of Muslim comedians who attempt to combat Isalmophobia using humor. Comedy has always been an avenue to critique social inequalities, foreign policies, domestic race-relations, and other aspects of society that are often seen as taboo, and when used effectively, can definitely challenge the views of the audience and later spark dialogue. When I heard about this project, I had high hopes that this would be the outcome.

I was excited about the Muslims are Coming because the comedians all identified as Muslim in different ways (some claim to be only culturally Muslim or are politicized due to their Muslim-sounding names. However they may choose to identify as Muslim, they should not be chastised and their efforts should be appreciated) and were looking to have a non-Muslim audience. Too often, Arab and Muslim comedy is often only directed towards an Arab or Muslim audience, consisting of jokes that would not be understood by an individual who was not part of those demographics. This is not necessarily a bad thing because this comedy often provides an internal critique of those communities without propagating negative stereotypes to a member of an “out-group.” So, the question arises; would these comedians focus on these critiques and present a seemingly self-loathing Muslim comedy act? I guess I had to watch the trailer to find out.

After watching the trailer for the documentary, it became clear to me that the project was different than the one I had anticipated. One thing that I found somewhat troubling was the emphasis on the point that these comedians were secular Muslims, and in one scene referred to themselves as “normal” Muslim-Americans. In this exchange, an older White gentleman praises the comedians for dressing and “looking American.” While the comedians correctly assert that they are, in fact, American, and that there are many Muslims like them (also a fact), I think a message that states: “the Muslims that look like us (excluding men with big beards and women wearing hijab) are the ones who are proud to be American,” is sent to the man. After watching the newest trailer, I could not help but notice that these groups (the secular Muslim and “practicing” Muslim) seemed to be painted as being in opposition to one another.

This is highlighted by Ali Veshi’s comment in the trailer, which is as follows: “We’d much rather the edgy Muslim who says vagina is the one that we are more associated with than the edgy Muslim who kills people.” From this statement, Veshi hints that neither of these groups is an accurate or fair representation of most American Muslims. Yet, instead of criticizing this, he says he would rather associate himself with the more pleasing inaccurate portrayal. This further perpetuates the idea of the secular, moderate Muslim being the most desirable American Muslim.

This becomes especially troubling when the comedians are consistently faced with the ill-founded question: Why don’t Muslim-Americans do more to denounce terrorism? Let’s just forget that every North American Muslim organization denounced 9/11 shortly after it happened. Why is this burden to apologize for 9/11 still placed on Muslims? I think this burden completely decontextualizes anti-Western terrorism that places the blame solely on Islam while overlooking decades of colonialism, sanctions, and abysmal foreign policies that have negatively affected countries with predominately Muslim populations. From the trailer, it seems that the comedians do not address these issues and seem to propagate the idea that Muslims that look like “us” (secular, White, etc.) are the ones that are sorry for 9/11, but we can’t guarantee that the ones that don’t look like us (i.e. women wearing niqab) feel the same way. I am sick of having to constantly demonstrate that I am sorry. I think Aasif Mandvi said it best when he said, “Why do I have to prove to you that I am not dangerous?”

Ultimately, all these judgments are based off of two trailers and I hope that I am wrong about what I perceived as a polarizing presentation of American Muslims. I applaud the efforts of these comedians, and I hope that their acts do start a conversation regarding Islamophobia in America. I hope their efforts are not apologetic and do not aim to favor one American-Muslim demographic over another. As Rachel Maddow says at the end of the trailer, “You have to appeal to what is un-American about Islamophobia. You have to make an appeal based on American values.” Perhaps comedy is one of these values. Plurality is also one of these American values and I hope the comedians keep that in mind when they talk about American Muslims by keeping in mind that they cannot speak for all Muslims, nor do they have to.

 

HERE IS THE LATEST 3-MINUTE TRAILER

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1brf79VyF40