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Dr Kaukab Siddique | Editor-in-Chief Zulhijjah 11,1427/January 1, 2007 #1

Please scroll way down to transcript of a conversation in which a caller, Kashif, from Florida tries to mislead Radiance magazine of India about New Trend.

Jamaat al-Muslimeen News (2 items only)
P.O. Box 10881, Baltimore, MD 21234

Reaching out to the DC Muslim Community: Boycott pro-Israeli Businesses

December 30: Jamaat representatives visited the Islamic Center in Washington, DC. The Center located on Massachusetts Avenue in the Embassy District, is unusual in that its constituency includes a great many diplomats, and others affiliated with NGOs and government agencies.

The police presence was much more muted than previously, with only an officer or two circulating about the courtyard and joking with administration members and other friends. Yet the iron bars surrounding the Center invoke a gated community. Symbolically, outside the iron gates of the Center where Washington's most affluent pray, three beggars, toting small brown paper bags, waited to collect money.

After the prayer, JAM reps took up positions alongside the beggars, energetically distributing fliers entitled "Boycott Major Supporters of Zionism." The overall mood of the worshippers seemed somewhat subdued, with less bantering and laughter than observed at many Eid gatherings.

Oddly, although there appeared to be no prohibition on leafleting, no one else distributed anything--not even the usual "Eid bazaar" or "Eid picnic" literature, and certainly nothing on the Eid-day execution of the President of an independent sovereign Arab nation, under the auspices of the U.S. occupying power. Most of the worshippers accepted the fliers, but rejection came primarily at the hands of Arab men in expensive-looking djalabias and Pakistani men in voguish suits.

An Afrikan brother requested extra copies of the flier. An Iranian brother donated $20 towards its distribution. The flier displays the logos of various businesses (e.g., McDonalds, Disney, Coca-Cola, and Starbucks) with strong ties to Israel. A Pakistani brother asked if the businesses were Israeli. A JAM rep told him, "No, but they might as well be. For example, the CEO of McDonald's is an honorary director of the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce, and the Chairman of Starbucks has received awards for his services to Israel."

In all, 240 fliers were distributed.

CHING OUT to the W.D. Muhammad Community

December 30, Jamaat al-Muslimeen gave the flier containing resolutions passed in Milwaukee by the National Shoora to 20 persons at the Khalifa masjid in Brooklyn, New York. The resolutions call for the release of Muslim political prisoners like Imam Jamil al-Amin and the recall of U.S. troops from Iraq.

Viewpoint
Grassroots Muslim American organization: Organizing U.S. Born Muslims

By Anisah David

[Anisah David is a community advocate based in South Dakota, where she lives with her husband, Eric Wenger. When not writing or volunteering in her community, she works in her husband's Islamic art gallery as their marketing representative. She is a mother, foster mother as well as grandmother & foster-grandmother.]

Muslim Americans, who in the past may have had little voice as leaders & community organizers within the masjids that are established to serve them, may find they have a new voice in the form of a grassroots organization developing throughout the United States.

The book Losing my religion by Muslim American Jeffrey Lang, has sparked a grassroots movement amongst many Muslim Americans who feel the book's message touches a core problem in masjids across the country. The problems viewed by many of the Muslim Americans is one of marginalization by foreign born Muslims who attempt to make the community masjids a cultural island promoting foreign agendas & needs, rather than religious centers promoting the needs of Muslim American families & Muslim immigrant families living in the United States.

Many Muslim Americans, whether they are converts or children or grandchildren of immigrants or converts, find that many of the masjids across the United States denial of a family friendly environment is not welcoming to the majority of Muslim Americans, who tend to expect a much broader spectrum of services from their religious institutions. Often in the past these Muslim Americans' concerns have been marginalized by the foreign born leadership, making many feel they have no place in those institutions. This has not only been a problem in many masjids, but also many other Muslim organizations where the leadership are all foreign born, but the majority of the membership is indigenous Muslims who have different perspectives & often a broader more diverse concern for Muslim needs around the world.

Generation Islam, a grassroots organization, is working to change the environment in which the silent majority of Muslims in America can strengthen their voice & their activism, for the sake of strengthening the long term Muslim American culture, for the sake of all Muslims, not just a small minority from one or two countries abroad.

Generation Islam is seeking to establish programs & events that have long been desired by Muslim Americans. This organization, though only a few months old has already established itself in 20 different states and is continuing to grow.

The organization does not seek to alter Islamic teachings or social structure, but it has at its core a desire for the acceptance of diversity within the masjids & a greater voice for home-grown scholars & Muslim American community members.

On its website ( ) it lists its objectives as

*To connect with other Second Generation American Muslims and American Converts to Islam

* To support each other in our on going journey
* To develop a base where open dialogue and questions are encouraged and explored
* To ensure centers of support for Second Generation American Muslims and American Converts to Islam
* To strive to create a positive and supportive masjid environment for this set group.
* To encourage a melting pot masjid through our MULTICULTURAL MASJID initiative.
* To bridge the gap between the two generations through intercultural and intergenerational dialogue.
* To establish a voice and explore the identity for American Muslims who don't feel the need to choose between the two
* To set up funds for those interested in furthering their Islamic Studies in order to encourage scholarship within this set group
* To equip ourselves with knowledge---an active group that will understand knowledge is the key.
* To explore Islamic texts in order to examine and re-examine in the effort to keep our iman and Islam alive
* To engage in interfaith dialogue
* To meet at an annual conference.

Sister Rabia Saeed, the founder of the organization credits Brother Jeffrey Lang's book as her inspiration. She states that after reading the book she felt compelled to do something to help other Muslim Americans who are being marginalized & to help the silent majority of indigenous Muslims in America to regain their rightful place in American Muslim culture.

With a conservative estimate of over 6 million Muslims in the United States, of which the majority are Muslim Americans having been born in the United States, it is the goal of Sister Rabia to help develop an indigenous Muslim culture that embraces the good things of American culture, as Islam has done with previous cultural regions of the world where it has spread to.

Those interested in this organization can visit their homepage at

86 issues of New Trend were published in 2006, an average of about 7 every month. Today New Trend has countless readers around the globe. Our web site too receives 100s of visitors. Recently we set up a blog. Thanks go to Br. Richard, our versatile web master, young in Islam, old in the struggle.

Editorial:

AGONY of the DAY:

First they bombed the Muslims of Afghanistan in Ramadan, then they destroyed Fallujah in the nights of lailatul qadr. Now they murder the President of Iraq, the leader of the Islamic resistance, on the sacred day of Eid al-Adha.

Thought of the Day:

Killing a leader on his holiest day of religious celebration: Eid al-Adha: that's what the oppressors did to Saddam Hussein. No one with a sense of decency, an understanding of honor and shame or even a tiny shred, an iota of Islam, would do this to his worst enemy.

Saddam used to free prisoners on Eid, even those who had tried to overthrow him. After Kurdish and Shi'ite armed uprisings, he gave GENERAL AMNESTY to his enemies.

This murder of a top Islamic/Arab leader on Eid is an open challenge to the world of Islam. We must use our thinking abilities to answer this challenge and not be terrorized into silence.

This murder is the fruit of the Shi'ite/U.S. alliance. The followers of Sistani/al-Hakim/Ja'afari/Allawi/al-Maliki/al-Sadr working with the U.S. military, some of them openly, others indirectly, have brought about a situation in which they could dare to hang the leading opponent of the Zionist occupation of Palestine.

If this Iraqi Shi'ite/U.S. alliance is extended to other countries with Shi'ite minorities, such as Pakistan, Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, it could bring the Muslim world under the yoke of a new kind of slavery, the triple yoke of Zionism-Imperialism-Shi'ism.

A Thought on President Saddam Hussein: From the Lowest to the Greatest
by Nadrat Siddique

Consider Khalid Bin Waleed (RA), who committed atrocities against Muslims during his lifetime. The Prophet (SAW) forgave him, and Khalid (RA) went on to become one of the foremost commanders of Islam (in adherence with Islamic regulations on warfare, of course).

Eighteen years ago, Saddam putatively committed war time atrocities, most of them during the Iran-Iraq war.

Up until the U.S. invasion, he, unlike other Arab leaders, overtly offered comfort to Palestinian widows and orphans, and honored the sacrifices of Palestinian martyrs fighting zionist occupation. Up until his death, he refused, like Al-Qama, to "hand a pen to the oppressor." In other words, he went down fighting. Suppose one applies the popularly quoted "Those who start out in the back row/those who start out in the front row" hadith to this situation?

Analysis: The Hero and Martyr of Islam
Why were the Muslims Fooled by the West about President Saddam Hussein?
by Kaukab Siddique, Ph.D.

Brief background: During the 20th century of the Christian era, the Ottoman Caliphate collapsed and the political vacuum it left in the Middle East was filled by western-oriented elites, some Christian Arabs, others Muslims only in name.

The Middle East was divided into tiny countries where regimes could only be established with the blessing of the western powers. Thus emerged the un-Islamic regimes which we are familiar with in our own times.In response, the Islamic movements emerged under the leadership of Hasan al-Banna, r.a., and were later led intellectually by Syed Qutb, r.a. and others.

As long as the dictators did not challenge western hegemony, the post World War II victors did not bother about how the "Muslim" dictators gained power and what they did to their opponents.

One who emerged in this welter of violence and power play was Saddam Hussein. However, when he gained power, he did much good for his people. Under Saddam, Iraq developed industry, health services, education and transportation/electric/road systems. Iraqi women gained their rights under Saddam. The oil was used for the good of Iraqis. Peace and law were prevalent in Iraq [though whose who resorted to arms in tandem with foreign forces were dealt with harshly].

The Iran-Iraq War Distorts our View of Saddam:

Most Muslims, including this writer, sided with Iran against Iraq. Iraq was the aggressor, Iran the victim. However, as the years of war continued, Iran decided not only to defeat Saddam but also to bring about a Shi'ite uprising within Iraq. Most of us did not pay attention to this development and remained focused on the suffering Saddam had imposed on Iran. Iranian military forces tried to capture Basra and occupied parts of Iraq. Attempts were made to kill Saddam. Hence arose his paranoia and the sense that assassins were shadowing him.

Saddam, the Arab Nationalist:

With the growth of his military power, tested against Iran, Saddam became the champion of Arab rights. He sought to rectify the borders of the Arab world imposed by the British; hence his adventure against Kuwait. He became vociferous in his support of Palestine. His Arab neighbors, all beneficiaries of western powers, saw his Pan-Arabism as a threat. All the way from the Syrians to the Saudis to the Egyptians, they ganged up with the U.S. and NATO to defeat Saddam; 42 days of AROUND-the-CLOCK bombing by the U.S. and U.K. left Iraq in shambles, denuded of its modern/scientific infrastructure.

In spite of military defeat, Saddam kept his people united and would not surrender to the victorious coalition. At this point, he was beginning to discover Islam as a revolutionary force.

Years of Sanctions and Embargo: Saddam Defiant:

From 1991 to 2003, nearly 12 years, Iraq was under U.S.-UN sanctions and embargo beyond anything the world has ever seen. The children of Iraq started dying in large numbers because clean water and medicines were not available. More than a million died a slow death.

According to Clancy, the famous novelist, the U.S. tried to kill Saddam 33 times but failed [but it added to his paranoia].

Iran, supposedly under an Islamic regime, joined the UN in its embargo on Iraq. The Iranians were looking to the collapse of Saddam with dreams of a sectarian, Shi'ite empire. With the hundreds of miles of porous border with Iraq, the Iranians could have easily broken the sanctions if Islamic universalism had been their credo. Instead they succumbed to their sectarian drives.

Islam and Saddam: People can change: He was Transformed.

When Saddam started quoting from the Qur'an, the Muslim world thought he was only using religion. When he started the construction of the biggest mosque in the world and set up a free Islamic university, both Muslim media and western media blocked the news.

Saddam realized during the sanctions regime that without Jihad, the Muslim world would remain enslaved forever. He paid sadaqa [charity] to the widows and children of men who had carried out martyrdom operations against "Israel."

Very quietly, he removed restrictions from Islamic scholars and preachers in the mosques of Iraq. Hence Jihad, especially against America, became the central message of sermons in Iraqi mosques. Saddam himself lived by a strict personal code: he was never a womanizer or a drinker. Now he started worshipping Allah and studying the Qur'an.

Preparing for the U.S. Invasion:

Saddam knew that his military forces were no match for the fire power and sophistication of the U.S. armada. He also knew that some of his military commanders had sold out to the U.S. HE HAD A CHOICE: Surrender and accept U.S. power or FIGHT. But fight how?

Saddam prepared Iraq for long drawn out guerrilla warfare. Iraq was divided into 22 military districts and huge quantities of weaponry were stashed away in each district. [Only my paper New Trend at the time noted the methodology of resistance Saddam prepared.]

Predictably, the Iraqis could not face the U.S. in conventional war. The rest is history! The American invaders rejoiced but then U.S. forces came up against Islamic resistance. More than 3 years have passed and the U.S. can't win. [Saddam's sons and grandson gave their lives in resistance to the occupiers.] Islamic forces in Iraq are willing to accept huge losses but do not surrender. However, one important reason why they can fight is that Saddam left them unlimited supplies of weaponry and ammunition.

The biggest Campaign of Propaganda in human history: Target Saddam

Saddam was targeted for three reasons: Every possible Jew and supporter of Israel one can think of wrote and spoke and publicized and agitated against Saddam Hussein. Be it right winger Jews like Wolfowitz, Perle, Feith, Krauthammer, Lieberman, Derschowitz and Kissinger or liberal Jews like Chomsky, Friedman, Judith Miller, Schumer, be it professors or politicians or plain old reporters and journalists and entertainers [Jews like Larry King, Ted Koppel, Amy Goodman, Kristol] etc., etc, they all ranted and raved against Saddam Hussein. Hundreds and hundreds of magazine articles were published against him. Entire books were written to vilify Saddam.

The Muslim world still did not catch on. We ignored the teaching of the Prophet Muhammad, pbuh, to go and do "against the Jews." The Muslims continued to live in a time warp: in that golden time of the Islamic revolution in Iran when Iraq was attacking Iran and Saddam was seen as a villain. Muslims did not realize that the world is changing. Iran is no longer the champion of Islam. In fact Iran supported the U.S. openly against the Taliban, supports Russia against Chechnya and India against Kashmir. After 9.11, the U.S. arrested tens of thousands of Muslims for being anti-American. None of them were Iranian. There are no Iranians in Gitmo.

CONVERSATION: Concerning Keith Ellison & Ingrid Mattson [From Florida to India]

Recently India's most distinguished Islamic magazine, Radiance, published items from New Trend's criticism of Keith Ellison [referring to him as "Muslim Zionist" and some of the info on ISNA lady Ingrid Mattson.] A person from Florida tried to mislead Radiance about New Trend but failed. Here is a record of the conversation, carried out by messenger. The caller is "Kashif" while "me" refers to Sikander Azam of Radiance magazine. Notice how the caller plays on prejudices about the Nation of Islam, NOI.]
[New Trend note: Jewish people refused to support a Jewish candidate. Instead they supported Keith because they said, he legitimizes Israel and supports Jewish causes. Keith's campaign began in a synagogue. If New Trend's reporting had been incorrect, Keith Ellison himself or CAIR who supported him with big, indirect, funds would have written to us.]

"One Kashif from Florida caught me online and lodged his complain against Radiance for publishing adverse comments on Keith Ellison. I am sharing with you my online talk to him so that you may check the reality there.

7:42 AM kashif: assalamu alaikum sikandar sahib

7:46 AM me: wa'alaikum assalam Kashif sahib

kashif: aik shikayat hai radiance ke liye ['I have a complaint for Radiance' in Urdu.]

7:47 AM me: ji zaroor [Surely]

kashif: about article on keith ellison calling him a muslim zionist

7:48 AM it is allegation from some one that you have printed as it is

me: we have published it with due reference to New Trend magazine

kashif: with no cross checking

me: if you have anything else to say we will be pleased to publish it

kashif: the imam who is alleging that, i have not heard of him before

7:49 AM me: the news was forwarded to me by a person who is very much active in Muslim affairs there

7:50 AM kashif: there should have been some independent verification of this, it is a serious allegation

me: of course, a serious allegation

7:51 AM we want someone there to write on it and what about engrid matson

7:52 AM kashif: sorry i didnt read that article what about her?

me: read about her in that very issue on the facing page of keith story

7:54 AM kashif: ok so i just glanced over it now it quotes some passages from the muslim world magazine but mentions that these are old articles 1911

7:55 AM that is well before ms. Ingrid Mattson joined the editorial team

7:56 AM looks like these two articles are written specially to attack muslims in the west and they are not well researched and to me they appear dishonest

7:57 AM i am bit disappointed that they got published in radiance it is not that i support mattson or Ellison

me: so what should we do now?

7:58 AM kashif: has anyone comlpained yet? i can write a nasty reader's mail :)

me: not yet welcome

7:59 AM what do you think about New Trend magazine

kashif: this is an emagazine?

me: plz also read a letter under Readers Pulse yes

kashif: yes i see kaleem sahib's letter i am really surprised

8:00 AM me: discuss it with kaleem sahib also

kashif: yes they send me email but have not gone beyond their TOC so i am not sure who are the ppl behind it

8:02 AM me: Allah knows well. But it seems keith and matson are among the people who are often "planted" (you will call it another allegation) in our society to serve others' interests

kashif: that may be true, but shouldn't our allegation be based on evidence

8:03 AM e.g. criticizing "nation of islam" group is not a sign of being zionist

me: does the story not refer to several media coverages of keith's association with zionists

8:04 AM kashif: most muslims in US do not like nation of islam because besides black they hate everyone else they are against the teaching of islam

8:05 AM me: in keith's constituency, the zionists dropped their zionist candidate in favour of keith. is it right? if yes, what does it mean?

8:06 AM kashif: ok no one drop any candidate in US mr. Ellison won democratic primary

8:07 AM and then won the election for the congress against republican candidate anyway, i will email kaleem sahib about it

me: ok, it will be right
Thanking you,with high regards
Sikandar Azam

2007-01-02 Tue 05:12:16 cst
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