Ramadan, the 9th month of the Islamic calendar, starts on October 5, inshallah.

New Trend ahead of the curve:

Issues of Utmost Concern to the Muslims of America:

1. Racism, emanating from mental constructs of White Supremacy, underlies the entire American power structure. Muslims must delineate, analyze and defeat racist ideas and formulations, both overt and covert.
2. The projection of American power in Afghanistan and Iraq as well America's support for Israel and various pro-Israel regimes in the Muslim world must be rejected as morally unacceptable. Let's bring the troops home and stop imperialistic designs in Asia and Africa.
3. Zionism has spread into tentacles into every aspect of American life. All that is good in America is being negated and suppressed by Zionist influence and control. Zionist controllers must be recognized and criticized. American interests are not those of Zionism which is a perverted form of Judaism.
4. America's Muslim political prisoners are part of the family of Islam in America. Political prisoners, such as Dr. Omar 'Abdel Rahman, Imam Jamil Abdullah al-Amin, Prof. Sami Al-Arian, Imam Siddique Abdullah Hasan, Ahmed 'Abdel Sattar, Masaud Khan and the Virginia Innocents, Jose Padilla, the Lackawanna Yemenis, the Portland African-Americans and many others must be released unconditionally. If they have committed any crimes of violence, they should be re-tried by a court which can be seen as fair to Muslims. Also, It's time to end the disgraceful Guantanamo Bay concentration camp and let its victims go home.
5. WOMEN are the TWINS of MEN. [Hadith.] We oppose and will fight all exploitation, suppression, victimization and abuse of women, be it within Muslim communities or in American society at large.
6. Owing to failure of mainstream media to inform the American public, independent Islamic media must be developed and supported. The task of the media is to report, inform, educate honestly and fearlessly without corporate or lobby or party control. This is not being done by America's media corporations. We must use our abilities to fight the steady stream of abuse against Islam and Muslims which comes out of U.S. TV, radio and newspapers.

Notes on Jamaat al-Muslimeen's Historic Chicago resolution given above:

• Hurricane Katrina's aftermath should banish all notions that racial discrimination is no longer a part of the social fabric of America. Katrina has shown that institutional racism and voluntary segregation are very much a part of American life. The evil of White Supremacy is a hydra headed monster.



• Jamaat al Muslimeen is unequivocally against America's wars of aggression against the people of Iraq and Afghanistan and the continued occupation of Palestine. We believe that no Muslim can condone killing Muslims in the name of spreading democracy (which is the latest rationalization in the ever evolving rationalization given to the people of America for pulverizing sovereign nations) nor the brutal apartheid policies of a nation they support with their tax dollars. Jamaat al Muslimeen is for peace. We believe that putting the American flag on a Muslim publication or a Muslim place of worship gives the message that displays of patriotism supersede our obligations to our poor, oppressed Muslim brothers and sisters---unless their cause has government sanction.



• The Zionist control over American policies and its governing bodies poses a danger to America's economic stability, her standing in the world community, and her security. America's continued, blind allegiance to the entity called Israel can only become an increasing liability. Zionism has put America on the battlefield. There can be no good end to swaggering around the world bullying one country after the other for the benefit of Israel. Zionism as expressed by the state of Israel has hijacked Judaism. To quote Albert Einstein: "My awareness of the essential nature of Judaism resists the idea of a Jewish state with borders, an army, and a measure of temporal power, no matter how modest. I am afraid of the inner damage Judaism will sustain--- especially from the development of a narrow nationalism within our own ranks."
  What do we see today? No modest temporal power. We see a vicious, cruel, ravenous nation that will let nothing stand in its way in its quest for domination. We see a nation that has the American people so cowered, that to raise even a finger of protest brings about howls of anti-Semitism. Zionism does not equal Judaism. It equals holding our lawmakers' feet to the fire until Israel gets whatever it desires. The billions we give to Israel in the form of grants and loans depletes what we need to spend on our own infrastructure.



• Our political prisoners are a part of our family. The Muslim community needs to make a conscious effort to follow their cases, support them with letters of encouragement and with donations to their causes. The Muslim community needs to treat them like brothers and sisters in Islam.



• Jamaat al-Muslimeen supports the rights of Muslim women and women in general to live free from domestic violence. We also believe that all women have the right to not be subjected to sexual exploitation. We believe in the intellectual equality of men and women and that both must have the opportunity to fully participate in their society.



• Jamaat al-Muslimeen encourages Muslims to be truth seekers in their quest for information. The Internet has made information---beyond what the corporate media have decided is "safe" for the American people to know--- accessible to all. Muslims should not rely solely on mainstream media sources for their news. Nor should they wait for the media to give them issues about which they should be concerned We should encourage our Muslim youth to go into journalism, as well. They can bring balance to a field dominated by people who have been bought. We need our own means of disseminating the truth.

FOUR OUTSTANDING MUSLIM WOMEN RECOGNIZED

1. Sis. Karen English [California] for publication of several children's books meant for African-American audiences.



2. Sis. Hadayai Majeed [Georgia] for her work to help the victims of domestic violence.



3. Sis. Nadrat Siddique [Maryland] for her political activism among non-Muslim communities.



4. Sis. Hamdiyyeh Fatima [South Carolina] for her voluntary, single handed distribution of information related to Muslim causes on a scale which would rival professional news organizations.

Dr. Zakiyyah Muhammad's Success Should be on the Front Page of Every Islamic Publication: More Personal Testimony

Please Continue to Help the Victims of Katrina-Rita