R.I.P. The Constitution
On the evening of April 7, 1994, MSA members were supposed to vote on a proposed constitution to replace the current one. The announcement sent by mail to all members, hung on the door of the masjid, and made after about three Jumaa prayers specified the meeting to start at 9:15 pm. Fortunately most of the brothers and sisters understood what the MSA executive committee meant and they all ignored the 9:15 pm meeting start time and came after Isha prayer to vote.
The meeting started and it took the MSA about 20 to 25 minutes to count the MSA members present. The count was 64, two short of the quorum required to begin the vote. Instead of following the constitution by adjourning the meeting for lack of Quorum, the 'majority' of the people present voted to continue with the meeting especially that it seemed that more pope were trickling through the door.
Alhamdulillah, the ISGC constitution passed with flying colors (55 out of the 66 present voted for it). the Muslims in Columbus should rest in peace now and sleep in comfort, we have the new constitution and the new organization.
Unfortunately, at least one Muslim will not sleep comfortably or rest in peace. According to this Muslim, a very dangerous precedent was set many times today. the more disturbing fact is that most of the brothers and sisters that are active in the Masjid have little or no regard for the constitution. If the pope who are most serious about Islam are at such a level then this Muslim feels sorry for our society.
The last time I checked, in Islam, ends to not justify the means. Even if the ISGC constitution was the best thing that ever happened to this community, the means that lead to its adoption should have been avoided.
Rached Zantout
Friday, April 30, 2010
May 1995 Meet the stress - The ISGC Constitution Vote
The ISGC is finally a reality. some say it took too long, others may say it is a 'premature step'. Both have a point. Discussions on the constitution were going on for over a year with meetings, seminars, presentations, and lengthy debates. On the other hand, the ISGC had a newsletter and a board of trustees long before it had a formal structure or a constitution.
In any case, its constitution passed by a sweeping majority albeit a marginal quorum. While the election process was swift, perhaps the shortest in MSA history, it was not exactly smooth. some inconvenience was caused by the delay and confusion of starting time for the elections. Yet, the legitimacy and effectiveness of the infant organization was unexpectedly tested by the recent tragedy in Oklahoma (covered in this special issue). What is the expected role of ISGC in the future? How can it cope with the increasing challenges the community faces? What resources will this entail and are we capable of delivering are some of the uncertainties we now face. IQRA! interviewed ISGC BOT member, Khaled Farag.
Q: Briefly, how would you comment on the legitimacy of the allegations made regarding the elections procedure?
A: All members were notified that the meeting will begin after salat Isha. The athan was at 9:19 that day. The meeting was formally started and Thanks to Allah, enough people came. We need to go on beyond bickering on small issues and concentrate on the growth and efficiency of the Muslim community and its dawa efforts.
Q: Now that the ISGC has passed, what is the immediate next step?
A: Elect good General Body Representatives (GBR) in order to practice Shura in the community. The GBR will be an important body that advises the Executive Committee (EC) president and the BOT. the community should select its representatives on the basis of qualifications and fear of Allah. Everyone in the community should remember that these representatives will represent your opinion on the important decisions.
Q: What is your vision of the ISGC five to ten years from now?
A: Allah willing, ISGC will be one of the most active Islamic organizations in the United States. Allah willing, ISGC will be a wide umbrella organization under through which all Muslims will work.
Q: What are the challenges facing ISGC that may hamper the establishment of this vision?
A: Convincing people to abandon individualism and work in groups with professional advice and supervision. Most importantly work for the sake of Allah.
Q: Do you think the ISGC is an organization with too many chiefs and no Indians? where can we mobilize the human power and the resources needed?
A: The punch line of an award winning story (Field of Dreams) was: "If you build it, they will come".
Q: Finally, what distinction in responsibility do you foresee between the resident and non-resident members?
A: Resident and nonresident members are equal. The reason of the unfortunate label is the sincere intention to have equal representation of the community. we do not want ISGC to be a student organization only. Nor is it desired to have ISGC to be an organization of primarily professional residents. ISGC should rather be a unifying and inclusive organization that provides the proper platform for Islam to grow in the United States.
In any case, its constitution passed by a sweeping majority albeit a marginal quorum. While the election process was swift, perhaps the shortest in MSA history, it was not exactly smooth. some inconvenience was caused by the delay and confusion of starting time for the elections. Yet, the legitimacy and effectiveness of the infant organization was unexpectedly tested by the recent tragedy in Oklahoma (covered in this special issue). What is the expected role of ISGC in the future? How can it cope with the increasing challenges the community faces? What resources will this entail and are we capable of delivering are some of the uncertainties we now face. IQRA! interviewed ISGC BOT member, Khaled Farag.
Q: Briefly, how would you comment on the legitimacy of the allegations made regarding the elections procedure?
A: All members were notified that the meeting will begin after salat Isha. The athan was at 9:19 that day. The meeting was formally started and Thanks to Allah, enough people came. We need to go on beyond bickering on small issues and concentrate on the growth and efficiency of the Muslim community and its dawa efforts.
Q: Now that the ISGC has passed, what is the immediate next step?
A: Elect good General Body Representatives (GBR) in order to practice Shura in the community. The GBR will be an important body that advises the Executive Committee (EC) president and the BOT. the community should select its representatives on the basis of qualifications and fear of Allah. Everyone in the community should remember that these representatives will represent your opinion on the important decisions.
Q: What is your vision of the ISGC five to ten years from now?
A: Allah willing, ISGC will be one of the most active Islamic organizations in the United States. Allah willing, ISGC will be a wide umbrella organization under through which all Muslims will work.
Q: What are the challenges facing ISGC that may hamper the establishment of this vision?
A: Convincing people to abandon individualism and work in groups with professional advice and supervision. Most importantly work for the sake of Allah.
Q: Do you think the ISGC is an organization with too many chiefs and no Indians? where can we mobilize the human power and the resources needed?
A: The punch line of an award winning story (Field of Dreams) was: "If you build it, they will come".
Q: Finally, what distinction in responsibility do you foresee between the resident and non-resident members?
A: Resident and nonresident members are equal. The reason of the unfortunate label is the sincere intention to have equal representation of the community. we do not want ISGC to be a student organization only. Nor is it desired to have ISGC to be an organization of primarily professional residents. ISGC should rather be a unifying and inclusive organization that provides the proper platform for Islam to grow in the United States.
May 1995 Islam's Stand on Terrorism!
by Fauzi Labidi
A picture of a firefighter rescuing a one year old baby from the rubble of the Oklahoma City bombing was published in a British tabloid under the title "In the Name of Islam". Muslim communities all over the U.S. were outraged by these accusations and were quick to condemn this violent, cruel, and cowardly act. [the Oklahoma City bombing] When the villain turned out to be a white male, it was impossible for many to imagine that such a terrorist act would come from within and be committed by White Americans. Ignorance, unfortunately, tends to lead to wrong conclusions.
What is the Islamic viewpoint regarding killing children and innocent civilians? In Islam, a great deal of discipline and care are taken at time of war. The life of the Prophet (PBUH) and the life of his companions provided the Muslims with clear commandments to be obeyed during conflicts. it is forbidden for Muslims to commit the following acts during wars:
- Killing women, children, elderly people, sick people, and hermits.
- Killing animals, destroying plants, demolishing homes, and destroying water supplies.
- Killing or mutilating, the wounded; stealing, looting, and torturing.
- Killing those who are not taking part in the war.
This proves that Islam values all life even at times of war, let alone at peaceful times. Equating Islam with terrorism is the most outrageous, ignorant, and unfair statement ever uttered. As one brother from Oklahoma City said in the aftermath of the blast: "A person committing terrorist acts has no religion but one - terrorism."
We hope that this tragedy will open the eyes of America and make it think twice before they rush to premature conclusions and accuse innocent people.
May 1995 Oklahoma City
May 1995 Spillover of a Disaster
by staff
Form the first moment Muslim Americans watched the horror of the Oklahoma City bombing, they knew they were struck twice. First, by the sheer size of the calamity that his innocent citizens and children, and second, by the suspicion that they would probably have another hate wave to deal with. Here is how their fears were proven right.
The earliest victim was Abrahim Ahmad; an American Jordanian who was hauled back to the U.S. to be questioned by FBI. "I was treated like dirt, like a dog. I was pronounced guilty by the media," said Ahmad, who just happened to be flying to Europe less than two hours after the explosion." They have spat on my wife, they have put trash on the lawn, filthy things..." he added.
Perhaps the most devastating spillover was what happened to Sahar Al-Saidi in Oklahoma City. Haidar Al-Saidi's 6 months-pregnant wife was alone at home, when angry assailants banged the doors and smashed windows, responding to TV rumors that Middle Easter people were responsible for the deadly bombing of the federal building. Fearing for her life, she locked herself in the bathroom and in the tension and anxiety, went into labor to give birth to the only Oklahoma bombing victim who did not die of the bomb's blast, but of the blast of Tabloid Media and people's ignorance.
The rush to judgment led to bomb threats, harassing phone calls and vandalism against Muslim groups, mosques, and Arab-Americans across the United States. A Muslim couple in Norman, OK received a threatening personal response. Norman Police Lt. Leonard Judy said the Islamic Society of Norman reported an onslaught of threatening calls and death threat calls after the bombing. Ninety miles up the road, in Stillwater, the window of the Islamic Society was shot at with a pellet gun sometime after 2 p.m. Wednesday, said Stillwater Police Chief Norman McNickle.
Similar incidents happened across the country, even here in Columbus, where local media coverage was responsible. Community leaders reported to IQRA! of at least two threats on the answering machine and one community member spoke of her colleague at work who called her 'murderer' the day after the bombing. the local MSA president had police check the place for Friday prayer for fear of bombs.
If the media condemnation was - to put it mildly - explainable given the anxiety associated with the blast, the attitude that followed was certainly not. Grieving Muslims, who (according to AP) have contributed to the relief efforts, and collected donations, were not acknowledge.
In Oklahoma City, Muslims were excluded from Sunday's prayer service led by President Clinton and the Rev. Billy Graham. "We have the same grief and sorrow, and we were told we could not be accommodated," said Rehab Robyn Assaf, a Muslim-American teacher at an Oklahoma City mosque.
The second event IQRA! know about happened in Tempe, Arizona's State Press, the student newspaper of the Arizona State University. It featured a cartoon showing a picture of the Prophet which is unacceptable in Islam - among three other pictures. On top of the pictures a sign that reads "Dead Religious Leaders. "The first picture has a name tag of "J. Smith" showing probably a man resembling the Mormon leader carrying a Bible and smiling. The second picture shows a grim-faced fiercely looking bearded man holding a large dagger/sword dripping with blood. The name tag reads "Muhammad". the third picture is showing a Buddhist monk with the name tag"'Buda". The last picture frame is empty, but has a name tag reads "Jesus". One police officer points to the empty frame and asks another officer: "What happened to this one?" the other officer answers: "It's empty."
The MSA of ASU at Tempe along with the Islamic Cultural Center of Tempe met twice with the "State Press" editorial board and the cartoonist Bryce Morgan, and demanded that an official apology be published in the paper. They wanted a statement from them that this cartoon is inaccurate, inappropriate depiction of our Prophet (PBUH). The demands were denied.
In spite of some serious inaccuracies and false hints from major TV Channels and newspapers (including unfortunately CNN) there were no acknowledgement of wrong or apologies from ABC or NBC that hosted numerous self-proclaimed terrorist experts throwing hate and conspiracy theories here and there (except for the responsible coverage of the Columbus Dispatch and Lantern on the local level). As far as we know, no channel apologized for the 'mistake' (e.g. the broadcast of two "white male" suspects. Channel 6 by Charlene Brown still associated them with Middle Eastern descent!)
The Local Reaction - How the ISGC reacted in a few hours
by Ayman Ismail
As soon as the Islamic Society of Greater Columbus (ISGC) and the MSA members heard the news of the Oklahoma City bombing, they knew it meant trouble. The pessimism was based on previous experience for the Gulf War, the World Trade Center bombing and the PBS documentary "Jihad in America."
Since the media was already speculating on the involvement of some Islamic groups, the BOT of the ISGC found that it is important to meet and discuss some action plans. The meeting was arranged within an hour. 7:30 pm at room 11 at the OSU Fawcett Center for the second day was the place, all TV channels were contacted - in person - in addition to the Columbus Dispatch. The idea was to involve as many people from the different Islamic organizations in the city. However, it was difficult to reach everyone within this short period of time.
With the grace of Allah, those able to attend represented most of the organizations of the Columbus Islamic community. Many options were on the table, including the press release and media coverage. The controversy was that it might be early to have a statement to the media which might further expose the community. The discussions finally resulted in a draft statement for the media, a spokesperson and a list of what to say and what not to say. At 9:30 p.m., the taping for TV news began with a question and answer session following it. What finally aired were two minutes of 35 minutes in tape that did not include the press statement! The following day Channels 10 and 4 asked for representative to talk on TV. the ISGC selected Sr. Hiba Nasser and Br. Brian Clouse. By April 27th, the Dawaa Committee had arranged for an Open Forum on Islam with Dr. Shaker El-Sayed from ISNA at the Ohio Union.
MSA vice president Abdullah Al-Amiri advises the community to be cautious and act responsibly. "We always emphasize to everyone including the media that painting everyone with the same brush will do nothing but increase the number of hate crimes."
He asks that all Muslims who receive any form of threat to immediately contact the police and report it to the BOT. It is important to keep track of such acts to make a case to the officials and to the media about the seriousness of this issue should legal action be deemed necessary, then this information will be useful. This also should be reported to the hotline established by ICNA [Islamic Circle of North America] at *******.
by staff
Form the first moment Muslim Americans watched the horror of the Oklahoma City bombing, they knew they were struck twice. First, by the sheer size of the calamity that his innocent citizens and children, and second, by the suspicion that they would probably have another hate wave to deal with. Here is how their fears were proven right.
The earliest victim was Abrahim Ahmad; an American Jordanian who was hauled back to the U.S. to be questioned by FBI. "I was treated like dirt, like a dog. I was pronounced guilty by the media," said Ahmad, who just happened to be flying to Europe less than two hours after the explosion." They have spat on my wife, they have put trash on the lawn, filthy things..." he added.
Perhaps the most devastating spillover was what happened to Sahar Al-Saidi in Oklahoma City. Haidar Al-Saidi's 6 months-pregnant wife was alone at home, when angry assailants banged the doors and smashed windows, responding to TV rumors that Middle Easter people were responsible for the deadly bombing of the federal building. Fearing for her life, she locked herself in the bathroom and in the tension and anxiety, went into labor to give birth to the only Oklahoma bombing victim who did not die of the bomb's blast, but of the blast of Tabloid Media and people's ignorance.
The rush to judgment led to bomb threats, harassing phone calls and vandalism against Muslim groups, mosques, and Arab-Americans across the United States. A Muslim couple in Norman, OK received a threatening personal response. Norman Police Lt. Leonard Judy said the Islamic Society of Norman reported an onslaught of threatening calls and death threat calls after the bombing. Ninety miles up the road, in Stillwater, the window of the Islamic Society was shot at with a pellet gun sometime after 2 p.m. Wednesday, said Stillwater Police Chief Norman McNickle.
Similar incidents happened across the country, even here in Columbus, where local media coverage was responsible. Community leaders reported to IQRA! of at least two threats on the answering machine and one community member spoke of her colleague at work who called her 'murderer' the day after the bombing. the local MSA president had police check the place for Friday prayer for fear of bombs.
If the media condemnation was - to put it mildly - explainable given the anxiety associated with the blast, the attitude that followed was certainly not. Grieving Muslims, who (according to AP) have contributed to the relief efforts, and collected donations, were not acknowledge.
In Oklahoma City, Muslims were excluded from Sunday's prayer service led by President Clinton and the Rev. Billy Graham. "We have the same grief and sorrow, and we were told we could not be accommodated," said Rehab Robyn Assaf, a Muslim-American teacher at an Oklahoma City mosque.
The second event IQRA! know about happened in Tempe, Arizona's State Press, the student newspaper of the Arizona State University. It featured a cartoon showing a picture of the Prophet which is unacceptable in Islam - among three other pictures. On top of the pictures a sign that reads "Dead Religious Leaders. "The first picture has a name tag of "J. Smith" showing probably a man resembling the Mormon leader carrying a Bible and smiling. The second picture shows a grim-faced fiercely looking bearded man holding a large dagger/sword dripping with blood. The name tag reads "Muhammad". the third picture is showing a Buddhist monk with the name tag"'Buda". The last picture frame is empty, but has a name tag reads "Jesus". One police officer points to the empty frame and asks another officer: "What happened to this one?" the other officer answers: "It's empty."
The MSA of ASU at Tempe along with the Islamic Cultural Center of Tempe met twice with the "State Press" editorial board and the cartoonist Bryce Morgan, and demanded that an official apology be published in the paper. They wanted a statement from them that this cartoon is inaccurate, inappropriate depiction of our Prophet (PBUH). The demands were denied.
In spite of some serious inaccuracies and false hints from major TV Channels and newspapers (including unfortunately CNN) there were no acknowledgement of wrong or apologies from ABC or NBC that hosted numerous self-proclaimed terrorist experts throwing hate and conspiracy theories here and there (except for the responsible coverage of the Columbus Dispatch and Lantern on the local level). As far as we know, no channel apologized for the 'mistake' (e.g. the broadcast of two "white male" suspects. Channel 6 by Charlene Brown still associated them with Middle Eastern descent!)
The Local Reaction - How the ISGC reacted in a few hours
by Ayman Ismail
As soon as the Islamic Society of Greater Columbus (ISGC) and the MSA members heard the news of the Oklahoma City bombing, they knew it meant trouble. The pessimism was based on previous experience for the Gulf War, the World Trade Center bombing and the PBS documentary "Jihad in America."
Since the media was already speculating on the involvement of some Islamic groups, the BOT of the ISGC found that it is important to meet and discuss some action plans. The meeting was arranged within an hour. 7:30 pm at room 11 at the OSU Fawcett Center for the second day was the place, all TV channels were contacted - in person - in addition to the Columbus Dispatch. The idea was to involve as many people from the different Islamic organizations in the city. However, it was difficult to reach everyone within this short period of time.
With the grace of Allah, those able to attend represented most of the organizations of the Columbus Islamic community. Many options were on the table, including the press release and media coverage. The controversy was that it might be early to have a statement to the media which might further expose the community. The discussions finally resulted in a draft statement for the media, a spokesperson and a list of what to say and what not to say. At 9:30 p.m., the taping for TV news began with a question and answer session following it. What finally aired were two minutes of 35 minutes in tape that did not include the press statement! The following day Channels 10 and 4 asked for representative to talk on TV. the ISGC selected Sr. Hiba Nasser and Br. Brian Clouse. By April 27th, the Dawaa Committee had arranged for an Open Forum on Islam with Dr. Shaker El-Sayed from ISNA at the Ohio Union.
MSA vice president Abdullah Al-Amiri advises the community to be cautious and act responsibly. "We always emphasize to everyone including the media that painting everyone with the same brush will do nothing but increase the number of hate crimes."
He asks that all Muslims who receive any form of threat to immediately contact the police and report it to the BOT. It is important to keep track of such acts to make a case to the officials and to the media about the seriousness of this issue should legal action be deemed necessary, then this information will be useful. This also should be reported to the hotline established by ICNA [Islamic Circle of North America] at *******.
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