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President Obama– Elections 2008 Open Thread: The Muslim November 4 Experience / Photos

4. November, 2008 Politics 276 comments
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Please DIGG this to get the word out!  And see this cross-post at DailyKos.

For those of you thinking “Oh another political post”, please take a deep breath, click the “Back” button on your browser, and read something else :)  For the rest of Muslim Americans, especially and particularly those who voted, this is YOUR thread to share your experiences. Even if you are not a Muslim, feel free to share your experiences :) If you have photos, please e-mail them to us (info at muslimmatters //dot org and pls copy amad at carsreloaded dott com), so we can collect them in this post (of course they must meet the general criteria for photos… photos of obvious-looking Muslims at the polls would be even better).

So, tell us where you voted, how long the lines were, how did you feel, and if you were an obvious Muslim (like a brother with a long, flowing beard or wearing a thowb — how cool would that be—  or a sister with a hijab), whether you got any “VIP” treatment or endearing looks or the opposite, and so on. And if you want, you can tell us who you voted for.

What this post is NOT about (and comments straying from this will share the spam fate):

  • It is NOT about discussing policy differences between candidates, etc. Kind of too late for that.
  • It is NOT about the permissibility of voting. If you did not vote, don't want to vote, or don't think it's right to vote, then please also click “Back” like the politics-fatigued readers :)
  • It is NOT about bashing each other (well no posts are for that matter).

Feel free to post links (not complete passages) to relevant articles. Relevant means those that have to do with voting-day dynamics, such as election fraud, lines, polling issues, etc. Relevant does not mean “Obama is the man” or “McCain is big mac”.

Let me share the first link. To T. Ahmed's article on MM:

Picture below is in a polling location in Delaware, where I caught a Muslimah in line.  More photos coming!

muslim-voting-polls-usa.jpg

Democratic operatives were giving out straight-ticket fliers. No Republicans in sight.

democratic-ticket.jpg

The voting booths in DE:

delaware-vote2.jpg

Who're you gonna vote for… decision time:

delaware-vote.jpg

img01336.jpg

My voter-reg card:

img01334.jpg

More from DE:

img01331.jpg img01340.jpg

Photos from Ohio courtesy Sr. Naima (click to enlarge):

ohio-voting-line-2.jpgohio-voting-van-2.jpgmuslim-sister-in-ohio-voting.jpg

voting-010.jpg

Top image-courtesy Dailykos

About author

Amad

Amad Shaikh is one of the founders of MuslimMatters, Inc. His identity is shaped by his religion (Islam), place of birth (Pakistan), and nationality (American). By education, he is a ChemE, topped off with an MBA from the Wharton. He was one of the founders of the TDC, and in what seems like a distant memory, he served as the President of U. Houston's MSA. His interests include politics, cricket, and media interactions. Career-wise, Amad is in management in the oil & gas industry (but one who still appreciates the "green revolution").

View all posts by Amad

  • Muslim007

    i voted few mins ago. live in Queens, NY.

  • http://www.mujahideenryder.net MR

    I’m trying to take my video camera in and video tape myself voting. First time I’m voting Democratic, hahaha!

  • http://irrelevantopinions.blogspot.com Faraz

    When I voted at our election a few weeks ago, I happened to be at the voting station at a time when more than half the other voters were Muslim, including two niqaabis. It was a pretty interesting sight, actually; I wish I had a camera at the time.

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    I just voted about an hour ago in Delaware. I caught one Muslim sister in the line. The lines were not bad. I was in and out in about 15 minutes. Everyone was professional and courteous.

    The voting booths were interesting. It was like a big sheet of paper, where you pressed your choice and a red light came on, indicating your choice. You had only one chance to press, no “corrections” allowed. I had no idea how many parties we actually have! There were choices galore! So, I missed a few choices for like “Insurance Commissioner” (preferred to go with independent party on that, but accidentally chose Democratic– to be honest, I didn’t really care either way on these other candidates).

    I won’t say who I voted for, but for those folks voting in non-competitive states, where you can’t help or hurt Obama, consider McKinney, just to give her some support :) That’s all I will say :) In any swing-states, on a personal level, I urge you to do your best to keep Bush #3 away from office.

    More photos are coming from my visit to the polling booth. I took a couple IN the booth with my cell phone, so those will be memorable!

  • http://www.mujahideenryder.net MR

    I waited 1.5 hours on line and I only got half way. I was still outside. I left and plan to try later this evening. With all the technology we have, they still can’t get this voting mess fixed.

  • http://tayyibaat.wordpress.com AmatulWadood

    Yes it’s very ugly in some areas where I live.

  • mulsimah

    salaam

    well i wouldnt consider mkinney just bc as i wrote there is so much election fraud going on by repulbicans that obama needs to win by alot. plus it shows that obama is very close even in the ‘red’ states!
    one state has already won obama which bush won in 2004 and which hasnt voted democrat since 1964. well i voted early , nothing special but i felt good.

    here is something important. im sorry i dont have the link as i got it on email, but maybe you can post it on top for everybody.
    ———————————————————–

    CAIR ACTION ALERT #552

    MUSLIMS URGED TO VOTE IN RECORD NUMBERS
    Exercise your rights, defend your future

    (WASHINGTON, D.C., 11/3/2008) CAIR is urging every eligible Muslim voter to go to the polls on November 4 and vote for the candidates of their choice.

    To help get out the Muslim vote nationwide, CAIR 1) held candidate forums, 2) distributed voter guides, 3) organized voter registration drives, 4) hosted political participation workshops in mosques, 5) sponsored meetings with elected representatives, 6) participated in get-out-the-vote (GOTV) drives, and 7) urged American Muslims to vote as a positive response to Islamophobia in the election campaign.

    SEE: Muslims Strive for Tolerance — and Votes (Washington Post)
    SEE: AMT-PAC Presidential Scorecard
    SEE: CAIR’s 2008 Election Site
    SEE: CAIR Civic Participation Handbook

    “As a vocal minority seeks to marginalize the Islamic community, it is more important than even for American Muslims to turn out on Tuesday to vote,” said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad. Awad said CAIR will conduct an exit poll of Muslim voters.

    SEE: How Islamophobes Spread Fear, Bigotry and Misinformation

    ACTION REQUESTED

    1. GO TO THE POLLS on Tuesday and VOTE!

    2. TAKE A MUSLIM friend or family member along with you to vote.

    3. REPORT any incidents of voter intimidation, harassment or denial of the right to vote to CAIR. Contact CAIR by calling 202-488-8787, or by e-mailing csaylor@cair.com

    4. DISTRIBUTE this alert on your personal e-mail list.

    WHAT TO DO ON ELECTION DAY

    1. KNOW WHERE TO GO. In many states, you will NOT be allowed to vote if you show up at the wrong polling place. Your board of elections can tell you where to vote. Call today to locate your polling place. If you can’t reach your board, call 1-866-OURVOTE.

    2. BRING PROPER IDENTIFICATION. Proper forms of ID can include a driver’s license, a utility bill or another document that includes your name and address. Make sure the ID matches your address.

    3. READ SIGNS AT POLLING PLACES for instructions on how to vote and how to file a complaint if you believe your rights have been violated.

    4. REVIEW THE SAMPLE BALLOT BEFORE VOTING. Ballots are often confusing, and their designs can change considerably from election to election. If you have questions about how to vote on your ballot, ask a poll worker or poll monitor for help.

    5. CHECK YOUR BALLOT BEFORE CASTING YOUR VOTE. If you are having a problem understanding instructions, or if you just want to make sure you are voting in the correct manner, ask to speak to a poll worker

    6. KNOW YOUR RIGHTS CONCERNING “PROVISIONAL BALLOTS.” No voter can be turned away in any state without being allowed to vote. If there is a question about your eligibility, you must be allowed to vote on a provisional ballot, the validity of which will be determined later. But if you are entitled to vote on a regular ballot, you should insist on doing so, since a provisional ballot may be disqualified later on a technicality.

    7. KNOW WHERE TO TURN FOR HELP. It is a good idea to bring a cell phone and phone numbers of nonpartisan hotlines such as 1-866-OURVOTE and 1-866-MYVOTE1.

    8. BE PREPARED FOR LONG LINES. Try to get to your polling place very early in the morning, or between the before-work and after-work rushes. As long as you are in line before the polls close, you are legally entitled to vote. Do not let poll workers close the polls until you have voted.

    PLEASE ANNOUNCE, POST AND DISTRIBUTE

  • Sarrah B.

    Asalamualaikum fellow voters!!

    I voted this morning in Ann Arbor, MI. I waited in line for an hour and half. I was actually hoping it would take longer so I could go to work even later. :o) I live in a very liberal, diverse, city (AlHamdulillah) so I didn’t get any strange looks wearing hijab and abaya and standing next to my husband who has a beard. In fact, two of the election volunteers were Muslimahs in hijab.

    This was only my second election I was old enough to vote in and I must say the demographic was sooooooooooooooooo different then last time. There were SOOOOO many young people! It def added to the excitement. I got to play my Obama ringtone loud and clear after I voted and I snuck a picture of my ballet.

    Right now I am working on trying to get to the Chicago rally!! And anxiously reading my gmail, facebook, huffingtonpost, thenation, cnn, msnbc, and of course muslimmaters.

    If you haven’t voted yet, stop reading and get out there and Barack the vote!!

  • mulsimah

    awwwww your just like me! plz tell us about the chicago rally!

    ——————-

    actually the number is over 100,000 now. that many people and more have reported voting problems

    please read the voting problems big news page, it will give u all the info. its very important, pass it around

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/voting-problems

  • mulsimah

    another imp link with all the latest voting problems . protect your vote! make it count! go to http://blackboxvoting.org/

  • http://www.khutbahcentral.com aarij

    Alhamdulillah, this will (hopefully) end the american elections soap opera :)

    sorry i have to say this!! :)

  • http://www.maniacmuslim.com AsimG

    I’m in chicago so it would be wrong if I didn’t go to the rally, but it’s going to be insane traffic.

    My friend got a ticket to the secure area so that should be fun.

    Oh and I early voted. Anyone waiting in line for hours, you should have voted early :P

  • LearningArabic

    Assalamu alaikum,

    I voted early a week and a half ago and there was still a line. But alhamdulillah, I only had to wait for about 15 min. I voted at a university and there are plenty of muslims there, but I was the only one at the voting booth at the time. I do have a good size beard, but the university setting is pretty diverse and so I didn’t receive any funny looks.

    For the record, I did vote for Barack Obama. And since I live in Cali, I voted Yes on Prop. 8, which would protect the traditional definition of marriage between a man and a woman. There was also a muslim brother running for city council who has done a lot of work for the community and for CAIR. I wanted to vote for him, but unfortunately, I do not live in his district. May Allah make it easy on him.

    Amad, I know you caught a lot of heat for your political articles, but this MM reader has truly enjoyed all the articles and interesting political discussion. I look forward to hearing your post election analysis tomorrow morning. If I can, I’ll try to add my 2 cents in the comments section as usual.

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    Aarij, there will be always post-election drama too…so don’t get too excited :)…

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    Awesome… Great to see reports trickling in from all over… we still need photos though, so take ur cam with u!!

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    Jazakallah khair “learningarabic” for the vote of confidence (pun intended :) ). I needed that, otherwise I may be facing an internal MM mutiny :)

  • http://tayyibaat.wordpress.com AmatulWadood

    Some states don’t allow early voting! Like Maryland!!

  • http://prayinjamat.com abu abdAllah, the Houstonian

    innalhamdolillah. bismillah.

    if you do have any negative voting experiences, please report them on the widget in this article.

    i voted this morning just after 7:40 am — it took me about 20 minutes to wait in the lines. voting today was much easier in the greater Houston area than voting early because there are so many more polling places here on election day. our precinct is number 441 for our county — we have only 1600 voters in the precinct. the lead poll worker told me that 787 people in our precinct had either voted early or by mail! i took a picture, but who would want to see a huge auditorium with a scant 50 people in it?

    i wore my topi/kufi because my habit is to keep some covering on my head when i am out in public. and my beard is as long as it is. i thought about going in thawb, imama, etc. but i did not want to provoke anyone to vote anti-Muslim, at least not anymore than they were already going to do. if there were extreme Muslim-haters in the room, they would have been just as angry in any case.

    @learning arabic and other CA voters — with all respect, did you read prop 8 carefully? does it also prohibit polygyny? marriage between a man and multiple wives? does it — like a similar measure that was passed in Texas a few years ago — prohibit marriage between first cousins? i have not looked at prop 8, but many Muslims follow blindly when it comes to these measures. we all know that the principal targets are the neo-qawmi-Loot. but these measures often also attack rights protected by Islam.

  • http://prayinjamat.com abu abdAllah, the Houstonian

    bismillah. i was curious about prop 8, so i went to find out more information:

    What Is Prop 8?

    The following information will be included in the November ballot materials.
    Ballot Title and Summary
    Proposition 8:

    ELIMINATES RIGHT OF SAME-SEX COUPLES TO MARRY. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

    Changes California Constitution to eliminate right of same-sex couples to marry. Provides that only a marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.

    so it looks like the language of the proposition does what it says in the title. my only question is whether someone could interpret prop 8 as also/further banning polygyny. i know plural marriage is not legal now, but i would not want to vote for a measure that made changing the law less likely.

  • LearningArabic

    @abu abdallah

    Re: Prop. 8

    If Prop. 8 passes, it will add exactly 14 words to the California State Constitution:

    “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.”

    Prop. 8 has nothing to do with cousin marriages or polygamy, although I don’t think that California recognizes polygamous marriages anyway.

  • http://prayinjamat.com abu abdAllah, the Houstonian

    bismillah. sorry, i left out an important piece of information. here is the language that would be inserted in the CA constitution if prop 8 passes:

    Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.

    it does not limit the number of marriages, so it does not say that there can be only one wife…

  • http://joyluckkitchen.blogspot.com Hala

    FYI, tonights rally in Chicago was full by 8AM this morning.

  • http://joyluckkitchen.blogspot.com Hala

    * Not the rally itself, of course, as it hasn’t started yet. I meant the venue.

  • http://prayinjamat.com abu abdAllah, the Houstonian

    bismillah. earlier, while i was looking for info on prop 8, i visited a pro-prop-8 site and posed a question to them. you can see my question below the rather interesting reply — please note that the only edits have been to remove extra line breaks and some of my contact info:

    ———- Forwarded message ———-
    From: What is Prop 8?
    Date: Tue, Nov 4, 2008 at 12:12 PM
    Subject: Re: whatisprop8.com: does prop 8 seek to prohibit polygamy, too?
    To: T. Ahmed

    If prop 8 does not pass, then some legal experts see the potential to make a case for polygamy. Yes on 8 defines marriage.

    Without a definition, then it’s a possibility that anything could be deemed to fall under the “marriage” category. It’s about choosing to draw a line, people just have differing opinions on where that line should be drawn.

    I encourage you to vote Yes on Prop 8 to draw the line on the definition of marriage.

    Kenny

    On Tue, Nov 4, 2008 at 10:03 AM, T. Ahmed wrote:
    This is an enquiry e-mail via http://www.whatisprop8.com/ from:
    T. Ahmed

    i think polygamy is already outlawed in california, but i just want to know if prop 8 also makes it illegal, or whether prop 8 would permit polygamy if other laws in california did, too.

    thanks!
    –
    http://www.whatisprop8.com

    what’s interesting is that the pro-prop-8 people are aware of a potential effect of the proposition — that it may, in fact, help prevent pro-plural marriage advocates from challenging the law in California.

    lesson learned? always vote carefully. personally, i voted after making istikhara.

  • http://divinedelectables.blogspot.com/ Naima

    I skipped school/work to help Obama win OHIO. Will send my pictures as soon as they finish downloading insahAllah.

  • http://prayinjamat.com abu abdAllah, the Houstonian

    innalhamdolillah.
    @Hala — on the news this morning they said as many as 1 million people might attend the Chicago rally — you mean 1 million or so people are already there!? subhanAllah… i remember the million man march in DC — there was a whole street full of vendors catering to the crowds. i hope they have planned well — that’s a lot of people to keep cooped up for a whole day… even if they cut the crowd to half of that — 500,000 people!

  • http://www.mujahideenryder.net MR

    I would extremely love to hear some comments from Sh. Yasir Qadhi and Sh. Yaser Birjas. I’d also love to know if they voted and if they would share who the voted for.

    JazakAllah khair!

  • Sarrah B.

    The ticketed section has been long full but the non-ticketed section doesn’t open it’s doors until 8:30pm. They said they aren’t going to turn anyone away and they are expecting 1 million people. Still trying to be one of them!!!!!

  • Farhan

    I just voted
    took 4 minutes :-)

  • http://prayinjamat.com abu abdAllah, the Houstonian

    bismillah. well, be careful, and go/stick with a group of people you know!

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    MR, don’t hold your breath :) And I am not sure which of the MM Shayookh are eligible to vote (YQ of course is having been born here).

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    Wow Farhan, where did you go?

  • UmmHasan

    I voted in MD. It took only 10-15 min. Vote No to Slots if you’re in MD!!!

  • UmmOsman

    Assalamo elikuim
    I voted last Tuesday (my son’s karate class was cancelled :)). I packed lot of snacks, coloring books etc for kids after hearing that the wait time is 5-6 hours or may be more. Alhamdullah it took me 25 minutes only!
    I live in RED state (actually some one was telling me that our county was famous for KKK ). Alhamdullah the whole process went smoothly.

    I second LearningArabic comments about political articles on mm. Thanks a lot for all those articles :) and we are definitely waiting for post election ones too :)

  • http://www.blogistan.co.uk/blog/ Yusuf Smith

    As-Salaamu ‘alaikum,

    @Ahmad AlFarsi:

    In 1997, someone wrote a letter to the Guardian saying that the I Ching had predicted a Tory party win in 1992 and, when he went to some I Ching medium again in 1997, he/it had said the party would win again. In the event, Labour won by a landslide, even kicking some of John Major’s cabinet ministers out of their seats (in the UK, the cabinet is drawn from members of one of the houses of Parliament, usually the Commons). If a witch doctor or oracle says something will happen and it does, it’s just coincidence.

  • ilmsummitee

    I voted 2 weeks early by absentee ballot. So, yea alhamdulilah didnt have to wait or go thru any of that mess! For those who have to wait, all the power to you, make your intentions clear so you get ajr AND double on the reward by getting your masbah to make some thikr as your patiently standing.

    Anyways, it seems like the system is out there to deter ppl from voting. Why not just have election day on a Saturday? or Sunday? or have it off as in a national holiday?( reason for Tuesday is a bit historical, outdated, and now illogical)And why dont they increase voting sites or voting booths, etc.

    Perhaps, EVERYONE still needs to make duaa that the better or should I say less worse of the two wins!

  • http://www.islamicawakening.com/ Abu Umar

    I found this extremely freaky video on CNN.com where it said “Witch doctor in Kenya predicts Obama win”. Audhubillaahi min ashShaytaan irRajeem!!!! I didn’t post the link, because I don’t think it would be beneficial to post, but those who want to see it can go to cnn and find it.

    It’s not nice to call Sarah Palin’s pastor a witch doctor.

  • http://prayinjamat.com abu abdAllah, the Houstonian

    bismillah.
    @ilmsummitee — high voter turnouts almost always hurt incumbents. incumbents make the rules, and pass any needed legislation, so incumbents rarely do anything that increases voter turnout unless they are forced to do so. it may sound a bit cynical, but the facts are that in most US elections voter turnout is low (40%-turnout is usually high for many parts of the country), and whenever that happens, incumbent-re-election averages in the high 90-percentiles.
    @yusuf, ahmad, et al — not to mention that the person who merely visits a fortune teller, not believing in him, will forfeit the reward of his next 40 days of salat. and the one who believes would be committing an act of terrible shirk. may Allah protect me, and all of you in your deen.

  • http://muslimmatters.org Ahmad AlFarsi

    As-Salaamu ‘alaikum,

    @Ahmad AlFarsi:

    In 1997, someone wrote a letter to the Guardian saying that the I Ching had predicted a Tory party win in 1992 and, when he went to some I Ching medium again in 1997, he/it had said the party would win again. In the event, Labour won by a landslide, even kicking some of John Major’s cabinet ministers out of their seats (in the UK, the cabinet is drawn from members of one of the houses of Parliament, usually the Commons). If a witch doctor or oracle says something will happen and it does, it’s just coincidence.

    @Yusuf Smith

    I think you misunderstood me brother, I wasn’t saying that the witch doctor is correct (actually, to believe what they say when they predict stuff is a form of kufr, so may Allah protect all of us from that). I was just commenting on the craziness of it all, that CNN was reporting what black magicians have to say. May Allah protect us all from sihr and from all of the shayateen. Ameen.

  • http://www.mujahideenryder.net MR

    15 minutes in MD. where I live in MD, it took so long i gave up and plan on going later.

  • Umm Dawwod

    as salaamu alaikum wa rahmatuAllah..

    this is my first time posting on this site (though I always read)…

    masha’Allah i voted early (Friday) which was the last early voting day in my state (Arizona = very RED– McCain’s home state).. I arrived at the polling place at about 11:30am. they were passing out numbers before you could even get in! when we got our #s they informed us that we would have 2-3 hours. I left for Jumuah and came back and they still werent close to my number. I wear hijab and abaya daily, and stares are common in this state, so they werent surprising at the polling place either. My in-laws met me & my kids there (my husband didnt vote until today) and we prayed a few prayers there too :) Long story short, we didnt leave until 8:30 or 9pm.

  • Hidaya

    I voted in Brooklyn with my sisters (all 3 of us were in black Hijabs & Jalbab, however obviously we didn’t get any stares as its Brooklyn). I didn’t really see many young people, it was mostly elder Jewish population. It took us about 5 minutes , there was no line at least for my district. I was leaning towards choose Mckinney but I just didn’t want to take a chance and picked Obama instead =)

    Oh and I saw an old uncle with a reallllly long beard at polling station. MashaAllah, but I couldn’t take his pic, sorry!

  • http://divinedelectables.blogspot.com/ Naima

    I waited over 3 hours to vote and it was worth it…. I wasn’t the only hijabi because Columbus Ohio has a big Muslim population….

  • http://prayinjamat.com abu abdAllah, the Houstonian

    bismillah. reading Hidaya’s post, i just realized that i left out that one of the poll workers in my precinct is a Muslim brother who is very active in local/state democratic politics. he’s our democrat-precinct chair. and today he working the machine that gives voters their access codes for the electronic ballot machines — no paper records, though, of the votes themselves…

  • UmmHasan

    MR- New Hampshire Ave. @ National Labor College its part of montgomery county.

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    Ok, here are my predictions:

    Obama wins a close one:

    Obama 291 McCain 241

    McCain takes FL, NC, OH, MO, AZ, GA
    Obama takes PA, VA, IA, MT

    Projections are great, you can’t hurt anything with them!

    So, what are yours??

  • Hassan

    Amad (Author) said:

    Ok, here are my predictions:

    Obama wins a close one:

    Obama 291 McCain 241

    McCain takes FL, NC, OH, MO, AZ, GA
    Obama takes PA, VA, IA, MT

    Projections are great, you can’t hurt anything with them!

    So, what are yours?

    Landslide. Obama 351, McCain 187.

    Obama would take all states won by Kerry, plus OH, VA, FL, MO, CO, NM, NV, IA

    House, Democrats 250, Senate 56 (not counting Joe the Leiberman, and Vertmont Sanders)

  • http://www.mujahideenryder.net MR

    @UmmHasan – Silver Spring Library on Colesville Rd was packed. Line was outside circling the parking lot.

  • Sana K

    Here in North Jersey my husband and 5 month old daughter went voting at the local Elmentary School. It was my first experience and a good one might I add =) no long lines, being 7 in the morning, so we were in and out. There were a good mix of ppl and a good Muslim turnout .

    I predict Obama will get Jersey, Allahu Alam

  • Hidaya

    I wanted to ask, were any of you ask to show your ID?

  • http://divinedelectables.blogspot.com/ Naima

    Actually they didn’t ask me to show my ID…. Also I went with 2 of my aunts and they also didn’t show ID… it was kind of weird.

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    No ID, just the voter registration card.

  • http://divinedelectables.blogspot.com/ Naima

    I am trying to send some pictures but it’s saying that your inbox is full so you guys might wanna delete some of msgs…

  • anonysis

    Yup I voted here in California. I felt most strongly about the Presidential election and of course Yes on Prop 8 (ban on gay marriage). Lines weren’t too long alHamdulillah.

  • http://ibnalhyderabadee.wordpress.com ibn alHyderabadee

    i heard estimated numbers upto a million for the chicago obama election night rally….thats crazzzy

  • http://ibnalhyderabadee.wordpress.com ibn alHyderabadee

    i think georgia is the onlyo ne witht he ID requirement…Allahu’Alam

  • farah

    Assalam alaikum!

    I voted this morning in Northern Virginia. It took about 5-10 minutes around 10:30 am. Not bad. Voted for Obama. Really hoping he wins. I know i’ll be up tonight watching the returns. Having faith that Virgninia turns blue!!!!

    Farah

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    New pictures up from Ohio, courtesy Sr. Naima

    w/s

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    If anyone else has sent them, then we haven’t received… so please email them again… I have emptied the email box.

  • LearningArabic

    cnn.com has already awarded Kentucky to McCain and Vermont to Obama:

    Current score:

    McCain: 8
    Obama: 3

    I know its real early, but I can’t help it. That electoral college map with all the shaded colors is really addicting …lol

  • http://ummreem.wordpress.com Umm Reem

    Just voted. I was in and out in 10 minutes, alhamdullilah…People were very friendly even the teenager volunteers (it was a high school). Both of my daughters were with me. Reem came inside the voting booth and took pictures while little one stood outside wondering what that blue “thing” was! While I voted Reem kept taking pictures and I was getting worried that they might kick me out for all the flashes coming out of my booth…after all she is daddy’s girl and she had special instructions to take pictures while mama votes!

    reem thought it was boring and jana was more interested in buying chips from the vending machine next to the voting booth! :)

    P.S. Oh, I wore my regular niqaab and jilbaab to the polls..

  • Hermana

    Took me about 15 minutes total to vote at around 8 this morning in NW Washington DC. It was very smooth and organized. In DC you are given a choice between a ballot and a computer. I picked a paper ballot. After I filled it out i took it to the machine and watched as it was verified as valid wuuh huu. DC is true blue District !!

    We are still being taxed without representation in the US Senate!

  • mulsimah

    salaam

    im gonna cry either way ahhh

    Bill Ayers ‘the terrorist’ Finally Speaks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/tny/2008/11/mr-ayerss-neighborhood.html

  • Sarrah B.

    I didn’t make it to Chicago :O( but I am plopped in front of the news and the internet with 15lbs of clearance halloween candy. :o)

    I just wanted to say WOOOOOOOOOOOOhOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO we got PA!!!!!!!

    I also got the biggest kick out of my dad calling me and saying (in an arabi accent) did you Barack the vote? I happily said YES I DID!!!

    He then said, this is your country, you need to write about the Muslim experience, let people know who you voted for and why and why your voice is important, etc. I was very happy to say that AlHamdulillah I had already been sharing my experience on MM. So I know this has been said but I def want to say it again, thank you and MM for covering this election and offering us a chance to share our experiences.

  • http://divinedelectables.blogspot.com/ Naima

    Hahah Sarrah B…. My sister called me from Kenya where she’s celebrating with her husband and the whole nation since Barack’s family are from there. She’s never been soo happy about American election…

    Obama made the whole continent of Africa proud.

    Some of my friends in Egypt told me to call them as soon as the results come in because they couldn’t stay up to see it…. I can’t wait for this night to be over. I am already glued to CNN and I won’t go to sleep til the last vote is counted. Allahu Akbar.

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    Sarrah/UmmOsman, I should be thanking you and everyone else for making this open thread WORK!

    and thanks for some more votes of confidence. I can imagine how Obama is feeling :)

    Btw, as Sarrah you mention, MSNBC is calling PA for Obama. Very cool.

    SC (not in play) for McCain

    Other States going “O” way… home-state of DE, MD, NJ, CT, MA, VT, NH, etc…. that’s called an EASTERN SWEEP.

    OK went to McCain. Why OK? Not looking good for McCrazy right now.

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    If you want to following swing state results,

    FA…
    IA…
    NC
    OH
    VA

    If you don’t know the state abbreviations, then pls consider going to bed :)

    To celebrate an Obama victory, you can do that here or:
    DailyKos
    HuffingtonPost

    To celebrate a McCain victory, you can do that here (with great caution) or:
    Littlegreennuts
    jihadhunters

    To celebrate McKinney/Nader victory, you can go to:
    Link

  • Farhan Khan

    Amad said: Wow Farhan, where did you go?

    Northern Virginia, A SWING STATE!!!
    I heard our Masjid ADAMS Center say something like 70,000 Muslims are registered to vote in this area. Did I hear the numbers wrong?? Cuz that’s a LOT.

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    Wow, that is a lot of Muslims… SWING that baby!!

  • My H-town

    it took me like 3 minutes to vote….in OHIO! =)

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    Wow… 3 minutes? Are you sure you were voting in a REAL booth, not a fake Republican setup?? ;)

    BY THE WAY, CAN WE LIKE DIGG THIS POST?? Get the word out on Muslims PARTICIPATING!

  • Hidaya

    I am eagerly wwaiting for someone to make a projection on Ohio & Florida…once they r declared then I am out to bed =)

  • Sarrah B.

    174 – 76!!!!! I’m on the edge of my seat! I am not ready to celebrate just yet but it’s hard to contain the excitment!!!

    Naima – my co-workers husband’s family is from Senegal and they had cardboard cut outs of him in a local resteraunt and a bunch of people came in just to take a picture with the cut out! It really feels like the WHOLE world is backing Obama!!

    Amad – I put a link to this thread in my gmail and FB – the more feedback the better!

  • http://divinedelectables.blogspot.com/ Naima

    InshaAllah Obama will take Ohio… I didn’t knock 100 doors for no reason….. I even got chased by a dog lol….

    OHIO is a swing state Obama has to win…. And inshaAllah he will.

  • student

    lol, even though I’m living in Canada and attending a Canadian high school, there was sooo much commotion over who would win! Someone had a poster on their locker cheering for Barrack Obama, some people were yelling on the bus, “Go McCain! No – OBAMA!”, and some were holding classroom discussions on American politics (with the teacher trying to get everyone to focus). During lunch time, a group of students even looked up the polling percentages on one of the library computers. I think there was a reference to American government in every one of my classes. My funny story: I see a paper in the crowded hallway. Being courteous, I pick it up and am checking to see if its an important document. Flipping it around, I see the words: OBAMA written in bold on it. Crazy crazy world :)

  • http://ibnalhyderabadee.wordpress.com ibn alHyderabadee

    yo Amad, you shoudl get ur abbreviations right…..

    IA is not Indiana – IN is (IA is Iowa)
    FA is not Florida – FL is (FA, i dont think there;s a state with those abbreviations)

    maybe you should consider going to sleep…

  • Hidaya

    ^^^^^^^^^^^^ Burn…=)

  • hassan

    Its over, Ohio for Obama

  • http://joyluckkitchen.blogspot.com Hala

    According to MSNBC Live, Obama takes OHIO!

  • http://divinedelectables.blogspot.com/ Naima

    OBAMA just won battleground state OHIO…. wohoooooo

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    ibn al Hydrabadee…. LOL… just making sure everyone’s awake… at least we know who isn’t (hint, its the author)…

    India-na .. got it.

  • http://ibnalhyderabadee.wordpress.com ibn alHyderabadee

    diff in VA is only like 13K crazy, crazy close soem of these elections

    my intent wasnt to burn…it was a joke….clarification……

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    As I was putting together a post for dailykos “Muslims across America…”, its interesting to see how many states are represented in the comments so far… did I miss anyone?? and good for O in O

    1) DE
    2) OH
    3) PA
    4) NJ
    5) NY
    6) CA
    7) TX
    8.) VA
    9) DC
    10) MD
    11) AZ
    12) IL
    51) CDA
    52) PK

  • http://ibnalhyderabadee.wordpress.com ibn alHyderabadee

    Obama wins Ohio…..wohooo

    i trust CNN more than any other news agency

    CNN: The Best Political Team

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    Need those 70k Adams Center volunteers to get their votes counted… It ain’t over until Muslims have been counted.

    If VA goes McCain, it is definitely islamophobia, no question about it.

    P.S. That was a lose use of islamophobia, kind of like how antisemitism is charged whenever you say Israel, you are being naughty.

  • Osman

    Amad I think you should remove those sites you posted about “mccain fans” not because they support mccain but because they are very islamophobic (in fact their purpose is to defame islam). Last thing we need is to give them more hits on their site. I’m sure there are mccain supporting blogs which are not islamophobic.

    looks like an obama victory!!!!!!

  • http://divinedelectables.blogspot.com/ Naima

    No one has ever won the white house without my home state of OHIO…. After all Ohioan people are not as bad as I thought they were :)

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    Osman, done.
    Naima, congrats on your effort that paid dividends… now, that’s putting your actions where your mouth is!

    Its pretty much done I think, though we have to wait for the fat ladies to sing, which is kind of a politically incorrect thing to say, and we cannot listen to fat ladies singing. So, I guess CNN will do.

  • Hidaya

    Ya Florida, lets goooo……..

    Any Floridians?

  • Hidaya

    I am watching Fox 5 for fun …hehe

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    http://tinyurl.com/muslimvote (if you dont remember the lengthy url for this post)

    Floridans like to sleep early.

  • http://reemosworld.wordpress.com Reem

    obama got ohio!! yayyy!

  • http://divinedelectables.blogspot.com/ Naima

    You know what they say as OHIO goes so does the nation…

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    So, the kids come running down to tell me that Obama wins Ohio and are screaming with joy. I have no idea why they are so pumped about him… really … its amazing what kids absorb… not to mention who I voted for … NOT to mention.

    VA is tight, tight, tight… no doubt Muslims are the reason for it being so tight… Obama behind ONLY by 5000 votes or so with 77% precincts reporting (on the official state website)… COMEON Adams Center, Comeon Dar-ul-Hijrah… get ‘em in (yeah i know its kinda late now).

  • hassan

    Its practically over, Obama just needs Kerry states, he has flipped Ohio and New Mexico already, Florida soon, and probably North Calorina as well. I was expecting Virginia, so slightly off in my projection, Still 350 plus.

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    OBAMA is AHEAD in VA by 9000 votes…. The MUSLIMS of NoVA have KICKED IN

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25381424

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org AnonyMouse

    So, my kids come running down to tell me that Obama wins Ohio and are screaming with joy. I have no idea why they are so pumped about him… really … its amazing what kids absorb… not to mention who I voted for … NOT to mention.

    You really have brainwashed your kids! lol

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    By 10,000 votes now… one of them is my friend Tariq Nelson, and the other, our friend, the immigrant-hater, AR. Tough being on the same side as AR… well, he’ll get over it.

    One advice from one of MM’s shaykh (unnamed for now): Be MODERATE in any celebrations, and be cognizant of the past. Don’t be overconfident or over-exuberant. Soak it in and like everything else in Islam, be moderate about it :)

  • hassan

    Iowa flipped

    366 electoral votes perhaps..

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    Did anyone see this video yet:

  • Osman

    one thing i’m suprised is that in absolute vote numbers nationwide so far, Obama only leads 50 to 49% over McCain. I expected that margin to be wider.

  • hassan

    Even Arizona too close to call, wow, its over fellows.

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    This is going to be a landslide… even Texas had only a 8% margin… Hassan, for once, u were almost right. Can we now argue about how right you were for the next 20 comments?

  • http://reemosworld.wordpress.com Reem

    for one second i go to another website… the next second i come back there are like 10 more comments.. what is going in MM?

  • hassan

    Yes we can :D, I was hoping exact 351 so I can win Macbook Pro from dailykos, but landslide I always said. Now he can say he is secret muslim.

  • MahshiBiryani

    I was watching FOX right when it reported Obama’s victory over Ohio, but wouldn’t take it until CNN confirmed it!

    SubhanAllah, I almost didn’t vote because of an email I received just an HOUR before I was heading out to vote. It comprised of a long list of fatwas and arguments. My heart sank. But with much contemplation and dua’ I finally made the decision to vote. I voted in Central Jersey, and Alhamdulillah, some volunteers were very courteous! My vote was for OBAMA!

    At this moment, Obama needs just 63 electorates. Ya Rabbil Alameen, please make these times easy for us!

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    Nearly 30,000 up for Obama now in VA. We need to get to 70,000, Farhan’s number :)

    Hassan, can you keep some secrets for inauguration day? I wonder which masjid he will first step foot in. I assume that with the election over, he will eventually find a way into a Masjid.

  • hassan

    Ok I would not tell people that you would be his secretary of energy, and Sh Yasir Qadhi grand mufti of USA

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    Secretary of energy makes sense.. but Yasir as mufti?? Give me a break. I think he would rather choose someone more hard-core.

    Btw, Hassan, you could become the UN secretary for argumentation (I mean negotiations) :)

  • http://divinedelectables.blogspot.com/ Naima

    Hahahahahah ^^^^^^^^^ you guys are too funny…. How about YB?

  • hassan

    Secretary of food please..

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    Naima, you mean which “unnamed” Shaykh? Unnamed, sorry. I keep secrets better than Hassan.

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    I wonder if Muslims will distribute laddus or baklawas for Obama’s victory. I also wonder if then Arabs and Desis will fight about what dessert is better.

    Across several oceans, Pakistanis must be disappointed to see McCain go. Though I don’t think they knew what would have hit them with McCain.

  • http://divinedelectables.blogspot.com/ Naima

    Yeah Amad lol..

  • Hidaya

    Waiting 4 Florida & Arizona……………….

    Ive already started feeling sorry 4 Obama, its scary to have such high national & international momentum…In addition, how he conducts himself in the office will decide the future for other ethnic minorities to be able to run for high offices…

  • Ali

    The speed at which the comments are appearing is amazing. In my 8 months of frequenting MM, I’ve never seen a nondebate post which generated so many comments in one day.

  • Hidaya

    Br Amad, Obama has openly declared his desire to attach Pak. What could have been worst for Pak under McCain?

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    Oops, I opened an issue… let’s leave Pakistan and attacks out for now, let’s focus on laddus and baklawas.

    Obama almost 50,000 votes up in VA… we are close to our 70k number… comeon guys, let’s keep pushing!

  • http://www.kogmedia.com movie fan

    it’s awesome that there has been this “problem” of long lines all over… people taking a greater interest in public issues is always a good thing

  • http://divinedelectables.blogspot.com/ Naima

    And my aunt in Columbus Ohio is making halawa for her neighbors for Obama’s victory inshaAllah. It takes atleast 5 hrs to make Somali halawa….

    I am going to make Obama Cake inshaAllah and take it to my work in the morning… No sleeping for me.

    KENYANS are celebrating like crazy tonight…… My sister just called me from Nairobi and told me no one is going to work tomorrow if he wins and they’ll probably have national holiday for him…

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    That’s funny, they get a holiday in Kenya, while we have to go to our crappy jobs in the morning, even in a blue state. They should have a day off in all blue-states and overtime for all red-states as punishment.

  • http://divinedelectables.blogspot.com/ Naima

    I agree with you Amad with the overtime lol… I am making Obama cake to take it to work in the morning to make some of my co workers mad :). I can’t wait to see their faces.

  • Naseer08

    So you made a choice, between Mccain and the most liberal politician in america, who believes in gay marriage and partial birth abortion (done at 8-9 months)

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    Don’t rub it in too much, Naima… only Allah knows how good Obama will really be for Muslims. I think we made a good choice based on what is apparent, but let’s be as reserved as possible and let things play out :) I can’t wait for Obama to check out the inside of a Masjid. No more excuses… so let’s see if he becomes the man that we hoped for, and the man we gave an excuse he couldn’t have been to win.

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    60,000 votes in VA now.

  • http://divinedelectables.blogspot.com/ Naima

    Sorry sorry sorry I am getting to excited I guess… InshaAllah he will do good for the Muslims around the world. :)

  • hassan

    Cool Obama ahead in Virginia back in North Carolina, Mac Book Pro…

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    MSNBC HAS CALLED OBAMA THE PRESIDENT OF USA.
    CHICAGO HAS GONE NUTS

    Congratulations Obama. Now Do the right thing(s).

  • hassan

    Obama has been declared next US president

  • http://tayyibaat.wordpress.com AmatulWadood

    I really didn’t think it would be over this early!

    I left around 7PM glued to this thread to go to class, and I come back now, read through nearly 60 comments…and I must say, it’s insanity in here :D Maybe next year (inshaAllah) you guys can come back, after Obama’s first year as president and read the hilarious comments left here (probably from a mixture of excitement and sleep deprivation)

    I have to say that although I didn’t follow politics at all, I started too after reading the posts on MM. I wonder if I should thank you guys or what? lol jk ;) Jazakum Allahu khayran.

    On a serious note, my brother pointed out to me this morning that the front page of CNN International was “Day of reckoning for America”…subhanAllah! And seeing all of these crowds, all of this confusion/excitement is like hajj in someway, which is all a reminder of the REAL Day of Reckoning.

  • http://tayyibaat.wordpress.com AmatulWadood

    It’s over!!!

  • http://reemosworld.wordpress.com Reem

    oh maaan… i have to go to sleep… ugh, why do we have to be in eastern time?!!

  • Hidaya

    BBC-> 297 4 Obama

  • http://www.mujahideenryder.net MR

    OBAMA Wins!

  • http://joyluckkitchen.blogspot.com Hala

    WOW.

  • Hidaya

    Awwwwwwwww I am watching NBC……..Everyone is crying in Chicago! I am so happy for all the African Americans!

  • S

    YEAHHHH!!!!

  • anonysis

    !!!!!!!!!!

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    Obama’s speech starts with:

    “Bismillah…”

    Yes, we can, Obama.. yes, we can (go back to our roots) ;)

  • hassan

    Virginia for Obama, my God, I like it..

  • http://reemosworld.wordpress.com Reem

    OBAMA WINS!! YAY YAY

  • Abeedah

    Finally! :)

  • http://divinedelectables.blogspot.com/ Naima

    HISTORY HAS BEEN MADE AND I AM GLAD WE’RE PART….

  • Saleha H.

    Awww yeeaahhhh

  • Abeedah

    It’s hard to take it in; I never thought he would win.

  • Sarrah B.

    YES WE DID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    I AM IN SHOCK!!

    I CANT WAIT FOR HIM TO SPEAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    I AM SOOOOOOOOO UPSET THAT I AM NOT IN GRANT PARK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    YES WE DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Osman

    btw Keith Ellison was re-elected!

  • http://joyluckkitchen.blogspot.com Hala

    Not to rub it in, but I’ve been predicting since summer of 2007 that Obama would not only get the Democratic nomination, but be elected President of the USA.

    I just didn’t expect the margin he won over to be so great. I thought McCain would do a bit better than he has.

  • http://joyluckkitchen.blogspot.com Hala

    AmatulWadood- thank ME :-D

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    I think Keith’s reelection is more important than Obama, in my personal 2-cents :)

    You know in some ways, I AM RELIEVED TOO.. its been hard blogging about the elections for like over an year now…I can only wonder what the candidates go through… so I am glad this will be over…

    I hope I did my 2-cents to not help Obama win, but rather to help Muslims (together, me included) become more politically aware (jak AmatulWudood) and more politically mature. And I hope that this is not the end, but the beginning of political participation for Muslims… more so at the local level, the state level, etc. where we can make even a bigger difference.

  • Hidaya

    Sso NBC is saying that McCain is conceding? WHT WHT!

  • hassan

    # Hassan said:

    Hidaya, as of now Obama should win comfortably, unless in next few months he breaks and says, he has been secret muslim and want to implement shariah, then McCain may have slight chance…
    -July 3rd, 2008 at 3:02 pm

    Sorry to brag.. my above comment on muslimmatters

  • http://tayyibaat.wordpress.com AmatulWadood

    Hala, lol I know right! She was following this since last year mashaAllah. I told her not to bore me with all of that political jargon :P

    I live in MD, and I cannot believe he won VA…INSANE.

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    McCain is conceding… and the audience is still booing… sore losers!

  • http://tayyibaat.wordpress.com AmatulWadood

    aw Mccain looks like he’s been crying.

  • Hidaya

    AWWWW poor McCain!

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    Good speech McCain, some redemption here.

  • Hidaya

    My father loves his speech…(he has always been a fan of his ”public speaking” skills..) blah blah

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    “Campaigns have been harder on candidates’ families than candidates themselves”

    Yup, its been hard on me just blogging about it… sympathies to my family :)

    He is praising Palin… redemption is lost again.

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org reem

    I thought McCain would be crying.. in the video he doesn’t look so evil anymore :)

  • http://reemosworld.wordpress.com Reem

    I thought McCain would be crying.. in the video he doesn’t look so evil anymore :)

  • hassan

    Hassan said:

    Landslide. Obama 351, McCain 187.

    Obama would take all states won by Kerry, plus OH, VA, FL, MO, CO, NM, NV, IA

    House, Democrats 250, Senate 56 (not counting Joe the Leiberman, and Vertmont Sanders)

    So far he got kerry plus OH, VA, FL, CO, NM, IA, and so I am right so far, just need MO and NV, but seems instead of MO, he would get Indiana, still 351 score.

    Sorry for bragging, I would do that for next many days.

  • http://ummreem.wordpress.com Umm Reem

    Although we don’t know how this will turn out for Muslims, let us hope for the best. My kids are happy. I asked them why they are happy that Obama won and my son said, ‘I don’t know…I like Obama because McCain is too old!’

    A few months ago at the dinner table my son told his father with a very serious and concerned look on his face, ‘if McCain becomes the president then we will have to leave america’. ‘why’ my husband asked, and he said, ‘cuz he doesn’t like Muslims!’

    May Allah azzawajal make this event ‘mubarak’ for Muslims.

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    Hassan, how could you have the gall to brag?

    You got Indiana and Missouri wrong. That is enough to be ashamed about. I mean who would get IA and MO wrong? You’d have to get the abbreviations wrong to understand how weak that is.

  • hassan

    Actually wrong math, just correct states, I thin 333+11+5 is 349, my Mac Book pro gone..

  • http://tayyibaat.wordpress.com AmatulWadood

    Joe the Plumber, anyone?

  • hassan

    Ok Nevada also in, I cant believe I did math wrong, after all I am human..

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad
  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    I believe the 2012 ticket will be Palin/Joe-the-Plumber … the question will be who has more experience between the two.

  • hassan

    Palin cant govern, Joe cant fix plumbing

  • hassan

    Icing on cake would be Palin’s impeachment in Alaska

  • http://www.mujahideenryder.net MR

    Barack Mubarack

  • http://www.mujahideenryder.net MR
  • Anisa

    Wohooooooo Obama Won!! Yay I’m soooo happpy!!!
    I’m just happy McCain DIDN’T win!!!!
    I hope Obama is a person who can think on his own and not be controlled by certain groups (interests, parties,)!!! and may Allah make him a benefit for the Muslims!!! AMEEN

    oh and of course May Allah guide him to Islam, AMEEN :D

    JazaakAllah Khair

    Ma’Salaama

  • Pingback: Transcript: Live Blogging the Election from Washington DC « Foshowley

  • Osman

    MR, what happened to your other blog?

  • http://divinedelectables.blogspot.com/ Naima

    Poor McCain… Palin was laughing, I wonder why because last time I checked she lost.

  • http://www.creativemindmuslim.blogspot.com creative mind muslim

    this is very exciting…..surreal…of course change is coming. InshaAllah it will be positive. :)

  • Pingback: Transcript: Blogging from Washington DC – Inside Islam

  • mulsimah

    salaam

    am so happy and hope its for the best.. EXACTLY i think we are more happy because mcain didnt win! neway i have to give it to him . i really liked his speech. first time mccain made me cry

  • http://tayyibaat.wordpress.com AmatulWadood

    Whose measuring the drapes now?!

  • http://tayyibaat.wordpress.com AmatulWadood

    here he comes!!

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    I wonder what’s going on in Obama’s mind right now… I mean he probably didn’t believe himself that he would be here.

  • ilmsummitee

    Remember Obama has to wait for like 77 days before taking on the Presidency…………….. Lets hope that the change is gonna come, even if its somewhat. SubhanAllah, anything other than bush is a breather.

    as for his speech, it’ll probably start off with “Yes we did, yes we did…….” and I am not predicting the future :) wastagfirullah.

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    That was a great speech… Allah has given this guy some eloquence… magic… what an ability. He rode his speech to the white house… perhaps one of the greatest orators in the world… If you think about it, take away that power of speech, and he would be no one.

  • TrustInAllah

    Allahu Akbar!

    Personally I dont think he cant believe himself.. i sure cant! After everything this country has done to african Americans no one (but a Muslim next) lol deserves to run this country. He may not be muslim but as Sh. Muhammad Ibn Faqih said, these non muslim nations last long because of the justice they stand for, i pray that he runs this country and the world with true justice.

    *I hope he becomes muslim :) I am trying to stay optimistic like their campaign! JUST HE CAN! lol

    ALLAHU AKBAR….

    P.S PROP 8 seems to be heading for YES as well here in Cali.. and gas is $2.41 and i passed one of my midterms! Its a good night! :)

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    Ok, time for bed. EST here.

    MM will have a post-election post inshallah late tomorrow night or early Thursday… with input from as many of our writers as possible… a first-time combination… you never know we might get some input from the Shayookh too :) Stay tuned.

    And we’ll leave this thread open for all your thoughts all day, all night.

    Btw, Wisconsin Public Radio has been keeping up with us too. So, our voices are being heard!

    I enjoyed the night with all of you brave souls keeping up with the comment spree here… probably a new record on MM too. Just goes to show that more Muslims CARE about this stuff than probably would care to admit.

    may Allah make this a source of positive change for American attitudes towards Muslims inside and outside America.

    assalamalaikum…

  • Hidaya

    That was one HOT speech!

    Imagine is something happens to him……k I think Its bed time 4 me. I had fun keeping track of elections with MM. =) Thanks 4 providing us a platform.

  • http://joyluckkitchen.blogspot.com Hala

    Brilliance.

    Better get started on my homework!

  • hassan

    Bush is extremely happy that its over for him and he can go home.

  • http://muslimmatters.org/author/ibnabeeomar/ ibnabeeomar

    whats with the sisters and linking to cooking blogs? are they your own or just random ones you like? id like to collect a list of these cooking blogs to pass to someone..

  • TrustInAllah

    Someone made a BAD joke that he would change the white house into a pyramid! lol I am waiting at least to black! I can help paint it if they want!

    Here is a video on Iraq’s in Basra about Obama! Hahha they must be really excited now!
    http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=10529235&ch=4226714&src=news

  • http://joyluckkitchen.blogspot.com Hala

    The blog that I’m linking to is run by a few sisters and myself. Feel free to pass it on!

  • http://muslimmatters.org/author/ibnabeeomar/ ibnabeeomar

    can you add some more somali food recipes? specifically beef sukar, and recipes for the special hot sauce?

  • Chottu

    I voted today in Sugarland, TX, obvious Muslimah (hijaab & abaya)…
    I was actually expecting long lines and weird stares but, unfortunately, none of that! :)
    Alhamdulillah it only took me 5 min for the entire process…

  • http://muslimmatters.org/author/ibnabeeomar/ ibnabeeomar

    btw – the SINGLE GREATEST thing about this election:

    No more Sarah Palin.

  • http://joyluckkitchen.blogspot.com Hala

    Beef sukhaar is actually in the drafts, soon to be uploaded inshaa Allah.

    And the plan is to get the green hot sauce (bis baas) up by the weekend inshaa Allah.

  • AA

    LOL Hala… why am i not invited to add on! You will expect an email from me ASAP! I already know who you are dear!

    My moms hot sauce will make you forget about anything you ate before it lol

  • http://divinedelectables.blogspot.com/ Naima

    ibnabeeomar the one I am linking is also mine… I was waiting for this election to finish to post more food recipe… We’ll post more tomorrow inshaAllah.

  • Faiez

    I think chapelle pictured this to be a bit different:

  • http://www.maniacmuslim.com AsimG

    My brother and neighbor went to the rally.

    I don’t think they will get home till like 4 in the morning…

    As a Muslim Democrat in chicago area who supported Obama as a Senator…I’m sorta happy.

    But SO SO WORRIED.

    My heart and my loyalty lies with this ummah, not with the democratic party.

    Ya Raab, protect this ummah.
    Ameen

  • http://www.hahmed.com h. ahmed

    BARACK MUBARAK to all

    and to all a good night :)

  • http://divinedelectables.blogspot.com/ Naima

    I have a feeling this might turn into food discussion.

  • http://www.hahmed.com h. ahmed
  • http://muslimmatters.org/author/ibnabeeomar/ ibnabeeomar

    i commented on a couple of the recipes there.

  • anonysis

    Yay for Prop 8 in California!!!! This was one of the most heated propositions this election.

  • Osman

    actually looks like Prop8 will be shot down unfortunately. Most liberal precincts arent in yet, and the gap is only 4 points.

  • sincethestorm

    200+ comments Daaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnggggg!. Thank God its the end of the election.
    What a night!

  • http://www.ymsite.com Asim

    YEAAAH BARRACK OBAMA. Man I was at Rutgers Uni when it was announced and people burst into tears. What an historic moment! I just got back from going around campus and seeing giant crowds chanting for Barack!

  • http://prayinjamat.com abu abdAllah, the Houstonian

    bismillah. you mean i am one of the few, perhaps the only one of you, who was informed of the outcome on Comedy Central? the Daily Show announced at the same time as all the big channels, as soon as polls closed in the West. i had to flip channels because i thought he might be joking. and he was not.

    i thought McCain in concession was every bit the man he had been before he handed his destiny over to the GOP machinery. at one point he looked truly disgusted with the people who were booing. and if Allah had willed, perhaps he could have been less the good soldier, and more the general. then perhaps he would have seized control of his party and its agenda as his opponent took control of the Democrats. instead he was almost pitiable in the guise of hatemonger, a role better played by and more suited to his cohort.

    we were going back and forth between CNN, MSNBC, and Comedy Central — my mom loved the Daily Show clips certain people have been posting here at MM. :)

  • http://thowheedh.blogspot.com Ali

    Assalamu Alaikum wr wb,

    I enjoyed the discussions here in MM better than election results,alhamdhulillah, its nice to see that finally we as muslim ummah also take part in politics, inshaAllah oneday, one of our ummah be president (yes, we can :-) ).

    Barakumullahu feek and Jazakumullahu Khairan

    P.S: though I’m a newbie commenter, I have been reading MM for more than a year (if i’m not wrong, my first post was, Sh. Yasir Qadhi’s “Off mice and men – The Halal factor )

  • anonysis

    “My heart and my loyalty lies with this ummah, not with the democratic party.

    Ya Raab, protect this ummah.
    Ameen”

    ameen!

  • Ammar

    I’m sorry but I feel compelled to say this now. As your Muslim brother living in Pakistan, I’m actually quite disgusted to see how many American-resident Muslims are happy and enthusiastic with Obama being elected president. This is a man who has openly said that he’ll allow American troops into our country to chase after “terrorists”, and considering the number of illegal attacks already being carried out in our (sovereign?) terroritory (which have not been receiving much attention on MM for some reason), the situation can only get worse. Brothers and sisters, the situation in our northern areas is terrible, the people in these (already) poverty stricken areas are being displaced due to the constant attacks and a major humanitarian disaster is building up in the region.
    I know many of you will say that Obama is the lesser of the two evils… that may be the case, but the fact is that the evil remains and innocent Muslims are suffering terrible hardships because of it. I’m not saying that you should have voted for McCain (or at all for that matter… but I believe that topic is off-limits on this thread)… all I’m saying is how can you be happy that you have a president who has already declared war against the Muslim Ummah before even coming into office?
    Don’t be fooled into thinking that Obama’s “change” will include an ease in the suffering of the Muslim Ummah (except perhaps for you guys in the USA)… the powers that be will continue to drive America’s foreign policy and keep flowing the blood of our brothers and sisters in Palestine, Kashmir, Pakistan and elsewhere around the world.
    Again, Obama was probably the better choice for the USA… but before you rush out to celebrate, just remember your brothers and sisters freezing out here in the pitable refugee camps, and remember that I too could be among them tomorrow.

  • http://duskanddawn.wordpress.com Ameera

    @ Ammar:

    I read with interest what you had to say because really, it’s something my mother has been saying too to me today! I’m a Pakistani too, sitting here in Karachi, watching Americans celebrate Obama’s victory. However, I cannot agree with you in what you say entirely.

    Obama is an American and rightly, he would put his country’s safety first and foremost. For that sake, if there’s a threat from any part of the world, he would move to remove it. Now, what about us? WE, not Obama, are responsbile for OUR safety. If someone says he’s going to take steps to save HIS country, then WE should, for OURS. I wouldn’t jump to “He’s out to kill the Muslim Ummah!!!!”

    We Muslims are neck-deep in conspiracy theories and putting the blame on the world for harmful designs against our Ummah. I know there are vested interests out for the Muslims but I would never pile up everyone from Joe the Plumber to Obama as “crusaders”. It’s just not true. It’s time WE seek our own change. If I were an American Muslim, I’d feel proud to elect such a person, not because he’s “a lesser evil” but because what he says, IN GENEREAL, is all correct. I differ with him on some issues and if he were to recklessly go out and start bombing Muslims right, left and centre (Like a certain two-term serving American president who goes by the name of Bush), I would protest strongly.

    We Muslims love to bury our necks deep in the ground like ostriches. I too used to be like that a couple of years ago, angrily blaming every Jew or Neo-con for bringing us to our misery but I realize now that although those people do exist, they are not majority. The majoirty of the world, the ordinary common citizen is not a hate machine out to get the Muslims. It is we Muslims, surrounded by layers of ignorance and darkness, who are out to destroy ourselves. We must work hard to achieve the like of what was achieved today – a black man elected to the highest office in America. We need such defining moments in the Ummah too, through returning to the Quran and Sunnah, and working HARD for CHANGE to come to our lands too.

    It is not Obama but our own shortcomings, failings, and ignorance that we need to hate. And then, perhaps, we’ll be able, InshAllah.. all through Allah’s help, to scale the heights of success.

  • Nihal Khan

    May Allah (SWT) use Barack Obama for the sake of Islam and beyond! May He make us benefit from his good and save us from his evil. Ameen

  • http://duskanddawn.wordpress.com Ameera

    Across several oceans, Pakistanis must be disappointed to see McCain go. Though I don’t think they knew what would have hit them with McCain. (Amad)

    Are you kidding me? More of Bush? No way, it’s all Obama here… besides the general skepticism about whether *any* one would be good for Pakistanis (read my comment above for thoughts on *that*!).

  • Hassan
  • Ammar

    @Ameera:

    Sister, you don’t seem to be getting my point. I’m certainly not a conspiracy theorist; in fact, when people start talking about Jewish/neo-con/whatever plots to take over the world (which may have more truth to them than you think, by the way), I’m amongst the first to say that such talk is really just a waste of time and energy, and what we need to do first and foremost is to change ourselves. Allah has promised that He will help those who are steadfast in His path, and so the entire world could unite against us, but if our iman is strong then we will surely be successful, just as the army of 313 was against the huge army of the mushrikeen. So we need to correct ourselves first, that point we both agree on.
    What I’m trying to speak against is the way many Muslims seem to be so happy with Obama’s victory, despite the fact that he has said on numerous occasions (and this is well documented and certainly not a conspiracy theory) that he will attack Pakistan in order to kill the so-called militants (by the way, please read up carefully on who is actually being targetted, and don’t believe all the stuff the Pakistani media is serving up… it’ll be quite an eye-opener for you). So in effect, Muslims are feeling joy in electing (or seeing elected) a man who has openly said that he will kill their fellow Muslim brothers and sisters.
    With Allah lies our ultimate respect and our safety.

    PS: @UK SISTER, plz tone down a bit… we shouldn’t be attacking each other like this.

  • http://ummreem.wordpress.com Umm Reem

    We Muslims love to bury our necks deep in the ground like ostriches. I too used to be like that a couple of years ago, angrily blaming every Jew or Neo-con for bringing us to our misery but I realize now that although those people do exist, they are not majority. The majoirty of the world, the ordinary common citizen is not a hate machine out to get the Muslims. It is we Muslims, surrounded by layers of ignorance and darkness, who are out to destroy ourselves. We must work hard to achieve the like of what was achieved today – a black man elected to the highest office in America. We need such defining moments in the Ummah too, through returning to the Quran and Sunnah, and working HARD for CHANGE to come to our lands too.

    you said it so eloquently, mashaAllah…
    Pakistan had its chance to change things, but guess who they chose for a change!!

    Besides, we Muslims in America are happy that the worse of the two are gone, walhamdullialh. And although we maybe fearful of the what will happen next, we as Muslims, optimists, we have HOPES that Allah will ease the situation of Muslims through this “change”. You can scroll up and see most of the comments have du’as to Allah hoping for the best with this.

  • http://www.mujahideenryder.net MR

    The UK Muslim community is probably the most divided community in the entire non-Muslim world. Here in North America, the scholars unite upon similarities and agree to differ in the peaceful humble manner. Aren’t the UK jails full of Muslims who deal drugs, commit crimes and are the “gangstas’ of the UK. In America, the Muslims give dawah in the jails and convert 1,000s of them to Islam. The UK Muslim community has far to go. Regardless of elections and voting, the division and the wide spread of “thug” culture amongst the UK Muslim youth is disgusting. The disunity within the UK Muslim ummah. I could go on, but I’m sure all the UK Muslims agree they have problems of their own that is unique only to the UK Muslims.

    May Allah (swt) give strength and wisdom of the Prophet (saas) and the Sahaabah to the Muslims around the world. Ameen!

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    I really don’t want this discussion to spin off in another tangent about who is better for Pakistan, etc. That is one issue out of many. And this post is not for discussing issues (the debate post can be used for that).

    This post was for sharing the American voting experience… I thought I was quite explicit in that regard. So, please accept my advance apologies as I will remove any further comments that continue to go off on a tangent.

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    btw – the SINGLE GREATEST thing about this election:

    No more Sarah Palin.

    In fact, Sarah is probably bracing for a presidential run in 2012, with Joe-the-plumber as chief economic adviser. She’ll probably be joined by Jindal Singh, and then we will truly have a pair that “loves” Muslims.

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    Just to temper the excitement, here’s the first potentially disappointing news:

    Obama’s Israeli adviser: Next White House chief of staff?

    US Congressman Rahm Emanuel, who served as Clinton’s adviser after volunteering for IDF service during Gulf War, may be appointed chief of staff if Democratic presidential candidate wins elections

    [Source]

    What did we think? AIPAC is just going to wither away??

  • http://duskanddawn.wordpress.com Ameera

    @Ammar:

    You might have missed my point there for a bit. I’m not labelling what you say as “conspiracy theories”… in fact I did say that there are vested interests out to target Muslim lands (Neo-cons, Zionists, etc.) and I know that innocent civillians are suffering the most in the tribal areas conflict. My point basically was that we cannot look at Obama just through his one statement, during his campaign, on sending troops into Pakistan. Looking at the bigger picture, and looking at him in the context of who he is (an American at the end of the day, looking out for the best for his country) and also that boradly speaking, his arrival does signal some *change* (compared to Mc Cain, Bush and the whole lot)… then it wouldn’t be so surprising that Obama is being supported here. And for that same reason, I would like very much to hope that when he assumes office, the relentless and senseless use of brute force will be toned down. Remember, people today are more wary of war than they were back in 2001 for instance – that’s why they voted for the candidate who wasn’t beating solely on war drums in his campaign.

    As Umm Reem pointed out, Muslims here are making duas too. So, caution and hope are what we need to depend on right now when it comes to effects on Muslims. Meanwhile, the very fact that a black person has achieved something the world only dreamt of putting in practice today (like Bilal (ra)r in the time of the Prophet(saw), speaking only of the racial isue and not Iman that is) is something that I feel good about today. Whether Muslim or Non Muslim, if anyone takes a good step and here this is one which the Quran had already declared 1400 years ago, I’ll appreciate it any day!

  • http://duskanddawn.wordpress.com Ameera

    @ Amad:

    Thank you for the reminder. :) Agreed.

  • Hassan

    Amad (Author) said:

    Just to temper the excitement, here’s the first potentially disappointing news:

    Obama’s Israeli adviser: Next White House chief of staff?

    US Congressman Rahm Emanuel, who served as Clinton’s adviser after volunteering for IDF service during Gulf War, may be appointed chief of staff if Democratic presidential candidate wins elections

    [Source]

    What did we think? AIPAC is just going to wither away??

    And I was thinking he may take some scholar who fought in Afghan jihad against Russia as Chief of Staff, how wrong I was…

  • Hassan

    So in terms of electoral votes according to MSNBC, Obama has 349 and 1 state left, North Carolina that can also go to him, making his total 364.

  • http://reemosworld.wordpress.com Reem

    sarah palin helped obama win.. GO PALIN!! because mccain picked palin.. everyone voted for obama because palin is weird..lol

  • http://thowheedh.blogspot.com Ali

    I agree with Br. Reem, if obama does a decent job (at least not messing up too much with the economy) then, if Palin gonna go far 2012, i think thats the best Obama can expect for his win in 2012.

    PALE-IN was primary factor in the loosing of McCain – for the slogan “Country First”, her pick was so contradictory. Lets wait what gonna happen in the next four years, may Allah make us enjoy the good things and protect us from the evils…

    We Muslims love to bury our necks deep in the ground like ostriche

    whether we like it or not, thats the state of affairs of our ummah right now… may Allah guide us to the right path..

  • http://reemosworld.wordpress.com Reem

    ^lol.. brother reem…. i am a 11 year old sister reem :)

  • http://www.workingforone.com AbdelRahman

    While he is the lesser of the two evils, people need to remember that he’s not the Mahdi, and he’s not the Abyssinian negis from the time of the Prophet [saw]. Basically, he’s not the savior for Muslims. We should be happy that a degree of justice will (hopefully) be brought to DC, but Muslims are literally acting as if they’ve been told they’re going to enter Jannah. Subhan Allah, lets keep it all in perspective, people. :-)

  • Hassan

    AbdelRahman said:

    While he is the lesser of the two evils, people need to remember that he’s not the Mahdi, and he’s not the Abyssinian negis from the time of the Prophet [saw]. Basically, he’s not the savior for Muslims. We should be happy that a degree of justice will (hopefully) be brought to DC, but Muslims are literally acting as if they’ve been told they’re going to enter Jannah. Subhan Allah, lets keep it all in perspective, people. :-)

    Well said. We should wait to see his steps and act accordingly. Unfortunately Bush lowered our standards so much that we are happy for anything now.

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    AbdelRahman… can I sum it up in two words: cautious optimism?

    Inshallah, we will have a combined MM output (post) later tonight, which will probably touche on a lot of sentiment that others have mentioned.

    I speak for myself, I am not giddy about it. Its always been relative for me, and I am very excited to have McCain/Palin defeated. And I want to thank Obama for bringing me back to earth quickly with his potential choice of chief of staff. I don’t care if Obama fills his cabinet with 99% Jews, as long as they are qualified for the job. But to give us someone who volunteered in the Israel Defense Forces is a step backwards. Because what do you suppose Emanuel is going to be pushing forth in the next cabinet choices?

    Anyways, life goes on.

    Also thank you brother Reem for the insightful comment ;)

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    And btw, the stock market is cheering the victory, down by 200 points. Just another tempering :)

  • Zaynab

    Congrats to the American Muslims :D
    Alhamdulillah, this looks like a good sign in our quest for equality and countering Islamophobia. wAllahu alam.

    And was anyone watch CNN…did you see the HOLOGRAM of Will.i.am? My favourite line of the night –
    Anderson Cooper: and we’re now joined by Will.i.am via hologram.
    HA! I <3 CNN and their crazy technology.

  • http://tayyibaat.wordpress.com AmatulWadood

    It was exciting while it lasted.

    I like how Imam Suhaib Webb put it: http://www.suhaibwebb.com/blog/general/joys-hopes-and-aspirations/

  • http://thowheedh.blogspot.com Ali

    @ Sr. Reem, my bad, excuse my ignorance…. mashaAllah 11 years old and active……. way to go sisters!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Miako

    Competency first.
    As they say in my faith, moderation in all things… including moderation!
    So celebrate now, but be prepared to hold their feet to the fire, so to speak. Accountability Next!

    Rahm’s been a decent strategist, and a bit of a jerk. But he was a CIVILIAN volunteer. Please do not repeat lies.

    Interestingly enough, he helped with the Rabin/Arafat talks. So, in him too, there is hope.

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org AnonyMouse

    PLEASE no more politics now! Haha… although I have to admit, all the hype infected me somewhat – I had a nightmare in which McCain actually beat Obama at the last moment – so alHamdulillaah when I woke up this morning the first thing I did after brushing my teeth was go make sure that Obama had actually won!

  • Osman

    alhamdulillah. With Rahm as the COS, aint that reason for us to celebrate? why do we continue to delude ourselves?

  • LearningArabic

    I agree with everyone who said that we need to keep things in perspective. Personally, I am satisfied that history was made and that we have a president now that will at the very least, be a better president than Bush or McCain. However, it is still important for us to realize that he is not going to fix everything and he will likely do things that will still upset our community and our ummah.

    For all of you that voted and even those that didn’t, we need to realize that our civic engagement needs to extend beyond this election. We need to continually be involved and allow our voices to be heard. I was also disappointed to hear that Obama may now appoint Rahm Emanuel to Chief of Staff. But instead of complaining about these issues, we need to ask ourselves what we can do to insure that our positions are also heard and work within our capacity to offset AIPAC’s influence.

    In the end, we have two options:

    1. We can either keep complaining and bickering
    OR
    2. We can actually try to do something to bring about the changes that we all are hoping for despite the different views that we may share as Muslims.

    In the end, I hope and pray that we move ahead in a positive direction and use whatever means are available to us to continue working for the deen and to continue improving our condition in the ummah.

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    Miako, I am sorry, but what lies did I repeat? The source is quoted, if it is wrong, let us know. I hope this Rahm issue has a silver lining… so by all means address the issues. No need for personal attacks.

  • http://circleofikhlas.wordpress.com usman

    Salaam, for the very first time in my life i felt very proud to be an american last night. i was excited about obamas victory. looking into the future we as muslims can hope for good…i really wish i was in chicago last night….if we can elect an african american then inshallah we can have a muslim in office as well

    As i was happy last night i was also sad…looking at this great country and how far they have come…i was thinking about our state in the world…we should be the leaders we should be so proud in our countries for great leaders…but we r not…we do not have anyone like barack obama…that thought was the only downside…inshallah this country is headed in the right direction and we can only pray for her.

  • http://muslimology.org Dawud Israel

    HUGS ALL AROUND!!!
    I been hugging as many bros as i can today…so emotional…

    -tears-

    The Obama Nama has begun (Persian for “The Epic of Obama”)

    I am wondering if Black people will try to “own” him now…

  • http://www.hahmed.com h. ahmed

    For all those complaining about “no more politics” – thats not the stance Muslims should take.

    Now that most of our candidates have won – we have to work hard to continue pushing them to pursue the agendas that made us so supportive of them; i.e. shut down gitmo, end the war, etc.

    Lets also encourage more Muslims to enter the political arena and support them. Keith Ellison and Andre Carson (Muslim Congressmen) were both re-elected! It seems as if the glass celing for black politicians has been broken. Where are the Desi-Americans, Arab-Americans, SouthEast Asian Americans in politics?

    This is just the beginning…. we still have a long way to go to overcome the last 8 years….

    We supported Obama and other democrats and gave them power – now we have to make sure they live up to their promises and act in our interests iA… and then iA real change will come.

  • Miako

    Amad,

    As the wikipedia article notes, Rahm was not actually a member of the IDF — seems he worked on repairing brakes, or something like that. As this has been a point of deliberate misleading by his political opponents, it pays to keep the facts straight.

    Glad to shed a pinch of light, and naturally if you weren’t trying to spread lies (which we can clearly see you weren’t), I wasn’t insulting you! I think I more meant it as a “psst! …that’s not quite true” anyhow. ;-)

    Here’s to a better America, and more representation for all of its citizens! (okay, so we got the Jew in the cabinet… can we get a Muslim too?)

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    Gotcha Miako. I won’t be holding my breath for a Muslim in the cabinet, but I sure will be looking forward to his mosque visit :)

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    Only 13 diggs with 200+ comments… comeon folks, where’s the DIGGING now?? :)

    DIGG, DIGG, DIGG!

  • bint al noor

    I’m soo Happy!!!!!!

    I feel that this is soo surreal. I remember going out to vote for the primaries and hoping that Barack will make it. I was ecstatic then, I’m smilling all day today!!!

    I’m so glad he is our new President! I was so happy to vote Barack yesterday.

    I got a few stares I wish I had an Obama sticker on so ppl wouldn’t think that I would ever vote republican (because I’m obviously a ‘conservative’ muslim –wearing a abaya). But my voting experience went great.

    Congratulations America!

  • http://www.workingforone.com AbdelRahman

    AmatulWadood said:

    It was exciting while it lasted.

    I like how Imam Suhaib Webb put it: http://www.suhaibwebb.com/blog/general/joys-hopes-and-aspirations/

    AMEN to what Imam Suhaib said.

    Not the Mahdi, not the Najashee from Abyssinia during the time of the Prophet [saw] – he’s Barack Obama. And although he’s a refreshing change from the regime we’ve had lead this country for the last 8 years, remember that in the end, politics is not controlled by just one man and his ideas – it is an intricate system (game?) that has to follow rules. So while I believe his intentions are noble and his goals are upright, there are a lot of promises that he may not be able to keep.

    He’s a charismatic guy with a possibly bright future, but remember that he is not God, he is not the Prophet [saw], he’s not someone we should look at and be dependent upon, nor should we put all our trust in him; our trust and hopes and dreams and wishes and wants and needs are for Allah to hear and for Allah to grant, whether it’s through Obama or someone else.

    May Allah help this Ummah insha Allah, ameen.

  • bint al noor

    Nicely put Abdelrahman. I’m still really happy!!! :D

  • http://muslimology.org Dawud Israel

    Ponder this for a moment:

    If this is the joy of Obama…think of how much greater the joy of having Imam Mahdi or Eesa alayhi salam will be?

    :)

    ‘Nuff said.

  • alif

    obama is going to end up worse than bush.. but of course, only time will tell

  • Anisa

    The reason why certain groups greatly influence (better term would be control/dominate) international relations/forgein policy, legislation, media, etc is because they are united. They are united not for khair, BUT they are united. They have lobbies, $$, one common goal, ….

    On the other hand Muslims are struggling with this unity issue from the local MSA to the Muslim countries there is no unity whatsoever.
    Once we start working on ourselves, insha’Allah ta’ala, we will come out of this miserable state, the first step is to return to our beautiful religion, it’s fundamentals, (esp pure Tawheed) instead of running from it or (as some ignorant or misguided Muslims do) ‘add’ to or ‘subtract’ from it. Astaghfirullah

    May Allah guide the Muslims BACK to their religion, AMEEN

    Ma’Salaama

  • IbnAbbas

    wow 250+ comments!!…. im happy that BUSH is out and I won’t see his ugly face on news anymore (boy dont ask how much I hate it) but can’t imagine any good from Barack either.

    oo muslims do not get too excited! they are all the thorns of the same plant, some very sharp and some little less sharp but all pretty much capable of bleeding the skin.

    Hassan, very close call mashallah.

  • OsmanK

    us canadians are actually in shock that we just voted a right-wing government in, while one month later, the americans actually vote a left-wing government. its like the world has turned upside down.

  • Nihal Khan

    This has to be the longest + most discussed thread on MM, ever!

  • imran

    Why are we celebrating Obama’s win? I’m sorry to say but this is a little disappointing. What makes people believe that Obama will be any better than the status quo? So what if he pulls out of Iraq and instead puts more troops in Pakistan/Afghanistan so he can attack another country without the approval from that country’s president? How about his very pro-Israel stance during his years as an Illinois senator? Look no further than his first cabinet appointment – Rahm Emanuel, a former IDF member whose father was part of a militant Zionist group.

  • http://www.muslimmatters.org Amad

    Here’s another reminder: No comments besides “American voting experience” or thoughts on the election.

    We are not talking about foreign policies or any other policies here, on this post. I am sorry I let a few through. I am squeezing the lid back on. So, please don’t be offended to see your comments disappear if you stray away from the clearly set rules.

  • http://muslimmatters.org/author/ibnabeeomar/ ibnabeeomar

    i think there’s 2 things at play here – for me – after reading through the comments.

    1) obama is not good for the muslims. you’re not going to find dispute from me on that point. i simply think he’s not as bad as mccain.

    2) the ‘celebration’ of obama being president is not for what he will do for muslims, but rather its a culmination of a lot of civil rights struggle in america. there are still people alive who existed at the time when things like the jim crow laws were in effect, when they couldnt vote, and not to mention the countless other injustices that have occurred against African-Americans through the decades. We have seen the fall of pioneers like MLK and Malcolm X. Obama winning means a lot to people because it is a final chapter to this. It’s like the significance of jackie robinson playing in the big leagues. We’ve gone from a full denial of rights to african-americans to one being put in the highest office in the country.

    its not about obama as much as it is the symbolism of what’s happened here. it is a historic moment in every sense of the word, and there is something to be appreciated in that. i also think that muslims can draw some lessons from this, because we face persecution now, but it was not as difficult as what they faced before, so inshallah we have hope :)

  • Mana

    People need to come down with their negative views towards Obama. American has the right to defend itself from harm.

    @Imran, American lives are also important my brother. If someone comes to the US and attacks them or welcomes those that attack the US then the US has the right to go to that country and take care of business. We Muslims live in this country and if someone wants to harm us our government has a job to do. WE have the right to defend ourselves even if that other country is a Muslim country because we are Muslims that live in this country and we want peace just like everyone else.

    Now let’s celebrate on our victory because president Obama will change the world and how the world looks at the USA. And God willing he won’t attack a country that didn’t attack first.

    May Allah forgive me if I said anything wrong.

  • Mana

    And please don’t delete my comment because I am not saying anything wrong I am did talk about our election :-)

  • arote

    after living for 15+ years in this country, i finally applied for citizenship just to be able to vote in this election; unfortunately, an issue is delaying the process in its final step, so i wasn’t able to vote :( regardless, i am so proud of obama and what he stands for that it makes no difference to me right now, i feel like my fervent prayers have been answered! so even if you can’t/don’t vote, always make du’aa for the best to happen! it just feels SO good to finally have someone with strong ideals, alhamdolillah

  • http://tayyibaat.wordpress.com AmatulWadood

    Nihal Khan said:

    This has to be the longest + most discussed thread on MM, ever!
    -November 5th, 2008 at 11:38 pm

    MashaAllah, and it’s not about marriage, jinns, doritos or mathaahib. Seriously that deserves some type of recognition.

  • http://www.workingforone.com AbdelRahman

    Emanuel offered top Obama slot
    Posted: Tuesday, November 04, 2008 8:29 PM by Carrie Dann
    From NBC’s Mike Viqueira

    Three House Democratic sources confirmed Rep. Rahm Emanuel has been offered a Chief of Staff job with an Obama White House and is currently “agonizing” over whether to take the job.

    First item of business: offer Zionist and former Israeli soldier the position of Chief of Staff.

    Yes we can.

  • mulsimah

    just wanted to say that actually many many pakistanis have more trust in obama than mcain.. if you read the news about what the pakistanis saying.
    also my inlaws called after and said every one is so excited and were so sure obama was gonna win.. and he said everyone ‘here’ wants obama to win!!!!!!

  • http://reemosworld.wordpress.com Reem

    obama’s kids are lucky.. they get to move to the white house… why can’t my dad become president like he said in his class when he was a kid :)

  • Miako

    AbdelRahman,
    Do not repeat lies. He was not an Israeli soldier, but is an American citizen who served in a civilian capacity (interestingly enough, his father was Israeli).

    and chief of staff doesn’t touch policy with a ten foot pole! (I checked. *halo*)

  • http://www.workingforone.com AbdelRahman

    AbdelRahman,
    Do not repeat lies. He was not an Israeli soldier, but is an American citizen who served in a civilian capacity (interestingly enough, his father was Israeli).

    and chief of staff doesn’t touch policy with a ten foot pole! (I checked. *halo*)

    His father wasn’t merely an Israeli, he was part of a Zionist terrorist organization.

    Revelations about Obama’s relationship with Bill Ayers, a Weather Underground domestic terrorist, which dogged him during the final weeks of the campaign trail, pale in significance to his selection of Emanuel, whose father, Benjamin M. Emanuel, was an Irgun member.

    Irgun has been labeled a terrorist organization by both The New York Times newspaper and by the Anglo-American Committee of Enquiry.

    Irgun was closely affiliated with the widely feared hardcore terrorist Stern Gang, an organization that carried out assassinations, train bombings and bombed police stations in an attempt to pave the way for unrestricted immigration of Jews into Palestine. Irgun operated in Palestine between 1931 and 1948.

    And he did in the IDF, albeit as a technician, but still carries that IDF attitude with him:

    The son of a man who helped carry out this slaughter has now been selected by Obama to be his chief-of-staff. Cries of “sins of the father” lose their gusto when one considers the fact that, after the 1996 re-election of Bill Clinton, Rahm Emanuel “Was so angry at the president’s enemies that he stood up at a celebratory dinner with colleagues from the campaign, grabbed a steak knife and began rattling off a list of betrayers, shouting ‘Dead! … Dead! … Dead!’ and plunging the knife into the table after every name.” Sounds like a nice guy.

    Rahm Emanuel is also an enthusiastic supporter of the United States Public Service Academy Act, a lobbying group founded in 2006 in order to promote the foundation of an American public service academy modeled on the military academies – a youth corps whose students would be trained in “civilian internship in the armed forces”.

    womp womp

  • http://www.workingforone.com AbdelRahman

    Also, about the duties of Chief of Staff:

    Job duties

    The roles of the Chief of Staff are both managerial and advisory and can include the following duties, depending on the President’s style of conducting business:[4]

    [edit] Managerial

    * Select key White House staff and supervise them
    * Structure the White House staff system
    * Control the flow of people into the Oval Office
    * Manage the flow of information

    [edit] Advisory

    * Advise the President on issues of politics, policy and management issues
    * Protect the interests of the President
    * Negotiate with Congress, other members of the executive branch, and extragovernmental political groups to implement the President’s agenda

    Some[who?] have suggested that a powerful Chief of Staff with a “hands-off” president (who decides not to become involved in the minutiæ of government), can become a de facto prime minister. Such prime ministers exist in some governmental systems, such as France’s and Russia’s: The prime minister runs the government (operations-wise), while the president remains somewhat aloof from the political process, but personally handling policy matters. Under Ronald Reagan, Donald Regan was seen by many as a prime minister-style Chief of Staff following James Baker. Howard Baker, who succeeded Regan, was critical of this system and what is sometimes known as the “Imperial Presidency.”

    By contrast, Andrew Card, President George W. Bush’s first Chief of Staff, was not regarded as being as powerful. Some have speculated that this was due to Card being “overshadowed” by the influence of Karl Rove, the Senior Adviser and Deputy Chief of Staff who was “the architect” of Bush’s political rise.[5] Similarly, President Bill Clinton’s Chiefs of Staff were not particularly powerful.

    How does ” selecting key White House staff and supervise them, structuring the White House staff system, controlling the flow of people into the Oval Office, and managing the flow of information” not affect the policy of our country??

    source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House_Chief_of_Staff#Job_duties

  • http://ummreem.wordpress.com Umm Reem
  • http://www.hahmed.com h. ahmed

    I would like to encourage all readers to please sign this letter asking President Elect barack Hussein Obama to close Guantánamo Bay prison, shut down military commissions, and ban torture.

    http://closegitmo.com/

    Also – for all those obama haters – i wrote up the following: I hope its beneficial and answers most of your concerns about him.

    http://www.hahmed.com/blog/2008/11/10/why-barack-obama-matters/

  • muslim

    May Allah guide all muslims

  • Umm Ismael

    Asslam u alaikum wr wb
    It is with interest that I have (tried to) read the many comments on the “American voting Experience”. I am a Pakistani. Many of us are slightly relieved at being free from the likes of Mc Cain. Moreover it is indeed a historic moment when a coloured man is voted in as President of a super power. Many a lesson to be learnt from his attitude.
    However please don’t be harsh when Pakistanis seem apprehensive. We have been suffering so much from American foriegn policy that now we are only fearful of what will come next.
    People need to come down with their negative views towards Obama. American has the right to defend itself from harm.

    “@Imran, American lives are also important my brother. If someone comes to the US and attacks them or welcomes those that attack the US then the US has the right to go to that country and take care of business. We Muslims live in this country and if someone wants to harm us our government has a job to do. WE have the right to defend ourselves even if that other country is a Muslim country because we are Muslims that live in this country and we want peace just like everyone else.”

    Please do NOT assert that innocent civilians living in a world far removed from civilized America were out to attack Americans. I think that is a bit of a stretch.
    May ALLAH Guide Obama to wisdom and truth. Ameen.

  • wali
  • Viobbyine

    Nothing seems to be easier than seeing someone whom you can help but not helping.
    I suggest we start giving it a try. Give love to the ones that need it.
    God will appreciate it.

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