Sunday Open Thread 12/22/08

First of all, a huge jazakumAllahu khairan and much appreciation from us at MM to you, the readers, for your support and votes at the Brass Crescent Awards. MuslimMatters won the award for Best Group Blog, and we couldn't have done it without you. May Allah purify our intentions and accept our good deeds, ameen.

Most of the hujjaaj have returned by now, with gifts and stories for friends and family and a personal spiritual experience for themselves that they will never forget. In the meantime, for those of us who still dream about visiting Makkah al-Mukarramah one day, check this link out for some beautiful pictures (like the one featured here) of this year's Hajj and 'Eid al-Adha around the world.

Some time ago, yours truly wrote a response to the novelist Sherry Jones' book “Jewel of Medina.” At a more professional level, Lorraine Adams of the New York Times wrote a book review of the novel, commendable for its critical (although mostly neutral) take on it. It's nice to see Ms. Jones' book recognized for the junk it is.

On the other side of the spectrum, a deeply disturbing article was written by Lawrence Kulak in the “5 Towns Jewish Times” publication. His article, titled “The Appropriate Response to Islamic Terror” concludes with the following:

the only way to deal with Islamic terrorists is the same way in which they deal with their victims. Muslims believe in the literal interpretation of the Biblical doctrine of an eye for an eye, and they do not have respect for anything perceived as a lesser standard of justice. They killed our innocents, and unless we kill theirs, they will go on killing ours. The Torah, however, preaches a doctrine which, if implemented by the West, could finally put an end to all Islamic terror: If somebody is coming to kill you, rise up and kill him first.

Hate speech and Holocaust, anyone?

A relevant follow-up to the above: “Making Islamophobia Mainstream.” Steve Randall and Isabel Macdonald do an excellent job in pointing out how Islamophobia is rapidly becoming more and more acceptable within mainstream media and the general public.

“Children of a Mixed Message: how the generational dynamics have weakened the Muslim community in America and made it harder to raise our families” by Amer Haleem is a long and somewhat time-consuming read, but well worth it. I strongly encourage you all to take the time to read it… just like I'm going to, as soon as I'm done this  :)

Let us not forget Dr. Sami al-Arian:

www.FreeSamiNow.com

DOJ Admits: Dr. Al-Arian was Physically and Verbally Abused

Alexandria, VA – December 9, 2008 – Late last week, the Department ofJustice's Office of Inspector General (OIG) sent a letter to Dr.Al-Arian's counsel regarding its 18-month-long investigation regardingallegations that Dr. Al-Arian had been mistreated and abused byofficers from the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

The letter from the OIG states: “The OIG determined that thepreponderance of the evidence supports Al-Arian's allegation that hewas verbally abused by two correctional officers during thetransportation process from FCC [Federal Correctional Complex]Petersburg to Alexandria, Virginia, on January 18, 2007, and April 12,2007. We also found that one of these officers physically abused Al-Arian on April 12, 2007, by pushing him into a wall at the USMS [U.S. Marshall Service] detention facility.”

Last January, during the course of the investigation, Dr. Al-Arian was given a polygraph examination regarding the incident. The FBI agent who administered the examination remarked that Dr. Al-Arian had
“passed with flying colors.”

It should be noted that, on average, the OIG investigates only one complaint out of every 10,000 submitted. There can be no doubt that the flood of letters and phone calls from thousands of conscientious people concerned with Dr. Al-Arian's situation like you prompted the OIG to carry out this investigation.

Send a Brief Message to the OIG!

The Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace would like to urge Dr. Al-Arian's supporters to send a brief email to the OIG, thanking them for their investigation, and urging them to hold the offending officers accountable to prevent future incidents from occurring. You can contact the OIG by email:

inspector.general@usdoj.gov
(Please make sure to BCC (not CC!!) tampabayjustice@yahoo.com )

Finally, don't forget about Texas Dawah. It starts in a few days and it is probably one of the best Islamic conference FOR FAMILIES in the nation. No doubt there are excellent conferences all around the nation, but this one is especially designed for families.

Check out the schedules for the events, esp. the ones for kids! Awesome!