Domestic Violence Series: A Hidden Evil and Muslim Communities

An Imam's Guide to dealing with Domestic Violence

Psychological Tsunami: Effects of Domestic Abuse
 

By Shaykh Joe Bradford

First Half of Khutbah
God says:
“And we wrote in the Psalms (zabur), after having sent down the Torah, that “the righteous will inherit the earth”; in this is a message for the worshipful; and we have sent you only as a mercy to all of creation.” [Sūrah al-Anbiyā: 105-108]

The Messenger of God was mercy to all of creation; to Muslim and non-Muslim; to young and old; to man and woman; to adult and child. He exemplified for us merciful acts and how to realize God's mercy in our lives. He guided us to the etiquette and ethics of all we need to gain salvation in this life and the next, through submission to the word and command of God and realizing his word in our daily lives.

Was this mercy unrestricted? Was his mercy and compassion unregulated, so much that he allowed for everyone to do anything without consequence, without speaking out against injustice and wrong?

There were, on a few occasions, instances where some people had transgressed so far that the Prophet gave up on them, supplicating to God to handle them.

Here are a few examples:

a) While in Makkah, the Quraysh would harass the Prophet and throw animal remains on his back, he supplicated “Oh God, deal with Quraysh.” [1]

b) The Messenger sent a letter to Khusro, emperor of Persia, inviting him to Islam. He tore it up, so the Prophet supplicated “They will be torn apart as a nation.” [2]

c) Due to the high level or transgression, aggression, torture and enmity shown by some of the leaders of Quraysh, the Prophet supplicated against them saying “Oh God deal with Abū Jahl; deal with `Utbah ibn Rabīah; and Shaybah ibn Rabīah; and al-Walīd ibn `Utbah; and Umayyah ibn Khalaf; and Uqbah ibn Abi Mu'ayt.” [3]

How many of us want to take the chance?

How many of us would like to place ourselves in the shoes of Khusro, Abū Jahl, `Utbah, Shaybah, al-Walīd ibn `Utbah, and Umayyah ibn Khalaf?

How many of us could deal with knowing that the Messenger of God, whose supplications are accepted by default, has supplicated against us?

How many of us would be comforted to know that due to our own transgressions have become so despicable that the man entrusted by God himself to establish God's will on earth has called upon the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth to deal personally with us?

I'll tell you of one such man:

`Alī ibn Abī Tālib narrated that the wife of a man in Madīnah came to the Messenger of God, complaining of her husband. The Messenger of God heard her case, and said to her: “Go back and tell him that I am in the Messenger of God's protection”. So she went back, and after some time she came back to the Messenger saying “He hasn't stopped/Hasn't left me alone”. At this, the Messenger of God took his shirt and cut a piece off of it, gave it to the woman, and said “Go back to him and tell him that the Messenger of God said: This is a piece of my shirt.” (as evidence and a summons so that he could be tried for his actions) She left and later returned saying “Oh Messenger of God! He only beat me more!” He then raised his hands and supplicated:“Oh God, deal with Walīd! Oh God, deal with Walīd! Oh God, deal with Walīd!” [4]

How many of us could deal with knowing that the Messenger of God, whose supplications are accepted by default, has supplicated against us?

That we, due to our own transgressions, have become so despicable that the Prophet had given up on us and called upon God himself to deal with us?

Domestic Abuse is a reality in our communities, it is not something that affects non-Muslims alone, but all of humanity.

Did you know?

- Around the world at least one woman in every three has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime. Most often the abuser is a member of her own family.

- Twelve million women (25% of the female population) will be abused in their lifetime.

- Up to 35% of women and 22% of men presenting to the emergency department have experienced domestic violence.

Abuse is not exclusive to one gender, age group, ethnicity, or national origin. But it is an issue that we as a community must come to terms with, and must not tolerate.

There are many types of abuse, and many of you may be saying “The vast majority of us have never inflicted physical, emotional, or verbal abuse, never will, and can never imagine it.” Some of you may even think that this message has no weight. But it does, because like it or not we have people that frequent our congregations that abuse their families. And if, Alhamdulillah, you are not one of those people, it is your responsibility to take this message today to others and help to prevent abuse before it occurs.

Physical Abuse

When speaking on physical abuse, some of you may be saying to yourselves “I have license to do such a thing”; i.e. that mentioned in the verse 4:34.

I don't want to get into too many specifics about that verse, or even quote it here. But let's be honest, you won't find abusive people thumbing through the Qur'ān and ḥadīth to find out what he or she should or should not be doing before they lash out at their loved ones. You will find them trying to justify their actions afterwards by misapplying this verse.

Abusive people are not following God's guidance, and are certainly not following the injunctions in the verse to advise, then to separate, so-on and so-forth. But to prevent any further misuse of this verse, let's make it clear, authorities on the Qur'ān have read this verse in three ways:

1. Some held that this verse means for a man to show he is angry to his wife, nothing more. This is the explanation made by `Atā, one of the greatest scholars of the Quran. [5]

2. Others state that what God permitted in 4:34 was only after a series of conditions are met as a way of restricting already rampant abusive behavior.

3. Another restricts that to only those that have state authority to reprimand and penalize its citizenry. Just as the only person that will apply the law to men are the state authorities, the same goes with applying this verse to women. The verse, read contextually with those before and after it, point to this.

In short, arguments can be made for days on end as to which of these positions is more correct. The real test of this verse is what we as believers are going to do with it. In other words, what responsibility will you take for your actions when situations like this occur? How will we react?

Regardless of interpretation one thing is clear: those that are abusive are not in line with any of these three readings of the verse. Can anyone actively abusing a loved one honestly say that they have fulfilled any of the stipulations above?

Let's be honest with ourselves, the answer is no. Had they been, they would have sought counsel beforehand, and the problem would not have escalated.

Other forms of Abuse

While many of us may have not committed physical abuse, we have, however committed lower levels of abuse. By neglecting our loved one's needs, by raising our voices at home and not holding back anger, or by being demeaning and being condescending when speaking to our family members.
These constitute domestic abuse as well, and they embolden the anger and resentment within us to build up to the point where few who had never imagined that they would, will commit the unimaginable.

Let me ask the men in the room: If I were to tie you down in a chair, and say all of the worst things to you, things that I won't mention on the Minbar, then spit in your face, what would you want to do to me?

Let's say that you were pulled over by the police, and the policeman said the same to you. You would probably want to deck him, but you wouldn't; you'd show restraint. Why is it easy for you to restrain yourself with those that have no relation to you, but not with those that you love? These are honest questions that you have to ask yourself.

Verbal Abuse

The Prophet warned of verbally abusing each other, and our families have the most right to be safe from our tongues.
He (ṣallallāhu `alayhi wa-sallam) said: “Whoever says to his brother “Oh Kāfir”, then its applies to at least one of them.” [6]

He (ṣallallāhu `alayhi wa-sallam) also said “To curse a believer is like murdering him.” [7]

Because of this danger, he also said “Whoever preserves that between his jaws will have paradise.” [8]

Is not calling someone a disbeliever a form of verbal abuse? Why then do we use the term “kāfir” to refer to our loved ones when they do something that we feel is improper or un-Islamic? Why do we hear about men calling their wives prostitutes, or mothers and fathers using that word to refer to their daughters? Is this not verbal abuse? Would you like for people to refer to you in this way?

Emotional Abuse

We all know of the story of two of the Sahabah, one of whom his wife was distraught and in a bad physical and mental shape; the Prophet informed this women's husband: “Your body has rights, your Lord has rights, your guests have rights, your family has rights; given everyone that has a right their due.” [9]
At times we say and do things, even if we are doing something that is correct, that can cause neglect to be shown to those that we are entrusted with caring for.

Remember: Prevention is better than cure

The Prophet said “The worst of people are those that are quick to anger, but slow to self-correct.” [10]

He (ṣallallāhu `alayhi wa-sallam) also said “The best of acts is to cause another Muslim to feel joy.” [11]; can we say that the opposite is true then, that the one of the worst acts is to cause another Muslim to be depressed and sad?

He (ṣallallāhu `alayhi wa-sallam) said “The strong amongst you is not one of physical strength; the strong is the person who restrains themselves when angry.” [12]

Allāh praises restraint saying:

“Race to forgiveness from your Lord, and paradise; the expanse of which is like the heavens and earth; prepared for the believers. Those that spend in hardship and ease; restrain their anger; and they forgive the people. And God love those that strive for excellence.” [Sūrah Āl-`Imrān: 133-134]

May God make us from those that strive for excellence, restrain our anger, and respect our families.

Second half of Khutbah:

God says:
“We presented the trust to the Heavens, the earth, and the mountains; but they refused to carry it; frightened by the responsibility. But instead Man carried it; he was iniquitous and very ignorant.” [Sūra al-Aḥzāb: 72]

The Qur'ān calls human responsibility “the Trust.” God offered the Trust to all of creation, but only we as human beings agreed to carry it. The burden of this Trust is that we have the ability to create and destroy; we have the free-will that not even the Angels are endowed with, whom we can choose to be higher than in our character. We can as well, be as hard-headed and stubborn as a rock, or as low and detestable as a beast.

The Prophet said that for “Every person who betrays his trusts, a banner will be placed for him on the Day of Judgment, as long as his betrayal…” [13]

Our families are trusts from God, trusts that we cannot betray; once the Prophet got word that some people were beating their wives, he declared “Those are not the best of you”. He asked his congregation once “How is it that one of you can beat your wife, like an animal … then go and try to cozy up to her?” [14]

I want to remind you all of a very important point; that for these reasons and more, scholars of Islamic law have said that a person is innocent until proven guilty in everything, except physical abuse. If a woman brings proof of abuse against her husband, he is tasked with disproving that evidence, not the other way around.

As a community, both as leaders and lay people, we have a responsibility to ensure that those entrusted in our care are not abused. We can't hide the realities of abuse when they are known. The Prophet clearly would not hide such things; Fatima bint Qays came to him seeking his advice on marriage. She said that Muawiyah and Abū Jahm had both proposed to her. The Messenger of God told her “As for Muawiyah, he is poor and has no money; as for Abū Jahm, then he is a wife-beater; marry Usāmah instead.” [15]

Abuse is not the only thing that we need to stop; as we said prevention is better than cure. Sometimes when warning signs present themselves, we must be proactive, when the signs appear, in curbing even possible abuse.

One example of the past was family strife. This was enough to disqualify one man from his position of power.

One of `Umar ibn Al-Khattāb's employees came to him one day, finding him lying on his back, with his children playing around him. He became angry and told them to stop. `Umar said to him: “How are you with your family?” He replied: “When I come in the house those talking go silent!” `Umar said to him “You are officially fired; if you can't show compassion to your own wife and children, how can I expect you to do so with the Ummah of Muḥammad?” [16]

So I ask in closing, which of us…

… is strong enough to hold back his anger?

…is strong enough to fight his own soul instead of his spouse?

Who from amongst us can strive to be the best of us, and not act like a beast?

And if we cannot achieve that, if we can't prevent ourselves from such injustice, then we have ask ourselves:

“If the Prophet were to supplicate saying “Oh God, you deal with him” would you have anywhere to run to, and anywhere to hide from in this life or the next?

Closing Du`a

Oh Allāh forgive us our sins, and our transgressions, pardon our lapses, and make us from amongst the guided.

Oh Allāh give us happy lives, vibrant livelihoods, and make us couples whom between them is mercy and tranquility, and guide us to the best of practices.

Oh Allāh pardon those who have repented to you, and have turned away from abuse, and sought your forgiveness.

Oh Allāh, those who refuse to cease from their abuse, and do not repent, then deal with them.

Oh Allāh deal with those that transgress against their spouses and children, those that have transgressed your boundaries, and sinned against you.

Those that have harmed your servants and betrayed their trusts.

Oh Allāh forgive us all, Muslim men and women, believing men and women, and make us from those that abide by your commands, and follow the guidance of your Messenger.

References

[1] Narrated by al-Bukhārī and Muslim from Ibn Mas`ūd.

[2] Narrated by al-Bukhārī from Ibn `Abbās.

[3] Narrated by al-Bukhārī and Muslim from Ibn Mas`ūd.

[4] Narrated by al-Bazzār with this wording, aṭ-Ṭabarī declaring this isnād authentic. Al-Bukhārī declared a similar wording authentic in his Juz' Raf' al-Yadayn.

[5] See the Aḥkām al-Qur'ān of Ibn al-`Arabī.

[6] Narrated by al-Bukhārī from Ibn `Umar.

[7] Narrated by al-Bukhārī from Thābit ibn Dahhāk.

[8] Narrated by al-Bukhārī from Sahl ibn Sa'd.

[9] Narrated by al-Bukhārī from Wahb ibn `Abdullāh.

[10] From the ḥadīth of Abū Saīd al-Khudrī as in al-Amālī al-Mutlaqah. Ibn Ḥajar declared it ḥasan. A similar narration is found in at-Tirmidhī which he declared ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ.

[11] From the ḥadīth of `Abdullāh ibn `Umar, Al-Albānī declared it ḥasan li ghayrihī in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Targhib.

[12] Narrated by al-Bukhārī from Abū Hurayrah.

[13] Narrated by Muslim from the ḥadīth of Abū Saīd.

[14] Narrated by al-Bukhārī from `Abdullāh ibn Zam'ah.

[15] Narrated by Muslim from Fatima bint Qays.

[16] Mentioned in Kitāb al-Mustatraf

Printable pdf attached

We’ve all been there at least once. In the corner of a dusty and briyani-debris ridden floor. In the windowless basement. On the second floor, inaccessible balcony with frosted viewing windows. In the front room of a house, with boarded up windows and a tv projection. In a barren false room with a tv projection. Behind a curtain. Under the stairs next to the janitorial closet. Behind a wall. In the room across from the morgue. In the back, past the garbage collector, up the fire escape, down a long hallway, up the narrow stairs, and finally into a room that doubles as a classroom and has 20 screaming Sunday school kids with an overworked male Arabic teacher who expects you to wait outside until he completes the lesson.

And some of us have just been turned away at the door.

Navigating terrible, inhospitable, and downright hostile space for women in the mosque is nothing new. There’s even a movie on the subject. Not every mosque is like this, but a good majority are.

Constructing woman-friendly spaces depends on whether or not women sit on mosque administration boards, is sometimes hindered by spacing issues when constrained buildings are converted into mosques, and is largely ignored as an important issue because of a convenient belief that it is better for women to pray at home.

Despite the fact that Islam is a communal religion — a brother and sisterhood — making women feel unwelcome at the mosque is endemic in the Muslim world.

Back in the summer, I wrote a post on the exclusion of children in our mosques. Particularly, how many mosque prayer spaces are not child-friendly, and when they are, the onus is placed on mothers to take care of the children while the men are free to worship. Naturally, when children are excluded, it really means that women are excluded from religious, communal worship.

Some great dialogue was generated from that post, and one commenter asked for my take on this belief that the “best place for a woman to pray is in her home.”

Let me begin by saying categorically, that Islam does NOT forbid women from going to the mosque. In fact, it was encouraged by the Prophet when he said, “‘Do not prevent the female servants of Allāh from going to the mosque…” (Muslim, Abu Dawud). The mosque is the center of the community, of access to Islamic education, and is key to fulfilling certain religious rites. So why then are some women barred outright by male family members? Why is there a global adherence to this belief that’s also being maintained by scholars, laypeople and by women themselves?

The Qur’an does not say where Muslims should pray. There are verses that say simply for worshipers to turn towards Mecca (2:149), and to not build a house of worship upon deceit, opposition or disbelief, but that it is better to build one’s faith on a foundation of love and piety (9:107-110). Unless referring to the mosque at Mecca, the Qur’an is silent on where Muslims need to congregate.

The traditions of the Prophet tell us that any place on Earth is suitable for prayer — any place except anything blatantly inappropriate. Like a bathroom, sewage drain, or bar serving baby back ribs wrapped in bacon and sauteed in a nice brandy sauce (well even so, I know a NYC Muslim liquor store owner who prays in the back).

It’s also in these traditions however, and particularly in the subsequent centuries of predominantly male interpretations of these traditions, that we find support for a whole slew of places for women to pray: behind men, above men in balconies, beneath men in mosque basements, or just not being allowed in the mosque.

Now, the most oft-quoted tradition supporting women praying at home states, “It is more excellent for a woman to pray in her house than in her courtyard, and more excellent for her to pray in her private chamber than in her house” (Abu Dawood, al-Tirmidhi). In context, this saying was related to the people after the Prophet had announced that men gain more reward when they pray in congregation at the mosque. Nonplussed by this announcement, a woman approached him and said, “but I’m at home with the kids and the housework. I can’t get to the mosque — that’s not very fair, is it?” The Prophet agreed, but explained it in terms of a woman’s responsibility in the private sphere: In context, the tradition is saying that while men get more reward by going to the mosque, women who have responsibilities at home get the same reward when they pray at home.

I’ve already discussed the issue of women maintaining the private sphere here. And for some mothers (myself included) this saying makes sense. Hubby and I both work to maintain the home — but let’s face it, it’s easier for him to get to the mosque. When I couldn’t attend evening prayers at the mosque because they were held during Eryn’s bedtime, I prayed at home. Apparently, I received more reward doing that, than if I had actually gone to the mosque.

But here’s the thing that bothers me: when this tradition is misused to discourage women from the mosque, people are told that it’s because women beautify themselves when going out, and cause fitna or religious strife in the community by “showing off their nakedness.” Because, you know, men are COMPLETELY INCAPABLE of ignoring their sexual urges. So ladies, put down that makeup and perfume and put on that burqa — the men are coming.

This has nothing to do with familial responsibility and everything to do with the subjugation of women.

This interpretation sets women up for failure. When women are relegated to the back, on a balcony, in the basement, and are forbidden from attending, we are effectively removed from the community. When women are removed, we’re forgotten. When we’re forgotten, it’s normal to construct a small women’s prayer space as an afterthought. It’s not very welcoming to be an afterthought. It becomes disused. Women stop coming. People internalize. Children are brought up not attending mosque. Women believe they don’t have to attend mosque. Male interpretation reinforces this. More mosques are built without prayer space for women. And to top everything off, the justification for kicking women out is linked to her body and men’s inability to deal with their own two bits.

Really? Is that how low the scholars think of humanity?

Let’s revisit for a moment: Tradition holds that women should be encouraged to attend the mosque, but for women who have responsibilities in the home, they’ll get the same reward when they pray at home. Not everyone has responsibilities. Some have maids. Some share responsibilities with their husbands. Some don’t have families. Some are converts looking for support. Some are students looking for Islamic education. Some are female scholars looking to educate other women. Some are looking for charity. Some are abused women looking for community support. None of them will get what they need from the mosque if as a global community we truly believe that the “best” place for a woman is to pray in her home.

I started this post painting a pretty bleak picture of our mosques. On one hand, I will go out of my way to avoid the mosques in which I don’t feel welcome. If Hubby, Eryn and I are out for the day and the closest mosque is “unfriendly,” I actually start feeling a little sick to my stomach thinking of praying there. I will actively refuse to pray and wait for Hubby to finish, convince him to just pray with me at home, or we’ll drive further until we come cross a “friendly” mosque.

On the other hand, there are beautiful, women friendly mosques that inspire me and expose me to leaders and scholars that help empower women and allow me to become acquainted with others (women AND men). Together we strive for the betterment of our community, which is what Islam is all about. I jump up excitedly when we go.

I wonder though if I should be attending the mosques that make me uncomfortable. A clean prayer place for women, or not having to use the back entrance shouldn’t be a surprise. It should be the norm. Women need to demand equal space and treatment in the mosque, and not pray in a “penalty box.” The more women become involved in the mosque culture and demand to be representatives on administration boards, the better the situation can become.

But that can never happen as long as women (and men) believe that it’s better for them not to attend the mosque.

Cordoba House “Ground Zero Mosque”: PR & Path Forward Part  1 |  Part 2 | Part 3

Messaging Failures Lead to Tipping Point for Islam in the U.S.

For the first time, I almost believed in the famous “change” that my skepticism has prevented me from embracing. Time and time again, I saw a stark difference between words and action on the part of our nation’s leader. This latest moment was our President backing the Cordoba House Project during his address at the White House Iftar. I thought to myself, principled, bold and decisive leadership in spite of the growing anti-Islam hysteria. Well, as usual, hope was not enough as we now have the sorry display of the amateur hour; “I didn’t mean it and then again well, yes, I meant it,” a flip-flop so quick that John Kerry would be proud.

As disappointed as I am in the President’s leadership, I can’t lay the blame anywhere other than on our own community. Our collective messaging is a cacophony of name calling, alienating stances, special interests and a complete disconnect from the national dialogue that has allowed this issue to morph into a watershed moment for the perception of Islam and Muslims in the U.S. At stake is nothing less then the mass adoption of the clash of civilizations theory by a majority of Americans.

CNN and FOX News polls show a full 68 or 64 percent of Americans (respectively) think it is wrong to build a mosque near ground zero. Then we have the Muslim community’s civil rights and activist organizations resorting to name calling with charges of “bigotry” against a nuanced attack on the project that “this is not about religious freedom, it is about the ‘right’ thing to do” which, effectively places American Muslims against our neighbors with us yet again acting like a entitlement driven special interest rather than a community being victimized by hate and fear-mongering.

Let’s deconstruct some of the core arguments against the Cordoba House. All of which seek to associate the religion of Islam as the cause of the worst terrorist attacks in our nation's history becausee the object being opposed includes a masjid, an Islamic house of worship.

1) It is a “victory” mosque – Is it a victory for Islam that Muslims were among the innocent victims of the attacks? We hear from some pundits attacking the community center about this idea that the Cordoba House will be some kind of trophy. Many of these same pundits utilize the talking point that Muslim terrorists are causing the majority of Muslim deaths overseas when they try to avoid discussions of foreign policy missteps or tragic civilian casualties due to botched military action. Well, why is it okay now to ignore the deaths of Muslim victims of terror? And about this notion of victory mosques, the story of Umar Ibn Al-Khattab (may Allāh be pleased with him) refusing to pray in a church after liberating Jerusalem should be sufficient. For readers who are unaware of the history of the third Caliph of Islam, once the holy city became a part of that dynasty's territory, a delegation from the Christians asked Umar to pray in their church and he declined by saying that he was afraid that in the future Muslims would use his action as a reason to take over that particular church in order to build a mosque in its place.

2) It is a slap to the victims of 9/11 – This sentiment is a slap to the Muslim victims and first responders of the 9/11 tragedy.

3) It is too close to hallowed ground – Did not the blood of the Muslim victims of 9/11 also add to sacredness of the site? Do we really want to ignore that jummah (Islamic Friday congregational services) were held in the twin towers?

As American Muslims we can afford to listen to the concerns of our fellow countrymen. If we continue to dig in our heels, we may win a civil rights battle and lose a opportunity to truly dissipate fear, prejudice and ignorance. We can create the type of change that people so desperately sought during the 2008 elections by building bridges and increasing dialogue. If we don’t, we risk empowering a negative platform built on alienating an entire demographic in the upcoming elections.

Logic will not win the day in this controversy. It is a deeply emotional issue. On one side, you have the trauma of surviving a terrorist attack and on the other side, the added insult of being a victim of that attack combined with the suspicion that your community is somehow responsible for it.

There is a messaging solution. A way to show that the two sides are artificial.  Turn the Cordoba House into a memorial for Muslim victims of terror and the resulting cycles of violence. As American Muslims, the dehumanization of the Muslim victims of 9/11 is an all too familiar feeling. The devaluing of Muslim lives in the reporting of tragedies and conflicts is all too common. Muslim victims are often labeled “collateral damage” in drone attacks or generically by their ethnicity, rarely are they humanized with photos or stories of the survivors who have now lost their loved ones. We hear about them in the press as merely statistics. Many of the victims of 9/11 were my fellow countrymen. They were ALL my brothers and sisters in humanity. All of them. And ALL of them, even the Muslim victims were also yours.

Cordoba House “Ground Zero Mosque”: PR & Path Forward Part  1 |  Part 2 | Part 3

A Public Relations Analysis (Edited)
By Mustafa Stefan Dill

Recently, I came across an interesting blog at www.getreligion.org (GR), a nondenominational eagle-eye squad of journalists keeping a sharp watch on journalism and religion. In two recent articles, which covered Cordoba House: Monday's “Don’t leave Cordoba reporting to pundits” and the earlier “An important Cordoba distinction,” they do a decent job of wading through the thicket of press coverage on the Cordoba House controversy, and the discussions generated via the comments on both articles (despite some occasional minutiae sidetracks).

Between their analysis and references, as well as some independent scouring of my own, several crashing failures from a PR perspective can be gleaned from the Cordoba House controversy. I won't take sides on the debate – that arena is thick with voices already- but GR gets credit again for surfacing one of the few articles on the subject in the Crain's New York Business, that succinctly delineates the debate as “about whether building the Islamic center is 'a right' or 'the right thing to do.'” Pushing aside the rhetoric from all corners, it all boils down to that essence.

Without weighing in on its merits, the PR and web failures of this initiative are exhaustive and severe:

1) One huge hurdle is that there still appears to be some confusion in the public perception over whether (a) the project is a community center, an Islamic center, a mosque, or a mix, which got stuck with the label “Ground Zero Mosque,” and (b) questions about the entire project's organizational structure.

(a) GR writer Mollie Ziegler asserts in one of her article comments that:

It's called the Ground Zero Mosque because that's what the group behind the mosque called it.
Yes, they've backtracked on that in recent weeks. But their plans were riddled with the phrase until then.
If you don't think that the group should consider the location important, that's your beef with them. But as a journalistic issue, it was the billing of this mosque as the Ground Zero Mosque — even more than the close proximity — that got some folks riled up.

I haven't had time to independently confirm Mollie's claim (will do so in the next couple of days, inshā'Allāh). While it might be an accurate assessment, Imam Feisal's opening statement of the press conference of May 20th seems to contraindicate her assertion, unless she's going back earlier. At any rate, any mention of a “Ground Zero Mosque” is absent from both the Park 51 and Cordoba Initiative (CI) websites. What I can't confirm is if such nomenclature was ever officially used.

If the name originated with the initiative, at the very least it shows some poor judgment and lack of forethought or pre-planning on how such a name might resonate. If it was originated by the media, then clear, unequivocal steps should have been taken to correct it at the outset. The failure to control branding early on meant that the damage and perception became firmly entrenched, and Park 51 and CI tweets are now having to continually fight the ingrained erroneous brand, frantically tweeting “It's a community center with a prayer space, not a mosque”.

(b) I'm not sure it's clear to the public what the relationship between Park 51 and the Cordoba Initiative is. The best discussion on this can be found in an interview with Park 51 developer Sharif El-Gamal on altmuslim, which also appeared on beliefnet, but neither altmuslim or beliefnet have the mainstream reach of CNN or MSN or Yahoo (a quick Google and Bing search for El-Gamal doesn't reveal any mainstream media interviews or coverage that I could find; lack of media availability from both El-Gamal and Imam Feisal is an issue I'll address in more detail below).

For those interested in the story -and especially for those who want to follow it via social media- this means there are two separate media paths to keep track of, one for Park 51, the other for CI: two websites, two Facebook pages, two Twitter accounts, etc. Such duplication is burdensome and confusing for both the end user and media professionals, and runs the danger of not being consistent (they're doing reasonably well on that point last I checked , but it's an unnecessary high risk) and sends an overall impression that's not very solid or cohesive.

2) The web and social media outputs of both outfits is a mixed bag of good and bad strategies, good ideas and poor execution or surfacing, lack of detail, and misunderstood and/or underutilized resources.

The respective websites actually do a fairly good job of explaining and articulating their mission, but from a crisis management perspective, they are spending far too much time and effort across the board chronicling articles about outside support and nowhere enough space addressing or responding to concerns or clearly asserting some key positions.

One thing that does work – but falls far short of its potential – is the embedded youtube clip right on the CI home page of Imam Feisal's May 20th press conference. However else they may have lost control of their message, this piece is a succinct encapsulation from the founder about the initiative's purpose. The problem is that they lose huge impact by the generic title for the video, “Imam Feisal Press Conference.” Snooze.

A much more effective approach may have been to headline it with the date of the press conference (important, to indicate this has been their position all along) and the imam's first words: May 20: “This Is Not A Mosque”

Again, it's finding every nuance and opportunity to own and take control of your message from the get-go.

Small details on the site could be improved: The link to the Facebook page from the CI site doesn't work properly, for example. A bigger problem is the link for “Cordoba House NYC” under the “What We Do” drop down menu on the Cordoba Initiative website yields a “The requested page could not be found” message; not a good thing to be absent right now.

I would like to see an embedded Google map somewhere on the site showing the precise location of the center in relation to Ground Zero, since one response CI is touting is that it's not actually right at Ground Zero. For non-New Yorkers, this could be a helpful illustration.

The Cordoba Initiative Blog is an incredible waste of lost opportunity. The blog consists overhwelmingly of links to or reposts of articles from other sources or organizations in support of their initiative, duplicating in large part material that's already severely overrepresented on their main site. Earlier, there are posts detailing Imam Feisal's media appearances but no direct communication or posts from the imam himself, save for one that he co-signed with the CI team but doesn't read like its actually written by him, unless he likes to refer to himself in the third person.

Nowhere, at first glance, is there a sign of direct engagement or correspondence. That's generally a good use of blogs.

The sparse calendar widget makes it hard to tell at first glance if there's an archive index or not. Once found, I discovered three very critical articles by the CI clarifying some positions, buried deep out of quick reach:

• The Cordoba House is not a Mosque
• What is a Prayer Space?
• What is a Community Center?

After a little consolidation and tightening, these pieces should have been, from the outset the main articles readable on the front and center on the CI and perhaps Park 51 home pages. They could still be. All the articles on external support can easily be moved into a headlines index on the home page sidebar.

For their social media output, they're not really responding to questions on their Facebook pages when I last checked, and their Twitter strategy ranges from good (responding to followers, even if their own tone gets a little testy and unprofessional and on the verge of losing their cool) to downright poor; long stretches of tweets with consecutive blanket links to articles of support is in no sense any kind of true engagement or conversation. An occasional tweet to do that would be fine -it's a useful service for your followers in moderation- but at the very least, it should be personalized with a quick intro of a few words then use bit.ly or some other link shortener. Long portions of their Tweet feed look as if an autobot hijacked their Twitter account.

CI's YouTube channel is also grossly underutilized. They have only three self-produced clips: two from their Sudan initiative, and the clip of Imam Feisal's press conference on May 20 regarding the Cordoba House. A simple Flip cam could document any and/or all of the following: Imam Feisal or El-Gamal's responses to some of the more visible outcries and attacks that are proliferating on youtube; sessions with the architect and designers to show where the prayer space is in relation to the rest of the community center's other activities, where the proposed 9/11 memorial will be and renderings of the exterior to show that it wont be a 'mega mosque'; documenting the working sessions with other interfaith leaders; and especially finding stories of Muslims who died in the Sept. 11 attacks and talking with their families (see below). The list and opportunity is endless, and it's painful to see them have only one video up about the current issue.

3) Among the points raised in the comments discussion in both GR articles is that stories of Muslims who perished in the Sept.11 attacks, and what their families think of the Cordoba initiative, are under-reported. Cordoba and Park 51 organizers should have anticipated this and should have had several stories and compelling accounts from family members of Sept. 11 Muslim victims on hand, even if a few of them are opposed to the project. I saw a similar failure after Ft. Hood, where you had to dig deep for stories of Muslims who have given years of service or even their lives in the American military defending this country. While a lot of their word space mentions the fact that Muslims died in the Sept. 11 attacks, there are no stories, no accounts that users can resonate with. The immense value of offering a story versus merely including a sound bite or statistic I've discussed elsewhere.

4) and 5) A seeming reluctance to address some of the concerns raised about the project, coupled with a general lack of media presence or availability by Imam Feisal or El-Gamal, runs completely contradictory to the most basic tenets in any PR crisis management evaluation: be available, and answer your critics. The lack of accesibility and unwillingness to take on questions may be the most damaging course the groups have taken out of everything I've covered.

A rudimentary lesson in any PR crisis management campaign is to monitor the news about you and address the concerns. In this day and age, it's even more critical, since the news about you quickly turns into the conversation about you, shared among many through social media. But CI seems much more interested in flaunting the support that comes their way rather than trying to scrub the media to find concerns that need responding to. That imbalance must be corrected.

While they may be acknowledging the more high-profile flashy rhetoric that's taking potshots (see the Palin quip at the end of the altmuslim article), under their noses are articles that raise legitimate questions that aren't being addressed. Claudia Rosett at Forbes raises questions about the money for the project (her first two questions seem on the level; the third one a bit more snarky), and ups her ante when Imam Feisal is hard to pin down, drawing concerns about the state sponsored trip in a second article.

Good media monitoring would include the comments and discussion components from various articles as well, from where one would glean that 'Why not a 9/11 memorial?' is a recurring question or issue. CI does mention that in the third article from their blog that I singled out (emphasis, mine):

A community center, much like the YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) or the Jewish Community Center, is where people from any faith are allowed to use the facilities. Beyond having a gym, the Cordoba House will house a pool, restaurant, 500-person auditorium, 9/11 memorial, multi-faith chapel, office and conference space, and prayer space. After speaking extensively with the residents of lower Manhattan, we found that these were some of the most vital needs for the community.

But again, this material isn't properly surfaced, which tells me they're not paying enough attention to the wider and often legitimate discourse around them. While they're addressing questions to followers on Twitter, had this or any of the pertinent material or answers been placed prominently and early in a proactive stance, they could have nipped a lot of questions in the bud. Since they didn't, they're now mired in a reactive sludgefest.

You don't have to be from Forbes to have questions about the project and find answers hard to get: Muslim blogger Sabrina Enayatulla also had questions about the project and did her own digging, and ran into a few interesting access issues:

According to an outside consultant working directly with Park 51, who agreed to speak about the project on the condition of anonymity…

and later (emphasis, added):

Most of the buzz is due to Cordoba Initiative's Cordoba House, which plans to use space at Park 51 for interfaith classes and a designated prayer space for Muslims. Cordoba House will have separate programs and initiatives targeted toward the Muslim community, but representatives at the Cordoba Initiative did not respond to queries about their role in this project and types of programming they hope to offer at Park 51 by the time this article was published.

She did speak with one Oz Sultan, “PR liaison and programming project manager for Park 51,” according to her article, but anonymous insider sources, PR spokespersons and lack of response don't add up to a reassuring tone and is absolutely the wrong course of action at such a time.

As Rossett says in her second article,

But if Rauf's aim is truly, as he says, to build bridges, reach out and promote harmony in America, then punctuating his Ground Zero project with a summer swing past fonts of Islamic oil money seems an odd way to go about it. With emotions rubbed raw among some families of Sept. 11 victims, with arguments boiling over the “bridge-building” project Rauf himself set in motion, it would seem far more fitting for him to spend his time in America, answering, not least, the many questions he has repeatedly deflected about the money.

LoHud's religion writer Gary Stern also notes the lack of access: “One thing that’s becoming clear is that the Cordoba Initiative, the group seeking to build the downtown center, is doing a poor job of PR,” he writes. “Their leaders need to be out there, explaining who they are, what they’ve done and what they hope to do.”

Imam Feisal and El-Gamal should be appearing on every news and talk show there is, answering the issues and hammering the key points to regain the message. Come prepared with specific stories and human accounts, don't talk incessantly about all the support you have, focus on the concerns and if you dont feel media confident, hire a PR coach to help you with your TV jitters. Blog personally, honestly, and transparently once or twice a week, and keep outside links to support minimal.

Post-Script

Someone pointed me to the excellent NYT article “For Mosque Sponsors, Early Missteps Fueled Storm.” The piece provides some much needed background and timeline about the process leading up to the current debacle.

The article also confirms El-Gamal's continuing reticence to speak about the affair (emphasis, added):

Mr. Gamal said that since May, he had started meeting in private with opponents to explain himself. But he bridled at constantly defending himself publicly. He said he didn't want to tell angry opponents how he had injured his eye handing out water to emergency workers on 9/11.

He didn't feel that he should have to, he said. He refused recently to appear on CNN to debate Rick A. Lazio, the Republican candidate for governor who has come out against the project.

“This is not a debate,” Mr. Gamal said. “I'm an American. I'm a New Yorker. I'm exercising my freedoms in this country.”

Didn't feel that he should have to? With all due respect, Mr. Gamal, guess again — at this stage in the game of public perception for your project, you do have to. Buck up, brother, and do your part to dissipate the heat and hate.

For an organization that says it wants to establish a community open to all, such callous contempt and disregard for those with concerns — the refusal to engage in the very dialogue and openness it claims to offer — is astounding.

How can you want to engage with the community at large and then decide it's beneath you to talk to them? I can't think of a faster, more efficient way to build distrust and suspicion and play right into your detractor's hands.

He has a valid point in not wanting to frame the issues as a debate, but there are ways to keep control of your message for such TV moments, and there are people who specialize in training you for that skill. Call them.

As the public image downgrades daily and the questions mount, the need to be out in public reiterating key mission points and clarifying the misconceptions is urgent. The lack of accessibility is rapidly becoming a huge concern in itself — and could have been so easily avoided.

Get on every news show and start talking, Mr. Gamal (and Imam Feisal, too). Be as open and welcoming as you say you want others to be.

Mustafa Stefan Dill has over nine years experience in media – from radio to web and social media for both print and television – Mustafa Stefan Dill has lectured on online journalism and social change at the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media, Bangalore, India and has been featured in Online Journalism Review, The Media Center's Morph blog, J-New Voices, motherpie.typepad.com, and participated as a panelist in a national web seminar by the American Press Institute.

Dill covers Muslim and interfaith issues and their relationship to new media, offers social media and PR strategies for the Muslim community and other clients and monitors ongoing developments in journalism and new media in India, South Asia, and the Middle East/North Africa at http://newmedianewmexico.blogspot.com/.

Over the course of the last few months, I've had the opportunity and pleasure to meet and work with a diverse group of very intelligent, talented, committed, and passionate individuals as well as to participate in and or witness several pray-ins at local mosques. In writing about and discussing the issues surrounding Pray In and women's access, space, and treatment within our Muslim communities, I've been met with varying responses. So I'd like to offer some of my own insight along with excerpts from a lecture delivered by Dr. Ingrid Mattson with whom I find myself agreeing on many issues to clarify and answer some of the common misconceptions and/or at times weak arguments used by those who often sit on the sidelines spewing invectives opposing the Pray In movement, complaining while doing nothing for worthy causes, which seems to be a bit of sport that Muslims excel in i.e. look at the reaction to Gaza.

What is Pray In? Pray In is a group founded by Fatima Thompson, an American convert to Islam to address the inequity and injustice we see in our Muslim communities, which so often relegate women to second-class or third-class believer status while happily repeating the mantra that “Islam elevated the status of women 1400 years ago.” And while that may be true, ever since the time of the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) and his early companions we have seen the inroads of cultural practices none too friendly to women erode those rights and that freedom, dignity, and respect once afforded to us in our religion and in our communities. This erosion is manifested in many ways from a lack of educational opportunities, disproportionately being blamed and bearing the burden of society's ills, and exclusion from the masjid and the life of the community.

How does Pray In seek to address these issues? Pray In attempts to engage our Muslim community in discussions relating to the access and treatment of women particularly in masajid and communal spaces as this is one of the most visible and potent manifestations of our community's attitude towards women. Through engagement with community members and leaders, panel discussions, articles in a range of media outlets, and pray-in protests we seek to initiate discussion and positive action within our various communities. The issue is not simply getting safer, better-lit or more comfy accommodation (although that is important) but more importantly the concerns range from how women are treated, included or excluded, and valued or devalued in community life and participation within the Muslim community.

But there are so many other bigger issues in the community that we should worry about? Are there? Then put your money where your mouth is, get off the sidelines, and utilize your passion, talents and energy into taking leadership on an issue so that you can work to improve that situation. I may even support you. But don't make your own weaknesses, insecurities, and inaction a cause to try to tear down and weaken the initiatives of others. That's like saying to a person who recycles, why are you recycling when there is oil gushing into the waters off the Gulf Coast or the pollution from vehicles has more of an impact on the environment. That's not a successful can-do attitude worthy of emulation but rather the can and will do nothing attitude of a loser. A quote from the anthropologist Margaret Mead comes to mind, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Will you step up or are you all talk and no action?

But we haven't heard the women in our community complaining, in fact most of them like the setup and have asked for barriers and partitions? How does a woman excluded from coming to the masjid or relegated to the basement, balconies, separate rooms or behind partitions access the imam and leadership or participate in community discussions, which invariably take place on the men's side amongst men?  How would she even recognize the imam if she can't see him? For the most part, she doesn't participate, she doesn't speak up, her views are neither heard nor considered. She is rendered invisible and unimportant, certainly not deserving of respect, dignity, or even consultation and perhaps that is just the point. A woman given dignified space, access to the imam and leadership, and allowed to participate presents a challenge to a certain power structure and way of doing things. And it takes a real man and real leadership to be able to welcome the participation of women and to create meaningful access and opportunities to facilitate that communication and participation. Let's take for example, Umar, the second caliph of the Muslims:

Ibn Jawzi narrates (Sh. Albani has classified this narration as weak): Umar forbade the people from paying excessive dowries and addressed them saying: “Don't fix the dowries for women over forty ounces. If ever that is exceeded I shall deposit the excess amount in the public treasury.” As he descended from the pulpit, a flat-nosed lady stood up from among the women audience, and said: “It is not within your right.” Umar asked: “Why should this not be of my right?” she replied: “Because Allāh has proclaimed: 'even if you had given one of them (wives) a whole treasure for dowry take not the least bit back. Would you take it by false claim and a manifest sin.'” (Al Nisa, 20)

When he heard this, Umar said: “The woman is right and the man (Umar) is wrong. It seems that all people have deeper insight and wisdom than Umar.” Then he returned to the pulpit and declared: “O people, I had restricted the giving of more than four hundred dirhams in dowry. Whosoever of you wishes to give in dowry as much as he likes and finds satisfaction in so doing may do so.”

It's so interesting that clearly there was no partition and the men and women were close enough to recognize each other and to hear each other. The women were allowed to speak and those in attendance listened to her, no one shouted her down that the voice is awrah or that she should remain in her home and not be seen. From what is apparent, the men and women were able to comport themselves appropriately.

Do some women ask for barriers? Yes, they do and others do not ask for barriers. Dr. Ingrid Mattson has an excellent lecture on the subject called Heaven's Gate: How Muslim Women Open or Close Doors for Their Sisters, in which she addresses many controversial issues from women's roles in society, the myth of the idealized Muslim woman, prayer space, true women's solidarity and feminism, advocating for change, and the need for liberalism in order to move our communities forward today amongst other issues.

But the women might not be in proper hijab and the men might look at them? I responded to this argument here:

Lower your gaze brother, lower your gaze. If you weren’t so busy eyeballing the sisters and nitpicking their clothing choices you might have a better understanding of the obligation to not prevent women from coming to the masjid. If you just can’t help yourself, then maybe you should stay home or better yet maybe the brothers should assault you, slam the door of the masjid in your face when you try to enter, call the police to have you removed or serve you a banning notice.

Do you think that would be an appropriate response? Because, these are among the methods employed against women in our masajid.

In addition, why is it that the onus is always placed upon the sisters, did Allāh not call men and women (and in this instance the men before the women) to control their behavior in order to protect their modesty, not to make weak excuses about being unable to control oneself from being distracted or aroused even though we do it every day. One sister said to me, “the brothers only use that they'll be distracted line, when they can oppress us.”

So according to the logic of some, if men cannot restrain themselves from looking at women, women must be excluded or forced to stay at home, be placed behind partitions or in separate rooms, or in the back of a classroom. But why not demand of our brothers that they act like dignified human beings and not animals or demand that those who cannot control themselves remain at home themselves for the good of society or in a separate room or behind a partition? It's easy to tell others to accept conditions, which we would never accept for ourselves. It's similar to much of the discussion surrounding racial profiling and immigration, many of those who support these measures would themselves be exempt from scrutiny.

But the women are not obligated to come to the masjid, there's are hadith stating their prayer is better at home or the best rows for them are the last ones. None of this negates that the command of the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) to not prevent the women from coming to the masjid or the examples we saw in his own time or the time of his closest companions. Many who like to make mention of the latter hadith to force women into the furthest row at the back of the room do not similarly use it against the men that come later and pray in the last row. Nor does the hadith imply a prohibition of praying in the first women's row, which in some cases is also the only row therefore also the last and best row. Dr Mattson reminds us:

The Prophet Muhammad said, “Do not prevent the maidservants of God from the mosques of God.” What we have to understand is that women are not prevented from praying in the mosque only by words. They also are prevented when they are not afforded reasonable access to the prayer space and the opportunity to join the congregation. The female companions of the Prophet Muhammad enjoyed this access during his lifetime; it cannot be anything other than disobedience to his teachings to deny such access. In order to open doors of spiritual opportunity for our sisters, it is, therefore, sometimes necessary to put aside our preferences.

The blogger Umm Zaid poignantly reminds us here and here of the pain and hostility women encounter when they venture out to some of our masajid in addition to the poor image of Islam conveyed not only to our non-Muslim friends and family that may accompany us to these houses of worship but also for us, the believers as well. And for many of us converts, we have chosen to enter and remain in Islam (although far too many turn their back on their communities and Islam in the process) not as Imam Johari AbdulMalik says because of the Muslims but despite our interactions with our fellow Muslims.

Umm Zaid:

I do think there is an underlying misogyny imported from wherever that goes into this. Is it Islamic? I don’t think so, given the clear hadith about women being allowed to go to the masjid. But I will tell you here, all you who read this, I have never felt so hated as a woman in Islam the day that I was locked IN to the masjid and the only way I could get out was to walk through this sort of maintenance hallway to the men’s area where I was stared at and screamed at. (Why? Because the man had locked me in — without checking to see if I was there — and then left, he could not hear me pounding on the door and calling for him to open it).

This is beyond “we will have dignity with separate yet equal prayer spaces,” and this is something that (a) will never be solved by those types of spaces and (b) largely prevents them from existing in the first place — even here… in America. I cannot make excuses for Muslim men anymore.

While the sisters may have some valid points, I don't like their methodology, protesting, not following the rules in place for their own marginalization, talking to the media, they are creating fitna (discord). Sounds like more sitting on the fence complaining without any action but Dr. Mattson responds to this argument as well:

…Secondly, 'A'isha was public in her corrections. Of course she corrected some people privately but she also corrected people in a public fashion when necessary. When she heard that someone was attributing to the Prophet Muhammad something she found reprehensible, she did not hold back. In doing so, she taught that it is perfectly acceptable and sometimes necessary to challenge power publicly.

It is because of the example that she set that we see her students demonstrating the same kind of strength and courage. For example, 'A'isha bint Talha, who was one of 'A'isha bint Abi Bakr's students, is well known for very publicly refusing the demands of others that she cover her face in public. 'A'isha bint Talha was the most beautiful woman of her age, but she was also a great scholar of hadith who learned religious knowledge from her aunt and had the same kind of confidence to articulate her convictions.

and:

Certainly there is much value in respecting common norms of behavior and not acting counter-culturally simply to provoke a reaction. However, sometimes it is only outrageous behavior that will elicit a necessary reaction in the face of mindless complicity. Who is to judge when it is appropriate to sacrifice individuality for the sake of the common good and when it is necessary to fight for one's rights, despite protests that one is creating discord (fitna)?

In the end, this is a judgment call that we can all make, but must not assume that any of our judgments are infallible. When it comes to women's rights, we should not be so terrified of a backlash that we disown our sisters who take a more radical path. We might think that their behavior is outrageous, ridiculous, or over-the-line, and we can make that judgment. Still, we should support their right to be wrong.

Some say, if we don't like or want to accept our own marginalization in a community, then we should build our own mosque. I haven't heard this argument made with any evidence from the Quran or Sunnah and in contrast, we have explicit hadith mentioning not to break away from the congregation. Also, in the example quoted above with Umar and the woman who corrected him, her response to what she perceived as injustice was not to build her own masjid and start her own community, rather she stayed and tried to rectify her community by whatever means were at her disposal.

While building a mosque of one's own may have certain appeal and immediate benefits, I also think the community may suffer in the long run. Growing up in a small town in upstate New York, the tiny downtown main street has a church on just about every corner, which I always found strange wondering what exactly separated all these different Christian denomination such that they did not feel they could work or worship together. I now live in Maryland, and within my community we have at least three Islamic schools within about a 10 mile radius and in one area 2 or 3 (depending on your theological beliefs) masajid within about 1 mile radius, none working together or cooperatively and in effect competing and dividing the resources of the community. This argument seems similar to those who tell others to “go back home” when they advocate for the rights and dignity supposedly guaranteed to us as citizens and residents in a certain land. But in this situation, I am home within the Muslim community, am not going anywhere, and intend to stay, speak up, write, engage, and protest to help my fellow Muslims whether we are oppressed or the oppressors.

Some say we should not invite non-Muslim media to cover these events because we “shouldn't air our dirty laundry in front of non-Muslims.” Yet, the clothes are just as dirty, stink just as much, and are just as unfit for wearing regardless of who sees it or knows about it. It is still poor dawah to both Muslims and non-Muslims, when the public face we present to those inside and outside of the faith, is of penalty boxes and women's exclusion and marginalization. Is it any wonder that no one believes us when we say our favored dawah slogan that “Islam elevated the status of women?”

Spend one day masjid-hopping as I have done many days across the U.S. and Canada, visiting women's sections in various masajid or listening to the stories of hurt and pain, of disillusionment and discontent from Muslim women and from those who have left Islam unable to find any solace or a safe place in communities which rejected them, and which also reject and marginalize half of their congregation. A sister, a convert, once wrote to me from New Zealand, where upon encountering hostility and exclusion from the men at her local masjid, she and some others took to praying fajr outside on a mountaintop. According to a documentary by Channel Four, more than half of the masajid in Britain have no accommodation for women at all. Is that the Islam we are inviting others to?

I hear Pray In is a progressive group, full of media savvy progressive-type activists that want men and women to pray side by side and women imams? Pray In is a completely volunteer-based group, there is not litmus test for our volunteers that comprise a diverse group of women and men with varying viewpoints, which is not at all surprising considering how these issues of women's access and participation in our communities are not limited to a single place, group, interpretation, or masjid. Despite the protestations of those with their heads in the sand, these are global ummah-wide issues.

Pray In has not yet articulated a mission statement but we are open and welcome to genuine participation from committed individuals of all stripes and colors and backgrounds. If you'd like to get in on shaping the organization, then join hands with us, and help forge the mission of the group. Our group is not weakened nor are the issues less true or important because you may disagree with the politics or views of one individual within the group. Many Muslims love when a non-Muslim writes something they perceive as positive about us, whether it's about hijab or Palestine or unjust detentions and infringements of civil liberties. Is the cause any less just or or any less right because a non-Muslim is also standing for it? On issues that matter, we can work together to find common ground amongst liberals, conservatives, and moderates. I turn once again to the words of Dr. Mattson:

You might say that now I have adopted a typical liberal stance on rights, despite beginning my talk with a recommendation that a more conservative path of transformation should be considered. Certainly, I believe that when it comes to gender relations in Muslim religious communities, that an ethical transformation based on spirituality, and drawing upon diverse resources of classical Islam will yield positive results.

However, I also believe that this kind of transformation cannot occur today except in a social and political context in which the liberal notion of individual rights is upheld. Authoritarian and patriarchal tendencies run too deep in Muslim communities for any real transformation to occur without grounding our religious choices in a liberal political (in the small and large sense) framework.

Has there been violence or an assault? Yes, threats, intimidation, interrupting and breaking the ṣalāh of at least one of our supporters, and a physical altercation and assault. Some of our supporters have been banned officially or unofficially from a local masjid. I'm reminded of the hadith of the Bedouin who urinated in the masjid. The companions wanted to jump on him but the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) restrained them and spoke gently with the man. Or in the story of the slander of Aisha, her father Abu Bakr exemplified forgiveness, gentleness, and mercy to those who had slandered his daughter but in our day, we ban those who are assaulted rather than engaging in conversation or attempting any reconciliation. And the fact that many men and women who are opposed to any discussion of women's access and participation, let alone the Pray In movement, are so hostile, ready to spew forth their vitriol and violence belies the claims that these issues from prayer space to the participation of women are not a real problem in our community. On the contrary, it demonstrates just how important these issues really are as people don't usually get so worked up over non-issues.

Did you call the police? No, each time the police were called, it was by the masjid authorities.

Did you press charges? Yes, after some hesitation. Why? Because it's not okay to assault anyone at anytime, we can disagree but just as we as a community have taken stands against domestic violence, we must also take a stand against the violence committed in public in our masajid. We're open to dialogue and reconciliation but the case is still pending…

What does Pray In envision for the future? I can only speak for myself as Pray In is still in its formative stages but for me it is heartening to see other organic grassroots Pray In movements spring up across the country, people have contacted us asking how they can start their own Pray Ins in their local communities. Despite, the rumors, fear, insults, innuendo, intimidation, and red herrings utilized to discredit or marginalize us as a movement, we have been successful in initiating discussions and positive action on local level and have heard from concerned and interested parties internationally as well.

We've had a diverse group of women and men express their support that finally someone is taking up the cause and standing up to the forces of marginalization, which seek to silence, exclude, and render women and women's voices invisible in our Muslim community. There have been success stories, some masajid fearing a Pray In at their doorstep have taken steps to participate in the dialogue or make changes to empower and support women in their communities from improved prayer space accommodation to creating real avenues to foster discussion where these issues can be raised and resolved and all that is a step in the right direction.

My take on the Muslim Link article: The Muslim Link: Biased Against Pray In

Opinion1: What do you think about having the Khutbah in Arabic?

Opinion2: I don’t think it’s feasible in the conditions we’re in.

Opinion1: But there is an agreement among schools that it should be in Arabic.

Opinion2: I’m not aware of that.  What I have seen in this country is that some followers of the Hanafi School apply this ruling.

Opinion1: In fact, the Hanafis are the most lenient when it comes to this issue.  The Malikis are the most strict.  That is, if you can’t find someone to do the Khutbah in Arabic, then the Friday prayer is not even obligatory!

Opinion2: I’ll check on that.  But what I know is that there is a difference of opinion on this matter.  The reason for the difference is due to how the Khutbah is viewed.  Is it viewed as analogous to prayer or is it viewed as an admonition?

Opinion1: I think it’s more like a prayer.  This is because of a statement by Omar ibn al-Khattab, which explains that the other two rakah of Dhuhr were replaced by the Khutbah. [Later I checked this Athar by Omar and discovered that Sheikh M. N. D. al-Albani had weakened this Athar.  See al-Irwaa, hadith #605].

Opinon2: Agreed but we can’t consider the Khutbah to be exactly like prayer.  Scholars mention that the Imam can drink water during Khutbah, can give Khutbah without Wudu, can speak of unrelated subjects during the Khutbah, at least briefly; all of which is not allowed during prayer.

Opinion1: Can you please look into this matter and see what the Imams have said about this issue?

Opinion2: Of course I will.  But let us also keep in mind the purpose of the Khutbah.  The goal of the Khutbah is to remind and educate the people.  We also have to understand the context of the statements by the Imams or their schools.  They lived at a time where Arabic was the language of the day (just like English is today), where Islam was the superpower.  This is totally different from today where even Arabic speaking Muslims cannot guarantee that their children will speak Arabic, and where learning the language is not readily accessible to many.

Later, I looked at the opinions of the four schools and here is what I found (courtesy of al-Fiqh alaa al-Madhaahib al-Arba'ah by al-Jazeeree):

Hanafi:

It's permissible for the Khutbah to not be in Arabic, even if the Khateeb is capable of speaking Arabic, and whether the audience speaks Arabic or not.

Maliki:

It's a condition for the Khutbah to be in Arabic, even if the audience does not understand Arabic.  If they don't have a Khateeb that is good in Arabic, then Friday prayer is not obligatory on them!!!

Shafi’i:

The pillars of the Khutbah (e.g. recitation of an Ayah or a Hadith) has to be in Arabic.  Non-Arabic is not sufficient if the Imam is able to learn Arabic.  If not, then he can use a different language.  That is if the audience is Arabic-speaking.  If not, then even the pillars of Khutbah don't have to be in Arabic.  Anything other than the pillars of the Khutbah can be delivered in any language but Arabic is recommended.

Hanbali:

The Khutbah is not acceptable in a language other than Arabic, if the Imam is able to speak it.  If not, then he can use any language he masters.  This is whether the audience is Arabic-speaking or not.  However, the [recitation of an] Ayah that is a pillar of the Khutbah must be uttered in Arabic.  If he cannot, then he utters any dhikr in Arabic.  If he's not able to even do that, then he stays silent for the duration of reciting such an Ayah!!

In order to get around all this, some Masjids in the U.S. have implemented what I call a  workaround.  They added a so-called “talk” in English before the Adhan to fulfill the admonition goal of the Khutbah.  After the Adhan, they have the actual Khutbah in Arabic.  Although this seems to solve all problems mentioned above, it does introduce another set of problems.  This supposed workaround may go against a prohibition from the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) not to conduct any halaqa or lecture before the Friday Khutbah.

عن عبد الله بن عمرو بن العاص أن النبي صلÙ'Ù‰ الله عليه وسلÙ'Ù… نهى عن التحلÙ'Ù‚ قبل الصلاة يوم الجمعة

صحيح أبي داود 991، صحيح الجامع 6885

From Abdullah bin Amr bin al-Aas that the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) forbade making circles [for knowledge or remembrance] before prayer on Friday.  (Saheeh Abu Dawud #991, Saheeh al-Jami' #6885)

Imam ibn al-Jawzi (d. 597) briefly commented on this hadith in his celebrated work “Talbees Iblees”

He [the Prophet] disliked that people gather before the Friday prayer for the purpose of seeking knowledge and studying.  Rather, he ordered us to busy ourselves with voluntary prayer and to listen to the Khutbah (The Chapter of the Play of Iblis with the People of Hadith)

In other words, the time before the Khutbah should be utilized in preparation for the Khutbah, not in something that will take the glory away from the Khutbah.  In fact, there are authentic hadith that tell us to spend this important time in voluntary prayer.  This is the one action that will make us ready to absorb the most from the Khutbah.  The proposed pre-Khutbah “talk” on the other hand will deprive the actual Khutbah from its meaning, exhaust the attention of the worshippers, and disturb the whole structure of the Friday prayer.

By the way, the “'ālim” above had for me another proposal that I had not heard before.  He said, you can have the first Khutbah in Arabic and the second in English.  But, I said this still doesn’t meet the requirements of the Imams/Schools who say that both Khutbah should be in Arabic.  Moreover, what do you think will happen to the people who don’t speak Arabic who have to withstand for about 15 to 20 minutes a speech they don’t understand?  Their minds will wander and their hearts will not benefit.

Finally, I don’t claim to have the final words on this issue.  However, I don’t even see the famous followers of the schools (e.g. Hamza Yusuf, a follower of the strictist school on this subject, the Maliki School) deliver Arabic Khutbah in this country at this time.  What I do know is that this is one issue where we have to look more at the Maqasid [goals] of Shariah and less at the words of a scholar or the opinion of a school, which may have been formulated for a different time or context.  After all, this is not a case where one is violating a clear ruling of the Quran or the Sunnah!!  Allāh knows best!

I wish I had a better picture to show you because despite the impromptu nature of the setup, it was one of the best setups that I've ever experienced. I had intended to take more pictures after everyone left but I was only able to manage this one before a little girl grew fascinated with the slider capacity on my phone. By the time I regained control of my phone, the partition had been moved and the brothers were putting the rooms back in order.

I came early and took my seat in the back of the room against the wall to try to get into the ajr-filled last row but also in a spot where I would be able to have a clear view of the imam. The khutbah began with two beautiful reminders:

“None of you truly believes, until you love for your brother what you love for yourself.”

“And (remember) when your Lord proclaimed: “If you are thankful, I will give you more…” [Ibrahim 14:7]

I was struck by a few things that made my heart overflow with thankfulness and happiness and my eyes overflow with tears:

1. I appreciated being able to clearly see the imam standing while delivering the khutbah. The sensory experience is quite different when able to see the full range of expression and verbal and nonverbal speech than simply listening or even watching on a monitor. I think I'm a fairly good listener and have become adept at listening without visuals. I am usually able to stay focused, yet I believe my attention and focus was greater with the direct line of sight to the speaker.

2. I didn't mind being cramped and squeezing myself against the wall to make way for the other believers, as space was a genuine concern.

3. The imam is better able to lead the community when he can see them, all of them. He can ask the brothers to move up, or more fully utilize the open spaces, and can see what issues there are as they arise and help to immediately correct or rectify them. The imam acknowledged the presence of the sisters and showed care and concern for us, even saying that the sisters could move up the chairs if they needed more space.

4. Many times we hear the necessity for erecting a barrier to prevent the men and women from seeing each other, which could lead to fitna. Yet, it seems to me that while we are ostensibly lowering our gazes, even if you were to see someone that attracted you, the community and the environment would not allow for any improper interaction. And perhaps, if interested in marriage, one could then inquire in a proper fashion about that person. Do you know that brother with the handsome beard or black kufi? Or, do you know that sister with the green hijab or black niqab?

5. I love praying in congregation. It is rare with our Western concepts of personal space and distance that we sit and stand in such close proximity to complete strangers. Careful not to bump into or step on each other, regretful if we do, but not overly concerned because there is this mutual understanding that comes with knowing that we're all just trying to perform our ṣalāh in the best way possible.

6. Listening to the reminders and recitation of the Quran is critical for one's iman and the life of the heart. The imam recited Surah Ad-Duha in the first rak'ah. I remember my first time consciously listening to this surah: I was driving my car in the morning, behind a slower moving car, on the way to my first AlMaghrib class. As I passed the car, I realized the hijabi driving it was also probably going to the same class. I didn't know then what the words meant as I was still relatively new in Islam, and I wondered if I would ever be able to learn that surah. At that time, those few lines seemed like a mountain. I remember racing home to read the translation and saying yes, indeed to those rhetorical questions. Those words are so powerful and so comforting:

3    Your Lord has neither forsaken you nor hates you.
4    And indeed the hereafter is better for you than the present.
5    And verily, your Lord will give you so that you shall be well-pleased.
6    Did He not find you an orphan and gave you a refuge?
7    And He found you unaware and guided you?
8    And He found you poor, and made you rich?

7. I've been blessed and am thankful to have grown up in my Islam in such a beautiful community.

8. Why do I love going to the masjid? As I said earlier, I love praying in congregation; it inculcates so many beautiful manners and characteristics within us. Parts of Islam are meant to be practiced communally. Coming from a family of non-Muslims, practicing Islam in my house is to practice Islam alone. To pray alone, to fast alone, to remember Allāh alone, sometimes to eat alone, to celebrate alone all the while being surrounded by elements hostile to my Islam. Truly, I think all of my closest friends that I have met in Islam have been through my interactions at the masjid or Islamic events, mostly seminars.

I learned to read the Quran in the masjid starting with the Noorani Qaaidah and alif, ba, and ta. My Bengali teacher saw me struggling and asked a Saudi sister to help me out, and the sister whose name I've forgotten sat with me in the masjid and patiently worked with me. I owe both a huge debt of gratitude; I learned so much from their manners, and I hope that they are rewarded with each letter I recite. And the masjid is such a mini United Nations or like the Olympic Games in its diversity. I can glimpse the diversity of the Muslim world in the vibrancy of my own community, which makes me a little more accepting of others and differences and reminds me that I am not alone in my belief in Islam.

The second part of the khutbah focused on practical examples of implementing the two reminders given earlier. A few weeks ago, someone asked me for help and since I was able to help, I helped him. Last week, I was in need of help, and I won't lie, shaytaan whispered to me for a split-second saying, “If only I hadn't helped that person, I would be okay, I would have enough to be able to do this or that.” But recognizing that shaytaanic impulse, I pushed it away and out of my mind and said alhamdulillah and just like that someone came to my rescue and helped me out of the situation. And then shortly thereafter in many different ways culminating on this day of jumu'ah, Allāh (subḥānahu wa ta'āla) resolved the entire situation for me in ways I never imagined with more than I could have imagined.

…And whosoever fears Allāh and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him to get out (from every difficulty). And He will provide him from (sources) he never could imagine. And whosoever puts his trust in Allāh, then He will suffice him… [At-Talaq 65:2-3]

10. I am often asked by those that do not believe or are unsure of their belief in God, why I am so certain in my own belief in God. And I can say without any doubt that everything in my life and the world around me testifies to existence of Ar-Rahman, the Most-Merciful and for that blessing I am most thankful. Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen.

Shelter our Sisters Solidarity Luncheon

Supporting our Homeless Muslim Sisters

Saturday March 1, 2008 12 – 3pm

Morgan State University, InterFaith Center, 4307 Hillen Road, Baltimore, MD 21239

***This luncheon is specifically for the homeless Muslim women in our communities where ever they are, however, servers, cooks, and clean-up volunteers are needed. For adequate food preparation please RSVP if you know of or can bring a homeless Sister to this special luncheon given in their honor.

GET INVOLVED! You are asked to participate in these ways:

• Bring homeless sisters so that we can serve them a meal prepared with love.
• Make dishes to have available for the guests to choose from
• Serve the guests at their tables
• Transport guests to the luncheon
• Be a sponsoring organization

Inshā'Allāh Please Donate To This Worthwhile Cause by clicking here. [Info. courtesy Tariq Nelson]

Submissions for Anthology

I have high hopes for this collection. Inshā'Allāh you share them. I have seen and heard stories of many Muslims living life in America post-9/11. Most often, they are brief newsclips offered by the media. Human coverage of us has been both good and bad, but often out of our control. This is a chance for us to take that control back and present ourselves to the world with our own voices; to give the world a chance to absorb what we have to say. Writing our stories down allows us to reflect heavily on every word so that we can be certain we've said what we mean. Please take this opportunity to tell your own story the way you believe it should be told.

I will work with writers on editing accepted submissions, but will not consider submissions rife with spelling and grammar errors, or that do not have a clear and cohesive structure to the story being told. Also, your prose must have a working title. Submissions should be double-spaced in standard 12 point font (preferable Times New Roman) and should not exceed 30 pages. This work should not have been published elsewhere. Paper submissions will be requested at a later date. As yet, there is no submission deadline, but a deadline will be set in the coming weeks.

In the body of your email, please include the following information about yourself: Name, age, what you do (job, parent, student, etc.), your contact information (address, email address, phone number). Please do not send fiction and poetry submissions at this time, although I do plan to solicit those in the future for a companion collection. For now, I will be reading only non-fiction.

Again, send your prose and queries to submissions@islamonmyside.com. Please do forward this call for submissions widely. And visit the site to stay apprised of this collection's development.

We have all heard, read, and know from experience the difficulties that Muslim youth are experiencing as they grow up here in the West. Identity issues, as well as other common concerns such as sex and drugs, are amongst the most important things they have to deal with.

To address the situation, here are two amazing resources for Muslim youth in Canada, America, and the United Kingdom: Muslim Youth Helplines.

Canada and America

1800- 550 – MYHL (6945)

The Muslim Youth Helpline through Ajyal for Youth Development is a free and 100% confidential resource for anyone (not just youth!) who has a question, problem, needs counselling, or just needs someone to talk to. Counsellors are Islamically qualified, as well as fluent in English and familiar with growing up in the West. Some counsellors also speak Arabic. Sisters have the option of choosing to speak with a female counsellor.

More about MYHL:

• The first toll-free, anonymous phone counselling, for Muslim youth in North America. Every day, Imams and professional counsellors provide immediate, caring support to young people in urban and rural communities across CANADA & the US.
• The service is completely, anonymous and confidential – they don't trace calls, they don't use call display. You don't even have to tell them your name if you don't want to.
• They have 6 volunteers Imams and professional counsellors across the country.

How You Can Help:

Calling the MYHL is free for young people across Canada and the US – but running the service isn't free. They rely on Allāh (subḥānahu wa ta'āla) first, then on donations from concerned individuals, companies and associations to ensure they can continue being there for the future generation.

Pages of Interest:

• How It Works (what to expect when you call)
• Get Involved
• FAQ's

United Kingdom

0808 808 2008

The Muslim Youth Helpline (MYH) is a registered charity which provides pioneering faith and culturally sensitive services to Muslim youth in the UK. The core service is a free and confidential counselling service available nationally via the telephone, email, internet and a face-to-face befriending service in the Greater London area, that uses male and female volunteers trained in basic counselling skills to respond to client enquiries.

Services

• The Helpline
• Email counselling: help[at]myh.org.uk
• Internet counselling
• Peer Support: MuslimYouth.net

How You Can Help:

• Volunteer to be a helpline worker.
• Write and/or take photos for MuslimYouth.net.
• Become a trustee.
• Donate.

On Saturday night, I attended ICNA-NJ / WhyIslam's evening lecture program on “In the footsteps of Ibrahim (AS)”. There were about 700-800 folks in attendance.

The program was well organized and the talks were awesome māshā'Allāh. Imam Siraj started with an excellent reminder, followed by a more academic lecture from Shaykh Jamal (JZ), and then culminating in a tafseer-story-narrating-type lecture by Shaykh Yasir.

Between the lectures, a nearly hour-long fundraising effort was undertaken to support the purchase of a building that will serve as offices, recreation and dawah center for ICNA-NJ & their fabolous undertaking of WhyIslam.org and 877-why-islam toll-free number. I definitely recommend supporting this wonderful effort, which is helping to bring the message of Islam to thousands of people around the globe. The moderator pointed out that whyislam.org receives nearly 3 million hits every month, which is quite exceptional. You can donate here.

I should add that I did find a bit distasteful, the lack of any prior notice regarding the fundraising activity. Organizations should be upfront of fundraising activities so that people are not thinking “bait and switch” in the back of their minds. Furthermore, it just seems that Muslim organizations have not learned or are not improving on the old fundraising shticks. Going on the stage and presenting a few ayahs and hadeeth, reminding people how we don't care about the Ummah if we don't donate, etc. just doesn't do it for many people, faced with the multitude of Islamic projects that need our support. Instead, a newer approach, with perhaps auctions or other creative ways, is needed. As for the fundraising last night, had it not been for Imam Siraj, the goal of $100K was looking untenable. Imam Siraj's involvement at least got them close alhamdulilah.

The highlights of the program for me personally were:

• Imam Siraj's tribute to Shaykh Jamal (he called him Doctor a few times, not sure if I missed out on his PhD??) on JZ's excellent books, and the effect those have had on Imam Siraj, especially the 3-volume explanation of Imam Nawawi's 40 hadith (buy here).
• Imam Siraj related a story about his parents (as he talked about not being left out of family gatherings on Thanksgiving, as a convert): Imam shows up at Thanksgiving at his parents' house. His son shouts “so grand-ma and pau-pau, when are you becoming Muslim?”. And his mother says: “well, might as well do it tonight!” And both his mother and step-father became Muslims (hmm, actually not sure about the step-dad part). I should mention that before he started the story, he did look at Jamal, and said that he knows that they don't agree on this (i.e. on partaking in the celebration).
• Imam Siraj's unplanned dive into fundraising activities, after the official fundraising Shaykh had a dismal start (no one was raising his or her hand to pledge, and things were become a tad embarrassing)… so Imam gets up and says, “no, no, no”… that he won't let this happen. And here comes the expertise and the creativity! He shouts out that he will go around the entire audience and shake the hands of 50 people, each pledging $1000! Now, this seemed incredulous after the “silent” start. But, Imam Siraj rocked the room… and secured what he pledged… with one generous desi uncle wanting 5 handshakes!
• Seeing Shaykh Jamal Zarabozo after 5+ years. His beard is whiter but his sense of humor still resilient.
• Shaykh Yasir Qadhi's lengthy tribute to Shaykh Jamal: “He is my inspiration for my thirst of knowledge and the path I undertook”. I am not sure, but I think I noticed Shaykh Jamal wiping off some tears (or perhaps it was my imagination).
• Shaykh Yasir's special announcement: “Ibrahim (AS) is sending his salam to all of you”… based on a hadith in Tirmidhi.

A special guest was also among the attendees: Abu Muslimah (a pic of him with Yasir is below), who had positive discussions (that was the sense I got) with JZ & YQ post-program. Interestingly, an African-American brother came on the stage after the program and started arguing with YQ about the Sunni Pledge. I find the myopia amazing— aren't there more important and significantly stifling social problems that a particular strain of “salafism” in the Northeast is causing (that other African-American brothers such as Tariq Nelson– see here and the article linked in the comments to an interview with Tariq, and recently Abdur-Rahman have been talking about) that the brother should be worrying about? I doubt the pledge or lack thereof is going to have any effect on the bigger problems facing their communities. [I emphasize both the "strain" context, and the regional context, because some people like to generalize for a variety of reasons (from ignorance to maliciousness)].

There is another special and exciting message for all the Muslims in America. Inshā'Allāh, Shaykh Jamal is going to be “getting out” and traveling again, after nearly 10 years of pretty much staying put in Colorado. He wants to be “active” and involved in programs. In fact, he may even be relocating to a big Muslim community (privileged information about where:) ). Also, there is a chance that he may show up at Texas Dawah next week!! Small chance, but possible and inshā'Allāh probably likely next year. You may also be seeing him at other conferences and events. May Allāh make his reinvigorated desire a reality.

For MM readers, there is another exciting possibility: As we talked over breakfast, Shaykh Yasir and I told Shaykh Jamal about our little effort here on MM. Now, Shaykh Jamal could never be a blogger (he still relies on the fax machine for communications :) ), but he pretty much consented to writing and sharing articles on MM. In fact, there are some pieces already prepared that we may be seeing exclusively on MM soon! They will be of a more academic nature, but hey anything from JZ is awesome. May Allāh make this possibility a reality as well– all JZ fans, make dua!

P.S. Sorry for the grainy pictures… can't do much better with a cell phone camera. Top picture is of Jamal Zarabozo, bottom (in order): Siraj, Yasir, Abu Muslimah with Yasir on his left.

See also (including audio): A conversation with Jamal Zarabozo  & Audio here