A Brutal Chapter In North Carolina’s Eugenics Past

With my past working in genetics, this story was of interesting to me

 

Help For Prescription Drug$ in Fairfax County

I am in a meeting with the Fairfax County Health Departments Mult-cultural committee. The County is rolling out a discount health card “Pro-Act”. If you do not have help insurance goto: wwwFairfaxRxdiscountCard.com

You can download your card today.

Give A Gift Everyday – Peace on Earth

A woman stopped me this morning in the Panera bread.  She noticed that my Panera coffee cup had a Starbucks liner on the outside. I was surprised that she confronted me.  So she was wondering how I had that combination.  I shared with her that there’s no reason for us to waste the liner just because we through the cup away.
The cup liner keeps the heat off of our hands. Reusing the liner helps reduce heat from global warming. It’s my morning gift to future generations.  In this season let’s give our planet a gift everyday – keep going green-Peace on Earth – Goodwill

How DId Herman Cain Jump to the Front of the Pack and Fall?

Herman Cain was the “Putney Swope” Candidate. He never thought he would be the front runner and nobody else did. Just like Putney none on the right wanted to promote one of their own so they threw away their endorsements and “Putney Cain” got the chairman’s seat. As an Imam today I would not endorse watching the 1969 film but the lessons are clear……Sorry to see Putney Cain go but it’s just a case of “Truth and Soul” baby!

Putney Swope, a 1969 film written and directed by Robert Downey, Sr. and starring Arnold Johnson as Swope, is a comedy satirizing the advertising world, the portrayal of race in Hollywood films, the white power structure, and nature of corporate corruption.

Putney Swope, the only black man on the executive board of an advertising firm, is accidentally put in charge after the unexpected death of the chairman of the board: each board member actually believed that he, himself, should be elected Chairman, but the bylaws of the corporation prohibit voting for oneself, so each individual member voted his secret ballot for the person that no one else would vote for: Putney Swope.

Renaming the business “Truth and Soul, Inc.”, Swope replaces all but one of the white employees and insists they no longer accept business from companies that produce alcohol, war toys, or tobacco. The success of the business draws unwanted attention from the United States Government, which considers it “a threat to the national security.

The Killing of Awlaki’s 16-year-old son: A cause for concern

There are two Americas: One government that holds these truths to be self-evident….. and the other, often secret, that wants to take us to a time without the Bill of Rights. I am fighting for the entire US Constitution, with its embrace of universal laws of freedom and justice. Dr. King spoke about “The Fierce Urgency of Now!”. It is that time, time “for a radical revolution of values”. The killing of the son of Anwar Al-Awlaki deeply concerns me and the report attached should stir the humanity and patriotism of every American.

The great question for us all is not when but how. Our action must come out of love of God and our fellowman. Our pain must transform into compassion and mercy to struggle non-violently to create a mass movement against the oligarchy that has seized control of our country.

Begin the conversation now with those you know and those you don’t know. Spend some time with the “Occupy” movement. It must be the people in the middle-class who stand up – not just the left in order to bring us into balance, the concept in the Quran: Al-Mizaan. We must rededicate ourselves to building a just society.  The prophet Muhammad, pbuh, lead a mass movement of over 10,000 to overthrow the violent and oppressive leaders of Mecca.  He offered non-violence as a solution to the violence of the Meccans.   Most of the Meccan leaders submitted.  Those 10,000 could have chosen violence – The Prophet lead them effectively to a non-violent revolution, without revenge.  Today we are called to save our country for all of us, Baha’’i, Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic, Jain, Jewish, Latter-day Saints, Protestant, Roman Catholic, Sikh, Zoroastrian faith communities, people of faith and people of conscience.

From Beyond Vietnam by Martin Luther King, Jr.:

These are revolutionary times. All over the globe men are revolting
against old systems of exploitation and oppression and out of the wombs of a
frail world new systems of justice and equality are being born. The shirtless
and barefoot people of the land are rising up as never before. “The people
who sat in darkness have seen a great light.” We in the West must support
these revolutions. It is a sad fact that, because of comfort, complacency, a
morbid fear of communism, and our proneness to adjust to injustice, the Western
nations that initiated so much of the revolutionary spirit of the modern world
have now become the arch anti-revolutionaries . . . Our only hope today lies in
our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit and go out into a sometimes
hostile world declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism, and militarism.
With this powerful commitment we shall boldly challenge the status quo and
unjust mores and thereby speed the day when “every valley shall be
exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall
be made straight and the rough places plain.”

A genuine revolution of values means in the final analysis that our
loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Every nation must now
develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the
best in their individual societies.

This call for a world-wide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern
beyond one’s tribe, race, class and nation is in reality a call for an
all-embracing and unconditional love for all men . . . When I speak of love I
am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. I am speaking of that
force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying
principle of life. Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to
ultimate reality. This Hindu-Moslem-Christian-Jewish-Buddhist belief about
ultimate reality is beautifully summed up in the first epistle of Saint John:

Let us love one another; for love is God and
everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth
not God; for God is love. If we love one another God dwelleth in us, and his
love is perfected in us.

Let us hope that this spirit will become the order of the day. We can no
longer afford to worship the god of hate or bow before the altar of
retaliation. The oceans of history are made turbulent by the ever-rising tides
of hate. History is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that
pursued this self-defeating path of hate.

We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted
with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history
there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the thief of
time. Life often leaves us standing bare, naked and dejected with a lost
opportunity. The “tide in the affairs of men” does not remain at the
flood; it ebbs. We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage,
but time is deaf to every plea and rushes on. Over the bleached bones and
jumbled residue of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words:
“Too late.” There is an invisible book of life that faithfully
records our vigilance or our neglect. “The moving finger writes, and
having writ moves on…” We still have a choice today; nonviolent
coexistence or violent co-annihilation.

We must move past indecision to action. We must find new ways to speak
for peace  . . . and justice
throughout the developing world — a world that borders on our doors. If we do
not act we shall surely be dragged down the long dark and shameful corridors of
time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without
morality, and strength without sight.

Now let us begin. Now let us rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter
– but beautiful — struggle for a new world. This is the calling of the sons
of God, and our brothers wait eagerly for our response. Shall we say the odds
are too great? Shall we tell them the struggle is too hard? Will our message be
that the forces of American life militate against their arrival as full men,
and we send our deepest regrets? Or will there be another message, of longing,
of hope, of solidarity with their yearnings, of commitment to their cause,
whatever the cost? The choice is ours, and though we might prefer it otherwise
we must choose in this crucial moment of human history.

Amen.

Read more: http://blog.beliefnet.com/christianityfortherestofus/2011/01/martin-luther-king-jr-fierce-urgency-of-now.html#ixzz1bz8p2Ido

Amid Extremism, Muslims Take Up Nonviolence

Salaam:  Check out Arsalan Iftikhar’s interview on Michel Martin’s – NPR -”Tell Me More”…Islamic Paficism

Who Was Anwar Al-Awlaki?

Who Was Anwar Al-Awlaki?  National Review tells the story of the Al-Awlaki that I know.

Radical Exiled American Imam Assassinated in Drone Attack

Upon the death of a person the Qur’an teaches us to say,

“innallilahi wa inna ilayhi rajioon” translated “from God we come and to God is our return.”

Today, the Dar Al Hijrah Islamic Center acknowledges the death of a former Imam, Anwar Al-Awlaki.  While employed at Dar Al-Hijrah, he was known for his interfaith outreach, civic engagement, and tolerance in the Northern Virginia community.

However, after Mr. Al-Awlaki’s departure in 2002, he was arrested by Yemeni authorities and allegedly tortured.  It was then that Al-Awlaki began preaching violence.  He was killed violently in an apparent drone strike today. In recent years, while in his self-imposed exile, Mr. Al-Awlaki encouraged impressionable American-Muslims to attack their own country.  Al-Awlaki will no longer spread his hate speech over the internet to Muslim youth provoking them to engage in violence against their fellow Americans.

We reiterate that in Islam, as an American faith community, we do not accept violence nor extremism and recommit ourselves to our message living our faith in peace, tolerance, and the promotion of the public good.

The Qur’an teaches us:

“…. if any one slew a person – unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land – it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people. Then although there came to them Our apostles with clear signs, yet, even after that, many of them continued to commit excesses in the land.” 5:32

We must also add that in previous statements we have rejected the use of extra-judicial assassination of any human being and especially an American citizen which includes Al-Awlaki.  We reiterate our commitment to “due process under law” and justice and are concerned that the alleged drone attack sends the wrong message to law abiding people around the world.

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*Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center is one the largest and diverse Islamic Centers in the nation. We are committed to service the community as a place of worship, education and social service. Learn more at www.daralhijrah.net

____________________________________________

Contact: 202-345-5233   Imam Johari Abdul-Malik; Director of Outreach

ABC News 7: Interfaith services, unity gatherings promote understanding among believers, non-believers

Across America and the D.C. area, people of different faiths and no faith came together for unity and understanding on September 11.  Several houses of worship brought Muslims from the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic and Christians from Arlington, VA together.

ABC7′s Autria Godfrey has the story.

Imam Johari said, “Instead of 911 tearing us apart, it brought us together as a community.  The enemies of America and it’s people of all faiths lost that day and freedom of religion and consciousness was the ultimate winner”.

 

Rock Spring Congregational Church Interfaith Service.

A Closer Look At The Virginia Mask Law

Reprinted from WUSA9

 

Commentary:

The faith and civil rights  communities must join with legislators to amend this law to insure public safety while maintaining the respect for religious freedom.

Although, I do not subscribe to the school of thought that says Muslim women must cover their faces in public.  I believe it is their right to do so.  

While I must remind the readers that in Philadelphia some men have committed armed robbery while wearing niqab, the face veil.  

 

(WUSA) — As we’re approaching Halloween, you may want to refrain from wearing your mask in public before the scary day if you live in Virginia. Doing so landed a 19-year-old Spotsylvania man behind bars.

Wearing masks in Virginia’s public places is a felony that could land you behind bars up to 5 years. Attorney Robert Hall showed us the 1960 statute last amended in 1986. The code prohibits anyone older than 16 from wearing masks or hoods except on Halloween or for medical, safety, or weather reasons.  Why?

“This was oriented towards making Klu Klux Klan members be less intimidating by requiring them to disclose their identity,” explained Hall.

But what if you’re concealing your identity for religious reasons like many Muslim women? Surprisingly, there is no exemption: according to the law, that too is illegal.

“If someone thought it was important to their reelection or their initial election that they propose the prosecution of someone wearing a burkah, they could get them on this statute,” said Hall.

“Clearly, there should be a religious exemption,” said Imam Johari Abdul-Malik with the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center. He says it’s a dangerous loophole that infringes on their civil rights.

He added, “Virginia has changed. There are people who cover their faces now who didn’t cover their faces in the 1960s.”

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This is clearly an old law. Should Virginia take it off the books or update it?  Send your thoughts to mailbag@wusa9.com or sound off on our Facebook page.