(Photo: Flickr/imekinox)

“We made from water every living thing.” (Qur’an 21:30)

It’s a source of life, a means for purity, and a piece of heaven on earth.

Throughout the Qur’an, Allah refers to water on numerous occasions (the exact word for “water” is mentioned over 60 times). The Qur’anic verse above powerfully states an important feature of water that all humans have come to acknowledge: water is a necessity for life.

For Muslims, water holds additional and special meanings. Water plays an important role in purifying believers as it is used for making wudhu, or ablutions. And if you ask a Muslim to describe paradise (according to what they learned from the Qur’an and hadith), many would recall the descriptions of rivers flowing and springs gushing forth endlessly from the gardens of heaven.

Now back on earth (where things do have an end). Those of us living in First World countries won’t really ponder too much on where our water comes from or how much there is to go around. We believe that as long as the water bills are paid, our faucets will continue to provide us with this basic necessity at our demand.

Though this is one of the perks of having a First World lifestyle, our lack of understanding on current water-related issues blinds us to the reality of those living in other parts of the world. Almost a billion people on earth don’t have access to clean drinking water. While water is just a turn of a faucet away from us, some women in developing countries have to walk an average of 3.7 miles a day to attain water.

You may argue that water is a resource that is plentiful. After all, about 70% of our planet is made of water! But the earth has only about 3% of freshwater to sustain all living things that depend on it.

True, water is considered a “renewable” resource. But renewable resources can only naturally regenerate if their capacity to do so is not irreversibly impaired. Lo and behold, humans have played a large role in our own destruction through polluting water sources and overpumping water faster than it can be replenished.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that these water issues are not to be found in our country, or even in our neighborhood. Perhaps this will be news to many: California is experiencing a water crisis that will make it difficult for current water supplies to meet our growing demand. Just to sustain the large and growing population in Los Angeles, water is exported from places like the Owens Valley, which once used to be a thriving agricultural community.

Islam teaches us to not hoard waters from others, to not pollute and spread other forms of corruption on earth, and to also not indulge in wastefulness and extravagance. Let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that we have unlimited resources we can waste away. That is not how a Muslim is taught to live on this earth.

Photo of a rally against the "Ground Zero Mosque". (Flickr/asterix611)

The Question: Is Islamophobia a good thing for Muslims?

The Answer: “yes-no”

Every coin has two faces, every spectrum two ends, and every argument two sides. This lingering question is no different.

Islamophobia quite literally (and linguistically) is a fear of Islam and Muslims; albeit, an intense, irrational fear of Islam and Muslims. Some Muslims hold that Islamophobia is a good thing. Why? How could fear of Islam benefit Islam?

People tend to naturally fear what they do not know, so to overcome that fear they have to face it, explore it, learn more about it––in this case, people that fear Islam have to explore Islam, but why should they?

Because as natural as it is to have fear, it’s just as natural, if not more, to want to overcome it. No one wants to be scared of anything, and that desire can inspire a person to learn about his/her fear so that he/she can address it. This could explain why at the height of Islamophobia post 9/11, people continued to convert to Islam after learning more about this faith.

Going back to fear, some Muslims also believe that Islamophobia provides a ‘psychological venue’ or, more simply, an opportunity to speak to and inform people about our faith. Why?

Because when you’re scared of spiders, you’re just that: scared of spiders. You’re not afraid of talking about spiders or taking a zoology class that covers arachnids. In fact, you may be (for some odd reason) more inclined to jump in on conversations about spiders, when they come up.

Similarly, Islamophobes are willing to talk, argue, or learn about Islam when given the opportunity. And that willingness gives Muslims an opportunity to explain, clarify and teach our faith.

Other Muslims don’t really see it as a good thing because they believe Islamophobia as we know it today is no longer “Islamophobia”. It is no longer just a fear of Islam, it has become a loathing of it. And the masses, for the most part, have been manipulated, their fear turned to hate by a small, powerful group with an evil agenda (but let’s not delve into that).

Human nature does allow for fear, but it’s human weakness that allows fear to morph into hate. Islamophobia as a fear of Islam may very well be a good thing, but Islamophobia as a hatred of Islam, not so much.

As for those people that are still true Islamphobes (only fearful but not hateful), they may still be inclined to learn about Islam. Under normal circumstances that’s not a bad thing at all, but once you throw Google into the mix, it certainly can be. Virtually everyone that may want to learn about Islam at some point consults Sheikh Google, and this “Sheikh,” for someone that doesn’t know any better, really does suck.

There are numerous anti-Muslim sites on the web and that’s a definite no-no for someone who doesn’t know much about our deen. And of the few legitimate sites on the web, only a few are completely reliable and accurate.

Islamophobia is a good thing. It has the potential to encourage people to explore Islam for themselves and it has the potential to encourage Muslims to do a better job in demonstrating the true essence of their faith.

Islamophobia is a bad thing. It has the potential to cultivate aggressive hate, and it has the potential to lead people to despicable, fallacious, crooked websites that misrepresent the religion to a degree unheard of.

As a Muslim, I like to think of the glass as half-full, not half-empty. So, Islamophobia to me is favorable but that doesn’t mean I refuse to acknowledge it’s capacity to be unfavorable.

If anything, it should be a wake-up call for us, to address the concerns people have about Islam before they become haters and before they start hitting up the wrong sources that may continue to mislead them.

Featured photo of American flag taken by Flickr user danic.

Attention all expatriate Egyptians: we have less than three days to make history.

Tahrir Square (Flickr/thecoldwhisper)

For many years, Egyptians living abroad could not vote. Now, for the first time in the past 30 years, Egyptians outside of Egypt are able to cast a vote in the Egyptian elections, after Egypt’s Administrative Court issued a ruling allowing them to take part in elections.

Beginning November 10th, the Egyptians living abroad who wish to vote in Egypt’s next parliamentary elections, started to register by recording their information in embassies and consulates, or through the site of the High Elections Commission. No further information has been given on when and how voting will take place, but in order to vote, you need to be registered. The registration period closes on November 19th.

Having spent almost five years in the United States as an international student and seeing how Americans have the opportunity to elect who they really want to have in power and speak up when they do not like something, I want my country to be the same. I want my people to have the same rights.

But one impression I got from talking to Americans about voting trends in the US was that many people here have the right to vote but they don’t vote (with the exception of the last election). Now that Egyptians overseas have the right to vote, they need to make sure not to fall into the trap of voter apathy. A concern in mind is that if not enough people register, we might be prevented from participating in future elections.

The picture is not perfect in Egypt right now, politically or socially, and the future of Egypt still remains uncertain and some may ask why the vote of the Egyptians living abroad matters or why they have the right to vote.

According to 2008 census estimate, Egypt’s population is nearly 81.3 million with up to 6 million living abroad. Of the Egyptians living abroad, hundreds of thousands reside in the United States.

I understand there is a story behind each Egyptian’s reason for leaving the homeland, whether it’s to study and go back to help their communities, or to work to support their families back home, or even to escape political persecution. But one thing I am sure of is that all Masriyun have one thing in common—that is love for our homeland regardless of the distance between us.

Even the Egyptians who will continue to live abroad still care deeply about Egypt, and their vote can make a difference in the life of their families and communities and because they are not living in Egypt now does not mean that their rights for voting can be taken away.

Many of us were not in Egypt during the revolution and nothing will make us feel what our people were going through while standing in Tahrir Square sacrificing by their lives for you, for me, and for every Egyptian to live with freedom and dignity. The least we can do is to cast our vote to ensure that their sacrifices were not in vain.

If you hesitate about voting, remember, there are still tears of a mother that lost her child, there are cries of small kids who lost their father, there will always be a hole in society from the loss an entire class of doctors, engineers, artisans, breadwinners, etc. We can show our pride for these brave martyrs by voting.

While doing my studies here and struggling in my own way, I always had this inner fear of whether I am going to be able to carry the knowledge I learned here and use it to better my country. I always wondered, is there a way that I can establish research labs in Egypt comparable to American research labs. I have seen many professors go back after they studied here and just lose hope in trying to change the situation in Egypt.

But now it’s different. Now we have a hope. The revolution has given us a once in a life-time chance to change things, to create a better Egypt. Our first step is to choose the leaders we want to represent us.

Egypt is in its formative years. The decisions we help make will have lasting effects on the future of Egypt. It is our duty to be a part of the democratic process. It took just one person to start the revolution in the Middle Eastern countries. One person’s actions created a wave of democracy. Imagine what 6 million can do.

Register today by going to:

http://www.elections2011.eg/index.php/2011-11-09-20-01-43

This symbol, "Om", represents a state of consciousness and awareness of one's spiritual identity. (Flicker/ nabeel_yoosuf)

Inspired from my previous experience at the “Lunar-Dharmacakra Mixer“, I was fired up and blazed to attend the Muslim Union’s next event where Muslims met with the Hindu Students Association at the Hindu-Muslim mixer.

I took the liberty of dubbing this mixer “Forum of the Falasifa Pandits.” This, like the last Mixer’s name , has a deeper meaning attached to it.

The “forum” refers to the group of buildings that were part of the government in ancient Rome, or it can otherwise refer to a place of open discussion. “Falasifa” refers to the Greek word, adopted by Arab Muslims during the Islamic Golden Age, to refer to philosophers.

The word “Pandit” is the origin of the word “pundit” which is used in English to refer to an expert in any given field. However, the word “pandit” refers to a person who has mastered the Sanskrit language, and more specifically, it refers to one who has memorized and can recite a significant part of the Vedas, the holy book of Hinduism, during ritual ceremonies.

In this way, our Mixer was a place of open discussion between educated and learned thinkers and followers of two different, but similar faiths.

Unlike my fatal error last meeting, I was not too late for the meeting of the pundits. However I was unable to remain for the entire exchange. It must have been a coincidence because I had an intense debate scheduled that same evening after the Mixer, and I was thus clad in my dark, authoritative, business suit.

I entered the Mixer just in time before the main event began. Unlike the previous “Lunar-Dharmacakra Mixer,” this event began with a light, casual phase as the participants conversed and ate snacks.

At the end of my time there, it escalated into a more heavy, serious discussion as all the pundits stood together in a circle while directing questions and answers to each other. Unfortunately, my time was up and I had to leave the epic symposium of intellectual exchange.

Despite my early time there, I learned one important fact and pondered on some thoughts. What defines “polytheism?” Is Hinduism a “polytheistic” religion? By Islam’s definition of “polytheism,” the answer might be “Yes.”

However, by the theological and scholastic definition of “polytheism,” Hinduism might not be considered such a religion. Although it may seem that Hindus worship several gods and goddesses, from what I learned, all these gods and goddesses are merely essences, avatars, or personifications of one Supreme God.

In that regards, both Islam and Hinduism share similar concepts of a single Supreme God or deity. To a person who possess general knowledge of a religion such as Hinduism, it would seem that Hinduism is a polytheistic religion. However, this is an extreme oversimplification of a faith that encompasses a large population of people. In learning about Hinduism from actual Hindus, many do not consider their faith to be polytheistic with many gods.

As a Muslim using the concept of polytheism or ‘shirk’ defined in Islam, we are confronted with a believers of a faith who disagree with our position. However, this is not a matter of who is right or who is wrong, or whether you ought to agree or disagree, but the point is to learn about different perspectives and opinions that may oppose or contradict those of your own.

Giving dawah involves learning new perspectives and viewpoints while critically thinking, pondering, and analyzing them. Hence, the purpose of dawah is to convey and communicate, and not convince or convert.

“Tell me, what does democracy look like? –This is what democracy looks like!”

“Banks got bailed out, we got sold out!”

These were just a few of the frustrations and outcries heard on October 15, 2011, the national day of Wall Street protests occurring in, of all places, Irvine of conservative Orange County.

My family and I had all planned to make an effort to attend the Occupy Irvine protest and join the Occupy Wall Street movement that had begun in New York.

We were all joking about how conservative Orange County would probably not have as big of a turnout as Los Angeles would have, so we decided that Irvine might need our presence more than Los Angeles.

Thus, we spent our Saturday protesting against Wall Street in Irvine, in solidarity with the rest of the nation’s 99%.

We were surprised to find the protest packed. The crowd was very diverse and various different kinds of signs could be seen, from “I am 17—what is my future going to cost me?” to “I am an Afghan child, please stop dropping bombs on me.”

But, some people were missing… Where were my Muslim brothers and sisters at?

Martin Luther King, Jr. had said, “He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it and he who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.”

Are we, as Muslim Americans, not part of the 99%? Are we not against the rise seen in our tuition prices? Are we not against the war in Afghanistan and Iraq? Are we not also the 99% who have been left unemployed or under-covered in our health insurance? Are we not against the injustice that is happening to the majority of people in America?

As Malcolm X so intelligently said, “The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.”

If we want change, we must act. If we want our public education to be free again, we must protest against the rise in education tuition. If we want our troops back home, we must protest against the wars overseas.

If we want jobs, we must protest. We must protest against the unfairness that Wall Street has been conniving against the 99% Americans.

As the Prophet Mohammad, peace be upon him, taught us: “He who amongst you sees something abominable should modify it with the help of his hand and if he has not strength enough to do it, then he should do it with his tongue by seeking out against it, and if he has not strength enough to do it, even then he should abhor it from his heart by always disliking what is evil or harmful, and that is the least of faith” (Muslim).

It is time for us to strengthen our faiths by becoming involved and uniting with the 99% to speak out against the injustice and corruption that Wall Street is doing against us.

All photos taken by Nadia Afredi at the Occupy Irvine protest on October 15, 2011.

(Flickr/ digitaura)

“The Lunar-Dharmacakra Mixer.” This phrase emerged into my mind when I first heard about the upcoming Muslim-Buddhist Mixer from the Dawah (formally known as “Muslim Union”) subgroup of UCLA’s Muslim Students Association.

“Lunar” referred to the moon or the pseudo-symbol of Islam adopted since the reign of the Ottoman Empire. From my prior knowledge of Buddhism, I knew that the “Dharmacakra” was the wheel with eight spokes, and also one of the central symbols of Buddhism.

I had initially visualized the Mixer as some type of Dharmacakra emitting moonlight, and was looking forward to attending in order to speak about my own faith while learning more about another. However…

…I had made a near-fatal error. While the timing for the Lunar-Dharmacakra to spin would be precisely at 5 PM, I had miscalculated and instead arrived near an hour late at 6 PM. My delay had caused a slightly unfortunate downside.

The “Lunar-Dharmacakra” Mixer was planned to spin both ways clockwise and counter-clockwise. However, they had already spun clockwise, and it was now time to spin counter-clockwise. Instead of learning more about Buddhism, my plans changed, and I ended up speaking as much as I could about my own faith in order to make up for the delay.

However, mixing and spinning in only one direction was satisfying nonetheless. While I had some “experience” in dawah on the electronic ocean of the Internet, this time I was speaking live to people without any veil of anonymity.

Whether it was the concept of Tawheed  (Unity of God), the five pillars of Islam, lowering thy gaze, or reciting the Ayah Al Kursi,  not only was I conveying shards of knowledge to someone else, but I felt the shards within myself resonating and reminding of what I already knew and learned.

From this “Lunar-Dharmacakra” Mixer, I learned one very important lesson: Giving dawah is not only a process of teaching others, but it is also a process of reminding yourself of what you already know. It is a process of rekindling knowledge’s flame inside, while letting its sparks fly off outside.

(Flickr/BRQ)

On October 20^th  a dictator, a tyrant, an oppressor was defeated, captured, and killed. His death is not a shock to most of the world, it was inevitable–just as it is for us all.

However, the presumed manner of his death, along with the supposed occurrences after his death, cast a sliver of disappointment among some of the supporters of the revolution who consider the circumstances of and the reaction to his death as a faux pas.

The revolution can, in part, credit its very inception to the heavy-handed rule that Gaddafi menaced the region with. Injustice, abuse, poverty, and violence befell the people at the hands of this man, and there is no doubt he was a treacherous, authoritarian bully during his reign.

Of course, you can only smother your people so much. At some point, they will wake. At some point, they will break. And when they break, the oppressor will soon be at the mercy of the oppressed.

In relation to Libya, Gaddafi was cornered and captured, unarmed in a sewage drain. At this point, everyone would agree that he became a prisoner of war. As some may know, prisoners of war are granted protection in Islam, unless of course they pose an obvious, immediate threat. I hope we can agree that when Gaddafi was captured, bloody, half-conscious, with 95% of Libya out of his control, he was no longer a threat.

This is the critical point. This is where the oppressed can show they will not stand for oppression, even if the man captured is himself an oppressor.

This is where the oppressed can succumb to their taste for revenge and become, if only for one second, the oppressors.

I do not feel the need to go into many examples of how prisoners of war are to be treated in Islam because I believe that for the most part, we know the mercy and pardon that our Prophet (SAWS) showed to every living being, regardless of their crimes.

We know that after the Battle of Badr the Muslims would offer the prisoners their ration of bread while they themselves ate only dates.

We know that Allah commands us not to go beyond our limits in war by letting hatred and revenge persuade us to injustice [Qu'ran 5:8], and to provide for the captive [Qu'ran 76: 5-9].

We know that Salah ad-Din gave clemency and medical aid to the same Crusaders who slaughtered 70,000 Muslim men, women, and children. Crusaders who bashed children’s heads against walls, threw babies off roofs, burnt men alive, and gutted women.

We know that al-Kamil gave food, shelter, and protection to the same Crusaders that pillaged Muslim lands, committed atrocities, and murdered innocent Muslims by the lot.

I hope that Gaddafi did not die unjustly at the hands of anger and vengeance for this is the same injustice and lawlessness the revolution sought to uproot and eradicate.

It is not within the Islamic tradition to kill out of blood-lust, nor is it in the Islamic tradition to parade and drag a dead brother’s body around town.

Most of us have no qualms with the end result. But, in Islam, the ends does not justify the means. No matter how symbolic, or right, or justified it may have been to kill Gaddafi, if the killing was motivated by anything but justice, then it was not for Allah.

I’d like to depart with this final story:

During the battle of Khandaq ‘Amr (Quraysh’s “Gladiator”) challenged the Muslims to a duel. Only ‘Ali (RA) answered the call. As they fought ‘Amr had the upper hand, but ‘Ali had the blessing of the Prophet (SAWS) and disarmed ‘Amr.

Before ‘Ali was to finish ‘Amr, he offered him a chance to accept Islam. ‘Amr not only refused, he spat in the face of ‘Ali, and raised his chin to expose his neck so ‘Ali could kill him. ‘Ali refused. Instead he withdrew his sword and said: “Know, O ‘Amru, I only kill in the way of Allah and not for any private motive. Since you spat in my face, my killing you now may be from a desire for personal vengeance. So I spare your life. Rise and return to your people!”
[Ibn Sa’d, Ibn Hisham and al-Tabari]

(Photo: Filckr/decade_null)

The American incarceration system has made it a point to imprison people, bar them from outside contact, isolate them from society and bunch them together to have “tea-parties”. Meanwhile, they fail to provide them with proper rehabilitation programs and a safe environment to foster development and change.

Put simply: this system just does not work.

How effective can prison be if its only purpose is to house criminals for the duration of their sentence and after their sentence is complete, release them back into society? Not very effective at all.

The fact that up to 60% of inmates are rearrested within 3 years of release only attests to the flaw in the incarceration system. Prisons need to be places that encourage and facilitate change and development within each inmate on a personal level.

Their primary purpose should be to provide inmates with rehabilitation programs, counseling services, educational forums, and real-world mentoring.

Their secondary purpose is to be the medium for criminals to serve their sentences. What happens if the incarceration system continues to fail to invest in inmate refinement? Well, the average cost to house a single adult inmate is nearly $50,000 a year. With nearly a quarter-million inmates (217,000 to be exact) of which over 80% serve more than 5 years, 70% serve more than 10 years, and 40% more than 15. You do the math.

And don’t forget that there’s a 67% chance they’ll go right back in. This system hurts everyone, taxpayers pay from their pockets while inmates pay with their lives.

How do you try to tackle this problem? Changing the system entirely will quite literally take a national revolution. The corporate grip on the government will not loosen easily, there’s just too much money to be made.

But there is another way.

We can target the at-risk youth who would otherwise grow up to become the adult inmates that fall into the hole of cyclic incarceration. We can provide them with the services, skills, and environment they need to develop and mature into productive people will prevent them from filling up prisons and becoming a burden not only upon society, but also upon themselves.

***

XVI | XVII | XVIII

Salmon Hossein on his first visit to Afghanistan earlier this year.

Al-Talib interviews Salmon Hossein on his experience growing up as an Afghan American post 9/11. Hossein is a recent UCLA graduate who is now pursuing a Masters of Public Policy at Harvard University.

A-T: Describe that day in 2001. What was it like, what do you remember?

Hossein: I remember, just that summer we had moved from Northern California where I was born and raised my entire life to Southern California.

That morning I happened to wake up a little earlier, and I’m sitting down in front of the TV and there’s smoke billowing from one of the Twin Towers so I’m like “Mom! Mom! Come look at this!” So while we’re watching the broadcast and while I’m eating my breakfast, the second plane hits and that’s when we knew like ok, something serious is happening here. I just remember that morning so vividly.

A-T: How do you think it impacted you growing up?

Hossein: In terms of national history, it’s probably one of, if not the most important thing that happened to me, more than the war in Afghanistan, because I was ridiculed a lot when I went to school.

It was my second day at school and the kids barely knew me to begin with. And on top of that, I happened to be an Afghan-American. So they kept calling me “Afghanistan” to a point where I didn’t think they even knew my name.

It affected me on multiple fronts because I was Muslim, and Islam was being attacked. I was Afghan, and Afghanistan was the first country that was invaded. And lastly, my last name is Hossein. So as if being Muslim and Afghan wasn’t enough, I happen to have the same last name as Iraq’s dictator. I was like the living, walking, talking Axis of Evil in one.

And it really hurt me because I didn’t know how to respond to it, I was only in 8^th grade. I went through an identity crisis. I would actually try reasoning with them “I was born and raised in California, I don’t know any of them” or “that’s not what I believe. If I believed any of it I wouldn’t be living here.”

Soon enough I realized these people weren’t listening and they were just making more fun of me. And that’s when I started to develop a sense of humor and try to mentally take what they say lightly. It almost changed my personality. Before that I was this geeky nerd and after that I realized I could use humor and personal relationships with people.

A-T: How about today, do you think 9/11 influenced your interaction with non-Muslims?

Hossein: Today I think I’m very aware of my interactions with non-Muslims, especially if they know my faith. If I’m one of the only Muslims they know, I have to put on a good show and represent Islam to them. Not put on a show as in be fake, but if I’m this temperamental, angry guy, I fit into the media stereotypes that are hammered into them every day.

But if I’m this guy that’s working for social justice, devoting my life to public service, or I’m friendly with them, then I hope that they’ll take away that not all Muslims are like this, in fact, most are like Salmon.

A-T: What about your identity? How was that impacted?

Hossein: At first, I was so typecast as “the other,” “the minority,” “the Muslim,” that I fell prey to it, that when people asked me what I am I would say that I’m Afghan. But that changed over time because I realized that no, I’m American. I was born in California, raised in California, went to school in California, lived 23 years of my life in California and only this year did I spend five months in Afghanistan. So I’m as Californian and as American as the person next to me. That’s something I hadn’t come to terms with until recently.

A-T: You want to dedicate your life to fighting poverty and other social issues. Given the conflicts going on in Afghanistan even before 9/11, what led you to this path?

Hossein: Before 9/11 I cared a lot about Afghanistan because I had learned so much about what my parents had gone through for me to be in America today and how one small change in their escape story could have either meant death for them or them not ending up in America. And if they didn’t end up in America they wouldn’t have met each other and my sister and I wouldn’t be here today.

So because I understood how privileged we were I cared a lot about Afghanistan and the issue of poverty around the world.

But 9/11 made me look into the political and societal ramifications of being a Muslim. Before that, it was a very private faith for me. It was something we did in our family, behind closed doors amongst relatives and friends. It wasn’t something that I needed to talk about. But after 9/11 I realized I have to justify my faith and justify my beliefs. I had to defend it against people who were ignorant.

So it did influence me. Because of that bigotry, because my patriotism was questioned, my faith was demonized, the very freedoms, honor and respect that my family sought in the United States was no longer being afforded to them, I wanted to enter law, policy and government and put an end to that. Because I believe that what America stands for, its truest ideals are in conjunction with the Islamic faith because both preach and promote freedom, justice, and liberty for all, and the pursuit of happiness and equality for everybody.