<b>The Gift of Youth by Maulana Aminur Rahman </b>


<b>Date:</b> Friday 9th June 2006


<b>Time:</b> 8:15PM


<b>Venue:</b> Al Kawthar Academy


<b>Address:</b> 62 Gough Road Leicester LE5 4AN


Maulana Aminur Rahman will be delivering a talk entitled <b>“The Gift of Youth”</b> on the 9th June 2006 at the Al Kawthar Academy, Leicester. The talk will commence at 8.15 PM. This event is for brothers and sisters.


<b>About Maulana Aminur Rahman</b>


Maulana Aminur Rahman is one of the qualified Islamic scholars based at the Al Kawthar Academy. He is a student of Shaykh Abu Yusuf Riyadh ul Haq and a teacher at the Islamic University, Madinatul Uloom al Islamiyyah in Kidderminster, UK.


<b>Sisters Entrance:</b> Gough Road


<b>Brothers Entrance:</b> Smith-Dorrien Road


- There will be stalls where you can purchase Islamic audio & books, itr, clothing and a variety of other Islamic goods.


Please come yourselves and invite others for as the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings be upon him, said, ‘Whomsoever guides towards a goodness, will get virtues equal to the one who performs that goodness.’ [Muslim]


You can get full directions from your place of origin to any destination around the UK by using the route planners on either www.multimap.com or www.rac.co.uk




<b>LIVE BROADCAST – LIVE BROADCAST – LIVE BROADCAST</b>







Maulana Aminur Rahman’s lecture will be broadcast live through Paltalk. In order to listen to the lecture you will have to download and install Paltalk Messenger which is a free program, available to download at www.paltalk.com or www.download.com
To listen to the live broadcast simply enter the Islam category in the ‘Rooms’ tab where at 8PM a room will be opened called ‘Al Kawthar Academy’. By double-clicking on ‘Al Kawthar Academy’ you will enter the room in which the talk will be broadcast. The talk can also be accessed directly from our website www.alkawtharacademy.org without the need to install Paltalk. Simply click on the PLAY button at the time of the lecture (a Paltalk username and password is still required - it takes seconds to register). Please request your friends and family to listen.


<b>LIVE BROADCAST – LIVE BROADCAST – LIVE BROADCAST</b>

I've tried to explain versus found in the Holy Bible which appear unscientific. Some of them I believe aren't unscientific at all and some of them such as the Levitical laws brought up by Wel Mel do seem, to human understanding "unscientific". Does this mean that the Bible is flawed and not inspired by God??? No.


If you disagree than I guess we can say the same about the Qur'an since ants don't talk (Koran 27)


I am a Christian not because the Bible through it's historical and scientific virtues led me to belief.


I am a Christian because of grace. Not through works of my own but through the blood of Christ I am clean before God. Because He called my name before He laid the foundations of the earth I am His. My salvation is much more mystical and unbelievable than any scientific discovery. The fact that God came to earth to dwell among His creation because He loved them so much is the biggest surprise of all.


On the other hand I don't believe the Qur'an is the word of God. Not because of scientifc errors or historical problems. I don't believe the Qur'an because the Bible is God's revelation to mankind.


Revelation 22


1 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. 4 They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. 5 There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.


6 Then he said to me, “These words are faithful and true.” And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place.


7 <b>“Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this ok.”</b>


8 Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things.


9 Then he said to me, “See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.” 10 And he said to me, “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. 11 He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.”


<b>12 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”</b>


14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. 15 But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.


16 “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”


17 And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.


18 For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will addto him the plagues that are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.



20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.”


Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!


21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.Amen.

Bismillah:


My journey to Islam

Quote:I am a 45-year-old Jordanian woman of Palestinian origin. I was born to a Christian family and used to work as an office manager. I followed Christianity until January 15, 2006, when I converted to Islam, thanks be to God.
I grew up in a Christian family that wasn't very committed to religion. My father was an atheist, although he never tried to influence us or interfere in our choices. My mother was a Christian by birth and tradition, and she brought us up this way.


We went to schools run by nuns. Therefore learning about Christianity was a must, and we had to attend mass on Sunday with the rest of the parish, in addition to a special mass on Wednesday for the students. I never liked the rituals of the mass and never felt connected with God through those rituals, yet I used to practice it with interest because of my conviction that prayer is the only connection with God, the only way to express my appreciation and do my supplications.


Despite this, deep inside of myself, I never felt warm in heart with the process, maybe because of all the festive appearance in the church and its visitors, but also because the method of praying through the priest did not appeal to me. Why did I need a third party to connect me to God, especially when that third party was as human as I was?


Ever since I was a child, we had a Muslim cleaning lady who used to come help my mother in the house. When she prayed, I would watch her with fascination. I often noticed that she shone with faith, even though she was praying alone and not in a house of worship. I once asked her, "Do you feel God close to you when you pray?" She said, "Yes, when you pray, you feel Allah's presence." As simple as her reply was, it touched the core of my heart. Ever since that time, I would envy Muslims when the Adhan was called, thinking they were praying at that time and were feeling the spirit of God close to them.


I grew up with Christianity and stayed like that, sort of accepting it, until my early 30s when I joined the communist party and then stepped away from religion. My thoughts of God brought me close to being an atheist. But I never could deny God's existence as a whole and stayed like that for few years until I quit the communist party. My relation with God was abrupt, and I only went to church for Christmas and Easter and to participate in social occasions.


With time, I started feeling that it was not enough to only believe in God. I was tired of the cut-off relationship I had with Him. So I concluded that I could only strengthen my tie with God by strengthening my relationship with my religion. It was then that the agony started again; every time I came closer to the religion and its teachings, I faced the same questions torturing me.


Who is God?


Is He the Father?


Is He the Son?


Or is He the Holy Spirit?


God-in-one in all those three was the same answer I always got, but it never convinced me. How could God have a son? And how could He say that son is Him? Why did He need a son to prove that He was God?


Why did I, as a Christian, need to connect with God through Jesus? If Jesus was a prophet, then he was as human as I was, albeit of a higher rank of spirituality. But I didn't need Jesus to connect me with God; after all, he was only God's messenger. But if he was a god, then how could I worship two gods?


I started reading more during these desperate times, trying to come closer to God through Christianity, the religion in which I was born. But then I started to worry, I couldn't accept most of its teachings, especially the basics, and I started to feel that the Bible was not the words of God that He had originally sent down.


In the Bible, I found many signs that showed that Jesus was only a prophet sent with a message to finish what came before him.


For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. (Matthew 18:11)


For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. (John 12:49)


Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. (Matthew 5:17)


And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God. (Mark 10:18)


Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me. (Mark 9:37)


And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. (John 17:3)


There are also many other examples from the Bible that illustrate how Jesus never claimed to be God, although he always affirmed that he was the son of a human.


So where did the idea of the Trinity come from, and that Christ is God, the son of God? These questions perplexed me for years.


Another important issue puzzled me, namely, why did God have to come down to earth in the form of a human? Why did He have to kill "His son" to take away our sins? Why did He have to bribe us to love Him? Weren't we bound to Him due to our existence and creation? What would be the purpose of our life if we lived without sins? And where is the divine justice in having one person take the burden of others' sins and mistakes?


And if Christ died while on the cross, then does this mean that God died? How could this be?


The only answer I got from people who tried to prove Christ's divinity was their saying that he performed miracles. But other prophets did too! Rising from the dead after three days is something only gods can do, but wasn't Elias carried to heaven on a carriage of light, as narrated in the Hebrew Bible?


I was never convinced with the answers. The only answer that I could believe and be convinced with was coming from my inside: namely that the ideas of salvation and Trinity were added to Christianity for the purpose of convincing people easily of following that new religion, where the idea of one god was not common, so making them three would be easier for people to grasp and that new religion would take away all their sins.


Another important point I questioned was whether the Bible was the words of God. Because there are so many different versions of the Bible, my doubts were raised about its authenticity as the words of God. Thus, I started researching the issue until I heard a debate by Ahmad Deedat with an American preacher. The debate was entitled "Is the Bible the Word of God?" and all the points Deedat raised made so much sense to me. Through Deedat's works, I noticed how so many verses from the Hebrew Bible, which are totally ignored, refer to Prophet Muhammad. From here, my journey to Islam began.


As the attack on Islam in the international arena got stronger, it helped me explore it more. I had heard so many interpretations from within various Islamic factions, which seemed to me to be contradictory to what I learned about Islam from having lived all my life in a Muslim society. So I started digging for the truth and the basis for such interpretations, only to find out the truth of Islam and a religion that can absorb everyone, that calls for the worship of one and only one God, for peace and forgiveness, and that addresses every single aspect of life. These tenets made Islam a more realistic religion for me, as opposed to Christianity, which I found otherworldly for my taste. In addition, there were many other essential differences that I could not accept or comprehend in Christianity.


I found that Islam is a religion that calls for people to appreciate God for what He is and for what they are. There is no need for any mediators with clear-cut instructions to govern the lives of Muslims.


Instinctively, I felt Islam settle in my heart without any resistance, and my mind was at ease. I found myself fitting into Islam as if I were born into a Muslim family. Prayer satisfied me and my need to get closer to God, and I fasted last Ramadan and read the whole Qur'an. I found myself spiritually involved in Islam and accepted it from all angles, I felt so much inner peace in it.


After Ramadan, Christmas came, followed by `Eid Al-Adha, which was a good test of my conviction. At Christmas, I didn't feel any kind of spiritual attachment or connection, while at `Eid Al-Adha, I found myself fasting on the day of `Arafah. I surprised myself on this day, January 9. I couldn't wait anymore. On that day, I pronounced the Shahadah by myself, but I still wanted my Islam to be witnessed. I had to wait until everybody finished their `Eid celebration to be free to witness my Shahadah. On January 15, 2006, I confirmed that Islam was the religion for me, and I pronounced the Shahadah, al-hamdu lillah.


The day of my conversion was one of best days of my life. I was contemplating and studying Islam and was thinking of converting to it, but I had thought that it would take me one more year or so to do that. I didn't want to alter my official papers, so a sheikh advised that pronouncing the Shahadah was enough but that I could do it in front of two other Muslims as witnesses if that would help me. And so I did, two of my best friends came and witnessed my Shahadah, and then I became a full Muslim.


I can't describe the feelings that I felt during the day. I felt so overwhelmed, like someone who had been stuck in a big well and would be saved at a certain moment and couldn't wait for that moment to come.


Once things were finalized and I was officially a Muslim, a big wave of relief, peace, and contentment washed all over me. The first thing I did after my conversion was to prayed two rak`ahs to thank Allah Almighty.

Bismillah:


Assalmo ALikum.


as I mentioned to brother Christian Curious that am going to bring up some points concerning Biblical statements that seems to be conflicting with modern science. I would like to hear CC's comments on these points.


This work is taken from Dr Zakir Naik's debate with Dr William Campbell regarding Qur'an and Bible in the light of science.


22 points were raised by Dr Zakir and Dr Campbell was asked to answer and clarify those points. And he was very honest when he said:

Quote:“Well Dr. Naik has brought up some real problems
- And there are also these problems that he has said. <b>I do not deny them, and I don’t have good answers for them
”</b>

Many of you I am sure are familar with the Gospel of Jesus Christ as Christians believe it. God, in his mercy and love for his creation, gave his only begotten Son to die and be atonment for sin on our behalf. (There is more to it than that of course...just a summary)


I also know that Muslims reject the Gospel.


What then is the Muslim "Gospel?"


What must one do to have communion with God?


What does Islam say about the state of Mankind and man's relationship with God?


Where does a Muslim place their faith?


Do all Muslims go to heaven?


How does a Muslim approach Allah upon his/her death with confidence of paradise and not condemnation?

State Funded Muslim Schools


British schooling has been mis-educating and de-educating Muslim children for the last 50 years and for the first time the Muslim leadership openly declared that British school is a home of institutional racism where there is no place for foreign culture and languages. Institutional racism is depriving Muslim children of the chance to go to their own faith schools. It leads LEAs to reject or delay approval of Muslim schools. Policy makers like Mr. Graham Lane and others like him do not want to see even a single Muslim school in the United Kingdom. The British teachers have no respect for Islamic faith and Muslim community. Western education system can easily deprogram Muslim children and force them to adopt un-Islamic values. Let the Muslim parents decides how and where to educate their children. According to MORI social research institute on behalf of Bristol LEA, nine out of ten Muslim parents agreed with the model of an Islamic secondary school set up within the state system. I rejected British schooling for Muslim children in the early 70s.


A child who has English as a second language is seen as having a special need – not as having a skill to be lauded from the rooftops. Bilingual children think in different way. Language has a profound effect in shaping the ways people think and act. Certain concepts are embedded in words that do not translate. There are repertoires of phrases which exist in Arabic or Urdu because there is no English equivalent. State schools are slaughter houses and are not suitable for bilingual Muslim children. Muslim children in the UK may lose out when they join reception classes because the school’s values and language reflect those of the dominant native culture, rather than those of their home. Almost all recent research literature agrees that if you want children whose home language is not English to excel in English –medium schools, it is important to nurture and acknowledge that first language along side their English development. Cultivating bilingualism could and should promote pupil’s linguistic development. Muslim children need bilingual Muslim teachers as role models.


Taxpayers’ money spent on schools should be handed to parents as vouchers to be used for their children’s education as they wished. Funds may be given to parents to set up their own schools. Lady Uddin argues strongly for the benefits of faith-based schooling, rejecting claims made in reports on the 2001 riots in Oldham, Burnley and Bradford that polarised schooling contributed to community division. Culturally separate groups, communities and institutions do not have to be the causes of social instability. There are hundreds of state schools where Muslim pupils are in majority, all such schools may be designated as Muslim community schools to be managed and controlled by Muslim Educational Trust and Charities.


Iftikhar Ahmad


www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk

Saturday 03 June 2006, 14:07 Makka Time, 11:07 GMT


A dead civilian is taken to a morgue in Baqouba on Saturday





Iraq vowed on Saturday to press on with its own investigation into the deaths of civilians in a US raid on the town of Ishaqi, rejecting the US military's exoneration of its forces.


Adnan al-Kazimi, an aide to the prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, said the government would demand an apology from the United States and compensation for the victims in several cases, including the alleged massacre in the town of Haditha last year.


"We have from more than one source that the Ishaqi killings were carried out under questionable circumstances. More than one child was killed. This report was not fair for the Iraqi people and the children who were killed," al-Kazimi told Reuters.


The US military had issued a statement about Ishaqi saying allegations that US troops "executed a family ... and then hid the alleged crimes by directing an air strike, are absolutely false".


Police in Ishaqi say five children, four women and two men were shot in the head, and that the bodies, with hands bound, were dumped in one room before the house was blown up.


Scepticism





A boy stands outside a destroyed


house in Ishaqi (file photo)


The US military repeatedly has pledged to punish any soldier found guilty of atrocities in Iraq, but the decision to clear the troops in Ishaqi fuelled deep mistrust among ordinary Iraqis three years after the US-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein.


"Ishaqi is just another reason why we shouldn't trust the Americans," said Abdullah Hussein, an engineer in Baghdad.


"First they lied about the weapons of mass destruction, then there was the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal and now it's clear to the world they were guilty in Haditha," he told Reuters.


The human rights minister, Wijdan Michael, said her ministry would send a fact-finding commission to Ishaqi in the next few days.


Severed heads


Iraqi police on Saturday found eight severed heads north of Baghdad with a note indicating at least one of the men were killed in retaliation for the slaying of four Shia doctors, authorities told the Associated Press.


Five of the slain men were security guards at a hospital complex in the capital who had been arrested by Iraqi police on Thursday, Lieutenant Colonel Adil Al-Zihari of the Diyala police said.


The heads were found near a highway in the Hadid village near Baqouba, 60 km (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad, and were transferred in fruit boxes to the morgue in Baqouba.


Gunmen also ambushed a police checkpoint in the city on Saturday, killing seven police officers and wounding five pedestrians, police said.


Elsewhere, gunmen opened fire on two people in a car, killing one of them and wounding the other, in the predominantly Sunni Dora neighborhood in southern Baghdad. One of those killed was a car salesman, Lieutenant Maitham Abdul Razzaq said.


At least four bodies were found across Baghdad on Saturday, including a man in his 40s who was shot to death with his hands and legs bound, then dumped behind a hospital in Sadr City. Two other men who were bound and shot to death, showed signs of torture and were left near a ditch near the Shia slum.


The fourth body, which was shot in the head and showed signs of torture, was found in an intersection in eastern Baghdad.


Talks on minister posts

http://news.ibn.net/newsframe.asp?url=http...asp?url=itthere


5/24/06


By Alexander Gainem**


Freelance Journalist – Canada


When John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago and Stephen Walt of Harvard published a report highlighting the efficacy of the Israeli lobby in molding US domestic and foreign policy, charges of malpractice and academic dishonesty were leveled at the authors.


Their paper, "The Israeli Lobby and US Foreign Policy," cited the organizational prowess of pro-Israel groups in marrying the media, think tanks, and numerous politicians into a unified front that muzzles criticism of the Jewish State.


However, in the vitriol exchanged by supporters and detractors of the paper, an illuminating section is overlooked.


Mearsheimer and Walt, in comparing the existence of the Israeli lobby to the likelihood of the existence of a similar Muslim or Arab grouping, say "pro-Arab interest groups, in so far as they exist at all, are weak, which makes the Israeli lobby's task even easier."


Although there is no national consensus data on the number of Muslims in the United States, estimates put the figure between six and seven million, equal to the number of Jews in the country. Each religious group accounts for two percent of the US population. While the global population of Jews is some 15 million, there are nearly1 .2 billion Muslims in the world.


If the logic of strength in numbers is applied, why then is there no Muslim lobby to balance the strong influence of other lobby groups?


There are multiple answers to this question, often directly mirroring the status quo in Arab and Muslim countries, but chief among them is the lack of a unified socio-political platform.


Diverse Muslim Groups


Muslims in the United States are primarily derivative of an immigrant community and belong to a number of diverse ethnic groups. From a religious and sectarian point of view, American Muslims comprise Sunni, Shiite, Ismaili, and Ahmadi sects, to name a few.


Most sects do not see eye to eye and often do not intermingle. The Ahmadi sect, for example, is considered an apostate group by mainstream Islamic theologians, while other sects have complained of repression in their home nations at the hands of other Muslim sects.


As'ad AbuKhalil, professor of political science at California State University at Stanislaus, says Arabs and Muslims in the United States are far from being united and are in a state of disagreement over many issues.


"Just as the Turkish lobby acts on behalf of one Turkish government, the Arab or Muslim lobbies can't mirror a single agenda that represents the interests of all Arab or Muslim governments," AbuKhalil says.


"Arab and Muslim governments often conspire against one another, and their rivalries, especially in the1970 s and1980 s, were mirrored in the competition and rivalries between Arab and Muslim organizations in the United States," he adds.


The deep divisions in the Arab world (along sectarian and ethnic lines) only impair the effectiveness of those groups. "In the case of the Arab and Muslim lobbies, there is a plethora of often competing groups and organizations, which do not seem to adhere to the same agenda," AbuKhalil remarks.


AIPAC's Shadow


Mearsheimer and Walt's paper points to the Jewish Americans' skillfulness in setting up an impressive array of influential organizations, of which the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is the most powerful and best known.


AIPAC operates in near unison with several think tanks, such as the Washington Institute, the Heritage Foundation, Project for a New American Century (PNAC), and others who share a common denominator: pro-Israel policies.


They produce monthly reports culled from "experts" in Israel as well as journalists on the ground. These are then used in a unified assault on the US Congress to influence policy to tilt in favor of Israel.


Similar media exercises from Muslim groups are minimal to none.


Fawaz A. Gerges, who holds the Christian Johnson Chair in International Affairs and Middle Eastern Studies at Sarah Lawrence University in New York, and is a senior analyst for ABC Television News, says the Israeli lobby is well-organized, well-endowed, and well-recognized as a powerful influence by friend and foe.


"It is taken seriously by the foreign policy establishment," he asserts.


On the other hand, "[T]he Muslim community does not possess the political, institutional, and financial prerequisites to make a difference in the American political arena. It takes time, organization, and institutional building to do so."


Coining the Term


If no effective organization resembling an influential lobby represents Muslim or Arab interests in the United States, where did the term Muslim lobby originate?


In researching the above question, the author of this article came across several references to the term specifically in news journals, publications, and blogs with a clear pro-Israel, anti-Muslim slant.


In fact, the term Muslim lobby is an artificial construct, with the word lobby being rather misleading.


"References to Arab or Muslim lobbies occur only in the Arab and Muslim press, or in the propaganda of pro-Israeli groups," says Abukhalil.


Worldnetdaily.com, a website that has featured commentary by writer Joseph Farah urging the killing of 100 non-combatant Palestinian adults for every slain Israeli, regularly uses the term Islamic or Muslim lobby to refer to advocacy groups trying to combat Islamophobia through education and awareness campaigns.


One such advocacy group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), has been sufficiently targeted by journalists and pro-Israel groups.


When CAIR contacted FOX network to raise the issue of negative stereotyping of Muslims on the popular TV thriller "24," journalist Cliff Kincaid accused it of being a "lobby" attempting to intimidate the media.


CAIR says its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding. It does not lobby senators and congressmen to affect pro-Muslim tilt in US foreign policy.


Compare that to AIPAC's mission statement as follows:


Through more than2 , 000meetings with members of Congress — at home and in Washington — AIPAC activists help pass more than100 pro-Israel legislative initiatives a year. From procuring nearly $ 3billion in aid critical to Israel's security, to funding joint US-Israeli efforts to build a defense against unconventional weapons, AIPAC members are involved in the most crucial issues facing Israel.


Consequently, labeling CAIR and other advocacy groups as "lobbies" is an exercise in journalistic inequity and willful disinformation.


Yet, both John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt have been accused by Ami Isseroff, executive secretary of MidEastWeb for Coexistence, of being part of an Arab US lobby.


"The Arab and Muslim lobby and the lobbies of Arab and Muslim countries, and the lobby of US oil interests in those countries are together certainly far more powerful than the 'Israel Lobby,'" she recently wrote.


Fueling Islamophobia


In his book Infiltration: How Muslim Spies and Subversives have Penetrated Washington, journalist Paul Sperry uses the term Muslim lobby to refer to an "Islamic terrorist" conspiracy to infiltrate the US leadership and influence policy.


Sperry links what he terms Muslim lobby groups, faith-based charities, and a wide network of mosques throughout the United States as a unified subversive front.


He stipulates that this grand lobby of Muslim interests is connected to foreign groups like Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood organization, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, and Al-Qaeda.


"It's a syndicate, a Muslim mafia, and law enforcement is only starting to get their arms around it. The base of their operations is in Northern Virginia, where I live — right in the shadow of the nation's capital. I call it The Wahhabi Corridor," he said in an interview with Frontpage Magazine in April2005 .


Given that the term Muslim lobby is so loosely used by pundits to elicit Islamophobia and wax paranoid of a misconceived and undue influence of Arab and Muslim interests in US policy-making, the term should be abolished from the Arab and Muslim lexicon.


Not doing so would cater to a demonization of all Arab- and Muslim-American political participation, a right that is enshrined in the US Constitution.


To Build a Lobby


While no real unified Arab or Muslim lobbying platform can be considered to be functional in the United States, the need remains for such a group to be formed.


In late October2001 , former US ambassador to Egypt and Israel Edward Walker urged Arab governments to set up measures to counter Israel's influence in America's policy-making.


"But you, the Arabs, can no longer afford to just ignore Washington. Arab governments and institutions should start considering how to affect public opinion in the US," he told a political discussion forum hosted by the University of Jordan.


However, 5 years later, Walker's advice may have fallen on deaf ears.


What scant lobbying there is usually depends on the behest of individual Muslim governments.


"One can say that there never was a serious attempt to create an Arab or Muslim lobby, and that whatever organizations that exist today under that umbrella of a name have only succeeded in effectively representing the interests of ruling Arab dynasties," AbuKhalil says of Saudi Arabian initiatives to influence US foreign policy regarding the Kingdom.


"But those dynasties don't even rely on those loyal groups and organizations when they wish to advance a particular issue: Instead, they hire 'purely' American public relations and lobbying firms in order not to allow the Arab or Muslim stigma to hurt their lobbying efforts."


With individual Middle Eastern nations opting to choose public relations firms to represent their interests in Washington, the prospect of a Muslim lobby ever consolidating its efforts in the future remains murky.


Gerges says that while an Arab and Muslim lobby in the United States does not exist, Arab and Muslim voices are laboring hard to be heard and recognized.


And those are steps in the right direction, say many Arab and Muslim Americans.


"It has taken the Israeli lobby half a century to arrive at this historical juncture," Gerges said.


"It will likely take the Muslim community as long, if and when the community decides to organize itself politically and institutionally."


"The key word is institutional building, which is in its infancy."


** Alexander Gainem is a freelance journalist who has written extensively on Middle East issues.


The article posted on this page reflect solely the opinions of the authors.

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8-Year-Old Remembered After Fatal Bus Accident


Family and friends said their goodbyes Wednesday at a private burial service in Jamaica, Queens, for 8-year-old Amber Sadiq, killed earlier this week when she was crushed by a runaway school bus.


Sadiq was walking home from P.S. 161 in Crown Heights on Monday when she was run over by the bus. <b>A dual faith service was held for her because mother is a Roman Catholic and her father is Muslim.</b>
The little girl’s casket and her immediate family were shielded from the media, but it was hard for many of the people who attended Sadiq's burial service to conceal their grief.


“It’s horrible. She was the flower girl at my wedding,” said a family member.


“It's a real difficult time right now for everyone who is involved in this,” said a family friend.


Police say an 8-year-old boy made his way onto the parked bus and released the emergency brake. The vehicle started rolling and picked up speed before crashing into Sadiq, who was crossing the street.


School officials say the boy, whose name has not been released because he is a minor, was suspended last week for trying to sneak onto another bus. They also say he missed 40 days of school this year and was late 14 other times.


The child’s parents have split up, and he's being raised by his father and other relatives.


Some mourners tell NY1 the incident was just a tragedy and that the boy should not be punished.


"I mean, he's only 8-years-old, and what can you say about that?" said one mourner. "I've never had to be in a situation like this. No one's ever been in a situation like this, where you have to look at a child and determine whether he's responsible for a certain type of action. I mean, I really don't know what to say."


“He's an innocent child who happened to make some wrong judgments, the wrong moves. But this was an accident, if you ask me,” said Imam Ahmed Afzali of the Islamic Burial Funeral Service.


It's still unclear whether the city will pursue criminal charges against the boy, but a judge in Brooklyn Family Court has ordered that he have a psychiatric evaluation.


“They are going to evaluate, first his physical state after everything he's been through, his emotional state, his mental state just so the judge has a real idea of she's dealing with a young 8-year-old boy," said Samuel Karliner, the attorney for the boy’s family's. "She wants to know who he is."


The boy is now in the care of the Administration for Children's Services, and he is due back in court on Friday.


His lawyer argues the bus company and driver should be held responsible for the little girl's death.


"The bus driver shouldn't have let this bus allowed to be boarded by people from the street,” said the boy’s attorney Richard A. Miller. “He apparently took a sandwich and went a block or two away and left it unguarded."


Police say the bus was properly parked and they don't expect the bus company to face charges.

Narrated Sahl ibn AbuHathmah: The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: When one of you prays facing a sutrah he should keep close to it, and not let the devil interrupt his prayer. (Sunan Abu Dawud)