HAhmed.com

I mean Assistant to the President*

Dont forget, Season Finale of The Office Tonight!!!!

In a rather disturbing op-ed piece in the NYTimes earlier this week, Edward N Luttwak suggested that Barack Obama, whose father was Muslim, was an apostate. He suggests that due to his apostacy, he would in fact not be viewed favorably in the eyes of the Muslim world, and that he would receive death threats whenever he would travel to a Muslim country.

Here are a couple of Letters to the Editor from today’s NYTimes denouncing such claims.

To the Editor:

Like the Jewish legal tradition, Islamic law is a conversation represented in dynamic and diverse schools of thought. Edward N. Luttwak speaks of an essentialized Islamic law that does not exist.

Nevertheless, there is no dispute among Muslims that Islam is not an ethnic affiliation, nor is it passed through the gene pool. A Muslim parent is morally responsible for raising his or her child within Islam; children, for their part, have no legal culpability. There is no legal obligation by a child to affiliate with the Muslim community.

Islam does not consider Barack Obama ever to have been part of the Muslim community. Apostasy has no relevance here.

Ingrid Mattson
Hartford, May 12, 2008

The writer is president of the Islamic Society of North America, the largest umbrella Muslim group in the country.

To the Editor:

People in Muslim countries are aware that Senator Barack Obama is not a Muslim, and yet he enjoys wide support in those countries. That support has nothing to do with Mr. Obama’s being a full, half or non-Muslim; it is rooted in the fact that he promises to change the kind of policies that have led to such a negative view of America by people in other countries, both Muslims and members of other faith communities.

Zaid Shakir
Berkeley, Calif., May 12, 2008

The writer is a professor of Arabic and Islamic studies at the Zaytuna Institute.

Read more here

As far as Stephen Colbert’s concerned, Bill O’Reilly did nothing wrong in that infamous “Inside Edition” clip.

Great Interview by Jon Stewart about The Bush administration’s strategy in leading up to the Iraq war.

Part 1

Part 2

STAND UP: Muslim American Comics Come of Age is the story of five comedians: Ahmed Ahmed, Tissa Hami, Dean Obeidallah, Azhar Usman and Maysoon Zayid.

Source: PBS: America at a Crossroads

It’s an age-old American tradition: immigrant groups take up comedy to fight against discrimination. One path to understanding is to make people laugh. Now Muslim-Americans have come forward to help dismantle the stereotypes and hatred that have surged since September 11, 2001.

Each of these artists felt the aftershock of 9/11 personally. At a time when people of Middle Eastern origin were advised to lay low, they all chose to stand up — and tell jokes. This film explores how they are responding to 9/11, each in a different way, but all using humor to define who they are.

STAND UP is the story of Ahmed’s battle to get beyond playing “Terrorist No. 4.” It’s about Obeidallah’s journey to discover his Arab heritage. It’s about Zayid’s resolve to turn being “a Palestinian Muslim woman virgin with cerebral palsy from New Jersey” into a career asset. It’s about Usman’s quest to become the Muslim comedy role model he himself never found. It’s about Hami’s determination to challenge American conceptions about Muslim women.

“We can’t define who we are on a serious note because nobody will listen.The only way to do it is to be funny about it.”
– Ahmed Ahmed

From false arrests to death threats, these comics face challenges from both mainstream America and within the Muslim community. All are at critical points in their careers, each evolving differently as a comic. But they are all striving for one thing: to break through the typecasting and achieve mainstream comedy success.

Following in the footsteps of comics such as Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, George Lopez, and Margaret Cho, they are using stand-up comedy to make the case for Arab and Muslim inclusion in the American “public square.”

Above all, STAND UP: Muslim American Comics Come of Age is an American story. Which means almost anything is fair game for a laugh.

Source: MR

Unbelievable.

If John McCain wins this November, I’m moving to Canada…

Great article featuring Baba Ali and Lena Khan!

Source: NYTimes

May 8, 2008
Young Video Makers Try to Alter Islam’s Face
By NEIL MacFARQUHAR

LOS ANGELES — When Ali Ardekani started fishing around on the Internet a couple of years ago for video blogs about Muslims, he did not like what he found: either the world’s 1.3 billion Muslims were depicted as bloodthirsty zealots, or they were offering defensive explanations as to why they were not.

“Arabic sounds foreign and scary — you don’t know what is going on,” Mr. Ardekani said in an interview at his small Sherman Oaks apartment, its walls decorated with Koranic verses. “Or they show a woman with the veil, who doesn’t speak, and it is assumed if she did speak she would say, ‘Help me!’ ”

So Mr. Ardekani, a 33-year-old Web designer, cast himself on his video blogs as Baba Ali, an outsize character with a serious religious message who both dissects and lampoons the lives of American Muslims.

Mr. Ardekani is among the most visible of a new wave of young American Muslim performers and filmmakers trying to change the public face of their religion. His most popular video posting — “Who Hijacked Islam?” — has garnered more than 350,000 hits on YouTube since July 2006. Of course the uphill battle such efforts face is reflected in the comments section. One viewer remarked darkly, “It’s Muslims that do the hijacking.”
Continue reading ‘NYTimes: Young Video Makers Try to Alter Islam’s Face’

The Islamic Medical Association of North America
3rd Annual Students and Residents Medical Bash
The Road Ahead: Challenges and Goals

The Mount Sinai School of Medicine
New York City, NY
Saturday, June 14th
For the last two years, the Students and Residents Conference has been a success,
allowing medical students, residents and fellows to listen to dynamic speakers and network
with Muslim medical professionals in the area. Registration for the Conference at
the Mount Sinai Medical School on June 14th, 2008 is underway and is open to all
medical students and residents. Please make sure to register as soon as possible,
as space is limited. A schedule of events will be up shortly

Register Online Now at
https://web.memberclicks.com/mc/quickForm/viewForm.do?orgId=imana&formId=43450
Open to Medical Students and Residents
Early Registration ends soon! Sign up Today!

$20 per student, including food
$30 per resident, including food
REDUCED Hotel Rates Available

His Mother Tells 60 Minutes The Govt. Still Hasn’t Told The Whole Truth About Her Son’s Death

Assalamu Alaikum,

Helping New Muslims on their Chosen Path: a fundraising event for M.E.C.C.A. Come learn how M.E.C.C.A assists new Muslims in holding fast to the rope of Allah through education and support; and how you can help do your part in supporting this noble and much-needed endeavor.

Confirmed Speakers:
Sidi Khalil Moore
Imam Hamad Chebli

When: May 10th, 2008 6:00 PM through 10:00 PM
Where: 3680 Lexington Avenue, Mohegan Lake, NY 10547

To purchase tickets in Advance, please call 212-354-4320 or register online.

Tickets:
$30 Adults
$15 Students
$80 Families

Children under 12 Free
Babysitting will be available

Register online at http://www.meccacenter.com
Email: info@meccacenter.com

Found on Mujahideenryder.net

Mashallah, great seeing Arif in the Washington Post!!!

Four Ways to Partner with Pakistan

By Arif Rafiq

The need to redefine our relationship with Pakistan – a nuclear-armed, frontline state in the war on terror – has never been greater. Now there is considerable opportunity to do so.

U.S. Senate Democrats issued a letter to President George W. Bush this month urging him to “embark on a new relationship with Pakistan based on cooperation with institutions rather than individuals, and to support the will of the Pakistani people as expressed in the February 18 parliamentary elections.”

Historically, ties between the United States and Pakistan have been strongest with a Republican in the White House and an army general in power in Islamabad, with the political goodwill usually ending when Democrats start governing in Washington and elected representatives take power in Islamabad. This has been the story of the on-again, off-again U.S.-Pakistan relationship since the 1950s.

U.S. Democrats could break this cycle by supporting the new civilian government in Islamabad during this period of transition, in which democracy and nationalism are being renewed. But the Bush administration must also follow suit. The policy of relying heavily on one general (in this case Pervez Musharraf) has proven shortsighted. What’s needed now to fulfill long-term mutual interests are strong ties with the people, nation and state of Pakistan.

Failure to do so in the Bush administration’s remaining months could cause irreparable harm to our relationship with Pakistan. In a democratic Pakistan, decision-making will be less centralized and more representative of public opinion. But the current U.S. administration is increasingly acting unilaterally in Pakistan’s tribal areas and has aggressively tried to ensure a pliant government in Islamabad.

And so, amidst the opportunity for U.S.-Pakistan ties to grow also lies the seeds for their unravelling. Sustained bilateral cooperation is in the interest of both countries, and needs to be secured. This requires recasting the U.S.-Pakistan partnership as one between sovereign democracies.

Toward this end, here are four recommendations for U.S. policymakers:
Continue reading ‘Washington Post: Four Ways to Partner with Pakistan’

This was pretty cool…