Protesting the Protests: Don't Shoot, I'm Innocent

There used to be one significance about the date September 11th--the day when Wahabi terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Centers and killed over 3,000 people. Since then, a lot of us have laughed or rolled our eyes at the U.S. government when threat alerts go up on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks. We argue that no one would be dumb enough to attack a U.S. government compound on this date again for as long as the United States is around.

This idea has been realized by the terrorists, and this year, 2012, they took advantage of it.

It started out as a peaceful protest in the Middle East against a video released which mocks Prophet Muhammad (SAWH.) However, the protest quickly evolved when the Muslim Brotherhood got involved. While there wasn't much destruction even then, terrorists used the protest as an excuse to attack the U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya. I have remained quiet on these protests and attacks so far since the facts are still coming in and, unlike Hillary Clinton, I didn't want to make any preemptive judgments.

The attack on the embassy killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya, causing both presidential nominee Mitt Romney and President Obama to give speeches condemning the attacks along with their usual political rhetoric. Both president and presidential candidate used the opportunity to make political moves against the other side, which wasn't taken lightly by Americans.

(The U.S. embassy in Egypt) said in a statement that it "condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims -- as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions."

"Respect for religious beliefs is a cornerstone of American democracy," the statement said. "We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others."

The embassy statement set off a political spat back in the United States after the Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, criticized its message and linked it to his opponent for the White House.

"It's disgraceful that the Obama Administration's first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks," Romney said in a statement released late Tuesday.

...

"We are shocked that, at a time when the United States of America is confronting the tragic death of one of our diplomatic officers in Libya, Governor Romney would choose to launch a political attack," Ben LaBolt, an Obama campaign spokesman said in an email.

Hillary Clinton quite literally condemned Libyans in the hours following the attack, saying that the U.S. helped Libya and that it was a disgrace to kill the U.S. ambassador. I knew we'd hear something like that eventually, now that Libya is tied with assistance-debt and obligation to the U.S. for helping.

After Hillary burned a critical bridge with Libya, evidence came out that the attack on the embassy was, in fact, a terrorist attack and not part of the protests. U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in this article that it was clear that those "were terrorists who planned that attack." However, by this time it's already too late for Hillary to take back what she said right after the attack. Libyans have already been shown her arrogance, and I doubt they will take her as credible again for rushing to judgment so quickly.

Even so, the current administration still tried to save face when the evidence was released.

Panetta's comments are the most definitive to date by an administration official that the Benghazi assault was planned. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said on September 16th that the attack "began spontaneously" as a protest against an anti-Muslim film that "spun" from there.

In other words, they finally gave in and admitted that the script they gave Hillary was "jumping the gun." It was an "oops" moment for the administration.

Last week, testifying to Congress, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center said, at that point, there was no indication of "significant" plotting.

"What we don't have at this point is specific intelligence that there was a significant advanced planning or coordination for this attack," Matt Olsen said.

You can see here that at the time Hillary condemned Libya, the investigation was still preliminary. Passing judgment like that was uncalled for and very disappointing. If I was a Libyan, I would not have taken it lightly at all.

The attackers had rocket launchers and were heavily armed. They knew exactly what they were doing, so even initial reports coming from the area pointed to the fact that these people were prepared, and used the protests as a cover-up. Still, to further our agenda of making Muslims look like terrorists to keep the support of international war crimes up, the administration will blame the attack on all of Libya, when it actually wasn't Libya at all.

I came across an article that talks about LIBYANS carrying the ambassador to a hospital. Ever wonder who transported him? It wasn't his faithful Americans who, among heightened tensions in the Middle East, slashed the military's budget, leaving the consulate unsecured.

The chaos is palpable, as a throng of Libyans frantically scramble outside a damaged building. Suddenly, a man's body is carried from inside toward an open window -- and the frenzy and sounds become even more urgent, more emotional.

"Get him out!" some yell.

After joyfully discovering the man -- a foreigner, apparently, a voice in the crowd says -- is alive after he's dragged out, fresh screams ring out.

"Allahu Akbar," which translates from Arabic to "God is great," men in the crowd shout. Others raise fists to the sky, seemingly rejoicing that this man has somehow survived.

So Allahu akbar doesn't mean "we're going to kill you and your family" anymore? I like how CNN only provides the translation when they're forced to, since their readers are now asking "but wait, didn't you say this was a war cry? Why are they shouting a war cry and celebrating when he's alive?" Then CNN sighs and says "We lied." I'm not surprised.

At any rate, if you watch the video you will see the celebration. How happy Libyans are that they saved the U.S. ambassador. These are the people Hillary condemned. Unfortunately, the ambassador died from smoke inhalation later on, but he clearly wasn't purposely killed by Libyans. The terrorists got the last laugh because they succeeded in their mission, but Libyans actually tried to thwart the terrorists' efforts. Shouldn't they get credit for that? Yes? So why didn't I hear Hillary apologize for condemning them and then thanking them for trying to save a U.S. diplomat? Because the administration doesn't work that way. We're quick to condemn, but not quick to thank. Think of people you know who are like that. Have you ever done something for someone and they give you hell instead of thanking you? What are your impressions of that person? Now consider this situation from Libya's perspective.

Today, it's common knowledge that one of the best ways to start protests in the Middle East and anger Muslims abroad is to mock their prophet. Despite credible evidence against claims such as Muhammad being a womanizer, mad man, or murderer, anti-Islam rhetoric continues especially in the U.S. where several groups and individuals use such propaganda to swing the public opinion towards favoring demolishing the Middle East. Politicians such as Geert Wilders and Adam Hasner are also guilty of this as well, so we can't argue the government is innocent in any way.

If we know that these claims against Prophet Muhammad are false, and that making a video about them like Geert Wilders' video "Fitna" will cause unrest, yet we do it anyway, what could our reasoning possibly be? Only one thing comes to mind--the video was purposely put online and circulated to cause the unrest. Once again, anti-Islam activists have blood on their hands, and those involved can join Geert Wilders.

Posted in July on YouTube, (the video) got more notice recently after Egyptian television aired segments and anti-Islam activists promoted it online. Numerous questions surround the film, which includes cartoonish scenes of Mohammed as a womanizer, child molester and ruthless killer.

According to a FBI/Homeland Security joint statement, the film's producer identified himself to news media as an Israeli -- an assertion Israel's government denies -- and falsely claimed the movie was financed with help from more than 100 Jewish donors.

He releases a video, and further claims it was funded by Jewish donors. Why would he do such a thing? The only logical answer to this question is that he is familiar with Arab-Israel tensions and knows that if he injects this false claim into the production, it will help add fuel to the fire. Then, he will be able to point to the Arabs and claim "See how they are? I was right!"

I find it odd that this man can inject a false claim into his production efforts and Islam haters still believe the words that come out of his mouth; it shows how ignorant these groups, individuals and politicians promoting anti-Islam propaganda are.

Wait, his debasement doesn't stop there.

While he'd been identified in July 2011 by various names, including Sam Bassiel, federal officials now say they believe the filmmaker's name is Nakoula Basseley Nakoula. He was convicted in 2009 of bank fraud, with the indictment from the U.S. Attorney's Office listing seven aliases.

A criminal made a low-quality film spreading lies about Prophet Muhammad and people actually believe him?

A production staffer said he believed the filmmaker was a Coptic Christian who also went by the name Abenob Nakoula Bassely.

Even his own team doesn't know who he really is. Still, anti-Islam propagandists don't care about any of that; to them the content is just as credible. Then again, we can't expect anything more from them if they already believe Geert Wilders' claims and say that everyone who argues against Wilders is going on their own assumptions and has no evidence, despite the contrary.

The anti-Islam propagandists will also ignore the peaceful protests, or Muslims denouncing the protests.

"These protests are a bad image for Egypt," said a Cairo street vendor named Ahmed. "Of course I'm against insulting Islam, but it's the undereducated, poor people who are out here causing problems."

"All I want for Egypt is security and stability," he said. "And as you can see this isn't it."

Still, to the anti-Islam activists, it's "all Muslims are terrorists."

Sometimes, the way God does things leaves me speechless. Remember the Fathima Bary case where eventually the teenage girl was found to be full of lies and Global Revolution church was disbanded because of the evidence leveled against them? Now the evidence is coming out that Mr. Video Creator--whatever his name is--is actually a criminal who just wanted a good laugh.

As more questions are being answered, we recently found that there was an extremist Coptic church in California that was responsible for the film. Further, Terry Jones, the man responsible for "International Burn the Quran Day" was directly involved in the film's production. Coptic Christians and Egyptians have been at odds going back generations, and even more since the Muslim Brotherhood took power in Egypt after the Arab Spring revolution.

In addition to the film's producer being a criminal, evidence is mounting against the legitimacy of the film. Several actors have claimed they were lied to and had been given a script that was portrayed as anything but debasing Prophet Muhammad. As Fox reports:

In a statement issued to multiple outlets from the film’s cast and crew, they said (they) were “shocked by the drastic re-writes of the script and lies that were told to all involved.” No specific representative was named in the statement, however. Most of the dialogue that relates to Islam or religion in the trailer looks like it was overdubbed in post-production, with many suggesting that the dialogue was translated with words (from) something completely different to lines delivered.

One of the film’s actors, Cindy Lee Garcia, 43, from Bakersfield, Calif., who had a small role as a woman who’s daughter is given to Muhammad to marry, said in multiple interviews that she had no idea she was involved in such an offensive movie, and that (she) was simply given a script entitled “Desert Warriors.” Garcia also said that her lines were changed to be far more inflammatory in post-production.

Another unnamed actress reportedly claimed that the original script did not contain a Prophet Muhammad character, but rather a man named “George,” and several actors reportedly complained that their lines were altered.

Also, the producer's original claim that the movie cost $5,000,000.00 to develop has been called into question.

The supposedly two-hour feature is said to have cost $5 million to make, with “mom and pop” donations coming in from across the world, although many are scratching their heads with regards to how the clearly unprofessional, no-name and no production value film – as projected by the 13-minute trailer – could possibly have cost that much.

“There is absolutely no way that film could have cost five million,” one independent film producer told FoxNews.com. “More likely, five dollars… It looks like a hoax.”

The article also claims that the movie was produced under a fictitious company name, and that there was no permit given for large-scale release although an early version was shown in Vine Theater, and "fewer than ten seats in the theater were filled."

Can any smart person still believe the video's content after it was made in such a way?

As we've denounced the filmmakers and those who believe it on the anti-Muslim side, the same applies to people who protest the film. If you're foundation in Islam is so weak that one video created in low quality by a criminal makes you so mad you go and burn your country and condemn the U.S., I don't know what to tell you.

Many of them (the protesters) directed their anger, too, at the U.S. government and its Israeli allies. In Cairo, for instance, a photo showed a man standing over chalk-writing, in Arabic, that read, "Remember your black day 11 September."

The man mentioned in the quote is perfectly okay with standing for prayers and saying "Keep me on the straight path. ... The path of those whom you have blessed" (Quran surah 1), yet he condemns an entire nation and indirectly threatens to wipe out an entire people over a damn video which is false in the first place. Where are this man's priorities, and where are the priorities of the rest of the violent protesters? If one video makes you kill someone without even blinking an eye, I venture to say that you have no idea what religion's prophet you are "fighting jihad for." The only people who had it right were the Libyans who tried to save an innocent American, and the peaceful protesters who wouldn't dream of taking a life or burning down their own country which is trying to make a future for itself after it went through the Arab Spring and removed Hosni from power. Islam is larger than one criminal's video and Terry Jones' burning of the Quran. These anti-Islamic acts are no excuse to go kill an innocent person when that person probably knows more about your religion than you do. It seems like the only thing these violent protesters are good at is releasing a fatwa. Ask them about the philosophical nature about Islam or how Islam has given you inner peace or what Islam says about the blessed Prophet Jesus or what Islam says about the Abrahamic roots and you will leave them stumbling for words. This is the problem with Muslims today. We're shallow-minded when we hold the answer to one of the greatest religions to ever exist, but we throw it all away because someone released a video about the Prophet.

Did the video change anything? Did anyone who knows the real Islam believe it? No. The only people who even considered its contents to be factual already hate Islam, since no smart person would believe such a blatant fabrication, especially after evidence was released about the producers.

Last term, I took a course at university called "Islamic Thought and Culture" and the professor asked each of us why we were in his course. Several people said that Terry Jones was burning Qurans and talking trash about Islam, so they wanted to find out what Islam really was instead of what Jones was saying about it. O yes, I forgot to mention, my Arab kill-Americans-over-a-video friends! The people who took the course to get the real side of Islam WERE AMERICANS. So if you're a Muslim and whether you're American or Arab and if you support the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks, you're horribly misguided and you need to step out of your protective bubble.

Small and large demonstrations have occurred in recent days all around North Africa and the Middle East. While some protesters say they have not seen any of the online film, they were incensed by reports of its depiction of the Prophet Mohammed.

These are the types of people we are dealing with. Of course, your extremist fundamentalist violent jihadist terrorist media will purposely keep the facts away from you. Essentially, a lot of these people protesting don't even know really what happened and they are so ignorant that one report by state-run media will get them going. The media probably ignored the fact that the group creating the video has criminal ties. All they mentioned is that the group is Coptic, when the Egyptian Coptic Christians had nothing to do with the film and were living with Muslims as brothers before the protests started.

I'm disgusted by the stupidity of these Muslims. Haven't you heard about the murder of Imam Ali (A.S) when the man stabbed him with the sword and he was dying, how he told the guards who had captured his killer before he died that they should give the murderer milk because he saw the murderer was thirsty? Further, when they asked Ali what they should do with the man, he told them that the man should be struck with the sword just as he struck Ali, but not to hurt him (give him a light blow and minus the poison so as not to kill him) and let him go. By contrast, the Muslim protesters will kill people who haven't even touched them, and are with them in condemning the video.

These are also the same people who will torture prisoners of war when Prophet Muhammad always treated prisoners well and condemned torturing them. He made sure their women were also taken care of while the men were held prisoner lest someone takes advantage of the women, and when he conquered Mecca he didn't kill any of the civilians; in fact, he brought more just laws to the land.

These protesters, during the Arab Spring, have been known to torture people who were on the side of the opposition. During the U.S.-led wars, they would capture American JOURNALISTS (not even military personnel) and behead them, when their Prophet wouldn't even let his people so much as strike prisoners of war, let alone kill journalists. Look at how they err!

But of course, these Muslims don't know the real Islam. From birth they've been conditioned to take America as the common enemy and support September 11th, 2001 because they've been told that America was attacked and are never told (or don't care because they are heartless) that innocent people died--including Muslims. In fact, some of them are so heartless they'll turn an innocent kid into a suicide bomber and make him blow himself up amongst a bunch of other innocent kids. I'd like to take you inside a hospital and introduce you to one of the kids injured in the blast.

Recovering in one of the wards is 17-year-old Naweed Tanha. He was badly injured on September 8 when a teenage suicide bomber blew himself up outside ISAF Headquarters in Kabul. It was the 55th suicide bombing in Afghanistan this year. "We were all selling bracelets in that place," explains Naweed, quietly sitting on a bench outside, happy to get out of the crammed hospital ward. His right hand is thickly bandaged after the explosion tore a chunk off his palm. His legs and back were also badly injured after being flung ten meters by the force of the blast.

You're suicide bombing your own countrymen? Why? Who in their right minds would do such a thing?

"I was with my friends -- we're all poor, innocent people. I was a few meters away getting some water from the nearby water hand pump and as I was returning the bang happened," Naweed says.

"By the time I opened my eyes I saw myself injured and saw bodies of my other friends laying on the ground. I started crying and running towards them when police stopped me. They put me in a car and brought me here to the hospital. "

Killing adults, people you hate, military personnel, and government officials is one thing; killing an innocent child is quite another thing. This is the part Western media and propagandists leave out when they start their anti-Islam rhetoric--that even Muslims are a victim of terrorism. So is it logical for a religion that supposedly promotes violence to kill someone who supposedly promotes violence?

Four were killed in the blast, including 14-year-old Khorshid Hawa and her 10-year-old sister Parwana. "I am so upset for losing my friends," says Naweed, his eyes dark, his pupils bloodshot from crying. But he has no more tears to shed -- just hurt and anger oozes from his body. "What kind of people would do this? Why are they continuing to do this? It is ruining our country and our future."

Yes, they are, unfortunately, ruining your future. These terrorists won't let you progress, and now they're getting so desperate they took a kid who would have been part of your future and brainwashed him. They are now using child soldiers against child soldiers, and yet they're perfectly ok with claiming to follow Prophet Muhammad. Did Muhammad tell you to go kill kids? On the contrary, he was always making better lives for orphaned kids, to the point where a narration from him says to not even hug your child in front of an orphan kid so you don't entice sadness in the orphan's heart. This is the type of man the Prophet was, and yet his people have gone so astray.

Observe the anger in Naweed's statements. He's not mad at the U.S., he's mad at the terrorists. So those of you who think these terrorists are Muslim, think of Naweed the next time you find yourselves nodding at something Wilders or Spencer say.

Fathima Rifqa Bary: The Truth Has Prevailed; An End to the Saga?

Sallams All,
Welcome to the first post of 2010! I thought it best to start off by writing more about Fathima Rifqa Bary, especially since this saga seems to be coming to a close--finally!

While the Fathima Rifqa Bary saga has moved out of Orlando and back to Ohio, the pastors who brought her here are not off the hook. In a recent development, we find that the pastor who is based here in Orlando was fired from Global Revolution Church. If you recall, an earlier post stated that Global Revolution Church has moved. However, it turns out that the church was disbanded. According to this article from the Orlando Sentinel, Blake Lorenz was fired on September third. He lied to church officials--and to the public, an investigation found. Fathima never hitch hiked a bus; she was brought here to Orlando by the church--I have mentioned this before when I wrote a summary of an investigative report concerning this case.

The media obtained a recording of the final meeting in which Lorenz was fired, and he can be heard calling church officials devils. In fact, WFTV even published a derogatory statement he made against Muslims:

"Why lie if no crimes have been committed? Why?” a church board member asked Pastor Blake Lorenz."To protect innocent people who could be killed by Muslims, that's why," Lorenz replied.

To protect innocent people who could be killed by Muslims? What are you going to say next, Blake, "Halal means it is lawful for them to kill me?"

You can find the audio of the meeting from WFTV in their article about the case.

This is not all. Other articles from the media suggest that Blake could be charged with transporting a minor across state lines, even when advised against it by lawyers. Oops...I don't think this is what Blake signed up for. Sorry, but this is what you get when you mess with us. Who ever said the being that crushed Fir`on can't crush you? Oh yes, and didn't you say once "the truth will prevail?" I think it's finally prevailing, Blake. In fact, it's prevailing so much that Fathima "admitted to being unruly." Amazing! Fathima admits she went overboard! Alhamdulillah--I never thought I'd see this day! So much for your wishes of honor killings and anti-Islam rhetoric, Blake.

On another note, although Fathima's back in Ohio, she's in foster care and will probably remain there until she is an adult--under the consent of her parents. So they do have control of the situation now, and I'm glad they battled for it. You can find the article about foster care here.

I wonder if I'm a devil now too because of this post.

This is the latest in the Fathima case, but it may come to an end now--from Fathima's perspective anyway. The pastor seems to have a lot of face-saving to do, but I'm not concerned about that. I'm glad Fathima's at least back in Ohio--instead of with a hitherto unknown family.
Ma'a sallamah,
Munawar

Summary Of 2009; Is 2010 Predictable?

Sallams Everyone,
In the last entry for 2009, I would like to recap everything that has gone on this year--at least, the stuff I have talked about and paid attention to. Although we can say "we hope 2010 to be a better year," these hopes are often times false optimism. I do not think things are going to be getting better for Muslims any time soon, but only time can tell.

We start with the very first entry on this blog which was a paper I wrote in 2007 concerning a documentary Fox had done that year. This posting was in March, and it was the birth of "Stop!...Look At It From THIS Perspective." Can you believe it? It's already been ten months! I'll be fair and not round it up. This means the one-year mark will be in March 2010, conveniently the month we all have Spring Break at university. I started this blog mainly to vent about things, in a fun way. However, I quickly realized that this sort of task will be everything but good, happy-go-lucky news.

For instance, we soon had the Free Speech Summit 2009 in April. This was probably the biggest event this year, prompting a seven-page response which was cleverly ignored by the rich corrupt government that is supposed to be serving us. Did anyone hear Obama say "The people have spoken" in his victory speech? I certainly was not speaking when I saw how fake this man turned out to be. At any rate, the paper was posted here in June. Nothing was written between March and June; things were strangely quiet, perhaps because the environment was getting ready for the big storm.

Nonetheless, the Free Speech Summit battle raged on in July, with a co-sponsor of the hate campaign deleting my comment to the paper which I posted on her blog. Now that I think back on it, I'm amazed at how much momentum this whole ordeal gained.

Shortly after, I managed to get a hold of the entire Free Speech Summit video, and I wrote a post concerning it. To this day, I am utterly disgusted with how the so-called "officials" acted in the video. They were like little kids playing "House" on a cold night. I shake my head at the thought that these people are the ones who run my country.

August started off on a good footing, with the first post for that month talking about an in-depth discussion I had with a friend. We talked about the common problem with people and how they apply religious philosophy. In addition, I mentioned an article CNN ran concerning women in hijab. This was the first time in a long while I had heard something positive about Islam from the mainstream media, and it made me happy. Thank you again ladies for representing us so well.

Unfortunately, the smiles did not last long. A day or two before Ramadan, Obama decided to release a Ramadan greeting to "fellow Muslims." Keep in mind, this was after he completely ignored my letter (how can you not see that, it was seven pages!) I have dismissed the argument that he probably never even got it. I want to point out that it is now a long time after, and I still have no response from him. Despite the fact that he is vacationing in Hawaii.

That same day, another shocking piece of news falls into my hands, and thus we begin the saga of Fathima Rifqa Bary. In this first post, Gov. Charlie Crist decides to intervene in the Ohio runaway's case, stating that Florida should keep her here and support his administration's position.

The next month continues the Saga, first with a video taken by pastors of Global Revolution Church coming to light. I started by updating readers on Fathima's case, and then talking about the video. Apparently, this girl has turned in to a Muslim hater, and thinks "halal" means "it is good for them to kill me."

Shortly thereafter, a local news station released a report by Florida Department of Law Enforcement--the investigation into Bary was complete! Prompted by the story the news station ran about the report and an amazing comment on my last entry, I decided to throw in my two cents on the matter. I also discovered that CAIR had stepped up as well, dismissing "honor killings" as mere tribal actions. I would like to add here that since then, Fathima has been sent home to Ohio and is currently staying with a foster family. In addition, the pastor who transported her across state lines, Blake Lorenz, may be charged with criminal activity for transporting a minor and not reporting her whereabouts to FDLE. See how the case has turned on him! At any rate, the Ohio runaway saga is pretty much over. I'm so glad she's out of Florida.

We kick off the next month with an earthquake hitting Iran, and no one blinking an eye. The only agency who ran the story was BBC. However, it's not the earthquake that made November a significant month.

In November, a soldier named Nidal Hasan decides to shoot up Fort Hood, one of the largest military bases in the US. What struck me about this incident is when General George Casey firmly stated that Nidal's actions do not represent the way of the Muslim populus. Yes! It was good news at last! I was absolutely amazed that the General said this; I wasn't expecting a comment like this at all from the military. Thank you again, General.

Once again though, the joyous occasion doesn't last long. In December we're back to the negativity again, this time with Robert Spencer stating his view on honor killings, which, naturally, turned in to a hate statement against Muslims. This isn't surprising though given his track record and his all-famous Jihad Watch site. Nonetheless, I was let down by the fact that Spencer got interviewed by a mainstream media outlet. It was extremely disturbing to see this happen, especially since the article stated that Spencer has "trained FBI authorities on Islam." I can't imagine what he told them about us. No wonder the Patriot Act was enacted!

Also in December, we get another military killing incident--except this time, it's not by a Muslim! This post focused on the next to no media coverage the story got, and I firmly believe the reason no one paid attention to it is because the man who executed this murder didn't have a name like Sheik Abdullah Hasan Noorullah Hakim.

Finally, we close off this year by the first ever historically-based post on this blog: "Who Are The Shia?" This post was just two days before the day of Ashoorah, and I talked about the role the Suni sect had in the corruption we see today in Islam. The post gives an overview of Ashoorah, with background on the time of Islam's birth and the situation after the death of Prophet Muhammad.

With that, we come to the end of the first ten months (though full calendar year) of this blog. Will things change for us in 2010? From what it looks like right now, most likely not. The war in Afghanistan is escalating to a frightening level, and I seriously doubt this president knows what he is doing. Muslims are still being killed worldwide, and the election of Obama hasn't changed a thing; we're still fighting two wars. In fact, I recall a general stating that "the Taliban will kill us, and we will kill them," and that besides that, he doesn't think anything will change. I do not remember which general it was (I'm positive it wasn't Mccrystal,) but I agree with this statement. At least in Iraq the military had sane, educated Iraqis to work with. The general stated that they're dealing with a vastly illiterate, uneducated, and loosely connected country with a weak central government. Basically what he is trying to say is, the US (and now NATO as well) are picking up feathers from the ground on a windy day.

A lot of you may argue "so what should we do, just leave them?" My answer: yes! I'm telling you, if we had the military force here in this country, guarding neighborhoods, providing female business workers with escorts when they leave the building at night, patroling the area to make sure we don't have home invasions, we'd live in a much safer America. But no...they're stopping crime there while our home country rots away, crime escalates, women get raped and beaten, and innocent store owners have to shoot people because some robber broke into their store. Of course--we don't care about that. We're more concerned with stopping the once-a-year terrorist threat than we are with protecting the public from common harm.

While you think about that, what can I say? We're starting a new year but it seems like it will be the most ineffective year yet to come.

There is always hope though (as long as it is not unrealistic hope,) and that is all we have at the moment, so keep hoping inshallah, and one day things will be different.

I would like to thank CAIR for really stepping up this year and fighting back against anti-Islamists, with your statement concerning Adam Hasner where you implored the government to remove him, and later speaking out against Rifqa Bary. Please continue doing what you are already doing.

Next, to everyone who signed the letter in March through June! You took the first step in making sure we have a better world to live in. Now it's time for you to take it to the next step. Be a representative of Islam in every action you do. Never forget what you are representing. The spotlight is on you, so stand up tall and accept it. Run with it. Dive for it. You can make a difference; even someone saying "I never knew Islam was like this" is a difference--in fact, a larger one than changing a government's position, because you set right one person, and that person is genuinely changed, versus the government that half the time releases written apologies that don't mean anything, with their robotic stamping machines and overused scripts.

Ma'a sallamah,
Munawar Bijani

Fathima Rifqa Bary: Investigative Report; Exaggerated Or True?

Sallams All,
The case on Fathima Rifqa Bary continues. This time, however, the case has taken an interesting turn. Just to make sure we are all on the same page, here is the summary of the case. So far, it has been an ideological battle between Ohio and Florida. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) conducted an investigation into Fathima, and wrote a seven page investigative summary on it. The report was provided by WFTV Eye-Witness News. The investigation suggests that there is no evidence or proof of any abuse having occurred; it goes on to state that Fathima's beliefs of an "honored killing" are influenced by her culture and customs, and FDLE found no factual grounds for these claims. One part of the report reads as follows.

I ran OCR on the report which was originally in a PDF embedded image. Since the report was scanned, parts of the report were handwritten and did not come out correctly. I have replaced these parts with [unintelligible] even though the missing parts may be deduced from the context. This is to avoid "guess-and-replace" and to keep me out of trouble.

[ Unintelligible ] discussed her upbringing and stated that she had been a cheerleader at New Albany High School. When asked if her father approved of her cheerleading she stated that her father had no real idea what the concept or activities involved in cheerleading were, and allowed it. She stated that she always wore sweatpants or other coverings to hide the short skirt of the cheerleading outfit from him. She stated her father had never been to an event in which she performed as a cheerleader. Furthermore, she stated the family had no photos of her cheering or team photos as would appear in a yearbook.
...

When FDLE and other investigators visited the household on August 27, 2009, several photos of dressed in her cheerleading uniform were prominently displayed in the family living room.

Two things could be going on here; either (1) she had a real reason to run away from home and is now, under the influence of her current environment, out to destroy her family; or (2) what happened was a spur of emotions and now she does not know how to handle the situation. Either way, the investigative report broke through her. The most recent report on Fathima as of this writing can be found at WFTV Eye-Witness News here.

In essence, the report indirectly states that Fathima's case is not immediately valid. The report claims that she has named noone besides her father who will conduct the so-called "honored killing" and even goes as far as to include an interview with CAIR (the Council on American-Islamic Relations):

On August 27, 2009, [unintelligible] was asked if there was any Islamic punishment for
conversion from Islam to Christianity. [Unintelligible] answered "absolutely not" and "there is no such thing as honor killing." An attorney present at the time, Mr. Romin Iqbal, characterized the concept as cultural and tribal, not related directly to the Islamic religious practice.

So finally someone is stepping up and saying "hey, she could have been set up." Indeed, the investigation was not even started by Muslims. I'm amazed that non-Muslim investigators--who were not motivated by religious bias have written this report. Thank you CAIR for stepping in as well.

The report also found no evidence of the child abuse Fathima talks about. The lie about the pictures of her cheerleading is what really brought her credibility down. If any of you wish to add to this, just leave a comment. I was not able to touch on everything here (and I do not always find everything as proven by an excellent comment on my last post) so feel free to add to this summary.

One thing of note is that her father did admit to picking up her laptop; but he did not strike her with it as Fathima claimed he did. The report claims that her father was about to throw the laptop but then decided against it because it was expensive. In addition, Fathima's original story of hitch-hiking a ride to the bus station was proven false. As it turns out, Brian Williams--the one who Baptized her--drove her to the station from a residence. In other words, she was not out on the street.

On August 31, 2009,
FDLE's investigation has revealed that the ticket was purchased in
Orlando under a fictitious name and provided to [unintelligible] During her interview, [unintelligible] acknowledged that it was her signature on the ticket. FDLE has maintained a copy of this ticket for this case file.

So they interviewed her, and then gave her a ticket to Orlando. Why is she so excited in the video? As one of the authors posted in the comments to the previous entry, "A pastor was filming a 16-year-old girl in her bedroom... I find that very suspicious. If her parents were so strict, how did she sneak a grown man into her room to film her?" I agree, it looks very suspicious, and I think law enforcement is seeing that as well.

For my visually impaired readers (or whoever does not wish to download the PDF version of the report,) you can get the rich text version here. Please note that this is the exact report contained in the PDF image, with no alterations of any kind. The document has not been edited for scanning errors or layout. The document is provided "as is" with no modification except that it has been converted to text. The rich text format was used to preserve all formatting as found in the original report. I make no warrant of any kind concerning this document, and do not claim a copyright on it; the document is only here for those of you who cannot read the original image. I disclaim all misinformation caused by any optical character recognition errors, missing parts, poor formatting, unrecognizable text, etc. Use at your own risk. If you are concerned about downloading the converted version, you may obtain the original version from WFTV. The original document just linked is provided by Eye-Witness News and written by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. All copyrights remain with them.
Ma'a Sallamah,
Munawar

Fathima Rifqa Bary: A Suicide Bomber To Our Cause

Sallams All,
In my last entry I wrote about Fathima Rifqa Bary, a runaway Christian convert who is 17-years-old. As the case progresses between her family, who she claims are trying to kill her, and the state of Florida--which has the governor backing it--new stuff is being released daily. This particular piece, I found to be interesting.

An article was posted talking about a video fillmed by a minister before Fathima ran from home:

In a newly surfaced online video that was apparently filmed before she ran away from
her Ohio home and ended up in Florida, a passionate and vivacious Fathima Rifqa Bary
shares her testimony and talks about Jesus.
The nearly eight-minute video was posted on YouTube earlier this week. The video
details state it was filmed by "Minister Joe of P4CM in May of 2009 while Rifqa was
in Ohio."
A giddy Rifqa, then 16, starts her testimony: "Crazy how I found the Lord. Be prepared
to be blown away, but my parents are actually Muslim. They're radical, radical Muslims."

Great...so now this Fathima has resorted to not only running away from home, but also downtalking Islam. She uses "Muslim" as if it is something horrific, and the church played a big role in it. Way to go Suni parents. As always I will not take sides as to who is correct or wrong in this case--we can debate that for hours. However, it seems as if her Suni parents seem to be misguided themselves. I deduced they were Suni because Fathima's mother's name is Aisha.

Rifqa made national headlines when she ran away from her Columbus, Ohio, area home
and sought shelter with an Orlando family in July. The teen said she feared her Muslim
family would harm or kill her because of her conversion.
Her family has denied any wrongdoing, and investigators have not found evidence supporting
Rifqa's claims.

I'm glad someone is finally looking at this case from a rational perspective versus a clash of religious ideals.

In the video, Rifqa said she was abused. She said she didn't know who Jesus was.

How interesting. A Muslim girl not knowing who Prophet Jesus is, despite the prophet being one of the greatest and most honored prophets in Islam? Is it becoming obvious who's to blame?

"If you're listening to this .it's the best thing that can ever happen to you. If
there's a hole in your heart that yearns for something more it cannot be filled with
drinking or MTV or any of that stuff. Only Jesus can fill that whole in your heart,"
she said.
"Just come to Jesus and he will set you free."

I left some parts out because copy and pasting gets old. Here's what happened. She meets girl, girl meets Fathima. Fathima tells the girl she is Christian and gets invited to church. Fathima has an emotional breakdown.

Now, she believes that Jesus is the only way to God. This, my friends, is what happens when we take kids to Mosques and Islamic Centers without teaching them Islam. "Kids, we're going. Come on. Do homework later." With these parents though, it was probably more like "Come on or you're grounded." Look what they gained from it. Their daughter is now a runaway, supported by a conservative Christian governor. She is a daughter who lived with two pastors for two weeks before Florida took her into their care. She is a daughter who hates Islam, and what will the Suni people do? "We support Abu Bakr." Go on, keep supporting him, and watch your religion crumble. I am sitting here laughing as I write this and read the article. Only one thing goes through my mind: "I told you so."

For centuries you have contaminated, corrupted, slandered, mocked, and ridiculed your own religion. You started by murdering Prophet Muhammad's grandson. Next, you swung to radicalism by the introduction of Wahabiism by the British people. Why do you think Abdul Wahab couldn't corrupt Shia (the real Ithna Asri sect, mind you) and went instead with your corrupted faith? If this girl knew Ehlul Bait, if she knew Prophet Jesus existed in Islam, maybe she wouldn't be in the position she is in today. Maybe, just maybe, she would have tried to unite the three religions instead of tearing them apart. But no, her parents wouldn't let her. And that is why I make this statement:

Fathima, I am glad for you. I'm glad that you no longer support Abu Bakr and his drinking, and practicing of un-Islamic philosophy. Fathima, I am glad that you were able to find Prophet Jesus--indeed, he deserves to be honored, and I am ashamed that your parents took that away from you. Fathima, I am glad that you found completeness; indeed, I doubt your sect of Islam would have given it to you. Every article I read about you makes me so mad, not because of what happened to you, but because of what radical Christians are doing to steal the opertunity.

And here is my flip-side statement:

Fathima, I despise your actions; you have undone so many rights we have done. Had you been more mature, you would have handled this situation in a better way. Had you but understood, you would have seen things for what they really are. You are a mess of emotions, and your church took advantage of you. I doubt they mean any better for you than your parents did. You have not only upset the political balance, but have also upset the religious peace we were on our way to establishing. Thank you for nothing, and I have no idea why Florida had to be your place of choice to run away. Now, me, and the rest of the Shia Ithna Ashri Muslim community have to start explaining your situation--once again becoming defenders in a war that has been heightened by your deeds; a war that we are losing quickly, thanks to you.

Because of you, we find ourselves, once again, on the receiving end of radical anti-Islam comments; battles that were faught time and again, only to resurface because someone like you has to go parading in the streets. Thank you for making our jobs that much more difficult. I hope you are happy with yourself and the Global Revolution Church.