THIS IS A REPLY TO A POST BY “ http://bluecollarrepublican.wordpress.com/2011/02/24/memphis-and-islamic-terrorism/ “
This call to Islamaphobia reminds me of the extremist call to jihad, full of unfounded evidences, rants based on personal emotion and feelings, and a lot of hype. The post points to the fact that Muslims live next to a Masjid, and they did bad things. Those bad things must be linked to the Masjids that lived around! FACT: Muslims pray 5 times a day, and most of the prayers are prayed in a Masjid. Islam is not like Christianity, were a adherent fallows the teaching of a Masjid. Adherents frequent multiple houses of worship, sometimes hundreds in a lifetime. To say that a Muslim lives in Memphis, frequents a Memphis Mosque / Masjid and that is the source of his wrongdoing is off base.
Before I get into this gentleman's post and pick it apart, I would look to look at some core teaching that are found in Islam. JUSTICE IN ISLAM “
“Justice is one of the basic human values established by Islam and made it one of the main pillars of individual, family and social lives. The Quran made the establishment of al qist – justice – among people the main objective of all the heavenly messages. Allah exalted He is says: {We sent aforetime our apostles with Clear Signs and sent down with them the Book and the Balance (of Right and Wrong), that men may stand forth in justice} [Iron: 25]. Nothing in the illustration of the high value of justice could be greater than making the establishment of justice the main and first objective of all Allah's apostles and books. Books were revealed with justice. Apostles were sent with justice. The heavens and the Earth were built with justice.
In a stark and direct statement of the importance of establishing justice even if we hate whom we judge, Allah exalted He is says: {O ye who believe! stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin} [Women: 135] and says: {O ye who believe! stand out firmly for Allah, as witnesses to fair dealing, and let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just: that is next to piety: and fear Allah. For Allah is well-acquainted with all that ye do} [The Table: 8], Ibn Kathir said: “This means hatred of someone should not a motivation not to establish justice toward them. Rather, justice must be applied with all and anyone, be them friends or enemies." **A side note for those who may not know: “Allah means God”. It is an arabic word that means God. They say Dios in Spanish and Allah in Arabic. If you pick up a Bible written in the Arabic, it will say “Allah”, where it is referring to God.”
If a Muslim hates someone, he is still to be just. Injustice is a crime and is punishable in Islam, under an Islamic State, and will be dealt with by The Creator on the Day of Judgment (He is the Most Just).
NOW, back to the article in question:
“When FBI agents walked into Mahmoud Maawad’s spartan apartment at 3557 Mynders # 5 on Sept. 9, they found a desk, chair, computer and a Koran.
They also found an airline pilot’s uniform, a chart of Memphis International Airport, and instructional DVDs, including one called “How an Airline Captain Should Look and Act.”
A federal magistrate Thursday ordered Maawad, a 29-year-old University of Memphis student from Egypt, jailed until his trial on charges of wire fraud and fraudulent use of a Social Security number.”
Remember that address because it will come up again.” >> It is unfortunate, but bad people sometimes frequent good places. As I have stated numerous times, “Muslims pray in Mosque and not in Churches.” This means that you will find that Muslims that have done unspeakable things and Muslims that have done courageous things have prayed in the same Mosque. You CAN NOT equate unequivocally these people to the teachings of a particular Mosque. I’m not saying that there is no Mosque teaching twisted teachings of Islam…. I’ve been in some Baptist Churches that would make your hair stand up too…. I’m just saying!
“I became concerned when I learned that Bledsoe worshiped (or at least visited) a mosque here in Memphis.”
Again, Muslims praying in Mosque….. Lets look into this ALERT a little more…
“As I researched the mosque (Masjid As-Salam) located at the Muslim Society of Memphis facility in NE Memphis, in the vicinity of Bledsoe’s family home, I found another convert who had formed a Yahoo group which featured a jihad video by Anwar al-Awlaki, an Al Qaeda recruiter linked to the 9/11 hijackers. Also on the site were anti-American and anti-Israel photographs. When challenged by me as to why he was linking such materials, the convert removed the materials from the Yahoo group. My original post was archived at Creeping Sharia.”
The individual is myself. I have since been round and about with Mr. John Farmer.
Picture of Mr. John Farmer, blogger from BCR
The last we spoke, he had offered me a job writing for his former site www.bluecollarrepublican.com. The video that is in question was a video about authentic prophecy from Muhammad (peace be upon him) that spoke of war and fighting and named the different regions in which it would occur. Let’s not forget the sight was founded on the idea that American Muslims were being attacked, made-fun-of, spit at, etc and needed a place to share in their experiences and in their beliefs. The main description of the group included the line, “after all, this is a Country that started a war with Muslims, just or unjustly. Everyone has their opinion.” I guess that I’m the only one to make these comments? No, actually a multitude of American Citizens are against this war! If you do not see something wrong with a Country, America, invading other Countries and thousands of people losing their lives, then you have no humanity.
The statement I made was in fact a fallow statement that was an evidence for the fact that American Citizens, non-Muslims, were attacking American Muslims, making fun of them, judging them, etc. LINK TO THE GROUP HOME PAGE
Mr. Farmer goes on to say, “This of course should not send locals into some kind of panic or unhealthy fear of Islamic terrorists running amok in Memphis. However, a healthy awareness that Islamic extremism is not isolated to some far-away city or country. There are links right here in Memphis and each of us should be concerned about the recruitment of individuals in our local jails and criminal institutions.”
Mr. Farmer is correct. Extremism can be found all over the world, even in Memphis, but to equate Muslims living next to a Masjid / Mosque with the Mosques’ teachings, is unfounded. In fact, the ones who committed these awful crimes were not Memphis Muslims; they were outsiders that had moved here and those who kept to themselves. Again, the fact that a Muslim prays in a Mosque is not grounds to point fingers at the Mosque and screem “Alert! Alert! Alert!”
When Mr. Farmer began attacking the Memphis Muslim Leadership and the community through me, his Islamaphobia became apparent. The fact that he prides himself in his research skills and abilities but forgot to leave out a very important and revealing fact: I had put my life in harms way, in a real Jihad, to save the lives of several non-Muslims who found themselves starring down the barrel of a gun.> LINK TO STORY
Now Mr. Farmer would slide away from this angle and call our attention to the source of the funding for these Memphis Mosque. This is an area that I have no knowledge about, but what I can say is more revealing. “These two communities, Masjid As-salam and Masjid An-nur, have absolutely no connections to terrorism. If that was the case, I would have been arrested by the FBI, in a recent entrapment plot, but the fact is that I have not been taught this ideology and have no ties to people who destroy property or murder others.
TO BE CONTINUED….. *(PLEASE COMENT)*
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