Muslim American News Briefs, December 27, 2006

An Editorial Note From Al-Jazeerah: News articles may be reduced in size or slightly changed to conform to the Conflict Terminology guide adopted by Al-Jazeerah. Changes also include correcting Arabic names and editing. So, readers are advised that news articles may not represent their original form in verbatim or size, according to the mentioned original sources. Al-Jazeerah comments are in parentheses.

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

* Hadith: Be Kind to Animals
            - TX: Quran Teaches Importance of Honoring Animals
* VA: Muslims Show Solidarity with Hispanic Laborers (Wash Post)
* MI: First Muslim Rep Encourages Justice (Detroit Free Press)
* Bush Is Urged to Act on Criticism of Muslim Representative (NY Times)
            - Fear and Bigotry in Congress (New York Times)
            - CAIR: Goode Launches Debate Over Muslims in Office (NPR)
            - CAIR: Congressman's Hateful Comments Demand Response (Fox)
            - CAIR: Goode Has Often Inspired Political Ire (Wash Post)
* CAIR-LA: Reject Holocaust Denials (Press-Enterprise)
* CA: Students Celebrate Scholars and Poets of Islam (Sac Bee)
            - FL: Students Simulate the Hajj (St. Pete Times)
            - OK: State Muslims Prepare for Hajj (Oklahoman)

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HADITH OF THE DAY: BE KIND TO ANIMALS - TOP

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "While a man was walking, he felt very thirsty and went down a well, drank water from it and climbed out. When he came out, he saw a dog panting and licking mud because of excessive thirst. He said to himself: 'This dog is suffering from thirst as I did.' So he went down the well again, filled his shoe with water and (gave the water to the dog). God thanked him for that deed and forgave him (his sins)." The people then asked the Prophet: "Is there a reward for us in serving animals?" He replied: "Yes, there is a reward for serving any (living being)."

Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 3, Hadith 646

The Prophet also said: "A woman was punished (by God) because of a cat. She had neither provided her with food nor drink, nor set her free so that she might eat the insects of the earth."

Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1047

SEE ALSO:

TX: 'FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL MANKIND' - TOP
Local conference highlights Quran's teachings about the importance of honoring animals
ANNE MARIE KILDAY, Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/4423492.html

A red-tailed hawk and a large horned owl were brought on stage Saturday morning as participants in the state's largest Islamic conference learned about Muslim values and animal rights.

"Animals have been created by Allah for the benefit of all mankind," said Sheik Yasir Qadhi. "This is a very fundamental idea in Islam."

Because animal rights have become an issue in recent years, Qadhi, a Ph.D. student of theology at Yale University, said he decided to study the issue as it relates to Muslims.

Qadhi said the Quran teaches that one reason God created animals was to worship God and to inspire people to do the same.

"One verse says, 'You will appreciate their beauty,' and that brings you closer to God," Qadhi said. "It is a part of faith and spirituality to contemplate nature around you. Believers are those who contemplate the creation, and that brings them closer to God.". . .

During his lecture, Qadhi cited specific verses from the Quran relating to the treatment of animals.

The animal rights specifically noted in the Quran include the proper feeding of animals; the merciful treatment of animals; using animals for the purpose they were created; leaving animals in their "natural state," without mutilation, and allowing animals to live, unless they are a threat or a nuisance, Qadhi said. (MORE)

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VA: MUSLIMS SHOW SOLIDARITY WITH DAY LABORERS AT HOLIDAY MEAL - TOP
Chris L. Jenkins, Washington Post, 12/25/06
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/24/AR2006122400876.html

David Reyes came in the early chill yesterday to look for work at Herndon's day-laborer center, an almost daily routine for the 35-year-old immigrant from El Salvador. Instead of a Christmas Eve job, he found an unexpected holiday dinner.

With several dozen other men who waited for the possibility of an afternoon gig, he munched on richly seasoned chicken and vegetables, salad and cake provided by a group of Muslim activists who wanted to support Northern Virginia's less fortunate.

Yesterday, the Northern Virginia Muslim Council focused on the town's largely Hispanic day laborers, who have been at the center of so much political passion in recent months.

"It's nice to see that someone cares, that we're supported when we look for work," Reyes said through an interpreter as he sipped on eggnog and sat with a small group of men who laughed and joked as they ate. He said he was aware of the heated rhetoric that has accompanied the day laborers in the town. "We just come to work, to make a living," he said, "and sometimes it feels like we are not wanted."

The early dinner, complete with handshakes and hugs among volunteers and workers, helped bring to a close a year of tensions over the trailer and the green-and-white tent known as the Herndon Official Workers Center.

In August 2005, after weeks of bitter community debate, the Town Council voted to open a publicly funded center to help a burgeoning population of immigrant day laborers find work. . .

Organizers of yesterday's dinner had two goals: to show solidarity with the laborers and spread holiday cheer to those in need.

"These are people who are trying to put food on the table," said Mukit Hossain, who also founded Project Hope and Harmony, which runs the hiring center and which the council wants to replace.

"There has been quite a brouhaha over these men, but at the end of the day, we have a moral obligation to reach out and support them," Hossain said. (MORE)

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MI: FIRST MUSLIM CONGRESSMAN ENCOURAGES CROWD TO PUSH FOR JUSTICE - TOP
NIRAJ WARIKOO, Detroit Free Press, 12/25/06
http://www.startribune.com/587/story/897403.html

Speaking in Dearborn late Sunday night, the first Muslim elected to Congress told a cheering crowd of Muslims they should remain steadfast in their faith and push for justice.

"You can't back down, you can't chicken out, you can't be afraid, you got to have faith in Allah, and you got to stand up and be a real Muslim," Detroit native Keith Ellison said to loud applause.

"Allahu akbar" - God is great - was the reply of many in the crowd.

Ellison, a Minnesota Democrat elected to the U.S. House, has been the center of a national debate in recent weeks over Islam and its role in politics. Ellison has said he would take his oath of office on the Quran, the Muslim holy book, igniting a storm of criticism from some commentators. And U.S. Rep. Virgil Goode, a Republican from Virginia, said in a letter to constituents this month that the election of Ellison and other Muslims poses a danger to the country.

But Ellison said in Dearborn that Muslims can help teach America about justice and equal protection, suggesting that Muslim activists may be part of God's plan. He spoke at the annual convention of two Muslim groups, the Muslim American Society and the Islamic Circle of North America. (MORE)

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BUSH IS URGED TO ACT ON CRITICISM OF MUSLIM - TOP
RACHEL L. SWARNS, 12/23/06
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/23/washington/23brfs-BUSHISURGEDT_BRF.html

White House officials said they were aware that some Democrats and Muslims were urging President Bush to admonish Representative Virgil H. Goode Jr., Republican of Virginia, and Dennis Prager, the conservative commentator, for suggesting that the first Muslim elected to the House had no place in Congress. "We're aware of the situation," said Dana Perino, a spokeswoman for Mr. Bush, "but no judgments have been made." Mr. Goode said the election of Keith Ellison, a Minnesota lawyer who converted to Islam as a college student, posed a threat to American values. Mr. Prager, a presidential appointee to the board that oversees the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, said Mr. Ellison should not serve if he could not swear on a Bible, though he has apologized for those remarks. Mr. Ellison plans to use the Koran during a private swearing-in ceremony next month.

SEE ALSO:

FEAR AND BIGOTRY IN CONGRESS - TOP
New York Times, 12/23/06
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/23/opinion/23sat3.html

Besides Santa Claus, the Christmas season usually brings some reminder that the worst way to acknowledge the importance of religious faith in America is by demanding that the entire nation follow one particular theology. Last year it was the war over the nonexistent "war on Christmas." This year, it's the flap over whether one newly elected member of Congress can use the Koran rather than the Bible next month in a private ceremony.

Keith Ellison, who converted to Islam when he was in college, will be the first Muslim member of the House of Representatives come January. He and his new colleagues will take the oath of office as a group, and then repeat it in private for the benefit of family and friends. It is only in that second ceremony that the Bible comes into play, and to the extent that it has a significance, we suspect Mr. Ellison's constituents in Minnesota would like to see him using a book that best represents his religious beliefs.

Not so for a radio talk host named Dennis Prager, who claimed that using the Koran would "embolden Islamic extremists." Then Representative Virgil Goode Jr. of Virginia announced that his concerns went beyond the erosion of the Bible's exclusive rights to be sworn on. Mr. Goode is bothered by Mr. Ellison's faith in general, and wrote a letter to his constituents saying that this was a wake-up call about the danger that there would be "many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran" unless immigration laws were tightened. (MORE)

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CAIR: REP. GOODE LAUNCHES DEBATE OVER MUSLIMS IN OFFICE - TOP
ANDRÉA SEABROOK, National Public Radio, 12/23/06
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6669964

ANDRÉA SEABROOK, host: This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Andrea Seabrook.

Republican Congressman Virgil Goode is standing by a letter he wrote to constituents, warning of an influx of Muslims and Muslim-elected officials if tighter immigration policies aren't put into place. Some have called Goode's comments bigoted, since they attack the nation's first Muslim congressman, who plans to use the Koran for his ceremonial swearing-in next week.
NPR'S Allison Keyes has this report.

ALLISON KEYES: The drama started last week, when Virginia Rep. Virgil Goode dashed off a letter to calm his constituents. Goode says that Virginians were concerned because incoming Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison has said he'll use the Koran at his ceremonial swearing in ceremony.

Representative VIRGIL GOODE (Republican, Virginia): Printed media and other media indicated that Mr. Ellison was going to use the Koran, and that generated scores and hundreds of emails to my office. And so I thought it very important to state my view. And my view is that I don't subscribe to the Koran, and I will now be using the Bible when I take the oath. . .

KEYES: Several other Democrats, including New Jersey Congressman Bill Pascrell, responded with outrage.

Representative BILL PASCRELL (Democrat, New Jersey): This is very un-American. This is very un-patriotic.

KEYES: Pascrell dashed off a letter to Goode upon hearing about the controversy, and says he urged his Virginia colleague to apologize to the Muslim community for insulting them. Pascrell says there's nothing but prejudice in Goode's missive.

Rep. PASCRELL: It is on the - almost on the edge of being a bigoted letter.

KEYES: Pascrell says he's considering whether there's something more he and his congressional colleagues can do to show their displeasure. The House can take official action against members. Back in 1832, Ohio Congressman William Stanberry was censured for insulting the speaker of the House. Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank was reprimanded in 1990 for using his political influence to fix parking tickets. And three members were expelled from the House in 1861 for taking up arms against the United States.

The nation's largest Muslim advocacy group, the Council on American Islamic Relations, isn't calling on Congress to do anything. CAIR national legislative director Corey Saylor.

Mr. COREY SAYLOR (CAIR): You know what I'd like to see is, I'd like to see Representative-Elect Ellison take his oath, which is, you know, you raise your right hand and you take your oath, and then be allowed to go about the business of serving his district. His faith really doesn't play any role in this, nor does the faith of any other member of Congress.

KEYES: But that doesn't mean the group isn't annoyed with what Saylor calls bigotry. Saylor says he can't believe Goode was surprised that people were offended.

Mr. SAYLOR: I think this is a standard case of Islamophobia that we see fairly frequently. What's particularly disturbing is this is a sitting elected member of Congress.

KEYES: Saylor says his group is also disturbed that neither the Virginia state Republican Party nor the Republican National Committee distanced themselves from Goode's comments. Virginia GOP officials could not be reached for comment, and the RNC did not return a call for comment. (MORE)

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NO GOODE: CONGRESSMAN'S HATEFUL COMMENTS DEMAND RESPONSE - TOP
Susan Estrich, Fox News, 12/24/06
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,238679,00.html

Here we go. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, has yet to take office, and already the ugliness begins.

Mr. Ellison plans to bring his Koran with him on Jan. 4 when he takes the oath of office. The Koran is the Muslim holy book. If Christians and Jews can bring their Bibles, why shouldn't Mr. Ellison be able to bring his Koran?

The answer given this week by Virginia Rep. Virgil Goode was simple enough: Because Mr. Goode doesn't believe in the Koran, Mr. Ellison doesn't have any right to either. I kid you not. . .

Where in the Bible does Mr. Goode find his basis for such hatred? And how in the world does Mr. Goode think we will ever fight terrorism, especially terrorism by Muslims, if we do not have the support, cooperation and trust of leaders in the Muslim community?

If we are viewed, at the highest levels, as damning all those who believe in the Koran, who will take our side? Don't we want to encourage Muslims to believe in the political process and participate in it?

National Islamic groups have, understandably, condemned Goode's remarks and called on Goode to apologize.

"Islamophobic remarks send a message of intolerance that is unworthy of anyone elected to public office. There can be no reasonable defense for such bigotry," Corey Saylor of the Council on American-Islamic Relations told reporters this week.

"The Congressman is not apologizing," his press secretary, Linwood Duncan has announced.

Apparently, he thinks he has nothing to apologize for.

Merry Christmas Mr. Goode. Perhaps you'll take some time to open that Bible of yours, instead of using it as a weapon of hate. And when you do, you might learn something about how to treat a new colleague who, like you, is ready to pledge on all that is holy to him to uphold our Constitution and laws.

In the meantime, it should not just be Islamic groups who are standing up for the true spirit of Christmas.

Merry Christmas.

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GOODE HAS OFTEN INSPIRED POLITICAL IRE - TOP
Michael D. Shear And Tim Craig, Washington Post, 12/23/06
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/22/AR2006122201351_pf.html

RICHMOND, Dec. 22 -- Virgil Goode is used to having people mad at him.

His Democratic Party bosses pitched a fit when he challenged Chuck Robb in the 1994 U.S. Senate primary. They steamed in 1996 when he forced his party to share power with Republican lawmakers in the state legislature. And they seethed in 1998 when he voted to impeach President Bill Clinton.

Goode responded with a shrug, and by switching parties, becoming a Republican member of Congress after decades as an independent-minded Democratic state lawmaker and representative of Southside Virginia.

Now, by taking aim at a newly elected Muslim member of Congress from Minnesota, the Democrat-turned-Republican congressman has sparked the ire of immigrant groups and invited unwanted attention from national TV networks and newspapers.

"That's Virgil exactly," said state Del. Allen W. Dudley (R-Franklin), who grew up with Goode and attended Franklin County High School with him in the mid-1960s. "He's very strong in what he believes and doesn't mind speaking what he believes."

What he believes now, according to a letter he wrote to a constituent, is that Muslims should not be elected to Congress. He was responding to a decision by Rep.-elect Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) to carry a Koran into his swearing-in ceremony next month.

"If American citizens don't wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration, there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran," Goode wrote in the letter dated Dec. 7 and reported this week. "I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary."

Ellison was born in Michigan and converted to Islam.

In a news conference Thursday, Goode said "the letter stands for itself" and added, "I do not apologize, and I do not retract my letter." In an interview on Fox News, he noted that one constituent he talked to "thinks I'm doing the right thing on this."

Goode did not return calls seeking an interview Friday.

His letter and subsequent refusal to apologize have infuriated and energized advocates for immigrants and his political adversaries. Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) called on President Bush yesterday to condemn Goode's comments, which were characterized Thursday by the head of the Council on American-Islamic Relations as "ignorant and divisive."

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CAIR-LA: REJECT WICKED DENIALS - TOP
The Press-Enterprise, 12/23/06
http://www.pe.com/localnews/opinion/letters/stories/PE_

OpEd_Opinion_H_op_23_letterbox.36d0ff0.html

No good can ever come out of denying one of the greatest human tragedies of the 20th century, the Holocaust ("Denial wins this 'debate' in Iran," Dec. 12). Organizing a conference to question or deny the slaughter of millions of Jews, gypsies, homosexuals and other groups is reprehensible and against the teachings of Islam.

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said in his last sermon, "All mankind is from Adam and Eve. An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab, nor does a non-Arab have any superiority over an Arab. Also, a white (person) has no superiority over a black (person), nor does a black have any superiority over a white -- except by piety and good action."

These immoral attempts also do not help advance any legitimate cause, whether it be the peaceful resolution of the Middle East conflict or some other issue. Those who forget or belittle human suffering are condemned to repeat it.

As people of conscience, we must remember and learn the history of the Holocaust. We must also be the first ones to stand up against hate and racism, whether it is anti-Semitism or another form of bigotry.

SHARAF MOWJOOD
Council on American-Islamic Relations
Government relations coordinator
Upland

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CA: ISLAM'S GOLDEN AGE COMES TO LIFE - TOP
Students celebrate scholars and poets of a great empire
Stephen Magagnini, Sacramento Bee, 12/23/06
http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/97269.html

Poets and philosophers, merchants and mathematicians, artisans and astronomers re-enacted the Golden Age of Islam at the Al-Arqam Islamic School in south Sacramento on Friday.

The artistry, story-telling and role-playing was a creation of 233 students from kindergarten through ninth grade who brought to life the sights, tastes and smells of an Islamic empire that spanned three continents from the eighth to the 13th centuries.

From incense to Turkish coffee, dates to oranges, minarets to miniature mosques and castles -- you could find it all at The Islamic Civilization Exhibit and Festival in the school's multipurpose room.

In the midst of this "village" teeming with children dressed in Saudi, Afghan, Palestinian, Pakistani, Egyptian and Moroccan garments, a large gold and blue tent set the stage for a debate among nine famous Muslim scholars.

Ibn Battuta (12-year-old Abdurrahman Husnein)was considered the greatest tourist of the 14th century. He followed the Prophet Muhammad's advice to "seek knowledge even if it takes you to China."

Ibn Sina (10-year old Belal Ahmed) insisted that his Canon of Medicine was a more important contribution because "My work saves lives!" Sina lived from 980 to 1037.

The father of algebra, Muhammad Ibn Musa Al-Khawarizmi (11-year-old Javed Maroon) responded, "I created the decimal system and the use of zero ... I educate the lives you save." The mathematician lived from 770 to 840.

Imam Malik (13-year-old Ossama Kamel), who compiled thousands of sayings from the Prophet Muhammad, warned the others against arrogance. "No one who has an atom's weight of pride in his heart will enter the garden," he quoted the prophet as saying.

Kamel said the festival "gives us pride in our religion -- these scholars are Islam, and people who are doing wrong today, that's not really Islam."

Dozens of other Muslim scholars were represented, including seventh-grader Nimra A. Syed's favorite, Al-Jazari, the first-known mechanical engineer who invented water clocks, combination locks and double-action water pumps.

She said that Al-Jazari, who lived from 1150 to 1220, was born in Iraq and wrote "The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices." (MORE)

SEE ALSO:

FL: STUDENTS SIMULATE THE HAJJ - TOP
SHERRI DAY, St. Petersburg Times, 12/23/06
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/12/23/Hillsborough/Recreating_a_holy_jou.shtml

TAMPA - More than 7,000 miles from Mecca, students at the American Youth Academy Friday began a holy journey.

Tucked into a school pavilion, the children simulated the five-day hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, Islam's holiest city. The ritual, which occurs every year during the 12th month of the lunar calendar, begins Dec. 28. Pilgrims, as the religious travelers are called, spend the journey re-enacting significant events in the lives of Abraham, Hagar and Ishmael.

The hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam and a Koranic requirement of every able-bodied Muslim at least once in a lifetime.

As Tampa's pint-sized pilgrims began their hajj Friday, they chanted, signaling they were ready to embark. The older children spoke in Arabic. The youngest, at 3, sang "We Will Go to Mecca on the Hajj" to the tune of If You're Happy and You Know It. (MORE)

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OK: STATE MUSLIMS PREPARE FOR HAJJ - TOP
More pilgrims than ever before are expected to make journey of a lifetime to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
Carla Hinton, Oklahoman, 12/25/06
http://www.newsok.com/article/2990417/

Passport. Check.

Meningitis shot. Check.

Hajj visa. Check.

Umbrella. Check.

Infinite patience. Check.

Strong faith. Check.

Oklahoma Muslims making the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca have been prepared for the Islamic journey of a lifetime, a local religious leader said this week. (MORE)

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CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
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Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: info@cair.com
URL: http://www.cair.com