Brooklyn Bedouin

American Muslim Consumers

Just now at the American Muslim Consumers Conference where the focus is on the focus, trends, and opportunities behind the vast and largely untapped potential of the American Muslim Consumer market...

Although I am happy we are meeting and how it will enable me to be able to serve the communities I want to serve but skeptical if it just means the availability of Muslim eyeballs to uber corporate entities like fast food chains, etc

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My World was an Urban Jungle...

My world was an urban jungle in the dawning of the age of crack and rap. When I was 5 years old I thought that the entire world was a sea of buildings. What shattered that reality was none other than my father.

There is a place just outside of New York City, just north, called Bear Mountain. You can get there by driving or even by bike. In the early 80’s my father took my older brother, my sister, and myself out there. I must have been 5 years old and that moment transformed the way that I would see the world forever.

Bear Mountain was a hiking paradise for the casual hiker and we were exactly that – little Black Muslim city kids walking around in the country for the first time. What I recall from that trip was moss growing on rocks, mushrooms on rotting wood, and drinking my first drink box where you have a straw to poke into the box. I had never been to a place that was not city. The lesson was the most clear and simple one.

On a personal note, I was raised Muslim by my parents who converted to Islam. Both my parents were attracted to the fellowship and empowerment message of the Nation of Islam. It is important to note that the Nation of Islam was more of a Black Nationalist religion and less of actual Islam. There is considerable writing on this. However the NOI had value in its emphasis on economic independence – an old fashioned self-reliance that was powerful enough to transform the lives of millions – like the lives of those in my community and family. The NOI contributed mightily to the Civil Rights movement which paved the way for Muslim immigrants coming from countries where immigration had previously been severely limited.

Where the NOI went wrong is that it did not officially follow the Sunnah – the example of the Prophet. My parents, along with many others, were then naturally drawn to a deeper connection with Islam and soon converted to Islam in its traditional form. I was the first child who, from birth, was “born Muslim” in my family. Meaning that my father recited the call to prayer in my right ear just as I was out of my mother, it was the first sound I heard on Earth.

  

My fathers’ family comes from Upstate NY where my grandfather was born on a Native American reservation in 1908 and from Virginia where my grandmother was one of nine in a traditionally well-educated churchgoing black family. When you go back to Scottsburg Virginia you can still see the grave markers from my extended family going back to the 1860’s. We are a proud people very much rooted in the land. There was some legend that suggested we even had family members that fought in the Revolutionary War. We are an All-American family in many respects.

My father was raised in Queens but took his summers in Virginia for this reason he always loved and respected the natural world. As a city kid and then a city father he took it upon himself to imbibe us with a love of the natural world himself. When he took us out to Bear Mountain my father stopped to pray one of the five mandatory prayers and told when we asked him if he could pray in the woods he told us: “the Earth is a Mosque”.

'And do not backbite one another.' (Al-Hujurat: 12)

In light of recent events i searched the internet to find a islamic position/essay on backbiting. here is one of the results of this search. 

Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. 

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. 

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger. 

Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, the prominent Muslim scholar, states: 

“Islam prohibits backbiting (ghibah): 'And do not backbite one another.' (Al-Hujurat: 12) 

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) wanted to drive home the meaning of backbiting to his Companions through questions and answers. He asked them, 'Do you know what backbiting is?' They replied, 'Allah and His Messenger know best'. He said, 'It is saying something about your brother which he would dislike'. Someone asked, 'What if I say something about my brother which is true?' The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied, 'If what you say of him is true, it is backbiting and if it is not true you have slandered him.' (Reported by Muslim, Abu Dawud, At-Tirmidhi, and An-Nasa’i) 

When a person dislikes someone, he is likely to find faults in his appearance, behavior, lineage, and anything else which pertains to him. `A’ishah narrated that she said to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), 'Do you see that Safiyyah (another wife of the Prophet) is such and such?', meaning that she was short. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied, 'You have spoken a word such that, if it were mixed in the water of the ocean, it would darken it.'(Reported by Abu Dawud, At-Tirmidhi, and Al-Bayhaqi) 

Backbiting is nothing but a desire to belittle people, to slander their honor, and to deride their accomplishments in their absence. Since this is stabbing in the back, it is an expression of narrow-mindedness and cowardice. Backbiting is a negative trait, and only those engage in it who themselves are not achievers. It is a tool of destruction, for one who is addicted to it leaves no one without throwing a dart at him and wounding him. 

It is no wonder then, that the Qur'an paints such a repulsive picture of this vile habit as would make people shrink from it in horror: 'And do not backbite one anther; would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would abhor that.' (Al-Hujurat: 12) 

Since one feels sick at the very thought of eating human flesh, how much more revolting it is to think of eating the flesh of one's dead brother? 

Whenever an opportunity arose, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stressed this Qur’anic imagery in order to imprint it on peoples’ hearts and minds. Ibn Mas`ud narrated, 'We were sitting with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Then a man got up and left. Whereupon another person spoke ill of him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) told him, 'Pick your teeth.' The man replied, 'Why? I haven't eaten any meat.' The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied, 'You have eaten your brother's flesh.'(Reported by At-Tabarani) 

Allah the Almighty says: 'Allah does not like the announcing of evil in public speech except by one who has been wronged; and Allah is Hearing, Knowing.' (An-Nisa': 148) 

The general rule concerning the permissibility of speaking about someone in his absence is governed by two considerations: (1) the need and (2) the intention. 

(1) When there is no compelling need to mention the third person in a manner in which he would dislike, one must refrain from violating the sanctity of his personality and honor. If there is a need to mention him but the need can be met by an indirect reference, one must not be explicit. If a general discussion is sufficient, the mentioning of specific persons must be avoided. For example, in seeking a juristic opinion, one can phrase the question as, 'What would your opinion be if someone did such and such a thing?' rather than, 'This person is doing such and such. What do you think about it?' Again, if one must identify the person, he must mention only what is true, since ascribing anything false to him is prohibited. 

(2) In any event, the intention is the decisive factor. The speaker knows his own motives better than anyone else —whether it constitutes a genuine complaint against wrongdoing or mere spite, an inquiry concerning an issue or a slander, a scholarly criticism or envious backbiting, piece of good advice or the spreading of a rumor. It is said in this connection that the Believer is a sterner judge of himself than a tyrannical ruler or a greedy partner could be. 

Islam has decreed that the listener is the partner of the one who is absent, and he must defend his absent brother by repudiating the slander being spoken. 

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, 'If anyone defends his brother who is slandered in his absence, it will be (his) due from Allah to set him free from the Fire.' (Reported by Ahmad) 

And again, 'If anyone defends his brother’s honor in this world, Allah will shield his face from the Fire on the Day of Resurrection.' (Reported by At-Tirmidhi) 

If a person does not have the courage to speak out in defense of his brother against malicious tongues, the least he can do is to withdraw from such company until they turn to some other topic; otherwise, the verse, 'Truly, you would then be like them.' (An-Nisa': 140) would apply to him." 

Rush Limbaugh WHINES AGAIN!

This past week I posted a blog post on my Takeaway Blog and here reflecting on Rush Limbagh’s bid to be part of an ownership group. My critic of paled in comparison to the one offered by Dave Zirin.

 

Yesterday Rush was bumped from the prospective team because he was making it difficult. ESPN reported:

All franchise sales must be approved by 24 of the NFL's 32 teams -- an ownership group that is overwhelmingly white, conservative and focused on the bottom line, which could have suffered if fans or advertisers were angered by Limbaugh.

And then went on to report:

Said the Rev. Al Sharpton, who was a loud voice of opposition to Limbaugh's bid: "It's remarkable in that he was denied by other powerful whites. At the end of the day, his own peers said, 'You are a liability.' Even the rich and powerful do not want to be identified with racism."

Rush Limbaugh is a crybaby that never takes responsibility for his own actions. He is NOT a conservative and real thinking conservatives and libertarians should be ashamed of him. When pinched in a corner, he lashes out like a scared child an blames Obama for anything he does not like. His anger and his Fear mongering finally took away something that he wanted – good riddance.

 

In fact he is a modern day fascist in that he has created a religion out of nationalism and his particular brand and point of view.

 

He is the worst example of American.

Obviously, I am no Dave Zirin, read his excellent piece on the Rush Reaction

Where he quotes the following:

 

We can only assume that he is proud to have said , "The NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons."

 

Or these other gems :

 

“The NAACP should have riot rehearsal . They should get a liquor store and practice robberies.”

 

“Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?”

 

To an African-American caller:

 

“Take that bone out of your nose and call me back.”

 

Or upon hearing that Spike Lee said that black schoolchildren should take off from school to see the movie Malcolm X :

 

“Spike, if you're going to do that, let's complete the education experience. You should tell them that they should loot the theater and then blow it up on their way out.”

 

Or calling Barack Obama "Halfrican-American " and saying:

 

“In Obama's America , the white kids now get beat up with the black kids cheering, ‘Yay, right on, right on, right on, right on’.... We need segregated buses--it was invading space and stuff. This is Obama's America.”

 

Zirin adds:

 

Some are surprised that ownership didn't welcome Limbaugh with a passionate embrace because most owners are to the right of Attila the Hun. They are billionaires who have feasted at the public trough of corporate welfare while basking in tax breaks for the rich. In other words, they constitute Limbaugh's base. But his membership in this exclusive fraternity of billionaires would violate the first rule of ownership: protect the bottom line.

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Rush Limbaugh is NOT fit for NFL ownership...

There were two incidents in my football playing days that I thought of when I heard Rush Limbaugh was part of a group vying for ownership of the St. Louis Rams. One happened to me in high school, and the other in college.

It was a late fall game where Sidney High School was playing Walton. We were on the comeback and our coach, Mike Brazee, came into the huddle to tell us he would kiss the goal line if we punched it in. Our center was a guy that was openly hostile to me – I was the only black player on the team, maybe even the only black player in our Class C league of teams located in the foothills of the Catskills, in upstate New York. Our center was not only hostile: he was racist. In that moment, though, when the coach looked to me to punch the ball through the goal line, I recall him turning to me. In that instant there was nothing between us but camaraderie, teamwork and, dare I say: brotherhood. Football had brought us together. We had finally gotten on the same page, looked past our animosity and the racial barrier and saw one another as humans. (...continue reading)

Omar Mullick

 

 

The Details: http://flavorpill.com/newyork/events/2009/10/8/omar-mullick-cant-take-it-with-you

Check out the Flavorpill review:

   

Call it Omar Mullick's 21st-century angle on The Americans. For his first solo show, the photographer hyphenates Robert Frank's landmark observance of the mid-century outsider with intimate, telltale documents of Muslim American life across our land of the free. Collected over seven years and with a title lifted from a Radiohead opening line, this exhibit offers a keen eye into the behind-the-veil aspects of the Muslim community, gracefully capturing madrasahs and halfway houses, children and the elderly. And by stilling the scenes in black and white, Mullick daisy-chains his democratic account to past chronicles of the ever-nebulous American experience.

– Jason Jude Chan

Conversations with a Pakistani Christian...

He started the conversation talking about a Muslim “Uncle” who was rather secular and then went back home to Pakistan and came back talking about Allah this and Allah that. – seemingly hyper religious. 

My Pakistani friend expressed concern about something in particular. He told me that because he is Pakistani and Christian (and in Brooklyn his community is small, and the majority of Pakistanis are Muslim that he grew up around Muslims) saying As-salaamu-alaikum (Peace and Blessings be Upon You) was like saying whassup, how ya doing – hello; normal and easy to do.

So when this particular uncle came back with his new found so-called religiosity and with some of his other newly religious uncles (older brothers) they informed him that they would no longer accept hearing the traditional blessing in the form of a greeting from him simply because he was not Muslim. WWPMD?

I mention this conversation because it led to another series of conversations that illuminated something quite troubling in regards to racism, halal, and the importance of knowing where your food comes from as well as illuminating that so-called religiosity from the outside says nothing about a persons inner state. 

In the Christian tradition there is a principle of the charity and sharing of the message or sharing the good news, not everyone has to do that per say, but it is considered part of your good works. Some people make it their mission or their calling and others simply are a good example and live their lives with such good character that they call people to their faith by their example.

Islam has a similar ethic. Dawah, which means to call, to appeal, or missionary activity, or a good wish, among other meanings. For some that means specifically and actively calling people to Islam but to others the application of this principle is the same as it is with Christians  - it is how your example resonates in such a way that calls people to your particular path. You example of good character can speak much louder than your words. 

If you are telling people that they cannot give you greetings of peace and blessings because they are not Muslim then you are not setting a good example. In fact you are setting a very very BAD example. 

That same cab driver was so hurt by this “uncle” (who was the father of his friend) because their families had broken bread many times and their kids play with one another as well. The uncle closed a door and destroyed a bridge between two families based on some absurd interpretation of his own bigotry.

Speaking of bigotry. The same Christian brother, lets call him Vic, lives in an area where he has the option of going to halal delis that are near one another. He goes to one all the time where the brother that works there has as his workers some Mexican gentlemen who do the behind the counter cutting of the meat. One day he decides to go to the other deli where the brother behind the counter tells him that he sees him going into the other deli all the time and has been wondering when he would stop byt HIS halal deli and proceeds to tell Vic that his deli is MORE halal because he cuts the meat himself… that because Vic’s usual place has Mexicans cutting the meat it is LESS halal. WHAT??!! WWPMD?

And speaking of Halal… Vic also related a story of back in the day when the meatpacking district was still the meatpacking district and when some of his Pakistani friends would be told to go out and get halal meat. Instead of going to known halal meat dealer they would simply go to the meatpacking district and come back with meat killed any old way and tell people it was halal.

Leave it to a Pakistani who can “pass” as Muslim to call out the Muslims. A moral of the story is watch where you get your meat. If you are trying to keep Halal then you better know where the meat was killed and who killed it etc.. Do not take it for granted that Halal and zabiha mean those things but don't always operate with suspicion when you eat at a Muslim persons' home. If they tell you the meat is halal that is between them and Allah. 

This leads me to the future: Green Deen Food is Clean Food for the Future.

In a little land called Green Zabiha where you know that your little chickens roam freely and eat off the land, that they are vegetarian fed and happy chickens. In Green Deen, InshAllah, I will tell you more about the alternative to racists and questionable zabiha… the everyday people making Green Zabiha happen now!

WWPMD? What Would Prophet Muhammad Do? - peace and blessings be upon him. 

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Street Ball and Pennants

October has arrived. A chill is in the air and crisp playoff baseball is about to begin. In the American League, The Boston Red Sox are hobbling to the finish as the wildcard. The Red Sox will face the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, who are the champions of the AL West. As for the Central division, the race has been filled with drama as the surging Minnesota Twins chase the Detroit Tigers.

In the National League the picture is less dramatic. The Philadelphia Phillies are in the driver's seat as the defending World Series Champions. In the west, the L.A. Dodgers are in and the St. Louis Cardinals have wrapped up their NL Central spot. All that's left is for the Colorado Rockies to close the deal — which it appears will, in fact, happen — because the Atlanta Braves and the Florida Marlins have lost too many key games down the stretch.

Baseball is on my mind. And sometimes when you focus on something it comes to you even when you least expect it. ...(continue reading)

By the way. Look at this street. It's First Avenue in Manhattan. Look at it closely. in a few years it will NOT LOOK LIKE THIS. The DOT has plans for First Avenues that includes bike lanes and bus rapid transit and not to mention a subway that is being tunneled underneath.