Roosevelt sought, and obtained, constitutional change; he wanted the founding document to be interpreted so as to permit his programs. Roosevelt did not argue that the Constitution should be amended to include a second bill of rights. In speaking of the second bill, he did not even mention constitutional amendment. What, then, was Roosevelt proposing? To answer that question we need to distinguish between constitutional rights and what I shall call a nation's constitutive commitments. Roosevelt was attempting to redefine the latter without affecting the former. Some rights can be located in a founding document; they are constitutional rights in the sense that the prevailing interpretation of the document finds them there. Some of these rights, like the right to free speech, are explicitly mentioned in the American Constitution. Other constitutional rights are not mentioned expressly, but they are understood to be encompassed by the Constitution's terms. Consider the right to travel from one state to another or the right be free from discrimination on the basis of sex-neither explicitly in the Constitution, but both found there by way of interpretation...Compare, for example, the right to join a labor union without losing your job-a right created in the Roosevelt administration. Congress could abolish this right tomorrow, since the American Constitution does not protect it. But the right to join a labor union is so deeply ingrained that its elimination would require a large-scale change in public judgments-something akin to a constitutional amendment...
Columbia law professor Louis Henkin notes that 'the United States is not a welfare state by constitutional compulsion'. But he goes on to say, correctly, that the 'welfare system and other rights granted by legislation (for example, laws against private racial discrimination) are so deeply embedded as to have near-constitutional sturdiness...And Americans have begun to think and speak of social security and other benefits as matters of entitlement and right'. This 'near-constitutional sturdiness' and a sense of entitlement and right were what Roosevelt sought. 'We put those payroll contributions there', he explained, 'so as to give the contributors a legal, moral, and political right to collect their pensions and unemployment benefits. With those taxes in there, no damn politician can ever scrap my social security program'. Americans are perfectly able to distinguish between rights and privileges. In 1991 a sample of the nation's citizens was asked whether certain goods were 'a privilege that a person should have to earn,' or instead 'a right to which he is entitled as a citizen'. By strong majorities, the respondents answered that a college education, a telephone, and an annual salary increase are privileges, not rights. But by equally strong majorities, they said that the following were rights: adequate housing, a reasonable amount of leisure time, adequate provision for retirement years, an adequate standard of living, and adequate medical care. Strong majorities endorsed many of the items on the second bill. In 1990 Americans were asked whether the government 'should provide a job for anyone who wants one'. Of those who expressed an opinion, an overwhelming 86 percent agreed. In 1998, 64 percent of Texans agreed that the 'government should see to it that everybody who wants to work can find a job'. Constitutional rights should be seen as a subset of the broader category of constitutive commitments. Some of the nation's constitutive commitments appear in its Founding Document, but many do not...Consider the ban of sex discrimination. Nothing in the Constitution explicitly forbids discrimination on the basis of sex, and it is ludicrous to think that those ratified the bill of rights sought to forbid that form of discrimination. Nonetheless, the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment is now understood to ban government from treating women worse than men. In proposing the second bill, Roosevelt was not arguing for any change in constitutional interpretation but for new constitutive commitments...
In the words of Roosevelt's adviser Charles Merriam, 'Hunger, sickness, unemployment, insecurity, dog-housed dwelling places, inadequate educational, recreational, cultural advantages, unfair shares of production-these are wrongs of our day, which will not in the long run be denied a remedy in the common judgment of mankind. These conditions are wrong, but they have their complementary rights' This was the spirit in which Roosevelt urged the second bill-not as an effort to alter the Founding Document but as a concrete account of the nation's understanding of what citizens were entitled to expect...
In building toward the second bill, Roosevelt emphasized that government was not an enemy of liberty or individualism. All rights, including the rights of property, depend on government. It was necessary to define rights in a way that went well beyond the founding period and provided better protection of human liberty under modern conditions. Above all, the second bill emerged from a synthesis of New Deal reform with an appreciation of the need to develop an account of liberal democracy that would respond to the threats from fascism and communism. In the 1930's, Roosevelt spoke, with increasing firmness, of the need to develop a new conception of freedom with the same level of ambition as the Constitution's founding...
he precursor to Blue Dog Democrats of 2010] were rumored to be mounting their own attack from the right, perhaps as part of a third party. Left-wing forces were setting up their own party. In June, Roosevelt's popularity was dropping.
For whatever reason [and I would say simple Moses generation Political Courage] Roosevelt opted for a crusade...[he said]: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident-that government in a modern civilization has certain inescapable obligations to its citizens, among which are: (1) Protection of the family and the home; (2) Establishment of a democracy of opportunity for all people; (3) Aid to those overtaken by disaster' Roosevelt delivered his acceptance speech at Philadelphia's Franklin Field. Over 100,000 people were in attendance. It immediately became clear to all that this would not be a defensive campaign:
'The rush of modern civilization itself has raised for us new difficulties, new problems which must be solved if we are to preserve to the United States the political and economic freedom for which Washington and Jefferson planned and fought...Philadelphia is a good city in which to write American history...to restore to the people a wider freedom; to give to 1936 as the founders gave to 1776-an American way of life'...The purpose of the Revolution of 1776 'was to win freedom from the tyranny of political autocracy-from the eighteenth century royalists who held special privileges from the crown'. The goal was to put 'the business of governing into the hands of the average man, who won the right with his neighbors to make and order his destiny through his own government'. Hence 'it was to win freedom from the tyranny of political autocracy that the American Revolution was fought'. The victory meant that 'political tyranny was wiped out at Philadelphia on July 4, 1776.' But a new challenge had arisen in the form of economic powers that 'sought to regiment the people, their labor, and their property'. With the industrial revolution, 'economic royalists carved out new dynasties'...a 'new industrial dictatorship' had concentrated 'into their own hands an almost complete control over other people's money, other people's labor-other people's lives...Because of new control, 'the political equality we once had won was meaningless in the face of economic inequality'
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President Barack Obama must summon his manhood and his political courage and finish the crusade against avarice, or we will continue to suffer under the tyranny of economic despotism.
And please purchase Cass R. Sunstein's book, in particular, if you are a Muslim for the Second Bill of Rights is in accordance with the Economic Theories of Social Justice in Islam.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Be Proactive-by Yvonne Ridley, Patron of Nour
Domestic violence is a taboo subject in many communities yet it affects so many women, and even men, regardless of their professions, class, religion, colour, culture or nationality. Too many people try and sweep the problem under the carpet in the hope that if we can’t see it we won’t discuss it and if we don’t discuss it then it might just go away. Well it won’t.
There is nothing Islamic about wife battering and yet it happens in our Muslim communities. Painful as it might be we, as Muslims, must confront the issue directly because if we remain silent then some may interpret this as a green light to continue being violent towards our mothers, daughters, wives and sisters … and even men can be victims as well.
The destruction domestic violence creates can be measured on several different levels. Firstly, it goes completely against the teachings of Islam. It is also illegal and criminal and the negative effect it has destroys the very fabric of family life and can spread like a cancer through to the next generation. When a child watches his father batter his mother, wife or daughter what sort of example does this set? What sort of role model do you think the abuser provides?
This is not just a woman’s problem either. Our brothers can play a huge role in ending the cycle of violence by simply refusing to look the other way and speaking out. Violence does not equal strength or promote masculinity. It is a vice which exposes weakness and cowardice because more often than not the victim is much weaker than the aggressor.
The Muslim community across the UK is already being forensically examined by outsiders who are quick to criticise and judge us but the worst thing we can do is hide our problems and remain silent.
A battered woman is often too ashamed, embarrassed and isolated to speak out, and the abuser may even have convinced his victim that she was asking for it … but please remember this is NEVER the case. No one deserves this sort of treatment and the villain in every case is the one who uses the violence. Domestic violence is not Islamic – the Holy Qur’an tells us that men and women are protectors of one another. There is no verse which says it is admissible to slap, kick or punch your wife or your husband.
The time has come when we have to take a stand. Nour has made that important first step in the Muslim community by offering a team of Islamic advisors and health advisors to victims. If you know of someone who is a victim of domestic violence tell them about Nour, encourage them to contact this organisation and take that all important first step to seeking help.
By ending the silence you will also end the violence.
Yvonne Ridley
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Nour is a organisation set up to act as a voice for those who are unable to stand up against domestic violence. We aim to serve as a platform for the victims of such violence through education and raising awareness, with a particular focus on the usage of Islamic literature to condemn such acts. Our mission is to be able to provide services such as a communication line which will require office space and a permanent staff member, a social worker, psychotherapists experienced in the Islamic field and legal aid, as well as direct advice from scholars regarding Islamic ruling. This will only be possible through our combined effort and your generous donations.
Donations can now be made quickly and safely through our PayPal donate button.
http://nour-dv.org.uk/donate/
http://nour-dv.org.uk/donate/
You can also make a donation directly into our Nour account:
Nour
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Account number: 65858557
Sort code: 51-50-03
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Account number: 65858557
Sort code: 51-50-03
Alternatively, if you wish to support us through a monthly donation, then you can set up monthly standing orders by completing the standing order form provided here
Or you can even donate by making a cheque payable to ‘Nour’ and posting it to our address below:
Nour – Domestic Violence
PO BOX 62954
London
N9 1BT
PO BOX 62954
London
N9 1BT
All donations directly go towards the projects, campaigns and services we offer at Nour.
Thank You
Friday, November 12, 2010
My Country 'Tis of Thee
This past week’s events have provided more reason for a troubled heart than all in the last year. The mind is compelled to analyze, as the soul is to search, for the cause and subsequent new course of action. In our case, I am an American, meaning that in the diverse, Garden of Allah’s Creation, I am a flower colored red, white, and blue. My family has existed on these shores for some four centuries and has survived through the drought of liberty, and the ebbs and flows of freedom, justice, and equality. Both the African and the Scotch-Irish have seen and lived through times as arduous as any other in the history of mankind. Yet, this is our time and the difficulty that challenges requires the knowledge of our ancestors’ life-force, and never the duplication of their movements, actions, nor are they the architects to safety, security, prosperity, or peace. Times are quite different, and although their lessons echo in our spirits, they are dead, and we do not worship bones. Our Lord is The One True and Living God, Who has Provided us with Faith, though it wavers, and Reason, despite its being mired in a perplexing, enigmatic confusion. Faith and Reason are the architects of a vision, as right action is the engineer that can build an edifice founded upon, what the last President who hailed from Illinois termed, the new birth of freedom.
On March 4, 2007, the then candidate for, and now current, President of the United States of America spoke in Selma, Alabama commemorating the forty-second anniversary of the actions of a group of people-black people-he likened to our beloved prophet Moses (may the Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him now and forever). He began his sermon as another cursory speech, but in truth, it was a sermon:
You know, several weeks ago, after I had announced that I was running for the Presidency of the United States, I stood in front of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois; where Abraham Lincoln delivered his speech declaring, drawing in scripture, that a house divided against itself could not stand. And I stood and I announced that I was running for the Presidency. And there were a lot of commentators, as they are prone to do, who questioned the audacity of a young man like myself, haven't been in Washington too long. And I acknowledge that there is a certain presumptuousness about this. But I got a letter from a friend of some of yours named Reverend Otis Moss Jr. in Cleveland, and his son, Otis Moss III is the Pastor at my church and I must send greetings from Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. but I got a letter giving me encouragement and saying how proud he was that I had announced and encouraging me to stay true to my ideals and my values and not to be fearful. And he said, if there's some folks out there who are questioning whether or not you should run, just tell them to look at the story of Joshua because you're part of the Joshua generation. So I just want to talk a little about Moses and Aaron and Joshua, because we are in the presence today of a lot of Moseses. We're in the presence today of giants whose shoulders we stand on, people who battled, not just on behalf of African Americans but on behalf of all of America; that battled for America's soul, that shed blood , that endured taunts and formant and in some cases gave -- torment and in some cases gave the full measure of their devotion.
Prior to our examining what President Obama meant in relation to being a member of the Joshua generation, it must be stated that Reverend Otis Moss Jr. served as co-pastor with Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Sr. at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia from 1971-1975. Prior to this, he was a pastor of two congregations in Georgia and a staff member of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Reverend Moss has advocated from human and civil rights and social justice for the great majority of his adult life. It is this man who wrote a letter to, then Senator and Presidential candidate, Obama encouraging him to remain true to his values and not be afraid. Afraid of what, one might ask, and the answer is simple: being a Morehouse man, Reverend Moss most probably, if not certainly, read Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, in which he states that courage is observance of the mean with things that excite confidence and fear…and chooses its course and sticks to its post because it is noble to do so, or because it is disgraceful not to do so…and that of the five kinds of courage Aristotle identifies, he states that it is political courage which most resembles true courage. God Knows Best, but I would infer from Obama’s statement on March 4, 2007 that this is the lack of fear of which Reverend Otis Moss, Jr. spoke of in his letter to then Senator.
Obama would continue in his sermon stating:
Like Moses, they challenged Pharaoh, the princes, powers who said that some are atop and others are at the bottom, and that's how it's always going to be…They took them across the sea that folks thought could not be parted. They wandered through a desert but always knowing that God was with them and that, if they maintained that trust in God, that they would be all right. And it's because they marched that the next generation hasn't been bloodied so much… It's because they marched that we elected councilmen, congressmen. It is because they marched that we have Artur Davis and Keith Ellison[1]. It is because they marched that I got the kind of education I got, a law degree, a seat in the Illinois senate and ultimately in the United States senate… I'm here because somebody marched. I'm here because you all sacrificed for me. I stand on the shoulders of giants. I thank the Moses generation; but we've got to remember, now, that Joshua still had a job to do. As great as Moses was, despite all that he did, leading a people out of bondage, he didn't cross over the river to see the Promised Land. God told him your job is done. You'll see it. You'll be at the mountaintop and you can see what I've promised. What I've promised to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. You will see that I've fulfilled that promise but you won't go there…We're going to leave it to the Joshua generation to make sure it happens. There are still battles that need to be fought; some rivers that need to be crossed. Like Moses, the task was passed on to those who might not have been as deserving, might not have been as courageous, find themselves in front of the risks that their parents and grandparents and great grandparents had taken. That doesn't mean that they don't still have a burden to shoulder, that they don't have some responsibilities. The previous generation, the Moses generation, pointed the way. They took us 90% of the way there. We still got that 10% in order to cross over to the other side. So the question, I guess, that I have today is what's called of us in this Joshua generation? What do we do in order to fulfill that legacy; to fulfill the obligations and the debt that we owe to those who allowed us to be here today?
As God as my Witness and may He (SWT-Glorified and Exalted) Curse me if I am lying, I believed that there was to be a new America. I believed in his call, even as a Muslim, for I am Commanded to love Moses, Aaron, Isaac, Abraham, as much as Jesus, son of Mary, and Muhammad (may the Peace and Blessings of God be upon all of them now and forever). I believed. I believed and I answered the call of this brother; and I do not mean he is a brother because he is of African descent, for such a notion is antithetical to the Commands of God and the Teachings of Islam as understood by he who was the Seal of the Prophets, in Muhammad (SAAW). Barack Obama is a brother simply based on his masculine humanity, but especially because he was calling his countrymen to become the Joshua Generation.
Obama enumerated our tasks:
I worry sometimes, that the Joshua generation in its success forgets where it came from. Thinks it doesn't have to make as many sacrifices. Thinks that the very height of ambition is to make as much money as you can, to drive the biggest car and have the biggest house and wear a Rolex watch and get your own private jet, get some of that Oprah money. And I think that's a good thing. There's nothing wrong with making money, but if you know your history, then you know that there is a certain poverty of ambition involved in simply striving just for money. Materialism alone will not fulfill the possibilities of your existence. You have to fill that with something else. You have to fill it with the golden rule. You've got to fill it with thinking about others. And if we know our history, then we will understand that that is the highest mark of service… Second thing that the Joshua generation needs to understand is that the principles of equality that were set forth and were battled for have to be fought each and every day…Third thing -- we've got to recognize that we fought for civil rights, but we've still got a lot of economic rights that have to be dealt with. We've got 46 million people uninsured in this country despite spending more money on health care than any nation on earth. It makes no sense. As a consequence, we've got what's known as a health care disparity in this nation because many of the uninsured are African American or Latino. Life expectancy is lower. Almost every disease is higher within minority communities. The health care gap.
To his absolute credit, President Obama fought to ensure that there was some system by which each and every American, in particular American children would not be denied quality, affordable health care. This is something that every man and woman of faith and goodwill who loves and honors Social Justice, whether they believe in God or not, should be extremely proud of the President for achieving. Yet it seems that he has forgotten two very vital things about the Moses generation whom he wishes, or wished, Americans to emulate. The Moses Generation would never claim in the midst of the largest financial crisis since the Great Depression-so large that is an Economic Depression in itself-that some form of universal healthcare without a public option was achievement enough. Secondly, the Moses Generation was full of political courage and did not cower in the face of setbacks as the one he is facing with the advent of the Republican Party’s taking control of the House of Representatives in 2011. In light of the heavy Democratic losses in the House of Representatives, I have heard the President of the United States reverse himself on outsourcing jobs, which he was fervently committed to limiting via ending tax breaks for companies who engage in such practices; and then announcing he was willing to compromise by extending the so-called Bush tax cuts for another two years. It is the Bush tax cuts that effectively squandered the $700 billion dollar budget surplus at the end of the Clinton administrations, and in the midst of our current economic depression, The Great Decession, Obama has proved himself lacking in the truest form of courage and ignoring the sound advice of one of the members of the Moses Generation in Reverend Otis Moss, Jr. Moreover, with Secretary Gates calling for U.S. troops to remain in Iraq longer and Afghanistan having turned from the hunt for Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda operatives, the destruction of the Taliban into a $1 trillion dollar nation-building effort, the question becomes: does the Joshua Generation have a true leader in the President of the United States?
Perhaps Mr. Obama has forgotten that the Moses Generation had to march three times forty-five years ago in Selma. That the first Selma March was on the seventh of March, 1965, which is also known as Bloody Sunday, as 600 Americans protesting for the right to vote were beaten by State and local police. Did they compromise? Did they get together in the face of adversity and say they had gone far enough? Did they acquiesce to the agents of a power structure that were literally beaten them with clubs, firing tear gas, and compelling them to offer the ultimate sacrifice of their devotion? NO! They retreated, licked their wounds, bandaged their arms, legs, and heads; and TWO DAYS LATER, marched again, determined to get across that bridge. A second time they were beaten back, but on March 21, 1965, they marched all the way to Montgomery. One of those who did lose her life was a white woman from Detroit, who left her five children at home to aid and assist African-Americans, was Viola Gregg-Liuzzo. She was killed just to have memory slandered by the Federal Bureau of Investigations because she believed as she stated that the events in Selma were ‘everybody’s fight’. Viola Gregg was raised in Tennessee, but rose above the racism of her upbringing and her society to FIGHT! Political Courage is the truest form of courage a man or woman can possess, and it plagues my heart to see that the man I gave monetary contributions to, campaigned and voted for, is shirking from his professed spiritual commitment to social justice. Again, the moral coward asks and answers the question: why, without answering the more vital, more relevant question of: what shall be done. So what shall be done. There is a time for grassroots leadership and grassroots movements, in particular amongst the group to which I belong. Indeed, it is the only group to which I belong, for my bloodlines are nothing but diversity in the Garden of The One True and Living God. A Kansas member of the House of Representatives has said that Muslims are nothing but killers, to which NO ONE in Washington has responded at all. Well, allow me to respond with Islamic Principles of Economic Social Justice, but in a language, each and every American can understand. Allow me to respond to the Tea Party, the Republican Party that serves the interests of the affluent, and the millions of misguided, poor, white brothers and sisters who follow them just because they are led by other whites who do NOT have their interests in mind, just their votes.
First and foremost, unless you intend on causing I, or my three daughters harm, I have no wish or intention of ending anyone’s life. I am not a pacifist, but I am a man of peace. Secondly, according to Gene Smiley, ‘In 1936, main economic indicators (except unemployment) regained the levels of the late 1920s...but after the federal government cut spending with the expectation that the private sector would step in, the economy took another sharp downturn until WWII’.[2] And lastly, and this is in unison with my beliefs as a Muslim, though it was written by the greatest President of the 20th century:
We cannot be content, no matter how high that general standard of living may be, if some fraction of our people-whether it be one-third or one-fifth or one-tenth-is ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-housed, and insecure. This Republic had its beginning, and grew to its present strength, under the protection of certain inalienable political rights-among them the right of free speech, free press, free worship, trial by jury, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. They were our rights to life and liberty. As our Nation has grown in size and stature, however-as our industrial economy expanded-these political rights proved inadequate to assure equality in the pursuit of happiness. We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. ‘Necessitous men are not free men’. People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made. In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all-regardless of station, race, or creed. Among these are; the right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the Nation; the right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation; the right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living; the right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home and abroad; the right of every family to a decent home; the right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health; the right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment; the right to a good education.[3]
It is time Mr. Obama and every American who is committed to Social Justice recognize these are economic truths within the American society, and that their author, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was of the Moses Generation as well. Only he and those in power can play Joshua to this, and they either have courage or they are cowards with courageous rhetoric. There will either be a new birth of freedom or their will be wage, tax, and deficit slavery. I can either follow my Universal Right of Conscience and worship God as I deem or I suffer under the tyranny of a Judeo-Christian majority. I will not live under the yoke of wage slavery and religious tyranny, and Inshallah, neither will my children. Obama's action will determine whether I will keep my faith, effort, and belief in the United States of America.
For what lies in economic hopelessness and insecurity is the death of the spirit and the games of Shaytain. I belong to invisible masters who control my life and that the wide majority of my fellow countrymen, Muslim and non-Muslim alike. A class of individuals and their families pass power in a hierarchical fashion, and make democratic-republicanism nothing more than a mere illusion. As The One True and Living God as my Witness, I am not free in the United States of America. And happiness, its pursuit, and its achievement is something that I will NOT be able to grasp. We, The People, are too often, under-educated, over-worked, underpaid, in debt, and so much of our time, effort, and wages seem to go to the very class that pays us, whom we owe, and should we not be able to work for any reason, will starve us. In other words, for every Barack Obama, Jay-Z, Michael Jordan, and Chris Rock, there are literally millions of black men in prisons, mired in addiction, or in their graves. For every Sotomayor, there are millions of Latinas that are languishing in the South Bronx. Millions of the Anglo-Celtic live in the trailer parks of Appalachia, with enough education to do nothing but labor in a coal mine on the precipice of Green Revolution that will make them and the mines obsolete. African-Americans, Latinos, and the ever increasing numbers of poor whites compromise ninety to ninety-five percent of the men and women that are compelled into the ranks of the United States Military’s enlisted personnel. They do the fighting and the dying, but imagine how many of them can’t find Iraq or Afghanistan on a map? The Imperial America has risen and therefore I left with the reality to which I was born: I am a Muslim and a current enemy of the state. In order that I may once again live, God Willing, in peace, relative prosperity, and with full, unadulterated capacity to exercise my innate rights, Endowed to me by The Creator of All to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and its achievement, I recognize that I, and my fellow Muslim brothers and sisters, have so much political activity in which to engage.
The United States of America, as it currently exists, cannot sustain or propagate world peace. As Cornel West writes, ‘let us not be deceived: the great dramatic battle of the twenty-first century is the dismantling of empire and the deepening of democracy...Globalization is inescapable-the question is whether it will be a democratic globalization of a U.S.-led corporate globalization (with thin democratic rhetoric).’ The Muslim, no matter where he hails, is forbidden by The One True and Living God of cowardice. He is not unwise or reckless in his actions, but in following the example of the prophet Muhammad (SAAW), he must defend the oppressed-any people oppressed-from the injustice of their government with precision in intention and a heart seeking to fulfill his duty and obligations to his Lord as a human being, a man, and a servant of Allah (SWT). The prophet Muhammad (SAAW) has said that: the best jihad is to speak the truth to an oppressive ruler. No matter his disagreement with the American people or the American people’s misunderstanding, fear, and loathing about him, the Muslim and the Islamic Nationalist, must do all he can to argue for a system that honors the dignity of all human beings within the United States. He must compel those individuals who believe in private property and in the citizen’s right to expect more from his government in relation to true, economic rights that were born in modernity. Indeed, for the Muslim, these rights originate with the dawn of man and are just as inalienable as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. He must do this in order to gain the Favor and Blessings of Allah, first and foremost. However, there is another reason that is based purely in wisdom and foresight. In the battle of dismantling empire, deepening democracy, and if West is correct, shifting globalization so that the interests of the world are considered, instead of the interests of an American hegemony being paramount: the Islamic Nationalist must gain as many allies as he can within the United States, while simultaneously returning the Republic to the American People. The alternative is war, death, and destruction on a global scale the world has yet to witness. The Muslim must explain that there is no Clash of Civilization-conflict that is imminent, except between the fanatical extremists of both the Islamic and Secular Capitalistic/Judeo-Christian traditions who are so blinded by their hatred for all who disagree with them, that they have forgotten the god they claim to worship. Osama bin Laden on one extreme and Rush Limbaugh on the other; both men worship the idol of the ego and are destroying what they claim to defend. The jihad of the Islamic Nationalist, Inshallah, will have nothing to do with battle plans and it certainly will have no missions in which the lives of innocent civilians are the prime target.
Innocent non-combatants are protected under the Islamic Rules of Engagement and The Holy Qur’an and the Sunna of the prophet Muhammad (SAAW) are perfectly clear in relation to said protection. I warn the enemies of Islam that by no means is the Islamic Nationalist a pacifist or a conscientious objector. No, when killing is just and necessary, we will not hesitate. Paraphrasing Malik Shabazz, we are a people that wish to be peaceful; to be courteous; to obey the law, to respect everyone; but if anyone, whether the IDF, the various groups of white supremacists, the FBI, whomever, we have no qualms about sending them to the cemetery. We believe in change through the sword, when necessary and in defense of ourselves, within the Bounds of Allah and His messenger (SAAW). However, we also turn to the pen, the mind, and the tongue, and in all truth, prefer these latter methods to the sword. We simply state to the governments of the West, in particular, that of the United States of America that we can build a future in which we both coexist, not in mere toleration, but in a setting of commercial prosperity, mutual aid and assistance, and with effort and understanding, perhaps even friendship.
Indeed, this world is large enough for both of our political ideologies. In order for this to become a future reality not only must Dr. West’s dismantling of the Imperial America take place, but the Islamic Nationalist must mature his thinking, his goals, his politics so that a new nation-a once proud and vibrant nation-can be resurrected in the world of modernity.
My Country ‘Tis of Thee.
For what lies in economic hopelessness and insecurity is the death of the spirit and the games of Shaytain. I belong to invisible masters who control my life and that the wide majority of my fellow countrymen, Muslim and non-Muslim alike. A class of individuals and their families pass power in a hierarchical fashion, and make democratic-republicanism nothing more than a mere illusion. As The One True and Living God as my Witness, I am not free in the United States of America. And happiness, its pursuit, and its achievement is something that I will NOT be able to grasp. We, The People, are too often, under-educated, over-worked, underpaid, in debt, and so much of our time, effort, and wages seem to go to the very class that pays us, whom we owe, and should we not be able to work for any reason, will starve us. In other words, for every Barack Obama, Jay-Z, Michael Jordan, and Chris Rock, there are literally millions of black men in prisons, mired in addiction, or in their graves. For every Sotomayor, there are millions of Latinas that are languishing in the South Bronx. Millions of the Anglo-Celtic live in the trailer parks of Appalachia, with enough education to do nothing but labor in a coal mine on the precipice of Green Revolution that will make them and the mines obsolete. African-Americans, Latinos, and the ever increasing numbers of poor whites compromise ninety to ninety-five percent of the men and women that are compelled into the ranks of the United States Military’s enlisted personnel. They do the fighting and the dying, but imagine how many of them can’t find Iraq or Afghanistan on a map? The Imperial America has risen and therefore I left with the reality to which I was born: I am a Muslim and a current enemy of the state. In order that I may once again live, God Willing, in peace, relative prosperity, and with full, unadulterated capacity to exercise my innate rights, Endowed to me by The Creator of All to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and its achievement, I recognize that I, and my fellow Muslim brothers and sisters, have so much political activity in which to engage.
The United States of America, as it currently exists, cannot sustain or propagate world peace. As Cornel West writes, ‘let us not be deceived: the great dramatic battle of the twenty-first century is the dismantling of empire and the deepening of democracy...Globalization is inescapable-the question is whether it will be a democratic globalization of a U.S.-led corporate globalization (with thin democratic rhetoric).’ The Muslim, no matter where he hails, is forbidden by The One True and Living God of cowardice. He is not unwise or reckless in his actions, but in following the example of the prophet Muhammad (SAAW), he must defend the oppressed-any people oppressed-from the injustice of their government with precision in intention and a heart seeking to fulfill his duty and obligations to his Lord as a human being, a man, and a servant of Allah (SWT). The prophet Muhammad (SAAW) has said that: the best jihad is to speak the truth to an oppressive ruler. No matter his disagreement with the American people or the American people’s misunderstanding, fear, and loathing about him, the Muslim and the Islamic Nationalist, must do all he can to argue for a system that honors the dignity of all human beings within the United States. He must compel those individuals who believe in private property and in the citizen’s right to expect more from his government in relation to true, economic rights that were born in modernity. Indeed, for the Muslim, these rights originate with the dawn of man and are just as inalienable as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. He must do this in order to gain the Favor and Blessings of Allah, first and foremost. However, there is another reason that is based purely in wisdom and foresight. In the battle of dismantling empire, deepening democracy, and if West is correct, shifting globalization so that the interests of the world are considered, instead of the interests of an American hegemony being paramount: the Islamic Nationalist must gain as many allies as he can within the United States, while simultaneously returning the Republic to the American People. The alternative is war, death, and destruction on a global scale the world has yet to witness. The Muslim must explain that there is no Clash of Civilization-conflict that is imminent, except between the fanatical extremists of both the Islamic and Secular Capitalistic/Judeo-Christian traditions who are so blinded by their hatred for all who disagree with them, that they have forgotten the god they claim to worship. Osama bin Laden on one extreme and Rush Limbaugh on the other; both men worship the idol of the ego and are destroying what they claim to defend. The jihad of the Islamic Nationalist, Inshallah, will have nothing to do with battle plans and it certainly will have no missions in which the lives of innocent civilians are the prime target.
Innocent non-combatants are protected under the Islamic Rules of Engagement and The Holy Qur’an and the Sunna of the prophet Muhammad (SAAW) are perfectly clear in relation to said protection. I warn the enemies of Islam that by no means is the Islamic Nationalist a pacifist or a conscientious objector. No, when killing is just and necessary, we will not hesitate. Paraphrasing Malik Shabazz, we are a people that wish to be peaceful; to be courteous; to obey the law, to respect everyone; but if anyone, whether the IDF, the various groups of white supremacists, the FBI, whomever, we have no qualms about sending them to the cemetery. We believe in change through the sword, when necessary and in defense of ourselves, within the Bounds of Allah and His messenger (SAAW). However, we also turn to the pen, the mind, and the tongue, and in all truth, prefer these latter methods to the sword. We simply state to the governments of the West, in particular, that of the United States of America that we can build a future in which we both coexist, not in mere toleration, but in a setting of commercial prosperity, mutual aid and assistance, and with effort and understanding, perhaps even friendship.
Indeed, this world is large enough for both of our political ideologies. In order for this to become a future reality not only must Dr. West’s dismantling of the Imperial America take place, but the Islamic Nationalist must mature his thinking, his goals, his politics so that a new nation-a once proud and vibrant nation-can be resurrected in the world of modernity.
Yet, in the final analysis, it is the actions of Obama that will determine whether I will keep my faith, effort, and belief in the United States of America.
My Country ‘Tis of Thee.
Isma’il ibn Bilal
http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Paper-Economy/2010/0903/Counting-the-margin-Real-unemployment-for-August-2010
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/nov/08/opinion/la-oe-norton-wealth-inequality-20101108
http://ecolocalizer.com/2010/04/12/plutocracy-reborn-wealth-inequality-gap-largest-since-1928/
http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Paper-Economy/2010/0903/Counting-the-margin-Real-unemployment-for-August-2010
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/nov/08/opinion/la-oe-norton-wealth-inequality-20101108
http://ecolocalizer.com/2010/04/12/plutocracy-reborn-wealth-inequality-gap-largest-since-1928/
[1] Artur Davis is an African-American Congressman from Alabama, and Keith Ellison is the first American Muslim to be elected to the United States Congress, and also an African-American from Minnesota.
[2] Smiley, Gene. 2002. A New View of its Causes and Consequences: Rethinking the Great Depression. Chicago, IL: Ivan R. Dee Publisher.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
SOUTH AFRICAN ARTISTS AGAINST APARTHEID: A DECLARATION
As South African Artists and Cultural Workers who have lived under, survived, and in many cases resisted apartheid, we acknowledge the value of international solidarity in our own struggle. It is in this context that we respond to the call by Palestinians, and their Israeli allies, for such solidarity.
As artists of conscience we say no to apartheid - anywhere. We respond to the call for international solidarity and undertake not to avail any invitation to perform or exhibit in Israel. Nor will we accept funding from institutions linked to the government of Israel. This is our position until such time as Israel, in the least, complies with international law and universal principles of human rights. Until then, we too unite with international colleagues under the banner of “Artists Against Apartheid.”
Apartheid and Collaborating with it
Collaborating with institutions linked to the state of Israel cannot be regarded as a neutral act in the name of cultural exchange.
In an official report commissioned by the South African government in 2009, the Human Sciences Research Council confirmed that Israel, by its policies and practices, is guilty of the crime of apartheid. Numerous others, including South Africans who have a deep familiarity with racial oppression (and resistance to it), have spoken of life in the shadow of Israeli repression as akin to or worse to that under apartheid in South Africa.
Artistic performances in Israel promote a “business as usual” attitude that normalizes and “whitewashes” a state that is guilty of daily forms of exclusion, violence and war crimes. Operation Cast Lead in Gaza saw over 400 children killed by the Israeli military; and the unconscionable attack by Israel in international waters aboard the Freedom Flotilla resulted in the death of nine humanitarian aid workers. (Both have been described as crimes in violation of international law – the former by the 2009 Goldstone report and the latter by the UN Human Rights Council.)
As artists of conscience we can act to resist the normalization of Israel’s apartheid policies. Some may hide behind the excuse that art is apolitical. However, artists have not been hesitant in taking a position against racism and inequality. As South Africans we benefitted from such a position of conscience. For example, members of the British Musicians' Union, pledged not to perform in South Africa as long as apartheid was in effect. Numerous organizations and artists in film, television, theatre and other arts fell in line against the South African regime and contributed to the denormalisation of South African apartheid which eventually led to that regime’s demise – and to the birth of a free and democratic country, for all.
Joining the International Momentum
Inspired by the boycott of Apartheid South Africa, Palestinians have made a call for a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign of Israel. This call has been actively supported by Israelis as well.
British writer John Berger, Indian novelist Arundhati Roy, US poet Adrienne Rich, British film director Ken Loach and screenwriter Paul Laverty are just some of the prominent voices that have joined this call. In a movement that continues to gain momentum, a string of artists have recently either cancelled shows or pledged their refusal to be complicit in Israeli Apartheid. Some names include: Carlos Santana, Elvis Costello, Gil Scott-Heron, Dustin Hoffman, Meg Ryan, Faithless and Massive Attack. For futher details, refer to the attached
ACTION UPDATE!! FROM NATIONAL LABOR COMMITTEE
RE: Guest Workers Ask for Solidarity at Jordan Sweatshop Producing for Wal-Mart
In an unprecedented step, thousands of foreign guest workers from Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh and Nepal have come together to struggle for their basic rights at Jordan’s largest garment factory, Classic, which produces clothing for Wal-Mart and Hanes brands. Nearly nine years into the U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement, thousands of workers are still stripped of their passports, forced to work grueling 80 to 90-hour work weeks, including mandatory 24-hour all-night shifts, while being shortchanged of their wages, beaten and housed in primitive dorms infested with bed bugs.
If the guest workers win this struggle for their basic rights, word will spread well beyond Jordan to reach tens of thousands of guest workers working in similarly deplorable conditions around the world. This could be a huge step forward!
The workers are asking representatives of Wal-Mart, Hanes and Macy’s, as well as U.S. and Jordanian Government officials, to participate in a joint meeting in the Al Hassan Industrial Park in Jordan. Eight hundred to a thousand guest workers have already committed to attend the meeting. Finally, the labels and the government officials will hear directly from the workers!
Charles Kernaghan
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Thoughts of Mahdi
It has never been my intention to draft any essay or thoughts for post in such an informal fashion. And yet, I am compelled to do just that, while asking for your pardon. As I write it is after 1:30am here in New Jersey, and my thoughts remain with my Iraqi brother. I have never met Mahdi Salah al Hashemi, unless one would consider the social network a method by which two people are formally introduced. Regardless I have never shaken his hand or conversed with him over mint tea, however more than anything or anyone else, he is on my mind with such immense intensity that it is impossible to sleep. Insomnia, uncontrollable sadness often with, and often without reason, and rumination have long plagued me thus being unable to sleep is familiar. This time it is something new, something different.
I am in the end of my thirty-fourth year as the New Year approaches, and my nation’s economy is in shambles. The elections have ended, but the thousands of political commercials and pundits I choose to watch on television have provided a reminder of the reasons of the unemployment rate and trillions in the national budget deficit. The echoes of Schurz and Bryan cited in my article The Paralyzing Influence of Imperialism; the attacks of September 11, 2001; and the American response that has manifested itself in the War on Terror and a current $695 billion dollar expenditure on defense and the machinery of war making. In 2003, I watched Shock and Awe on MSNBC and CNN, but I never connected with one of those people, my brothers, and sisters on the ground, until Mahdi Salah al Hashemi.
I have no love for Sadaam Hussein, and Wallahi Al-Theem, whether right or wrong-and may Allah Forgive me if I incur His Anger in saying so-I am glad Sadaam and his minions are gone. However, the confusion in which Mahdi is mired-the confusion of his words, his phrases, his sentences is what has moved me so. ‘Does Iraq live in the time where the inevitable has become strange, even odd? I began to reminisce of my days of existential questioning, of self-conflict, attempting to discover a path by which I could enter a society I could not understand or grasp. Now there is a new society, a new language, new habits, new concepts, new life, and more to inhale…Death is certainty. Everyone must eventually, inevitably die! I don’t know, but have the death scales been altered? If you lose someone, you love in an explosion, a suicide bombing, a blast, or by the bullet, would it be easier to wrestle the pain if it was a terminal illness? Memories don’t rule death…We have had enough of today, so we do not wish for tomorrow. Tomorrow is a mirage in the desert, a desert that eats everything without clemency. A desert called my Homeland.’ I am one of the 18 million or so Americans that either has no job or is severely under-employed. I, with a degree in Political Science from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, am anxiously waiting for a call from a convenience store in order to fill a position working the overnight shift so that my three daughters will be able to eat, have clothing and medicine, play with toys they see at Wal-Mart, etc…Again the Paralyzing Influence of Imperialism is ever present, and my countrymen have just elected more people to the United States Congress who campaigned on an Islamophobic platform and on the promise to make the so-called Bush Tax Cuts permanent, which will add another $4 trillion dollars to the same National Budget deficit these same victorious politicians claim to despise with such fervor and passion.
While my nation dropped the Weapons of Somewhat Contained Destruction-the WSCD-that we have stockpiled in the thousands in military bases all over the globe; while my nation dropped those weapons on his nation, Mahdi and I are both Muslim and both have had enough of today, so we don’t wish for tomorrow. I have never lost anyone I know or love in an explosion or a suicide bombing, and Alhamdulillah for this. I am not sure I would really know what to do. I have seen my share of pain and suffering, but I believe his mental, emotional, existential anguish is far greater than that of my own. I couldn’t imagine receiving phone call after phone call: Isma’il, your nephew Ayden was killed in a bombing at Safeway…your Godmother was killed in a roadside bombing…your ex-wife and two of your daughters were shot in the crossfire of insurgents and US troops, and Hana will never walk again, and I seek refuge in Allah from all of these calamities. I imagine that I would do what so many others have done; what the Tea Baggers would certainly do: I would grab rifles and pistols and begin shooting at the people I blamed-the Occupier. And the more of THEM I killed, the more of them I wounded, the higher the price of the conflict would become for their Government and their citizens.
Yet, why I have so much respect and admiration for Mahdi is that he has, in his aloof and floundering mindset, he was able to befriend a foreigner who had the audacity to tell him to be happy, to feel Blessed because he was a member of a generation that could possibly re-create Iraq. Mahdi emailed me a few weeks ago that he is in the process of obtaining a Master’s Degree. Mahdi is behaving like a Muslim with Fire in his veins and Shaytain all around him, but he will not give in to hate. He will not, using a Star Wars reference, cross over to the Dark Side. He uses the mind-confused, perplexed, dazed, floundering, surrounded by suffering and death-he uses this mind to seek knowledge, and does what he can for himself, for Iraq, and for Islam. Today, Mahdi is my hero, and I am happy on whatever level to call him a friend.
Verily, Allah is The Most Merciful. We are living in very dark times, but we must find solace in our ra’kas and in the simply sublime reality that we are Muslims.
Isma'il ibn Bilal
Monday, November 8, 2010
Death Notes by Mahdi Salah al Hashemi
Today, I was taken by a tiding. Mrs. Muslimah has died after losing her battle with cancer. I heard the news and paused for a while to adjust to the news, to process it. I couldn’t do it. My mind was obtuse, doltish, and blank. What is happening to the mores of right and wrong? What is happening to the mental processing of facts? Does Iraq live in the time where the inevitable has become strange, even odd? I began to reminisce of my days of existential questioning, of self-conflict, attempting to discover a path by which I could enter a society I could not understand or grasp. Now there is a new society, a new language, new habits, new concepts, new life, and more to inhale.
Standing on the sidewalk, aloof and floundering, as the faces of the passers-by surrounded me, a sound called out. I turned to find a kind face and beautiful smile, which then uttered: ‘Why are you distracted and frightened?! You are so Blessed to try something that others can only dream to attempt. Do not think about the past, for you will only find regret.’ It was the face of a foreigner woman, whom I did not know. We had no connection except that of acquaintance. As the days went on, we stayed in touch. Every time I had a hard time, she would refer to my family. If I was sad, she would always lift me up. I never saw her without a smile, and she was like a friend, a sister, a mother to me…there are not enough words to describe it.
Death is certainty. Everyone must eventually, inevitably die! I don’t know, but have the death scales been altered? If you lose someone you love in an explosion, a suicide bombing, a blast, or by the bullet, would it be easier to wrestle the pain if it was a terminal illness? Memories don’t rule death.
Hundreds are dying, and the question is why. Was it so we could change our ways back at home and to be sound asleep. It became a habit, a routine. Every day you hear someone dear to you is dead. It echoes and echoes in your ears and it is gone before you finish the call!! Is this the paved road of the beginning of the end? Or is it that the end is closer, more resembles the beginning?!?!
Welcoming phrases become questions, and you can count a thousand in one gaze. When will the moaning and suffering settle? Where does the longing and illusion live? We have had enough of today, so we do not wish for tomorrow. Tomorrow is a mirage in the desert, a desert that eats everything without clemency. A desert called my Homeland.
**********************************************************************************************
Mahdi Salah al Hashemi currently lives in Iraq, and please make du'a for him and his family.
Edited by Isma'il ibn Bilal
Standing on the sidewalk, aloof and floundering, as the faces of the passers-by surrounded me, a sound called out. I turned to find a kind face and beautiful smile, which then uttered: ‘Why are you distracted and frightened?! You are so Blessed to try something that others can only dream to attempt. Do not think about the past, for you will only find regret.’ It was the face of a foreigner woman, whom I did not know. We had no connection except that of acquaintance. As the days went on, we stayed in touch. Every time I had a hard time, she would refer to my family. If I was sad, she would always lift me up. I never saw her without a smile, and she was like a friend, a sister, a mother to me…there are not enough words to describe it.
Death is certainty. Everyone must eventually, inevitably die! I don’t know, but have the death scales been altered? If you lose someone you love in an explosion, a suicide bombing, a blast, or by the bullet, would it be easier to wrestle the pain if it was a terminal illness? Memories don’t rule death.
Hundreds are dying, and the question is why. Was it so we could change our ways back at home and to be sound asleep. It became a habit, a routine. Every day you hear someone dear to you is dead. It echoes and echoes in your ears and it is gone before you finish the call!! Is this the paved road of the beginning of the end? Or is it that the end is closer, more resembles the beginning?!?!
Welcoming phrases become questions, and you can count a thousand in one gaze. When will the moaning and suffering settle? Where does the longing and illusion live? We have had enough of today, so we do not wish for tomorrow. Tomorrow is a mirage in the desert, a desert that eats everything without clemency. A desert called my Homeland.
**********************************************************************************************
Mahdi Salah al Hashemi currently lives in Iraq, and please make du'a for him and his family.
Edited by Isma'il ibn Bilal
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