Monday, March 28, 2016

American Muslims condemn attack targeting Christians by the Taliban on the auspicious day of Easter in Lahore, Pakistan.

PRESS RELEASE

American Muslim Institution
Contact:  Mike Ghouse (214) 325-1916
Mike@AmericanMuslimInstitution.org
www.AmericanMuslimInstitution.org

American Muslims condemn attack targeting Christians by the Taliban on the auspicious day of Easter in Lahore, Pakistan.  

Washington, DC, March 28, 2016 – Reuters News reports that at least 65 people were killed and 300 were wounded in a suicide bombing attack that targeted Christians on the auspicious day of Easter in the City of Lahore, Pakistan.  Taliban groups that once had ties with Daesh claimed responsibility.  

While we applaud the efforts of the Government of Pakistan to hunt down terrorists, we appeal to the Pakistanis religious leaders to reach out and counsel misguided individuals and groups.  We have an obligation to restore peace on earth in the name of the prophet, who is a mercy to fellow humans.  

We condemn all acts of terrorism unconditionally, and our hearts go out to the families of the victims and their loved ones.  We pray with our hearts, souls and minds, asking God to guide us all to restore peace and a sense of security, especially to minorities among us.

We people of different faiths, races, and ethnicities must come together and remain united against terrorists who seek to tear us apart.

American Muslim Institution is the proactive voice for Muslims in America and we are committed to contributing towards building pluralistic societies. 

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Thursday, March 10, 2016

Press Release: Mr. Trump Islam does not hate us

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Mike Ghouse
(214) 325-1916 
Washington, DC 
www.AmericaTogetherFoundation.com
SpeakerMikeGhouse@gmail.com




Mr. Trump, blaming Islam amounts to barking at the wrong tree.
Washington, D.C.  March 10, 2016 – Mr. Trump in an interview to CNN Anchor, Anderson Cooper said, “There’s an unbelievable hatred of us, we have got to get to the bottom of it, and there is unbelievable hatred of us.”Anderson interjects, “In Islam itself?” Trump responds, “You have to figure that out, ok, you will get another Pulitzer.” (Video)


He continues, “We have to be very vigilant, very careful and we cannot allow people coming into this country with this hatred of us”.

I want to assure Mr. Trump that Islam does not hate America, nor does Islam kill people, just as Guns don’t kill, but individuals do. 

Mr. Trump is seeking guidance when he says, “we have to get to the bottom of it” and I am pleased to offer my services to coach him in Islam and Muslim psyche.
Jesus did not give permission to Christians to go on the crusades, inquisitions, genocides of Native Americans, Holocaust, Bosnia and massacres etc? It is not Christians, but the men who did not get Christianity committed those crimes.

Muhammad (pbuh) did not give permission to Muslims to gas the Kurds, commit 9/11, genocide of people in Darfur? He did not give permission to the ISIS animals to forcibly subject Christian, Yazidi and Shia women to sex abuse?  It is not Muslims, but the men who did not get Islam committed those crimes.

If we are inclined to believe in that non-sense, we have a serious responsibility to find the truth, and truth shall set us free.

Bad things happen because those creeps did not get their religion right.
Who do you blame, religion or the creeps?
 
If you blame the creeps what happens? 
 You’ll hunt them down wherever you can find them,  and punish according to restore trust in the society, so no one can live in apprehension or tensions. 

If you blame the religion what happens? Mr. Trump, nothing happens! It is the dumbest thing to blame the religion!  Religion is not a being, it is an intangible item, and you cannot shoot, kick, beat, thrash, hang, kill or bury a religion. Let’s not bark at religion, it does not good and no problem will be solved except aimless barking.

Problem remains, people will continue to remain apprehensive and fearful of each other. Let’s find solutions to these problems.

We are indeed committed to build a cohesive America, where no American has to live in Apprehension or fear of each other.

Mike Ghouse
(214) 325-1916 talk/text
www.MuslimSpeaker.com 

Dr. Mike Ghouse is a community consultant, social scientist, thinker, writer, news maker, and a speaker on PluralismInterfaithIslampolitics, terrorismhuman rightsIndia,Israel-Palestine and foreign policy. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. Visit him in 63 links at www.MikeGhouse.net for his writings at TheGhousediary.com and several blogs listed there in.
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Saturday, March 5, 2016

Abrogation of Quran verses, the Nasikh Mansukh conspiracy theories

ABROGATION (NASIKH MANSUKH) THEORY | www.WorldMuslimCongress.com

Mike Ghouse

First of all, let me state my position on the topic, Abrogation theory was floated by those who did not get the Quran right. Their deficient knowledge about Quran has generated their own concoctions.  What is needed is for Muslims to come together and jointly declare that they reject the Nasikh Mansukh theory, if not the confusion continues, it has to be stopped now.

Let me go to the opposite end of “Abrogation theory” and hope the discussion will yield sustainable principles.

Let me add my understanding of Islam, if it is not common sense, it is not Islam.  Islam is about building cohesive societies where all humanity can live in harmony without fear with a strong foundation of truth, justice, mercy and equitability.  This translates into the highest meaning;  peace (Islam), and peace comes from all of us subscribing (the word used is Submission to Allah) to a system that works for all.

Last Saturday, I attended one of the most painful conferences in San Antonio organized by a Pastor in conjunction with ACT for America.  I have learned to deal with the most extreme people among Muslims, Christians, Jews and others with utmost patience, which ran thin this time.  One of the items they were laughing at us, and rightfully so was about the Abrogation theory.  Misinformation about Allah, Islam, Quran and the Prophet was painful to sit through and listen, particularly coming from my brothers who were former Muslims. May God bless them, and give them the knowledge to see that God is God of all humanity despite how we perceive him, her or it is one and the same.  (
http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2016/03/can-muslims-and-christians-co-exist.html ).

In the 
Quran conference we held in 2010,   a statement was made something to this effect;

 A few Muslims have been misled into believing in the Abrogation theory, which is the most ridiculous thing propagated over centuries.  This is how it works; Allah delivers the message to Prophet Muhammad through Gabriel in the form of verses that eventually become the Quran.  The next day or the next week Allah comes back and says, look I goofed up, I did not mean to say what I said before, it was a mistake, here is the new and better verse.  Oh, by the way when you compile the book, don’t delete the mistakes I’ve made, so people know that I can change my mind too.”  - This is serious  

Quran is about common sense, easy to understand guidance book to build cohesive societies and it is not for Muslims exclusively, it is for all people.  By being possessive about Quran we are denying the book to others. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/quran-is-not-for-muslims_b_6174940.html )

For God’s sake, don’t subscribe to the Nasikh Mansukh theory for the following reasons:

1. Allah does not make mistakes
2. What he says is what he means
3. Don’t blame Hazrat Uthman for compiling the Quran without removing God’s words
5. Forgive the Ulema’s of past of even for suggesting to negate God’s words
6. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) would not have said “ I am leaving this book to you”
7. Any human with common sense should read and understand without the men in business confusing them.
8. It is time we come together and make declarations to make Quran easy for future generations

The origins for the mistakes is explained very well by Muhammad Asad, one of the best translators of Quran. It is referenced to Verse 2:106, “
Any message which, We annul or consign to oblivion We replace with a better or a similar one. [87] Dost thou not know that God has the power to will anything?”

 Asad, "The principle laid down in this passage - relating to the supersession of the Biblical dispensation by that of the Qur'an - has given rise to an erroneous interpretation by many Muslim theologians. The word ayah ("message") occurring in this, context is also used to denote a "verse;" of the Qur'an (because every one of these verses contains a message). Taking this restricted meaning of the term ayah, some scholars conclude from the above passage that certain verses of the Qur'an have been "abrogated" by God's command before the revelation of the Qur'an was completed.

Apart from the fancifulness of this assertion-which calls to mind the image of a human author correcting,  on second thought, the proofs of his manuscript  deleting one passage and replacing it with another-there does not exist a single reliable Tradition to the effect that the Prophet ever, declared a verse of the Qur'an to have been "abrogated". At the root of the so-called "doctrine of abrogation" may lie the inability of some of the early commentators to reconcile one Qur’anic passage with another: a difficulty which was overcome by declaring that one of the verses in question had been "abrogated".

This arbitrary procedure explains also why there is no unanimity whatsoever among the upholders of the "doctrine of abrogation" as to which, and how many, Qur'an-verses have been affected by it; and, furthermore, as to whether this alleged abrogation implies a total elimination of the verse in question from the context of the Qur'an, or only a cancellation of the specific ordinance or statement contained in it.

In short, the "doctrine of abrogation" has no basis whatever in historical fact, and must be rejected. On the other hand, the apparent difficulty in interpreting the above Qur'anic passage disappears -immediately if the temp ayah is understood, correctly, as "message", and if we read this verse in conjunction with the preceding one, which states that the Jews and the Christians refuse to accept any revelation which might supersede that of the Bible: for, if read in this way, the abrogation relates to the earlier divine messages and not to any part of the Qur'an itself.(Quran Ref: 2:106 )"

Criticism can fade away or rain on us depending on how we respond to it.  Lack of conviction in one's faith breeds intolerance towards criticism, whereas firmness in faith can lead us to learn from criticism, explore the infinite wisdom and realize the strength of our faith (Imaan); a worthy feeling to have, instead of living in doubt and shooing criticism away (Full article - Criticism of Islam, Quran and the Prophet).

Mike Ghouse chose to be a Muslim, after being fiercely critical of how God, Prophet, Quran and Islam were presented to Muslims. The more critical he got the stronger his faith was. He urges Muslims to welcome criticism of Islam and build a strong faith. He has a strong record of learning and presenting Islam as it was meant to be. More at www.MuslimSpeaker.com  
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A paper by Iftekhar Hai is at the site www.WorldMuslimCongress.com


Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Can Muslims and Christians co-exist – Symposium report 1 of 2

Can Muslims and Christians co-exist – Symposium report 1 of 2

San Antonio, TX, Saturday, February 27, 2916 -- Pastor Charles Flowers of Faith outreach center called on Christians and Muslims to share their perspectives on the subject matter in a symposium organized on Friday and Saturday.

 

No matter how difficult these conversations are, they are necessary to understand and learn about each other. God almighty in Quran says, the best ones among you are those who take the time to learn about each other, when we learn about each other conflicts fade and solutions emerge.     God has created everything in order and in balance, and human greed and insecurities knock this balance off, and God advises us to restore it for our own good.  The act of restoration is indeed a religious inspiration. 

Every religion is beautiful and each one is designed to bring peace, tranquility and salvation to oneself, one learns to live in peace with himself or herself and with others.  There is a shortage of Pastors, Rabbis, Imams, Pundits and religious men and women who have the integrity to say that others religions must be equally beautiful.  My daughter said when she was around 10, “Dad, if the pastor tells the truth that all religions are beautiful, why would any one flock to his church?"  The minute one feels or claims that his faith is the truth (and others are not),  and is superior, it is religion no more, politics and greed have taken over the soul. To sell religion and have larger congregations, one has to lie about other faiths, what a shame!

Thanks to Pastor Flowers and Mrs. Janice Flowers for organizing this event, we were able to clarify a few misunderstandings, but a whole lot more needs to be done. God willing we will continue to strive to create heaven on the earth, where no one has to live in fear of the other. Pastor Flowers is a genuine guy, as he moderated the event with utmost sincerity and honesty, I applaud him for that.

Misinformation about Allah, Islam, Quran and the Prophet was painful to sit through and listen, particularly coming from my brothers who were former Muslims. May God bless them, and give them the knowledge to see that God is God of all humanity despite how we perceive him, her or it is one and the same.  

On the other hand, we (Muslims) have failed to question the authenticity of the Hadiths, Ibn Hisham's Seerah, the Sharia and the exegesis by Tamiya, Katheer, Maududi, Banna and others.  Some of us have put these books on par with Quran, which we should have never done. In the next few yeas, we will be ready to sign a joint declaration that Quran is the only book for Islam - and the only quotes from Quran about Islam will be considered authentic.

We have to fix some of the Hadiths and Sharia books to be authentic and reflect Prophet Muhammad's character who was a mercy to mankind. I don't blame some of our friends from other faiths for being scared of what they read, and most of the time, they quote from these doubtful books, sincerely 
believing that it is Islam.  As a Muslim, Quran is the only book for me, the material in other book will be authentic,  only if it contributes to building peaceful cohesive societies. (Two Islams


The format of the symposium did not allow me to present another point of view except shaking my head in disagreement when I heard things were way off.  I was tempted to walk out a few times, instead I started scribbling Jesus' mantra to turn the other cheek, meaning don't do or say anything to aggravate the situation and started praying like them, asking the lord to forgive them, for they know not.   
We cannot blame others for misunderstanding us without clarifying such misunderstandings, and making an effort to know others' perspective. We have a lot of work to do. As Muslims, we have the responsibility to create a better world for all humanity.

The speakers included three former Muslims; Daniel Akbari, Kamal Saleem and Taufiq, and two practicing Muslims Raheel Reza and Mike Ghouse. Lt. Col. Roy White, and Joe Carey,   both Christian Activists laid out the programs to counter Jihadis. 

The social issues were addressed by four different speakers. Bishop Harry Jackson offered three lenses to look at the presidential candidates and I applaud him for his inclusivity, he responded positively if the candidate were a Muslim or a Hindu, if he or she would be qualified to serve.  What a joy it was to hear him out.

Mrs. Alice Patterson presented how the primaries and precincts work. Her story of overcoming bias is worth listening to, and I have fought with myself not to have any bias towards another human and related with her story. Indeed she played a major role in organizing prayers when a Blackman Alfred Wright was dragged to death in Jasper, Texas in 2013.

 Dr. Fernando Cabrera’s talk on education resonated with me, indeed, his parents told him exactly what my parents did – get education!

Gilbert Hernandez’s presentation was a big hit for me, and I hope to dedicate time for his project.  So many young men and women are lost to the vultures form Gangs and Drug cartels. Muslim Youth are also facing similar problems, as a community we are deeply concerned and want to do everything to safeguard our kids from being recruited by the extremists.   Gilbert’s passion to save our youth is admirable and I hope to connect him with Muslim organizations, they have a good system down to address this sorry state of affairs.

Blessed are the peacemakers, said Jesus on Mount Beatitude, which Prophet Muhammad practiced, and became a mercy to the universe. Following in their footsteps, unwaveringly, I hung on to their wisdom and remained a conflict mitigater and a goodwill nurturer.

Raheel Raza and I gave our presentations on Friday night, which were received very well. I have full written up on my presentation, and will be available under the title of “My speech at San Antonio interfaith symposium about Muslims and Christians” at www.TheGhousediary.com

My commentary on the presentations of Kamal Saleem, Daniel Akbari, Lt. Col. Roy White, and Joe Carey will be finalized after the video or audio presentation becomes available to make sure I can quote them verbatim.

Pastor Charles Flowers concluded each segment with a summary and a graceful prayer. Fortunately, he chose to advance my calling that finding the truth is one's own responsibility. 

My last offering towards the very end of the program was that I will review each item and share my comments and suggestions about the program and publish it.  Those who want to see another perspective are welcome to it. 

My responsibility is to address the phobias and allay the fears; no American has to live in apprehensions or fear of fellow Americans.  My role is to build bridges and free my friends from ill-will and malice.

Yes, Muslims and Christians have coexisted and will continue to do so, despite the shortcomings on both sides that mess up the relationships. I'll summarize the historical, theological and social perspectives at a newspaper and then at the websites American Muslim Institution and ATF. 

This is one of the rarest conferences I have attended where the host has set the highest standards of hospitality.  How many people can I thank? Rosalie Astran, Zulmarie Santiago,  Abraham Martinez and of course,

Twenty years from now our pastors, imams, rabbis, pundits, shamans and all the religious clergy will be telling the truth – that faith is in the heart of the believer just as beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

My faith is Islam and it is not superior to any religion, nor is any religion superior to Islam, claiming superiority is arrogance, and God in Islam does not favor arrogance, as it is the root cause of all evil and conflicts. Most Muslims get that right and a few don’t, just as with all other religions.

May God bring humility to us.












Thank you,

Mike Ghouse, 
(214) 325-1916
Washington, DC 

Dr. Mike Ghouse is a community consultant, social scientist, thinker, writer, newsmaker and a professional speaker on PluralismInterfaithIslam,  politicshuman rights, and foreign policy.  Mike is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. More about him in 63 links at www.MikeGhouse.net and his writings are at TheGhousediary.com 

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email to: SpeakerMikeGhouse@gmail.com or text to (214) 325-1916

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Email to: SpeakerMikeGhouse@gmail.com or text (214) 325-1916

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