Some Random Thoughts

American Muslims bear no collective guilt or blame for the crime of 9/11. We have nothing to apologize for and everything to be proud of, including our loyalty and hard-earned livelihoods. We are not guest citizens, we are not second-rate citizens; we reject marginalization and require no validation. We are equal citizens living and worshipping in our country. (Ahmed Rehab, Huffington Post)

1. Samad Afridi
2. Ashraf Ahmad
3. Shabbir Ahmad (45 years old; Windows on the World; leaves wife and 3 children)
4. Umar Ahmad
5. Azam Ahsan
6. Ahmed Ali
7. Tariq Amanullah (40 years old; Fiduciary Trust Co.; ICNA website team member; leaves wife and 2 children)
8. Touri Bolourchi (69 years old; United Airlines #175; a retired nurse from Tehran)
9. Salauddin Ahmad Chaudhury
10. Abdul K. Chowdhury (30 years old; Cantor Fitzgerald)
11. Mohammad S. Chowdhury (39 years old; Windows on the World; leaves wife and child born 2 days after the attack)
12. Jamal Legesse Desantis
13. Ramzi Attallah Douani (35 years old; Marsh & McLennan)
14. SaleemUllah Farooqi
15. Syed Fatha (54 years old; Pitney Bowes)
16. Osman Gani
17. Mohammad Hamdani (50 years old)
18. Salman Hamdani (NYPD Cadet)
19. Aisha Harris (21 years old; General Telecom)
20. Shakila Hoque (Marsh & McLennan)
21. Nabid Hossain
22. Shahzad Hussain
23. Talat Hussain
24. Mohammad Shah Jahan (Marsh & McLennan)
25. Yasmeen Jamal
26. Mohammed Jawarta (MAS security)
27. Arslan Khan Khakwani
28. Asim Khan
29. Ataullah Khan
30. Ayub Khan
31. Qasim Ali Khan
32. Sarah Khan (32 years old; Cantor Fitzgerald)
33. Taimour Khan (29 years old; Karr Futures)
34. Yasmeen Khan
35. Zahida Khan
36. Badruddin Lakhani
37. Omar Malick
38. Nurul Hoque Miah (36 years old)
39. Mubarak Mohammad (23 years old)
40. Boyie Mohammed (Carr Futures)
41. Raza Mujtaba
42. Omar Namoos
43. Mujeb Qazi
44. Tarranum Rahim
45. Ehtesham U. Raja (28 years old)
46. Ameenia Rasool (33 years old)
47. Naveed Rehman
48. Yusuf Saad
49 and 50. Rahma Salie & unborn child (28 years old; American Airlines #11; wife of Michael Theodoridis; 7 months pregnant)
51. Shoman Samad
52. Asad Samir
53. Khalid Shahid (25 years old; Cantor Fitzgerald; engaged to be married in November)
54. Mohammed Shajahan (44 years old; Marsh & McLennan)
55. Naseema Simjee (Franklin Resources Inc.’s Fiduciary Trust)
56. Jamil Swaati
57. Sanober Syed
58. Michael Theodoridis (32 years old; American Airlines #11; husband of Rahma Salie)
59. W. Wahid

And He has made the sun and the moon both constantly pursuing their courses, to be of service to you; and He has made the night and the day to be of service to you. And He gave you of all that you asked for, and if you were to count the blessings of God, never will you be able to count them. Qur’an 14:33-34

You see the Earth, barren and desolate. But when We pour rain upon it, it is stirred, it swells, and puts forth every kind of beautiful growth. This is so, because God is reality: it is He Who gives life to the dead, He has power over all things. Qur’an 22:5-6

“Know, O beloved, that man was not created in jest or at random, but marvelously made and for some great end. Although he is not form everlasting, yet he lives for ever; and though his body is mean and earthly, yet his spirit is lofty and divine”

— Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali ابو حامد محمد ابن محمد الغزالی

“If you are irritated by every rub, how will you be polished?”

— Mevlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi جلال الدین محمد بلخى

as-salaamu alaikum

New-comers and visitors to Washington DC often have a difficult time locating Friday Prayer (salaatul jumu’a) downtown. This issue comes up most frequently at the beginning of the summer, when interns have to hear about Friday services by word of mouth (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing) instead of being able to find a list somewhere. Unfortunately, the information on http://www.islamicfinder.net is out of date, and http://www.salatomatic.com is incomplete.

But for now, here’s what I can share, having lived in DC for the last three years:

Read More…

From Jesuit Heritage Week:
 http://explore.georgetown.edu/news/?ID=3…

“Georgetown values people who are of different traditions, it recognizes that society is diverse,” he said, discussing some of the values that attracted him to working as a Muslim chaplain at a Catholic and Jesuit university.

When discussing his decision to come work with Georgetown students, he addressed them directly saying, “(Georgetown recognizes) you should be exposed to the ideas I have to bring; you should be able to dialogue with me.”

1. Islam is an African American religion in Philly.
2. For all Philadelphians, the dessert of choice is water-ice (pronounced wooter-ice), and is basically some soft-serve ice cream with a snow cone.   
3. Not every African-American male with a long sunnah beard is Muslim, but many are.  The ones who are will probably make eye contact with you, and possibly say salaam if they can tell you’re Muslim.
4. Old City Cab comes a lot more often than Quaker Cab.  As everywhere else, most of the drivers are Pakistani, Sikh Punjabi or Bangladeshi.
5. The “Rocky” statue no longer sits atop the Philly Art Museum steps.  It was moved recently, disgracefully placed along the curb.
6. Muslim clothing is trendy here, to the point where some non-Muslim women occasionally wear headscarves and the pants-above-the-ankle look is trendy for black men (called the Philly capri).
7. Strangely the imam of the largest mosque in West Philly cannot speak a word of English, and often yells during the Friday Khutba (otherwise I’m sure he is probably a very nice, learned man).
8. There are no halal pizza places in West Philly.
9. The Germantown Mosque brothers are a really loving group who enjoy life in a halal way.  Just don’t take photos of them or their mosque — they follow the salafi ruling on photography.

لَوْ أَنزَلْنَا هَذَا الْقُرْآنَ عَلَى جَبَلٍ لَّرَأَيْتَهُ خَاشِعًا مُّتَصَدِّعًا مِّنْ خَشْيَةِ اللَّهِ وَتِلْكَ الْأَمْثَالُ نَضْرِبُهَا لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ

Had We sent down this Qur’an upon a mountain, you would certainly have seen it humbled, splitting asunder out of fear of God, and We set forth these parables to men that they may reflect.

Surat al-Hashr v. 21

Lau anzalna hadha-l qur’an AAala jabalin laraaytahu khashiAAan mutasaddiAAan min khashyati-llahi wa tilka-l amthalu nadribuha li-lnnasi laAAallahum yatafakkaroon

2002:  Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) was still using moonsighting as the basis for its Ramadan decision.  Boston area masajid had united under ISNA, and awaited a decision from their national moonsighting committee.  Harvard Islamic Society (HIS) also had the policy of following ISNA’s decision, and continued the practice in 2002.  However, in 2002, Boston’s decision to follow ISNA led to some major last-minute trouble.  At slightly after sunset Pacific Time, 2 men spotted the Hilal in Arizona.  ISNA confirmed the report around 10 PM EST.   Bostonians were being phoned at 10:30-11 PM that night they had to fast 6-7 hours later.  Some managed to hold an impromptu taraweeh at the masjid.

2004 or 2005:  The imams in Boston formalized their own Ramadan and Eid Committee.  This committee retained the moonsighting process as the basis for determining the beginning and end of the month.  The announcement released stated that their decision would not come from any actual moonsighting in Boston, but from the decision of the “majority of Muslim countries” overseas.  The whole ISNA thinking of the late 90s had been to sight the moon in N. America, but Boston returned to the old practice of the 80s in order to avoid another mess like 2002.

The first year this new decision-making process was in place, the Burlington, MA imam attempted to force his masjid to accept the Boston-area decision.  The mosque board overturned him and continued to support ISNA.  Thus, the Boston area masajid split on the issue for the first time, with the northern suburbs following one day and the south and west suburbs following another.

2005 – 2006:  The practice as established in 2005 continued, where Boston would follow the “majority of Muslim countries” overseas, and there was largely unity among Boston’s mosques, with the exception of Masjid An-Nur in Roxbury, which continued to sight the moon for itself (or follow decision of like minded mosques in NYC/NJ). 

There was, however, a major unspoken flaw in the system.  The majority of Muslim countries often went with a different date than the one followed in Boston.  Boston often took the decision of Saudi Arabia or Egypt, even when Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Iran and Indonesia were united on one date (2005?)

2006: ISNA formally abandons the moonsighting process, relying exclusively on astronomical calculation as the basis for determining the start/end of Ramadan.  Groups such as Zaytuna oppose the decision.  Hilal sighting committees form in NYC, Toronto, California and Chicago.

2007:  http://www.isboston.org/v3.1/viewitem.asp?MenuID=14&DocID=5113&ItemTypeID=3

The date for the beginning of Ramadan was announced on the ISB website.  Although the statement notes the importance of the moonsighting process, it does not indicate how Boston concluded the first day of fasting before it was possible to sight the moon.