Hypocrisy

War is being fought, so they say, to establish freedom and democracy throughout the world.

But today Israel imprisoned members of the democratically-elected Palestinian government.

I'll happily vote for the next politioan who's willing to cut through all the crap and follow his conscience rather than his lobbyist.

Jihad does not mean war

Yesterday I said, "when Muslims fight, we fight by the rules." Unfortunately, that's not entirely true. There are plenty of examples where Muslims, misguided by emotions and misunderstanding, who don't follow the rules.

What I should have said is that when Muslims properly conduct jihad we fight by the rules. The rules of jihad were established in the Qur'an as well as in the practice of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). These rules dictate that fighting, when necessary, should be conducted with dignity. These rules include no killing of civilians. No unnecessary damage to property. No killing by fire. Proper treatment of prisoners of war. Honoring treaties.

War is not something to be celebrated or promoted. Sometimes it is necessary--the only way to fight oppression. But usually it is not. Most wars have been fought for wealth and power. Jihad is conducted to promote the rights of women and men.

Jihad means struggle, not war. The Arabic word for war is "harb." And the greatest jihad is to struggle against our own negative desires.

Jihad can be fought with the will, the tongue, and the pen. Jihad is not war.

What is war good for, anyway?

Bombing bridges is against the principles of jihad

A major offensive is being conducted against the people of Gaza. A very offensive move.

The rationale behind the attacks is the "kidnapping" of an Israeli soldier. I always thought the term was "prisoner of war." But political language continues to evolve to meet the needs of the dominant.

A few days ago I posted a commentary about the difference between a soldier and a civilian. I stand behind that statement. A soldier is a professional. A civilian is simply trying to live. The seizing of an "enemy combatant" does not warrant an all-out attack upon civilians. There are unsubstantiated reports that an Israeli civilian has also been seized. I'm waiting for further developments.

Muslims practice jihad. The internal jihad of struggling to live our lives in obedience to Allah in spite of the daily stresses of life. And the military jihad of struggling against oppression.

I've studied jihad. I've written about jihad. And I can tell you that jihad does not allow the deliberate destruction of the infrastructure. The bombing of bridges, roads, and schools is not allowed in Islam. If anyone who says he's a Muslim is conducting these sorts of attacks, he is lying.

But Israel is proudly destroying the markers of infrastructure for a people who are already oppressed. One soldier taken as prisoner warrants bombing the livelihood out of an entire people. How can that be?

People say Muslims believe in war, fighting, and killing. But when Muslims fight, we fight by the rules. On the bombing of bridges, the imprisonment of women and children, and the overall destruction of infrastructure, I call foul.

When will the oppressed be heard?

Why is peace so hard?

When I was in high school I talked about peace and people said I was naive.

When I was in college I joined the World Peace group and people said it would never happen.

Now I'm feeling old. The mother of grown sons. A grandmother. Would it be too much to have peace in my granddaughter's world?

Peace is cheaper and easier than war. Why hasn't it caught on yet?

Big Brother and His Thought Police

The Miami Seven are being portrayed as Al-Qaida wannabes. Allegedly, they admired terrorist acts and wanted to form their own army so they could perpetrate terrorist acts of their own.

They didn't have weapons. They didn't have any solid plans. All they had, allegedly, was a vague desire to go down in history with a memorable attack on the Sears Tower and one or two other buildings of note.

In Orwell's world of tyranny, it was a crime to have a thought against the government. Not an act. Simply a thought.

We have been moving toward the bleak world of 1984 since Ronald Reagan came into the White House. When Americans can be arrested for simply wanting to overthrow the existing government, without any weapons or actual plans for doing so, I think it is safe to say we are just about there.

Maybe I should point out that I don't condone attacking the Sears Tower, or any other building. I think conflicts should be resolved peacefully, not by blowing things up. But I also don't condone arresting someone based solely on what he or she thinks.

I have a few other observations on the event. One, some of those interviewed stated the young men were cleaning up the neighborhood. Two, all of the arrested are black. Three, how could they have actually built an army with seven guys?

I predict this case will be thrown out within a year. Like nearly every other terrorist accusation made.

Getting back to normal (normalcy is not a word, no matter how often the guy in the White House uses it)

Our household is finally settling down. My son is adjusting to his temporary disability. My husband and I are catching up on our sleep. We can relax a little now.

Now that the crisis is over, I can return to my other musings.

Today I was thinking about that person who says he's the leader of our country. It is now widely acknowledged that he did not win the 2000 election and that if the recount had been allowed to be carried out, Al Gore would be in the White House. The fact that this discretion has been allowed to continue is both frustrating and just plain wrong.

There is talk of impeachment. I know of a few websites which make this effort a major focus. But why should impeachment be an issue if the guy never won the election in the first place?

We the people of the United States own the White House. If we the people elected Al Gore to be our president--and he was prevented from taking his rightful place by a small corrupt group of old men--then we the people have the right to evict him.

I propose we give him thirty days. We could include a small stipend to help him with moving expenses, just to be nice. Maybe enough for a good-sized U-Haul.

Telll him to evacuate the premises by the end of August. Then we can let the real president take his rightful place.

Trying to make sense of it all

My son was hit by a car on the night before we were due to leave for Dallas, where I hoped to receive the medical treatment I've put off for eleven years.

My husband and I spent last night at the hospital where we anxiously waited for our son to wake up from surgery and helped him get through the pain.

I have had my moments of frustration.

But. . .

my son only suffered from a broken leg. It could have been much worse.

he's thirteen years old. He's still my baby, but he's not tiny anymore. I saw tiny children and their parents in the hospital.

if we had left on Saturday something worse may have happened. All day Friday I had premonitions.

he will get better, by the will of Allah. In six weeks, the doctor said, his leg will be as strong as ever.

I'm still trying to get to Dallas. Both my mother and my oldest son have offered to come back into town and take care of my younger kids while I'm gone. So I think I will get there eventually.

And I've waited eleven years. What's a couple more weeks?

I believe there is meaning in everything, but I still don't understand why this happened. Maybe I don't need to know.

Why Muslims Always Say Insha Allah or The Best Laid Plans. . .

Last Thursday I mentioned I would be going away. Everything was ready. I had made a list of things to do before the trip, carefully checking off each completed task. Clothes, snacks for the car, medicines, toiletries, camera. . .We were good to go.

We planned to take off on Saturday morning. Until I received a phone call on Friday night. The caller introduced himself--he was from the Milwaukee Country Sheriff''s office. Then he said he was calling about Salahuddin, my 13-year old son. He encouraged me not to panic but, well, my son had been hit by a car. But don't worry, he said. He just hurt his leg a little.

We rushed to the scene. Salahuddin was strapped to a gurney, ready to be taken by ambulance. He was alert and in good spirits. I rode with him in the ambulance.

About thirty-six hours later, give or take, we brought him back home--his right leg encased in plaster from foot to thigh. He's sitting in a wheelchair as I type--though he did learn how to use crutches. Did I mention the trip to Dallas was off?

We need to take him back to the hospital tomorrow for surgery on his leg. I hate the thought of them cutting into him while he lies unconscious. But it's necessary. He's 13 years old and I want his leg to heal so he can run, jump and ride his bike again--well, not his old bike. That's what he was on when he was hit.

I'm anxiously waiting until tomorrow. I want him to be fixed--but I wish there was another way. I want everything to be back to normal. That won't happen for a long time yet.

And I want to go to Dallas. Oh well.

Alhamdulilah. Allah knows best.

Maybe I'll see you there!

We're getting ready to leave on a three-week vacation to Dallas and surrounding areas. If you live in the region, you may want to attend the conference at the end of this month. I'll have a booth there with my books. Including the newly republished Echoes.

Or if you live in the northeast you may want to go to the conference in Hartford. Same weekend. You'll find my books there too.

Summer is a great time to get out of the house and go exploring.

Enjoy!

Apology accepted

The Marine who produced the "humorous" web piece about killing Iraqis has apologized and pulled the piece off the web.

That's all we need in this world. The willingness to admit when we're wrong.

Just Testing

When I became a Muslim I realized there was a great gap between the world-view I had grown up with and the one I had just adopted. Many of the values are the same--love, respect, honor. But the methods are different and, consequently, so are the attitudes.

Prayer is one example. I grew up learning prayer was good. When I became a Muslim I began a formal system of prayer, with regular times and dictated movements. A very different approach.

Views of life and death are even more different. In the American--not necessarily the Christian--viewpoint, life is to be enjoyed to its fullest. Death is to be avoided. For Muslims, life is a test and death is another phase of our existence.

Machiavelli, who unfortunately typifies the current American attitude, stated the end justifies the means.

For Muslims, it's not the end which counts--it's the means. Allah determines our end result. What's important is how we get there. Honestly or dishonestly. Through hard work or laziness. With kindness or cruelty.

If you don't believe, you depend on yourself. But if you believe in a Creator, you realize you can depend on Him. Do your best and leave the rest.

Life is important. But it's just a test.

Of Marines and Hadjis

Reports continue to trickle in. First there was Haditha. Then more reports of massacres in different Iraqi cities. And in spite of all the spinning and posturing it's obvious civilian life doesn't mean much to the U.S. military. Not Iraqi civilian life.

When Zarqawi was allegedly killed (there are many possibilities beyond the official story but I don't want to get into them now), women and children also died. They are a mere footnote to the gloating of American officials over this "victory in the war on terror." They are not American, not Christian, not white. Their lives don't matter.

Reports are coming in of an internet video in which a Marine boasts, while others cheer, of his murder of Iraqi girls. They are the enemy. They don't matter.

U.S. soldiers refer to Iraqi Muslims as "hadjis." This terms of respect, referring to one who has completed the difficult ritual of hajj, has become a term of insult. Yet another example of the perversion of the official American mindset when it comes to Muslims.

I am a native-born American citizen and I expect to be treated with dignity and respect. I am also a Muslim, and often I wonder how long it will be before Muslims in this country are treated with the same level of disrespect shown Muslims in other countries--by the U.S. military and their Zionist allies.

Life, liberty, pursuit of happiness. Nice words. And it shouldn't stop there. How can the American government justify the murder of Iraqi civilians and yet defend the lives of Americans? How can fundamentalist Christians insist on imposing their worldview on the rest of us? And why is it that white skin is still more highly valued? (I'm white, and sometimes ashamed of it.)

A hadji is someone who deserves respect. A civilian is someone who deserves to live. And peace does not come from waging war.

Natural disasters

I haven't forgotten the Indonesian earthquake which has killed nearly 6000 people so far. But it seems that the American media has.

I went to Jogjakarta once. It was a nice city, and very friendly. I keep wondering about the people I met there. How are they now?

It's so much to take in. Earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanoes, flooding, wildfires. And a major tsunami. The body counts add up. The destruction is usually beyond imagination. Lives are torn apart. We sit at home and watch it all on the news, grateful we were spared. Until our time comes.

Some debate about the meaning of these disasters. A punishment from God. A test from God. Or merely a natural occurence.

What is certain is the suffering. The survivors are left to cry, mourn and pick up the pieces.

We can do more than be grateful it hasn't happened to us this time. We can contribute money and resources. And we can pray.

Hurricane season started today. The majority believe the government is not ready for another onslaught.

Ready or not.