Muslim TV commentator Mike Ghouse with Sean Hannity

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Mike Ghouse is a speaker,
thinker and a writer
on pluralism, politics,
peace, Islam, Israel,
India,
interfaith,
and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building a Cohesive
America
and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com.
He believes in Standing up for others and has done that
throughout his life as an activist. Mike has a presence on national and local
TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean
Hannity show
on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio
networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas
Morning News
; fortnightly at Huffington
post;
and several other periodicals across the world. His personal
site www.MikeGhouse.net
indexes his work through many links.

Muslim Writer Mike Ghouse at Huffington Post

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Mike Ghouse is a speaker,
thinker and a writer
on pluralism, politics,
peace, Islam, Israel,
India,
interfaith,
and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building a Cohesive
America
and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com.
He believes in Standing up for others and has done that
throughout his life as an activist. Mike has a presence on national and local
TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean
Hannity show
on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio
networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas
Morning News
; fortnightly at Huffington
post;
and several other periodicals across the world. His personal
site www.MikeGhouse.net
indexes his work through many links.

Writer Mike Ghouse at Dallas Morning news

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Mike Ghouse is a speaker,
thinker and a writer
on pluralism, politics,
peace, Islam, Israel,
India,
interfaith,
and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building a Cohesive
America
and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com.
He believes in Standing up for others and has done that
throughout his life as an activist. Mike has a presence on national and local
TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean
Hannity show
on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio
networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas
Morning News
; fortnightly at Huffington
post;
and several other periodicals across the world. His personal
site www.MikeGhouse.net
indexes his work through many links.

Urdu Hindi اُردو / हिंदी Mushaera on Pluralism

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  URDU HINDI (اُردو / हिंदी ) MUSHA’ERA ON PLURALISM
INVITATION to
URDU/HINDI SPEAKING FRIENDS
Saturday, June 29, 2013 – 8 PM – 11:00 PM
Unity of Dallas


We request you to participate
in one or many ways;

To be our guest attendee.
To write a poem based on the theme of Pluralism
To recite your poem in the Musha’era/ Summelan
To be a volunteer
To be a sponsor

Selected poetry will be published in a booklet
 
If you want to
bring a change to the society, be the propeller.

Hamari  تہذيب  (tehzeeb)
ho, ya संस्कृति (sanskriti), we have always
respected each other. However, that element of the culture is depleting and
causing distrust and discomfort with each other.  Can we let this happen? I hope not. 

Poetry is one of the pillars of our  सभ्यता , تمدن and it is in our interest to leave a better world
for our نسل, पुश्त or posterity.  Indeed, we can revive that tradition. 

Let us consciously work towards creating संसक्त  समाज,  معاشرہ  چسپندہ or  cohesive
societies where no one has to live in apprehension, discomfort or fear of the
other.  The mere idea of thinking and writing
such thoughts in our poetry is seeding the future; indeed, this is a small
step, and hope it will become a giant leap for the Urdu/Hindi speaking
populations of the Subcontinent, برِصغیر, महाद्वीप in building cohesive
societies.

This program will be a model
program to be placed on the world wide web, and seek publication in major Urdu/
Hindi media. With your  सहायता, تعاون and help, we can invite the giants of poetry in
Hindi and Urdu to write the poems, if they are in Dallas, they can recite it as
well.

Pluralism in one sentence is about respecting the
otherness of others and accepting the God given uniqueness of each one of us.
It involves building cohesive societies and creating an environment where no
human has to live in apprehension, discomfort or fear of the other.

The
words that best describe Pluralism in Hindi are: Anekāntavāda (Devanagari: अनेकान्तवाद) and Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (Sanskrit: वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम) and in Urdu it is تَکثیریت (we are still looking for the right word).  

I have been researching,
writing and speaking on Pluralism for the last twenty years with articles in
Dallas Morning news (150), fortnightly in Huffington Post (50), Washington  Post (10)  and several other periodicals around the glove
including live workshops (28)  and radio
programs (520 hours)  on the wisdom and
essence of all the beautiful religions.  And
one of the three books called “Standing up for others” will be released at the
Mensa Conference in Fort worth on July 4th.

You
can choose a variety of topics inclusive of religion, humor, culture, food, language
and day to day living.  How do we get along
respectfully with each other!
 
The poetry will be sensitive and respectful of every religion, race, ethnicity,
gender, color and nationality. It’s a conscious step in advancing our culture
of respecting each other’s uniqueness.  The completed poetry must be in by June 15th
to make it to the book.

We
hope to place a book in the hands of every major poet, कवि  and شاعِر.  Indeed,
this will be a small step, and hope it will become a giant leap for Urdu/ Hindi speaking populations in learning to respect
and accept each other’s uniqueness.

We seek funding for this project and I hope you
can fund it generously.  You can make the
check to America Together Foundation (foundation for Pluralism is its dba) or
pay through credit card at: http://americatogetherfoundation.com/donate/

 
Contact:

Shri D. D. Maini
Irfan
Ali (940) 565-1723
Amin Tirmizi (817) 663-3786
Noor Amrohvi (972) 859-0647

Thank you.

Mike Ghouse
(214) 325-1916
America Together foundation
2665 Villa Creek Dr, Suite 206
Dallas, TX 75234

email: MikeGhouse@aol.com
  

url – http://pluralismcenter.blogspot.com/2013/05/mushaera-on-pluralism.html

Dallas Fashions for Charity show on thursday, may 23, 2013

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DALLAS FASHIONS FOR CHARITY – MODELLING AND DANCE

http://nabsites.net/demo/dallas-fashions-for-charity-show-on/

We invite Dallas area men and women to put their feet on the dance floor and be
part of this great cause – Dallas Fashions for Charity event in Addison. 

event: Dallas Fashions for Charity
date: Thursday May 23, 7-11 pm

where: Addison conference Center
who: Drew Pearson, Leann Locken, Henny Hughes, Mike Ghouse
ticket: $35/person
Dallas, Texas – May 15, 2013.   Dallas Fashions for Charity, a non profit
charitable organization is committed to supporting a few selected schools in Greater
Dallas. The Chairman of the Organization Mike Ghouse announced their first
annual fundraising event, “Dallas Fashion Show and Charity Ball” to be held
Thursday, May 23rd in Addison, Texas at the Addison Conference Center, 15650
Addison Rd, TX 75001 from 7 to 11 pm. 
Complimentary valet service will be provided.
The Fashion Show will feature Performance of more than 20 models  including a special Mothers-Daughters modeling
event introducing the latest designs by Dallas designer Henny Hughes.

Dallas Cowboys legend Drew Pearson will be the Master of the Ceremonies,  and LeeAnne Locken will host the special
segment of the program. 


A silent auction along with the featured 
ballroom dance performance with the well known band of Bobby Young and
the Uniques will be a part of the evening gala.
Tickets are $35. To reserve tickets visit www.DallasFashionsforCharity.org or facebook.


For ticket information please contact:


1.       Mike Ghouse at 214-325-1916
2.       Kennedy Benedio at
214-916-0816
Sponsorships and donations will be greatly appreciated.
The mission of Dallas Fashions for Charity is to support educational
achievement through a variety of specific practical programs such as Social
Etiquette and Proper Attire, Leadership Development and Anti Bullying Programs
for students in Greater Dallas, TX. These programs are largely neglected in
today’s curriculum and are the fundamental building blocks in creating a
successful generation of learning environment now and for a successful after
school life. We believe  motivation and
self-confidence are part of the perfect pathways to success.
 
Mike Ghouse at (214)-325-1916/ text or talk

 SpeakerMikeGhouse@gmail.com

Henny Hughes at (972)-672-3932
 lookofelegance.henny@yahoo.com

The Real Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister of Turkey

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This article is worth reading, it highlights a weakness among Muslim leaders to lean towards dictatorship, an apparent deficiency in their faith in God, that they do not consider God to be supreme and start elevating themselves to be God like.


 Qur’an is crystal clear; you cannot force any one to believe in what they don’t want to believe, and it asserts, let there be no compulsion in the matters of faith. Then God beefs it up and tells the Prophet that you need not be frustrated if people don’t get your message, you role is to simply deliver it, and I reserve the right to guide them. There is a lot of wisdom in the above two statements.

Contrast this with the inclination of Muslim rulers, who are eager to usurp the liberties of people, and want to impose their beliefs on their subjects. Islam was really for these men, and not necessarily for the average moderate Muslim, who practices the values of Islam without wearing it on his sleeve or her saree.

The dictator Zia ul-Haq badly messed up Pakistan, he did not trust in the God given freedom of individuals, and believed in subjecting them to his version of Islam. He was ready to play God and punish those who did not obey his damned laws that he passed out as Islamic. Now when I read about Erdogan, the popular Prime Minister of Turkey, I get the feeling that he will sink Turkey into a fascist state. 

What is wrong with Muslim leadership? Why do they want to become dictators? Do they ever learn the Golden rule that Prophet so eloquently put, think for your brother what you think for yourselves. I pray to God that he save us from religious bigots running the governments and making a hell for those who differ with them.

I don’t know how many Muslims are aware of the Alevi Muslims of Kurdistan. They seem to have become equivalent of  the Ahmadiyya Muslims in Pakistan, being harassed by the Sunnis. Of course, Muslim nations are not the only ones who are uncivilized, even America has her own share of bigotry towards minorities

However, I’ll take this piece with a grain of salt because it originates from the Center for Islamic Pluralism, run by Steven Schwartz. I am not sure about his agenda, but he is yet to sound sincere to me. We need to verify the veracity of the information presented in this piece. Finding the truth is your own responsibility.

I had a severe encounter with him, he was going to sue me for my write up asking him to back off from approaching the Union of Rabbis. He and others wrote to them, that ISNA is not the legitimate representation of Muslims, but they are, and that the Rabbis need to deal with them. I said baloney, the market is too big, go get the others instead of undermining the work of ISNA.

Israeli aggression towards the Palestinians made Erdogan speak up in strong terms, and that instantly made him a hero in the Muslim world and earned huge support for him. It’s wrong to say that Muslims rejoice when some one stands up to Israel, but the whole world does rejoice. I pray that the people of Israel wake up and take back their governance from the leadership that continue to deeply isolate Israel,  and deplete the moral standing in the community of Nations. Erdogan would not have had a chance to rise, had Israel followed the principles of justice.

More about him at: http://www.islamicpluralism.org/2237/the-real-erdogan by Gatestone Institute

Mike Ghouse for cohesive societies and for democratic governance.

Luncheon talk by Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmed in Beverely Hills

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It was a pleasure to attend the peace lunch in Beverly Hills California on Saturday, May 11, 2013.  Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the Khalifa of Ahmadiyya Muslim community delivered a perfect message to an audience of about 300, included were Lt. Governor, Controller, Several Police Chiefs, City Council Members, Judges, congresspersons, and several interfaithers and dignitaries from around the country.  His message was clear – Islam teaches building a peaceful world through justice, and that there must be a separation of state and Mosque. A percentage of Muslims do wrong things, but that they do it on their own and not authorized by Islam, Qur’an or Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). 

I believe in one God, one Ummah, and one World for doing collective good for one humanity, and I do my best to match my talk with my acts. Hence, I go to every mosque of every Muslim denomination and take turns to attend Juma prayers in different mosques. I exclude none; the world is one under one Rabbul Aalameen by the grace of Rahmatul Aalameen.

During the lunch, I was honored to have a small conversation with the Khalifa, he is a graceful man, and I also got to pray Maghrib and Isha on Friday Night under his Imamat in Chino Hills California Mosque. 


 I see Ahmadiyya as a reformed movement in Islam. Of course, there is a respectful disagreement over the role of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the movement as the Promised Messiah.

Other than this major singular difference, I have found no difference between the Sunni and Ahmadiyya practices in terms of Shahadah, Salat, Fasting, Zakat and Hajj – with the same words and same priorities. I clarified the silent part of the prayer – in the Tashahhud position; they recite word for word what the Sunnis recite; Attahiyat, the two Daroods and the Duwa.  God advises us not to prejudge others, or let our bias make us unjust towards others. 

If you also talk and dream of one Ummah, please do your own researches, visit their mosque, and listen to them.  By the way no one has ever made an attempt to sell me their version of the religion and my faith in Qur’an, Prophet, Islam and Allah is perhaps stronger than even some of the Imams, I have nothing to gain and no one to please but do the right thing. If we can learn to respect the otherness of others and accept our uniqueness, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge. Alhamdu Lillah, I free from bias towards any one of Allah’s creation, let alone fellow Muslims.

Insha Allah, I will write a few more details as an article in a few weeks.
Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralismpolitics, peace, Islam,IsraelIndiainterfaith, and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building aCohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day atwww.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in Standing up for others and has done that throughout his life as an activist. Mike has a presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly at Huffington post; and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes his work through many links.

Bias against Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad; is he a Khalifa, Pope or what?

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Bias against Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad; is he a Khalifa, Pope or what?
As an individual, my intention is to stand up for every one’s right, every one’s right to be who he or she wants to be,  and as an individual, I  stand against those who want to deny and oppress those basic humans rights to any one, yes anyone, and that makes me a stronger Muslim.   
I call on you to think critically by dropping your bias against Ahmadiyya Muslims. I am writing this particular note, and hope you will take the time to understand the depth of it.

Didn’t the Prophet say something to this effect, that if you are un-just to a Jew or a Christian, he will stand up for him against you on the Day of Judgment? Did he not say that? Isn’t he the Rahmatul Aalameen?
Western World is familiar with Dalai Lama for over 40 years now, his case has been made by major movie stars, and he has been invited all over the world. He is Dalai Lama. The western media is scrambling to find a title for the Ahmadiyya Khalifa; POPE is a description that they understand to describe the head of a religious institution, hence they have called Hazrat Mirza Masroor the POPE. You may consider writing to Wall Street journal and offer them the alternatives.
 In contrast Ahmadiyya Muslim Khalifa Mirza Masroor Ahmed is relatively unknown in the western world. He can legitimately make the case in the western world about the denial of voting rights to the Ahmadiyya in Pakistan, the humiliation they have to undergo to apply for the passport or visa and violation of basic human rights to have their name as a Muslim on their graves. If he does, he will eventually be known as the Khalifa – with whatever prefixes or suffixes suits his community. 

Just as Martin Luther King Jr., freed the American people from the eternal burden of prejudice, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad can free the people of Pakistan from drowning in the cess pool of prejudice. What is shameful is a majority of Pakistanis are free people without prejudices and bias, but held hostage by a few, and someone needs to speak up for them. A majority of Republicans are great people, but a few are giving us an ugly name, and we need to speak up. A majority of Muslims are great people, a few of them give us the bad name, and we need to speak up. 

Alhamdu Lillah, I am doing my personal share of speaking up as a Republican as well as a Muslim. If ten of us in each city can muster the courage to write and speak in every major city in the world, people will switch gears toward where the wind seems to be blowing. The right wing Christians, Muslims, Jews and Hindus effectively practice this technique.  I have experimented in Dallas Morning News and Washington post and a few forums – if three ugly comments are made, experiment overwhelming them with six people writing goodness notes – they will shut up and run. Guaranteed!

You may want to consider listening to the Message of Hazrat Masroor Ahmed in Los Angeles. You will appreciate him. When the media is hitting negative images of Islam, he is giving a positive image of Islam. We should be thanking him and not criticizing him.  Indeed, the three hundred plus men and women who attended the event walked away thinking positively about Islam. I appreciate and thank Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad for the same.

Recently, I received an email with picture and audio clips, where a man and a woman comments on each one of the statements by the Hazrat in Southern California. I could not find the link although I spent time searching for it. As a Muslim when we see something wrong, it is our duty to spend the time to share the right information, it is up to the recipient to receive the message. To me, my time is worth doing and talking what is right, even if one person gets it. Here is an alternate link. http://www.themuslimtimes.org/2013/05/ahmadiyyat-true-islam/head-of-ahmadiyya-muslim-community-delivers-historic-address-in-southern-california . If I find the right one, I will plug it in here.

Shame on our bias, if Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad was a Jew, Hindu or a Christian saying the exact same words, word for word, we will be so excited and start sharing the link with everyone we know with a note, “see this Jewish man speaks the truth about Islam, or see this Hindu woman speaks the truth about Islam”… what is wrong with us in appreciating a fellow Muslim saying the same thing. 

As a Muslim I cannot conclusively say, my method of praying, or admiring the prophet is the right way, there are at least 10 different ways even among Sunnis and Shias. Homogeneity can reasonably be expected among smaller branches of Islam, like Ahmadiyya, Ismaili, Bohra, Wahhabi or WD Muhammad denominations. Let’s be respectful of each other; it restores sanity within. Hate and bias eats our psyche, whereas repentance, forgiveness and acceptance make us a healthy human.

…….

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralismpolitics, peace,IslamIsraelIndiainterfaith, and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in Standing up for others and has done that throughout his life as an activist. Mike has a presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity showon Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly atHuffington post; and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes his work through many links.

Google Search for Mike Ghouse

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My curiosity led me go from one search to the other, 
and here are the results as of 1:30 PM on May 20, 2013.

mike ghouse Christianity – 362,000
mike ghouse judaism  – 281,000
mike ghouse buddhism – 181,000
mike ghouse sikhism – 126,000
mike ghouse jainism – 85,800
mike ghouse bahai – 73,600
mike ghouse islam – 64,300
mike ghouse Native americans – 55,400

mike ghouse zoroastrianism – 35,400
mike ghouse hinduism – 35,200
mike ghouse wicca – 34,400
mike ghouse pluralism – 21,300
mike ghouse interfaith – 20,000
============
mike ghouse sunni – 189,000
mike ghouse shia – 163,000
mike ghouse ahmadiyya – 115,000
mike ghouse ismailia – 107,000
mike ghouse wahhabi- 64,000
mike ghouse bohra – 12,100
mike ghouse wd muhammad – 5,560
==========

mike ghouse muslim speaker – 30,100
mike ghouse islamic speaker – 30,100
mike ghouse plualism speaker – 13,200
mike ghouse interfaith speaker – 12,600
mike ghouse indian speaker – 27, 400
 
Mike Ghouse

Symposium on Sir Allama Iqbal's discourse on democracy

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URL – http://nabsites.net/demo/sympoium-on-sir-allama-iqbals-discourse/

Dr. Allama Iqbal is one of the greatest philosopher poets of India; he and
Swami Vivekananda continue to be the most quoted in awakening the masses with
their wisdom. Their words were magical, thoughtful and evoked practical
attitudes towards life.

I
was particularly interested in his work on Pluralism, as we are getting ready
to do a poetry session in Urdu-Hindi on Pluralism, as I was familiar with some
of his works, like “ Mazhab nahin sikhata aapas me bair rakhna”  meaning religion does not teach one to hold
grudges against people of other faiths.  Boy,
was I happy to hear the response from the audience? Apparently there is a lot more
poetry to explore. There was group of ladies on the table next to mine, and
they were happy to express their familiarity with his work on pluralism, and I
have requested them to write a poem about pluralism.   

MikeGhouse-Dr.Nyla Khan-Dr.Anwar
Dr.MonaKazimShah-Mrs and Dr. Masood Raja-Dr.Anwar

The South Asia Democracy watch organized the event, and had invited great
speakers to talk about his work. Dr. Jaffar Mahallati, former UN Ambassador got
everyone floored when he talked about Dr. Iqbal’s influence on the Iranian
intellectuals and continues to be part of the study and speeches even to this
day. Dr. Nyla Ali Khan, the granddaughter of Sheikh Abdullah, Chief Minister of
Kashmir and a Professor in Oklahoma delivered one of the greatest speeches on
democracy and the impeccable value of US Constitution and Iqbal’s preference
for democracy, where leadership with morality was to be valued, but religion and
state were to be separate entities. My admiration for Iqbal continues to grow.

Dr. Talmeez Fatima, Dr. Masood Raja and Dr. Qaisar Abbas delivered the messages
that I have been craving to hear all my life – about his views on democracy and
pluralism. I hope to read Dr. Abbas’s article in Urdu to fully grasp the
thoughts he has written, and Dr. Fatima talked about timeliness of Iqbal’s
message. Dr. Basheer Ahmed did a fabulous job as the master of the ceremonies. 

One of the rigors of intellectualism is to
question everything, and questioning they did. Particularly Masood Raja; no one
should be given a free pass.  In the  story of my
quest for pluralism
, I have quoted my sister’s innocent throw back question
at me some 40 years ago – “do you know more than Allama Iqbal” and my response
remains the same to this day, no, but I will not take any one’s words for
granted.”

My
camera died on me at the all day event “many faces one peace” from there I
rushed to this program and did not get a chance to charge up my camera or the
cell phone. I am writing a separate note about the program, where I spoke how
to build a cohesive America, where no American has to live in apprehension,
discomfort or fear of the other, and book and the move is in the making on the
Americans Together.

http://nabsites.net/demo/indian-americans-committment-to/

Mike Ghouse is a

speaker,
thinker and a

writer
on

pluralism,

politics,
peace,

Islam,

Israel,

India,

interfaith,
and cohesion at work place. He is
committed to building a

Cohesive
America

and offers pluralistic solutions on
issues of the day at

www.TheGhousediary.com.
He believes in

Standing up for others
and has done that throughout his life as
an activist. Mike has a presence on
national and local TV, Radio and Print
Media. He is a frequent guest on

Sean
Hannity show
on Fox
TV, and a commentator on national radio
networks, he contributes weekly to the
Texas Faith Column at

Dallas Morning News;
fortnightly at

Huffington post;
and several other periodicals across the
world. His personal site

www.MikeGhouse.net
indexes his work through many links.