Wednesday, February 22, 2012Muslims condemn the bigotry of Maulana Zahidur Rashidi against Ahmadiyya Muslims.

      Comments Off on Wednesday, February 22, 2012Muslims condemn the bigotry of Maulana Zahidur Rashidi against Ahmadiyya Muslims.
As Muslims we question the statement made by Maulana Zahidur Rashidi, it goes against the very grain of Islam; Peace. He offers two choices to fellow Pakistanis, “Be Killed or Repent and Accept Islam.”
Maulana needs to be taken into custody for inciting violence against a people for their belief. The Ahmadiyya Muslims are being terrorized in their own country.
Shame on our hypocrisy, we rightfully scream against Israel for the mistreatment of Palestinians, what is wrong with us not do the same against other human beings, whether they are Muslims or not? Why should anyone stand up for you, if you are not willing to stand up for others?
Killing one person is like killing the whole humanity, says the Quraan, do these men believe in it? Maulana needs to be charged for abusing Quraan, however due process must be followed, he is innocent until proven guilty, and if he is found guilty, he needs to be in the prison.
Islam is a religion of peace and not a religion of bullying, harassing and terrorizing others. It is men like him who bring disgrace to the religion of peace and we should not let him destroy the character of our religion.

There is a saying that evil exists not necessarily because of evil men, but because good men do nothing about it. Prophet Muhammad, pbuh, reiterated the least you can do, is to speak up, and I am doing my share of the work.

Link – http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2012/02/muslims-condemn-bigotry-of-maulana.html
Reference – http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/6107.htm
Mike Ghouse is a writer, thinker and a speaker on pluralism, politics, Islam, peace and building a cohesive America, links to details at www.MikeGhouse.net.

TEXAS FAITH: When the pew and the pulpit don't see eye-to-eye?

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There is a difference between the pew and the pulpit on this matter. Of course, that is not the first time a divide has been seen between the leaders of a religious tradition and those who adhere to that faith. What I would like to hear from you all this week is how such a divide gets resolved in your tradition. I recognize that sometimes they aren’t resolved, but I would like you to elaborate upon this question:

MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism, Dallas
Indeed, there is a great difference between the pew and the pulpit and most certainly a few issues get resolved and a few go to the holding pen to be unleashed whenever the opportunity arises to get even.

About a decade ago, a guest speaker Imam (pastor) addressed the Annual Ramadan celebrations at Fair Park, attended by nearly 20,000 Muslims in the Centennial Hall at Fair Park. Obviously it was a festive occasion for families and a few kids were unruly and crying out loud. The guest speaker let out his misogynistic remark by specifically calling on the sisters to cut the gossip out and take care of the children. Boy, did he get jumped on. The pew decided never to invite him and the pulpit agreed without blinking an eye. It was all instantaneous, indeed it was a pent up anger built over a period of time, and released to get even and to send a clear message that it was not acceptable.
Among Muslims, the power usually rests in the hands of the management team. Frequently, the ones who write big checks get their say. The conflict is usually between the management and the pew rather than the pulpit. However, if the Imam is a towering figure like John Hagee, he gets away with a lot of things that goes against the will of the congregants.
While most of the Imams lead their congregations in pluralistic traditions of Islam, the orthodox Imams do their conservative bit just as in other traditions.
There is a massive gap between the pew and the pulpit on the international levels. Issues like apostasy, blasphemy, stoning to death and a few others have remained unresolved for centuries.

The punishment for apostasy is death as practiced in four of the 56 Muslim majority nations. Fifty two others don’t practice it. Prophet Muhammad said there is no compulsion in the matters of faith, one can choose to leave the fold of Islam and come back at will. Quraan 2:256 ” … Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error …” Dr. Mohammad Farooq writes at the site Apostasy and Islam, “This is Islam’s unambiguous affirmation of freedom of faith, which also applies to changing of faith.”
The punishment for apostasy was not a prophetic tradition, but an employ of the dictators and monarchs over a period of time that has crept into Islam. Obviously a majority of Muslims and Muslim nations do not believe in it, but the clergy have a hold on it and are not willing to sign a declaration to put an end to this.
They don’t even want to touch it with a ten-foot pole, as it was erroneously canonized into the Sharia (way of life) document. Their justification is the numbers. In the last decade there have been a handful but shameful cases of apostasy cases – Abdul Rahman in Afghanistan was released, Iranian Pastor Nadarkhani is still at the mercy of the Iranian Government and Lena Joy was forgiven in Malaysia. The first two were Muslims converted to Christianity and the third one to Buddhism. 

Asia Bibi, a Christian lady in Pakistan is charged with blasphemy laws for defaming Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). This law goes against the very nature of Islam and teachings of the Prophet, who was once pelted with rocks by the miscreants, just as Jesus had endured. He was bloodied and his associates wanted to beat the bad guys up. Even the archangel Gabriel said he will crush them boys, but the prophet said no to any revenge. He turned the other cheek instead, and asked Gabriel and his associates to join him to pray for the well being of the miscreants and asked God to give them guidance. 

Thank God for the relentless efforts of many men and women in the last decade to purge these laws from the books. Given the momentum, I believe things will change in a few generations.

One of the Imams said this beautifully, “I am glad you are not a part of management in any of the traditional institutions, it has given you the freedom to do the right thing that most people wanted to do, but afraid to.”

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Mike Ghouse is a writer, thinker and a speaker on pluralism, politics, Islam, peace and building a cohesive America, links to details at www.MikeGhouse.net.
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TEXAS FAITH: When the pew and the pulpit don’t see eye-to-eye?
http://nabsites.net/demo/?p=1519 

Israel Palestine commitment, part 2

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Israel’s security and justice to the Palestinians are directly proportional to each other. Hundred percent security for Israel comes with 100 percent justice to the Palestinians. A majority of people in the conflict understand this, but the leadership runs aground with short sighted false perceptions.

Huffington post on Israel Palestine solutions : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/commitment-to-israelpales_b_1263793.html

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Mike Ghouse is committed to building a cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. A writer, thinker and a speaker and is available to speak on pluralism, politics, Islam, peace, cohesive societies and a variety of topics. Check out 4 websites and 27 Blogs indexed at www.MikeGhouse.net. Current articles at www.TheGhousediary.com

The Never Say Impossible Radio Show by Myra Goldick

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When: Thursday, February 16th, 8:00 PM-9:00 PM ETWhere: WQ4D Radio: The Inspiring Friends Network http://WQ4D.fm
Listen Live Here: http://neversayimpossible.wq4dradio.com

Topic: Creating a More Cohesive America

Pluralism is a political philosophy which permits the peaceful coexistence of different interests, convictions, religious affiliations and lifestyles. James Madison, one of this country’s Founding Fathers, believed that pluralism was the best way to prevent any one faction from dominating the political system, and that members of society could accommodate their differences by engaging in good-faith negotiation.
Tonight’s guest for the full hour is Mike Ghouse , Internationally known speaker, author and advocate of building a cohesive America. Mike is a columnist for an impressive list of major publications such as the Huffington Post and The Dallas Morning News, and a frequent guest on Fox News, and on “The Hannity Show.”
Myra and Mike will discuss what we can do as Americans to support tolerance, pluralism, and dialog, in an ever-growing world of religious difference and fear. This is a subject that can no longer be ignored!
Watch this brief intro by Mike on YouTube:

Texas Faith: To what extent should government define the common good?

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There is a need for the conservative and liberals to be sensitive towards each other and move out of “my interests” zone to the interests of common good,  all of us would be better off in the long run. Every American must feel a sense of security, safety and freedom. If we can learn to accept the otherness of others and respect the God given uniqueness of each one of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.

TEXAS FAITH: To what extent should government define the common good?http://nabsites.net/demo/texas-faith-to-what-extent-should/
Unlike most communal organizations, the government has coercive power — the power to regulate, to mandate and to tax. These advantages make it all too easy for the state to gradually crowd out its rivals. The more things we “do together” as a government, in many cases, the fewer things we’re allowed to do together in other spheres.” 

Read on for insightful essays on this subject.

MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism, Dallas

In a representative democracy like ours, Barney Frank’s words reflect our sentiments, “Government is simply the name we give to the things we choose to do together.” Indeed, unlike the monarchies, dictatorships and communists where the rulers decide what is good for the subjects, our system of government does the opposite of it. We the people decide what is good for us in the form of legislating it through our elected representatives. 

The role of men and women who represent us is to ensure that they collectively follow our Constitution to honor our “… unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

The coerciveness of the government occurs when we the people are not collectively represented in the pursuit of our happiness. And it is our failure, rather than the failure of our government, to ignore the checks and balances built into our system.
Government is not a different entity; it is us, by us and for us. Ross Douthat of the New York Times summarized it very well, “the government is just the natural expression of our national community, and the place where we all join hands to pursue the common good.”
Two examples jump out, the destructive wars and the health care bill were a product of a mob rule called democracy. It is embarrassing that very few in the Senate and House questioned the bills. It was a sheer system failure. The administration and both houses of Congress were monopolized by the Republican Party and their coercive powers cowed the Democrats from standing up and do the right thing, which was to oppose the war. Had they strongly opposed it, we would not have been in this mess today.
We the people were not fully represented in that decision, nor was it representative of the will of the people in that coercive frightening condition. We acted as non-representative democracy then.
The second disaster sprang from the very same problem. The administration and Congress were monopolized by the Democratic Party, and they passed the health care reform, when the priority should have been job creation. Even though many Republicans opposed it, it passed like the other bad act of war.
I have been an advocate of consciously electing and giving simple majority to each party in the two houses. The stalemate is bad, but at least unilateral fascist decisions will not be made by us for us.
I propose an amendment to our Constitution that says when we are faced with critical decisions like the war and health care reforms that affect every American in the pursuit of their happiness, we need at 80% or higher votes from both houses to pass a bill like war or health care that would amount to be a true representative democracy.
Our courts have done well in upholding the laws that check the prevailing emotions by knocking out the California proposition and other popular sentiments that undermine the long term pursuit of happiness of the people in general.
I hope we the people consciously keep simple Republican majority in the House and simple Democratic majority in the Senate and those who bring stalemate against common good will be routed out, as we did with the Republicans in 2008 and Democrats in 2010.
Had it not been for the liberals, we would not have lived in the houses we live. We would have lived in caves and nothing would have been invented. Conservatives of the time did not even believe the world was round. They opposed the use of medicine to cure patients, and they initially opposed everything good that has started in our society. Our life style would not have changed a bit.
On the other hand, had it not been for the conservatives, we would have drowned ourselves or gone out of the orbit with thoughtless experimentations. The survival of the society depends on strong conservatives and liberals but most certainly, an active moderate majority who speak up and I consider myself a strong pluralistic moderate sensitive to every one of the 312 million Americans.
There is a need for the conservative and liberals to be sensitive towards each other and move out of “my interests” zone to the interests of common good, then all of us would be better off in the long run.
Every American must feel a sense of security, safety and freedom. If we can learn to accept the otherness of others and respect the God given uniqueness of each one of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.
For all the essays at Dallas Morning News by Texas Faith Panelists –  http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2012/02/texas-faith-to-what-extent-sho.html
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Mike Ghouse is a thinker, writer speaker and an activist of pluralism, interfaith, co-existence, peace, Islam and India. He is a frequent guest at the TV, radio and print media offering pluralistic solutions to issues of the day. His websites and Blogs are listed on http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Valentine's Day, the universal phenomenon

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From an exclusive meaningful rendezvous between two lovers, the Valentine’s Day will morph into an all inclusive romantic day. It will become a universal affection day within a decade.  Love has no bounds; it is between two people in love, husband and wife, mother and son, father daughter, brother sister, brothers, sisters, friends, uncles, aunties, Grand Pa and Grand Ma and any one you care about.
HUFFINGTON POST: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/valetines-day-universal_b_1275148.html
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Happy Valentine’s Day.  
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Mike Ghouse is committed to building a cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. A writer, thinker and a speaker and is available to speak on pluralism, politics, Islam, peace, cohesive societies and a variety of topics. Check out 4 websites and 27 Blogs indexed at www.MikeGhouse.net. Current articles at www.TheGhousediary.com

Mike Ghouse talks on America

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TALK ON POLITICAL PLURALISM.

It was my first speech on political pluralism and it was such a delight  in having the conservatives and liberals see a pluralistic point of view, the way to co-exists with our differences.  The Q & A at “College of Complexes” is a delight.  Full video will be out in a week and will be posted on my site, meanwhile here are a few pictures. http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeghouse/sets/72157629401051951/show/

Dallas Campus of the College of Complexes

Weekly Free Speech Forum
Program Coordinator Tom Berry
February 18th Meeting #125 at 6:00 PMBarbec’s Restaurant, 8949 Garland Rd, Dallas, TX 75218

Why We Need to Work for A More Cohesive America

The Playground for People Who Think

Mike Ghouse (speaker, writer and author) will discuss the importance of recognizing hate, prejudice, and stereotyping as the root causes of disrupting peace in our society, how it is our duty to track down the sources of ill-will, and work to mitigate them. He will express his view that humans are open to choices, and will make the best choice if it is made clear to them.

Mike will show how it has been our experience through annual events like Unity Day, reflections on the Holocaust, other genocides, Thanksgiving, and other conferences, that participants walked out with a commitment to be less biased, less prejudiced and willing to stand up for others. He will argue that without a cohesive America, we will not function and will be living in apprehension, discomfort and fear of others, instead of living and letting others live their lives in the pursuit of happiness.

Mike will illuminate our individual and collective responsibility to keep law and order and faithfully guard the safety of every citizen. He will conclude that we need to enhance our efforts nationally, one brick at a time, to build a more cohesive America, where every American is safe at home, on the job, at places of worship, and in public places.
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Mike Ghouse is committed to building a cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. A writer, thinker and a speaker and is available to speak on pluralism, politics, Islam, peace, cohesive societies and a variety of topics. Check out 4 websites and 27 Blogs indexed at www.MikeGhouse.net. Current articles at www.TheGhousediary.com

Obama contraceptive goof up

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I am really surprised by President Obama’s move that he would want to infringe on personal liberties.

As a Muslim, and in behalf of several Muslims, I stand with our Catholic Brothers and Sisters, they should have the choice, and freedom to practice whatever method of birth control they want to pursue.

We are not China to regulate, a man and a woman should choose what is good for him or her and not the government.

Where did he get the idea that contraceptives will be provided free of charge to consumer, is there anything free out there? God is not going to shower the contraceptives on the health insurance companies, if they were to provide, they have to pay for it, and it will be passed on to the employer.

I hope he withdraws this unequivocally. This was my conversation with Sean Hannity on his Radio show today.
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Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on the topics of Pluralism, Coexistence, politics, interfaith, Islam and cohesive societies. He is committed to building a cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.

Israel and Palestine: looking for peace on the horizon

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Who am I to worry about Israelis and Palestinians? What inspires me to be involved in the Israel Palestine conflict? The following is the story of my struggle to see a cohesive world, the story will take you through different emotions but at the end, I hope you feel a sense of completeness of the story. Please let me know. Thank you.

I believe at the heart of the world peace is the Israel Palestine conflict, it is the mother of all conflicts, and if we can find a solution to this, peace is on the horizon ready to shine on us.
Until we can see our own faults, peace for both people becomes a forlorn hope. The burden to find solutions falls on all of us, but particularly Jews, Muslims and Christians.
HUFFINGTON: Continue 

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), the peace maker.

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This is an outline of my talk on Sunday, February 12, 2012
Slide show: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeghouse/sets/72157629293229287/show/

Are you a Rahmat (Kindness/Mercy) to your family, your spouse, your friends, your neighbors, your nation and your world? Do you believe Prophet Muhammad was a mercy to mankind?  If he was, can the world see a reflection of him  in you?

 No one should be afraid of a Muslim, because a Muslim is truthful, peaceful, honest and trustworthy. Are you willing to follow the prophet?

Peace can be defined as a state of mind of individuals and groups where everyone lives without apprehension, discomfort or fear of the other. Justice gives birth to peace; when there is justice, there is a sense of security among people.

A peacemaker is one who mitigates conflicts and nurtures good will and brings about a sustainable balance to the society. Indeed,  Prophet Muhammad’s life was an example of living the life of a peace maker.  
Here are 15 key ideas, nothing is new, you have heard them time and again, but I am asking you to look at the deeper dimension embedded into these actions in creating peace for yourselves and the people who surround you. It is essentially expanding and sharing with you what Rahmatul Aalameen, a mercy to a mankind means.

MODELS OF PEACE
AMIN
The first model he created for the world was to be truthful and trust worthy whose integrity and honesty was beyond question.  He was called Amin much before he set out on his mission to work on building the concept of Tauheed, the oneness of humanity, oneness of creation, oneness of God where everyone feels home; like being in the lap of the mother, safe, worriless, anxiety-less, and secure.  Indeed every religion has the idea of oneness built in to it.

Was it the Muslims who called him Amin?  No, there were no Muslim at that time, it was the Pagans, Jews, Christians and others who called him Amin.  What does it mean to you and I? We have to earn that trust among the people we live, no matter who they are. Was Prophet wrong in doing that? Are we suppose to earn the title of the trustworthy and truthful among our neighbors?


ASWAD STONE NARRATIVE
A model of mitigating conflicts and nurturing goodwill

TAIF STORY
Goodwill is sustainable over revenge against those who pelted stone at him. Did he not turn the other Cheek? He knew violence begets violence and goodwill nurtures peace.

TRASH FROM THE OLD LADY 

It is the patience and genuine caring without having an ill-will towards the one who has the ill-will towards you. Can you apply this in your daily life?

RESPECTING THE OTHER 

Prophet Walks up to a Jewish procession and kisses their Torah to show respect and consciously creating values of inclusiveness and co-existence.

GOOD DEED
What is a Good deed, Quraan 49:13 and Prophet’s example of planting a seed or sapling that will benefit others?

PEACE TREATY

Peace Treaty signature – Muhammad Bin Abdullah instead of Muhammad Rasool Allah – Prophet gave an example of learning to respect the otherness of other, one of the greatest examples that can be applied in peace making between in most situations.  Can you think of how valuable this is in peace negotiations?

INTERFAITH DIALOGUE

Muhammad (pbuh) was the 2nd Human in history who carried an interfaith dialogue; the other was Cyrus, the Zoroastrian king. I will cut to the point… He offered Najran Christian scholars to pray at his mosque when the time for prayer came. Can you imagine this? He did not believe what they believed, he did not believe Jesus was son of God, but yet he offered them to pray at his mosque. What does it tell you? Showing respect for others belief.

CIVIL DIALOUGE

Sura Kafirun that you may want to visit.  http://quraan-today.blogspot.com/2008/07/sura-kafirun-un-believers.html

MADINAH CHARTER

Madinah charter, one of the first pluralist documents offering freedom to practice ones faith.   The prophet was the king, civic and religious leader, he did not have to offer freedom to anyone. But yet he chose to initiate the charter offering Jews, Christians and others their freedom to practice their religion.  It’s a lesson for Muslim majority nations to follow, if at all they follow their own prophet. Do we need to follow the prophet? Why?

HUMILITY


Treat no prophet above the other, it is one of the most powerful verses in Quraan, and it is to prevent Muslims from believing that their prophet is superior and breed arrogance in them. The moment one feels superior to the other, conflict takes root. One is trying to look down and the other is fighting. That is the bravest thing to say and that is the right thing to say, religion is all about humility and not arrogance. As I said earlier, you knew the story and here is a dimension that some of you may have missed.

HONORING BILAL 

Honoring Bilal a superior place in paradise to remove the prejudicial barriers that existed then; how many of your are guilty of it? Yet some claim they are Aashiq-e-Rasool, (fans of the prophet, without following his teachings). There is no room for prejudice in Islam; it is prejudice that destroys the social fabric of the society.

MEN AND WOMEN ARE EACH OTHERS GARMENTS: 
Men and women are each other’s garments. Equal rights for women…
EQUALITY OF HUMANS: 
Inculcating the values of equality through the prayers, fasting and other rituals of Islam.

INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY
Individual responsibility for one’s behavior – Bibi Fatima Example
If you honestly believe Prophet Muhammad is Rahamutal Aalameen, and if you follow him sincerely, then you will be a mercy, the Rahmat to every one around you starting with your spouse, kids, siblings, parents, family, friends and every human around you. 

Thank you.
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Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer and offers pluralistic solutions on the issues of the day. Mike is available to speak on Pluralism, Islam, Civil Societies, and Peace & Justice at your place of worship, school, work place, seminars or conferences.  He is a media commentator offering pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. 
Mike’s work is reflected at three websites twenty two Blogs linked at www.MikeGhouse.net/