New Year, Same Old B.A.D News

Blogger's Note: This blog may be a bit challenging to those with short attention spans. But it's about time to let it out. If you're patient in reading this, I pray that your patience will be rewarded.

No, I'm not doing this age challenge thing that's going around on social media lately. Although it has occurred to me that it has been 10 years now since I've officially started blogging, and if I must say so myself, I am quite amazed at how I continue to do this. It's not like I'm getting paid for it, it's not like I have a lot of followers or readers, and recently it's been quite hard trying to muster up the energy to do this. Over the past couple of years my postage has dropped significantly, first from just doing too much and fear of redundancy, and now just from burnout. It must be some passion to this.

2018 was particularly brutal for me, as throughout the entire year I found myself constantly in a state of mood swings, mainly due to deaths of relatives and friends, beginning with the first day of the 2018 itself. I found myself having to go to a longtime friends' house before the crack of dawn, and it was cold too might I add, to see a friend who apparently passed away in his sleep. I didn't get the chance to see his face, due to the paramedics blocking off the entrance way. That sudden death affected me very deeply. If it wasn't for the cheap phone I had breaking down on me, I'd probably still have the voicemail I received telling me of his passing.

In all, I experienced over 10 deaths of relatives and friends last year, each one having it's own significance, and a couple more close shaves. These were lifetime friends, and relatives I grew up with. Not just mere acquaintances. Those memories last, and the pain never really goes away.

Not all of the past year was gloomy, there were a few bright spots here and there. I got to showcase my work in two exhibits, the Art 214 exhibit, showcasing the local Dallas artists, and the Unapologetic Exhibit at the South Dallas Cultural Center last May. Along with my mural being hung in the local library last January, there were some pick me ups along the way to help me keep my chin up. But there was more to be sad about last year than happy, at least on a personal basis.

But those were personal issues, and thankfully, I am able to keep standing, smiling, and swinging when I need to. Once I'm reminded that this life is a test, I feel that my faith will help me get through those times.

Now dealing with the societal matters, that's a different story. You have little or no control over these affairs, and very little say. And to make matters worse, very few people are willing to listen anyway. Social media dialogue is basically people talking AT each other, unfunny, ignorant and misinformed memes, and the same propaganda that I thought with this so called "democratization" of information, was going to diminish due to corporate media not having as much control over the media...Boy was I freaking wrong.

You're subjected to watching groups of people gripe and moan, point fingers, and complain about issues that either don't get to the main point at hand, or even worse are fabricated lies, bent on persuading people to see things their way.

Last year we witnessed President Donald Trump use all types of mis and disinformation to drive home his "need" to change immigration laws, and build some wall designed to "keep out" immigrants who as he would put it, take jobs and bring about mayhem and decay to good old "American society and values." He did this despite the blitz of mass murders and shootings in schools, houses of worship, yoga studios, grocery stores, nightclubs and shopping malls inside America alone, and committed mainly by White men. He and other deniers chalked that up to "mental health" issues, which is now also becoming the buzz word for America's growing obsession with depression, suicide, escapism of all sorts, violence, drugs and bigotry.

His separation of some immigrant children from their families and holding some in detention cells became widespread in social media, and hard to even look at in many instances.

He even blamed the death of Indianapolis Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson on the failure to do something about the immigration laws, and not on the fact that he was a victim of a drunk driver, one of tens of thousands of people killed every year in America because America refuses to acknowledge alcohol kills more people here annually than any drummed up terrorist act could ever accomplish.  Only a fool could think the slogan "Drink Responsibly", which was preceded by Think Before You Drink, before breweries realized that slogan actually represented a conflict of interest, could ever have any major impact, or actually be some sort of resolution towards alcoholism and drunk driving.

He and others either failed to read, or completely ignore recent stats from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which the picture below shows an astonishing 72,000 people died from overdose in 2017 alone. This is not even talking alcohol and cigarettes! Add those in, and add the 30+ thousand suicides committed yearly, and what you have here is a great deflection of the problem in America, people focusing on their own intolerance and prejudices, instead of honing in on the real issue at hand.

One can only imagine what the stats will be now that he's taken it to a level of actually shutting down the federal government, sacrificing the well being of many employees, many who voted for him yet still think for some reason this is a good idea to hold the nation hostage over a supposed wall. It reminds me of Reagan and his "Star Wars" rants back in the 80's, trying to conjure up support for satellites and things in space, all designed to protect us from the evils of Russia.

Hate and fear-mongering at its finest. And yet America continues to eat itself alive.

This "wall" he is willing to shut down the government over will only keep out the "external" issues he and his ilk continue to demonize.

But not to be outdone by the likes of Trump and his ilk came the liberals with even more insidious accusations and injustices of their own. 2018 was also the year of deflection for the liberals and feminists as we saw the likes of David Hogg and his tirades concerning gun control, using the Parkland High School shooting in Florida to spearhead his campaign against guns. Virtually every shooting that occurs in America now is classified and propagated by liberals as gun violence, whereas conservatives point to "mental health" issues as the problem, but that's only in the case of a White man being the culprit.

As if the gun has a mind of its own. People, the gun is an instrument used in the killing of people. To rant against gun violence every time someone is shot in America makes no sense. But again it's people's politics that are more concerning, not the truth of the matter.

We seem to forget about the impact of the bombing of the Federal building in Oklahoma City,which took the lives of 162 people, and hurt many others. Maybe because it threw a serious curve into people's politics. I mean you couldn't blame it on so called radical Muslims and immigration, although they tried, and you couldn't point the finger at gun control either, because guns were not used in the killing of people in this instance. It was a deep and dark reflection of what's wrong internally in America, and yet almost 25 years later, we still don't get it.

All we see mainly from liberals are marches which stir up emotions with speeches, sloganeering, chants, and now with silly hats, much like conservatives, but refuse to lay down much analysis and critical thinking. Along with marches for gun control, we saw women's marches all over the place. We even witnessed rapper Common reciting the lyrics to his song "The Day Women Took Over", at an event supposedly advocating "gender equality". Go figure.

But one march that was grossly overlooked in 2018 was the march against suicide, the Out of the Darkness March, which took place in three cities, with Dallas being one of the cities.

This received scant, if any coverage by any of the major media markets. It serves as a testament to the selfish concerns of political parties and special interest groups in America to overlook the real concerns with the masses, yet dupe them to blindly follow their personal whims and wishes. According to this site, 30,000 people in America alone commit suicide, and countless others attempt to every year, but since this tragedy cannot be attributed to people's political agendas, it's swept under the rug, with the best that can be done is labeling it a  "mental health issue", and the distribution of pharmaceuticals and psychotic drugs.

But 2018 seemed to have brought out the worst in feminism, as we were hit with a barrage of victim narratives aimed only pointing out this "toxic masculinity" and "misogyny"conspiracy. In 2018 women were encouraged through feminism to render themselves as conveniently stupid, 'misled" and oppressed, all in an effort to absolve responsibility and accountability for their own actions and predicaments.

Women were encouraged through the likes of former strippers Amber Rose and rapper Cardi B., porn stars, and other women, mainly feminists, that for a woman to tease, taunt, tempt, floss, exhibit, flirt, arouse the senses in men with her actions, speech and dress should not lead to any ill-conceived notion that such a woman wants sex, is interested in having sex, and should not be misconstrued as a woman of ill repute.

That the plethora of pornography (which modern feminists find no problem with, and exhort other women to produce as long as they are the producers, directors and manufacturers of such media) , provocative songs and videos and writings should not have any connection with the degeneration of morality here in America. To them, that's just "men being men."

Even worse, in this so called world of "toxic masculinity", "patriarchy" ,"rape culture" and "street harassment", women were encouraged more to "flaunt it if you got it", despite the ill consequences that comes from such open sensuality. To exhort modesty or take responsibility, you will be pelted with accusations of victim blaming, slut shaming, and being a part of some patriarchy. Baloney.

It defies all logic, reason, nature and conventional wisdom. Everyday we close and lock our doors and windows to our homes, offices, automobiles and filing cabinets, we encrypt our online information with passwords to keep all private information shielded from potential violators. But the woman, with her body, is encouraged to expose it to the fullest extent, and not expect any type of reciprocation from the male in either speech, thought or action. Along with this hideous idea comes the vilification of those who admonish women to "act like a lady" or simply "take responsibility" of their own predicaments. And any woman who takes up modest dress, especially religious women, and in particular Muslim women, are attacked through media outlets and liberal groups. No longer are Muslim women attacked by conservative White men, they are also attacked in a passive aggressive manner by liberal White women.

I can never forget the question I received from a Black woman last year who inquired why should Muslim women be executed for committing adultery. If one is not astute to the ways of feminists, both Black and White, one would not catch what she is actually saying. She was not concerned about why are people, both male and female, are executed when it comes to adultery, just women.

We also saw the PR metamorphosis of prostitution into "sex trafficking", a more appropriate term for feminists, since it implies that all female prostitutes are "forced" into this lifestyle by lecherous, parasitical, predatory males bent on dominating the woman. All women became sexually exploited creatures, and the decision to use her body for monetary gain could not come from the woman herself.

The picture of the sensual prostitute on Donna Summer'a "Bad Girls"" album cover has been replaced with repetitive propaganda of  kidnapping, bondage, enslavement, misogyny, and outright cruelty of women by the hands of men.

We forget to acknowledge of how that famous jazz singer named Billie Holiday was a young prostitute at one time, along with her mother. To my knowledge, she did not have a male pimp.

I went to an art exhibit held last April, which supposedly addressed "human trafficking", but it was nothing but women and liberals railing against female prostitution. No mentioning of slave labor, sweatshops, child labor, slavery of that type. Just paintings, photography, of women in fetal positions like little children, one picture was a smartphone, which supposedly symbolized predatory men on social media, one picture had a woman with her mouth taped shut, and information posted about human trafficking by the University of Texas is what was exhibited. This is the same university that had an campus carry rally in 2016, where organizers passed out rubber penises to students, and slogans such as "cocks not glocks" where broadcast without shame. I can't possibly put the pictures to this event on this blog, but trust me, it happened. If you want to, Google it on your own time.

BLOGGERS' NOTE: Please do not misconstrue this to mean I do not think that some women/girls are not kidnapped and sold into prostitution. However, based on the evidence I've seen, I've come to the conclusion that it's another propaganda tool to indict ALL men, and to absolve ALL women and girls of exploiting their bodies for monetary gain. This "sex trafficking" conspiracy is to modern day feminists like pornography was to the feminists of the '50s and such, before women starting declaring their own "sexual liberation".

We saw the unjust, oppressive and deceitful #metoo movement claim victory in the conviction of Bill Cosby, who was accused of "sexual assault" by Andrea Constand, a woman who not only could not remember what day she was "assaulted", but called him several times after receiving a drug from him that she claims, had her "crying" on the inside. She did not call police, She also brought him gifts. What "victim" does that? Don't give me no "Stockholm Syndrome" nonsense. Either she liked what he did, or she didn't. Obviously she liked it.


This same movement, which harbors actress Alyssa Milano, not only justified the results in the Cosby case, but apparently endorses her statement that the #metoo movement defines what "due process" is. Basically every man accused of rape/sexual assault is guilty until proven innocent. Sounds familiar Black people? Yet these feminists rant about White privilege, but only in terms of White men.

Again, two sides of the same coin.

Yet this same movement was left with their deceitful mouths open after the allegations of sexual assault against actress and #metoo advocate Asia Argento came up. They were left scurrying to find all types of deflection and damage control to diffuse the situation. In an article in the New York Times, the author resorted to typical feminist pettiness by exclaiming "men do it too." This movement does not want to get to the real truth of the situation that rape and sexual assault is not about power, because it forces the women to admit their culpability and contributions in the decline of sexual mores of this society.

We also saw Serena Williams accuse a referee of sexism after receiving a mere warning for receiving coaching from her coach in the audience. A mere warning became a conspiracy theory of misogyny, White Privilege, and pulling out the race card, by both sides might I add.

We also saw the public relations makeover in the Cyntoia Brown story, which has now resulted in Cyntoia being granted clemency from serving a life sentence for the murder of a man who solicited sex from her. By painting her as a "sex slave" and a "victim", she was finally able to convince at least the judge of being "too young" to accept such a harsh sentence. Never mind the fact she was a reported drug user, also former prostitute (which the state of Tennessee does not accept that label when referenced to prostitutes under the age of 18, thanks to women's propaganda) and all around delinquent, who shot a customer in the back of the head at close range, and robbed him of his vehicle, guns and money. She was a "victim" in the eyes of feminists, and sad to say, a growing number of duped Black people in  America who not only will judge an individual based on pure emotions and not facts, but will judge a person based on a one sided story seen on TV, or heard through the jokes of a comedian.

And although the liberals portrayed Trump in heinous forms regarding the separating and detaining of immigrant children from their families and parents, they conveniently forgot to mention the ongoing war in state and federal circles regarding abortion, which they've neatly repackaged as women's rights" or"reproductive rights." Women are constantly in battle about having the right to terminate a life, to which many have contributed in the reproduction, but don't want to keep for whatever reason. Now a bill has been passed in New York state that will grant a woman the right to abort up to 40 weeks. So the woman can wait until the baby is ready to come out, and on a whim, decide to terminate...wow.

And now many of these same women, with this same line of thinking want to run for President in 2020. Am I supposed to feel any safer with these people?

It gets to be a very tedious task trying to explain to a society bent on self destruction, prejudice and intolerance about impending doom to such a society, unless some drastic changes take place. Changes that could mean true justice for all and a true spirit of truth, justice, peace and unity for all, but only through the elimination of personal desires and beliefs contrary to the true nature of human beings and their purpose here on Earth. I'm learning more day by day of how mankind is not a creature of rationale, but a creature of emotions and desires, and those desires, wishes and emotions will lead to his destruction when the ultimate goal is personal fulfillment. 

As for now all I see is the constant bickering between parties, and people trying to fulfill self serving wishes and desires, despite whom it may hurt. And when the smoke clears, and there's nothing but rubbish and remains, who will really benefit? Not us.

We just don't get it.

B. A. D for America

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

The Holy Bible: Exodus Chapter 20 Verse 16

O you who believe, stand firm for Allah(God) as witnesses of Truth, and do not let the hatred of a people cause you to be unjust. Be just, that is closer to God-consciousness. And 

fear Allah, verily Allah is Well-Aware of all that you do. Allah has promised those who

believe and do righteous deeds for them there is forgiveness and a great reward.

The Holy Qur'an: Surah Al - Maidah, verses 8-9

In the 90's I used to deliver cleaning equipment and mats around the greater DFW area. One stop in Ft.Worth there was an older White man who worked in the back of an Albertson's grocery store, who I met on a weekly basis. Shortly after becoming a Muslim in 1992, I started wear a particular hat, a black kufi, trimmed with silver threading throughout. Once this man saw that kufi, he started asking me about Islam, but then he started mentioning about a Black controversial politician by the name of John Wiley Price. Those who know Mr. Price are familiar with a lot of his antics, but for the sake of brevity I won't delve into that subject.

But suffice to say that whenever Mr. Price made the local news, I had to field questions about  

statements and actions from this man, as if I knew this Mr. Price personally, and I supported EVERY action he took. For some strange reason he drew parallels of Mr. Price's confrontations with Islam and Black people in general. I grew tired of these encounters, and one week I really got to him. He came to me ranting about the police needing to arrest Mr. Price following certain altercations, to which I replied that it doesn't matter to me if they arrest him, but just be consistent. Do the same with unions and other people or groups who commit the same offenses. He didn't like that by any regard. It seems some Whites are quick to lump all people of a different race or belief into a monolithic entity, but don't hold that standard to themselves.

I recall that anecdote whenever situations pop up, even to this very day, because it seems nothing has changed in the American climate of hatred and bigotry. Every time a Black person, or a Muslim is accused of something in America, either certain organizations or the whole collective community is accused of sanctioning such action, and the whole collective community, beit Black or Muslim, has to bear the brunt of such scorn. 

We've seen this too many times in the past, and we see it now, where marginalized people are blamed for the decay in this country, and steps are taken to justify and consent to the removal, slaughter, or incarceration of collective groups of people in America, all because of somebody's bigotry. Very little truth, if any, is broadcast about such groups, and the masses of America become inundated with distorted news articles, soundbytes, and cut and paste video, all claiming to be accurate and non-partial information. And now with Youtube, the madness knows no end.

We've seen this too many times happening with the Black Lives Matter Movement, as well as ISIS/ISIL/IS, whatever the heck they want to refer themselves to. In many cases, it's the same media using the same tactics regarding both collectives. Blacks and Muslims for the most part find themselves having to field questions about such collective groups, to alleviate White people's fear and anxiety.  

Then we find such collective groups and/or certain organizations holding press conferences to publicly denounce and condemn actions that were neither sanctioned by the groups, or explain if such group has any affiliation or relationship to the accused at all. This is especially for Muslims, who we find are always having to fend off accusations o f terrorism and/or affiliation with such "radical Muslims", whatever the hell that is.

If I have not stated before I will state now I do not support the Black Lives Matter Movement, due to ideological differences regarding Black feminism, whereas a false premise has been created where Black men are accused of systematically suppressing Black women from all socio- economic and political endeavors in America, as if Black men were enjoying these privileges themselves to begin with. I also oppose this notion of intolerance behind the LGBT community as well, which BLM states, creating buzz words ( and hard to mention buzz words at that) such as heteropatriarchy and heteronormativity to use as some form of victimization from Black men in America. 

But with all of that being said, I also disagree with associating acts of violence with Black Lives Matter, such as the recent social media incident involving four Black youth and a "mentally challenged" White youth in Chicago, Illinois,  or with the shooting last year in Dallas, Texas,  whereas an alleged lone gunman opened fire, killing 5 police officers, at a rally following the deaths of two unarmed Black men by police, Philandro Castille and Alton Sterling. Those who remember can recall many newscasts labeled the rally a "Black Lives Matter" protest, when the reality is the rally was organized by the New Generation Action Network, along with others. 

In addition I am a Muslim, and I am familiar with Salafi movement, and have fundamental disagreements with them as well, however I also disagree with associating terrorism with such a group as well, and the labelling of Wahhabi, which is actually one the Names of Allah, Al-Wahhab, meaning The Bestower, and not this conjured up concept by bigots who hate the Islamic Way of Life by manufacturing lies about a group of people, claiming they are hell bent of forcing the whole world to believe in what they believe, employing young women, and in one case employing a young "feebleminded" teenage girl to perform a suicide bombing in Nigeria as reported, or random acts of killing people without true evidence, such as the Orlando, Florida incident last year as well.

My disliking and/or disagreement of an individual or group does not give me license to distort, lie, defame, vilify such person/s or movements. Truth will always come out in the end, and only then will factual evidence, and not tabloid journalism and witch hunts bring about any removal of wrongdoing and injustices. Marginalized people should not be made to feel anxiety whenever an incident flashes across the screen, leaving them to offer prayers that the alleged resembles or represents one of them, for fear of unjust reprisals.

America's fall or degradation cannot be attributed to any of these incidents, for the statistics about murder, crime, the impoverished, and other forms of social decay either show major contradictions, or outright lies made about Blacks and Muslims in America. But rather America's bigotry, or intolerance of other races and beliefs, accompanied with racism and a lack of truly understanding diversity, and not their twisted definition of diversity, and worst of all DENIAL of intolerance, bigotry and racism will be America's downfall.

The Softening of the Sting...More Harm Than Good CONCLUSION

To Conclude: The purpose of digressing from the main topic of this blog serves to show that regardless of any attempts to use Muhammad Ali's life and death as a glowing example of a more "peaceful" ,"progressive" and "moderate" version of Islam and a beacon of American values, the PR campaign does more harm than good for Muslims in America.

The reality is that Muslims, like other marginalized and fringe groups in America, must come to understand they are in the middle of a battle of ideas within American society, mainly between conservatives and liberals, to which neither side Islam has a total alliance and affinity with. Both philosophies express White supremacist thoughts and ideas with regards to other races, cultures, creeds and religions, although the approach and tactics may differ. Since the rapid growth of Muslims and the Islamic Way of Life in the 1990s, especially among the indigenous population, America has had to come to grips with the reality that Islam in America is growing and is not going away anytime soon, so attempts to stifle, diffuse, and neutralize its potential growth, influence and power have become a priority, despite the huge amount of statistical evidence to prove that the fall of the American society is a product of its own undoing.

Accomodating Muslims will always find themselves ping-ponging on both sides in a futile effort to assimilate into a society that has not fixed its internal issues, beit structural racism, government corruption, crime, drug abuse, failing educational system, or the decline of societal values and priorities which has some people valuing the life of dogs over humans. Homicides, suicides, deaths by alcohol and other drugs, along with death by diseases continue to plague the country, reaching newer heights almost annually, yet all of that is trumped by claims of a so-called global terrorist group seeking to "Islamicize" a country in which Muslims only represent 2.5 to 3 percent of the population.

SIDE NOTE: Islam sees the life of this world as a test, as stated in numerous versus in the Quran, such as the 67th Surah Al Mulk, verse 2: 

It is He(Allah) Who created death and life in order to test those who are best in deeds...

Islam does not encourage any forcing of the religion on one who does not believe on one's own volition. There is no need nor use for forced conversions, as some claim, for they do nothing for the soul in the Hereafter.

To Continue: Conservative propaganda continues to range from the overtly bigoted sites such as Answering Islam to all forms media which basically tells its readers that ALL Muslims cannot be trusted, and are potential terrorists, that Islam is to blame for the destruction of the Twin Towers, to discount dissenting opinions among American citizens regarding 9/11 as conspiracy theorists, how Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) encouraged everything from suicide bombings to domestic violence without giving actual evidence, or using gross distortion of texts, such as the article 164 Jihad Verses in the Quran, where any verse containing words such as kill, fight, die, blood, retaliate and so on are listed as a verse allegedly proving Islam's preoccupation with fighting and killing. No such evidence exists in such texts, however despite the Religious Rights' claim to The Ten Commandments in The Holy Bible, in which one of those commandments levy stern warnings against bearing false witness against thy neighbor, conservatives continue an assault filled with distortions and blatant lies to their Muslim neighbors.

Liberal propaganda against Islam is of a different substance, yet it wishes to produce the same results. Claiming that "Truth is relative", "All religions hold truths" and "All religions encourage people to do good", liberal propaganda seeks to destroy the notion of an Absolute Deity and an Absolute Truth, as long is the notion is pertaining to their conservative counterparts. Allegations of possessing phobias such as the recent Orlando, Florida shooting, which has new twists and turns to the story appear daily, claims of misogyny and inequality among the sexes permeate throughout. Adding to this is the support and propagation of Sufism, a self-proclaimed, mystical version of Islam that claims to look beyond mere Sacred Text, and finding the personal connection with the Divine. This sect is supported by such people as Oprah Winfrey, who along with the rest of the liberal contingency, like it's conservative counterpart, wishes to rid Islam of its essence, which is encased in Shariah, or Islamic Law.

Neither of these approaches have sufficiently given any definition of what Radical Islam means, but instead flood the media with pictures, videos, soundbytes, and distorted writings about what it claims to believe, but as of yet has not given a definition of Radical Islam itself. If one doesn't believe the bloggers' claims, then Google it for yourself. You will not find a clear cut definition, but instead a description which at best is merely subjective, and in the eyes of the beholder.

But in closing all of this would be for naught if the Muslims did not believe in the propaganda pushed on both sides, and not use the subversive terminology which floods these airwaves, intended to cause division, dissension, and dissolution of the True Islamic Way of Life. Some Muslims have taken it among themselves to align themselves with groups and organizations that are contrary to the Islamic ideas in an attempt to placate and diffuse an already ignorant and/or bigoted society, ready to attack and scream extremists and radical at the first instance of an alleged ISIS attack, even if no evidence is found to support such an event.

It is of the utmost importance that Muslims establish credible venues and outlets that give a clear definition of Islam, using evidence from the two main sources in Islam, the Quran and the Sunnah of Its Last Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) to dispel all rumors and accusations, and to set forth a premise so non-Muslims can see for themselves, instead of holding circus acts, such as Muhammad Ali's funeral, which should have been a few days after his death, and holding memorial services with eulogies by politicians and so called interfaith groups claiming tolerance and diversity. Islam is in no need of such PR campaigns to prove that it is not intolerant of other beliefs and ways.

Muslims who use words such as fanatical, radical, extreme and the like to distinguish and distance themselves from what the media says will not stop others from attacking Islam, nor will fatwas (Islamic rulings regarding a particular issue) from accommodating scholars. If someone does not like you, there is nothing you can do to change that. Only the wresting of this terrorist and radical narrative from the liars and media magicians, along with giving a complete and true analysis of Islam can one give a true perspective as to whether or not a group is treading the True Path or has deviated, or has become a misguided and disbelieving group, and in some cases a hypocritical group (Munaafiq, a term for one who feigns Islam but wishes to destroy it), and the person will have a true account in place.

In other words as the Nigerian proverb goes, "Don't let the lion tell the giraffes' story." 

Click here to go to Part One:

http://realquwwa.blogspot.com/2016/06/more-harm-than-good-making-muhammad-ali.html

To Read Part Two, Click on the link;

http://realquwwa.blogspot.com/2016/06/more-harm-than-good-making-muhammad-ali_15.html

To Read Part Three, Click on the link:

http://realquwwa.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-big-switcheroomore-harm-than-good.html

More Harm Than Good: Making Muhammad Ali The Face of Islam(Part One)

Over the past week and a half we have seen a constant stream of articles, mostly paying tribute to the late boxer and humanitarian, Muhammad Ali, who passed on June 3rd from complications regarding his long-time bout with Parkinson's disease, which he was diagnosed with shortly after retiring in 1980.

While no one can deny there was a time when Ali was the most recognizable human on Earth, as well as the most recognizable of Muslims, some of the articles seem to have gone to great lengths to place him in a league of his own, referring to him as the face of "real Islam", or "America's first Muslim Hero." Such lofty accolades are given, considering the fact there was a time when Ali rubbed many Americans the wrong way, mostly White Americans, with his critique of race relations, his refusal to enter into the military service, his relationship with Malcolm X(Al-Hajj Malik Shabbazz), his defiance, and his constant rants and never-ending taunts of his opponents inside the ring.

Three articles come to mind, two of them similarly titled; one reads Muhammad Ali: America's First Muslim Hero, by Dean Obeidallah, a comedian of Palestinian and Italian descent, the other Muhammad Ali: America's First and Last Muslim Hero by Lorraine Ali, a journalist of Iraqi and French-Canadian descent. Together with an article from Al-Jazeera, a satellite channel based in the country of Qatar, entitled Muhammad Ali; The Face of "real Islam", these articles attempted to portray Ali as the  "true" image of Islam, with his promotion of peace, love, humility and supposed grace, his humanitarian ventures. Lorraine Ali tries to express in her article his "embracing American values" of hard work, fighting against racism and bigotry, and still becoming a beloved figure in the American mainstream.

What all three articles also intended was to portray Ali in the image of "moderate Islam", contrasting with "militant or radical Islam" in light of the mega-blitz of bigotry against Muslims in America and throughout the world, mostly generated by the media. This portrayal has had very negative effects against Muslims in the Western world. Having experience persecution, murdered, unjust incarceration, threats, laid off from jobs, and having laws being made against them using a suspicious claim of  "terrorism" ,"radical Islam" ,"radicalization" or as some would say "Islamicization". This is intended to caste Islam as an intolerant, belligerent way of life. The propagation of such beliefs give rise to some of the most despicable deeds such as the protests whereas people stand around the Muslims' place of worship, some carrying firearms claiming to "protect themselves" from the evil, bad, terrorists, and their "forced" conversions and Islamicization of America.

The articles also attempt to portray Islam as having values in line with "American values". The problem with such an attempt is that it fails to take into consideration the constant war of ideas taking place in America, as well as the rest of the Western world, where once conservatism ruled the political, social, and economic landscape, but is now being fiercely attacked by the liberal contingency. So these American values that Islam share a commonality with seem ambiguous, and Islam in America finds itself caught in the middle of trying to align itself, if ever possible, with whoever seems to be winning the war of ideas. The latest examples being that of feminism (often called women's rights), same sex marriage, homosexuality, and the transgender issue.

But the biggest problem with these articles is that the authors give the reader the assumption that there is such a concept of radical Islam, a concept not really fully described by anyone, especially since most of the articles, videos, reports and documentaries about radical Islam comes from outside the Muslim community anyway. Just Google the phrase radical Islam and you will come up with so many articles which discuss the concept, but none can ever give clear definitions of what radical Islam is. And where there is such definitions, it's usually provided with such outrageous distortions of the foundations and fundamental beliefs of Islam, that it seems inconceivable that such claims can be made without checking all of the facts. One cannot possibly think that such individuals who pride themselves as being "thinking", "intelligent" beings will stoop so low as to reintrepret Islamic concepts to fit their bigoted conclusions, but alas the propaganda is plentiful.

Take the website Answering Islam, a Christian website designed to prove the "brutalness" of the Islamic Way of Life. This site has an article entitled 164 Jihad Verses In The Quran, an outrageous claim that these verses in the Quran all relate to Jihad, a grossly distorted concept propagated by some non-Muslims, and even some ignorant Muslims. What is found in this article is a hodge-podge of misinformation, whereas the author/s took great liberty at redefining Jihad as simply holy war, then took verses out of the Quran which contained words like kill, death, fight, retaliate, and so on, with the intention of casting Islam as a religion of violence. Regardless of the context, these verses were posted as evidence of Islam's preoccupation with fighting and death.

One erroneous example given can be found in two verses from the second chapter, Surah Al Baqarah. The verses involved, verses 178-179 deal with the concept of Qisaas, or retailiation. The verses clearly apply to the event in which a Muslim intentionally kills another Muslim without right. The victim, or the victims' family in the case of murder has the option of either retailiation, or compensation (diya);

2:178-179 Oh you who believe! Retaliation(Qisaas) is prescribed upon you in the matter of the slain; the free for the free, the slave for the slave, and the female for the female. But if any remission is made for you by the aggrieved, then the diya(blood-money) should be made according to usage, and payment should be made in a good manner. This is an alleviation from your Lord, and a mercy, and whoever exceeds the limits after this, will suffer a painful chastisement.

Clearly these verses relate to dealing with the matter of Muslims killing other Muslims, yet Answering Islam chooses to display this as one of the verses relating to Jihad, which means to struggle on all fronts, not holy war. One would like to think that this is merely an oversight, but one can only make excuses for so long before suspecting other agendas.

                                                          (To be continued)

To Read Part Two, Click on the link;
http://realquwwa.blogspot.com/2016/06/more-harm-than-good-making-muhammad-ali_15.html

Bye Bye Black Sheep...Beyonce', The Police and the Panthers...Part Two

OK,

The first part may have been unsatifactory to some of the readers, seeing that I posted a video with an ex-KGB officer explaining Communist subversive activity in the United States. My humblest apologies...I thought it was educational and informative.

In this part of the blog I intend to squash this notion that part of the Beyonce Super Bowl performance posed as a tribute to the Black Panthers, but first let me pause to stop my laughter.

There are so many ways I can go at this, seeing the fact that Beyonce herself has never come out publicly to address this issue, and it seems no one in the media has tried to contact neither her, her publicist, nor any parties involved to get a statement or something regarding the matter. To add more sugar to the Kool-Aid, it seems it was the media who first brought this issue up in the first place. It seems rather strange to me that the media would TELL or INTERPRET the performance, and not try to get any word from the artist herself, the producer of the halftime show, Ricky Kirshner, son of the late famed Don Kirshner, nor NFL for their reaction to such allegations, which has caused quite a stir, and quite an opportunity for some to either enter the spotlight, or recapture some lost shine.

But let's add some visuals to the subject, shall we?








These are pics from Beyonce's 2014 MTV VMA performance. Read what is displayed behind the silhouette. It says FEMINIST. This has been Beyonce's self-appointed mission in recent times, to proclaim feminism and do her part to further expose it to the mainstream. Never mind that feminists themselves are to this day scratching their heads at Bey's contradictive stances such as the 2014 "Mrs. Carter" tour. I'm sure that rubbed feminists the wrong way(no sexual innuendoes intended) to see their unofficial mainstream mascot take part in a tour entitled MY HUSBANDS' SURNAME tour.



With that in mind we must turn our attention to the Black Panther Party, the original one that is. In short the Black Panther Party was an organization dedicated to self -preservation and self-determination of Black people in America, basing its' philosophy on Black Nationalism. Malcolm X (El Hajj Malik Al Shabazz) was a major influence in shaping the Black Panthers' philosophy and 10 point program, which ranged from quests for land, bread and housing, to the removal and exemption of Black men from military services.

This is the same Malcolm X who has suddenly become a target by today's generation of Black liberals, being accused of homosexual activity by Marc Lamont Hill, being an inadequate father by the likes of Boyce Watkins, and having a strained relationship with the womenfolk in his family, in particular his mother and wife. All of these claims have been documented in a book entitled Malcolm X: A Life of REINVENTION, authored by the late Manning Marable, published and promoted by Wendy Wolf, editor of Viking Books. This book, which appeared in late 2011, almost 47 years after Malcolm was assassinated, won the Pulitzer Prize as well, and it lauded as an excellent read, although the book was heavily criticized by Malcolm's children and some of his closest associates.

In a nutshell, Black Power movements, like those started by Marcus Garvey, Elijah Muhammad, and others in their time were mainly male-dominated, with the men being the forefront of the movement, something that was heavily criticized by the likes of feminists, being deemed as patriarchal and sexist. Elaine Brown, who was a member of the party between 1968-1977, allegedly left the party due to the "sexism" and "patriarchy", which she writes in her book A Taste of Power (pg.444).

Wikipedia writes;

Brown stepped down from chairing the Black Panther Party less than a year after Newton’s return from Cuba in 1977 when Newton authorized the beating of Regina Davis, the administrator of the Panther Liberation School. This incident was the point at which Brown could no longer tolerate the sexism and patriarchy of the Black Panther Party (A Taste of Power, p. 444). She left Oakland with her daughter, Ericka, and moved to Los Angeles.

So are we still willing to believe that was a tribute to the Black Panthers? After one of the former members stated that the late leader Huey P. Newton authorized the beating of a female member? So a self-proclaimed feminist is going to give a tribute to an alleged "woman-beater"?

Need more evidence?