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

What's Good For The Goose...(More Sick Puppies RE-EDITED)

Just when I thought I was finally over with the One Sick Puppy blogs, another incident to use as an example pops up. I guess that what happens when you're dealing with one sick puppy, huh?

This incident involves a 24 year old female teacher who recently turned herself in to authorities after fleeing, following allegations that she not only had been having sexual relations with a 13 year old male student, but was impregnated by him until recently aborting the baby.

It seems the teacher, who taught at a middle school in Houston, Texas, had been having sexual relations with the student for quite some time, even at the cognizance of some fellow students, as well as the parents, who supported the relationship so much so they even allowed the teacher to come and pick up the boy (because that's what he is...a boy) on occasions and spend the night at her house, in order to take him to school the next day.

But again, we took the allegations against Bill Cosby and Afrika Bambaataa,  broadcasting them nationwide, and presenting them as some twisted form of promoting some type of dialogue aimed at combating sexual abuse, misogyny, and other forms of sexual deviance, as if only men, or Black men, are capable of committing such unscrupulous acts.

I noticed the reactions from most of the people, and didn't bat an eye over the fact that very few, if any of the comments used words such as pedophile, predator, molestation, rape or assault in such an instance. Such words are not commonly used in cases where women are the accused. Those words are usually reserved to be used as ammo in the gender wars, mainly perpetuated and propagated by the modern-day feminists, designed to give the impression of victimization at the hands of the brutal, savage, male and his hetero-patriarchal empire that he designed and imposes on the masses of the people.

Just as bad was the response by some of the men who took one look at the photo, and gave the teacher a pass. This type of response is a reflection on the state of the modern day male(not man, but male), prone to look at things from a superficial perspective, being at least influenced, if not addicted to different levels of porn, and being conditioned by a media flooded with sex, sports and superhero movies, giving him at best a jaded look on life. This is the same media that is now promoting the girl-power anthems (especially Beyonce and Black feminism) that Kay Hymowitz, author of Manning Up: How The Rise Of Women Turned Men Into Boys goes into discussion in her book.

Some of the people tried to use twisted logic in this instance, citing laws regarding permissibility for one at such a young age to marry as a way of justifying such a relationship, yet how many of those people would consent to such a relationship if the situation was reverse?

Take a look at what happened last year when ex-Baltimore Ravens cheerleader Molly Shattuck, 48 years old at the time,  was charged with serving alcohol and having sex with a 15 year old boy, carrying a 15 year maximum sentence, with no mandatory minimum. What was the result? She basically gets probation, spending every other week in a work-release detention center. What are chances that she will be labeled a sex offender, and treated in the same respect as men who are convicted? Phrases such as molestor and statutory rape seem to elude situations that involve women.

Back in the day when the preponderance of evidence suggested men were more susceptible to commit such acts, it was much easier to sling terms and phrases like rape culture around, but now we are force to look at the fact that rather than labeling this a rape culture, we have to look at the reality for what is really going on. The increase in incidents like these are indicative that we are living in an over-sexed or a hypersexed society, not a rape culture. Incidents like this only give a reflection of where our priorities lie in this society, where true feelings and emotions are caste out, arousal, lust and desire take center stage, and one night stands and booty calls become mere corner talk. Where sex and love become misrepresented and redefined to a point where no one can tell the difference between the two.

This is a culture that finds nothing wrong with the concept of casual sex, as long as one uses protection. A culture that sexualizes everything from sporting events to even religious holidays. Halloween nights are now filled with grown-up women dressing as French maids, hookers, vixens, promiscuous nurses, and the like. A culture that attaches the words porn and gasm as suffixes to practically anything from food to shoes, such as the Facebook page entitled Shoe Box's Porn, a page cluttered with some of the most outrageous shoes created, usually seen on some of the most raunchy of women.

A culture like this cannot ever foster healthy relationships between men and women, but contribute to the growing divide between the sexes. Men and women will always look towards each other in disagreement, based on media-induced propaganda designed to keep the two at odds. The never ending cycle of hurt and mistrust will engulf the masses, and the masses will continue to tread the path of hurting each other, and all that will be left are damaged goods, trying the make the best of a bleak situation.

The advent of "sex-positive" feminism does nothing to help solve this issue, with women now being encouraged to "redefine" and "embrace" their sexuality, influencing other women to adopt this schizophrenic notion of being sexually liberated, while maintaining their "dignity", intelligence and "respect". As long as the woman seems to be in control of the situation, like feminist pornography, they see nothing wrong with such issues. Many Black feminist see nothing wrong with the popular TV show Scandal, although they speak of man's misogyny, patriarchy and such, yet the idea of a White married patriarchal figure having an affair with a Black woman seems not to bother them, as long as they feel that she exudes some form of perceived power.

It must also be noted that such situations like these should not in any fashion be taken as some badge of honor for the young man, or BOY, who through the act of sex can simply misinterpret what being a man is as simply being able to sexually satisfy an adult woman, nor should it be taken as a rite of passage for a young man. Such acts can cause as much psychological damage to the young man as to a young woman, regardless if the woman is willing and attractive, and the parents give consent to such activity.

On a side note, it should be duly noted that those who show disdain towards the movie Sweet Sweetback's Badass Song, starring Melvin Van Peebles, along with the writings of the late author Iceberg Slim, particularly the autobiography Pimp: The Story Of My Life should at least recognize the fact that despite the graphic sex and violence, and the portrayal of pimp life, both narratives started with a common theme not usually talked about. The sexualization of a young boy at the hands of an older woman.

Read Between The Lines: One Sick Puppy Continued

I really wanted to end the conversation on Afrika Bambaataa's sexual assualt allegations, however after listening to a couple of interviews on the subject, I felt like elaborating a little further on my stand that I took in the last blog.

My main point of contention took place when a Facebook friend shared an article dated May 4, 2016, entitled Dear Black Men, It's Time For Us To Talk About Afrika Bambaataa,  which appeared in an online Black celebrity gossip website called Bossip (I can only assume that's fusing the two words boss and gossip together.) This article attempts to exhort Black men to discuss the accusations against Afrika, regardless if they are true or not.

Bossip is owned by the Moguldom Media Group, which also owns Madame Noire and Hip Hop Wired, all three dealing primarily with celebrity gossip geared toward African Americans, with Bossip and Madame Noire focusing particularly on Black women. One is left wondering why would a website who is obviously preoccupied with gossip and patronized by more women than men just by reading most of the titles of the stories presented would all of a sudden turn advocate and exhort Black men to engage in a community forum to talk about one individual's allegations against him.

To drive home this point the article raised the Bill Cosby sexual assault allegations as some sort of example of how Black women "rose to the challenge" via social media in calling out Bill's misconduct, while most Black men refused to discuss the issue, and some accused the women involved of conspiring against Bill and/or Black men for many reasons. This gives the reader the idea that Black men's silence toward this issue either represented cowardice, shame, or worse tacital approval, which is what feminists have always tried to prove about men in the first place, especially Black men.

It left no room for consideration of men being cautious against speaking out of term or out of ignorance before all of the facts come in. Nope, it was either this or that, which is kinda funny when you think of people who speak against absolutism, yet would draw up their own absolute conclusions when they feel like it would benefit their argument.

Late last year I produced a video regarding Ebony Magazine's November issue entitled "The Family Issue" which was reported to raise "dialogue" of whether one could separate Bill Cosby from the fictitious character he created on The Cosby Show, the father figure Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable. Using a video clip taken from a CBS News interview with Kierna Mayo, recently appointed editor-in-chief of Ebony and self proclaimed Black feminist, and comparing the Cosby allegations with what happened with Willie Horton by conservatives in the late 80s, along with articles from The Root.Com, a Black feminist website owned by Univision, I set out to prove that there was more to this Ebony article, which even today remains unchallenged by so-called Black media. Due to the large file, I was unable to post it to the blog, but the Facebook link is below.

https://www.facebook.com/quwwa.davis/videos/10206244885695048/?l=5155088739720063097

The final point I want to bring up regarding the article is the claim made that one in six black men have been sexually assaulted as a child, a claim based on supposed research by author Robin D. Stone, author of No Secrets No Lies. I can't comment on the whole of the book, due to not having read this book, but I can express a level of wariness concerning these figures and its usage, especially in light of the attack by feminists and the propaganda of "street harrassment" "rape is about power and not about sex" and "rape culture", common phrases and terms used by feminists to demonize men. It coincides with the claim made by moderate feminist Christina Hoff Sommers, author of Who Stole Feminism, and The War On Boys, that a rape culture does not exist, but gender propaganda aimed at men and advocating laws that actually promote irrationality, double standards, and downright oppression of the opposite sex.





Afrika, Bill Cosby, or any other public Black male figure's personal issues should not be used in any sense to indict a collective group of men, especially when the advocacy comes from a celebrity gossip website, or any other crap the media pukes out. Unless that entity is implying that this indicative of ALL Black men, which Ebony and any other Black feminist or publication that focuses on women has tried to assert.

Creating hysteria and paranoia around one individual's allegations will do nothing for any community but hurt it tremendously, as it did with The War On Drugs, The War On Poverty, and The War On Terror.

Although I read this article after publishing the initial blog One Sick Puppy, it corroborates with every statement I made in the initial blog, of how a corrupt and mind warping media, mixing a few truths with a truckload of falsehoods, bent on sensationalism, and controlled by corporations and special interest groups preoccupied with propaganda, profits and power, can infect and corrupt an either unaware or uncaring public with lies and gossip, and how such an ignorant society can easily fall for such filth, and succumb to such nonsense that ultimately leads to suppression, and even genocide.


If you turn on the TV, all you see's a bunch of what-the-f***ks
Dude and dating so-and-so, blabbering 'bout such-and-such

And that ain't Jersey Shore, homey that's the news
And these the same people supposedly telling us the truth....

lyrics from the song "Words I Never Said", performed by Lupe Fiasco

One Sick Puppy...

Usually I don't speak on personal issues, or personal allegations, however the issue of Afrika Bambataa's allegations of sexual misconduct has deteriorated exactly how I expected it to when compared to when I initially read the story. What was initially presented in the press by Ronald Savage as an issue of principle with regard to a statute of limitation has now turned into an all-out tabloid-esqe, TMZ inspired assault on ONE individual, with people now taking sides, accusations now being thrown around, courtesy of the mind-shaping media.

Now my Facebook news feed is being populated with virtual soapbox speeches condemning those who they say "sit idly by and say nothing regarding pedophilia and sexual abuse." It's as if they're trying to shame (it's funny how that word takes a different tone when you attach it to liberals...side note) people for not saying anything, or for not condemning Afrika regarding this subject, which for all we know as of right now are mere allegations, and regardless of guilt or innocence, should be handled in a court of law, not a court of public opinion. I've said the exact same thing regarding Bill Cosby's personal allegations, and I will say it regarding any person's personal issues. 

Courting or trying to shape public opinion regarding an issue is not always the best thing to do in this society, and eventually you risk the chance that it may come back to bite you in the ass. Especially for marginalized and disenfranchised people, who have seen rogue police get away with murder and brutality despite damning camera footage, recorded voice messages, as in the case of Kenneth Chamberlain's death in White Plains, N.Y in late 2011, witness accounts, and a barrage of social media comments, these people walk the streets unabated, and some even received publicity, compensation and funding from television networks and internet funding outlets.

We must never forget the words of the late Malcolm X (Al-Hajj Malik Al-Shabazz) regarding the hypocrisy and double-standards of this society when he stated"

"They sell you liquor, then arrest you for getting drunk. They sell you a deck of cards, then arrest you for using them."

You may ask "why is he using this quote in this context? It doesn't seem to make sense." But allow me to expound.

Malcolm was commenting on the double-standards of this country where some things that harm and contribute to the destruction of individuals, families and communities are legalized and marketed by this country, however one is punished in crimes where such objects may have been contributory. We see this yearly with alcohol-related deaths in the 15-20,000 range in this county, yet the issue regarding prohibition of alcohol can never come up again, because those same people will tell you "you can't legislate morality."

Let's take a look at how public opinion was shaped, leading the federal government to declare the now-infamous "War On Drugs." The propaganda surrounding that topic, leading with "this is your brain on drugs", "Just say no" ads on TV, news articles and TV features showing crack addicts, prostitutes, and gang members, the violence and mayhem, all lead Black community leaders to give the go-ahead on laws that we know now wreaked havoc on the Black community, and hasn't been able to recover from it since. Black men were profiled(and still are), arrested and charged with huge sentences, sometimes in triple digits, while others returned back to society only to experience what we now know as "The New Jim Crow". 

However, what happened to the REAL gangsters, the real criminals, who lived outside of the inner cities, who brought the drugs in, who profitted off the lives destroyed by the sale of drugs and guns, and the mass incarceration of young Black men, sent to prison and made to work for slave wages?

This is an excellent example of how the public opinion of an uneducated and uninformed community can come back to haunt them, and the real exploiters of such opinion can get away with virtually anything they desire.

In a 2005 book entitled Pornified: How Pornography Is Transforming Our Lives, Our Relationships And Our Families, the author Pamela Paul discussed how she interviewed several men who watched porn, and discovered that a majority of those interviewed expressed some interest in child pornography, regardless of the level of the interest, and despite knowing the illegality of it. Many who were interviewed expressed that initially they had no interest in child pornography, even finding it repulsive, however they found themselves gradually harboring an interest in such form of "entertainment". 

But if I was a betting man, I would be willing to bet the house that you could not garner enough public opinion to see a possible connection between pornography and pedophilia. And don't even mention advocating its' prohibition, for the notion of banning pornography would label one "prude" or relegate one to being "conservative" or "religious", and the howls of "censorship" would forever ring out, and one would be cast off as infringing on one's "constitutional rights". 

And in an even more stranger twist of fate, despite the claims of "rape culture", "street harrassment", "misogyny" and "patriarchy" that flood the media now,  modern-day feminists now do not see any harm in pornography, nor do they see it as a contributory factor in how some men view women as sex objects, and will defend its usage and purported purpose, although the one exception would be that they are in control of the content, production and manufacturing of the material. Such a strange change of events, when just a few years ago anytime a rapper showed strippers on a video, or called someone a bitch or a ho, the calvary would come in, men who didn't "speak out" were labeled and shamed...Go freaking figure.

If you're still reading this blog, by now you should know that the title "One Sick Puppy" is not a reference to Afrika Bambataa, but to the society as a whole. A society that picks and chooses its heroes and enemies, its angels and demons, its vices and virtues by way of a mind-warping media and an unknowing and/or uncaring public, filled with hypocrisy and double-standards, harboring a cake-and-eat it too attitude, and susceptible to view the latest gossip or satire website as some form of actual news. 

After all, many still believe Beyonce performed a tribute to the Black Panthers in the Super Bowl....




Just be careful of what you're advocating....