Having been in these discussions before, we could easily end up having a long drawn out debate. Without scholarly guidance, we tend to fumble and at times, make matters worse. I didn’t want to have this discussion leave everyone with a sour taste. I jumped in immediately and offered my perspective on how we should approach a different faith before we start lambasting a group that we don’t understand.

My adopted uncle and mentor, Uncle Zainul CC’ed me on this thread. I had to pipe in as it is very worrying to see how easy it is to be led like sheep with a veil over our minds. If you don’t feel like reading my back story, please skip to “LONG STORY SHORT” below.

I am a convert and I came into this religion of Islam voluntarily without coercion or worldly intentions (marriage, wealth, power, politics, etc.)

Before Islam, I was a Roman Catholic (baptism, confirmation, catechism, confession, just short of being an altar boy) and I wanted to explore other religions as I felt there was something out there, something I needed to find to have inner peace.

Now there were 2 ways I could have explored the other religions (I did look into the various Christian denominations, Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism, etc.).

1. Go to authentic sources, learn from the normative scholars and texts and read about why the followers are satisfied with their faith.

2. Go to haters, enemies of the faith, critics, people who like to cry a lot, moan & groan, dissatisfied with their faith and/or people who have an ulterior motive to degrade the faith.

Thinking logically, with common sense, which method do you think I chose and we should all choose before we make judgment about the faith of others? (Unless you can create water molecules at will, move clouds, stop the sun from rising, I think we should leave judgment to the One who can)

From this email thread, it looks like there are people from a variety of faiths. Would you want your faith to be analyzed with method #2 above? When has propaganda ever been a benchmark? Real facts, real sources, real discussions. Professor Google, Father Wikipedia, Imam Yahoo, Reverend Fox News, Rabbi CNN are not authentic, normative scholars.

LONG STORY SHORT
Don’t believe everything you read online, don’t be led astray without using your own analytical skills and realize that we have bigger problems to worry about.

Global poverty, shortage of potable water supply, easily prevented diseases in an areas that do not have enough medical supplies & treatment, putting ALL children through school, rapidly aging generation that needs medical supplies & care, Mother Earth annihilation. THIS AFFECTS ALL OF US. All faiths. All ethnic backgrounds. All wealth brackets (the rich can do their part). All ages. Work together. Commonalities will strengthen us. If we see each other in the Afterlife, just imagine the hugs and camaraderie we will be having.

With peace,
Mikael Pittam
http://about.me/mikaelpittam

The article has already received several comments including from our beloved Shaykh Faraz Rabbani of Seekers Guidance.

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Ta’leef Collective and Heroes Martial Arts Present: The Foundation of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Classes will provide students with the physical refinement and technical application of techniques that have made Brazilian Jiu Jitsu one of the most effective and fastest growing sports in the world today.

Heroes Martial Arts Head instructor and owner Alan “Gumby” Marques is a black belt under the legendary Ralph Gracie and is co-founder of OnTheMat.com, one of the world’s leading resources for Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) and Submission Grappling. Assistant instructor Adisa Banjoko holds a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and has written about BJJ and MMA for more than a decade.

Instructor, Adisa Banjoko, will lead daily classes with two advanced classes led by Gumby twice a month. The inaugural class will be led by Gumby on July 19th.

Monday – 7:30 – 9:00 PM
Wednesday – 7:30 – 9:00 PM
Sunday – 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM

$100 / month
$25 – one time registration fee

Download the .pdf flyer here.

Ta’leef Collective is a new organization that we are involved with. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Ta’leef Collective provides the space, content, and companionship necessary for a healthy understanding, embrace and realization of Islam. Ta’leef Collective is an expansion of the program formerly known as Zaytuna Outreach.

Ta’leef Collective hopes to serve:

• Seekers of knowledge
• Converts
• Muslim Youth
• Other under served populations

If you are in the Bay Area, we would like to invite you to join us and your community at our new location.

Date: Sunday, March 15, 2009

Time: 7:30pm

Address: 43170 Osgood Rd., Fremont, CA 94539

Program:

• Recitation of the Burda poetry (Classical poem about the characteristics of the Prophet Muhammad, may the blessings of Allah be upon him)
• Spiritual and practical pearls of wisdom from our teachers
• For those who would like to stay, we will be continuing our weekly Mawlid gathering later in the evening

Tea and sweets will be available.

For more information, please email: admin {at} islamcrunch . com

Website: http://taleefcollective.org/2009/03/grand-opening-march-15-2009/

Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Taleef-Collective/133124145555

Additionally, they have been invited to be speakers at the Muslim Inauguration Celebration. This event is a joint sponsorship of the Washington Academic Leadership Institute and the Muslim Social Network. The Honorary Host Organization is the Congressional Muslim Staffers Association. More info can be found here: www.musliminauguralgala.com and the Facebook event page.

Taken from the conference: “Loving God and Neighbor in Word and Deed: Implications for Muslims and Christians” hosted by the Yale Divinity School, July 2008.

With Shaykh Al-Habib Ali Al-Jifri and Rev. Dr. Robert Schuller
Wednesday, July 30

Introduction by Joseph Lombard, author of Submission, Faith & Beauty*.

Live translation by Ustadh Yahya Rhodus.

The video player above is an interactive video (place your cursor over the dots in the timeline). Add text comments, video comments, tags and share the video with your friends and family.

More videos here: http://www.yale.edu/divinity/video/commonword/video.shtml

Also available: a video with Shaykh Abdul Hakim Murad Winter

* Published by Zaytuna Institute, co-edited by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf and Imam Zaid Shakir

"Thumbing through the Saturday morning program, I finally decided to attend the 75-minute workshop titled "Thinking Outside the Mosque: How Muslim Institutions Can Change America."

Little did I know that I would hear one of the most compelling and significant Muslim American leaders—Hamza Yusuf—who converted to Islam as a teenager and co-directs the Zaytuna Institute. Much of what he said would resonate in Baptist churches."

Full article here: http://www.ethicsdaily.com/article_detail.cfm?AID=10976

Faraz from Ijtema wrote a thorough and easy-to-understand article about feeds, RSS and XML. Check it out here: Complete Beginners Guide to RSS

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To view the full interactive video, please click on the speech bubble icon next to the time code (00:21:49). You can add comments and tags at specific points on the video by mousing over the large white and gray circle. A green ‘plus’ icon will show, click on that to add your comments and tags. You can mouse over the small black and gray dots on the progress bar to see comments and tags from others.

Click here to see a larger version video: http://www.viddler.com/explore/islamcrunch/videos/1/

I would like to thank Sidi Feraidoon Mojadeddi for inviting me for the interview. I would also like to thank Sidi Fahim Mojadeddi for taking care of me during the interview. Most importantly, I would like to thank my wonderful Su for her support, patience, love and companionship.