Saturday, January 24, 2009

There is hope...1

Salams,time does move very quickly,January 09 is almost over and before you know it its going to be 2010 ! It was almost a quarter of a century ago that I graduated from the Ohio State University,Columbus with my Masters degree...it feels just like yesterday. I was in the States from 1982 to 1986 and i must say those were very important years of my life and somehow has shaped part of my mental and spiritual make up.
I believe then and i still do that the USA is one of the best country if not the best country to lead the world. Despite the obvious short comings,the American system of governance allows for the participation of all its citizens and all opinions. Yes the Jewish lobby is very powerful and exerts its opinion and views through its lobbyist and powerful business networks,but what do you expect,this is a capitalist system and money talks. Why then have not the rich middle east Arab Sheiks not taken advantage of this system to advance the cause of Islam and especially the Palestinians ? Instead they are more interested to buy British football clubs,the latest being Liverpool which is targeted by a Kuwaiti Billionaire.
If i am not mistaken, Islam is the fastest growing religion in America in recent times. As an undergraduate at Indiana University,Bloomington-we already had a mosque and was able to conduct Friday prayers regularly ( 1982-84) and we had a substantial amount of American Muslims,both Caucasians and Blacks. I remembered taking Islamic classes in which open and heated discussions were held in a very academic environment. It was great ! Of course the word terrorist did not bring the same image that it brings today. That's why I'm a strong supporter that what happened during Sept 11 was planned by the enemies of Islam to discredit one of the fastest growing religion.
While i was there,a great Islamic scholar was murdered in Chicago,Ismail Faruqi. The significance of this is that even then there was a conspiracy against Islam. There was also a large following of other Islamic groups,which is not mainstream Islam but had a large following amongst the blacks. It was easy anyway to find halal food as there was always a Muslim store even in the smallest of American towns. Americans in general are very friendly and open,but there are also very ignorant of other countries in the world,especially small ones like ours. The news papers and the electronic media form a large portion of their perception of the world and this is where the Jewish lobby and businessmen play their role,whether its the print or electronic media,the Muslims are labelled ( and the image is supported by Hollywood ) as backward,violent
ignorant,uneducated and want to take over the world "through the sword",it is sad and can be disheartening as Islam is the complete opposite of these things...