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Militant Islam Monitor > Weblog > Sudden Jihad Syndrome in SLC :Muslim Forum in Utah lied about shooter's background - policeman's killing of Talovic "Youthful Islamic Chivalry"

Sudden Jihad Syndrome in SLC :Muslim Forum in Utah lied about shooter's background - policeman's killing of Talovic "Youthful Islamic Chivalry"

February 18, 2007

MIM: Update2/21/07: One week after Bosnian Muslim Sulejman Talovic killed six people in a Utah shopping mall the FBI and the police claim to have found "no motive" for the attack yet they issued statement within 48 hours that it 'was not terrorism related'. This despite the father's repeated claims that 'someone pushed his son to do it- and gave him the guns' plus a video tape which appears to give credence to witnesses claims that Talovics shouted Allahu Akhbar before being killed.The killer's father Soljo Talovic, fought in Bosnia as a muhajideen (as did other Bosnian refugees in the SLC community) so his assertion that other people had pushed his son to murder should have been enough to doubt the claim that the killings are not terror related. It was also established that the killer's father is a congregant at the Noor mosque which was close the the shopping center where the massacre took place. According to CBS News:

Sulejman Talovic quit school at 16, but had continued to attend Friday prayers at a Salt Lake City mosque until December, when he got a job under pressure from his father. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/15/national/main2480419_page2.shtml

The family and the community have conviently blamed Talovics rampage having been exposed to warfare in Bosnia as a child and what they claim was the resulting trauma -if this is the case why are they appealing for thousands of dollars in donations so Suljo Talovic can return and bury his son in Bosnia?

This sentimental attachment to the Bosnian homeland points to several more reasons why terrorism cannot be ruled out as a factor:

1)It shows that Sulejman Talovics and his family are emotionally connected to the situation,family and community in Bosnia which they view as their true homeland.

2) Talovics father fought with the Bosnian Mujahideen. It stands to reason that contact of the same age as himself were also fighters.

3) The family ties of the Talovics both in Bosnia and the United States warrant further scrutiny especially in light of the fact that the father has repeatedly asserted that:"Somebody got (the guns)…and maybe (they were) training him and tell(ing) him (to), ‘go shoot somebody."

Suljo Talovic: "I buy him a car and say, ‘go find a girlfriend or something, go have some fun,' a Mazda 2002, but he didn't go anywhere."

Suljo believes something or someone was controlling his son's mind and he wants police to look into that possibility.

Suljo: "I think this Suljemen did. I think somebody (is) behind him, I think, but I am not sure. What kind of person do you think that may have been? No good. I don't know he's not good. But you think somebody had influence over him? He not tell me nothing. Maybe this guy is in Trolley Square looking at how he died. I think so."

KSL Newsradio learned today that when Suljemen was a student at Horizonte school he was discovered looking at prohibited websites that contained information about AK-47s. That's when his parents pulled him out of school. http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=900702

MIM: According to The Conservative Voice:

The family of Talovic stated someone must have gotten to him. Has the FBI told the people of Utah that Arabic websites have continuous chatter from Al-Qaeda supporters living in Salt Lake City, Utah? I know because I monitor these sites. Are there Bosnian Muslims with anti-U.S. views? Do you doubt it? http://www.theconservativevoice.com/article/22961.html

MIM: The latest from the Utah Deseret News 2/21/07 provides more evidence to that the Talovic family and community know much more then they are telling:

Talovic's family has insisted they did not know he owned any guns. However, when police searched their home just after the shooting, they seized holsters for both the pistol and the shotgun.
Police also seized a videotape that belonged to Sulejman.
"They took the tape from the camera, but we don't know why," Talovic's aunt, Ajka Omerovic, told the Deseret Morning News, adding that she did not know what was on the tape.
Describing what else they took, Omerovic said police left the house with his cell phone, identification, jacket and hat. http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660197416,00.html

For their part The Muslim Forum of Utah ( a group which acts as a mouthpiece for the area's Muslims) hastily revised their first press release headlined "Trolley Square attack Not Related to Islam and Muslims" after deliberately lying that Talovic "might be a gypsy" and "never attended any mosque"despite the family's having openly admitted that they were Muslim to reporters who interviewed them in the wake of the killings.

A 2/17/07 an updated version reads "he attended mosque several times". The obvious attempt to hide Talovic's Muslim background is an ominous sign that the law enforcement is being deceived by the Muslim community which may know much more then they are telling.

The MFU could not laud a non Muslim police officer who killed fellow Muslim Talovics unless his act could have been seen as serving Muslim interests , this accounts for the MFU's need to put an Islamist spin on police officer Kenneth Hammond's act by calling it a "Futuwa" or an "Act of Islamic Chivalry" because "The people hurt and killed could have been our family and friends that attend the nearby mosque" and "we are happy that the perpetrator was killed before he could hurt anyone else [i.e.Muslims] in the community'

MIM: The killings provided an opportunity for the MFU to hype Muslims as the real victims of the attacks:

"Even if he [Talovic] had been religious, that does not represent the communty, because his actions were anti-Muslim and hurt Muslims more then anybody."

According to some accounts which seem to be confirmed by the videotape soundtrack Sulejman Talovic shouted "Allahu Akhbar" several times during the shootout with the police just before he was killed. This was never written about in the MSM media. Surely those who were present in the mall would have clearly heard these shouts and a police examination of the video soundtrack could easily determine this conclusively. One report said that he had used "foul language" when confronted by the officers and he could have also been shouting "Die Motherf--ker" as he was reported to have done when he shot his first victim. It can be assumed that Talovic had an accent as he was born in Bosnia and both his parents speak poor english. Anyone who did not know that Talovics was a Muslim would never have considered the possibility that he was shouting Allahu Akhbar in the first place. The only way to clarify this is to have the tape examined by specialists and have the police who were there provide the factual details.

Here is a link to the video: http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/186558.php

According to a Serbian news report Sulejman's father was in the Bosnian Muslim Army:

"Sulejman and his mother walked to Srebrenica, and from there were later evacuated by a U.N. convoy," he said.

"Suljo, the father, headed over the mountains and forests with his comrades as well. Many left the village, but only a few made it."

Many mujahedeen from Muslim states came in Bosnia to fight in 1992-95 war and committed monstruous atrocities against Serb civilians.

http://www.serbianna.com/news/2007/01212.shtml

MIM: Suljo Talovic has consistently told the press that he has no idea where his son got the guns and made the bizarre statement that "someone must have put him up to the shootings" which further indicates a jihadist motive and that he must know something which would be of great interest to the investigation.

Suljo Talovic, Father of Shooter: "Somebody got (the guns)…and maybe (they were) training him and tell(ing) him (to), ‘go shoot somebody.'"

Question: So you think that somebody influenced him maybe to do this?

Suljo Talovic: "Yeah. I think somebody."

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=900025

MIM: According to a Deseret News reporter who spoke several times to the family and also put in a pitch for anyone who wanted to donate for the killer's Muslim burial in Bosnia. A fund was also set up to help the family. http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660196147,00.html

The immigrant from Bosnia spoke in broken but eloquent English.
"I am very sorry for everybody who has died," he said. "I apologize for everybody. I'm so sorry."
He said he never saw the young man with a gun and doesn't know where he got the weapons.
"I need, I ask like, I need for my information: Who give him guns and bullets and everything?" he said.
The family on Wednesday arranged for their son's body to be picked up at a mortuary. It is to be sent to Bosnia for a funeral. The father will fly back to bury him, and the family is in need of donations.
"I feel sorry for everybody. I have no heartbeat. I am crying for everybody, not only for my son. For everybody!" Suljo Talovic said.
He repeatedly insisted that he had never seen his son with a gun. He said he did not know where his son got the weapons and ammunition.
"I think somebody's behind him, somebody's trailing him," he said.
Asked to explain what that meant, his sister, Ajka Omerovic, said, "He wants to tell you that he thinks there is somebody who push him to do that." Does he have any idea who? "No, really, no. We want to find out, just like you guys, all other people," she said.
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660196195,00.html

MIM: Also significant is that Talovic's family seems to have no idea of when and how Sulejman learned to shoot but asserts that someone 'put him up to it'. Obviously many Bosnian Muslim male refugees over age 30 in Utah had military training like Talovic's father and engaged in combat so the likelihood of his having received 'military/jihad" training from a former Mujahideen is very possible.

An eyewitness in Utah reported that one of Talovic's uncles was arrested by the police.

Talovic's father Soljo attended mosque and told the media that his wife had had "a heart attack" after hearing the news that her son was the mall killer. Why wasnt he in the hospital tending to her and had she been hospitalised at all?

MIM: This picture from the Desert Evening News shows Sabira Talovic (the killers mother) in the doorway of their home -2/16/07 displaying her grief to the cameras.

She obviously made a remarkable less then 48 hour recovery from the heart attack her husband said she suffered when being told of her son' rampage

.Her husband's nonchalant reference to her condition (while attending his mosque) also makes it appear that both the Talovics and the Muslim Community are prone to calculated exaggeration and media savvy theatrics.

Suljo Talovic said he and his wife are still trying to cope with Monday's events. He said his wife, Sabira, suffered a heart attack about 5 a.m. Tuesday, three hours after police informed them their son was the Trolley Square shooter. http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_5248199

About 4:30 a.m. Tuesday, police officers came to the home. A police officer "says what happen: your son shoot," the father said.
The news was so shocking that Sabira Talovic had to be hospitalized. "She like almost die," he said.http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660196195,00.html

At 2 a.m., detectives came to the door and informed the family of his crime and death. Within hours, Sabira Talovic, Sulejman's 37-year-old mother, collapsed and was hospitalized with what her husband said was a heart attack. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/20/us/20mall.html

"...An Iraqi member of the mosque, offered a sermon that touched on the tragedy.
Kergaye called the shooting "a low point for us Muslims."
After the services, a somber Suljo Talovic thanked the community for its support.
"I'm so happy for these people, Utah people," he told the Tribune. "They bring flowers to my door."
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_5248199

In the 2/ 17/07 press release Babak aka "Bobby" Darwish, the founder of the Muslim Forum and website owner had no choice but to acknowledge that Talovic "went to mosque" several times after the killers father was interviewed attending one.

The community is obviously hiding much more then then fact that Talovic went to mosque. A look at their activities shows that they are a Saudi funded hard core Wahhabist enterprise which has sucessfully infilitrated into all areas of public and political life and is relentlessly exploiting the welcome afforded them by the predominantly Mormon population.

At the Al Noor Mosque Talovic's father said how "happy"" he was that the community has brought him flowers.He also claimed that his wife had had a heart attack -yet a picture of her in the local newspaper shows her standing wailing in a doorway and one wonders why he is not at her side in a hospital if that is really the case.

One mosque member epitomised the socio pathology of the Islamist world view when he told a journalist after the killings:"A low point for us Muslims" expressing no concern or sympathy for the killers victims.

"Muslim men and boys from Pakistan, Egypt, Sudan, Afghanistan and other countries as Tariq Kergaye, an Iraqi member of the mosque, offered a sermon that touched on the tragedy.
Kergaye called the shooting "a low point for us Muslims."
After the services, a somber Suljo Talovic thanked the community for its support.
"I'm so happy for these people, Utah people," he told the Tribune. "They bring flowers to my door."
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_5248199

In a 2005 article about Muslims in Nadeen Ahmed, the president of the Islamic Society of Greater Salt Lake and head of the IQRA organisation clearly stated that the infidels were expected to show due dhimmitude towards Muslims and know that there purpose on earth is to serve and accomodate their demands and needs. ( complete text below).

"We have very close contact with the mayors, the governor and all agencies in the government. It's good to have a good, open relationship, so they can know how to meet our needs better," he said.

(Last summer, when Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun from West Jordan, a practicing Muslim, was thought to be captured in Iraq, an outpouring of care and concern was poured out upon his family - and light was placed upon the Muslim community.

(Note that article fails to mention that Ali Hassoun went AWOL and pretended to have been kidnapped because he didnt want to fight fellow Muslims in Iraq) Even negative publicity can be used for da'wa purposes as long as the spotlight is on Islam:

"The increased awareness of the community [due to the staged kidnapping story] may help Ahmed fulfill his vision of integrating the faith more into Utah.

"We are trying to show ourselves in the community as part and parcel of the Salt Lake community," Imam Din said. (Note that a month ago Imam Din fled SLC with the help of community members and is presently in hiding in Chicago because he was to be brought up on charges of aggravated spousal abuse).

According to Islamo chauvinist Babak aka "Bobby" Darwish, the policeman who killed Talovic was actually performing a "Futuwa" Youthful Act of Islamic Chivalry" only because he might have killed members of the Muslim community as well. For his part Officer Hammond will be surprised to learn that by upholding his police duties to the community he was actually performing an Islamic religious act.

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MIM: The latest press release issued by the Muslim Forum of Utah about the mall shootings now admits that Talovic was a Muslim and a mosque goer. Compare this to the first press release which deliberately lied that he never went to mosque and implied that the killer was a gypsy! The sentences highlighted in bold show where the new text was inserted.

Babak aka "Bobby" Darwish's lame attempt to disavow Talovic as a member of the Muslim community in the aftermath of the shootings - and then describe him as a scarred survivor of the so called "Bosnian Holocaust" speaks volumes about the level of deception and fraud being perptrated by the Muslim community upon the media, the public and law enforcement officials in SLC in the wake of the investigation.

Left: The Bosnian Muslim Muhajideen in the 1990's. Bosnia is the European jihad HQ and recruits are highly valued because their non Middle Eastern appearence enables them to blend in with the population of Western countries. The Bosnian jihadists are known as the "White Al Qaeda". http://www.pipelinenews.org/index.cfm?page=bosniaislam%2Ehtm

For more on the Bosnian Muslim Nazi connection type in Bosnia on MIM search window.

MIM:Labelling Talovic a survivor at 4 years old using PTSD as an excuse for the shootings is a disingenuous attempt to win sympathy and cynically co opt the Holocaust as an excuse for acts of violence, while implying they are somehow justified as revenge for the wrongdoing Talovic may have experienced. Thousands of Holocaust survivors who emigrated to the US and other countries after years in Nazi concentration camps never committed random acts of violence against others as a result.

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http://www.muslim-forum.org/main.asp PRESS RELEASE: Trolley Square Shooting Not Related to Islam & Muslims 2/17/07 The tragic Trolley Square Shooting that happened recently was not related to Islam and Muslims, eventhough the shooter happened to be a Bosnian Muslim. Blaming an 18 year old's religion for his loss of perspective can set a new precedence in considering religion in cases similar to the Columbine shooting and others. Also, it can set a new precedence in banning guns for people under the age of 21. It should be noted that under the law alcohol is not allowed until 21 years of age, but guns are sold easily to youth under the age of 21. Our hearts go out to the families that were hurt in this event. The people hurt and killed could have been our own families and friends that attend the nearby Mosque, so we are happy that the perpetrator was killed before he could hurt anybody else in the community. Officer Kenneth Hammond's heroic selfless act to save lives is well noted in the Muslim community, his actions are in line with the way of the "Futuwa" or "Youthful Islamic Chivalry". Our Bosnian contacts in the community say that Sulejman Talovic, an 18 year old high school drop out and Bosnian immigrant, was a young man who lived a hermit type of lifestyle. Political terrorism is not a factor, given his lifestyle and mental condition. Many say that being a survivor of the Muslim Holocaust (8000 Muslim men, women, and children killed) committed by Serbian Orthodox Christians contributed to his mental state. Post traumatic stress disorder can be a huge factor involved with his loss of perspective. He was not known to have been religious, but infact secular in nature and possibly attended Mosque a couple of times. Even if he had been religious, that does not represent the communty, because his actions were anti-Muslim and hurt Muslims more than anybody. There are alot of Muslim youth in Utah who are secular and drink alcohol, fornicate, gamble, and go to clubs in Utah. However, they are not representative of the overall Muslim community within Utah or abroad. If he was from a non-Muslim background, his faith would never have been mentioned in the news and media. sltrib article>>> | relates stories>>> Also, please visit Islam Denounces Terrorism.

MIM historical note:The "official" story about Srebrenica, sold to the world by Bosnian Muslims, was that the Serbs out of the clear blue sky attacked the "UN safe haven city" of Srebrenica and massacred 8000 men and boys." Only, the actual body count was about 2500. A reported 3000 of the 8000 massacred Bosnian Muslims have since voted in Bosnian elections.... It seems that the "unarmed" men in Srebrenica had actually been plundering, raiding and killing Serbs in nearby villages for years prior to the supposed "Srebrenica massacre" of 1995. In fact, by 1995, more than 100 Serb villages were destroyed and about 2000 Serbian civilians were killed. http://www.aina.org/news/20070215143317.htm

http://www.muslim-forum.org/main.asp

MIM: Note how the sentences in bold "he never attended any of the local mosques" and "some say he was from a gypsy background" were eliminated in the second press release when Talovic's father admitted he went to mosque himself.

PRESS RELEASE: Trolley Square Shooting Not Related to Islam & Muslims 2/14/07 The tragic Trolley Square Shooting that happened recently was not related to Islam and Muslims. Our hearts go out to the families that were hurt in this event. The people hurt and killed could have been our own families and friends that attend the nearby Mosque, so we are happy that the perpetrator was killed before he could hurt anybody else in the community. Our Bosnian contacts in the community say that Sulejman Talovic, an 18 year old high school drop out and Bosnian immigrant, was a young man who lived a hermit type of lifestyle. Political terrorism is not a factor, given his lifestyle and lack of adherence to Islam. He was not known to have been religious, but infact secular in nature and never attended any of the local Mosques and did not associate with the community. Even if he had been religious, that does not represent the communty, because his actions were anti-Muslim and hurt Muslims more than anybody. Some say he was from a gypsy background. There are alot of American, Mexican, African-American, Bosnian, Somalian, Saudi, Arab, Afghani, Turkish, Iraqi, Lebanese, Jordanian, Palestinian Pakistani, Persian, Iranian and other youth that are secular and drink alcohol, fornicate, gamble, and go to clubs in Utah. They are not representative of the overall Muslim community within Utah or abroad. If he was from a non-Muslim background, his faith would never have been mentioned in the news and media. sltrib article>>> Also, please visit Islam Denounces Terrorism.

MIM: The original press release by "Bobby" Darwish of the Muslim forum claiming that Talovic never went to mosque and might actually be a gypsy.

MIM: According to CBS News:

Sulejman Talovic quit school at 16, but had continued to attend Friday prayers at a Salt Lake City mosque until December, when he got a job under pressure from his father. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/15/national/main2480419_page2.shtml

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'Nothing to do with Islam or Muslims to see here folks -move on...'

MIM: It is worth noting that Babek aka "Bobby" Darwish who maintains the Muslim Forum of Utah website deliberately tried to mislead the public by writing that Sulejman Talovics "did not attend mosque" "and may be a gypsy". Realising he could no longer maintain this obvious attempt at deception Darwish revised the press release. Reading between the lines shows that he tried to find a Islamic religous loophole in order to laud the police officer who shot Talovics and give the impression that the Muslim community is on the side of law enforcement despite the myriad of evidence to the contrary.

According to the MFU's radical Islamist weltaanshaaung 'Infidel' Officer Hammond has performed a "Youthful Act of Islamic Chivalry" by killing the shooter only because members of the Muslim community might have been killed by Talovic too.

The MFU press release includes two pictures of Officer Hammond, one which shows him crouched next to a victim – (which smacks of insensitivity to the victims and their families). Darwish also cynically exploits the ‘opportunity' of the attacks to portray Muslims at the victims of ‘Serbian Orthodox Christians' ,another deliberate falsehood. It should also be noted that Talovics father Suljo was himself a soldier in the Bosnian Muslim army. Bosnian Muslims committed atrocities against the Serbs for years and the killings at Srebenica were the result of years of attacks and provocation and a calculated confrontation by the Bosnian Muslims themselves. (see Pieter Seibelt on MIM).

It is also significant that Sulejo's father claims that his son "must have been trained and given the guns by someone". It is likel that very Bosnian Muslim male refugee in the SLC community over the age of 30 like Talevic's father had military training so someone in the community might provide some clue as to who and how Talovics came upon his weaponry. According to two witnesses who gave a t.v. news interview. "He reloaded several times and was calm… he took aimed and smiled when he fired".

Also significant is that The Muslim of Forum of Utah not only attempted to put out false information about the case and has bizarrely labeled the killing of Talovic as a "Futuwa"."Youthful Act of Islamic Chivalry".Since Officer Hammond is considered an ‘infidel' who killed their fellow Muslim the MFU is forbidden to laud his actions under Islamic law (according to which they operate) so the possibility that Talovics death prevented Muslim loss of life allows for Muslims to express approval at his action.

The Muslim community's Islamo surpremacist attitude can also be seen in the wording of the press releases i.e. it is always about how a situation affects them -not the non Muslim victims – or how it can relates and benefits them as Muslims.

[Note how the entire refugee community in Utah piggybacked on the murders and the Utah Minority Consortium held a press conference where they 'asked for forgiveness from the victims', never once asking or offering to reach out to the community., Instead they depicted themselves as the real victims who were suffering from' fear and isolation' in Utah adding insult to injury by demanding more social services. They also brazenly asserting that the killings (and two other previous attacks carried out by immigrants) were the fault of state and local government for failing to provide more resources for them.

In the MFU press release the entitlement mentality i.e. 'the non Muslims are here to serve us and are of little concern unless we can benefit from them' is epitomized by this sentence:

Our hearts go out to the families that were hurt in this event. The people hurt and killed could have been our own families and friends that attend the nearby Mosque, so we are happy that the perpetrator was killed before he could hurt anybody else in the community.

Another illustration of this entitlement/dhimmitude mentality can be seen in the words of Nadeen Ahmed, the head of IQRA which works together with the MFU and the president of the Islamic Society of Greater Salt Lake who boasted in a 2005 that:

"We have very close contact with the mayors, the governor and all agencies in the government. It's good to have a good, open relationship, so they can know how to meet our needs better," he said.. http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,600140374,00.html

Local politicians and law enforcement have spent valuable time and resources assuring the Bosnian community that there will be no backlash – and in doing so fostering the perception of them as the real victims of the mall attack.

The survivors, their families, public, and Homeland Security would be better served if an investigation were launched into why one of the largest Muslim groups in Utah (MFU) –whose founder Babek aka "Bobby" Darwish enjoys support from politicians and state and federal government agencies –has deliberately tried to disseminate false information to in the form of a press release. The Muslim Forum of Utah is a Saudi funded organisation whose stated aim is ‘Jihad through da'wa' (conversion) that uses 'legal Islamism' to insinuate themselves into the social and political fabric of the community into order to turn America in the United States of Allah. As such, an incident such as the mall shooters are the MFU's biggest PR nightmare because it generates mistrust and anxiety on the part of non Muslims they are trying to win over as potential converts.

MIM:The Saudis are thrilled with the inroads which the Muslims have made in the Utah and are very pleased with the work of the Muslim Forum. A State Department funded delegation of Saudi 'educators' aka da'wa advisors visited the community and met with members of the MFU promising them support and funding. Especially gratifying must be the dhimmitude displayed by the local politicians. Governor Huntsman and Mayor Rocky Anderson.

PRESS RELEASE: Royal Saudi Education Ministers Meeting With The Muslim Forum of Utah 11/16/06 Guests of the U.S. Department of State: The Saudi Education Ministers, who have previously met with BYU and LDS Church Officials in the past, would like to learn more about the Muslim Forum of Utah and about our efforts through educational opportunities and programs to foster the correct representation of Islam within the state and media. Also, they will probably be interested in talking about our experiences living here in Utah and living in an over-whelmingly non-Muslim community. The meeting will take place inshallah on November 22nd. Stay tuned for pictures and more information inshallah

REPORT: Royal Saudi Education Ministers Met With The Muslim Forum of Utah Wed. Nov. 22nd by Bobby Darvish, MFU President 11/23/06 Guests of the U.S. Department of State: The Saudi Education Ministers met with The Muslim Forum of Utah's Bobby Darvish and Abdul Malik Muhammad, who explained to the Saudi Ministers the current state of the Utah Muslim Community in regards to the lack of cooperation between Sunnis, Shias, & Sufis due to the Indo-Pak & Arab domination of the Sunni Mosques in Utah. (This of course was covered in the National Muslim Retreat in New York as well: It is forbidden in Islam for any ethnic group to dominate the Muslim community.) They spoke of their meeting with the IQRA Academy as well as with the Islamic Society of Greater Salt Lake. Issues that came up had to do with the non-elected secular presidency of the ISGSL (We are waiting for the upcoming elections) as well as the push by some in the ISGSL for the MFU to merge with them. In the words of the Saudi Ministers "The little circle joining the big circle". Which of course was made clear that the MFU does not have to merge with any other entity to be considered a viable organization working for the Muslim community...The MFU has always been involved with the "big circle" however the "big circle" has not been involved with the "little circle". The Saudis made it clear that there were certain fanatics in the Muslim community that had badmouthed the MFU, which of course is expected anytime an organization has been successful in it's positive mission. The Saudi Ministers asked if the MFU had an Alim they took fatwas from, which was explained to them that we have many Sunni, Shia, and Sufi Alim's that work with the MFU in regards to fiqh related matters. The Saudis made it clear that there were differences between Sunni & Shia doctrine, however they were still willing to work with Shias and other Sunnis in the way of God. The Saudi Ministers left with the assurance they would support us and that God willing we would be successful in our work. They said they "appreciated" our work and that we should keeping doing work in the way of Allah. Listen to the Report>>> http://www.muslim-forum.org/2006archive.html
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MIM: "Bobby" Darvish CEO of Da'wa Incorporated in Utah aka MFU. The ease at which the MFU has been able to insinuate their group and members into all aspects of public and political life helped along by gullible politicians in Utah has won them the "appreciation" of their Saudi Wahhabist backers. Note that the inaugural event is being held on public property i.e. the Utah public library although the distribution of da'wa (see picture ) material is probably illegal in a tax payer funded state and federal institution.

FREE FALL Membership Drive! 10/28/05 The Muslim Forum of Utah is having a free fall membership drive. The usual member dues are $20 a year which are tax deductible (The MFU is a faith based 501c3 Non-Profit Corp. registered with the State of Utah). Please join us in "Empowering Utah's Muslims" through Education, Civil Rights, Social work, and Interfaith activities. Since our inception in the year 2003 (Pictured on the left is our inaugural event in 2003: The Festival of Abraham at The Salt Lake City Library Downtown. Zaid Barzinji and Bobby Darvish pictured sporting their official MFU badges, while distributing Islamic Da'wah material and answering the public's questions) we have been striving to push our community forward in hopes that our youth may inherit a better community that is awake and knows the problems it faces. Years have gone by while the intellectuals, professionals, youth, women, ethnic and sectarian communities have been pushed aside and virtually ignored. We have witnessed the creation of pseudo-programs that have been created to neutralize the efforts of our predecessors and our own efforts as if there is no need for these efforts. However, the need is today more necessary than ever. We ask nothing of you, not even money, because we do this work in the way of Allah (SWT). The only thing that we hope to see from our community is a sign of support inshallah, whatever that may be. When the time comes and you have the confidence you need in our organization, you are welcome to donate to this worthy cause. In this time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. If you want to join us and take part in the most cutting edge American Muslim organization in Utah and teach about The Religion of Islam...a religion of peace and tolerance, please click here to register: FREE MFU Membership

"Bobby" Darwish and the MFU are very clear that their objective in SLC is "Jihad through Da'wa"a and they are suceeding in Utah beyond their wildest expectations:

New Daw'wah Team! 1/4/07 It has come to our attention that we need to formalize a team of individuals who would like to volunteer their time to educate others about Islam. Daw'wah in Arabic meaning "invite" or "invitation". As it says in the Holy Qur'an: "Invite (all) to the Way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious: for thy Lord knoweth best, who have strayed from His Path, and who receive guidance." - Yusuf Ali translation

Politicians such as Utah Governor Jon Huntsman -SLC Mayor Rocky Anderson and County Mayor Peter Caroon have also been aided and abetting the Saudi funded MFU's campaign of legal Islamism by sponsoring festivals and appointing MSU members to official positions on the city and state payrolls.

In June 2006 A co founder of the Muslim Forum Abdul Malik Muhammed (MFU PR director) completed his first year on the Commission of Youth Board and was recently appointed to Governor Huntsman's Black Advisory Council.

Utah Muslim Civil Servant 6/1/06 On behalf of the citizens of the State of Utah and the Muslim Forum of Utah, we would like to congratulate Abdul Malik Muhammad (MFU PR Dir.) on his recent appointment to Governor Huntsman's Black Advisory Council. Abdul Malik understands that he is a temporary custodian of the position of responsibility. With this service will come a strong sense of duty, obligation and integrity. Abdul Malik will be completing his 1st year appointment by County Mayor Peter Caroon to the Commission on Youth Board (COY) on June 30, 2006.(COY)

Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. Visited The West Valley Mosque (Khadeeja Islamic Center) for the first time - 6/6/05 While his wife, Mary Kaye, and their oldest daughter Mary Anne covered their heads and sat in the balcony with the women, the governor sat cross-legged among the men on the main floor until it was his time to address the young people. "As governor, it's an honor to be with all of you," Huntsman said. "I consider you friends and important contributors to the state of Utah. We share a common destiny - peace, happiness and tranquility." It is so important for Utah's more than 25,000 Muslims to train their children in the faith so they can share it with others who know nothing about Islam, he said. After the program, Huntsman told The Salt Lake Tribune he was "impressed by the young faces. They represent a cross section of different countries, many of them war-torn." Someday, the governor said, "one of them may be governor." Read more of the Salt Lake Tribune article >>>

"Freedom from Prejudice: Utah's Middle Eastern Voices" 12/11/06 The Muslim Forum of Utah was contacted by Mayor Rocky Anderson's office in order to spread the news about this timely event. Event will occur Wednesday, December 13 from 7-9 PM at the City Library What: Mayor Rocky Anderson will host a Freedom Forum this Wednesday on Utah communities of Middle Eastern descent. The forum, "Freedom from Prejudice: Utah's Middle Eastern Voices," will explore the experiences of Utah's Middle Eastern communities after the events of September 11, 2001, raise awareness about the rich diversity of these communities, and tackle the question of how tensions and conflicts involving Middle Eastern groups overseas affect community relations in Utah. Who: Mayor Anderson will give opening and closing remarks at the Forum. The event will include a panel discussion of experts with a wide range of perspectives on the Middle East, with ample time for questions from the audience. A KCPW reporter will moderate the discussion. The panelists are: Noor Ul-Hasan – Member, Mosque Khadeeja Peter Sluglett – Professor of History and faculty member at the Middle East Center, University of Utah Kilo Zamora – Executive Director, National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ) of Utah Ron Zamir – CEO of Allen Communication Learning Services Ghulam Hasnain – Organizer, Salt Lake American Muslim Cultural Festival When: Wednesday, December 13, 2006 7-9 PM Where: Main Library Auditorium 210 East 400 South Salt Lake City, UT Media: The event will be broadcast live on KCPW (1010 AM, 88.3 FM, 105.3 FM). The forum will also be taped for later broadcast on SLC-TV, Cable Channel 17. To see a complete list of programs and watch the station in streaming video format, visit www.slctv.com. download press release>>>

MIM: The MFU is looking for "Jihad through Da'wa" 'sucess' stories for a KSL radio show.

LDS Women's Conversion To Islam on KSL Radio 1160 1/27/06 Jon Dunn of KSL Radio 1160 contacted The Muslim Forum of Utah to get help in finding out about Utah American Women converting to Islam, he found just that! Here is the KSL Radio 1160 clip featuring local Utah Women who have converted to Islam: Mormon/LDS Women's Conversion To Islam mp3>>>

Women Converts To Islam Needed For Radio Interview 1/16/06 If you are a female convert to Islam living in Salt Lake City, Utah, Please contact us for a radio interview that will be on a very popular radio station in Salt Lake City, Utah: (801) 859-3769 or [email protected]

MIM: Not to be outdone by the dhimmitude of the Mayor and Governor, Senator Peter Knudsen has asked the Senate to grant special priviledges to Muslims - "because they are wonderful citizens". Not surprisingly Sulejman Talovic decided it was his 'fundamentalist right' to scream Allahu Akhbar in a crowded shopping mall after gunning down 9 non Muslim Utahns.

As a result of Senator Knudsen's resolutions the survivors of the shooting can now be accused of being motivated by "confusion and "unfounded fear" of Muslims if they exhibit any negative reactions to Islamists in the wake of the massacre. Predictably Nadeen Ahmed the head of several SLC da'wa organisations welcomed the resolution with the convoluted assertion that it was fitting for non Muslims to award 'special' priviledges for Muslims implying that they are no different then anyone else except that they demand official deference and recognition not given to any other religious or ethnic group.

Resolution affirming rights of Utah Muslims introduced http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,650223581,00.html Sen. Peter Knudson, R-Brigham City, is asking the state Senate to send a message of support to Utah's Muslim community.
That's why he's sponsoring SR2, a "Resolution Affirming Fundamental Rights of the Muslim Community of Utah," to recognize the rights of Muslims to freely practice their religion and to enjoy the same freedoms as other ethnic and religious groups. The resolution references "confusion and in many cases unfounded fear" of Islam.
"People may look at people of the Muslim faith and categorize them in the same pot," Knudson said. "We have a lot of people of the Muslim religion in our state. To the best of my knowledge they are wonderful citizens."
Nadeem Ahmed, president of the Islamic Society of Greater Salt Lake, said the resolution would be welcome. While the post-9/11 climate in Utah has been relatively calm, there are still instances of discrimination, he said.
"We live here in America, we are part of the tapestry," he said. "We shouldn't be considered any different, I wouldn't say special, but we should be considered Americans."

MIM: Update: The yearly Salt Lake City Muslim Festival is co sponsored by the Saudi supported Muslim Forum of Utah. The event is aimed a proselytising Islam aka "Jihad through da'wa" and appears to be financed and sponsored by taxpayers through state groups like the Arts Council as well at The United States Army!

[Note: According to an army spokesman a booth was bought in an attempt to recruit Muslims and Arabic speakers -the placement on the logo on the poster is an attempt by SLAM to give the misleading impression that the Army is playing a role in sponsoring and endorsing the event and by extension giving them added legitimacy]

http://www.saltlakeamericanmuslim.com/slam/culture_fest.htmlSalt Lake American Muslim Cultural Festival

2006 Salt Lake American Muslim Festival (SLAM) coming

August 26 and 27, 2006 Saturday and Sunday

A Celebration of Multi-Cultural Diversity, Inclusion, Tolerance, & Mutual Respect

Held in the shady, park-like Washington Square
City County Building Grounds (East side), 451 S. 200 E.

August 26 and 27, 2006 Saturday and Sunday
Sat 2pm-8pm; Sun 3pm-7pm
Sat 2-3pm speeches; 3-8pm

Entertainment includes a Festival Audience Amateur Talent Contest and a Fashion Show; Sun 3-7pm entertainment

Both days booths open at 12 Noon.

- A Film Festival in partnership with the SLC Film Center at the SLC Downtown
library (across the street) Sat Aug 26 2-6pm and Sun Aug 1-5pm.

- Festival inaugurated by SL County Mayor Peter Corroon at 2pm on Sat Aug 26
followed by statements from ethnic and religious dignitaries such as Forrest Cuch, Native American, Pastor France Davis Calvary Baptist Church, Edith Mitko Asian Affairs, Mahan Khalsa Sikh Activist among others

- Entertainment is world-class cultural performances such as:

• Bien Flamenco
• Kenshin Taiko Japanese Drummers
• Rinceroir Don Spraoi Irish Dancers
• Eastern Arts
• ACELA
• Alex Boye
• Dionysian Dancers
• Royal Heritage Ensemble
• Chinese, Indian, and Pakistani dance
• and music performers.

- Festival is free, multi-ethnic multi-faith multi-cultural sponsored on behalf of the Muslim Community

- Festival has booths of all types exotic items for sale, government and social service organization booths - this year planning to have a 'social services fair' within the festival providing info on essential services - employment, housing, legal assistance, health care - to low-income people

- Booths include diverse ethnic food booths with savory, reasonably priced food

MIM: One of the purposes of the taxpayer funded da'wa exercise known as the Salt Lake Muslim Festival is to alert Muslims how they can take advantage of other tax benefits courtesy of the state and federal government. Learning to work the system i.e. convert non Muslims to Islam while being funded by Western resources is a key strategy of legal Islamism. Note that according to the Islamist weltaanshauung improving the Salt Lake area quality of life means" contributing to the social and cultural activities for and by Muslims in the area " as preparation for a future in which everyone in Utah is Muslim.

http://www.saltlakeamericanmuslim.com/slam/about.html

About Salt Lake American Muslim

A Community Social Services Organization incorporated in 2002 as an S corporation.

MISSION: To improve the Salt Lake area quality of life by contributing to the social and cultural activities for and by Muslims in the area.

GOALS
Providing social services – employment, vocational education, refugee assistance, housing, health, legal aid – and acculturation, and cultural programs to primarily populations originating in Muslim countries from Bosnia to Sudan, Morocco to Indonesia.

Fostering mutual understanding and goodwill between Muslim and non-Muslim communities in the greater Salt Lake area.

PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS

• Social Services
• Cultural & Acculturation Programs
Salt Lake American Muslim Cultural Festival
• Newsletter

Contact:
Ghulam H. Hasnain
Salt Lake American Muslim
9988 Aplomado Drive, Sandy, UT 84092
Phone (801) 523-8266; Cell (801) 671-6709
Email

The organiser of the SLAM festival is Gulam Hasnain whose son Ali is the president of the Utah State University student body and was selected to represent college students on the board of regents,

Ali Hasnain, University of Utah's Student Body President 9/2/05 - On behalf of the Muslim Forum of Utah, the Islamic Society of Greater Salt Lake and Masjid Al Rasool, we would like to congratulate Ali Hasnain (right) on his new position as the University of Utah's Student Body President. Ali was sworn in during the month of May by April Heiselt, the Cheif Justice of the ASUU Supreme Court with John Poelman (middle), the Vice President for ASUU.

PRESS RELEASE: (Salt Lake City, Utah, USA) NEW PROPOSED "HALAL" MUSLIM FESTIVAL BY MUSLIMS FOR EVERYBODY! 8/31/06 "We have been made an offer by a generous contributor to create a brand new festival put on by Muslims for everybody! If you would like to join us with your ideas and support please email us to join this new committee at [email protected] or call (801) 942-1552. We are inviting leaders and individuals within the community to come and join our committee to discuss the moral and ethical implementation of Islamic values within this new festival. Once the festival has been decided upon, we will provide the funding through the MFU's Bank Account. May God be with you always." - Bobby Darvish, MFU President Creating a planning committee for the new festival will take place after Ramadan inshallah. Many people in the Sunni and Shia community have already come up and shown interested in joining this multi-ethnic and multi-sectarian committee/council facilitated by The Muslim Forum of Utah. We will be meeting with people after Ramadan inshallah.

Salt Lake American Muslim Festival 2006 – August 26^th & 27^th 8/24/06 The Festival will run from about 3pm to 7pm on Saturday and Sunday. It will take place at Washington Square (Between 1st and 2nd East on 4th South) in Salt Lake City, Utah. We will be tabling Saturday & Sunday Aug. 26^th and 27th at around 3:30pm. You may sign up at the booth to volunteer, join, or donate to The Muslim Forum of Utah. Utah's only all inclusive Sunni, Shia, Sufi, & Non-Sectarian Muslim 501c3 non-profit organization that does not compromise it's morals and ethics. The festival will go on today from 2 to 8 p.m., and Sunday from 3 to 7 p.m., the Salt Lake American Muslim Cultural Festival will be in full swing in Washington Square at the Salt Lake City and County Building, 451 S. 200 East. The festival will include music, food, merchandise, family activities, dance and even a rock-climbing wall. Concurrently, and in cooperation with the SLC Film Festival and Downtown Library, there will be films shown for free in the City Library Auditorium from 2 to 6 p.m. today, and from 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday. The cultural celebrations are open to the public. For more information and the film schedule and descriptions, www.saltlakeamericanmuslim.com, e-mail [email protected] or call 801-671-6709. SLTRIB ARTICLE 1 | SLTRIB ARTICLE 2 | SLTRIB ARTICLE 3 | KCPW AD | Google Listings | SLAM 2005 VIDEO | SLAM ‘O3 '04 & '05 FESTIVAL PICTURES | Ghulam Hasnain & Imam Shuaib on KCPW Radio | Ghulam Hasnain's Festival Homepage (SLAM Festival)

Masjid As-Sabur Teams Up With The MFU! 1/4/07 The Masjid As-Sabur of Las Vegas, Nevada has teamed up with The Muslim Forum of Utah to bring to you the new locally and nationally supported Muslim Festival! We have already been pledged $10,000 dollars for the festival from various donors, if you would like to donate or find out more information please contact [email protected]

MIM: The religion of peace seems to spawn both congregants and Imams who have serious anger management problems. Three weeks ago the Imam of the Khadeeja Mosque "was whisked away" to safety by the community who were angry that his wife complained to the 'infidel' police about his beating her. As one blogger aptly opined if he had been a terrorism suspect the community would have done the same thing.

Editorial: Utah Imam Fired - Imam Shuaibudeen 1/24/07 We are dissapointed to hear of this event and wish to learn more from Mr. Shuaibudeen to hear his side of the story in regards to the the allegations of abuse and the Islamic Society board's reaction to them, which have sparked a schism in the Muslim community, with many members criticizing the way the board has handled the situation. We have been contacted by Muslim and Non-Muslim members of the Utah community who have been criticizing the way the board handled the situation and the Imam's actions. The next questions that arise are in regards to how the new Imam will be chosen and by whom. We will post more information as it comes along inshallah.

Imam Shuaibudeen Update: His Relative Speaks Out 1/24/07 "a family representative in Chicago, where he has taken refuge, insisted that while there were marital concerns, the allegations in his wife's petition are "lies," inherently one-sided and do not tell the whole story. The representative, who asked not be named out of safety concerns, said "This was an angry woman and [group of men] trying to create and use a situation. . . to get rid of him." Certain individuals in the Islamic Society "were worried about the influence he has and knew he was onto something that wasn't right," the representative said. - The Salt Lake Tribune read more>>>

Imam Shuaibudeen Update: His Wife Speaks Out 1/24/07 "His representatives say her story is full of lies and is one-sided. Apparently angry with how his dinner was prepared, Imam Shuaib-ud Din on Jan. 2 punched and kicked his wife and beat her head against a freezer until the door broke, the woman alleged in a petition for a protective order. The next day, the imam - the recently fired religious leader of the Islamic Society of Greater Salt Lake - threw a kitchen knife at her and threatened to kill her, according to a petition for a temporary protective order filed last week by Ayesha Siddiqa Din. The order, signed by 3rd District Judge John Paul Kennedy on Jan. 16, requires that the imam not contact his wife. It also requires him to stay away from their home and that he may not take his two children out of Utah, among other restrictions. The allegations of abuse - and the Islamic Society board's reaction to them - have sparked a schism in the Muslim community, with many members criticizing the way the board has handled the situation." - The Salt Lake Tribune read the rest of the article>>>

Imam Shuaibudeen Terminated as Imam of Khadeeja Mosque 1/21/07 It has come to our attention that Imam Shuaibudeen, who has been the Imam at the Khadeeja Mosque for the past seven years was terminated as Imam due to private matters regarding domestic issues. Our organization was not officially informed by any of the officials of The Islamic Society of Greater Salt Lake, so we are researching into the matter and will report more once we find out any additional information. The only information we are aware of is the article published in the Salt Lake Tribune and reports from brothers and sisters mentioning that this information was announced publicly at the last Friday Prayer, which is not ethical by Islamic Legal (Fiqh) standards. Private matters are not to be announced in public, unless it directly has connections to public matters. In this case, his leaving could be announced without the discussion of his private life. Some questions that do arise regard the allegations made by Imam Shuaib in reference to him questioning finances, suspicious people and the lack of women in the Executive Committee of The Islamic Society of Greater Salt Lake. Also, to have Imam Shuaib rushed off brings a few questions to mind. Was he shipped off quickly for his own good, or was it because of his questioning things in the ISGSL? We would like to talk to Imam Shuaib or anybody that has information about him if possible to find out more information in regards to the actual events that took place that resulted in him leaving. If there is anybody in our community that would like to contact us regarding this matter, please email us at [email protected].

MIM: In 2006 Imam Shuaib was able to take out his anger on the Danish cartoons in addition to beating his wife's head against a refrigerator.

Imam Shuaibuddeen of The Khadeeja Islamic Center Speaks on The Danish Cartoons 2/10/06 Imam Shuaib of The Khadeeja Islamic Center, which is affiliated with The Islamic Society of Greater Salt Lake, an organization that manages the predominately Sunni Mosques in the valley, gave a Friday Sermon (Khutba) about the Danish Cartoons on Friday the 10th of February. Click here to Listen to Sermon mp3>>> (You can listen to more sermons on different subjects by Imam Shuaib and others on the Islamic Society of Greater Salt Lake's Homepage www.utahmuslims.com.)

Miscellaneous links of interest:

The Muslim Forum of Utah Homepage Statistics Report 7/10/06 The Muslim Forum of Utah Homepage has been rated the #1 Utah Muslim Media Website. It has been rated 3/10 points on the Google ranking system, which is the highest in Utah for any Islamic related page. The current statistics reflect a program start date of July 10th, 2006. Since then we have had 292,253 unique requests (hits). In the last 7 days we have had 13,876 requests (hits) alone! Download Monthly Report>>>

Iqra Academy Updates 7/10/06 (Posted Monday, 5th Jun '06) Please read the transcript of The Islamic Society of Greater Salt Lake President Nadeem's speech to the community with crucial updates on Iqra Academy. The Iqra Academy used to be located in the prestigious east bench Ft. Union area, however it has now been moved to be adjacent to The Khadeeja Islamic Center (West Valley City, Utah) as well as being assimilated into the Islamic Society of Greater Salt Lake.

World Refugee Day 6/23/06 Learn of refugee life in Salt Lake City, Utah. A family event that has entertainment, food and art. Please attend tommorrow Saturday, June 24th from 6pm to 10pm at The Gallivan Center Plaza. Many Muslim refugees have come to Utah from Afghanistan, Bosnia, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, and various other countries because of ethnic, economic, secular, political, religious and other reasons. The organization that has been working to ensure that refugees get the help they need include organizations like The Utah Consortium of Multicultural Groups. Dr. Buba Roth, CEO of the Utah Peace Institute, and Stanford Aderibigbe of the Utah Consortium of Multicultural Groups on the plight of international refugees resettled in Utah. They say many refugees are living in conditions worse than that of refugee camps in their homelands and it's time to do something about it.

Movie Review: V for Vendetta - Muslims Shipped To Internment Camps & Citizens Executed For Owning a Holy Qur'an 6/4/06 "The most daring film of the year… hands down. Forget Munich, forget Paradise Now." The Muslim Forum of Utah screened the movie V for Vendetta and found it to be worth seeing and of interest to Muslims and Non-Muslims alike, especially because it features a couple of scenarios that feature Muslims and Islamic themes. The film's story takes place roughly twenty years from now. Britain has transformed from monarchy to a 1984-styled Christian totalitarian regime led by Adam Sutler (John Hurt resembling Hitler). Society is ruled with an iron fist of fear. Art and self-expression are censored. Homosexuals, minorities, and Muslims are shipped off to internment camps. Nightly curfews are enforced by corrupt secret police. You could be executed for owning a Holy Qur'an. Even real butter is saved for the rich and elite. Visit the official Warner Bros. "V for Vendetta" homepage for more information: V for Vendetta

Roles of Religious Leaders In A Democracy 7/24/06 The MFU, representing American Muslims, hosted a meeting with an Afghan delegation who are guests of the U.S. Department of State. There were 5 delegates (all Sunni and Shia Muslim leaders from Afghanistan) and 2 interpreters accompanying them. The delegates visited the US to learn about the role of religious leaders in a democracy – more specifically the political, social, and civic roles and responsibilities of religious leaders in our society. In addition, they explored topics such as interfaith understanding, advocacy and activism by religious communities and organizations, and religious diversity; which The Muslim Forum of Utah are specialists at. One of the delegates, Mr. Abdul Qadir Emami's daughter; Jamila Emami (Film Maker: Afghanistan Unveiled) is President of "Women's Eyes Media Organization Afghanistan". Women's Eyes is working to encourage women access to the Media through filmmaking education. The meeting took place Monday, July 24th at 5:30pm. Special thanks goes out to Samantha from the UCCD, which consistently works with the MFU to foster education, civil rights, social work and interfaith projects in Utah through citizen diplomacy. If you would like to take part in such events, or invite us to meet with you, please contact us: [email protected].

MIM: All roads lead to radicalisation MFU PR director Abdul Malik Muhammed discussed a program for African American Muslim students who are interested in studying abroad. A recent article about the upsurge of Al Qaeda in North Africa cited Algeria and Morrocco (The Maghreb) as experiencing a terrorism revival.

Friday March 4, 2005 Abdul Malik Muhammad (R) met with a Delegation from Morocco to discuss and implement a program to conduct business in Morocco. The U.S. has entered into free trade agreements with Jordan, Singapore, Chile, Australia and Morocco. Dr. Mokhtar Benabdallaoui (L) is the professor of Islamic Contemporary Thought at Benmsik Faculty of Arts, Hassan II University. They are also working on an exchange program for African American Muslim students who are interested in studying abroad. The program will be implemented and dispersed to the Imams and Businesses across America. The information to create Business proposals for services needed in Morocco will also be passed on to Conveners of the NYAA Business Summit that will be taking place in Charlotte North Carolina on May the thirteenth thru fifteenth of this year. For more information on the Business Summit log onto www.calltohumanity.org To check on the Congressional Budget and for FY2005 go to www.usaid.gov (Please go into click on the Business Section to get any details on conducting business in Morocco) http://www.muslim-forum.org/2005archive.html

Muslims Feeling Welcome In Utah - Tammy Walquist, Deseret Morning News, 6/11/05 Nadeem Ahmed used to be more in the minority. As an immigrant from Pakistan and follower of the Islamic faith, he was outside what most would consider mainstream in Utah. However, the Islamic population in Utah has been steadily growing over the past few years, increasing by about 40 percent. This is partially because of the migration of Somalians and Bosnians, but the demographic also includes Arabs and Pakistanis, said Ahmed, the newly elected president of the Greater Islamic Society of Salt Lake City. The following boasts 25,000 members statewide, as well as three mosques. The Khadeeja Mosque, located in West Valley City, is not only the largest in Utah but also in the Western states. Ahmed has felt that the religion has been well-received thus far. "Overall, we don't have any complaints about anybody," he said. "We feel very blessed. We also feel a special thanks to the LDS Church. We have a very good relationship with them." Ahmed also said Muslims haven't felt tension with other Christian churches in the community. Last summer, when Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun from West Jordan, a practicing Muslim, was thought to be captured in Iraq, an outpouring of care and concern was poured out upon his family - and light was placed upon the Muslim community. The increased awareness of the community may help Ahmed fulfill his vision of integrating the faith more into Utah. read more>>>

Muslims feeling welcome in Utah

By Tammy Walquist
Deseret Morning News Nadeem Ahmed used to be more in the minority.
Laura Seitz, Deseret Morning News Imam Shuaib-Ud Din stands in the prayer hall of the Khadeeja Mosque in West Valley City before it opened in 2002. The mosque is the largest in the Western states. As an immigrant from Pakistan and follower of the Islamic faith, he was outside what most would consider mainstream in Utah.
However, the Islamic population in Utah has been steadily growing over the past few years, increasing by about 40 percent. This is partially because of the migration of Somalians and Bosnians, but the demographic also includes Arabs and Pakistanis, said Ahmed, the newly elected president of the Greater Islamic Society of Salt Lake City.
The following boasts 25,000 members statewide, as well as three mosques. The Khadeeja Mosque, located in West Valley City, is not only the largest in Utah but also in the Western states.
Ahmed has felt that the religion has been well-received thus far.
"Overall, we don't have any complaints about anybody," he said. "We feel very blessed. We also feel a special thanks to the LDS Church. We have a very good relationship with them." Ahmed also said Muslims haven't felt tension with other Christian churches in the community.
Last summer, when Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun from West Jordan, a practicing Muslim, was thought to be captured in Iraq, an outpouring of care and concern was poured out upon his family — and light was placed upon the Muslim community.
The increased awareness of the community may help Ahmed fulfill his vision of integrating the faith more into Utah.
"We would like to be integrated into the fabric of Utah. We are already involved in interfaith activities," he said.
Last week Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and first lady Mary Kaye Huntsman visited the Khadeeja Mosque in West Valley City in the governor's efforts to build understanding among different faiths. Huntsman was the keynote speaker for the mosque's annual Sunday School graduation. Around 500-600 people attended the event, Ahmed said.
"We have very close contact with the mayors, the governor and all agencies in the government. It's good to have a good, open relationship, so they can know how to meet our needs better," he said.
This was the governor's first visit to the mosque. Imam Shuaib-Ud Din, spiritual leader of the Muslim community, feels his visit reflects positively on the Muslim community in Utah. He hopes it may also help the Muslims relate better to other religious communities and vice versa.
"We are trying to show ourselves in the community as part and parcel of the Salt Lake community," Imam Din said. He expressed concern over the mosque's location. "We don't want to be isolated. We want people to know what we're doing, even though we're tucked away in one corner of West Valley City."
Interfaith relations have been continually increasing since Sept. 11, Imam Din said. The different denominations are heading toward greater cooperation with other religions to the extent that religious tolerance doesn't cut it anymore.
"People look down on religious tolerance," he said. "It's not enough. There's been a distinction made between tolerance and appreciation, so you don't see tolerance anymore — you see appreciation.
"Not all people are involved and not all support greater interfaith relations, but if the people who do keep on striving, hopefully others will join aboard," Imam Din said. http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,600140374,00.html

Posted: 4:48 PM- The shooting rampage at Trolley Square was not Sulejman Talovic's first act of violence.
At age 12, Talovic was before a judge for allegedly holding a knife over the head of girl while stating, "I'll kill you," according to a source who is familiar with the case.
Two years earlier, Talovic was referred to juvenile court for throwing rocks at a little girl.
About the same time, he threatened his parents' landlord with a knife.
The first girl was not struck by the stones. And the mother of the second girl snatched her up in the nick of time, just as Talovic took a swipe with the blade, according to the source, who has seen court documents relating to the case.
FBI spokesman Patrick Kiernan said investigators are aware of Talovic's juvenile criminal history and are considering what role it might have played in the Trolley Square shootings.
"It's all part of the investigation," Kiernan said. Talovic's relatives have referred to him as "a very nice person" who had never hurt anyone.
"Everything about him was nice. Everybody said so," said his father, Suljo Talovic.
But Musto Redzovic, the family's first landlord in Salt Lake City, said Talovic pulled a knife on him at their duplex apartment in 1998 or 1999. Talovic would have been 9 or 10 at the time.

time.
"He was just a child," said Redzovic, who brushed the incident off and did not report the incident to police.
Redzovic said he believes Talovic did not recognize him and may have been simply trying to protect his family's property, a rundown apartment on Edmonds Place (642 West).
Redzovic described Talovic as "a really bored kid" who looked unhappy.
"I used to feel bad for him," said Redzovic, who believes the behavior was a direct result of the war in Bosnia. "That child must have seen some troubling things in Bosnia." The rock-throwing incident occurred on Sept. 23, 1999. During a juvenile court trial, the allegations were found to be true, although Talovic denied them.
David Geary, now an assistant state attorney general, was Talovic's defense attorney, but on Thursday said he had only a vague recollection of the case.
He guessed that the judge would have ordered counseling and education courses for the boy. Juvenile judges usually do not find it appropriate to hand down harsh sentences to 10-year-olds, Geary noted.
Geary said it was likely the judge took into consideration that the boy and his family were refugees from war-torn Bosnia.
"It's a struggle to find the right interventions," Geary said.
"But the judges worked hard to tailor their remedies to individual situations. They did account for the background of the child and the situation they came from." The knife brandishing episode involving the girl occurred on April 24, 2001, and was eventually dismissed because the victim and her mother could not be located.
Talovic was also referred to court for stealing fireworks from a Smith's grocery store on June 22, 2001.
On July 9, 2001, Talovic admitted the shoplifting crime, and it was the last time he appeared in juvenile court, according to the source, quoting court records.
Court officials said they have been unable to find any juvenile court history on Talovic. The source said the records were expunged in October, when Talovic turned 18.
[email protected] [email protected]
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Tribune reporters Michael N. Westley, Pamela Manson and Steve Gehrke contributed to this story.


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Talovic's body to go back to Bosnia

By Nate Carlisle and Russ Rizzo The Salt Lake Tribune Salt Lake Tribune

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_5248199

The body of Sulejman Talovic - who shot nine people at Trolley Square, killing five - has been released to his family. The Talovic family is preparing to transport the body to Bosnia-Herzegovina for burial, his aunt said Friday. Ajka Omerovic said her family is trying to complete paperwork to facilitate the overseas burial. She said the body, which is in a mortuary, will be transported "hopefully next week." Talovic's family, who were forced from their hometown in 1993 at the height of the Bosnian war, emigrated to the United States in the late 1990s. The gunman's father, Suljo Talovic, has said he wants to bury his only son in Tuzla, which is Bosnia's most ethnically diverse city. Suljo Talovic's friends, who spoke to him after a Friday afternoon prayer service at Salt Lake City's Al-Noor mosque, said he was still trying to figure out arrangements for sending his son's body back to Bosnia. The cost of transporting a body to the Balkans is approximately $5,000, said Travis Greenwood, director of Larkin Mortuary, which is not handling arrangements for Talovic's body. Suljo Talovic said he and his wife are still trying to cope with Monday's events. He said his wife, Sabira, suffered a heart attack about 5 a.m. Tuesday, three hours after police informed them their son was the Trolley Square shooter. At the mosque Friday, Suljo Talovic sat on his feet among about 90 other Muslim men and boys from Pakistan, Egypt, Sudan, Afghanistan and other countries as Tariq Kergaye, an Iraqi member of the mosque, offered a sermon that touched on the tragedy. Kergaye called the shooting "a low point for us Muslims." After the services, a somber Suljo Talovic thanked the community for its support. "I'm so happy for these people, Utah people," he told the Tribune. "They bring flowers to my door." On Friday, police revealed no new clues about what motivated Sulejman Talovic to kill. The only clues to date are a tumultuous childhood - he was 5 when his family became victims of "ethnic cleansing" - followed by a difficult adjustment to life in Utah as a refugee. The Tribune reported Thursday that he was prosecuted in juvenile court at age 10 and 12 for rock-throwing and knife-wielding incidents. He also reportedly threatened his landlord with a knife. And KSL-Radio reported Friday that Talovic violated school rules when he looked up AK-47s on the Internet in November 2004, after which he dropped out of school and went to work to help support his family. Talovic apparently had no close friends and lacked a social support network. Nedim Mustafic, 17, also a Bosnian refugee, said he never knew Talovic well but noticed a change in him over the past few years. Speaking outside the mosque, Mustafic said Talovic was "more energetic" when he was younger. He had grown quiet of late. "He didn't talk much," Mustafic said. "But he seemed like a down-to-earth person." Bosnians in Utah, most of whom are Muslim as a result of the Ottoman Empire's historic rule over the Balkans, fear Talovic's actions will lead to persecution. Talovic, Mustafic said, "was an individual who had problems, and he didn't deal with them well." Though Suljo Talovic is a regular at the Al-Noor mosque, other regulars said they didn't know Sulejman Talovic. Through his broken English, Halim Huremovic, 73, weighed in to say that incidents such as the Trolley Square shooting are unheard of in Bosnia. "Never, never, never," said Huremovic, now a U.S. citizen, who praised his new homeland. "Salt Lake City, the people, this government - it's nice, nice, nice, nice people." --- * JESSICA RAVITZ contributed to this story. * Zions Bank has established two accounts, one in injured mother Carolyn Tuft's name and the other in her 15-year-old daughter's name, Kirsten Hinckley, a Brighton High sophomore who died. Donations can be made at any Utah branch. * Zions Bank also has created a fund for injured A.J. Walker, 16. Donations may be made in care of his mother, Vickie Walker. * To honor victim Vanessa Antrobus Quinn, a scholarship fund has been created. Donations can be made to the Vanessa Quinn Memorial, account No. 9031592, accepted at any America First Credit Union branch; or c/o Eagle Savings, 6415 Bridgetown Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45248. Checks should be made to: Eagle Savings/Vanessa Antrobus Quinn Scholarship Fund. * Chase Bank, where Teresa Blair Ellis worked as an assistant manager in the West Valley City branch, has set up a memorial fund to be directed by her family. Donations can be made at any branch office in her name. * The family of Brad Frantz has set up a trust fund for his 3-year-old daughter, Deijah Isabel O'Neill. Donations, which should be made using the child's full name, can be made at any U.S. Bank branch. * A fund has been established to help defray medical expenses of Stacy Hanson, who was critically injured in the Trolley Square shootings. To contribute to the fund, which is under Hanson's name, contact Zions Bank. * Wells Fargo Bank has established the Trolley Square Memorial Fund to benefit the families of all of the shooting victims. Donations can be made at any Utah branch. MIM: Contrast these attempts to help the victims with the obscene way the immigrant community attempted to piggy back on the murders to demand more taxpayer funded resources for themselves:

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http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_5238963

Mayor Rocky Anderson said there is no evidence that religion or political views sparked the attack by Sulejman Talovic, an 18-year-old who died in a gunbattle with police after he killed five people.
Speaking at Bosna Restaurant in South Salt Lake, the mayor encouraged everyone to reach out a helping hand and learn more about their neighbors.
"This is a time when we can learn more about the challenges facing these families, especially refugee families," Anderson said.
A few dozen Bosnians and a greater number of journalists packed the small restaurant. Also present were Police Chief Chris Burbank and Bisera Turkovic, Bosnia's ambassador to the United States.
"People are shocked and people are saddened," Turkovic said. "We owe this country much. To do this to people who helped us, it's really shocking."
Turkovic, who is based in Washington, D.C., said she believes Talovic was mentally ill and his actions should not reflect on other Bosnians.

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Ajka Omerovic said she never knew her nephew to shoot firearms.
Although he quit school at 16, Sulejman Talovic often attended Friday prayers at the Al-Noor mosque on 700 East in Salt Lake City, said Salih Omerovic, Ajka's cousin.
Salih Omerovic said the young man stopped coming to the prayers in December, when he landed a full-time job at Aramark Uniform Services in South Salt Lake. He said Sulejman Talovic's father had pressured his son to get a job to help out with the family's living expenses.
Imam Ali Mohamed, the spiritual leader at Al-Noor, said he does not know Talovic.
"I know some Bosnians, but specifically this person, I don't know him," said Mohamed, a Somali who has been in Utah since 2000.
Up to 200 people turn out for Friday prayers and there is not much socializing, said Maung Maung, who attends the mosque.
Talovic's Muslim faith prompted questions about a possible political motivation for his killing spree, but the FBI in Salt Lake City said Wednesday it has no evidence that politics played a role.
FBI spokesman Patrick Kiernan said Wednesday the bureau is trying to help police determine why Sulejman Talovic killed five people, and agents have looked into whether religion or terrorism were factors.
"We're working closely with the Salt Lake P.D. and we're obviously aware that that [terrorism] is a potential issue out there," Kiernan said. "We've not seen anything that this is terrorism or an act against the government."

http://kutv.com/topstories/local_story_044135155.html

Message From Governor On Trolley Square Shooting

(KUTV) Message from The Governor's Office:

Governor Jon Huntsman and First Lady Mary Kaye Huntsman wish to express their most sincere condolences to the grieving families affected by the devastatingly tragic events at Trolley Square Monday night. They also wish peace and consolation to all of the others who were involved.

"Today is a day of grieving, and tomorrow we, as a community, will begin the healing process," Governor Huntsman said. "This experience will make us stronger, binding us together. It is a time to be kinder to our neighbors, hug our children a little tighter and hold strong to the Utah tradition of reaching out to one another."

Governor Huntsman has called on Utahns to lower the Flag of the United States of America and the Flag of the State of Utah immediately. The flags shall be flown at half-staff on all State facilities until sunset on Monday, February 19, 2007, to honor those victims who died at Trolley Square on Monday.

Governor Huntsman encourages anyone who was present during the shooting to contact the Office of Crime Victim Reparations, a state agency that provides assistance to victims of violent crime. CVR is able to assist with several types of expenses including funeral expenses, medical expenses and mental health counseling expenses not covered by insurance or other collateral sources. For more information contact CVR at (801) 238-2360 or to visit at 350 East 500 South, Suite 200 in Salt Lake City or on the Web at www.crimevictim.utah.gov. CVR hours have been extended today until 7 p.m.

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