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Militant Islam Monitor > Satire > Muslims publish "Jesus" Ad-Insulted Christians claim CAIR's Jesus ad is "poison wrapped in Islamic honey"

Muslims publish "Jesus" Ad-Insulted Christians claim CAIR's Jesus ad is "poison wrapped in Islamic honey"

From Waco to Whacko- Before and after photos "Good ole' boy" morphs into ' Good Allah boy'
April 25, 2004

Militant Islam Monitor > Satire > Muslims Publish 'Jesus' Ad - Christians claim CAIR'S ' Jesus' ad is "poison wrapped in Islamic honey"

MIM:

According to CAIR's warm fuzzy message, the only difference between Christians, Jews and Muslims is that Islam offers the added bonus of going to paradise for blowing oneself up while killing non- Muslims.

The Muslims claims of love and respect for Jesus beg the question which is asked by Al Mansur; "Why is it that Muslims have been allowed...to build one of the largest mosques in Rome, while Christians cannot build even one pathetic chapel in Mecca?"

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http://www.cair-net.org/asp/article.asp?id=1052&page=NR

MUSLIMS PUBLISH ‘JESUS' AD IN CALIFORNIA

CAIR Maryland to target local newspapers

The Southern California office of CAIR announced the publication of an advertisement in five local newspapers highlighting Muslim respect for Jesus.

To view the ad, visit: http://www.cair-net.org/html/jesusad.html

The ad, headlined "More In Common Than You Think," features the Qur'anic verse 3:45 and reads:

"Like Christians, Muslims respect and revere Jesus. Islam teaches that Jesus is one of the greatest of God's prophets and messengers to humankind."

"Like Christians, every day, over 1.3 billion Muslims strive to live by his teachings of love, peace and forgiveness. Those teachings, which have become universal values, remind us that all of us, Christians, Muslims, Jews, and all other have more in common than we think."

CAIR-Maryland is also planning to participate in such a campaign to send out a positive message of Islam and to build bridges between the Christian, Jewish and Muslims communities. We hope to have these ads in the Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, Journal and other local newspapers. Although very effective, this campaign is costly. CAIR-Maryland needs your financial support to embark on this project. Please support CAIR-MD in this important project by visiting http://www.cairmd.org/new/links/DonationForm.asp

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http://www.islamreview.com/articles/cairsjesusprint.htm

CAIR'S JESUS ADS INSULT

by believer2

What if Christians made an advertisement in the newspapers of Saudi Arabia announcing that we have a lot in common, we love Muslims and respect their religion, but we don't believe Allah is God or Muhammad is a prophet of the God of the Bible?

Would they let us run these advertisements in their newspapers?
Would they see this as an expression of love and respect?
The answer is a resounding NO. Not only would they not allow such advertisements, but the Muslim world (as usual) would go into a rage with uproar of insults and cries of accusations against all Christians for blaspheming their prophet and Allah, followed by fatwas to kill the people that dared to even suggest those advertisements.

Well, this is exactly what CAIR is doing to the Christians of America and the world by putting these deceiving, blasphemous and hugely insulting ads on the pages of American newspapers. And to add insult to injury, CAIR offers us the poison wrapped in Islamic honey as an act of love and respect, expecting us to swallow it with tears of gratitude in our eyes and choked of emotion as we, the kafirs that believe falsely in a God incarnate Jesus of the Bible, rejoice and recite after CAIR thank you Islam.

Now, let's prove this deception and this insult from the Koran point by point:

First of all, how would Muslims like it if we call Muhammad "Medo"? Would they take that as sign of respect?
That's exactly what Muhammad and Muslims did with the name of Jesus; they transformed it to Eissa. Of course, they use the deception of saying that Eissa is the Arabization of the name Jesus, which is a lie. Why do the Christians of Arabic speaking countries never use the name Eissa, but Ya'ssou, derived from the Hebrew Ya'shou, the origin of the name Jesus? Why in the Arabic Bible is there no mention of Eissa? The established doctrine of the Bible is that every name have a specific meaning. Therefore, the name Ya'ssou means The Savior. What does Eissa mean? No Muslim will be able to tell us the meaning of Eissa. Simply, because it has no meaning. Even if we go with the Arabization excuse, how would they like us Americanizing Muhammad to Moody or Modison or Muhamadelson, or Africanize it to Mamadou, and in Italiano it would be Muhammadiano or Muhammadsconi. Isn't that in itself a big insult to Jesus, the Bible and Christians?

5:51, 9:29, 5:9, 5:57
Second, CAIR ads tell us "Like Christians, Muslims respect and revere Jesus. Islam teaches that Jesus is one of the greatest of God's prophets and messengers to humankind."
And this is the POISON, "like Christians."
Let me make it clear from the beginning that my aim here is not to indulge in comparative religions debate. But to expose a DELIBERATE deception with the intentional aim of disinformation and misleading lies. Slandering the Christians of the world and the Christians of America in particular by insulting their intelligence, abusing their religious tolerance, and making them in spite of themselves having things in common and partners with a so called religion of an Allah that desire nothing less than their extermination unless they follow that Allah and Muhammad, and ad to the manpower of Islam to fulfill its commandments in spreading the extermination of others. All this, in full sunlight, proudly displayed by (who else) CAIR in a perfidious media blitz campaign with full blown ads on the pages of American newspapers.

There is a wealth of material from the Koran and Islamic sources that not only refute that deceiving claim "Like Christians", but actually warns Muslims that they have nothing in common with Christians, and call the Christians and Jews "Kafirs" which is the most degrading Arabic insult used by Muslims towards Christians and Jews that literally equal pagans and allude to something unclean. And since the most unclean animal for a Muslim is the pig, that's what the word popularly alludes to, and not the Western understanding of the deliberate misleading translation as "unbelievers" which is a different Arabic word. To emphasize the degrading insult of the word kafir let me ad this detail. In a respectful discussion or (as usual) when addressing Western audiences a Muslim would never use the word Kafir. He will use "non Muslim" or "unbeliever." Last but by all means the most condemning point of the degrading and insulting language of the "holy" book of Islam the Koran towards Christians and Jews, is specifically this particular point of its use of the word Kafir while a Muslim abstain from using it when addressing Western audience. This is but one example that shows the embarrassment and shame or the de-facto implicit condemnation of none other but Muslims of the hostility of their "holy" Koran. Furthermore, Christians and Jews are accused of being polytheists, damned, people that strayed from the right path, sons of apes and pigs that should not be taken either as friends or as associate, co-workers, authority (meaning no allegiance to any Christian or Jew in any position of authority whether in a work place or the institutions of the country), and ultimately should either pay the Jeziah (blood money), convert to Islam or be killed.

And what's the reason for all this? And why have Christians "strayed from the right path," damned and deserve to be killed as kafirs? Very simply, because they believe in the Jesus of the Bible and denounce the Eissa of the Koran.

According to the Koran, all who believe in the crucified Jesus, the Son of God, His crucifixion, death on the cross, the trinity of the Godhead (which includes every Christian on the face of this earth) are Kafirs "Kafirs are those who say Allah is one of three in a Trinity, for there is no god except One Alah". Surah 5:73, which means, to apply on them all the above as commanded in the Koran.

Then we see CAIR, with a magical twist of "advertisement", trashing in one stroke all Christians' belief in the divinity of Jesus and lowering Him to a second class Prophet behind Muhammad. After all, according to Islam, Muhammad is the most honorable of all creations, of all messengers, the seal of the Prophets, the light of the Throne of Allah, and the one that Allah and his Angels pray on and greet every moment of day and night. Trashing the Bible that declares the divinity of Jesus and his atonement by the redemptive life and death of Jesus on the Cross.

Muhammad the prophet of Islam, 600 hundred years after Jesus, also with a stroke of a pen, trashed the crucifixion of Jesus and His divinity, thereby destroying the foundation of Christian dogma (Hebrew 22:9) since there wouldn't be any Christianity on the face of this earth if there was no crucifixion and death on the Cross of Jesus. The Cross is the cornerstone of Christianity, no Cross no Christianity, period, coupled with the denial of His divinity "And behold! God will say: O Jesus the son of Mary didst thou say unto men, worship me and my mother as gods in derogation of Allah? He (Jesus) will say: Glory to thee, never could I say what I had no right (to say)". Surah 5:116. Here the Koran is denouncing the Jesus of the Bible as a blasphemer and liar for His claim of divinity, corrupting and crediting the Bible with the false teaching of the divinity of Marry the mother of Jesus. Then, according to Islam, all Christians have been fooled and scammed for 2000 years, deceived by a corrupted Bible (which is another claim fed to Muslims worldwide since birth by their Islamic authorities to deny them the reading of the Bible).

The question now for every Christian on the face of this earth, and more pointedly, the Christians of America who are the target of this deceptive advertisement, what did the advertisement of the Islamic organization CAIR leave of your Christianity? In other words, WHAT IN CHRISTIANITY AND CHRISTIAN FAITH DID CAIR, ACCORDING TO THE ISLAMIC "HOLY" BOOK THE KORAN, NOT TRASH PROUDLY IN THEIR ADVERTISEMENT? And which Christian on the face of this earth would see himself or herself included in that "Like Christians…."?

CAIR states that "Muslims respect and revere Jesus." How much respect would it be to tell people that their King, let alone the King of Kings for the Christians worldwide, is a great second class ambassador?

If that was all, we could still live with it. After all, every one is free to believe or not to believe whatever he chooses, EXCEPT in Islam where Muslims face death if they dare to think differently or choose another religion. No, the poison in CAIR's advertisement was designed to be wrapped well in sweet honey for the victim's delight so as not to feel the lethal harm.

Now, back to "Muslims respect and revere Jesus" which CAIR advertisement as well as Muslims addressing Western audiences. Ohhh .. let's not forget the "Like Christians .."

I'll start this by a question. What is the symbol of Islam? For who doesn't know , it's the crescent (don't ask me why now, that's another story.) Another symbol of Islam is the black banner with two crossed swords and the inscription of "La Ellah Ella Allah Wa Muhammad Rasoul Allah" which translate to "No God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger." As for the two swords, you don't need a translation

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http://www.rense.com/general45/msu.htm

MIM :Radical Islamists at CAIR call upon Christians to help them defend Jesus .

Note :This is an actual CAIR press release .

Nothing has been changed to protect the inanity.

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Muslims Criticize Jesus Ad ! CAIR director Nihad Awad calls on "Christian leaders to join in his defense".

Christ shown gambling with devil in sports bar on TV Guide Channel
12-12 03

To be honest, I was a "dedicated Christian" and a good 'ole boy from Texas. We hated anything and everything about those "Mozlems", just like you are supposed to, here in the West." --- Sheikh Yusuf Estes(Former Christian Preacher)

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FANTASTIC REASONS WHY CHRISTIANS SHOULD EMBRACE ISLAM !!!

http://www.faithfreedom.org/Articles/Al-Mansur/Christians_emberace_islam.htm

By Al Mansur

It seems that there are many testimonies of Christians embracing Islam being posted on the web. That is the most logical thing to do and if I am a Christian, I would embrace Islam too. Among the 1001 reasons are:

1) Know What Your Muslim Brethren would do for you !!!

Peace-Loving Western "moderate" Muslims formed the Committee to free Shaikh Omar Abdel Rahman. Just to refresh your memory, a massive terrorist car-bomb explosion damaged portions of the then World Trade Center in 1993, KILLING six Non-Muslim Americans ONLY and causing more than $300 million in damages. The convicted mastermind was the aforesaid Shaikh Omar whose team was unfortunately not as efficient and friends of Osama bin Laden apparently had to finish the job.

The Islamic world gives the highest respect to this "man of God" as Shaikh Omar is naturally called and American Muslims have complained that the U.S. is denying him his basic rights as a human being. At the end of 1999, New Trend magazine, America's most widely distributed Islamic publication carried out a survey of its readers to select the TOP FIVE MUSLIM MEN OF THE 20^TH CENTURY. Shaikh Omar Abdel Rahman was inevitably chosen among the top five by this HIGHLY EDUCATED and WELL-READ audience. Congratulations Shaikh Omar!!!

(MIM: see below for Committee to Free Abdel Rahman and additional information)

Do you see the beauty of how this works?! Fundamentalist Muslims FIGHT against Non-Muslims and Moderate Muslims FIGHT to get them out of jail.

Now if you are a Christian who killed six innocent Muslims, would your fellow Christians do that for you? Would Christians form a committee to call for your release? Would highly educated and well-read American Christians select you as the top five Christian of the 20^th century?

[Osama the alleged mastermind who had way more than just six Non-Muslims killed on 9/11, has his face printed on T-shirts. Would Christians pay such tribute and honor to you?] THINK ABOUT IT MAN !!!

2) Conclusive Proof that Islam is a Mega-Fantastic Religion

Muslims in the Middle East who persecute Christians today in the name of Islam are themselves descendants of Christians. The Egyptian Muslim today calls for the death of Christian Copts the same way yesterday's Muslims called for the death of this very same Egyptian Muslim's Coptic ancestors. Yesterday, your ancestors were persecuted in the name of Islam …. Today, you persecute someone else in the name of Islam. What goes around comes around. Bravo!!!

If you devoutly follow a religion which called for death, war, rape, plunder, tribute against your own ancestors, it must truly be conclusive proof that this religion (i.e. Islam) is so fantastic. This is because anyone else would have called for revenge for what was done to his innocent ancestors save for a TOTAL FOOL.

3) Rome and Mecca : Conclusive Proof that Islam is the True Religion

Why is it that the Muslims have been allowed to build the largest or one of the largest mosques in the World in Rome whereas the Catholics are not allowed to build even a small pathetic chapel in Mecca?

This in itself is conclusive proof that even the Pope knows that Islam is the one true religion and the Catholic Italians need Islam. Even if this is not the case, the Pope knows that allowing the Muslims to gradually transform the decadent Italian society into a PERFECT MUSLIM SOCIETY will do a lot of good to the Italians.

Saudi Arabia on the other hand obviously does not need Christianity because it is the PERFECT MUSLIM SOCIETY for Christian nations to emulate. Apostates who left Islam are killed, adulterers are stoned, thieves have their hands chopped off, women are liberated with ‘protective clothing' in the sweltering heat etc. What other improvements or reforms can one asks for??? If this is not the perfect society what is???

I salute the selflessness of millions of Muslims who have left their PERFECT MUSLIM SOCIETIES to improve the decadent Christian ones.

4) As Muslims say "ISLAM MEANS PEACE"

Does your own religion and co-religionists condemn you for killing an "infidel"? Apparently, it is a sin for a Christian to kill anyone, even a Non-Christian. 20^th century Christians have never ceased to condemn the Crusaders and the Inquisitors of Catholic Spain. Presumably, the Crusaders and Inquisitors are now languishing in Hell because their actions were contrary to the Bible.

Muhammad on the other hand said, " No Muslim should be killed for killing a Kafir" (infidel). Sahih Al-Bukhari Vol. 9:50

Killing, plundering and raping Non-Muslims according to the Quran is okay. If you love sex and violence, embracing "ISLAM MEANS that you can at last be at PEACE" with yourself. No more confessions to the Priest. No more having a guilty conscience. As a Muslim, raping and killing infidels are not sins. They are merits.

The Quran and the Hadith have hundreds of encouraging words such as:

"Those who die FIGHTING for the only true religion, Islam, will be AMPLY REWARDED in the life to come"

"KILL THE UNBELIEVERS wherever you find them, capture and besiege them and prepare for them every kind of ambush."

If you fight Non-Muslims in a Jihad and get killed in the process, you get your 72 virgins. If you don't die, you get to sleep with the wives and daughters of your former Christian friends. In other words this is a WIN-WIN SITUATION for you.

Imagine…. 72 virgins!!! How many virgins have you slept with? And because apparently the 72 virgins have renewable virginity (or some shit like that) you will be sleeping with far more than 72 virgins. The mathematical formula for the number of virgins would be 72 to the power of infinity!!!

What would Muslim women get in Paradise??? Don't worry. The majority of them would be in Hell anyway. So. If you're a man your chances to get to Paradise is statistically higher.

Mohammed said, "I was shown the Hell-fire and that the majority of its dwellers are women. Sahih Al-Bukhari" Vol. 1:28, 301; Vol. 2:161; Vol. 7:124

5) Why Give to Receive when you can Receive it for Free??? Common Sense!!!

Christianity teaches "Give and you shall Receive". Islam teaches that you can just take from the Non-Muslims in an orgy of sex and violence called a Jihad. Take their countries…….. Take their possessions…….. Take their wives, daughters and sisters….. . etc. Jihad is a buffet. Just help yourself.

The concept of "God Helps Those Who Help Themselves" actually came from Islam. If you read the Hadiths, you will see how Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his companions really "helped themselves" with the help of Merciful Allah with regards to the women and possessions of the Jews and unbelievers.

As a Muslim, you don't have to feel sorry for those poor bastards because ….. remember, the EARTH BELONGS TO ALLAH. So, your "victims" never owned anything in the first place.

What has Christianity offered you for free anyway???

And because 99% of the world's Muslims call themselves "moderates" (in other words they are foolish enough not to exercise their rights as Muslims notwithstanding what is written in black and white in the Quran and the Hadith) you can have a greater share of the booty and the women!!! [Note : Moderate Muslims are those Muslims who believe that Jihad TODAY should no longer be KILLING Non-Muslims BUT KILLING NON-MUSLIMS YESTERDAY (from the time of Muhammad to the Armenian Genocide in 1915) WAS OKAY…or perhaps it never really happened. When exactly is the cut-off date when killing Non-Muslims was no longer acceptable, these moderates themselves are not sure]

Al-Mansur

P.S. Hope that you'll give Islam some serious thought

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MIM:Committee to free Sheik Abdel Rahman referred to above :

Note that the second signatory, paralegal Abdel Ahmed Sattar, was arrested on terrorism charges in connection with helping Sheik Rahman in 2000 together with Lynn Stewart, Rahman's lawyer,Mohammed Yousry, "an Arabic translator who occasionally worked for ABC NEWS", and Yasser Al Sirri who was arrested in Britain.All four were charged with helping Abdel Rahman smuggle out letters which were published in the Arab media,calling for the" killing of all Israelis" and urging Rahman's followers to commit attacks to demand his release from jail. At the scene of one such attack on tourists at Luxor, a victim was found who had been cut open with a leaflet calling for Abdel Rahman's release inside his body.

.http://www.cnn.com/2002/LAW/04/09/inv.terror.indictment/

http://www.dailyherald.com/special/waronterrorism/story.asp?intID=37356171

http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/speeches/2002/040902agpreparedremarksislamicgroupindictments.htm

Sattar was a postal worker from Staten Island and linked to.Yassir Al Sirri who fled and was arrested in the UK . Both Yassar Al Sirri and Abdel Ahmed Sattar were accused of complicity in the assassination plot which killed Ahmed Shah Massoud, who led the Northern Alliance Forces against the Taliban. Massoud was killed shortly before the 9/11 attacks Sattar was said to have provided the letter which faciliitated the assassins entry into Massoud's headquarters. Massoud was killed by a booby trapped camera which is thought to have been provided by Al Sirri.

. http://www.afgha.com/?af=article&sid=14406

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http://www.afgha.com/?af=news&briefs=8

http://www.hvk.org/articles/0902/105.html

Shaikh Omar Abdel Rahman Continues to Suffer in Prison

Author: Dr. Kaukab Siddique
Publication: Lexington Area Muslim Network
Date: April 19, 2000
URL: http://leb.net/pipermail/lexington-net/2000-April/001952.html

COMMITTEE TO FREE SHAIKH OMAR 'ABDEL RAHMAN
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(Reformulated)

The spiritual leader of Egypt's primary Islamic movement, al-Gamaa' al-Islamiyya, is languishing in an isolation cell located in the USA's gulag in faraway Rochester, Minnesota. He is being held in solitary confinement and an attempt is being made to cut him off from relatives, attorneys, friends, the Muslim community, the Egyptian community and humanity at large.

His rights are being violated to such an extent that last year he was beaten up by a prison official while he was using the toilet.

While the Islamic world gives the highest respect to this man of God, the U.S. is denying him his basic rights as a human being. (At the end of 1999, New Trend magazine, America's most widely distributed Islamic publication carried out a survey of its readers to select the top five Muslim men of the 20th century. Shaikh Omar 'Abdel Rahman was chosen among the top five by this highly educated and well-read audience.)

In view of the silence of the supposed "leaders" and the complete neglect by the media, Jamaat al-Muslimeen International decided to reformulate the Committee to Free Shaikh Omar 'Abdel Rahman. A basic framework has been laid down, building on the work done by the original Committee. We are now calling on the Muslim, Egyptian, Arab, African, Human Rights and Prison Reform communities to join the Committee to Free Shaikh Omar Abdel Rahman (SOAR), to give it national and international depth. The basic originators of the new Committee are as follows:

1. Abdeen Jabara (legal advisor) (New York)
2. Ahmed 'Abdel Sattar (paralegal to Shaikh Omar) (Staten Island)
3. Nabil el-Masri (close legal associate of the Shaikh) (New Jersey)
4. Sis. Uzema Khan, Islamic activist (Glen Ellyn, Illinois)
5. Mustafa Ali, Islamic activist (San Antonio, Texas)
6. J. Hudlin, Jr., Africanist activist (Omaha, Nebraska)
7. Salahuddin Abdullah, Ameer Jamaat al-Muslimeen USA (Denver, Colorado)
8. Abu Talib, West Indian activist and media person (Brooklyn)
9. Shaikh Abdus Sattar al-Dahir, human rights activist for Iraqi children (Louisiana)
10. Imam Badi Ali, media person, Palestinian rights activist (North Carolina)
11. Imani Mahdi, Black political prisoners' activist (Washington, DC)
12. Athar Masood, youth organizer (Chicago)

Dr. Kaukab Siddique, activist for women's rights, is the convenor of the new Committee. (Founder of the original Committee: Sis. Nadrat Siddique)

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Clarification 1: Those who join the Committee to Free Shaikh Omar 'Abdel Rahman need not be of any specific faith. Their concern should be justice, freedom and humanity.

Clarification 2. Even those who do not agree with the Shaikh's interpretation of Islam, or with various aspects of it, can join the Committee, if they do not support any oppressive government.

Clarification 3. No funds will be collected for the Shaikh or for his attorneys. Funds will be used to generate support for the human rights of the Shaikh and for his ultimate freedom through peaceful means.

Clarification 4. Those who want to join the Committee should apply to the Convenor. They will be recognized and identified as part of the Committee after their application has been accepted. Each member must pay at least $10 per month to be in good standing with the Committee.

Clarification 5. Members of the public can support the Committee through distribution of its literature and related literature and through donations without joining the Committee.

Clarifications 6. DONATIONS are badly needed but must be without ANY strings attached. The Committee will work through its internal discussions and not through any external pressures.

******************************************************************************
Donations and applications should be sent to:
Jamaat al-Muslimeen, P.O. Box 10881, Baltimore, MD 21234, USA
Phone and fax: 410-638-5965
email: ksidd37398 or Lsattar

---------------------------------

In 2002 Muneer Arafat, a Muslim chaplain in Florida stated that he is often asked to speak at churches to "clarify questions about Islam".

The Christians in turn, should enlighten Iman Arafat about a pertinent fact regarding Islam over which he appeared unclear.

That it was Muslims behind the 9/11 attacks on America.

Muneer Arafat was quoted as saying : If that act (9/11) were committed by a Muslim he is not a true Muslim".

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradentonherald/news/local/4083165.htm

	Posted on Mon, Sep. 16, 2002
	LECTURER OFFERS INTERPRETATION Guest speaker attacks Quran RICHARD DYMOND Herald Staff Writer BRADENTON - After the terrorist attacks of last September, the Rev. Robert A. Allen invited an evangelist from Louisiana to speak Sunday to his West Bradenton Baptist Church congregation and guests during what was advertised as a "Terrorism Conference." Moody Adams, 71, a religious writer and lecturer, presented his Christian interpretation of the Quran, also known as Koran, and addressed topics listed as: "The Seven Muslim Threats to Your Family," "Why the Terrorists Will Hit Us Again," "Terrorism, Islam and Bible Prophecy," "What Every Christian Needs to Know About Islam" and " 'A Wake-up Call From Hell.' " During a time when President Bush has urged the nation to differentiate between the religion of Islam and the acts of violent extremists, Adams stood firm in his belief that a small percentage of Muslims are extremists plotting the violent overthrow of America and all of its faiths. "My battle is with the Quran," Adams said. "They (some Muslims) want to see that the laws of the Quran are enforced by every country of the world." The chaplain of the Islamic Society of Bradenton and Sarasota emphasized, however, that the Quran is a text that speaks to reverence between men and said that it doesn't condone the overthrow of government, other religions or taking of human life. "The Quran says shedding the blood of one human being is like destroying the whole human race and protecting one person is like preserving all of human kind," Muneer Arafat, imam (chaplain) of the Islamic Society of Bradenton and Sarasota, said when contacted Sunday evening. Arafat said he often gets invited to churches to help clarify questions about Islam and will speak at West Bradenton Baptist Church if invited. After they attended a 5 p.m. service to listen to Adams, congregation members Dave and Pat Winn said it left them feeling alarmed. "Absolutely," Dave Winn said. "They are following a doctrine where you don't have any choice." Church member Richard Lee Buckle said he agreed with Adams' "wake-up call." "Everything he said was true," Buckley said. After the series of lectures Sunday, Allen said he invited Adams not to "stir hatred" but in an attempt to "get to the truth." Such scrutiny of Islam and of Muslims is common since the tragic events of last September, Arafat said. He said he came to America in 1979 and, like many Muslims, has no plan other than to live in peace. "For us, America is like a peace treaty," Arafat said by telephone. "We are not warriors. We did not declare war. We are not here to change the laws but to practice our faith freely."

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http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/4027422.htm

Local Muslims feel stares after Sept. 11 attack

IRINA SLUTSKY
Herald Staff Writer

SARASOTA - Coming out of the Sarasota mosque's midday prayer service, 12-year-old Tara Alzubaidi adjusted her hijab, a traditional scarf worn by Muslim women.

Before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, no one had asked her about the hijab.

"After Sept. 11, a boy on my street I was friends with said 'Why are you wearing that?' " said Alzubaidi, born in Iraq. "I explained it to him, but he didn't care. He lifted up my scarf and showed my hair to everyone. I don't talk to him anymore."

Children started calling her "towel head," said Tara's mother, Manal Alzubaidi, a teacher in Tampa.

"I never felt this type of staring before," said Alzubaidi, 37. "When we go to Wal-Mart, people say, 'You're in America now.' I ignore it all the time."

Many Muslims have had a difficult year since Sept. 11, enduring stares and scrutiny from fellow Americans, politicians and law enforcement. They've been yelled at in traffic, harassed in stores, fingerprinted at the airport.

As the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks approaches, the Sarasota mosque has echoed with the call-and-response prayers of Muslim men and women.

They come from Egypt, Trinidad and Tobago, Bangladesh, Iraq, Pakistan, India, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, the United States and many other countries and - joined in their faith - pray for unity and strength.

Muslims of all nationalities, ages and racial groups kneel in the mosque - a residential house on Lockwood Ridge Road transformed over the past 15 years into an Islamic house of worship.

"It's been a different year from any other year in America for us," said Adris Khan, president of the Islamic Center of Sarasota and Bradenton, the group that runs the Sarasota mosque. "We've been much more cautious because of the image of Muslims in the public eye. We have to put up with stares and glances. Also, there is an elevation of people's knowledge of Islam. Before Sept. 11, it didn't matter how many Muslims were in America. Now you know."

The center has organized numerous events to educate people about Islam.

"Over the past year, I have personally answered lots of questions about Islam," Khan said. "I have spoken at Manatee Community College twice; I've spoken at many, many churches and synagogues to explain Islam. We had three sessions here of 'Classes on Wheels' where the seniors come here. Over 40 people came to each session."

The efforts of local Muslims to present Islam to the Sarasota and Manatee residents, Khan says, has resulted in a better understanding of Islam.

"Internationally, Islam has come to the forefront," he said. "In the community circles, we got together with people of all religions to talk about how we feel."

Out and about, shopping and driving, Khan has found both negative and positive responses toward Muslims since Sept. 11, 2001.

"I have a beard, and my wife wears the hijab," Khan said. "Sometimes, people stare longer at her. But also, some people have gone out of their way to be nicer. To treat us with extra respect. Sometimes, when I am driving, they let me into traffic. I want to make sure to note that as well."

Mistakenly, people assume Khan is from the Middle East. He is from Trinidad and Tobago, a country twice as far from the Middle East as California is from Florida.

Muneer Arafat is the mosque's Imam, or prayer leader, and feels that despite all the work the center has done, much remains.

"I still feel the media is motivated against Islam and Muslims," said Arafat, a U.S. citizen. "In the media, Muslims are still terrorists. Islam does not support violence. Even in wartime, soldiers cannot hurt women or children. Even trees and animals. If that act (Sept. 11) was committed by a Muslim, he is not a true Muslim."

Arafat, who has lived in the United States since 1980, said he and his wife have faced discrimination.

"Mostly, it is when we are driving," Arafat said. "When we stop at traffic light, I get the finger. I feel angry and hope it doesn't go beyond that."

Still, Arafat said many Muslims choose to travel by car instead of airplane if they can.

"I flew right after Sept. 11, and no one stopped me," Arafat said. "Then the next day I went to LaGuardia to pick up my friend who was flying in from Egypt, and I was checked out for an hour. They took my fingerprints."

Local law enforcement officers have offered their protection to the mosque.

"The officers came here and provided us with support," Khan said. "I feel protected here."

Two bullet holes were found in the windows of the mosque not long after Sept. 11 and were investigated by police, but no one could confirm what type of gun had been used.

"No one was hurt, and we don't even know exactly when it happened," Arafat said.

Angie Ali, who attends the mosque, received death threats at her office in November.

"I had to be escorted out of my work," said Ali, 50. "Since Sept. 11, the harassment about my Muslim clothing has increased."

There still is no sign outside the mosque to identify the center because of Sept. 11.

"Some of the members felt we would be more harassed with a sign," Khan said. "But we are working on a permit for a sign."

In fact, instead of hiding from the community, Manatee- and Sarasota-based Muslims have a strong resolve for spiritual growth and a desire to join the political and social life of the area they chose as their new home.

"We have selected an architect to build a mosque here on this property," Khan said, explaining that the center will need the approval and support of both Sarasota and Bradenton for the multiyear project.

"We are running out of room," Khan said. "Many Muslims come to this area. I think we need to develop our political arm of the Muslim society and we need to have an input and a say in our local politics."

Arafat, as a spiritual leader of the community, stays away from politics.

"Political opinions are endless and lead to argument," Arafat said. "We need to work on uplifting ourselves. Our aim is to get ourselves fixed Islamically. My position as Imam is to bring the community together - politics will not bring the community together, but politics will not go away."

This Wednesday's service will be no different than others.

"You have to remember the people who died," Khan said. "Commemorating year after year is not Islamic tradition. In Muslim religion, we don't commemorate the deaths of people. We commemorate them every day in our prayers. Sept. 11 is an incident that we want to forget."

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