Place of dog in America and Islam M. Akhtar, Ph.D President, MCA , author of a book and many articles on 'identity' issues The problem: In American culture dogs have special place at home. They are endeared like another child and member of the family. Muslims came as migrants from other cultures which had one common denominator: dogs are bad, keep away from them, they bite and above all they are dirty and prohibited in Islam. Coming here with that frame of mind, now Muslims are supposed to acculturate in America, befriend with Americans and like their dog as well. That poses the problem. The ke...

African American Muslims Key to Bridge Building in U.S. AMINAH BEVERLY McCLOUD, Ph.D Director of the islamic World Studies, Depaul University, Chicago: Board Member of MCA Editorial Note: like the article by Professor Sherman Jackson that appeared in the September issue, the present article is welcomed by MCA as a valiant attempt to bring into our awareness a tension that exists from the overlooked significance of Afro-American identity. It poses a challenge for those of us who are attempting to formulate Islamic American identity that has to be color blind to the color as the reason for degrading one as inferior. Islam denounces it in the clearest terms not only the color but also other dimensions such as being Arab as superior as opposed to being Indonesian or being man as opposed...

We’re American Muslims, Can’t Be Anything Else Sherman Jackson,Ph.D Professor of Islam and Culture, University of Southern California | The following is mostly paraphrased from notes and memory Dr. Jackson explained that when many in the Muslim world hear us identify as American Muslims, they equate this identity with full support for unpopular aspects of American foreign policy. They mistakenly believe that American Muslims “identify with, condone, or want to whitewash” these policies. However, Jackson notes that “identifying as a Muslim American does not mean I go along or condone” the actions of the U.S. government. Dr. Jackson points out that if an American Muslim offers condolences for the victims of 9/11, as we rightly should, we are immediately challenged by some ...

Place of dogs in Islam
Ingrid Mattson, Professor of Islamic studies and former President of Isna

[Editorial Note by M.Akhtar } Dogs in American culture have a special place which is in conflict with the negative feelings Muslim immigrants bring with them, presumed to be derived from Islam. In fact these feelings are part of their own culture they inherited from the old country that in turn was largely shaped by a few sayings of our prophet (peace be upon him) that were reflective of the Arabian society at that time and should be taken as cultural practices rather than Islam’s universal values. (God forgive me if I am mistaken. Only God knows the best) The distinguished writer who grew up in the West surrounded by the feelings of affection and companionship towards do...

Shariat Laws- Ban them, Block them: does it make sense? PART 1 Mohammad Akhtar, Ph.D President, MCA, Author of two book and numerous articles NOTE: PART 1 of the article is here while PART 2 is to be published in the next issue. It would argue that Muslims should focus more on the relationship with America. Reacting negatively out of anger and fear is only escalating the emotional climate for the worse .Muslims need systematic thinking and take the initiatives such as clearly declare that we do not need Shariat laws in America, it is not necessary as an Islamic mandate Frankly, I am confused about what is going on in the US regarding Shariat Laws: Legislators in many states want to ban it; others, however, oppose this move and support Muslims. Is it a fight between Muslims and “m...

Islam's influence on the Founding Fathers
By Mona Shadia
a reporter for Times Community News

Even though I wasn't born or raised here, there's a reason I feel at home in America. America's principles align with Islam's teachings. In fact, America's principles are not just based on Judeo-Christian values, but Judeo-Christian-Islamic values. After all, the three religions share the same father, Abraham, and the same God.After some research and a chat with a friend, who shared with me the work of a few authors and scholars, I'm convinced that this relationship and compatibility between Islam and America is not a coincidence. There's no doubt that when the Founding Fathers were forming the Constitution, they relied heavily on thinkers like John Locke.
Thomas Jefferso...

Conference on identity Muslim Council of America Meets For Brain Storming Meeting In Chicago (SE) Chris Ryan July 03, 2011 Muslim Council of America (MCA) held a brain storming meeting, which was attended by many opinion leaders, intellectuals and scholars. President of MCA, Dr Akhtar challenged the participants with following question to get them start thinking about discussion on proposed agenda: • WHAT ARE MOST UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOURS WHICH MAKE MUSLIMS SHY AWAY FROM BECOMING A WHOLEHEARTED PARTICIPATING ACTIVE INDIVIDUAL IN THE AMERICAN SOCIETY? • HOW DO THE MUSLIMS BECOME MORE INCLUSIVE IN SOCIETY WHEN THERE IS CONSTANT DOUBTS BEING SHED ON THEIR LOYALTY AND PATRIOTISM BECAUSE OF INDIVIDUAL SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES COLLECTIVELY PUT UNDER THE TERM “TERRORISM” BY SOME? ...

I WEEP FOR SHRUM AND FOR MISGUIDED MUSLIMS Saleem Ahmed, Ph.D. Director, Pacific Institute for Islamic Studies - Joel Shrum, 30, an American development worker living in Yemen with his wife and two children, was recently gunned down in Taiz for allegedly “proselytizing Christianity” (CBSNews, March 18, 2012). A text message reportedly circulated by mobile phone in Yemen said that "holy warriors" had killed "a senior missionary" shortly after the teacher was shot dead Sunday by two gunmen on a motorcycle. I weep for the loss of this precious life; I also weep for the headlong fall of some Muslims down the bottomless pit of insanity, emotionalism, paranoia, and super-charged zealotry. Even if Shrum were proselytizing, there are at least three major reasons why I believe his kill...

M.Akhtar, Ph.D JACKSONVILLE: The Jacksonville Jaguars have long been in need of a boost and the struggling National Football League team may have finally found it from an unexpected source, Pakistan-born Shahid Khan. Khan bought control of the Jaguars late last year for a reported $760 million from Wayne Weaver, who led the organization into the NFL in 1995, and has quickly set about making his presence felt, both at the club and the north Florida community. Unsurprisingly for a man who started out “with a one way ticket and a few hundred bucks” but is now a multi-millionaire auto-parts businessman and member of the elite 32-man club of NFL owners, Khan isn’t lacking in confidence or ideas. “You w...

Posted Jan 22, 2012 @ 12:08 AM The reality of 9/11 has left a deep scar on the minds of most Americans. It’s similar in some ways to the anger so many Americans felt toward the Japanese after Pearl Harbor. Yet, the facts tell an interesting story. Muslims have been in this country for a very long time. It will come as a surprise to many that from 1619 to the 1800s, about 30 percent of the 10 million Africans brought to North America as slaves were Muslims. In fact, Muslims played an active part in some of the most significant periods of our nation’s history. What follows is a chronicle of some of those events. In 1775, Peter Salem, a Muslim African American slave from Framingham, distinguished himself so much for his courage during the Revolution that a United States stamp was iss...