Al-Qa'ida Internet Magazine Sawt Al-Jihad Calls to Intensify Fighting During Ramadan- 'the Month of Jihad'

OT but, ways to piss off muslims:

Always make sure you eat and drink in front of them during Ramadan.

When you shake hands with them, tell them afterwards that you've just been patting a dog, (apparently they hate that.)

Some good places to start when looking for news about Islam:

http://www.apostatesofislam.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=661

http://news.yahoo.com/

http://news.google.com/

http://edition.cnn.com/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/

http://www.foxnews.com/

http://www.alertnet.org/

http://www.reuters.com/

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/world/

http://www.voanews.com/

http://www.insideworldnews.com/

http://news.nabou.com/world/

http://www.economist.com/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/

http://www.time.com/

http://www.iht.com/

http://www.worldtribune.com/

http://www.topix.net/religion/islam

http://www.newsnow.co.uk/newsfeed/?name=Islamic+News

http://islam.newstrove.com/

http://www.terrorism.com/

http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/

http://www.drudgereport.com/

http://www.foreignaffairs.org/

http://www.theatlantic.com/

http://www.pressdigest.net/tocnews.html

http://www.pressdigest.org/english.html

http://www.rocketnews.com/
(Just type "Muslim" and 0 days (today), and it will search out news)

http://www.centralasianews.net/about.php
(Look for news after region or country)

OT, but:

"Bush has insulted Iran more than any other U.S. administration. If Kerry is elected, a U.S. military attack against Iran will never happen or will be a very remote possibility," he said.

Gee, KeithJoy, if Iran is endorsing Bush, then why do they worry he will attack them? Seems like the same thing I keep asking in Iraq: if they are so sure they will get a Sharia government elected, why are they fighting so hard to stop the elections?

Maybe it is because they think an 'endorsement' from them will be fatal to President Bush's chances.

Of course we can't expect a Leftist to see that.

Do you perhaps believe this negates the endorsement of Kerry by North Korea, Cuba, France, Germany, Genocides-R-Us UN?

So their deity (satan?) demands yet more human sacrifices!

Moloch gets extra thirsty during the holidays ...

Ramadan is that aspect of Islam that is given most attention, hypertrophied, admiring, nervous attention, in the Infidel press. One can scarcely read a newspaper nowadays that does not now run, come Ramadan, some large, heart-warming photograph, usually of a soft-faced smiling hijabbed woman and her brood of children (each one cuter than the next) to present to readers in the United States the "true face of Islam." Of course Ramadan is the perfect thing to focus on, isn't it? For it evokes just the right amount of exoticism, and both the photograph and the admiring text (usually written by a young, quasi-intern, often female, and almost always clueless) evokes the family warmth, and makes one -- quite misleadingly -- that the "three abrahamic faiths" (that staple of Muslim propaganda and apologetics) share dietary rituals, and in sharing those rituals, of course share so much else. In other words, what we need to know about -- not the "sharing" part but the reason that for 1400 years Islamic jihad-conquest has subjugated non-Muslims, and either killed, or forced instant conversion, or permitted "People of the Book" to survive as dhimmis, subject, as Islamic texts constantly repeat, to "humiliation" and "degradation" -- is never ever mentioned. Have you ever -- ONCE -- seen the word "dhimmi" used, much less explained, in The New York Times? The Washinigton Post? On CBS? On NBC? On CNN? No? Why not? Why not the slightest word about what the Shari'a is? Wouldn't you think, just once in a while, when those covering the war in Iraq mention those "fiery sermons" of preachers in Ramadi, or Samarra, or Baquba, or Fallujah, or Najaf -- that just once, once, they might inquire as to what those sermons are based on? What is the content? And what is now being taught in those brand-new or refurbished schools that the American soldiers have so touchingly built for the Iraqi schoolchildren? What, exactly, is that that people read when they read the Qur'an and the hadith? What did Muhammad say and do -- Muhammad, the very model of a man, and for all time? Shouldn't this be the main subject of the press, throughout the Western world -- and beyond? No: we only have time for Ramadan, and for the occasional picture of people at prayer, preferably not on the streets of Paris and New York, but safely far away -- and if one can have a photograph of wizened, and picturesquely.

Those who have attended those "Christian-Muslim" or "Muslim-Jewish" dialogues, or put in their time at the local "outreach" efforts -- all smiling taqiyya and irrelevancies, and one plausible falsehood after another, which -- one is glad to report -- seem to be wearing thin on the Infidel listeners who are slowly wising up --know just how much emphasis is put, in the apologetics, propaganda, and taqiyya, to keep the attention of the Infidel audience firmly on the Five Pillars of individual worship (Shehada, salat, zakat, Ramadan, hajj). Not once will the Muslim speaker or speakers ever hint at what is of course the heart of the matter: what are the goals toward which all Muslims must strive (the spread of Islam till it covers the globe); the division of the world uncompromisingly between dar al-Islam and dar al-harb; the Manichean divide between Believer (Good) and Infidel (Bad), no matter how objectively evil Muslims may behave, or how objectively kind Infidels may treat Muslims; the impossibility for Muslims to ever make a permanent peace treaty with any Infidels (based on the model of Muhammad's Treaty of al-Hudaibiyya in 628), for they are required, when they feel strong enough, to break the Treaty -- which is why only deterrence will ever keep the peace between an Infidel state and Muslim powers; the supremacist ideology that places Muslims far above Infidels, and within Islam, places Arabs above all other Muslims; the approval of slavery in the Qur'an; the sanctioned mistreatment of women; and much more. No -- none of this will ever be forthrightly discussed. Just listen, sometime, to the various imams, or for that matter such plausible fellows -- akin to Chaucer's "the smyler with the knyf under the cloke" (a translation of Boccaccio's "Il Tradimento con gli occulti ferri)--and "Treachery with hidden weapons" -- such as the current Saudi ambassador in London. Oh, what a smoothie, and never to be contradicted by his worshipful BBC interviewer.

Ramadan, ah -- that's another story. By all means, focus on Ramadan. No wonder that all of those visits to local schools focus on Ramadan.

If you think any of this is spontaneous, if you do not think that all over this country Muslims are not planning their "outreach" efforts like amilitary campaign, with carefully-rehearsed lines as to how to answer the occasional awkward question (i.e. by someone who actually knows something, and is unafraid to raise the matter), you are innocent indeed. Look, for example, at www.dawanet.org, for instructions on precisely how Muslim parents are told to win special treatment for their children (for prayers and suchlike in school) -- told just how to behave, at first "without confrontation" and then how to invite the teacher and principal for a "delicious dinner" and to get your child's favorite teacher to write letters, a complete step-by-step guide in getting your way.

Cunning practitioners not of immediate Da'wa, but of the softening process, the intial "making a good impression" on impressionable Infidel children -- is entrusted often to women, who can be so sweet, so unthreatening in manner (while Islam permits mistreatment of women, of course they have their uses). Afeefa Syeed, who teaches at a Muslim school just outside Virginia, and gets herself written about so appreciatively in The Washington Post so often -- is a good example.

And here is how, in an updated "Among Schoolchildren," it might go:

"Yes, children, I thought I would tell you about our Five Pillars of worship. And let me begin with Ramadan, when for a whole month we do not eat during the day. YOu see, we Muslims have a special way of honoring God that has to do with food. Our Christian friends of course have something they call Lent, and just like our Jewish friends -- oh, did you know by the way that we revere Jesus and Moses as prophets in Islam? --- we do not eat pork. Of course, this is just one of the many ways in which Islam has so much in common with Christianity and Judaism. That's why they call us the three abrahamic faiths. And we are the three monotheisms. We all believe in the same one God -- only we use different names.

Yes, Josh? Oh, that postcard shows one of the most beautiful mosques in the world. It is in Al-Quds -- some of you call it Jerusalem -- a city that as you know is holy to Muslims and Christians alike, who until recently lived there in complete peace and freedom, and Christians and Muslims do everywhere else in the Muslim countries -- Egypt, Iraq, Algeria, Iran, Pakistan, Indonesia. We honor of course Christians and Jews -- in fact, we even call them "the People of the Book" because they have the Bible, which is sort of a version of our Qur'an. And of course the Jews like to visit their Wall to put in little pieces of paper and ask for special favors, and I know that when that terrible period of the Crusades was over -- you've heard about those, I think? -- Jews once again could go and ask for those special favors which is such an important part of their worship.

Yes, Kimberley, you may touch the prayer rug. See, we turn it so that it faces in the direction of Mecca, the holiest of all cities, the city of Muhammad, who was chosen by God to be the last prophet, the Seal of the Prophets. We pray often, but never ask for special favors -- no, we just pray to express our humble and complete devotion to God. Yes, Tiffany? You think that is a better way to do things than to ask for special favors? Well, every religion is different. You can judge that for yourself, but at the end of the hour, I am going to leave a little sheet with the Five Pillars on them, and also a stack of postcards of our most beautiful mosques. Feel free to take as many as you want, and bring them home to your families.

Yes, Emma? Well, we have to pray five times a day, and we begin very early in the morning, and pray even late in the evening. No matter where we are. So you can see how sad we are when it is hard to do that, when some people won't let us do that at school, or at our jobs -- did you know that Muslims in our country, America, have the highest standards of education? Yes, it's true. Just imagine how difficult it it didn't have all these wonderful Muslim engineers and doctors? It's not surprising. Did you now that Muslims gave modern science to Europe -- algebra, and paper, and astronomy -- class, can anyone tell me how many stars have Arabic names? Well, later I'll give you a list of important English words that come from Arabic.

Of course, Timmy -- I'm so glad you are all wearing those nametags in English and Arabic that we prepared for you to wear today -- wasn't it nice of the school to give us a list of your names and addresses? -- no, turn it so it faces in this direction, which is called the qibla: Q-I-B-L-A. Yes, would you like me to write that on the blackboard.

I have a special announcement, children. Along with me today several friends have brough a special treat of tasty chicken and pita bread -- and there is baklava for desert. But it's all laid out in the lunchroom, waiting for you -- lucky it's not Ramadan until tomorrow, and we'll all be sharing that later. We want you to taste our wonderful food -- we Muslims are very family-centered, you know, and the family meal is such an important part of Islam. We still love to make things from sratch. And just think what faith we have to have not to eat that wonderful food all day long for a whole month!"

Now, let's all go into the lunchroom, shall we, and enjoy the food prepared for us by Muslim women and their children. And that will give me a chance to meet some of the other teachers as well -- perhaps some of the upper grades or other schools would like me to come and explain what your president has said so often is a religion of "peace" and "tolerance." Of course every country and every religion has some bad men, and that is why someone explained that those people you sometimes see on the news who are called terrorists and who pretend to be real Muslims -- oh, you have seen some stories about them, Josh? -- have just made a "perversion of the true, peaceful, honorable faith of Islam." Do you know how it was? No? It was Prime Minister Blair, of England. You know where England is, don't you -- my cousin lives there, and he has 9 children,and Ramadan is their favorite time of the year. Now let's eat, shall we?"

Or words to that effect.

For a sample of how Muslims are instructed to conduct Da'wa among the Infidels, described as "untapped oilfields" please see, and study carefully, www.dawanet.org. It will give you some idea of how careful and calculated the whole effort at mass conversions -- reversions --is, and how carefully Muslims, who are all supposed to be missionaries for the faith -- are instructed in how to behave, even what levels of information to dole out, rhetorical strategies, and suchlike. For Da'wa is part of the war, and in that war, it is good to make a good impression on Infidel children -- an early impression that will last (and if they go home, full of excitement about the "nice lady" and the delicious food, and the pretty postcard with the mosque or Qur'anic calligraphy, many parents will be so relieved to find that there is "nothing wrong" with Islam, contrary to all those sowers of strife, semeurs de zizanie, at places like Jihadwatch and the Pentagon.

Take a look at www.dawanet.org. Study, understand, see what is going on. Tell others. , Your lives and mental freedoms, your science and your art, are threatened by a primitive and hostile belief-system. The possibilities that will be available to your children and grandchildren and to everyone, depend not so much on bombs in Fallujah, as on enough people in the West, and outside the West, fully informing themselves about the tenets of Islam. And about the Da'wa that is being conducted throughout the Western world, to those who out of anomie and alienation, are ready and even willing victims of the cunningly-planned emotional and intellectual assault. There is nothing at www.dawanet.com that is not echoed by Tariq Ramadan, whom one female poster calls dangerous because he is "drop dead gorgeous." (I would have reserved such a phrase for Ayaan Hirst Ali, the Dutch ex-Muslim who is on our side, rather than the sly smiling ferret-faced Ramadan, but chacun a son gout).

The future depends more on how many people will properly inform themselves about Islam, and about the wiles with which Islam is defended, and Da'wa conducted. You are not being asked to face roadside bombs, or to trudge through Herat or Jalalabad. You are being asked, merely to put in some hours of study -- far fewever, actually, than you probably put in when you decide to research which car, or washing machine, to buy, or what island to travel to. If you help others, too, to comprehend, and thus to better withstand, the various kinds of siren songs and half-truths and outright lies being bruited about(reread Blair's idiotic remark about Islam quoted above, and he is hardly the worst offender) that prevent us from allocating our resources properly, from helping to rescue Europe from its steady islamization, and from undertaking the minimal acts required to to defend ourselves, and the Constitution, and Spinoza, and Hume, and Michelangelo and Mozart and Shakespeare, from the greatest and most complex assault (given the variety of the instruments of Jihad, including the mere increase of Muslims in the Bilad al-Kufr), ever waged on our own civilization. Which, for all of its faults and injustices and sillinesses, is still worth saving.

I called herndon schools about that article, the man in charge of the elementary schools told me it was not true, they would not be discussing Islam and no one from an Islamic school would be visiting the children.

Good for you. Keep up the pressure on schools everywhere not to succumb to the siren song of local mosques. Bring to the attention of others that website handbook teaching Muslims how to manipulate teachers, prinicipals, school superintendents -- at www.dawanet.org.

And conduct among all those you know a counter-Da'wa, designed to immunize people. If one looks at the "Testimonies" section at www.secularislam.org, one will find a good number of people explaining how, and why, they were inveigled into Islam, without knowing much about it, and then having discovered, to their horror, what it was all about, managed to get out.

These unedited, sometimes not-quite-grammatical efforts, should be salutary for any would-be "revert" or for those who need to be reminded, constantly, of what Islam is all about.

Hugh. Thanks for your enlightening post. Your writings are measured and knowledgeable, something sorely needed in these times. I looked at www.dawanet.org but I think the ending should be .com. Thanks for the tip.

My Dears, let us eat,drink and be merry. Also pat lots of dogs. Have a wrapped up pork product handy
to deter any Muslim from preaching Dawah. A Leftist friend of mine HAS realised Islam is the most dangerous religion in the world for women [something we ought to stress] and even better is learning about Buddhism which has suffered so cruelly [and continues to do so]under attacks by rabid Jihardists. Find it ironic that Kerry with his pro Muslim policies should have a wife like Theresa[albeit very rich] who expresses herself so freely in public. When Muslim women are often savagely beaten for actually having an opinion or refusing their lords and masters' sexual demands.
Reckon a cartoonist ought to depict Theresa Heinz
Kerry in a Burka, this would annoy the hell out of
this masterful dame and be a sobering message to our Liberal Democratic friends... As to 'Holiness'
of Ramadam, the only observation one can make is these bloodthirsty Barbarians are intending to make 'holes' in the flesh of Infidels as 'fragrant' offerings to Satanic Allah.

re: newshound

Since you have discovered that there is a contradiction between the Herndon, VA school administrators and the author of the article in the KansasCity.com article, I have decided to ask for clarification from the reporter/author of that article. My letter is copied below.

The author's e-address was located online on her webpage. Her e-address is for anyone else that may be interested in asking for clarification.

As for my previous letters sent to VA school administrators, politicians, media centers, houses of worship, etc. - I have received two responses. One was an automatically generated acknowledgement of receipt from the ACLU. The second response was a request for clarification of my identity as I used two e-mail accounts, one with my maiden name and one with my married name.

If anyone happens to recieve a response to their letters, I would be very interested in reading about it.

Thanks to all -
justamomof4

copy of e-letter to reporter/author follows -

Dear Holly,

I have a concern I would like to address with you regarding a recent article of yours, posted online, in the

Kansas City Star
via KansasCity.com.

The article was titled:

"Teaching Ramadan in Public Schools; Accurate Lessons in demand after 9/11;

by Holly Lebowitz Rossi;

Religion News Service."

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/living/9870348.htm?1c

This particular article has gained national attention and recently led to a letter writing campaign to address concerns with Herndon, VA school administrators - as well as - with State and National political offices.

Today, I was informed of the following:

One concerned individual wrote "I called (the) Herndon (VA) schools about that article, the man in charge of the elementary schools told me it was not true, they would not be discussing Islam and no one from an Islamic school would be visiting the children."

This statement directly contradicts the content of your article. Since this article has generated a great deal of public interest, I am curious to hear your comments regarding this contradiction.

Rather than issue additional letters regarding my concerns to various relevant parties, I have decided to wait for clarification from you.

Your timely response is greatly anticipated and most appreciated.

Most sincerely,

A concerned mother of 4

Thanks Hugh.
Ironic, isn't it, the front lines in this world war, and possibly this is the last world war - dare i hope, are everywhere.
The hardest to fight, given the inclusiveness of our culture, is on the home front, especially given the cloak of religion that this appalling nazi/fascist ideology hides under.
islam is not an Abrahamic religion.
islam is not a religion at all.
Our governments must strip the camouflage of religion from islam - it is not a religion as we understand the meaning of religion; it is a nazi/fascist arab supremist ideology with world conquest as its goal. It has over a billion, mostly uneducated, followers, 1/4 of them arabs, and, with arab oil money, is the best financed 'deadly threat' that we have ever faced.

I am not at all sure that we will win, given the present response from most of our leaders. I do know that i am not willing to live in an islamic world.

Please go to October 20, 2004 - Dhimmi Watch:
Muslim Re-Education: Coming to an Elementary School Near You

If you are concerned about this you will find much info on Dhimmi Watch. Virginian was not the only school to put Ramadan celebration on. There are links to Salt Lake City news and California and New York had same plans. New York ran into some problems with the public. There are copies of many letters already written, a list of people to write to, including the ACLU (which has not answered one of our letters) and a lot of links. There are also links to Muslim sites which produce the new "history books' for the schools, how to get US laws to get what they want, how to get Muslims elected to the school boards, etc. This is a well oiled machine working to get our public schools.
One wonders just what kind of background check was done on the Muslim Academy, and it's funding. It is the same Academy that is to celebrate Ramadan in Utah, Calif. and the like. I would hope that at the very least a criminal, and international check was done before opening the elementary schools to this particular group, and giving them the open-arm treatment.
Feel free to check out links, read the news articles (that don't exist)...and write to everyone on the lists.
Did not Homeland Security issue a warning to schools?? Hello? Will we never learn? These are our kids they are messing with and they need to know that we won't bend over for the 'Muslim' cause. We won't, will we?

Hugh:

That was another brilliant, little set-piece. Aren't you supposed to be getting your own blog soon?

As a cult, Islam is qualitatively different than other cults. I was appalled when I read that the Russians banned the Jehovah's Witness. Yet, they have not yet banned Islam. I guess that is because they would find it politically impossible due to the large number of people who belong to the cult. Is that the difference between a cult and a religion - the number of people who belong to it?

Will Islam make much progress by conversion in the West? Other cults such as the Jehovah's Witness, the Mormons, the Scientologists, etc., have not managed to convert large numbers of people to their faith despite significant efforts. One would hope that Islam has the same experience in the West. Certainly, that seems to be the case from what I have observed where I live. Conversions seem rare; most growth in the Muslim population comes from immigration and natural increase.

Natural increase is a danger itself.
Palestinian women have av. 7 1/2 children;
all arab and most moslem societies have highest of worlds birthrates.
Certainly with regard to palestinian arabs, this is an islamic political/religious decision, could well be so in europe and here.
Certainly must stop immigration immediately, as in now.

Morgane: Don't be too nice to Buddhism. Believing that the highest way of life is that of the celibate male, it looks on woman as the incarnation of evil that can pollute a monk simply by sitting on a chair a monk might use sometime later. What passes for Buiddhism in the West--rather than in the Far East--is just some priggish fantasies by comfortable Western malcontents. In real life, it's a lot less rational than you think.

As far as pissing off Muslims, I have no deisre to piss off the bulk of Muslims I know. If I meet the friendly Hamas representative, though, I'll be sure I not only patted a dog, but also handled pork after I shake hands.

The same kind of manipulation manual that hugh describes so brilliantly can also be found about the hijab; in that case, the objects of manipulation are not Infidels but Muslim women. There are instructions on many Islamic pages (those of the Western Muslim "cultural centers" etc.) on how to make the women wear hijab, by gradually increasing the pressure on them: at first, the women (who come to the mosque/Islamic center) should not be forced to veil, in order not to turn them off the whole thing right away; when they've become more attached to the Islamic community, the pressure should be increased so that they finally realize that they MUST veil if they don't want to be expelled from the community. The hijab campaign on islamonline.org is also very enlightening. The result of these campaigns can be seen in the streets of European cities as an enormous increase of hijab wearing. I just can't see how these women can be so stupid that they don't see through the political manipulation although the instructions are out in the open, right there for anyone to see.

And the media, just as they picture that happy Ramadan-celebrating Muslim family with 9 cute kids, here in N. Europe they like to publish weeping stories with big pictures of cute, smiling, veiled French girls who are suspended from school because of refusing to take off their hijab. What they don't mention is that the vast majority of the thousands of Muslim girls in France have no problem with the ban of religious symbols, and that the organizations representing Muslim women supported the ban because it prevents fathers from forcing girls to veil.

I want to applaud everyone that got together and flooded the school district with calls and e-mails. I don't believe that we should let up on it either. Perhaps our friends at CAIR should be made aware that we're aware of this situation, and that we won't let go of it until it's squashed.

CAIR should hear from all of us. There's no need to use profanity when you e-mail them. No threats are necessary either. Nothing they can spin into some sort of "hate crime"....as they call it.

Here's their e-mail address: Be professional and let them know that our children will not be targets of the plague.....

cair@cair-net.org

Apparently, Muslims feel that they should have an empty classroom so that they can pray in school. Isn't prayer in school against the law in this country? These people should move back to the thrid world nation they came from....and the ones that were born here should stop being such whining bitches and realize the laws of the United States. Here's the story:

American Muslim News Briefs
Friday, October 22, 2004
DE: Parents say School Denies Rights
Source: News Journal

The parents of some Muslim students attending Bancroft Intermediate School
in Wilmington have charged that the Christina School District is
interfering with their children's observance of Ramadan, Islam's holiest
month.

The students are required to go to the cafeteria for lunch during a month when they are supposed to fast during daylight hours, parents said. They also are being denied the opportunity to go to an empty classroom and pray during the day. Muslims normally pray five times daily, a religious practice that is especially important during Ramadan.

Assistant Superintendent David Sundstrom said Thursday that he wasn't aware
of the cafeteria issue. He said the district would try to find an alternative place for students to go during lunchtime.

"That's what they said, but today our children were still sent to the
cafeteria so nothing has been solved," parent Antoinette Watson, 30, said
Thursday evening.

Watson went to the school Thursday afternoon and took two of the seven
Muslim students home to pray. She was not allowed to bring the other five
to her home, she said, because school officials had not received permission
from other parents.

"We don't know what is going to happen so we're trying to coordinate
bringing them all home at 1 p.m. so they can pray," said parent Shahida
Fennell, 30. "We're very upset about this…"

Herndon schools deny? Would you like to see a copy of Syeed's Graduating Class of 2004
Presented at the Baccalaureate for Herndon High School, Herndon, VA June 13, 2004? In this Baccalaureate she quotes Mohammed all the way to the end!
www.alfaith.or/Staff_Faculty.html

Syeed ran for office in Loudoun Cnty. Va in 2003
Syeed has some interesting ties, and runs the Muslim Academy. Herndon known nothing about teaching Islam, or Mrs. Syeed? Hmmmm. Here is copy of her address to Grad. class of Herndon High! This is one very busy lady.and well funded!
Please note the 'Amen' at the end. It was a prayer. In public school graduation..something we are denied!

"Thoughts to Share With the Graduating Class of 2004
Presented at the Baccalaureate for Herndon High School, Herndon, VA June 13, 2004
Afeefa Syeed

You will hear many inspirational words these few weeks. You’ll sit through speeches, read cards, receive engraved pearls of wisdom on graduation gifts - hopefully a monogrammed wallet with much needed cash - and be given advice every which way you turn. I know, I have been through this 3 times, starting as a Herndon graduate like yourselves. I ask you now, however to pause, to ponder, even as you are preparing to nod politely and thank countless people who will wish you well as you go out into the great big world.

You have always been asked, and you will be asked repeatedly during these next few weeks: “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Forget that question now. Instead, I ask you a simpler one. Know that you have an answer - there is no right or wrong one - inside of you. You might not hear it immediately, but the answer is there waiting for the right time. But you, and I, must continue to ask this of ourselves on a daily basis.

How do I expect to serve society today?

In the Muslim tradition, there is a saying of the Prophet Muhammad:

Service to others is incumbent upon every human limb every day upon which the sun rises

What is service?

He goes on to say that service is:

To bring about a just conciliation between two fighting people is service
Helping a person with his mount or his baggage is service
A good word is service
Every step towards worship is service
To remove obstacles in the street is service,
Smiling upon the face of another is service.

I ask you to go forth towards success in whatever you choose to do. But remember what success is and learn to measure it. Use the instrument of service as your tool. The numbers you rack up - income, cars, political appointments, children, - are not what matter. Thomas Merton said that life does not have to be regarded as a game in which scores are kept and somebody wins. If you are too intent on winning, you will never enjoy playing. If you are too obsessed with success, you will forget to live. If you have learned only how to be a success, your life has probably been wasted.

You, and I, must seek to serve and continue to educate ourselves by taking fieldtrips to jails, cancer wards, schools for the disadvantaged. Make a sandwich and take it to Dupont Circle in DC; hand it to someone lying on the heat grate. Go to the Embry Rucker Shelter here in Reston and help serve at meal time. Before debating great environmental polices, adopt a street in Herndon and make a promise to keep it clean.

As we realize the need to serve, we must also - as William James said - strive and champion those tiny, invisible molecular moral forces that work from individual to individual, creeping through the crannies of the world like so many droplets of water, yet which, if you give them time, will shape the hardest monuments of stone.

I remind you, and myself, of the Prophet Muhammad’s saying:

Hasten to do good before you are overtaken by
Perplexing adversity
Corrupting prosperity
Disabling disease
Debilitating senility
And then death.

For those of you who already know how you will serve humanity every day, who have been working hard these past 12 years practicing peaceful, proactive, and positive change, I ask you to repeat as a refrain to yourselves:

I am not trying to change the world; I am trying to keep it from changing me.

I leave you now with a subject that I had immense trouble with here in Herndon High. Something that was hard for good intentioned teachers to pound into me. Math. Yes, I have survived and slipped by with rudimentary arithmetic skills. Here, for what it is worth, is an equation for you to consider, based on a poet’s perspective:

Add peace where there is none. Subtract violence when you see it, multiply love when you can and divide hate when you must. No other math matters.

Thank you. And may you be blessed with all that is good always. Amen."

While reading Hughs' piece (enlightening BTW) about the incessant islamization of Europe, an anolgy came to mind.

In the apiraries of South America in the earlier part of the 20th century, a beekeeper experimented with cross breeding african bees with the calm peaceful European honey bees. He thought that he could get more honey production by doing this but disasterous results soon occurred. When these africanized honeybees numbers soared,they swarmed into surrounding terriories and have been moving north ever since. They are now found in several Southwestern States in the US.

Known as killer bees, they attack anything and anyone that bothers them. No alternative but to destroy the colonies wherever thay are found. Usually after someone gets stung to death. These bees cannot be modified or controlled.

The non-muslim world is operating just fine, just like the original honeybees were. We don't need any changes to a system that is stabile and productive.

Muslims, like the african bee is a menace to this already up and running peaceful system that non-muslims established eons ago. We don't need any more disasterous outbreaks. Nip this in the bud before we are all stung big time.

Update:
Response from Holly Liebowitz Rossi (author of Kansascitystar.com piece about Ramadan in Herndon VA schools) received today -

Quote: "In response to your concern, I can tell you that at the time I reported and wrote my article, multicultural trainer Afeefa Syeed was planning to go to area public elementary schools,

as she did twice last year at the schools' invitations.

But my understanding is that as of yet, those plans have not materialized this year, though Syeed is scheduled to make presentations at some private schools in the Herndon area.

I hope this clarifies things and alleviates your concerns.

Best,
Holly Lebowitz Rossi
Religion News Service " End Quote

________________________
Note: I intentionally sectioned off the text to bring attention to the detail . . ."as she did twice at the school's invitations."

vashti, I wouldn't worry about the graduation speech. As we fight Islam, we must remember that one very important tool is Christianity. Christians and other non-Muslim religious groups must have the freedom to mention their religious foundation. Like saying, "God bless you."

There is a religious advocacy group (The United Defense Alliance?) that counters the actions of the ACLU. This is vital because the ACLU tries to stamp out Christianity wherever it appears. This happens all over the country (e.g., a little boy is told he cannot bring his Bible to school).

There are those on this website who believe that Christianity is dangerous. I do not. Christians are also (I believe) more likely to understand how dangerous and evil Islam is and MORE LIKELY to speak up about those dangers. Mohammed is a false prophet. If you try to prevent religious expression, you will end up preventing Christians from speaking their minds.

Posted by: former liberal WF at October 25, 2004 06:46 PM

You are right but there is a move afoot to stop the Chirstians have you not been keeping up on currant events?

The Biggest funders of the ACLU are mulsums and Calf just signed a bill that will Make some of the Chirstian Bible hate speach??

There was just a preacher arrested over seas on the same law??

Belive Hugh wrote about it?

Cross has it Right I like to use the Fire ants but Killer Bees work Great!!!

Remember how many Schools last year who were not allowed to use the word Chirstmas? This Fight has begun People just don't know it is going on like a frog in a pot of water will not jump out but will die because the water was not hot when he went in
WELL AFTER 9/11/2001 THE WATER IS BOILING AND WE SHOULD BE SCREAMING !!

Part of the American Tribe
Squirrel Hunter
Spider Killer
God Bless the USA and her Fighting Forces and ALL who Fight with her give them Strength,Wisdom,Sight and Courage to stay the course to Victory to Defeat the Islamic Terrorist and ALL who Support them Amen