Audio files of selected lectures given at the 2006 Muslim American Society (MAS)/Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) in Dearborn, Michigan are available for a few days at Yousendit. I'll write about these in separate entries. One lecture was A Model Muslim Community in the US by Dr. Esam Omeish and Dr. Hisham Abdallah.
http://download.yousendit.com/5A415CC54456AD24
This lecture was given Friday night, Dec. 22, 2006 at 8 PM, it's about 48 minutes long. Omeish talks about the need to create a model Muslim community so that Muslims ("We are the best of nations") can transform the United States. Muslims should portray the "divine guidance of Allah" and "bring the message of Islam to others." Some eyebrow-raising elements:
"All humanity is divided into two categories: those who follow divine guidance (Muslims) and those who are seeking or need to be invited to Islam (everybody else, non-Muslims)." (Approx. 10:25 in lecture)
"We don't want to repeat the Jeffersonian model. We cannot say 'All humans are created equal,' and then we go back to sit down at our mansion and we have slaves working in the very house we are talking about." (Approx. 18:05 in lecture)
"To call all humanity to Allah, that role is incumbent upon us." (Approx. 20:00 in lecture)
"We are not just another community to bring into the mainstream." (Approx. 25:05 in lecture)
The superiority complex continues. It is inconceivable to these "leaders" that in a pluralistic American society, Islam is one religion among many. Assimilation into American society is rejected. It's also clear that to MAS/ICNA, Islam is not simply a religion, it's an ideology that seeks to dominate our society. They make no bones about it.
Hmmm, Muslims reject the principles of equality of Thomas Jeffeson, one of America's founding fathers, because of hypocrisy about slavery? Excusez-moi? Arab Muslims famously created a vast, brutal African slave trade for hundreds of years before the Europeans did, and continued for another 150 years after the end of the European/American slave trade. Arab Muslims also enslaved millions of Europeans, slave raids reached up into Italy and England. The Koran condones slavery. Slavery legally exists today only in Muslim countries (Saudi Arabia, Mali, Niger). Yet Omeish can say, apparently with a straight face, that America's founding fathers were hypocrites and Muslims reject claims that America stands for liberties and freedoms.
The second speaker on Friday night was Hisham Abdullah, who said at the beginning of his lecture that would speak about two things, ethnic and racial barriers in the Muslim community, and the "global objectives of shari'ah." Abdullah referred to it as "beloved shari'ah." Most unfortunately, the audio tape only presents what he said about racial tensions between Muslims (he described pre-Islamic Arabs as "extremely racist"). We didn't get to hear about the global objectives of shari'ah, pity! Hmmm, what happened to that part of the lecture? Enquiring minds want to know!
At a second fiery, impassioned talk by Essam Omeish (http://download.yousendit.com/F04790E71512D726), he peppered his talk with directives including:
- "Muslims must be willing to live and die for the sake of Allah,"
- "It is not enough to be a good Muslim, we must spread our message to others,"
- "I am here for Allah to establish the way of Allah,"
- "We must create a society that is aligned by the will of Allah and that glorifies the almighty Allah."
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