Jefferson and the Quran

Ellison Uses Thomas Jefferson's Quran, Frederic J. Frommer, Associated Press, 5 January 2007

WASHINGTON (AP) - Keith Ellison made history Thursday, becoming the first Muslim member of Congress and punctuating the occasion by taking a ceremonial oath with a Quran once owned by Thomas Jefferson.

"Look at that. That's something else," Ellison, D-Minn., said as officials from the Library of Congress showed him the two-volume Quran, which was published in London in 1764.

A few minutes later, Ellison took the ceremonial oath with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., at his side. So many of Ellison's family members attended the ceremony that it was done in two takes.

Ellison had already planned to be sworn in using a Quran, rather than a Bible. He learned last month about Jefferson's Quran, with its multicolored cover and brown leather binding, and made arrangements to borrow it.

Although the Library of Congress is right across the street from the Capitol, library officials took extra precautions in delivering the Quran for the ceremony. To protect it from the elements, they placed the Quran in a rectangular box, and handled it with a green felt wrapper once they got it inside the Capitol.

Instead of using surface streets, they walked it over via a series of winding, underground tunnels — a trip that took more than 15 minutes. Guards then ran the book through security x-ray machines at the Capitol.

The Quran was acquired in 1815 as part of a more than 6,400-volume collection that Jefferson sold for $24,000 to replace the congressional library that had been burned by British troops the year before, in the War of 1812. Jefferson, the nation's third president, was a collector of books in all topics and languages.

The book's leather binding was added in 1919. Inside, it reads, "The Koran, commonly called 'The Alcoran of Mohammed.'" Jefferson marked his ownership by writing the letter "J" next to the letter "T" that was already at the bottom of pages, according to Mark Dimunation, chief of the Library of Congress' rare book and special collections division.

Ellison, the first black member of Congress from Minnesota, was born in Detroit and converted to Islam in college. He said earlier this week that he chose to use this Quran because it showed that a visionary like Jefferson believed that wisdom could be gleaned from many sources.

In a brief interview Thursday on his way to a vote, Ellison suggested he had tired of the whole issue of his using the Quran.

"It was good, we did it, it's over, and now it's time to get down to business," he said.

Asked if he was relieved to have it behind him, Ellison said, "Yeah, because maybe we don't have to talk about it so much anymore. Not that I'm complaining, but the pressing issues the country is facing are just a little bit more on my mind right now."

Ellison's mother, Clida Ellison, said in an interview that she thought any controversy over her son's choice was good, "because many people in America are going to learn what the diversity of America is all about."

She described herself as a practicing Catholic.

"I go to Mass every day," she said.

Eid reflections: searching for Salah-ad-din

So for Eid we had some friends and family over. The topics of discussion inevitably shifted to Saddam Hussein's execution and, the perennial favourite, The State of Pakistan Today and What Can Be Done To Remedy It.

There was a great deal of pessimism even from individuals who are usually more optimistic vis-a-vis Pakistan and its inhabitants. But last night, for some reason, the discussion was much more sober and pessimistic in tone. The discussion drifted towards how almost every transaction in Pakistan is tainted with hues of corruption and bribery. Ordinary transactions, ordinary places to visit, it almost seemed as though every encounter with another Pakistani would result in your losing some money to corrupt officials demanding bribes and whatnot.

It reminded me of other previous discussions i have had with Muslims of other nationalities who complain of similar issues. The core thread running throughout most of these discussions is that of a sense of lost 'Muslim-ness', a sense that Muslims themselves have corrupted their faith. A sense of futility, a belief that Muslims are today's downtrodden, they are the underdogs. If they are not the underdogs, then they are (portrayed as) the tyrants. Iraq, Palestine, Sudan, Indonesia, Somalia, Thailand, Russia. If you listen to the news, or pick virtually any large region of the world, you can practically pinpoint an area where, if we are not the victims then we are surely the oppressors.

Volunteering at a Christian homeless shelter this past week, i was moved to learn that one of the homeless clients there is a Muslim.

"You should make dawah to him," one of the sisters said to one of the brothers.

Later, i thought to myself: he is not the one who needs dawah. We are the ones who need dawah because there is surely, surely, something wrong with us if a Muslim brother is accessing the services of a Christian homeless shelther. Where were the Muslim food banks, the Muslim groups organizing soup kitchens for the homeless? We dropped the ball on that. It's not him who needed the dawah. It's us.

An Eid execution

There is something disturbing about that video. About the taunts hurled by witnesses, about the jostling, the mood, the atmosphere is undignified. The man is being hanged. There is a time and a moment for a bit of dignity. Yes, dignity even for a murderer. Yes, dignity even for a mass murderer. Why? Because that display of dignity is what separates 'us' from 'them'. The respect that we show when others do not, the dignity we display when others do not, the adherence to rules and regulations, to guidelines and decorum, that is what differentiates us from them. The line is otherwise blurred. In the absence of all that, what separates the executioner from the executioned?

Saddam Hussein's execution on Eid

Convenient timing for the execution on Eid day: the news was released just at the right time in North America, so that media outlets on this side of the Atlantic could put it into their front page. So this morning, as Americans wake up and read the papers over their coffees and espressos, they can wake up to the news that Saddam Hussein has been executed.

Executed for which crimes? Not one of his worst crimes that the US constantly mentions - the gassing of the Kurds at Halabja. He could not be tried in court for that crime because that would require a great deal of evidence to come forth - evidence that had messy blood trails leading to Rumsfeld. So he was convicted and sent to die on Eid for a crime that had no trails leading towards the US.

Since we are on the topic of crimes, lest it be forgotten: where is the alleged mastermind behind 9/11 - the one whom Bush had pledged to hunt down? Compared to Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and his secular Baathist party were small fry.

Nakoda Lodge

And the earth - We have spread it out, and set thereon mountains standing firm, and produced therein every kind of beautiful growth

To be observed and commemorated by every devotee turning (to Allah) {50.7-8}

Swearing in

The board that oversees the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum here publicly distanced itself on Thursday from a member who recently condemned the first Muslim elected to Congress for planning to use a Koran during the private part of his swearing-in ceremony. In November, the board member, Dennis Prager, a conservative commentator and radio show host, said that Keith Ellison, the newly elected Muslim member of Congress, should give up his post if he could not take his oath on a Bible, which Mr. Prager said was the traditional religious text of the United States.

In its resolution, the council’s executive committee criticized Mr. Prager’s remarks as "antithetical to the mission of the museum as an institution promoting tolerance and respect for all peoples regardless of their race, religion or ethnicity.", "Holocaust Museum Rebukes Member for Koran Comment", New York Times, 21 December 2006

Amongst one of the newly elected members of Congress, is a Democrat from Minnesota who happens to be the first Muslim American elected to Congress - Keith Ellison. He wants to use the Quran, not the Bible, in a private unofficial ceremony that will see him sworn into office on January 4 2007. In the US currently, there is some uproar regarding this individual's decision to carry the Quran, not the Bible, into this ceremony.

Irony of ironies: the US Constitution protects religious pluralism. While we ask this elected official to swear to uphold the Constitution, we do so in a manner that asks him to deny his own religious identity. This is the great United States of America.

Meanwhile, a board member of the Washington-based Holocaust Memorial Museum, Dennis Prager, stated this gem: "My entire effort in the Keith Ellison matter has been to draw attention to the need to acknowledge the Bible as the basis of America’s moral values. Judeo-Christian values are the greatest single protection against another Holocaust."

Someone needs to send Mr. Prager a history book. It was the manipulation of "Judeo-Christian values" that allowed the Holocaust to occur in the first place. How ignorant to say that one group's values are the only beliefs that can save humanity from repeating the Holocaust. Prager obviously lacks information regarding Judeo-Christian-Islamic history and needs to refresh himself on the three Abrahamic faiths' parallel teachings and beliefs.

While the US dedicates itself to spreading democracy and religious pluralism in Iraq and Afghanistan, and doing a fine job of that as we can all see, the American administration might want to ensure that it doesn't trample upon those rights on the domestic front.

Little mosque on the prairie

Canada's 'Little Mosque on the Prairie' aims to ease religious tension, 2 October 2006

OTTAWA, (AFP) - Canada's public broadcaster CBC hopes to lighten religious tensions between this country's Christian majority and Muslims with a new sitcom, "Little Mosque on the Prairie."

The show is a parody of the acclaimed US drama "Little House on the Prairie" (1974-1983), starring Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert, about the life and adventures of the Ingalls family in the 19th century American West.

But instead of raising pitchforks, tumbling down hills and selling eggs at the general store, this fictional Muslim family struggles to find its place in Canada's vast western prairies in a post-September 11, 2001 world.

CBC spokesman Jeff Keay said Monday the broadcaster has ordered eight episodes and will begin airing them in January.

"The producers recognize that this is a potentially sensitive topic," Keay said.

The Roman Catholic pope Benedict XVI's recent comments on Islam, an alleged Toronto terror plot foiled in June and attacks on mosques have divided Canadians lately, he acknowledged.

"But, the show is a comedy. We hope people will laugh," he said.

Liverpool-born filmmaker Zarqa Nawaz wrote and produced the satire.

Her previous films include "BBQ Muslims" about two brothers who are suspected of being terrorists after their barbecue blows up, and "Real Terrorists Don't Belly Dance."

Her production company is called Fundamentalist Films; its motto is to put the "fun back into fundamentalism," according to its website.

Getting ready for a (Wo)man

How come when a guy "gets ready" to head out, all he has to do is:

- shave
- take a shower (regular shampoo)
- deodorant
- put on clean clothes
- combs hair
- walks out of door

When a woman "gets ready" to head out, she feels [society tells her?] she has to:

- take a shower: this is not your average-Joe-regular shower. This is a tedious process involving various shavers, exfoliants, body scrubs, loofahs, pumice stones, invigorating body washes, rainforest-smelling shower gels, and unique volumizing/moisturizing/therapeutic shampoos corresponding with their complex conditioners
- post-shower phase: body lotions, foot lotions, and hand lotion, each of which should smell more exotic than the last one
- blow-dry hair ensuring no 'frizziness'; style hair using another complex set of different hair brushes and combs to give maximum style, 'lift' and volume, as well as using gels, hairsprays, and pins to keep it all in place for the rest of the day
- deodorant and perfume
- apply expensive face moisturizer as the first of many steps towards applying makeup. When in makeup stage, don't forget to apply: matching skintone concealers (liquid? powder? cream?), matching skintone foundations (liquid? powder? cream?), eyebrow pencil, mascara, eyeliner, eyelash curler, eyelash comb, eyeshadows (powder or cream?), brow eyeshadows, lipstick, lipliner and corresponding lip gloss, powder finish (to ensure no greasy spots), blush, blush brush
- must wear matching shoes and purse

Why don't guys have to go through all of the above rigmarole? Why can a guy go out looking like crap, and a woman has to look perfect each and every time?