Hadith: Do Not Hate One Another

NJ Press Group President Calls Islam ‘Internal’ Threat to U.S.

NY: Election Night Beating of Muslim Linked to Hit-and-Run

Museum on Muslim Cemetery Will Be 'Moral Disgrace'

(Haaretz) Jewish Group Applauds DOJ Probe of Georgia Muslim’s Arrest

OH: One Can't Be Muslim Without Belief in Jesus

KS: Muslims Launch Islam Billboard Campaign

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HADITH OF THE DAY: DO NOT HATE ONE ANOTHER - TOP

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Beware of suspicion…and do not look for the faults of others. Do not spy, and do not be jealous of one another, and do not (sever your relations with) one another, and do not hate one another.”

Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 8, Hadith 90

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NJ PRESS GROUP PRESIDENT CALLS ISLAM ‘INTERNAL’ THREAT TO U.S. - TOP CAIR-NJ seeks ‘clarification’ of apparent call for exclusion of Muslims

(SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ, 12/23/08) The New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NJ) today called for a “clarification” from the president of the New Jersey Press Association, who wrote in an editorial that he believes Islam is an “internal” threat to the United States and seemed to support the exclusion of Muslims from American society.

In his editorial, headlined “Keep the Muslims Out?” and published in the Cape May County Herald, Art Hall wrote: “The internal-external threat is like no other we have ever faced. It is from Islam. While Christianity preaches peace, the Quran preaches conquest by force of arms…We were and are both a democratic and Christian nation in our fundamental structure. If we desire for America to remain thus, we must first recognize the current threats, and then develop the will to stand against those who are undermining them, those who detest what we cherish.”

Hall, who is publisher of the Cape May County Herald, also seemed to support the views of one of Europe’s leading anti-Muslim ideologues, Dutch politician Geert Wilders. Wilders has called for banning the Quran, Islam’s revealed text, in the Netherlands. Wilders has been quoted as saying: "I've had enough of Islam in the Netherlands; let not one more Muslim immigrate…I've had enough of the Quran in the Netherlands: Forbid that fascist book." (Associated Press, 6/30/08)

SEE: Keep the Muslims Out?

SEE ALSO: Officers of the New Jersey Press Association

“In his editorial, Mr. Hall labels Islam and American Muslims as an ‘internal’ threat, seems to indicate that America is an exclusively ‘Christian’ nation and promotes the intolerant views of one of Europe’s leading Islamophobes,” said CAIR-NJ Public Relations Director Afsheen Shamsi. “As someone who holds responsible positions as both a newspaper publisher and head of the New Jersey Press Association, Mr. Hall should offer a clarification of these disturbing remarks and a right of reply for the American Muslim community.”

Shamsi noted that CAIR has produced a publication, called "American Muslims: A Journalist's Guide to Understanding Islam and Muslims," to media professionals. CAIR's guide offers journalists the tools needed to gain a better understanding of Islam and to write accurate and balanced stories about Muslims. The guide also includes background information on issues related to Islam and Muslims, best practices for reporting on the American Muslim community and definitions of terminology often used in news stories or editorials.

Media professionals may request a free copy of CAIR's journalist guide through the group’s "ashamsi@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail: ihooper@cair.com; CAIR Communications Coordinator Amina Rubin, 202-488-8787, E-Mail: arubin@cair.com

SEE ALSO:

NY: PROBERS LINK ELECTION NIGHT BEATING OF MUSLIM TEEN AND BRUTAL HIT-RUN IN S.I. - TOP John Marzulli, New York Daily News, 12/23/08 Two white Staten Island teens already facing hate crime charges for attacking a Muslim teen the night Barack Obama was elected have been linked to another bias attack that left another victim in a coma.

Ralph Nicolleti and Bryan Garaventa were arrested last month for beating 17-year-old Ali Kamara with a baseball bat as they shouted "Obama!" on Election Night, according to state prosecutors.

Investigators from the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force and the FBI have recently gathered evidence tying the pair to an assault several hours later that left a supermarket manager, Ronald Forte, in a coma for days, sources said. He was run down by a car, they said. The federal charges will pack more serious penalties than the two 17-year-olds are facing in state court, sources said. (MORE)

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MUSEUM ON MUSLIM CEMETERY WILL BE 'MORAL DISGRACE' - TOP Shimon Shamir, Haaretz, 12/23/08

As everyone knows, Jerusalem is a city of seers and visionaries. The archives are full of plans for palaces and grandiose towers that savers of the world have dreamed of building in Jerusalem to spread peace and brotherhood. However, in contrast to those plans, which remain buried in the archives, one plan arrived not long ago that is supposed to take on flesh and sinew. A splendid Museum of Tolerance, initiated by beneficent Jews from Los Angeles, is set to go up in the heart of the city.

This is a hallucinatory plan about to be realized in a place that no one disputes is part of the historic cemetery in Mamilla - an 800-year-old site whose boundaries are clearly indicated on maps. The tabernacle of tolerance is supposed to be built in total defiance of pleas by families whose ancestors are buried in Mamilla, the anger of this country's Muslim community and the mood of many of Jerusalem's Jewish inhabitants who are infuriated by the absurdity. This is tolerance that cannot be tolerated.

The High Court of Justice has authorized the museum's construction, and apparently in accordance with its judicial methods, its view is correct: The objections were submitted late, the initiators have permits from all the authorities, and philanthropists from the United States have already invested money in the project. It is clear that the Supreme Court is very skilled at dealing with these kinds of legal issues, but it emerges that it is not designed to deal with inanity. . .

The High Court of Justice ruling sets forth the exalted vision of the Tolerance Museum: "From it will emerge a message of human tolerance among nations, among different segments of the population and among individuals. [The museum] is slated to serve as an important focus for reference in Israel and toward the nations of the world. It is set to attract visitors from all over the country, who will partake of an experience of the idea."

How lovely is the aspiration to be a light unto the nations. However, what will the museum people say when visitors ask them why of all places in Jerusalem did they establish their tabernacle on the land of a Muslim cemetery and nowhere else? What will their explanation be when visitors wonder why the museum embarked on its brotherhood project in a clash with the Muslims? (MORE)

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AJCONGRESS APPLAUDS JUSTICE DEPARTMENT INVESTIGATION OF GEORGIA MUSLIM WOMAN’S ARREST - TOP

December 23, 2008 — AJCongress applauds the decision of the United States Department of Justice to investigate as a possible civil rights violation the arrest of a Muslim woman who refused to remove her headscarf in a Georgia courtroom.

On Wednesday December 17th, Lisa Valentine from Douglasville, Georgia was arrested for refusing to remove her headscarf in court. The judge ordered her to serve 10 days in jail because she disobeyed a court policy that prohibits anyone from wearing head apparel in court.

In a December 19th letter to Eric Treene, who heads the Special Council/Religious Discrimination unit in the Civil Rights Division, AJCongress urged the Justice Department to look into this matter. (Click here to read the letter).

In the letter, Marc D. Stern, Co-Executive Director of the American Jewish Congress said, “Courthouses are places of public accommodation, and those who come to observe or participate in judicial proceedings ought to be able to do so without having to waive their religious observance.”

Mr. Treene responded in an email saying that “We are looking into this case.”

“Citizens have a right to attend proceedings in public courthouses. The exercise of that right should not be conditioned on a surrender of one’s ability to practice one’s faith except in unusual circumstances where doing so interferes with the orderly conduct of judicial business. Nothing in the wearing of a headscarf or yarmulke by a courthouse visitor is disruptive. It follows it was a blatant abuse of authority to jail a Moslem woman merely for wearing her headscarf in the courthouse.” said Stern. The American Jewish Congress is a membership association of Jewish Americans, organized to defend Jewish interests at home and abroad, through public policy advocacy, in the courts, Congress, the executive branch and state and local governments. It also works overseas with others who are similarly engaged.

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OH: ONE CAN'T BE MUSLIM WITHOUT BELIEF IN JESUS - TOP Arshad Ahmad, TOP Larry Seward, NBC Action News, 12/23/08

OLATHE, Kan. - American Muslims, fighting harsh comments and stereotype, launched a billboard campaign in the metro. They believe it can erase ignorance and promote peace.

"The idea is to achieve peace," said Riyaz Lareef, a member of the Islamic Circle of North America Kansas City chapter.

The billboards, unveiled Monday, offer a toll-free phone number to call with questions about Islam. The number is 1-800-662-ISLAM.

There are 15,000 Muslims in the Kansas City area. They pray fives times a day and read, frequently in public, from the Qur'an. Still, Lareef said they often meet people who confuse Muslim's faith in Muhammad with terrorism.

"They refer to the 9/11 incident," Lareef said. "The incorrectly believe that all Muslims support what happened to this county on 9/11."

Lareef said that belief creates fear and tension. So, his group of religious brothers is turning to billboards.

"I'm hoping that with our activities, efforts like this, we should be able to bridge the gap between the Muslims and the non-Muslims and provide the true and right understanding of Islam," Lareef said.

ICNA's campaign is a national effort with billboards going up in 20 different cities. (MORE)

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