Monthly Archives: May 2008

Why I Love AlMaghrib Institute Reason #1

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Courtesy of QShams

Love of the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) and his companions

I credit AlMaghrib Institute through each seminar but specifically through the Conquest: History of the Khulafaa seminar with simulating my love for and interest in learning about the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) and his companions (may Allah be pleased with them all).

I converted to Islam simply because I believed in my heart that Allah the Exalted was true, one, undeniable, the creator and sustainer and not because I understood the role of the Prophet Muhammad (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam). I could accept that the Prophet Muhammad (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) was another prophet and man sent by Allah similar to Jesus, Noah, Abraham, and Moses.

Although my previous experience in Christianity had taught me about some other prophets, I knew next to nothing about the Prophet Muhammad (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam), his companions, and those that followed them, and our scholars. And I had no great affection for them and wasn’t sure why I should pay particular attention to any of them. Continue reading →

“Muslim Apple” on Terrorism Resources?

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UPDATE: I deleted that nonsense about my blog being Masaud Khan’s personal website.

It has always fascinated me how people find my blog and so a few days ago as I was scanning the list of link referrals to my blog I noticed one link from the wikipedia-esque Terrorism Resources website entry on Masoud Khan in the “homegrown terrorist database” section.

The entry states that: “This dossier was compiled by WM and MJ. The final editing was done by Crystal Ball. Copyright 2008 TerrorismResources.Org”

I don’t know who WM, MJ, or Crystal Ball are but their entry is skewed and inaccurate. It seems that they make up for their lack of information by making it up as they go along. My blog Muslim Apple is listed as the personal website of Masaud Khan simply because I posted two statements by him and one from his family. The statement he read at the original sentencing hearing, and later, a letter he wrote from prison, and an update from his family on the status of his case.

I thought about creating an account on that site so I could login and try to update and correct the misinformation but haven’t gotten around to it yet.

Masaud Khan was sentenced to life plus 65 years and then had the sentence reduced by twenty years to life plus 45 years.

Please remember those caught up in this unjust war on individuals and their families in your prayers.

Talaq Ruled Invalid in Maryland

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The Maryland Court of Appeals ruled this week that the Islamic divorce method of talaq by which a man can divorce his wife simply by saying “I divorce you” three times, unsurprisingly, fails to meet the state’s definition of “due process” and awarded a Muslim woman divorced after 20 years of marriage by this method the legal entitlement to about half of her ex-husband’s assets and half of his $90,000 a year World Bank pension.

Washington Post: Islamic Divorce Ruled Not Valid in Maryland

Triflin’ brothers beware, if neither your deen nor your intelligence restrains you, the state of Maryland has the back of the sisters and will keep you in check.

Obituary: Mildred Loving

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MIldred and Richard Loving in 1965

Mildred Loving of the Virginia vs. Loving case fame died last week Friday. In 1958, she married her white sweetheart Richard in Washington DC since interracial marriage was illegal in their home state of Virginia. Virginia’s tourism motto is “Virginia is for Lovers” and the Lovings helped make that a little truer for interracial couples.

Mildred Jeter Loving, 68, a black woman whose refusal to accept Virginia’s ban on interracial marriage led to a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1967 that struck down similar laws across the country, died of pneumonia Friday at her home in Milford, Va.

Washington Post: Quiet Va. Wife Ended Interracial Marriage Ban

Martin Luther King Jr. on interracial marriage:

Races do not fall in love and get married. Individuals fall in love and get married. Why don’t you want your fellow men and women, your fellow Americans to be happy? Why do you attack them? Why do you want to destroy the love they hold in their hearts? Why do you want to crush their hopes, their dreams, their longings, their aspirations? We are talking about human beings, people like you, people want to get married, buy house, and spend their lives with the one they love. They have done no wrong.” Continue reading →

Did You Kill People Over There?

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Yesterday, in my math class, sitting one seat away from me at the end of the row was another student attentively taking notes on logarithms, preparing for our final exams. Our professor asked him why he hadn’t been in class recently and he said that he had been away on army business.

Professor: Have you been to Iraq?

Student: Yes, and I have to go back. I don’t want to go back.

Professor: Did you kill people over there?

Student: Quietly, almost like a whisper under his breath he said, “yeah” and nodded his head.

Professor: That’s terrible. If you don’t want to go back, I’ll take you to Africa. They won’t find you over there.

Student: They’ll find me.

This is just about as close as I get to the war in Iraq. Other than the Iraqis I know here in the US that are worried about their loved ones over there, and my time at the airport when we used to see military men and women shipping out and some coming home in small boxes and urns, the war doesn’t affect me on a day-to-day basis except that I know that the lives and money spent over there could be put to better use over here or elsewhere around the world.

Following (a cop) Too Closely Again

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Last Tuesday, I received a citation from a Prince George’s County police officer for “following too closely,” which I think is one of the more bogus citations a person can receive especially if there no was resulting accident because clearly the vehicles were both able to maneuver and operate safely.

I was on my way to class, behind the police officer for a while on Powder Mill Road for those of you familiar with my section of Maryland. There was a farm tractor on the road, moving slowly of course, and I wanted to pass it but didn’t feel comfortable because that would have meant that I would have had to pass both the cop and the tractor and I’m sure the cop could have found some other excuse to pull me over. So a back up of cars formed behind the tractor, the cop, and I, as no one was willing to try to pass the cop.

Then we moved onto 197 (another roadway) still behind the cop, going slower than the usual rate of speed for the road. At the flashing red light, left turn onto the campus, the cop stopped for an exceptionally long time before proceeding and then I stopped and pulled into campus. Then he pulled me over.

Cop: “You seem to be in quite a hurry this morning.

Silently, thinking to myself, “Yeah, I was trying to be on time for my class at 9:30.”

Cop: Is there any reason why you were pushing me down the road?

Me: I was not pushing you down the road.

Cop: You didn’t stop at the flashing red light.

Me: Yes, I did stop.

Cop: No, I stopped and you stopped behind me and then I went and you went as well.

Me: No I stopped behind you, and again after you went. Continue reading →