Vote for me online for this year's annual Brass Crescent Awards:

The Brass Crescent Awards is an annual awards ceremony that honors the best writers and thinkers of the emerging Muslim blogosphere (aka the Islamsphere). Nominations are taken from blog readers, who then vote for the winners.

What are the Brass Crescent Awards? They are named for the Story of the City of Brass in the Thousand and One Nights. Today, the Islamsphere is forging a new synthesis of Islam and modernity, and is the intellectual heir to the traditions of philosophy and learning that was once the hallmark of Islamic civilization - a heritage scarcely recognizable today in the Islamic world after a century's ravages of colonialism, tyrants, and religious fundamentalism. We believe that Islam transcends history, and we are forging history anew for tomorrow's Islam. These awards are a means to honor ourselves and celebrate our nascent community, and promote its growth.

The online voting polls close on:

Monday Nov. 7th, 2011 9pm, PST, Tues. Nov. 8th, 5am, EST & 12am, GMT

Here's where you cast your votes:

http://www.brasscrescent.org

My blog name: Gareth Bryant's Writing Page

My category: Best Writer

9/11 (Ten years later):

Even the mere utterance of the household phrase "9/11'' still sends chills down people's spines, invoking fear, fueling the fire of anger, and encouraging hate to resonate in people's hearts. But, why does September 11th still grasps the attention of Americans, whom many were not even alive to even witness the shocking events that took place on that day?!!! I have an answer for that, it's called the blame-game. The American people have not been allowed to heal, from an event that has killed more American civilians, on American soil ever (more than the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, HI in 1941, the race riots of Tulsa, OK in 1921, the first NYC World Trade Center bombing in 1993, the bombing of the Federal building in Oklahoma City, OK in 1995, and the U.S. Embassy in Kenya in 1998 combined) because they've been lead to believe that 19 Muslims, Arabs, Saudi nationals, had the sophistication to breach NYC & Washington, D.C. airspace, and wreak havoc on America, by crashing into buildings that represent the financial & military prowess of the United States.

When a person is injured by someone that they love, and then they're told that someone else did the damage, it is a lot easier to accept that fallacy. But, over time, the psychological & emotional trauma from that injury will not heal, because the person refuses to admit that the person that they love would ever do something hurtful to them. Likewise, with these attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001, the American people have not been able to heal from this tragedy, because they've accepted this obvious lie that some big-bad terrorist network, once headed by someone who has spent nearly the last twenty years, dwelling in caves in Afghanistan, suffering from Kidney problems, before his pronounced "death" this year (conveniently during a Presidential election year), had the capabilities to complete such an intricate & complex task.

Unfortunately, many of us, as Americans, we just love to be entertained & to be lied to. It allows us to not have to take out enough time, use basic intelligence and/or enough integrity, to seek out the truth of things. It's a lot easier to accept a lie, as opposed to the truth. And, the truth is that the attacks on September 11th were orchestrated by our own government, on the highest levels, to promote an agenda that places them directly into the realm of global domination, by using things like a "terrorist attack" to push policies that give more power to the U.S. government, and even less power to the American people, along with promoting their military war-machine in places like the Middle-East.....no question about it. The results of this event, as tragic as it was, has also placed the Muslim-Community, globally, on the for front of being potential, inherent terrorists-in-the-making. I've even recently met someone, who was injured in Iraq & actually just became a Muslim himself, who admitted to me while we were talking that this whole "war-on-terror" is a complete lie & that the U.S. military are tyrants. Unfortunately, most Americans, especially U.S. servicemen will not manifest enough courage to admit something like this.

The whole religious-extremist, Islamists, Islamic-Fundamentalists angle has basically been thrown out into the media, to be internalized by the American people, to keep them thinking that Islam & Muslims are the enemy. I seen the look of anger & fear on people's faces every time I go out of my home, whenever I'am at Yankee Stadium, whenever I've ever been on a plane, every time I go to the movies, there's always someone, somewhere, who me & people like me, just because I'm a Muslim, just because I have a beard, just because I may be reading the Qur'an in public, that I am a terrorist, or at least not that far from it. Even among people whom I've grown up around around, even those who've known me before I even became a Muslim, have been deeply affected by the lies & deceit that has been projected about Islam & Muslims in main-stream media. But, I as an individual am supposed to just accept the lies along with everyone else.....nah, not me. I refuse to to allow myself to be lied to, especially when the lies are going to directly influence how people will forever view my religion, and my fellow practitioners of my religion.

Now, I'm no fool...we all no that unfortunately, Muslims have used religious justification to commit acts of terror against people, but what group of religious fanatics historically have not done such a thing...we remember the Inquisition, right?!!! But, to say that 19 Arabs high-jacked four planes, by only using box-cutters, and to breach NYC & Washington D.C. airspace to crash into the Twin Towers & the Pentagon, and not only not intercepted, but not even detected...I mean, c'mon...that's a lil' ridiculous!!! There was a man by the name of Robert McIlvaine Sr., who lost his son, Robert McIlvaine Jr. at the World trade Center on 9/11, and was also interviewed for the 9/11 documentary, Zero, who had this to say,"I'm not a conspiracy-theorist. I'm a parent looking for the murderer of my son. And, you have to be a moron to think that 19 Arabs did it!!!"

It's been ten years since the tragedy of September 11th took place, and I still find myself, having to explain that Islam doesn't condone violence, that Muslims are not terrorists, that we're not the blood-thirsty tyrants that we're portrayed as being, who want to wreak havoc on the Western/American way of life, in the media, as if I'm being put on trial by virtue of the fact that I am a Muslim. The perpetuation of these fallacies will only allow the U.S. to play & perfect their divide-and-conquer game, to continue to push non-democratic policies, that infringe on the basic rights of Americans in the name of "national-security"/"national-interest", and to increase the already clear-and-present hatred as well as fear that many Americans have for Islam & Muslims.

The only way that America & the American people can truly heal from this tragedy is honesty. We need to stop blaming those who were not involved: Islam did not attack the U.S. on September 11th, Muslims did not attack the U.S. on September 11th, and the Muslm-World did not attack the U.S. on September 11th. I'm really sick & tired of even Muslims taking this apologetic stance against what happened. Was it tragic what happened on September 11th...of course, was it unjustified...of course, but, is Islam responsible for what happened, are the Muslims responsible for what happened, hell no.

#I'm just sayin'!!!

Washington's plight (The dilema that is the National-Debt):

This whole mad scramble for cash, by the U.S. government should make the American people ponder deeply about the severe condition of our national economy, as well as how we're being viewed in the world right now, as a sinking ship. However, one thing that has not been pondered over is this: have any of these blue-chip companies (like Goldman Sachs, or Citigroup, for example), who've received billions of dollars from Washington, to keep their businesses afloat, ever volunteered to help get the U.S. out of her estimated $14Trillion debt to other countries, businesses, private investors, etc.?

The answer should'nt surprise any of us, the answer is hell no!!! To be honest, why should they bail the U.S. out? I mean, it's not their fault that the U.S. Congress is so enthralled to the whims of big-business, via campaign, and lobbyists monetary purse-strings, that keep them in Congressional positions for so many years, while they allow Wall Street to screw Main Street, with no vaseline.

Washington very graciously, based upon the power of fear that our economy would surely collapse had these big companies not received bailout money, gave Wall Street the keys to the vault of the U.S. Treasury, and allowed Wall Street to rob the American people out of $700Billion that they didn't deserve anyway, because they're supposed to be able to get themselves out of the mess that they made. And, come to find out, these companies gave their top executives annual bonuses, purchased private jets, sponsored lavish events, all in the name of getting away with highway robbery, at the expense of the American people, as well as the current expense of our national economy. But, the incredible irony is the following: our national economy is still out of wack & on the brink of failure-So what good did all of these Federal bailouts, to all of these companies do anyway?

We could really use that extra $700Billion, which was shelled-out to Wall Street, right about now. But, where do you think this is going to come from? Not the blue-chip conglomerates, not from the Fortune 500 companies, not even from the banking & investment sectors, which owe their current survival to U.S. bailouts. No.....it's all goin' to be comin' from the pockets of the American people.....again.....as usual.....as always.

The U.S. Congress has recently managed to pass a bill, which was signed by President Obama, to raise the U.S. debt-ceiling higher, in order to prevent a national financial default, which would officially make the U.S. bankrupt. But, still, how is Washington supposed to solve their ever-evolving problem, of spending what they don't have to spend?!!! Also, how is Washington planning to diminish its trillion-dollar debt, providing that this debt-ceiling can even be raised any further? Now that our government is on the brink of national bankruptcy, where should Washington go, to get its share of bailout funds? Who is going to bailout the U.S.?!!! Will it be all of these private institutions, whose base of operations are in the U.S.? Or, will it be all of those third-world countries, who receive billions of U.S. monetary foreign aid? Or, could it be the IMF? Hey.....at the rate that things are going in the U.S. right now, it's not a bad option, if the opportunity presents itself!!!

That is, in fact, the $14Trillion question: who's gonna take on this massive task of ensuring that our national economy doesn't go belly-up?!!! The entire world still has Washington under a microscope right now-From Obama trying to get re-elected as President, while still having to deal a shabby American economy & two war fronts (which did not end with the announcement of Bin-Ladin's death, which is the whole reason why thousands of U.S. troops & billions of dollars worth of weaponry were used in both Afghanistan & Iraq, to seek out terrorists-cells & WMD's, right?), the stalemate decisions about raising the debt-ceiling in the first place (which had initially gone nowhere fast in both the chambers of the House of Representatives & the House of the Senate, previous to this very recent bill that has been passed to raise it), to the walk-out by Rep. Boehner & his personal tug-of-war/cat-fight between himself & President Obama about the whole debt-ceiling issue-This whole financial mess has been just like a typical cheesy soap opera, but with trillions of cash on the line.

What makes this situation worse, on an international scale, is that other countries who are in competition with the U.S. (like China or India for example), could not only loose confidence in investing in the U.S. economy, but, could also use this potential tragedy for the U.S. as an opportunity, to make themselves the next top-dog economic superpower, which would obviously change the entire global economic & political landscape of the world. These are truly trying times for Washington, and the U.S. Congress had better get things together, before things get a lot worse.

#I'm just sayin'!!!

Gareth Bryant's Top-Five reasons why there will never be a Palestinian state:

1. The Palestinian people, the Muslim Palestinians anyway, have not made the issue of Palestine a religious issue-They've only made this an ethno-national issue, while forgetting that Palestine is the long lost sector of the Muslim-World. So, like any & every part of the Muslim-World, it belongs to all of the Muslims, not just some, just like how Makkah, Madinah, and Jerusalem are not at all the properties of the respective countries that hold present jurisdiction over these sacred religious-sites, rather in truth, they are the properties of the Muslim-World. But, very few, if any Muslim Palestinians, Muslim Arabs, or Muslims in general, view the issue of Palestine in this way at all.

This is based upon a statement from the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), when he said,  "The Muslims share three things: Water, Fire and Land.". This refers to any and all places where the Islamic-State has ruled/formerly ruled, places where there is a modern government which is presently run either mainly or totally by other Muslims, as well as any & all natural resources available in these respective places, by religious default, all of this, are the global properties of the Muslims. But, unfortunately, again, most Muslims just don't get it.

2. The Western-World really doesn't want the Muslim-World to reunite, under any circumstances, which would by default tamper with the geo-political/financial dominance & interests of the Western-World, in the Muslim-World, particularly the Arab-World-The main reason why the United Nations even allowed the State of Israel to exist in the first place was to serve as a satellite-nation, to monitor & keep the rest of its Muslim/Arab neighbors under military pressure, which has worked significantly over the past six decades. And, the Western-World is not just going to give up its most prized satellite-nation, Israel, for the sake of giving justice to the Palestinian people.

3. The Muslim leaders in the Muslim-World/Arab-World are to greedy for wealth, power, position, influence on the world's political stage, etc., to concern themselves with the needs of their fellow Muslims, who have been oppressed for the past six decades, which actually stem from the ancestors of the modern leaders of the Muslim-World/Arab-World revolting & helping to topple the Ottoman Empire, the last official globally recognized ruling body of the Muslim-World to date, which no one wants to really talk about. This is how the Western-World was able to get the Muslim Arabs to revolt against the Turks in the beginning, via the promise of autonomous self-rule.

But, in actuality, they've become geo-political boy-toys to the Western-World, so because the Western-World has so much dirt on them, it's like they can't really stand up against the tyranny of the State of Israel & the Western-World, without first admitting to the fact that they are, in fact, majorly responsible for the formation of the State of Israel via rebellion against the Ottoman Empire, which had control over Palestine at the time of World War I-Of course, after their defeat in World War I, one of the conditions of surrender was that the Ottoman Empire forfeit all former territories, outside of modern-day Turkey, to the Allied Powers, which of course included Palestine.

4. If a Palestinian state were in fact established, they would have a lot of bones to pick with a lot of nations, like their Muslim/Arab neighbors, who basically left them hanging for damn near a century, while they've been systematically displaced, oppressed, marginalized, and made into the most popular group of refugees in Human history.

5. No one really gives a shit!!!

#I'm just sayin'!!!

Somalia (The Anatomy of a Tragedy):

I shouldn't have to reiterate what's gruesomely obvious, but it seems that I must: significantly large populations of people, living in four countries in the Horn of Africa: Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Somalia, are currently facing one of the most devastating famines ever seen in recent memory & possibly in the entire history of the African continent itself. One country particularly, Somalia, has the most to lose as a result of this famine getting worse. Somalia has indeed suffered the most in the Horn of Africa region from this terrible famine, for several reasons: the lack of U.N. relief aid getting into Somalia, the severe the lack of accessibility into this country (making it basically impossible for on-the-ground assessments, as to who needs the most help in Somalia, so relief aid can reach the proper places & people in the first place), the result of over twenty years worth of carnage, murder, political imbalance (which has ruined the political and financial infrastructure of this entire country, making Somalia completely unable to deal with the severity of this famine on their own). Ever since 1991, the Somali people have been given not only the short end of the stick, but, they haven't even been given a stick to hold on to, for any potential hope to come their way. Unfortunately, they are the perpetual victims & subjects of massive abuse, externally by the international-community, as well as internally, by even their own people. The Somali warlords, ruling with iron fists & fear, who control food, water, life & death, etc., preside over autonomous pocket-sections all over of this nation, as if they were like the notorious mafia chieftains, who ruled America, during the prohibition-era.

One of the most tragic realities of this whole affair is that since Somalia hasn't had a stable central government in two decades, this has given these ruthless, tribal-warlords a free-hand, to rob, rape & pillage their own people, without any form of accountability. And, because of this unchecked oppression, Somalis are left with little options for survival, because quite frankly, no one seems to care. I mean, there hasn't been a great international out cry at any U.N. general assemblies that I've heard of as of recent, or any move to rid the nation of Somalia of its tyrannical warlords. In Iraq, all you had to say was "WMD's", and the U.S., along with her "gong-ho" coalition forces were right there on the scene, like they were the members of Marvel Comic's "The Avengers", or D.C. Comic's "The Justice League". In the early 1980's, during the Reagan-Administration, the moment that the U.S. got wind of Socialist/Communist influence expanding beyond Cuba & into Central America, particularly in the republic of Nicaragua, the U.S. gladly gave support, via military/intelligence, arms and money to the Contras (who would in our modern political context be classified as "terrorists-groups"), to do battle against the pro-Socialist/Communist Sandinista government.

I just wonder.....with all the U.S. & U.N. confirmations of "terrorists-cells" & "terrorists-groups", loyal to "Al-Qaeda", having swept threw Somalia, with their authority virtually unchallenged by the Democratic/Western-world.....why hasn't there been a great move to relieve Somalia of its warlords & to help bring stability to this 20-year long war-torn nation?!!!

Is it because the U.S. is still sour about that ass-whippin' that the U.S. Military was served, early on during the Clinton-Administration in the early 1990's, by Somali rebel forces.....could be. Or, maybe, it's because the whole "Al-Qaeda in Africa" story (which is just as much a sham as the whole "WMD" fantasy in Iraq) is an excuse needed to not go the extra-mile, to help these people-Like in the case of Rwanda: a million people were slaughtered within three months, while the "civilized-world" just sat back, and enjoyed the show, like it was a cool made-for-T.V. "Movie of the Week".....probably.

Or, last but not least, it may just stem from the old colonial mentality of not wanting former prized colonial possessions of the "Dark-Continent" to rise and be economically & politically independent nations, to be forces-to-be-reckoned-with in the world, because the former colonial masters of Africa would no longer be able to further rape its land and/or its people of their innumerable resources.....yeah, I think this is the reason.

But, whatever the reason, the excuses for not giving the Somalis, or any other country help in times of crises like this are pathetic, despicable, and are no longer acceptable, and in truth, they were really never acceptable to begin with.

There a lot of other people here to blame for the tragedy that is Somalia's current plight. I mainly blame the Muslim-World itself. From an Islamic perspective, these oil-rich Muslim/Arab royal families & kingdoms have enough wealth in their individual & national coffers, to rid not just Somalia, not just the Horn of Africa, not just Africa, not just the rest of the Muslim-World, but the entire globe of starvation. In fact, it's their inherent religious obligation to do so, just because they have more, while others have less.

But, why has hunger still remained an undisputed champion in our lifetimes, in a world of unprecedented human wealth & possession-There's plenty for all, but it seems that no one wants to share, because they just don't care.

#I'm just sayin'!!!

A necessary clarification concerning misconceptions about Islam & Muslims:

Author's Note: 
I would like to clarify some common misconceptions about Islam & Muslims, which have been taken to be factual, by both Non-Muslims as well as other Muslims. I purposely chose to mention theological issues in this particular post, being that these issues are of the utmost important to clarify for both Non-Muslims & Muslims.


1.   Allah (means “God”) is the Arabic word for “God”:
The word for god in the Arabic language is “Ilah”, hence the famous Islamic slogan:
(“La ilaha illal-lah”) “There is no god except Allah”.1 This slogan is one half of the Islamic Testimony of Faith, which is required to be said by someone who wants to become a Muslim. The word “Ilah” (much like the word “God” in English2) means an object of worship.3 Based upon that, anything or anyone can be a god. In fact, the Islamic definition of this first half of the Testimony means that there is no object of worship in truth except Allah. People worship many different things like fame, fortune, power, etc. There are all types of gods, but there is only one Allah. The word “Allah” is a very unique word in the Arabic language, because it cannot be made dual, plural, feminine, indefinite or an object of possession (i.e. in the Arabic language, a person cannot say: “two Allah’s”, “three Allah’s”, “feminine Allah”, “an Allah”, or “my Allah”). Many people may very well ask: Well, what does Allah mean if not “God”? My answer to that would simply be this: the name “Allah” is a specific word in the Arabic language that has been chosen by the Lord of the Universe as His principal name, even though He informs us in His Book (the Qur’an) of His other names.4 The closest possible translation of the word “Allah” in English would be “The One-True God”.

2. Muslims worship Muhammad:
Muslims are not allowed to worship anyone except Allah Himself. We do not give created things any level of Divinity. Divinity is only for Allah, and He does not share His Divinity with anyone.5 Muhammad (Peace be upon him) is only the Messenger of Allah6; the one whom was given the Book of Allah (the Qur’an). Allah taught him His speech (the Qur’an) though he could not read or write it.7

3. Muslims worship Stones & Statues:
Not only are Muslims prohibited from worshipping other Humans, we are also banned from worshipping Animals, forces of Nature, Planets & Stars, engraved images, sculptures, etc. There has been some people and groups who have suggested that Muslims worship the Black-Stone, which is embedded in one of the corners of the Ka`bah in the Sacred Mosque in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, as well as an ancient Pagan-Arab goddess named Al-lat, whom many have stated that the Muslims got the name “Allah” from the name “Al-lat”. Many people lie upon the Muslims to try to accuse us of not being truly monotheistic. Theologically, as well as linguistically this is all wrong. Firstly, Allah tells us in His Book how the Pagan-Arabs worshipped many other gods & goddesses, including Al-lat.8 Secondly, the names “Allah” & “Al-lat” are two completely different words in the Arabic language with separate meanings.9

4. Islam means “Peace”:
The word Islam does not mean “Peace”, rather it means submission. In fact, the Islamic definition of this word means: “Submission to Allah with Oneness (meaning to worship Allah alone, as one god), to humble one’s self with it, and to free one’s self from Association (Polytheism) and its (branches) people.”10

5. Muslims believe in the Bible:
We do not accept the Bible as the word of Allah, because of what the word Bible means. The word itself simply means a collection of books.11We do believe in the Torah, Psalms, and Gospel as they were first revealed. Allah informs us of how the people whom these previous books were initially revealed to eventually changed what was in those books.12

6. Muslims do not believe in Jesus:
We do believe that Jesus (Peace be upon him) is in fact the Christ (for the record, Allah mentions him as the Christ more than five times in the Qur’an)13, but that is as far as it goes. We do not regard him as the “Son of Allah” because he is not. We also do not regard him as the one who died for the sins of Humanity.14 Allah has no parents, no children, and no equal.15

7. Islam is an “Abrahamic-Faith”:
The whole concept that Islam, Judaism, and Christianity have the same origin is ridiculous. Islam predates Abraham (Peace be upon him), because according to Islamic text, the first Muslim was the first Human, Adam (Peace be upon him).16 As for Judaism & Christianity, these two religions did not exist during the lifetime of Abraham (Peace be upon him), on the contrary, they appeared at least 3,000 years after the death of Abraham (Peace be upon him).17

8. Muhammad was the founder of Islam:
Muhammad (Peace be upon him) did not founded Islam. Islam predates him as well Abraham (Peace be upon him), which was previously mentioned. He was however the Seal of the Prophets & Messengers who called Humanity to Islam.18

9. Members of the “Nation of Islam” or the “Five-Percent Nation” are Muslims:
The “Nation of Islam” is a total facade; formerly led by Elijah Poole (better known as “Elijah Muhammad) who taught his followers that the founder of the “Nation of Islam”; a man named Wallace D. Ford (better known as “Master Fard Muhammad”) was Allah (as well as the fallacy that African-Americans were a “Nation of Gods”), and that he was the “Messenger of Allah”, who was sent to the “Black-Man” in the Western Hemisphere; often referring to them as the “Lost Tribe of Shabazz”.19 This man was a complete theological fraud who preyed upon the ignorance of his own people (to acquire dominance in the African-American community) for his own selfish interests. He never taught his followers the correct theological fundamentals of Islam, and is personally responsible for misguiding countless African-Americans, as well as painting an overall false image of Islam & Muslims to other people across the globe.
As for the “Five-Percent Nation”, their founder was a rogue member of the “Nation of Islam” named “Clarence 13X”. The core beliefs of both the “Nation of Islam” & the “Five-Percent Nation” are almost identical, with the exception that the divinity of the “Black-Man” is emphasized more among “Five-Percenters”. They also have a belief that they are the selected few who are righteous, thus making them only 5% of the Human population. Everyone else falls into the category of the “Eighty-Fivers”; the 85% who are the “Ignorant-Masses” or the 10% who “Build & Destroy”. They also practice Numerology, something that is regarded as a Major-Sin according to Islamic-Law.20

10. Muslims Jews & Christians believe in the same god:
If Muslims, Jews, & Christians all believed in the same god then there would be no such thing as a Muslim, Jew, or Christians would there? The Jews believe that they are the chosen “People of God”. Does this mean that every single Human that ever lived who is not Jewish is damned? The Christians believe that Jesus (Peace be upon him) died for their sins. What about all of the other Humans that ever lived before the time of Jesus (Peace be upon him) are they also damned? Where is the justice? As Muslims, we believe that Allah has sent guidance to every nation, and to every people, regardless of ethnicity, regional, or continental origin.21

#I'm just sayin'!!!

1 Lisan-ul`Arab (The Arabic Language [Lexicon of the Arabic Language])
2 Webster’s Dictionary
3 Al-`Aqidat-ul-Islamiyyah (Islamic Creed), Muhammad Jamil Zino
4 Noble Qur’an: Chpt. 59, V. 22-24
5 Noble Qur’an: Chpt. 18, V. 26
6 Noble Qur’an: Chpt. 48, V. 29
7 Noble Qur’an: Chpt. 7, V. 157
8 Noble Qur’an: Chpt. 53, V. 19
9 Lisan-ul-`Arab, Chick Publications
10 Al-Qawlu-ul-Mufid (The Beneficial Speech), Muhammad ibn-`Abd-il-Wahhab ibn-`Aly al-Wasaby
11 Webster’s Dictionary
12 Noble Qur’an: Chpts. 2, V. 65 & 79; 5, 60
13 Noble Qur’an: Chpts. 3, V. 40; 4, 156, 157 & 171; 5, 17, 72 & 75; 9, 30 & 31
14 Noble Qur’an: Chpt. 4, V. 157
15 Noble Qur’an: Chpt. 112, V. 3 & 4
16 Qasas-ul-Anbiya’ (Stories of Prophets), Isma`il Ibn-Kathir ad-Dimashqy
17 Noble Qur’an: Chpt. 3, V. 67
18 Noble Qur’an: Chpt.. 33, V. 40
19 Message to the Black Man in America, Elijah Muhammad; World Religions, MacMillan Compendium, MacMillan Library
Reference, U.S.A.; Encyclopedia of African-American Religions
20 Al-Kaba’ir (The Major-Sins), Muhammad ibn-`Uthman adh-Dhahaby
21 Noble Qur’an: Chpt. 16, V. 36

My Brooklyn Bridge walking-race:

Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2011, this day, in which the weather was good like many others days when the weather's good, I decided to walk the Brooklyn Bridge. This has been my main modality of consistent exercise, for the past 5 years. I'm a pretty in-shape kind of guy because of it, by the way. Also, I've been able to increase my general body speed, by constantly challenging myself, to walk even faster, to get across the bridge in a faster time. Not to long ago, I actually managed to walk the entirety of the Brooklyn Bridge in only 20 mins., no joke. But, every once in a while, us fellow New York bridge walkers have a tendency to challenge one another upon our favorite bridges, sometimes out of the thrill to show off how fast we can walk, or simply out of the wanting for healthy competition, either way, we all end up playing the walk-race game, with our fellow bridge-walkers.

But, on this particular Tuesday, as soon as I got on the bridge, and started walking.....this guy, no younger than about mid-40's just blows past me. As I'm looking behind him, I see him & think to myself, "I can't let this old Nigga beat me; I gotta get him!!!" (Now, for all of you who are about to bitch & moan about me using the word "Nigger/Nigga", author's note: he was a White guy. I'm only using it as a general, common generational term, so kill that noise that you're about to make.....i.e. calm ya ass down!!!). So, as soon as I get a chance to catch up and exceed him, I immediately take the chance. He sees me walking faster than him, and he recognizes the challenge. There's no turning back from this point, the race is on.

So, as both of us are going neck-and-neck across the brdige, there's a hell of a lot of traffic, and it's difficult to maneuver at times, with all of the damn tourists, people wanting to stop and take the same exact pictures, on  the same exact spot on the bridge that they've taken the last time that they were on the bridge. Then, but of course, there's these mad-dog bikers, who are always complaining about us walkers being in the bike lane, even without being in the actual bike lane. Honestly, if it were up to the bikers, no bridge on Earth would even have walk lanes.

So, we're still at it, me catchin' a lil' 2-foot lead, him coming back and gainin' a ten-foot lead. this lasted a great majority of our walk. Fortunately, I was able to use the crowds of the people on the bridge to my advantage to loose him at certain parts on the bridge, but he was still on my heels, at every single freakin' turn!!! But, things got really interesting, as soon as we got over the divide of the bridge, separating Brooklyn and Manhattan. As soon as we crossed that marker divide.....boom.....he pulled out this immediate burst of speed-walking power. I felt like he was Yoda & I was Luke Skywalker, he straight schooled me, yo!!! But, all this time, I was still thinking to myself, "I gotta win against him!!!". Both of our egos were highly invested into this one-time, random walk-race.

So, as soon as we get close to the second tower of the bridge, the ol' man does a baller move. He daringly cuts across, to the biker's lane. I said to myself, "Did the ol' man really do what I thought he did?!!!" And, lo & behold, he damn sure did. With that move alone, he really caught me off guard, because that one of the most congested parts of the bridge, the parts where the two towers are. People stop, take a whole lot of damn photos, chillax & what not & when you're trying to time yourself, or when you're walk-racing against someone, these lame-os will make you slow down & probably loose to your competition, by just loly-gaggin'.

Now, he's ahead of me by atleast ten feet, and we're about another 5 mins. away from the end of the bridge, this is like 4th-quarter, 2-min. warning action here. If I don't estbalish a solid lead now, I'll never beat him. But, then, ironically in my favor, there was like a jet-stream of people from the opposite side, walking on to the bridge towards us. Now, I see a glimer of hope. I began to gain on him, first 6, then 4, then two feet worth of difference between us.

Then, I see a perfect opening to slip through the crowd and take the permanent lead, which of course I graciously take, within seconds of him taking that lead from me. Now, with the biker & walker lanes so close together & no way to really move out out your lane, or else you'll bump into a jack-ass of a biker, or end up in conflict with a fellow walker, my lead was all but secure. But this ol' man is too good for me to let him catch me slippin', so I used my endurance & youth to consolidate the lead, which really saved me, because trust me, if he were my age, I don't think that there's anyway that I could've beaten him.

So, as we come to the final part of the bridge, I'm very relieved that I wasn't embarrassed, by loosing a walk-race to a man literally old enough to be my father. As soon as we got to the end, I had felt like Usain Bolt, when he won his race, thus setting the world's record as the fastest Human being on record. That's how happy I felt, it was just a great feeling to just win, even though there's no medal or prize money. Most often, when your pride is invested in something, winning is much more than enough.

So, as soon as we stopped at the end of the bridge, we couldn't stop laughing at how much work we put each other through. It was so good to have him as my walking competition. Then we went on our own separate ways. But, that was a very good memory for me, that's why I've decided to write about it. And, honestly, even though I won against him, it's like he still won, because I actually learned from him while we were walking. So, just a warning.....if you're in New York City, and you're walking the Brooklyn Bridge, be careful who you think you can out walk, because I almost lost against an old-timer.

#I'm just sayin'!!!

The Reasons Muslims do not celebrate Non-Islamic Holidays:

We must first examine the meaning of the word “holiday”.

Holiday (from the Old English; Haligdaeg, which means holy-day):

The day or days of a religious festival.1

It is obvious that even from the definition of the word means that inherently this term has deep religious significance. As Muslims, we are only allowed to partake in celebrations & festivals that have been specifically dictated to us by our Lord, who is Allah; the Lord of the Heavens & the Earth, He who has neither parent nor child, and His Messenger who is Muhammad, the Son of `Abd-il-lah (Peace be upon him); the Seal of the Prophets & Messengers. The one whom the Qur’an was revealed to.2 As Muslims, we only have two holidays; the first being the 1^st day of (the 10^th month of the Islamic Calendar) Shawwal, which indicates the end of (fasting) Ramadhan. The name of this holiday is called the Celebration of the Feast.3 The second being the 10^th day of (the 12^th month of the Islamic Calendar) Dhul-Hijjah, which commemorates the sacrifices that Allah commanded Abraham (Peace be upon him) to make, like sacrificing his first born son, Ishmael (Peace be upon him). The name of this holiday is called the Celebration of the Sacrifice.4 Muslims are not allowed to participate in any celebration or festivity, which has any Non-Islamic origins, like the glorification of false gods.5 We also do not celebrate our holidays whenever we want to. Our days of festivities & merriment are standardized, and are only to be observed on the days which Allah and His Messenger (Peace be upon him) legislated.

Examples of some Non-Islamic holidays & their origins:

Valentine’s Day:

Initially, an annual Roman holiday of fertility, the Lupercalia (also called the Lupercalis)6 in honor of Lupercus, the “god of Livestock”. Each year eligible men & women (in every city, town, or village) would be paired together in a lottery. One of the rituals of this holiday was to slaughter innumerable amounts of goats, take the goat blood and smear it upon the eligible women, in the hope that it would give them the potential to conceive. As Christianity spread across continental Europe, the Catholic Church wanted to legitimize the Lupercalia. So, on February 14^th, 496 C.E., the Lupercalia was renamed Saint Valentine’s Day in commemoration of two Catholic Saints, both named Valentine.

Easter:

From the name Eastre, the ancient Germanic “goddess of Spring & Fertility”,7 the celebration of Easter was originally a festival commemorating the (Spring Solstice) first day of Spring. Many traditions of early Germanic Easter-type folklore have been preserved to the present-day, like the legend of the “Easter Bunny”. According to Germanic traditions, the Rabbit represented fertility. Another people that contributed to Easter were the ancient Greeks. According to Greek mythology, Persephone,8 (daughter of Demeter the “goddess of the Earth”9) was brought back to life, and returned to the Earth from the Underworld. This legend inspired the Greeks to formulate the belief that Spring represented life, while Winter represented death. Even the Hebrew word Pesach,9 which means “Passover” is linguistically synonymous with the Greek word Pasha, which means “Easter”. Many early Christians (who were of Jewish origin) added the celebration of Easter to Passover, in commemoration of the “Resurrection” of Jesus Christ (Peace be upon him).

Halloween:

Originally a Celtic holiday (from the ancient religion of Druidism). This celebration commemorated the arrival of Autumn & Winter. The name of this holiday was originally called Samhain, which used to begin on the night of October 31^st. According to the Druids, the spirits of those who had died the previous year were roaming the Earth on this day. In order to appease these “lost souls” the Druids would make sacrificial offerings; things like food, and other types of gifts were thought to please the dead. Even humans & animals were sacrificed on this day. Large bonfires were also part of the general festivities. By the end of the 1^st century, the Roman Empire swept across Europe, even to the British Isles, the home of the Druid-Celts. As a result, the Romans began to emulate religious rituals, and festivals of its conquered peoples. When Christianity became the dominant religion in Europe, the Catholic Church would often Christianize pagan holidays, in order to satisfy their newly converted (formerly pagan) populous. The holiday Samhain was no different. In 835 C.E.,  Pope Gregory IV10 changed the name of Samhain to “ All Saint’s Day”. It was later changed to “All Souls Day”, in 998 C.E., and would later be change to Allhallows Day or Hallowmas, and finally to Halloween. The night before Halloween was named Hallows Eve.

Thanksgiving:

Thanksgiving draws its roots from traditional European harvesting festivals. These festivals commemorated successful harvesting seasons. In the British Isles, a very similar festival was observed on August 1^st. According to the traditional method of celebration, this festival was only commenced when a harvesting season was successful; if not then the festival was usually cancelled. The official holiday (modern version) of “Thanksgiving” began in North America, with the Puritans. At first, Thanksgiving was observed on a non-annual basis, depending on circumstances. Usually, Thanksgiving was specifically observed because of times of crisis, or after some type of misfortune had passed.

Christmas:

Originally, a seven-day Roman festival known as the Saturnalia.11 This celebration began on December 17^th, which commemorated Saturn the “god of Agriculture”, as well as the (Winter Solstice) first day of Winter. During the Saturnalia, the Romans halted trade, warfare, exchanged gifts, and even gave their slaves temporary freedom. There were many additions to this holiday, like the festival of Mithra12 the Persian “god of Light”. They would glorify Saturn & Mithra by making sacrificial offerings, along with other regular acts of worship. With the combination of the Saturnalia and the festival of Mithra, these festivities extended all the way to January 1^st.

This marked the first day of the month of the new year (According to the Julian Calendar). As Christianity swept across Europe, the Catholic Church began to adopt and Christianize traditional pagan holidays once practiced by their new converts, as an incentive to keep them as Christians. The Saturnalia was eventually renamed “Christmas”, in honor of the “birth” of Jesus Christ (Peace be upon him), even though there is no known religious, or historical proof that Jesus (Peace be upon him) was even born in the Winter, much less on December 25^th. In fact, December 25^th was the birth of Mithra, according to ancient Persian mythology.

It has become very clear that the holidays so many people from around the world know & love have pagan origins. For those who claim to be monotheistic (particularly Jews & Christians), you must now evaluate what you allow yourselves, and your families to celebrate as holidays. If you claim to be an upright Jew or Christian, yet still partake in these types of holidays, then you have a serious theological dilemma.

According to the teachings of the Old Testament (the Torah), idolatry is the worst thing that a human being could commit. However, the holidays that represent this same type of abomination have been preserved by the same people who claim to shun polytheism, and are still celebrated as though nothing is wrong, why?

Allah tells us: “They took their Rabbis, and Priests, and the Christ, the Son of Mary as lords besides Allah, and they were not commanded except to worship one god. There is no god except Him. Glorified is He above whatever they associate”.13

When Muhammad (Peace be upon him) related this verse for the first time to his Companions (May Allah be pleased with them all-together), one of them, a former Jew, by the name of `Ady bin-Hatim proclaimed that the Rabbis were not worshiped.

Then (Muhammad) he asked him: “Did they not make unlawful what Allah made lawful, and lawful what Allah made unlawful, so you also made it lawful? He (`Ady bin-Hatim) replied: Of course!!! He (Muhammad) said: That is their worship”.14 Based on that Prophetic statement, the Jews & Christians definitely worshiped their scholars, because they made unlawful what Allah made lawful for them, and lawful what Allah made unlawful for them, and they listened to their scholars. They worshiped them because they listened to them when they were wrong.

The fact that so many pagan holidays (like Halloween & Valentine’s Day) are celebrated by the Christians validates that statement. Allah also tells us: “So do not make with Allah rivals, and you know better”.15 The meaning of this verse is not to worship anything other than Allah, or give anything the same status that Allah possesses, like Divinity. Only Allah possesses Divinity, and does not share His Divinity with anything.
Both the Jews & Christians are guilty of making rivals with Allah.

As He says in His Book: “And the Jews say Ezra is the Son of Allah, and the Christians say the Christ is the Son of Allah. That is their statement from their own mouths. They (imitate) repeat the statement of those who disbelieved from before. Allah has cursed them, they are rejectors”.16

#I'm just sayin'!!!

1 Webster’s Dictionary

2 Noble Qur’an: Chpt. 4, V. 39

3 Fataw-al-Islamiyyah (Islamic Verdicts), the Permanent Committee of Islamic Jurists, Saudi Arabia

4 Fataw-al-Islamiyyah; Qasas-ul-Anbiya’ (Stories of the Prophets), Isma`il Ibn-Kathir ad-Dimashqy

5 Noble Qur’an: Chpt. 7, V. 138; Kitab-ut-Tawhid (The Book of Islamic-Monotheism), Muhammad ibn-`Abd-il-

Wahhab; The Right Way, Ahmad ibn-Taymiyyah

6 www.ask.com

7 Encarta Encyclopedia

8 Encyclopedia Britannica

9 Encarta Encyclopedia

10 Encyclopedia Britannica

11 Encarta Encyclopedia

12 Encarta Encyclopedia

13 Noble Qur’an: Chpt. 9, V. 31; Kitab-ut-Tawhid

14 Musnad-Ahmad, Ahmad ibn-Hanbal; Sunan-ut-Tirmidhy, Muhammad ibn-`Isa ibn-Surat ibn-Musa ibn-ud-Dhahhak as-Sulaymy at-Tirmidhy ; Kitab-ut-Tawhid

15 Noble Qur’an: Chpt. 2, V. 22; Kitab-ut-Tawhid

16 Noble Qur’an: Chpt. 9, V. 30; Qasas-ul-Anbiya’

My Fashion-Week adventures:

My trek into one of the Fashion-World's greatest events started out rather ironically. I wasn't initially going to go to any events, because I was preoccupied with other things. But, as Allah would have it, He redirected my path (as usual) to something better. And, it was indeed better that I checked out Fashion-Week.

Day 1:

It all started on a Thursday night, September 8th; I was chillin' wit some peeps from the Islamic Center @NYU (New York University). We had proceeded to chill at one of the local residential halls where all of the action of Fashion-Week was, on Lafayette St., bet. White & Walker Sts. We walked from the Islamic Center, from 6th Ave. to Houston, then to Broadway. While we were walking, I noticed that there were so many people on the street, and began thinking to myself, "Why are there so many people on this part of Houston?!!!".

Actually, I ended up saying this out load as well. Then.....boom!!! We were right at the hub of all of what I'd like to call the March-Madness of Fashion, and that's exactly what it was too.....pure madness!!! People were just everywhere, like a colony of ants that you were to see, once you cut on the lights in your house or apartment, just droves, and swarms of all different types of people.

As we were walking down Broadway, we got separated from one another, then there were just myself, and four other people, as opposed to the original 10-20 people that I started out with. We were trying so hard to play catch-up, and actually catch up with our other friends who were ahead of us, but it was just wishful thinking by this point. So, we decided to just stay together & make sure that we didn't lose one another. So, we started to engage & delve into the atmosphere that was Fashion's Night Out, the official kick-off event to Fashion-Week in NYC.

Man, there were so many stores open after regular business hours, with so many discounts on stuff. We were so amazed at the low prices (relative to what the normal prices in these stores are...#wink...wink), and every store that was open was filled to the brim with tons of people. So, we ended up at the Lafayette dorm, but one of the NYU security guards on duty was a real jerk about letting me in the dorm, because I wasn't a student, and because of an earlier incident that had nothing to do me personally. So, we went back & forth, and I then decided that I was just gonna bounce because it just wasn't worth the hassle.

I initially intended to just go home, but I then wanted to just check out the scene of Fashion's Night out, just a little bit more, which in hindsight, I'm very much glad that I did. I ended up going back on Broadway, where I went pass the Aldo store (big up's to Aldo). I was gonna go up further, but then I wanted some shoes, and I haven't really bought any fresh shoes in a minute, plus I had the money. So, I just decided to treat myself. It was a worthwhile investment going to Aldo. I got these fresh smokey gray shoes, that zip up, so you dont have to un-lace your shoes every time you wanna rock them, and they have some wicked straps, so you don't even need the laces...the best of both worlds.

Almost immediately after I came out of the Aldo store, I saw a Muslim that I knew, Marlon (Marlon is my man). He really looked out for me, because he ended up giving me a VIP pass to a Sabit event @the Samsung Experience @Columbus Circle on Friday. I was sayin' to myself, "VIP @a Sabit event.....oh.....hell.....yeah!!!". I ended up going home to just rest after a long day, and got ready for my huge schedule for the next day. I'll talk about that later.....

Day 2:

On September 9th, I started off my day giving the weekly Islamic Sermon (Khutbah) @NYU-Poly in Brooklyn. Then, I chilled with some of the NYU-Poly guys for about an hour, before going to a CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) press-conference, on the eve of the 9/11 weekend. That was an interesting press-conference, mainly due to the fact that barely any news press was there that was domestic. I mean, there were no representation from Fox News, CNN, or any of these other mainstream news outlets. Oh yeah, that's right, they only wanna cover things about Muslims doing negative stuff, not positive, yeah that's it.

Anyway, after some good interviews which I, personally, participated , I proceeded to the Samsung Experience @Columbus Circle for the Sabit NYC sashion-show. It was just amazing to say the least (Sabit NYC rocks.....for real). Sabit really did their thing on Friday night, showcasing an amazing Fall/Winter & Spring/Summer collection that are must-haves in anyone's closets. I actually ended up meeting Shoichi Amemiya, the owner & founder of Sabit NYC, along with one of his children. Let me tell you, it's a really good feeling to actually meet someone who has made something that you take pride in wearing. And, likewise, it's a great feeling for them to know that so many people show up to these shows, who appreciate the clothing that these designers produce.

Basically, everything in the collection was boss!!! I was truly impressed by the designs themselves, color-schemes, fabric choices, it's all just slammin'!!! In fact, my boy Marlon was there too, workin' behind the scenes, as only he can. I also linked up with a Muslim guy from LIU (Long Island University), he's a great photographer by the way (kudows to my main-man, Kazi.....I see you, son). I also meet up with one of my former College cohorts, Alan Mildor (if you don't know who he is, you need to find out.....just Google his name, he's the man).

We were all just chillin' choppin' up, enjoyin' the show. It was a real treat to be at a fashion-show of this calibar & magnitude. And, for me as a Muslim & an up-coming designer myself, it gave me a different, realistic insight into how the Fashion-World works, from an aspect of presentation. Presentation does in fact mean everything in the Fashion-World, and there's no room for error.....at all!!!

This experience left an impression on my mind & in my heart, that reinforced my commitment to provide proper representation of Muslims (especially those of us who live in predominantly Non-Muslim countries) a sense of self-definition when it comes to fashion. Unfortunately, for us as Muslims (particularly & especially Muslim men), there so many different aspects of Islam that are just randomly dictated to us, via foreign influences (i.e. the rest of the Muslim-World, specifically the Arab-World), which imply that we're not good enough Muslims to give ourselves any form of self-definition, particularly in the realm of fashion.

I have a more clear vision of what my mission is: it's to further contribute to the self-definition of Muslims in the West, from a fashion perspective, and to provide a clothing line that meets the needs of all Muslims generally seeking self-definition. While I was talking to my boy Alan, he told me about to other fashion events, one in Brooklyn, the other in Manhattan over the 9/11 weekend. So, I said to myself, "I'm there!!!". We'll talk about those two events in a later.....

Day 3:

On September 10th, the next event that I ended up going to was way out in the boonies, near the border of Bed-Stuy & Williamsburg. It was a rooftop fashion event, hosted by the company Monkey Face Apparel. It was pretty dope, I got there around 10pm. & stayed until around 11:30pm. It was a really cool crowd, the weather outside was great (which provided a terrific atmosphere for the event itself since it was in fact on a rooftop) & the designs for their clothes were pretty unique & fresh. That night was pretty basic, so nothing much happened after I had left. I just went home & got some rest, to get ready for the event on my agenda for the weekend. Well talk about that later.....

Day 4:

On Sunday, Spetember 11th, during the last day of the weekend, I made my way to an event on Grand St. (near the border of SOHO & Little Italy). It was a photo-shoot event, hosted by Nice In Harlem (much props to Nice for hosting a very dope event.....great job Nice). There all types of other up & coming fashion artists at this event that I connected with, such as myself, who were using this grand opportunity to acquire any type of exposure, from as many venues as we possibly could. In this business, like in other industries, you really have to present/market/sell yourself well.

As exclusive as some of these events are and/or maybe, if you are a rookie, or established fashion artist, and have an opportunity to attend any of these Fashion-Week events, then you owe it to yourself to be where the action is & get in the mix. This event was definitely a cool way to end off my hectic, yet worthwhile, weekend. Honestly, I haven't had a weekend in NYC this exciting or exhilarating in a long time.

There are more events that I plan on attending, but I may or may not write about those. We'll see how well they turn out first. Until then.....stay tuned.

#I'm just sayin'!!!

If Anwar Al-Awlaki were Oliver North, he'd still be alive & chillin'!!!

Recently, a popular Muslim Cleric/Lecturer, who was also an American citizen, Anwar Al-Awlaki was murdered, via a C.I.A. operated spy-drone plane's missile, without due process of law, without confirmation of any direct acts of terror or treason against the U.S. Yet, it was made justifiable to make an example of him, to tell the world that the U.S. doesn't mind punking & murdering its own citizens, in order to perpetuate a lie that started on 9/11. For educational purposes, I'll take the liberty of comparing the lives & careers of both Anwar Al-Awalki & Oliver North respectively, just for you who are reading this to get a clear picture of how hypocritical the United States of America really is.

Anwar Al-Awlaki:

The short intro.-

Anwar Al-Awlaki was a U.S. citizen of Arab/Yemeni descent, who lived primarily in the United States, was an academic in the fields of  Civil-Engineering, and Education-Leadership, earning a B.S. degree in the former, from Colorado State University & an M.A. degree in the latter, from the University of San Diego. In addition, he was very well-versed in Islamic-Sciences, despite not having an extensive formal Islamic religious education, and served as a religious leader/advisor at several mosques in the U.S. before permanently relocating to Yemen, as well as several successful & popular audio lecture serials on various Islamic topics & subject to boot.

Now, on to the gritty stuff-

He did in fact have some far-right/extreme religious views, which ended up surfacing later on in his life through many of his teachings. But, this didn't in any way, mean that he personally or actively participated in any confirmed act of terror, either against civilians of any nation, or military personnel of any nation or coalition. Up until his recent death, the U.S. kept the opinion, though unfounded, that Anwar Al-Awlaki was an active Al-Qaeda operative & recruiter in both the U.S. and in the Arabian-Peninsula. Now, to be honest, he did in fact put himself out there in a lot of respects, and placed himself in unnecessary situations & conditions. But, this doesn't make him an active terrorist. And, in addition to the shady ways that the U.S. government classified Anwar Al-Awlaki, it would've made a lot more sense to either question, indict, or even detain him for his alleged terrorist activities and/or terrorist recruitment. But, while in the U.S., he was never officially charged with any such crime, nor questioned, arrested, indicted, arraigned, prosecuted or convicted for anything even remotely related to terror or terrorism. In fact, the only known jail time that he had ever served was in Yemen.

Oliver North:

The short intro.-

Oliver Laurence North, like Anwar Al-Awlaki, was born & raised in the U.S., is a forty-year military veteran, of the U.S. Marine Corps., attaining the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, with military awards ranging from a Silver & Bronze Star, to a Purple Heart Medal, twice received, during his military tours during the Vietnam War. He was also a commanding officer & strategist, during the hunt for the assailants responsible for the Beirut bombings in Lebanon as well as the U.S.-led invasion of Grenada, in the 1980's.

Now, on to the gritty stuff-

His main claim to fame, or infamy to be more accurate was the fact that he was officially indicted by a Congressional committee, of 16 separate Federal felonies, regarding his direct involvement in the infamous Iran-Contra Affair. The Iran-Contra Affair was one of the greatest examples of intelligence, military, diplomatic & political corruption in the history of the United States.

This is basically what happened in regards to the Iran Contra Affair:

North, being a high-ranking military man, having connections to every major U.S. military branch, intelligence agency, and also in the U.S. Congress & the White House, was able to use his influence via his important military position, to commit open treason against the people of the United States & our government. Basically, at that time, Iran was just recently considered a rogue state, as a result of the Islamic-Revolution that took place during the late seventies, coupled with the fact that nearly a hundred U.S. citizens were held for ransom against their will while in Iran, during the waning months of the Carter Presidential administration, also in that same decade.

So, Ollie got the bright idea to not only openly deal with a known, newly declared rogue state, that took U.S. citizens as hostages,  but, he also chose to deal with a group of known terrorists, commonly known as the Contras. The Contras were then in bloody opposition against the legitimate government of Nicaragua of that time, the Sandinistas. However, because the Sandinistas were Pro-Communists, Oliver North decided that the best way to deal with rogue states in the Mid-East & terrorists groups in Central America was to make business deals with them, of course, all in the good name of spread freedom, justice, equality, and Democracy throughout the world, via deception, usurpation, and backroom cut-throat dirty arms & drug deals.

So, here's where it really gets good:

Oliver North began smuggling arms to several terrorists groups, with ties to Iran, in Lebanon (keep in mind that the U.S. has always held an official policy since like forever which states the following, "We don't negotiate with Terrorists" & I've heard that in movies & real-life for as long as I could possibly remember), in exchange for U.S. nationals, captured in the Mid-East. But, it didn't stop there, check this out: On the other side of the world, deep down in Central America, there was another thing going on, the U.S. deliberately turned a blind-eye & allowed the Contras, who eventually ousted the legitimate government of the Sandinistas, to traffick drugs (Cocaine to be more accurate & specific), with the exclusive permission & transportation support of the U.S. military, under direct supervision of Ollie North, which he later admitted while being questioned at his own Congressional hearings in D.C. after he was busted and exposed publicly) into the United States itself, which by default helped fuel our already drug-dependent economy during the 1980's, which resulted in the largest mass use of Cocaine & Crack-Cocaine drug-dealing in the history of our nation, which has contributed to countless acts of street/gang violence, drug-addition, and basically represented one of the perfect examples of domestic-terrorism ever. The U.S. purposely gave corrupt CIA/U.S. military personnel the green-light to very graciously supply drug dealing thugs across our nation, via the narcotic connections established with the Contras in Central America, with lethal/life-destroying narcotics, for personal profit, contributing to domestic chemical-warfare against their fellow citizens of the U.S. (just in case you didn't know or realize, drugs/narcotics are in fact chemically-based & are therefore chemicals by definition, also, the affects that are caused by consuming these drugs/narcotics casually has many dangerous/life-threatening/fatal results).

How does all of this fit together, concerning Al-Awlaki & North?

Great question, now here's the answer: Al-Awlaki just happened to be a Muslim, with a few radical ideas, and he was automatically considered fair-game to kill although there were never any established proofs against him, nor was he allowed his day in court, the right of any U.S. citizen. Hell, even John Walker-Lindh was at least extradited to U.S. custody. Meanwhile, someone like North, who was one of the top players of this corruption food-chain, known as the Iran-Contra Affair, was not only given a bullshit sentence, but was eventually vacated of all charges against him, received an officially Presidential pardon, retired from the U.S. Armed forces without court-martial & with full honors, rank & pension, got his own television show, when I was a lil' kid during the 1980's naturally named "War Stories With Oliver North" (I actually remember watching this damned show). And, to date, this guy is a regular commentator/reporter for FOX News.

Now, what does all of these really mean?

Well I could tell you, but I'd really let you use your own intellect, integrity, and objectivity to decide for yourselves what this means. I'm willing to leave this post the way that it is. What I would appreciate greatly though is for anyone and/or everyone who so chooses to read this be very object, simply look at the facts that I've presented, and decide for yourselves what all of this means.

#I'm just sayin'!!!

Apparently, Anthony just couldn't keep his weiner in his pants:

There's recently been a tell-all expose, initiated by the one-time cheerleader coach/internet side-piece fling of the fallen former Congressman, Anthony Weiner, in her new book. This woman, Traci Nobles, is now dishing all types of dirt that obviously Weiner thought would be his best kept secrets forever.....wrong, buddy!!! Now, this guys has violated more bathroom stalls, and exercise facilities, with his "lil' man", than any high school tech geek could ever imagine.

To add insult to injury, this guy has a relationship with this woman, Huma Abedin, whom he blatantly embarrassed, both publicly & privately. But, enough about him. Let me talk about Huma for a minute. I have some clear-cut, straight/no chaser advice for Huma Abedin: LEAVE WEINER & DON'T MARRY ANOTHER NON-MUSLIM!!! You see, apparently, she's a Muslim, but, in Islam, it's made very clear that Muslim women are religiously prohibited from marrying any Non-Muslim man, under any circumstance. But, I'm guessing that didn't matter much to her.

Allah says very clearly, in the Qur'an, "And do not marry the Men of Idolatry, unless they believe." (Chpt.2, V.221). This verse of the Qur'an, although worded the way it is applies to any & all Non-Muslims, regardless of their respective religious orientations-Muslim women are off-limits, period. And, this escapade that Weiner had embarked upon is proof-[positive as to why no Muslim woman at any time, under any circumstance, should even desire to marry a Non-Muslim. Allah has given us a warning, but Huma had refused this warning, and this is what happens.

Now, I know that those who know me will give me a pretty hard way to go for writing this (yeah, like I really care, anyway...HA!!!). But, this just has to be said-It has to be known where the lines are drawn religiously for Muslims. Now, whether a Muslim chooses to abide by these regulations is an entirely different issue all-together. I'm just here to say what very few have the balls to say.

Even referring to their "marriage", Islamically, it wasn't even a marriage-Allah has already prohibited Muslim women from marrying Non-Muslim men, thus, their union is not Islamically acceptable in the sight of Allah as a marital-relationship. And, Weiner knew this full-well, that's why he said that Huma's parents were "backwards", as so related in Nobles' book, detailing all of the trash-talk that Weiner was dishing out, concerning Huma's parents & their general disapproval of her "marriage" to Weiner. Now, without getting all defense, in defense of Huma Abedin, Imma ask all of my respective Muslims, who are more on the Feminist/Liberal scale, was it really worth her even doing what she did, considering what Weiner has done to her?

Now you may think of me as sort of an ass-hole for even writing this, and personally, that's okay with me-I'm more than willing to accept any & all criticism concerning this. Besides, in all reality, I've written about a hell of a lot more controversial things than this. So, criticism is something that I receive pretty well, concerning my writing.....bring it on!!!

Now, back to my boy, Weiner: Dude, you're a dummy!!! It's bad enough that you've embarrassed someone who loved to the extent that they were willing to forfeit & disregard a deep-rooted religious principle for you, the least that you could've done is kept the lie alive & not have all of these various indiscretions. But, what can I expect?!!! But, then again, honestly, I have to admit something: if I were not a Muslim, and a Muslim girl was dumb enough to violate her own religious principles for a dude like me, yeah, I would've definitely done the same exact thing.

And, this friends is why Allah has prohibited Muslim women from marrying Non-Muslims, ya get it now?!!! It should be crystal-clear at right about this point!!!

#I'm just sayin'!!!