Islami News: Sep 14, 2009

I Was Taught to Hate Islam

A Greek Woman Embraces Islam

By Tina Styliandou

I was born in Athens, Greece , to Greek Orthodox parents. My father's family lived in Turkey, Istanbul for most of their lives, and my father was born and raised there. They were wealthy, well–educated, and as most Christian Orthodox who lived in an Islamic country, they held on to their religion.

A time came when the Turkish government decided to kick the majority of Greek citizens out of Turkey and confiscate their wealth, houses, and businesses. So my father's family had to return back to Greece empty-handed. This is what the Turkish Muslims did to them, and this validated, according to them, their hatred towards Islam.

My mother's family was living on a Greek island just on the border between Greece and Turkey. During a Turkish attack, the Turks occupied the island, burnt their houses, and in order to survive, they escaped to the Greek mainland. Even more reason to hate the Turkish Muslims then!

Greece was for more than 400 years occupied by Turks, and we were taught to believe that for every crime committed towards the Greeks, Islam was responsible. The Turks were Muslims and their crimes were reflecting their religious beliefs.

This was actually a very wise plan of the Greek Orthodox Church (religion and politics in Greece are the same thing) to build hatred in the hearts of the Greeks against Islam, in order to protect their religion and prevent people from converting to Islam.

So for hundreds of years we were taught in our history and religious books to hate and make fun of the Islamic religion.

In our books, Islam was actually not a religion and Muhammad (peace be upon him) was not a prophet! He was just a very intelligent leader and politician who gathered rules and laws from the Jews and the Christians, added some of his own ideas and conquered the world.

At school, we were taught to make fun of him and of his wives or his Companions. All the "caricatures" and slander against him which are published today by the media were actually part of our lessons and our exams!

Alhamdulillah (thank God), Allah protected my heart, and hatred against Islam didn't enter it.

Other Greeks have also succeeded to rid themselves of the burden of the Orthodox religious inheritance placed on their shoulders and they have opened, by the will of Allah, their eyes, ears, and hearts to see that Islam is a true religion sent by Allah, and Muhammad is a true prophet, and the seal of all prophets.

Muslims believe that Allah sent messengers to mankind as a guidance to them, starting from Adam, Noah, Abraham, Ismael, Isaac, Moses, and Jesus (peace be upon them all). But Allah's final message was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

It was a great help to me that both of my parents were not very religious themselves. They rarely practiced their religion and used to take me to church only during weddings or funerals.

What drove my father away from his religion was the corruption he was seeing daily among the priests.

How could these people preach for God and goodness, and at the same time steal from the church's funds, buy villas, and own Mercedes cars, and spread homosexuality amongst them? Are these the righteous representatives of the religion who will guide us, correct us, and lead us closer to God? He was fed up with them and this led him to become an atheist.

The churches lost most of their followers, at least in my country, because of their actions. In Islam a sheikh or scholar of the religion helps and guides others with full passion and only with the desire to please Allah and earn their way to Paradise.

In Christianity to become a priest is a profitable occupation. This corruption "within" drives many young people away from the religion they were born with and leads them to search for something else.

As a teenager I loved to read a lot and I wasn't really satisfied or convinced with Christianity. I had belief in God, fear and love for Him, but everything else confused me.

I started searching around but I never searched towards Islam (maybe due to the background I had against it).

So alhamdulillah He had mercy on my soul and guided me from darkness to light, from Hell to Paradise God willing.

He brought into my life my husband, a born Muslim, planted the seed of love into our hearts and lead us to marriage without us really paying attention to the religious differences.

My husband was willing to answer any question I had concerning his religion, without humiliating my beliefs (no matter how wrong they were) and without ever putting any pressure on me or even asking me to change my religion.

After 3 years of being married, having the chance to know more about Islam and to read the noble Quran, as well as other religious books, I was convinced that there is no such a thing as a trinity, nor was Jesus God.

Muslims believe in One, Unique, Incomparable God, Who has no son, nor partner, and that none has the right to be worshipped but Him alone! No one shares His divinity, nor His attributes.

In the Quran Allah described Himself. He said:

[Say: He is God, the One. God, the eternally Besought of all! He begets not nor is He begotten. and there is none like unto Him."] (Al-Ikhlas 112:1-4)

No one has the right to be invoked, supplicated, prayed to or shown any act of worship but Allah alone.

The religion of Islam is the acceptance of and obedience to the teachings of Allah which were revealed to His final Prophet Muhammad.

I became a Muslim, keeping it secret from my family and friends for many years. We lived with my husband in Greece trying to practice Islam, but it was extremely difficult, almost impossible.

In my home town there are no mosques, no access to Islamic studies, no people praying, or fasting, or women wearing hijab .

There are only some Muslim immigrants who came to Greece for a better financial future and who let the Western lifestyle attract them and eventually corrupt them. As a result, they do not follow their religion and they are completely lost.

It was incredibly difficult to perform our Islamic duties, especially for me, as I wasn't born as a Muslim, and didn't have an Islamic education.

My husband and I had to pray and fast with the use of calendars, no Adhan (the Muslim call for Prayer) in our ears, and no Islamic Ummah (community of Muslims) to support us. We felt that with each passing day we were stepping backwards. Our faith was decreasing and the wave was taking us.

So when my daughter was born, we decided, in order to save our own souls and our daughter's, if God wills, we have to migrate to an Islamic country. We didn't want to raise her in a western open environment where she would struggle to maintain her identity and might end up lost.

Thank Allah, He has guided us and gave us the chance to migrate to an Islamic country, where we can hear the sweet words of the Adhan, and we can increase our knowledge and love for Him, and our beloved Prophet Muhammad.

Wary US Muslims Still Fear Charity

CAIRO — When Mushir Hassan received a letter from a charity seeking funds to aid refugees in Pakistan's Swat Valley, he wanted to give. But in the end, the US Muslim physician could not bring himself to write a check, fearing that he could be hounded or even prosecuted.

"You have to think twice because of the concerns," Hassan, from Milwaukee city, Wisconsin, told the Journal Sentinel on Monday, September 14.

Hassan is not alone.

Many American Muslims still alter their charitable giving for fear that they might fall under scrutiny and become targets for prosecution over aiding terrorism.

As Muslims observe the holy month of Ramadan - a peak period for giving – many are keen to donate Zakat, a central tenet of Islam, which requires those who can to give 2.5 percent of their annual savings to others in need.

But the fear of crackdown inhibits Muslims' spiritual expression and sows fear among donors who have no interest in funding terrorists.

"What we're finding is that many people are terrified to give to a Muslim organization or relief group," Corey Saylor, national legislative director for the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said.

"They've seen this process time and again, of these charities coming under government scrutiny.

“Community members don't want to get caught up in that."

Since the 9/11 attacks, US authorities have placed Muslim charities under the microscope on claims of channeling funds to terrorists.

The intense pressures have forced many charities to stop transferring needed aid to orphanages in Muslim countries in order to keep operating at home.

A recent report by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) found that the so-called war on terror dealt a harsh blow to Muslim charities and left them mistakenly subject to targeting, abuse and intimidation.

In his keynote speech to Muslim world on June 4, President Barack Obama has acknowledged wrongful practices against Muslim charities and vowed a review to some anti-terror laws.

Will The Disappointing Newcomer Experience Ever End?

IT is becoming more evident that for most new immigrants the "good life" in Canada is simply a dream that may never come true.

Immigrants come to Canada hoping to achieve the best possible life for themselves and their families. But is that really what happens when they get here?

Imagine how a person feels after leaving his or her country of origin and a well-paying profession, coming to the "promised land" and finding that the promise is nothing more than a menial job that barely pays the bills, along with the numerous challenges of integrating into Canadian society.

Under-funded agencies are doing their best to help new immigrants find jobs, and working with the United Way of Peel Region, I can identify with the difficulties such agencies face when trying to reach out to newcomers - especially those hampered by unrecognized credentials and a lack of "Canadian experience."

According to the Region of Peel’s website, "about 60% of newcomers do not work in the same occupational field as they did before coming to Canada. Lack of recognition of skilled immigrants’ international credentials is a barrier to working in their job-related field - Newcomers earn about 40 per cent less than their Canadian-born counterparts. Recent data suggests that it is taking longer for new immigrants to narrow this gap."

So why do we remain quiet?

We have all heard about the doctor who practiced for 15 years in India, only to come here and have to drive a taxi. Why? Because he was forced to choose between working and supporting his family, or going back to school and living on student loans in order to be tested on skills he had done for years.

Another example is a mother and daughter working illegally for 12 to 15 hours per day at a local restaurant for less than $5 per hour to compensate for their inadequate welfare cheque. Is this really what these people hoped to achieve when they came here?

Why is it that Canada -- a nation that values multiculturalism and prides itself on building peace and advocating for human rights across the globe -- can’t seem to acknowledge the

humanitarian issues that exist here at home?

The sad reality is that the disappointing and desperate experience of shattered dreams and blocked opportunities is now swallowing up second- and third- generation immigrants who had hoped to build a better life than their parents.

One might ask why immigrants would even bother choosing Canada, especially when the issue of foreign credentials is not being properly dealt with.

In times of economic uncertainty one of the key questions becomes; "Are we hurting our own economy by failing to recognize immigrant credentials?"

According to the same Region of Peel report cited earlier; "the Conference Board of Canada estimates that Canada loses between $4.1 and $5.9 billion annually due to the lack of recognition of newcomers’ qualifications."

There needs to be a paradigm shift in the way we see new immigrants. Oftentimes we assume many things about them – that they do not speak English, that they are uneducated, or incapable of contributing to society.

But the reality is that new immigrants, if given the chance, can take the country to new heights! Canada’s success lies in the vast differences that we hold and the multiplicity of

perspectives, values and ideas we bring to the table.

We applaud people like Dr. Muhammad Yunus for coming up with simple but effective techniques to help poverty stricken people in Bangladesh with the Grameen Bank, for example, but what are we doing to manage similar issues at home?

If only we could acknowledge that, in some ways, we are the ones creating the poverty; that until we ourselves become vocal about the issue, little is going to change. Not only will the immigrant population suffer as a result of this injustice, so too will

Canada as a whole.

Farheen Khan currently works as a Consultant for the United Way of Peel Region. She is also President of CAMP Toronto – Council for the advancement of Muslim Professionals. This article was slightly abridged and edited for the CIC Friday Magazine.

CAIR Hails ‘Major Victory’ in Six Imams Civil Rights Case

A prominent national Muslim civil rights and advocacy group today hailed what it termed a “major victory” in the case of six imams, or Islamic religious leaders, who say their civil and religious rights were violated in 2006 when they were removed from a US Airways flight in Minnesota. The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery today denied several motions to dismiss the case and ruled that a law passed by Congress after the incident did not grant protection from lawsuits to those sued by the imams. Read the entire ruling here.

Judge Montgomery also ruled that the actions of the imams prior to their flight did not justify their detention. She noted that the imams were subjected to “extreme fear and humiliation of being falsely identified as dangerous terrorists.” The ruling stated: “Unquestionably the events of 9/11 changed the calculus in the balance American society chooses to make, especially in airport settings, between liberty and security…But when a law enforcement officer exercises the power of the Sovereign over its citizens, she or he has a responsibility to operate within the bounds of the Constitution and cannot raise the specter of 9/11 as an absolute exception to that responsibility.”

In a statement, the imams’ attorneys Omar T. Mohammedi and Frederick J. Goetz said: “The judge’s ruling demonstrates clearly that the flying public does not lose their constitutional rights when they board an aircraft or step into an airport.”

“We thank all those who have supported the imams until now, and ask for the continued support of all those who reject profiling and value religious freedom, tolerance and mutual understanding,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726, E-Mail: ihooper@cair.com; CAIR Communications Coordinator Amina Rubin, 202-488-8787, 202-341-4171, E-Mail: arubin@cair.com