H E A D L I N E S Page Two
2018: Another challenging & tough year for American Muslims
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: The seven-million American Muslims remained at the receiving end since 9/11/2001 through reconfiguration of US laws, policies and priorities but their plight has taken a new twist under President Donald Trump whose anti-Muslim, anti-immigration policies and rhetoric alarmingly fomented hate crimes against them. The xenophobic rhetoric and anti-Muslim fear-mongering enjoys unprecedented influence with Donald Trump’s most vitriolic anti-Muslim rhetoric as typified by his election campaign declaration: “I think Islam hates us.” Read More
42 percent Americans say Islam 'is incompatible with US values'
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: A large proportion of mainstream Americans think Islam is incompatible with American values, according to a survey by the New America foundation and the American Muslim Institute. The “Americans’ Views of Muslims Survey” was conducted leading up to the midterm elections in November 2018 – a time period when myths and misinformation about Muslims have figured prominently in some local, state, and federal elections, the New America said adding: “The research provides insight into public perceptions of Muslim Americans at both the national and local levels in Houston, Orlando, Tampa, and the Washington, DC, metropolitan area, where over samplings were done.” Read More
Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric foments Kansas Mosque attack plan
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: Three members of the Kansas militia - Patrick Stein, Gavin Wright and Curtis Allen - who were convicted of planning to massacre Somali Muslim refugees by bombing a mosque and apartment complex in Garden City, Kansas, should be granted leniency in their sentence because they were inspired by President Donald Trump's rhetoric that encouraged the violence, lawyers for the men said in court documents. Read More
In the wake of deadly attack on synagogue in Pittsburg PA:
American Muslim groups express solidarity with the Jewish community
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: American Muslim civil advocacy groups have strongly denounced the killing of worshipers at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh PA. In solidarity with the Jewish community two Muslim organizations have raised around $200,000 to help victims and their families of the synagogue shooting. Robert Bowers, a white supremacist stormed into the synagogue during Sabbath and fired upon innocent men, women, and children attending religious services, killing 11 and wounding 5. The shooting took place during a bris, a baby naming ceremony. Read More
American Muslims 17 years after 9/11
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: 17 years after 9/11 terrorist attacks, American Muslims remain on the receiving end since 9/11/2001 but their plight has taken a new twist under President Donald Trump whose anti-Muslim policies alarmingly fomented hate crimes against them. According to a report released in July by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, anti-Muslim bias incidents and hate crimes are up 83 and 21 percent respectively, as compared to the first quarter of 2018, Read More
Civil advocacy groups denounce Supreme Court
decision to uphold Trump’s Muslim Ban 3.0
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, Tuesday (June 26, 2018) ruled in favor of the third iteration of President Donald Trump’s travel ban (known as Muslim Ban 3.0) on five Muslim countries. The Supreme Court decision was widely denounced by civil advocacy, Arab, Muslim and religious groups as well as lawyers. Surprisingly, even the atheists also bitterly criticized the decision. Read More
Islam & Muslims in the 21st Century launched
The Pak American Arts Council of Greater Sacramento, CA hosted the formal launching of Abdus Sattar Ghazali's new book Islam & Muslims in the 21st Century. Naeem Syed was MC of the event held on April 28, 2018 at Kabab Corner, Western Sacramento.
Read More See Pictures Watch Videos on YouTube Report in Pakistan Link
Turkey hosts the first World Muslims Minorities Summit
AMP Report: Turkey hosted the first World Muslim Minorities Summit in Istanbul from April 16 to April 19 under the title: Basic Problems, Solutions and Cooperation Opportunities."More than 250 representatives from 100 countries, in which the Muslims are a minority, attended the Summit. The main objective of the summit was to connect and strengthen the relationship amongst Muslims as well as listening to their challenges and find ways to solve them together. In his opening speech, President Erdoğan lashed out at the West for stoking anti-Islam sentiment in its bid "to impose its own ideology and lifestyle." Read More
Trump buoyed white supremacists, sparking backlash among black nationalist groups
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: President Trump’s first year in office proved to be just as racially divisive as his campaign — but even more consequential, says the Southern Poverty Law Center report released on Wednesday (Feb. 21). “President Trump in 2017 reflected what white supremacist groups want to see: a country where racism is sanctioned by the highest office, immigrants are given the boot and Muslims banned,” said Heidi Beirich, director of the SPLC’s Intelligence Project. “When you consider that only days into 2018, Trump called African countries ‘shitholes,’ it’s clear he’s not changing his tune. And that’s music to the ears of white supremacists.” Read More
Fourth Court of Appeal declares Trump's 'Muslim Ban 3.0' unconstitutional
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: A panel of 13 judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Va., Thursday (Feb. 15) declared Trump's Muslim ban (3.0) illegal and unconstitutional. The appeals court in International Refugee Assistance Project v. Trump stayed its decision pending resolution of a related case that is already at the U.S. Supreme Court. That case, Trump v. Hawaii, will be argued in April. “When we compromise our values as to some, we shake the foundation as to all,” Chief Judge Roger Gregory said in the majority ruling. Read More
What American Muslims can do today with Dr. King’s lessons?
By Nihad Awad: Among the greatest lessons that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. taught us, and which American Muslims can apply today, is the importance of well-coordinated strategies – carried out by wide coalitions – to change the written and unwritten rules around how an entire community of Americans should and shouldn’t be treated. With the Montgomery Bus Boycotts, Dr. King taught us the importance of direct engagement with decision-makers, and community mobilization. When meeting decision-makers to ask them to do the right thing does not result in the desired change, we exert community pressure in coordination with other American Muslim organizations and allies. Coordination is key. If one group works privately with decision-makers, it is important to coordinate with those who are working publicly. Read More
Challenging times for veiled women in Europe & U.S.
Gihan Shahine: Wearing the Islamic veil has become increasingly challenging for many women in Western societies, where a piece of fabric can be used to exacerbate already rising Islamophobia. Read More
2017: Another difficult & hard year for American Muslims
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: The seven-million American Muslims remained under siege since 9/11/2001 through reconfiguration of US laws, policies and priorities but their plight has taken a new twist under President Donald Trump whose anti-Muslim policies alarmingly fomented hate crimes against them. The xenophobic rhetoric and anti-Muslim fear-mongering enjoys unprecedented influence with Donald Trump’s most vitriolic anti-Muslim rhetoric as typified by his election campaign declaration: “I think Islam hates us.” Read More
The Politics of Jerusalem & the Arab World
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: Fulfilling his election promise, President Donald Trump announced on December 6, recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. However, this reversal of longtime U.S. policy did not come out of blue. A series of reports published since December 6, unveil the role of major Arab countries in Trump’s not-unexpected announcement. Read More abridged Read More detailed
American Muslims reject Trump’s move to recognize Jerusalem as capital of Israel
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: American Muslim civil advocacy groups Thursday (Dec 7) vehemently opposed President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. They were of the view that Trump’s announcement serves no one’s interest but undermines the Middle East peace process couple with inflaming anti-U.S. sentiment across the globe. On Wednesday, a coalition of Muslim, Interfaith and human rights groups held a news conference outside the White House in Washington, D.C., to respond to President's Trump's announcement on the status of Jerusalem. Read More
American Muslims dismayed at Supreme Court
decision to implement Trump’s Muslim Ban 3.0
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: The seven-million strong American Muslim community was dismayed Tuesday (Dec 5) over the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to allow President Trump’s “Muslim Ban 3.0” to be implemented until the court makes a final decision about the executive action's constitutionality. Earlier Monday, the Supreme Court issued two orders staying the Hawaii and Maryland federal courts' injunctions that had, until Monday, largely prevented the Trump administration from implementing Muslim Ban 3.0's visa restrictions. Read More
Hate tweets about Muslims lead to hate crimes
By John Robbins: The antics of our commander-in-chief may no longer surprise us, but they can still profoundly horrify. Wednesday morning, President Trump retweeted three videos supposedly depicting Muslims committing acts of violence, each captioned in a manner linking the actions with the perpetrators’ racial or religious identity. The videos originated from the Twitter feed of Jayda Fransen, an anti-Muslim activist in the UK who was recently convicted of religiously aggravated harassment. Read More
Muslim leaders speak out against Trump’s inflammatory retweets
By Sharon Samber: Muslim American leaders gathered on Capitol Hill to condemn President Trump’s sharing of videos purporting to show Muslims committing violent acts just hours after he posted the images to his Twitter feed. The retweets, sent to his more than 43 million followers, showcased three videos originally tweeted from the account of the deputy leader of a British anti-immigrant fringe group, Britain First. The group is considered anti-Muslim by many in the country, and its name was shouted by an extremist who gunned down and stabbed a member of Parliament earlier this year. Read More
This Thanksgiving, American Muslims are thankful
for allies publicly and vocally speaking out, showing up
By Nihad Awad: This Thanksgiving, I join millions of American Muslim families in thanking fellow Americans of all faiths and political affiliations who this year publicly and vocally spoke out and showed up again and again to stand up for our shared American values, and to educate millions by using media to talk about the lives, contributions, hopes, and dreams of their American Muslim neighbors. Read More
Anti-Islam GOP survey alarms American Muslims
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: The seven-million-strong American Muslim community was alarmed at an anti-Islam question included in the Republican Party survey titled as “Listening to America.” The question No. 27 of the 32 question survey asks: “Are you concerned by the potential spread of Sharia Law?” It may be pointed out that the term ‘Sharia’ refers to Islamic religious teachings, comparable to Catholic cannon law and Jewish Halacha. Read More
Appeals court allows Trump's Muslim ban 3.0 to take partial effect
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: The San Francisco-based 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Monday (Nov.13) allowed President Donald Trump's Muslim travel ban 3.0 to go partially into effect, exempting persons with 'bona fide relationships' to the US. The Monday order means the ban will apply to people from Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia and Chad who do not have connections to the United States. Read More
Hate crimes — especially against Muslims — went up in 2016: FBI
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: Incidents of hate crimes, particularly against African-Americans, Jews and Muslims, went up to 6,121 during 2016, seeing an increase of 4.6 percent compared to the previous year, according to data released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Monday (Nov. 13). A hate crime is defined by the FBI as a "criminal offence against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender's bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity". Read More
If a guy named Mohammad blew up Texas church?
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: 'If a guy named Mohammad blew up that church yesterday. O my God, O my God, Washington would be on fire," says MSNBC Moring Joe Host (Monday Nov.6, 2017). Joe Scarboroug was alluding to Sunday's shooting at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas that killed at least 26 people and injured 19. Read More
Muslims decry double standard after NYC-Texas attacks
Hannan Adely: In the days after the recent terror attack in New York City, Paterson mosques fielded death threats, and Muslim Americans were again called to explain the actions of one individual whose violent acts don't reflect the tenets of their faith. Having to denounce an act committed in the name of their faith is a double standard, say Muslim leaders, who reluctantly step into that role even as other groups aren't asked to do the same. Read More
American Muslims fear backlash after New York attack
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: The seven-million strong American Muslim community fears a backlash after the Tuesday (Oct. 31) attack in New York when a driver ploughed a truck through crowds in lower Manhattan killing eight and injuring a dozen more. Imam Mohammad Qatanani, spiritual leader of the Islamic Center of Passaic County (N.J.), said: “People here feel they will be blamed as a religion and as a people. Because this guy was a Muslim, Muslims will be blamed anywhere and everywhere.” According to Pittsburg Post-Gazette the Islamic Center of Passaic County had already received eight telephone threats, prompting police to assign extra patrols to the area. Read More
Why Should Britain Apologize For the Balfour Declaration?
By Dr. Mohsen Mohammad Saleh: Until now, the British government does not seem inclined to review its colonial behavior in Palestine, which led to the establishment of the Zionist state “Israel” there, and caused a catastrophe for the Palestinian people. They were dislodged from most of their land, and their social fabric was ripped apart, while most Palestinians became refugees. The statement by UK Prime Minister Theresa May, in which she showed pride in the Balfour Declaration and the foundation of Israel, is only proof of that. British policy has for decades claimed that during its occupation of Palestine in 1917–1948, it sought not to inflict harm on the Palestinian people…, and that the context of events is responsible for their tragic situation. Read More
Federal judge in Hawaii blocks Trump's 3rd Muslim travel ban
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: A federal judge in Hawaii on Tuesday granted a temporary restraining order against President Donald Trump's third Muslim travel ban, just hours before it was set to take effect on Wednesday October 18. Trump issued a proclamation on September 24 restricting travel to the US from nationals of eight countries: Chad, Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Yemen, North Korea and Venezuela. Read More
The legalization of Islamophobia is underway in the United States
BY Dan Kopf & Annalisa Merelli: As researchers at the University of California-Berkeley’s Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society found in a recent report, Islamophobia is also starting to get baked into the American legal system. The report, published Sept 8, examines dozens of anti-Sharia laws that have been approved in recent years that, the researchers argue, have channeled Islamophobia and, in turn, exacerbated the problem. Combing through state legislature websites, the researchers compiled a comprehensive dataset of every anti-Sharia law proposed in US state legislatures from 2010 to 2016, identifying 194 bills in 39 different states. So far, 18 of the 194 bills have been enacted into law in 12 states. Read More
New report offers proof of US hate crime rise in the Trump era
By Christopher Mathias: The number of hate crimes rose across the United States in 2016, marking the first time in over a decade that the country has experienced consecutive annual increases in crimes targeting people based on their race, religion, sexuality, disability or national origin. Data collected by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, and provided exclusively to HuffPost, shows hate crimes rose about 5 percent from 2015 to 2016. Read More
American Muslims 16 years after 9/11
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: The seven-million strong American Muslim community, though, remains under siege since 9/11/2001 but their plight has taken a new twist under President Donald Trump whose anti-Muslim policies alarmingly fomented hate crimes against them. According to July 2017 report of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), the number of hate crimes in the first half of 2017 spiked 91 percent compared to the same period in 2016, which was the worst year for such anti-Muslim incidents since the civil rights organization began its current documenting system in 2013. The number of bias incidents in 2017 also increased by 24 percent compared to the first half of 2016. Read More
Online Magazine launched in 2003
Executive Editor: Abdus Sattar Ghazali
