Good Advice for Bad Muslims

The traditional Muslim “all or nothing” approach to marriage is holding many men and women back from succeeding in life and having the self-confidence necessary to compete in today’s rat race. It is simply very draining to keep your virginity past the age of 20 and yet, a 20 year old man cannot support a wife and family unless he moves them in with his mother and father. It’s not only about money but someone being there for them on a regular basis. If this generation is going to succeed emotionally we will have to get over the American taboo of adults living with their parents. Obviously that means we need parents that are cool enough to live with, so we don’t have to run away from abuse.

One very concrete reason that Jewish Americans do better than non-Jews on many levels is because they don’t waste decades of their life feeling “uncomfortable” and emotionally frantic from lack of sex. Jewish parents actually push their children to become sexually active in a long term but not necessarily permanent relationship as soon as they reach puberty. This has historical reasons - Jewish law has a very strong taboo against masturbation and even considers wet dreams to be a sin. The behavior of Jews used to be early marriage, divorce, remarriage and sometimes more than two marriages. The idea was that the opposite sex is there to serve your needs so that you can then concentrate on more important things. Nowadays it is even more likely for a rich Jewish people concerned about lineage to marry young and then commit serial adultery, with adulterous relationships lasting for years and years. You may not like their lifestyle but the fact is that they are not walking around feeling uncomfortable.

Muslims should think about their options especially if they are Shiite. Shiites are the only religion in the world where the cultural practice is actually less permissive than what the religious scholars allow. God made it so easy for people to marry. All you have to do is make an oral contract and give her what she wants as a gift. “Save yourself from hellfire if only by half a date.” A man is allowed to contract a temporary marriage with a non-virgin woman such as a single mother or a widow. If they fall in love they can always get married forever. The imams are constantly advising the young people of Iran and in America to just make that contract before you fall into bed. Then you are not sinning. And yet, the Muslims are so “embarrassed” of sex that they would rather commit a sin than discuss intentions.

As someone who has had four children I recommend women marry young and get the baby part of your life over with before you are 30 because boy is it tiring. A 19 year old does much better on three hours of sleep than a 37 year old. Plus, women in their twenties don’t really enjoy sex as much as women in their 30s. So enjoy your thirties. Don’t save all the dirty diapers for your 30s because that is when you really need a good adult conversation and actually enjoy focusing and working on your goals. In your 20s it’s all about a woman trying to figure out where she belongs and who she can latch on to in order to get a position in society. I would say just let her get married at age 15 to a nice guy who is around 30 so she doesn’t have to waste the next 20 years trying to find herself in various pursuits.

And likewise, a young man who cannot afford to support a family should find himself an older woman who doesn’t “need” him to feel validated but would enjoy him and he could give her a little financial stability by giving her gifts on a regular basis. Only a woman who has her own friends and knows how to be independent can be safe with a man under the age of 30. But again, just be honest. Commit for one month, or six months, or one year. No broken hearts that way. You can still be friends forever. When a couple promises each other “forever” and it turns out temporary, that is where the anger comes in. Because the people feel let down and deceived and hate each other for the betrayal. The difference between fornication and temporary marriage is that fornication is based on misleading by implying future intentions that are sadly not realized, while temporary marriage allows you to come into the relationship blessed, and to exit the relationship blessed, always on good terms with each other.

The real question for most women though is how to attract a lifelong mate. Most of us would prefer a mate to a temporary lover. But nothing you learn in school or watch on TV gives you any instructions on how to get a guy to look at you and think, “She’s the one I want to marry.” And men don’t always realize that usually the nice girls are the ones that are too shy to approach. So how do women make themselves approachable to marriage minded men?

Basically you want to send out the message of “femme.” So wear a dress, earrings, whatever makes you feel pretty. If you wear a shawl either on your head or your shoulders it gives the appearance of “old fashioned traditional woman.” That is the key. Having soup simmering in the kitchen is always a plus (so you can invite him to taste it). Do not walk around in sportswear or anything androgynous. Pay attention to your posture. I’m totally serious - that is what makes guys think you are a lady. If a man looks at you, look down immediately but a tad too slow and deliberate. For some reason religious men never fail to fall for that one. And that is usually what you want if you are looking for a breadwinner for your future children. The next thing is to start working on your embroidery.

Whatever skill you have in textiles - knitting, crocheting, patchwork, or even just mending: do it in public. Just sit there in the cafe working on your sweater or lay out a nice blanket under a tree and start working on your needlepoint. Do not pay attention to anyone else. Trust me, a man will approach. If you can play a musical instrument, go to a wooded area like a park and just play your song - again, ignoring everyone. You will inspire devotion in the onlooker. The key is to be looking down and not at them. That is what makes women seem less scary to men.

So that is my advice of the day. Go forth and be fruitful now!

Family Planning in Islam

“In every bed, there is a promise.” - Nathaniel Hawthorne

Yesterday I was reading a commentary in Tariq Nelson’s blog talking about Fatherhood that just boggled my mind. Mind you, these were mostly Muslims participating in this discussion. One brother was talking about women who are looking for baby daddies to get them pregnant so they can force him to send them a check for child support for the rest of his life, and he complained about these women using the money to get their hair done or to finance their future lung cancer. He was trying to imply that bad women didn’t deserve child support. It was like no one ever told him how babies are made.

The politicians like to talk about “freedom of choice.” They are talking about abortion. The assumption is that if a woman chooses not to have an abortion, then the blame, and thus, the financial and emotional responsibility for the child, rests squarely on her shoulders. I’ll never forget my Italian teacher in college giving us undergrads a lecture on morals. She said something I’ve never heard anyone say out loud. “When you choose to have sex, you have made that choice.” God bless her for her bravery to speak out in the face of the victimization and oppression of women and children!

In Europe it has been the norm for at least a century for a marriage to occur after “accidental” pregnancy. Marrying the woman who served as the incubator for your sperm is the normal biological way that moderately decent men have sustained the future of the human race. And just because it was an accident doesn’t mean it wasn’t real. In Islam we believe that life begins before eternity. There is nothing that happens that was not written by Allah. If that soul came into being, there is no shifting blame because you didn’t want to be a father or because that was not the ideal woman you wanted to be stuck with. There isn’t even the question of whether or not you love her. You just marry her. My great-uncle married his wife after impregnating her in East Germany. They were married for decades and after she died, the deaf and nearly blind old man slowly made his way every day to her grave to keep it tidy. When I told him I had converted to Islam, all he wanted to know was if the Quran says you will be with the one you loved, after you die. I said of course. So if you look at European society it is clear that feeling a little rushed into marriage does not negate the possibility of eternal rewards.

Do these American men have any idea how many poor yet honest men in Asia, Africa, South America, even North America, are living without sex for months and years at a time, often going to another city for work so they can send money home to their families? Can you imagine the terrified lifestyle of a typical Afghani woman existing on a couple bags of rice and lentils, taking care of her children alone, in the middle of a violent war, waiting for her husband to come back with some groceries in a few months? Many families who are blessed to be together are very much together. As in, living in one room. Sharing a house with their siblings and their spouses and their children. Many families, even in Europe, live in a one room apartment. During the night, the living room becomes the bedroom.

If you have never witnessed childbirth, let me explain something to you. It really hurts. It turns your body inside out. For a woman to choose to let a man put his “gushing fluid” inside her is the voluntary personal choice to go through an experience that feels about as pleasant as having a bus roll over your body very very slowly. Pregnancy is a time of daily nausea to the extent that if she were a man, she would choose not to work that day, and needing to take constant care to get enough protein to prevent oneself from fainting. If there is no food immediately available there is agony. Childbirth can last for three days. So any man that wants to complain about sending an ex-lover $300 or even $3000 a month should think about for whom he would willingly take that kind of pain and hardship. It takes a woman three years to get back the full use of her body after having a baby, and she actually loses the strength of her eyesight and teeth. So what a man might have thought was simply a romp in the hay for her is a life investment. There is no such thing as “accidentally” getting someone pregnant.

In Islam, men are the maintainers of women. There is none of this weird American marital squabbling about who pays what. Motherhood is a full time job. She carries the child in her womb for 9 months and then nurses the child for two years, sacrificing her calories, her strength, and her free time. A mother cannot come and go as she pleases. She cannot fall asleep whenever she wants. And it’s not a question of whether she wants to do it or not. Women are biologically programmed to suddenly wake up on emergency alert if her baby so much as coughs in his sleep. Men crash out and just sleep like logs. There is a real danger in letting a man have full responsibility for a baby because babies deprive the caretaker of REM sleep. People who are deprived of sleep for a prolonged period of time spend a lot of energy merely “coping.” Somebody has to get the bills paid while the other person maintains the living standard of the home. That is why parenting is a shared responsibility. There is no burden on the woman to work outside the home in addition to the full time job of raising a child in a clean and safe environment. The least a man can do is pay all her expenses. If he cannot afford to buy his family a house, his wife and the kids can share one mattress like the majority of people in the world. Even if a man is sleeping outside, he can put a tarp over his family’s head. Because every soul born is someone that God commanded to be born and a man must take full responsibility for his family. Anything a woman spends on household expenses is rewarded by God the same as donating to charity, while anything a man does to help clean the house is rewarded by God as a charity.

In Islam, if the marriage does not work out, the children are the man’s full financial responsibility. He has to keep them alive - not just send their mother a $300 “donation” per month. Someone has to keep the utilities on and a father must do everything he can to find a way to make sure his kids’ mother is home for her children. If you don’t think you are ready for the financial and emotional responsibilities of parenting, don’t have sex. Or if you must do it, then use a condom. And always marry the woman first. Be clear before you touch her if you consider this to be a permanent commitment or a temporary relationship. If it’s the latter, tell her how long you are willing to commit: in advance. Whatever you do with her, do it in God’s name. And take ownership of your own sperm. The benefit of a prenuptial marriage contract, even just handwritten, is that it will have a date on it and the courts will honor it in case of a dispute.

Women have to start taking themselves more seriously. You can tell within ten minutes if a guy wants to get married someday or not. If he does, then the question is if it’s you he wants to marry and if you would want to marry him. If he doesn’t want to marry you in God’s name then it means he doesn’t want to take responsibility for your children. So don’t be a dimwit. You can figure this out in advance. If all hints fail, just ask, “So, how many kids do you want?” on the first date. Motherhood is a full time career worthy of a six digit income. Make it worth your while. Find a man who will do everything he can to find a way to love the mother of his children, provide them with food and a roof over their heads, and if they cannot work things out he would be aware of what it costs to raise a child. This is what you need to be thinking about on your first date. Does the man value his offspring? Does he have a sense of personal honor?

There are two things that will tell you if a man is going to put his money where his you-know-what is. Those things are religious accountability and racial pride. While neither of these things are guarantees of marital bliss, they do imply the idea that a man must provide for his children, not only out of some ambiguous and fluctuating emotional attachment but because they are his flesh and blood, part of his lineage. Such a man is looking for a woman who has the qualities he wants in his descendants. He is always thinking long term about how to put his DNA to proper use. The sure sign of a no good man is a man who just lets things happen. Some men think that a crime is less criminal if it’s done in the heat of passion. He will try to act like he didn’t realize that he put his sperm into another human being. The act of taking off your clothes is a deliberate act. Don’t do it without getting married first.

Ballad of Joseph Cohn

BALLAD OF JOSEPH COHN

From behind the veil,
she avoided my eyes
but she was precious
in my sight.

I stood close to her
and I feared her
when she didn’t
run away.

She entered my dreams,
and she told me all her secrets,
which I pretended to understand.

She locked herself into
a room in my heart
She hijacked my world
and tore it apart
She was the only one
I ever wanted to love
and I know I will never
see her again.

She begged me to love her
from the bottom of her heart
and from the bottom of my heart
I loved her.

But I had to build a wall,
it was second nature to me.
I let her die on the
other side.

She locked herself into
a room in my heart
She hijacked my world
and tore it apart
She was the only one
I ever wanted to love
And I fear I will never
see her again.

Created for me
since the day that she was born,
she couldn’t help but love me
more than my own mother.

She wanted me to see
that we were just the same,
for she would never
love another.

She wished I would believe
in heaven above
She brought me an olive branch
from a precious white dove
I was the only one
she ever wanted to love
and I guess I’ll never
see her again.

She wanted to relieve me
from the curse upon my forehead
and the burden that was
weighing on my soul.

She wanted me to keep her,
she wanted my protection.
She wanted to make a deal.

I wish I could believe in heaven above,
for she was the one I wanted to love.
I turned down a gift from a precious white dove
and I know I will never see her again.

She wanted me to believe
in our common destiny
but I guess I just must have
lost the dream.

I made believe I owed her nothing
while she washed my feet
with her tears, and I
continued to deny Jesus was real.

Still, she made herself into a slavegirl for me
She promised to make me the father of a tribe
A generous queen, she gave me everything,
for she dreamed I was her only one.

She told me that all of mankind
came from just one soul,
she said the Father chooseth
whom He willeth.

So I set her free
I just could not agree
I told her, “I’ll never
see you again.”

So hang me from the
blue and white ribbons on my tree
Because I died with her
when she died for me
and I should bulldoze my own house
for that I will never see her again.

So bulldoze my house upon my
Chosen family, then hang me
from the blue and white
ribbons on my daughter’s tree
Because I’d die for her
like she died for me
Knowing I would never see her again.

I regret I will never see her again.

78 drops of olive oil

I finally took the Palestinian embroidered tablecloth to the drycleaners today. I was going to give it to my mother-in-law for Christmas. Every year I grudgingly drop a couple hundred dollars to buy presents for a holiday I don’t even celebrate. Last year I decided to order my gifts from the Palestinian Children’s Welfare Fund instead of squandering my money at Pottery Barn. I got a great shawl for my sister-in-law and a beautiful mother-of-pearl Bethlehem souvenir jewelry box featuring the Nativity Scene. I also got a pile of stuff I never even ordered, like a bottle of organic Palestinian olive oil, a handful of little wooden peace-dove pins, and a keychain reading “Bethlehem 2000,” which I recall they were hoping would be a big tourist event but the Israeli troops canceled Christmas that year. Hence, the leftover keychains, I suppose. There was also a stack of about 30 flyers about the Wall.

I was rather astonished when I received the package because the stamps were stuck all over the box in such a disorganized fashion that the post office was not able to stamp them. Later, I soaked the cardboard in water to get the stamps off so I could reuse them. They were the pretty blue and gold Eid Mubarak 41 cent stamps.

Furthermore, there was a strangely long handwritten message written on the packing slip signed “Riad Hamad.” I looked for it after I learned of his untimely demise but unfortunately I could not find it and I have no clear memory of what it said. I remember feeling strangely disturbed because of the tone of urgency with which the note asked me to let the world know what was happening to Bethlehem. A certain part of my brain asked, “What is wrong with him?” because most Islamic or Arabic relief agencies stick to glossy professional mailings free of personality. This charity worker seemed to really want me to know that it was Riad Hamad sending me these gifts from Palestine. I appreciated the gift items but was not sure why he seemed so urgently to feel that I should know his name.

I was even more astonished when I looked at the embroidered table cloth and saw that it had a faint round stain on it, as from a mug of tea.

The JCRC of Boston has hosted a website for years, entitled “MARRIAGE,” which ponders the question of what my husband and I discuss over dinner. So for all you silly Zionists out there here is your answer! I asked my husband if he knew Riad Hamad and he told me, “Sure, you met him too, at the Al-Awda conference.” It was one of our first dates when we were newly married. It was the day that Shaykh Yassin, Mufti of Jerusalem was murdered in his wheelchair by Israeli assassins in a helicopter. I heard him speak once, outdoors in downtown Cleveland during a rally for the release of our beloved brother Imam Jamil Al-Amin. I couldn’t understand anything he was saying since it was in Arabic but his voice kept cracking. He reminded me of an old Native American Indian chief begging us to save his people, who were being massacred.

I told Joachim, my husband, “Your friend at PCWF sent us a stained tablecloth. I paid $100 for that tablecloth.” He started laughing. “He sent you a used tablecloth?” We both cracked up. We decided not to ask for a refund since it was for charity but Joachim told me he’d email Riad to tease him about it. He never got around to emailing him though. (Men!)

Strangely, I was in such a rush to pack the family into the car to go to New Jersey for Christmas, that I actually forgot all the Christmas presents. It was totally embarrassing. But I remember thinking, there must be some reason that God didn’t want me to let go of those things, although I did send my sister-in-law the gorgeous black shawl with red embroidery.

When I saw the news report that Riad Hamad was brutally murdered, I immediately remembered his name. He was the weird guy who sent me the box of Christmas presents from Palestine. I saw his photo on the obituary and he did look familiar. He was someone with a strong and uninhibited personality. No wonder you could feel it just from the paper that he had touched. He was one of the few Muslims who could associate with secularists and leftist Jews and not compromise himself socially.

Last night, I engaged in an act of superstition. A dear friend of mine, aged 38, seems to be convinced that he will die at age 40 since his father died suddenly of heart failure at 40. He has spent most of his life praying and getting ready to pass on to the next world, in my opinion diminishing his joy in life. At one time I was committed to cheering him up. At this point I realized he is enjoying his symptoms.

I held the near empty bottle of Riad’s organic Palestinian olive oil upside down and said to God, “Tell me how many years he will live.” By the end of the 30s, I admit, it really did seem like time was running out. But it kept on slowly dripping until it reached 78. The last drop didn’t fall, it just hovered there until I got bored of standing there with my arm raised. I used my finger to wipe out the last bit. 78 years. It’s not forever, but it’s more than 40 years. Or, however old Riad Hamad was when he died.

This little event reminded me of when Ribhi Ramlawi, the owner of Jerusalem Garden in Ann Arbor, died. I used to work there. Upon hearing of his sudden death, one of the other waitresses, Amy, burst into the kitchen and brought out the vat of hommos that had been prepared for the coming day. She told us to eat, because this was the last hommos Mr. R. had ever made. His hommos was truly the best hommos I ever had in my life.

I was so relieved to hear Riad Hamad had an Islamic burial. Nothing feels quite as empty as a leftist funeral without prayers. The brother who washed his body said part of Riad’s brain was missing, as from a blow or a gunshot wound. I don’t know why someone would have wanted to do this to him. I do know that embroidery is a powerful force. I remember wearing my embroidered Palestinian shawl and playing “This Land is Your Land” on my fiddle in Highland Park, New Jersey. The older Zionists went sort of white and crossed to the other side of the street when they saw me, as if they had seen a ghost. The younger psychotic Zionists tried to interrupt me as I played my violin, and when that failed, they formed a circle discussing me. One of them asked me where I got my shawl. He demanded to know how I got into the Occupied Territories. I refused to tell him but in truth I got my shawl from the Palestinian Children’s Welfare Fund. As I continued to play old American and Klezmer songs on my violin on the street during that festival, even though they were too timid to approach me, some orthodox Jews sent their children to tell me how much they liked my violin playing. There was something so powerful, almost magical, about that Palestinian embroidery.

Now I know why God made me forget to bring the gifts from Bethlehem. He wanted me to have them. In the years to come, I may need them to remind me of why I am alive. What am I doing here. I am here to struggle for Allah. The owner of the drycleaners seemed to believe there was no doubt the tea stain could be removed. Maybe there is some hope for the life to come.

One thing I thought was so interesting about the JCRC commentary on my marriage was that Jonathon Haber compared me to Cleopatra. Many years ago an ex-fiance published a book of poetry in Italian, which includes a number of poems about me, one of which speaks of me swimming in the Mediterranean Sea at night, “naked as a Cleopatra.” And here I am, middle aged, and some Jew pens an apparently permanent online commentary about me, again referring to me as Cleopatra.

So I just wanted to mention something that I hope might mean something to Riad, if he can hear me out there, and all the Palestinians scattered in the world out there and beyond. I grew up in America, never feeling like I quite belonged here. My mother came here in search of feminism and my father came here in search of my mother. I always wanted to return to Europe. For most of my teenage years, that was what I planned to do. By the age of 20 I managed to charm a Swiss man into offering me his gold confirmation ring with his initial on it. His family owned land in Italy and I went to see it. Olive trees in a sandy orchard as far as the eye could see, and on the horizon, the speckled lights of the ancient city of Florence. The house was over 100 years old. He had been born there, as had his mother. It was beautiful. There was an oil painting of the Virgin Mary on the wall, and a terra cotta roof. Wine in barrels and olive oil and chickens running around in the yard. An ancient stone oven in the garden, where one could bake bread without overheating the house. The neighbors were old folks, drinking their grappa beneath the grapevines. Not too far away was his actual home in Switzerland, in the mountains, near crisp cold sparkling clean waterfalls and rivers that rushed through the dark green forests of the most beautiful region in the western world. His parents started fixing up the old house when they learned he had fallen in love with me, hoping for grandchildren, I suppose.

I just couldn’t go through with it though. America was my home, and I had already fallen in love with Islam. Europe, as beautiful as it was, seemed to me to be a place whose time had come and gone. Now it was just old folks enjoying the scenery, waiting to die, essentially. The churches all empty, the women’s wombs all barren. I invited him to join Islam, but he said he was just a simple village boy. He didn’t think he could be something as exotic as a Muslim. So I left him. It was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. I left him behind for the sake of Allah (not that I’m that great of a Muslim or anything). I accepted to live in this ridiculous country, the ugly and cheap United States of America.

Why?

Now I know why because Riad Hamad reminded me. He wanted me to have those gifts to remind me of why I am alive and why I am going to die. What am I doing here. I am here to struggle for the sake of Allah. I am here to remind you that there are more important things than olive trees as far as the eye can see. There is more to life than rings of gold and even fresh eggs from the chickens in the yard. That thing that makes life go forward is purpose. God wants every person to have a purpose, yours to unfold the true potential of your soul’s longing. I would have been bored to death there. I need struggle.

And so do you. Because struggle is the essence of the seed which grows, simply to affirm its own self worth, and pushes its way through the darkness of the soil until it explodes, so to say, above the soil and becomes a flower, and then a fruit. That is what life is. You don’t get the flower and the fruit unless you go through that struggle of sheer hope that what what you are doing is the right thing, pushing your way through the darkness, searching for the Light, knowing it must be there.

All plants are Muslims so we have to learn the lesson from the plants. The Land is not the goal, it is a means. We struggle through the land, through our lives, through our every effort, because we are reaching for the Light. And the Eternal Light is the Nur of Allah.

I would rather be a Muslim in America than to own every olive tree in the Mediterranean. Because on the day that I die, that is the only thing that is going to matter.

I am so happy Riad has found that Light and he is so lucky to have died as a Shaheed. I envy him.
Please make me worthy of a death as honorable as that of Riad Hamad and give me Paradise as well.

To Allah belongs the Kingdom, and the Glory, forever.
Amen.

===

SULLA SPIAGA DI VIAREGGIO
by Cosimo Pieracci
Vita: Madre di Parole

Ma ora il tuo sguardo brilla di vino e fatica, sorridi.
Sei solo un’ombra nell’aria densa
di questa discarica di sabbia.
Esercizi di yoga accanto alla striscia d’argento
generosa carezza che luna
stende qui come su altri mari.
Io scrivo con gli occhi pieni
di zanzare e di sonno.
Vorrei addormentarmi,
farlo possibilmente senza doverti baciare;
Tu non chiedi nulla e nemmeno saetti
all’improvviso la tua lingua attraverso le mie labbra
cosi mentre parlo o sbadiglio:
il sorprendente bacio del camaleonte!
Ti stendi leggera, aspetti il sonno, lo ottieni.
Dovro ancora lottare a lungo contro posto o poco distante da li.
La mattina e un paradiso:
sono venute le rondini, il sonno ha spento i motorini
e la giostra, un cono di silenzionsi gabbiani attraverssa
il latte dell’alba dove ti bagni
nuda come una Cleopatra.
Vedo la tua nuca andare verso l’acqua,
entrare nel rumore della risacca, sparire.
Il tuo pube torna al nostro giaciglio proprio
prima che l’oro cominci a colare sui passi lunghi
si muti magicamente in azzurro.
Le lingue del mare si srotolano sulla spiaggia,
tra le zampe di quattro bastardi ubbidienti e felici,
facendo una piccola schiuma nell’orgasmo di leccare il mondo.
Comprendo le’estasi di cui parlavi ieri alla mi mente
stanca nel momento in cui tornavi a sdraiarti sul ventre.
…Cosi le nere ombre della notte si sdraiano caute
sulla sabbia, copiando per non essere scorte, le forme del mondo…
Quanto poco possono sul tuo corpo le mie mani ora che sai
la dolcezza con cui ti carezza il tuo immenso amante di zaffiro.

Precinct by precinct, freedom is now

Every candidate that is running for office right now, Democrat or Republican, except Ron Paul, has promised AIPAC to continue the US belligerent stance against Iran. Obama promised that he would continue to threaten to bomb Iran. Furthermore there is a good chance of US troops in Sudan, Pakistan, and other places. So if we care about the future of the planet our number one concern is to pull the plug on this system of funneling US taxpayer money into corporate subsidies that finance Israel’s wars.

Everybody disagrees with Ron Paul about something. Many left-leaning Democrats reject him because of his pro-life stance on abortion. Yet, Ron Paul is the only presidential candidate in your lifetime that has promised to bring home all troops from every US base that is not in the US. He has promised to cut off all foreign aid to Israel and the Muslim dictators. Did you hear that folks? He is offering you your freedom. He wants to phase out income taxes. The Prophet (pbuh) was also opposed to income taxes.

Ron Paul has taken a moderate stance on the immigration issue. He wants to help 60 million foreigners immigrate here legally. He is the only candidate that is opposed to home to home searches for illegal immigrants. He is realistic about the tax burden on society that is created by uncontrolled immigration. Some people think that you can’t be a nice person if you don’t want amnesty for all illegals. But if your neighbor lost her house and became homeless because of your coercive charity plan, was it worth it? Dr. Paul’s position is not a fixed position regarding immigration. He believes that in a good functioning economy people will be more tolerant of newcomers. He is the only presidential candidate that is not embarrassed to talk to Iran. He promised to lift the sanctions against Iran, Sudan, Libya, Cuba, etc. He is a fiscal conservative. Best of all, he has really good manners. He doesn’t act. He is humble and genuine. He is the only presidential candidate I trust to talk to Ahmedinejad or Bashir. He is in favor of a currency backed by gold or some other commodity. He will stop printing paper money. Isn’t that what we believe in?

Best of all he claims he will liberate thousands of non-violent prisoners his first day in office and give all the US detainees the right to a fair trial. He will shut down Guantanamo and repeal the Patriot Act. He doesn’t believe in “Islamofascism.” He calls this kind of speech war propaganda. There are so many deeply important things that Ron Paul is doing for the Muslims that we should be willing to give everything and do everything we can to be of service to this remarkable man. Don’t go by the official campaign ads; The official campaign flyers are geared towards a certain type of mainstream American consumer audience and don’t give you a good picture of the clarity and depth of Dr. Paul’s grasp on reality. http://www.ronpaullibrary.org/ has his articles and speeches and are a better indication of his thinking on the issues.

Ron Paul has 10 years of a voting record that shows he is the closest to a friend that we have in Washington. No other candidate, not even Kucinich, has promised to cut funding of Israel. If you are not registered to vote as either Unenrolled or Republican, you cannot vote in the primary anyway but you can still get involved with freeatlast2008.com. Hundreds of thousands of people are dying because of US interventionist policy. Ron Paul is the only candidate talking about non-intervention. That’s priceless.

Also keep in mind: As president he doesn’t have a lot of power to do much about the “controversial” issues like immigration and the gold standard because he’d have to get it through Congress. The only power he really has as president is commander-in-chief of the US military. He’d be authorized to end the US occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan etc. And he can pardon prisoners. Everything else has to go thru Congress. He’s a low-risk candidate to back, and by doing so you can tap into a VIBRANT peace movement! It’s not your usual leftist peace protest, it’s a socially conservative peace movement. That is so priceless.

It’s important to mention that there is currently a precinct by precinct coordinated attempt to reclaim American democracy from the special interest lobbies. It has been proven that all it takes is about 10-20 people per precinct to turn things around entirely. By hooking into the ronpaul.meetup.com network you would gain valuable contact with other Americans who support the Constitution.

Please watch http://youtube.com/watch?v=FG2PUZoukfA

In closing I want to urge you to give Dr. Paul a chance because the press combined with coordinated email attacks to smear Dr Paul as the scariest man imaginable is because of his refusal to continue funding for Israel’s wars. Nothing they say about him is true. Please note that the people who spearheaded the vicious anti-Paul campaign are the same group of people who always smear CAIR and our mosque. I would only go on like this about a course of action we must take together now, if I thought it were a life and death situation. And it is. We have to pull the US out of everywhere and the only way we can do that is by pulling the plug on war financially. Ron Paul plans to do that.

Martin Luther King Day Money Bomb - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YA2AGnOOp3g

Who is behind the Ron Paul media blackout?

Pat Robertson is connected to this group of rumormongers. Many of David Horowitz’s talking points end up in Pat Robertson’s sermons and on his website. Horowitz is the guy who said Ron Paul supporters are terrorists. Pat Robertson is backing Giuliani. The Lobby has a huge power over FOX news and that is probably why Giuliani gets all the TV time even though nobody votes for him.

The pro-Israel mailing lists are very very detailed and RonPaul needs to learn from this. We are the first group of people who have even begun to compete against the communication monopoly of the Israel Lobbyists. But they have target audience databases not only a list of email addresses. They arrange their database by personal interest. For example “Homosexual Israel supporters.” They probably sent an email to that list telling them that Dr. Paul hates homosexuals. Then they went to their “Christian fundamentalist Israel supporters” list and told them that Dr Paul is not a real Christian. Then they probably emailed the “Black Churches” list with accusations that Dr. Paul is going to cut off food stamps, etc. They have a thousand front organizations so it’s not always obvious who is behind the various PR campaigns. Special interest groups will employ people to join chat groups and spread their slander. The New Republic article smearing Dr. Paul as having insulted MLK was just one of many smear pieces circulated on the internet and sent as press releases to every news agency in America.

Whenever news breaks all over the nation on every station on the same day, you know you are dealing with the email networks of the Israel Lobby. Example - Save Darfur became a news story sensation overnight. Even though the killing has been going on for years and years, all of a sudden, on the same day, there is a front page story in every major newspaper on the planet about “Genocide in Sudan!” Compare that to Bosnia, where the news came in like a trickle, with many people doubting its veracity, and conflicting reports. With the Save Darfur campaign, there is NO VARIATION in opinion about Sudan from the left wing to the far right.

The only people who weren’t sold on the “Genocide in Sudan” story were the international investors.

I just signed off the “Jewish Libertarians” list and boy have they been busy smearing Dr. Paul. Their entire reason for existence seems to be to paralyze the Libertarian party by creating internal friction. (I’m not blaming all Jews just this particular yahoogroup). Apparently the CATO Institute, which claims to be Libertarian, hates the good doctor because their definition of Libertarianism is not the traditional, Constitutionally based “live and let live” but “I can bomb and plunder anyone I want. Na na na na na.”

Dr Paul’s most powerful opponents are the billions of dollars a year Israel Lobby and that’s who is keeping him out of the debates and telling FOX to treat him the same way as they told Columbia University to treat Ahmedinejad. I assume the Jewish retirees in Florida are swamping the media stations demanding that they nix Dr. Paul just like they write letters to their Congressman demanding that we bomb Iran. One of their journalists in the New York Times wrote a hit piece against Ron Paul as a Nazi.

This is a coordinated effort by people who are not loyal to a particular candidate but are only loyal to continued US taxpayer funding of Israeli wars and continued subsidies for American Jews to get mortgages with 2% interest rates on stolen property of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories.

Hit Piece Bruises Ron Paul

Hit Piece Bruises Ron Paul
January 10, 2008
MariaHussain.wordpress.com

Martin Peretz, owner of the New Republic and funder of
Hillary really hurt Paul yesterday. It was a typical
Peretz thing to do - smear someone as a “homophobe”
and “racist” the day of the election. The New
Republic’s Jamie Kirchick ludicrously claimed that Ron
Paul personally called Martin Luther King a “gay
pedophile,” and other outlandish claims he later
retracted as mere gossip.

A very similar thing happened in Somerville on the eve
of the vote about whether or not city funds should be
invested in Israel or locally - in order to make it
sound more “controversial” than the issue really was,
all the neocon pundits went crazy, making up stories
about how I am a supporter of the local investment
movement and I’m a homophobic terrorist supporter that
hangs out with David Duke. This is a common tactic. It
makes you seem really “scary” to liberals. Liberals
whose vote we were counting on.

If the American people can’t get beyond the
“homophobic” smear in order to save their country,
America probably deserves to be crushed like a bug
quite frankly. People act exactly like insects.
Running around doing what “they” expect, never
thinking.

We have to be prepared in advance. I mentioned a
couple weeks ago the Zionist press is going to do
this. Dr. Paul needed a pre-emptive attack - a
statement on how his program is best for Blacks and
Gays. As we all know, there is no difference between
Huckabee and Hillary when it comes to AIPAC issues.
This game is a distraction. But there is a comeback.

Is Dr. Paul a racist? No, Dr. Paul WILL SET YOU FREE.
We need to emphasize his prison release program and
make sure people realize that Hillary and Obama are
NOT going to end war, they want new wars. Ron Paul is
the Black Man’s Best Friend. He is going to bring your
sons home from the war and release all non-violent
drug offenders from prison his first day in office, he said.
Ron Paul has more Black supporters than any other
Republican candidate and more active US military
personnel supporters than any other candidate.

The issue is not which candidate will win or lose. The
real issue is are we going to lose our country?
Americans are such sheep. If we don’t somehow teach
our friends to mistrust the media and double check
everything, that’s it for USA.

The sad part is that Dr. Paul was polling at 17% but
then a lot of those people went to vote Democratic
because they were embarrassed by the homophobic racist
smear that was circulated on the internet. It is true
that there was reportedly voter fraud. The hand count
of the votes puts Dr. Paul at 15% not 8% as the
newsmedia erroneously reported. But that still means
he lost 2% of the expected vote and all of the
fence-sitters who could have put him above 20% just
because of this typical Jewish smear tactic that was
coordinated and planned to not give Ron Paul time to
answer the accusations before the election.

Dr. Paul will not be counted as a winner unless he
wins by an overwhelming landslide. Even then, the
neocons might send in the National Guard to prevent
him from taking office, except the Guard is in Iraq.
(How convenient.) What happens next? No country in the
world knows what the next step is, how to get free.
The question is, how much longer will Americans fall
for these tricks?

RON PAUL’S RESPONSE

Ron Paul has already responded to these ridiculous
accusations and slammed them as political haymaking to
coincide with the New Hampshire primary.

“The quotations in The New Republic article are not
mine and do not represent what I believe or have ever
believed. I have never uttered such words and denounce
such small-minded thoughts.

In fact, I have always agreed with Martin Luther King,
Jr. that we should only be concerned with the content
of a person’s character, not the color of their skin.
As I stated on the floor of the U.S. House on
April 20, 1999: `I rise in great respect for the
courage and high ideals of Rosa Parks who stood
steadfastly for the rights of individuals against
unjust laws and oppressive governmental policies.’

This story is old news and has been rehashed for over
a decade. It’s once again being resurrected for
obvious political reasons on the day of the New
Hampshire primary.

When I was out of Congress and practicing medicine
full-time, a newsletter was published under my name
that I did not edit. Several writers contributed to
the product. For over a decade, I have publicly taken
moral responsibility for not paying closer attention
to what went out under my name.”

[We invite readers to share their views on Mr.
Kirchick’s article by e mailing him at
james.kirchick@gmail.com.]

Dr. Paul has an honest opinion. The neo-liberals have
think tanks working night and day doing marketing
analysis and using psychology to turn the public away
from Dr. Paul. There are Israeli/neocon spies that
keep tabs on every political activist in Boston and do
write-ups about them in Jerusalem, and meet with the
local & Israeli government about how to neutralize
them. In Palestine they just use a laser gun if
someone starts telling the truth. In America they
character assassinate more often. Like we have any
importance whatsoever. They flew the mayor of
Somerville to talk to Ariel Sharon about how to
silence eleven Boston responsible investment
activists.

Basically how the Lobby won it (and it was a close
race, 45 to 55%) was they made a bunch of slick
posters with Deval Patrick’s face on it, AND they
released a number of news reports and commentaries
that totally twisted the positions and arguments of
both sides, so that the average voter would be
confused about what they were voting for or against.
They also used a lot of psychological pressure
labeling people as “racists” “anti-Semites” etc. so
that the people who would normally support the ballot
initiative got scared away.

These people are very serious about not wanting Dr.
Paul’s voice to be heard and they don’t want him to
win. But they always use the same tactics.

If they don’t succeed in turning Dr. Paul’s name into
mud, they will turn on the organizers of the movement.
It’s going to go on and on and we have to strategize.
Is there a strategic planning wing of the People for
Paul movement?

Wear a Condom for World Peace!

Glenn Greenwald went on for paragraph after paragraph in Salon Magazine http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/12/22/klein/index.html going on and on about why he still deserves to live even though he’s considering voting for a pro-life Republican, namely Dr. Ron Paul, for president.

It is stunning to me how many people would rather have an abortion than have world peace. It seems pretty selfish to me. But I guess that’s what having an abortion is all about. Men who don’t want to take responsibility for their offspring. It has absolutely nothing to do with women’s rights if you ask me, and I have always been female. It has to do with the assumption that women must earn a living or else they are a drain on society.

Glenn Greenwald wrote:

“There’s no question that abortion — whatever one’s views on it are — is a vital, even central issue of individual rights… But abortion isn’t the only important issue… of Paul’s candidacy.”

There are actually a lot of questions about what are the most vital issues concerning the individual rights of women, and how abortion fits into that picture. If you ask me, abortion is a distraction from the three fundamental rights of sexually active women.

Marriage - the promise of a man to provide for his offspring and fulfill the needs of his woman.

Dowry - a gift given from the man to the woman to legitimize his interest in her.

Maintenance - all expenses paid (food, clothing, shelter, medical care) for life.

In the ideal world, every woman should and would demand this from any man seeking to enjoy her. Abortion “on demand and without apology” destroys this ancient security net for women.

“If people who support a candidate with the wrong position on abortion (or gay rights) can be accused of being indifferent to the rights of women or gay people, then — by the same exact “reasoning” — those who end up supporting candidates who affirm America’s right to act as an imperial power or who want to continue many of Bush’s executive power abuses [as Hillary Clinton certainly does and as even Barack Obama and (to a lesser extent) John Edwards do] should be accused of being indifferent to constitutional liberties, the rule of law, and the lives of millions of innocent Muslims,” continues Greenwald.

I do not presume to know what the “right” position is on abortion. Neither does Ron Paul. He doesn’t let his personal feelings get in the way of the Constitution. He says leave it up to the state. There is no way New York Jews are ever going to criminalize abortion. So it’s a non-issue.

Islam: Where do I begin?

Ask Maria Anything! Use the comments feature.
http://mariahussain.wordpress.com/

Q: I am in love with Islam. I don’t have the guts to change my lifestyle yet, but I am engaged in deep thinking and my entire world view has shifted. Where do I begin to try and approach God through Islam?

A: There are millions of “sleeper Muslims” like yourself throughout the world. Some were born ethnicaly Muslim but were never taught how to perform the religion, while many were raised in another tradition. Especially in the 1970s, due to the ministry of Malcolm X, a lot of people in the civil rights movement converted to Islam, mostly in theory but not in practice. But that may be an illusion. Being a “good Christian” in this country amounts to not much more than just back-stabbing materialism. But being a “good Muslim” is a full time job. By choosing to identify as “bad Muslim” we choose a moderate path, a general philosophy which has the potential of propelling our society forward in a positive direction.

Islam is about making a conscious choice to work on becoming a true human being. A Mensh, as the Yiddish like to say. Someone upright, truthful, and compassionate yet firm. The Path of Islam is about using your time in this life to purify your worship through ego reduction. Before you can “become the rider of your own elephant” (to quote the Buddha), it is necessary to respect yourself. Most people have been demoralized or traumatized in some way by their family or culture and this leaves scars on our hearts that keep us from living life freely without baggage. To reach the place of peace and clarity we usually first need to wade through a lot of muck with a great deal of effort and courage.

Islam is about learning how to be a clean person, inside and out. First step we keep our homes clean. The thing that distinguishes humans from animals is that humans, when they are living in a godly way, clean up after themselves. A bird poops anywhere anytime. A human being disposes of his own poop in a safe and sanitary manner. A Muslim cannot look at feces or urine. We do not live with dirt in our home. A home can be messy, but not dirty. A dirty house is not a home. Filth erodes the faith because it causes us to disconnect from our consciousness in an effort to avoid noticing the dirt.

If someone sprinkled when he tinkled, clean it up immediately. Anything rotten or foul smelling should be disposed of. Clothes and sheets should be kept clean. The Prophet, peace be upon him, taught that there are unseen creatures which live in dirty places that bring disease and misfortune to the people.

The most essential thing that distinguishes a Muslim from a non-Muslim is that Muslims keep their butts clean. It is the most elementary thing, but it prevents bladder infections, enhances sex, and just feels right. Why walk around smelling musty when you could RINSE?

If Islam is interesting to you, try obeying the Shariah in just one aspect and see how your life changes. For example, start keeping your butt clean. After you urinate, rinse off. After you poop, wash your butt. The Islamic tradition is to keep a jug of water next to the toilet, it looks like a watering can with the spout cut off, but even a soda bottle or plastic cup works. While sitting on the potty, you pour the water over your privates with your right hand, using your left hand to guide the water and open the folds of skin. This is important because you can actually go to Hell for slime sticking on your pubes. So don’t let it happen.

Another hygeine aspect of the Shariah is shaving off your pubes. It makes it easier to wash. It doesn’t hurt. Some people like to get it waxed off. That hurts. Muslims are not supposed to walk around with a smelly hairball in their pants. The Islamic law says you have to at least clip your pubes with scissors once every three weeks and don’t let it get long. Same goes for the underarms.

Clipping your fingernails. Islamic fundamentalists keep their nails short without nail polish, like the Swiss. Learn to view fingernail attachments and decorations as low class.

Circumcision. If you are not circumcized you might consider it. I hear it prolongs erection and makes the wife very happy. In any case it reduces her risk of catching disease from your smegma. If you can’t face it, then don’t worry. There are some Islamic laws that allow you to forego that ritual.

Keeping your nose clean. Cup water in your right hand and sniff it up your nostrils. Use your left hand to squeeze and clean your nose while you blow all the water out. That is the Islamic way to blow your nose. Looking up someone’s nose (if you are petite like me) is the quickest way to spot a pagan. Muslims keep their butts clean, their noses clean, their hands and feet clean.

There are so many rules that I could go on and on. I recommend the book “Morals and Manners in Islam” by Marwan Ibrahim Al-Kaysi if you want to know all the rules for human behavior. But if you start with these few tips, I guarantee you will have improved health and self-esteem. Maybe even better luck in love.

Muslims discover Ron Paul

After the Republican debate on Tuesday evening in Dearborn, Mich., a reporter from the Arab-American News asked Ron Paul what he thought of the term “Islamic fascism.”

“It’s a false term to make people think we’re fighting Hitler,” Paul responded. “It’s war propaganda designed to generate fear so that the war has to be spread.”

The call has gone out to all the Muslim Americans to hurry up and register to vote Republican so that they can vote in the Republican Primary to support Ron Paul, the anti-interventionist, non-isolationist candidate for President of the United States. Muslims are opening their wallets and joining teaparty07.com as well.

An anonymous Ron Paul supporter posted the following message on the internet: “Muslims and Americans have an unique window of opportunity for the 2008 election. There is a candidate running as a Republican that would work to completely cut off the funding to Israel, remove ALL US troops from Arab lands, and repeal the Patriot Act. He’s a Republican with Libertarian views named Ron Paul. Ron Paul’s policies ranging from monetary to foreign are top notch. Till now Muslims and Americans have not had an American Presidential candidate that really suited their best interests. This election is unique in that we have a man running as a Republican that speaks the truth…We know the current policies in the Middle East are failing, not only making it less safe in the world but hurting and killing innocent Muslims, which our media callously calls collateral damage. It is our duty as Muslims to follow the truth regardless of how futile it may seem. Ron Paul is the only candidate that does not seem to be swayed by the influential lobbies that the other candidates are catering to.”

Ron Paul stood up in Congress in 2006 and opposed a resolution that sided with Israel in the Lebanon-Israel conflict. He stated the following.

Ron Paul: “Mr. Speaker, I follow a policy in foreign affairs called non-interventionism. I do not believe we are making the United States more secure when we involve ourselves in conflicts overseas. The Constitution really doesn’t authorize us to be the policemen of the world, much less to favor one side over another in foreign conflicts. It is very clear, reading this resolution objectively, that all the terrorists are on one side and all the victims and the innocents are on the other side. I find this unfair, particularly considering the significantly higher number of civilian casualties among Lebanese civilians. I would rather advocate neutrality rather than picking sides, which is what this resolution does.”

Ron Paul has also sponsored a bill to overturn the Patriot Act. He is one of the few members of Congress from either of the major houses that is speaking rationally about these issues. How can we get everyone, and I mean everyone, to join the Ron Paul Republican voter sign-up campaign?

There is general frustration with politicians these days, and the unwillingness to believe that supporting a particular candidate will make a difference. But whether Ron Paul wins or loses, ronpaul.meetup.com is a great way to meet your neighbors who are against the war and organize the community on a grassroots level. If something like Katrina ever happened to us, knowing our neighbors could mean the difference between life and death to our families.

The common thread I’ve been reading lately about leftists and Jews is that they are having trouble getting more than a dozen people to come to their stuff (whether anti-Zionist or Zionist). The anti-Israel movement is not moving forward, because “protest Zionist imperialism” is just not a catchy slogan. By contrast, there are over 400 RP activists against war taxes in Boston alone. Every day the list of passionate anti-war activists grows. Very few of them agree with every single RP position, they just want to get the Lobby out of the way and pull the troops out of Iraq.

One reason it’s working is because of the software. They made the ronpaul.meetup.com site almost like a dating site, where you can make friends with people in or near your zip code. They made it very easy to get together with new people to join the activism. You can’t beat technology, may as well use it.

In the event that RP actually won the election and got the Hamas treatment, his supporters are fully in support of the Right to Bear Arms. It would be interesting to see what followed.

If anti-war protesters want to continue to focus on the genocidal machinations of the global zionist-imperialist military, industrial, financial, political, neoliberal, media complex, they have to be willing to meet with anyone any time to hear what ideas people have to address this, which is our primary responsibility - even if they are Republicans.

If you ever saw Ron Paul in an interview it cannot be said that he avoids discussing vital issues. He is someone who is willing to make a statement and stick by it even when no one agrees with him. I don’t “believe” in electoral politics but it’s not that much sweat off my brow to go and vote to end war.

I think the fact that NO pro-Israel group will let Ron Paul speak at their convention, not even peace Zionists, is evidence enough that he is the only person to put in charge as commander-in-chief. And, even if he loses, making all these contacts with local anti-interventionists is priceless. If you want to expand the peace movement so that it overlaps with the freedom movement like ripples in a pond, you just have to respect the fact that people might agree with you, but for different reasons.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/muslims_for_ronpaul/