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February 2011 Safar / Rabi Al-Awwal 1432H

Next Wave of Immigration Legislation Introduced in Arizona New America Media, News Report, Valeria Fernandez PHOENIX, Arizona -- As dozens of states across the country propose immigration legislation similar to Arizona’s SB 1070, analysts are looking at new legislation expected to be introduced by Arizona lawmakers this year—to see what might lie ahead for other states.

Poll:

Do you believe Arizona is becoming a hostile place for immigrants?

Yes

No

Last month’s results:

Among those is a Senate resolution that would ask voters to change the Arizona Constitution to prevent state judges from considering international law and other cultures in their judicial decisions.

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Earlier this month, Republican legislators unveiled a bill that would re-interpret the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, to deny birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants. The bill has not yet been introduced for a vote as legislators cite budget priorities, although other measures likely to affect ethnic communities in Arizona are already on the fast track and being discussed at the State Capitol.

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According to its sponsor, Republican Senator Linda Gray, the bill is not a response to immigration concerns, but about protecting the rights of women. Gray has the support of 20 other Republicans, including SB 1070’s creator, Senator Russell Pearce.

“We are trying to protect the most vulnerable,” said Gray, who believes a ballot initiative passed by Arizona voters would be more difficult to overturn by the Legislature if challenged.

Senator Gray said the law was inspired by the case of a 20 year old woman who was allegedly run over by her father, an Iraqi immigrant, in what prosecutors labeled an “honor killing”, because the father claimed his daughter had dishonored the family by becoming too westernized. The father is still on trial.

Gray said that if judges consider cultural differences and international law in their decisions, it could result in protecting the aggressor in such cases. She cited a New Jersey case in which a Muslim woman who charged her husband with rape had Continued on page 2

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TERMS USED IN THIS PAPER Alhamdulilah: Praise God Allah: Arabic word for God Fatwa: Islamic decision based on Shari’a Hadith: Sayings of the Prophet Mohammad Hajj: Pilgrimage to Mecca Halal: Allowed in Islam Halaqa: Group study Haram: Prohibited in Islam Hijab: Head cover for women Hijra: Migration of the Prophet from Mecca to Madina Imam: Islamic scholar Iman: Faith Inshallah: God willing Madina: City near Mecca in Saudia Arabia Masjid: Place were Muslims gather for prayer and studies Mecca: City in Saudi Arabia where Prophet Mohammad was born Pbuh: Peace be upon him Quran: Islam’s Holy book Shahadah: Is saying “I accept Allah as the one God and Mohammad as his messenger” when someone accepts Islam.

Sharia’: Islamic law Shura: A council of Muslim scholars (SWT) Subhanahu Watala: Praise be to Allah Taqwa: God consciousness

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Next Wave of Immigration Legislation Introduced in Arizona

requested a restraining order from a court, only to be denied by a judge who ruled that the husband was acting upon his cultural beliefs.

“We treat women here better than other countries, (so) you have to go

by American law, not the intention of another culture or country,” said Gray.

A similar law was declared unconstitutional in Oklahoma and several legal observers agree that the same could happen in Arizona.

“This (legislation) looks like distrust of the judiciary and I don’t think it is justified,” said Aaron Fellmeth, a law professor at Arizona State University.

International law, he said, is recognized within the U.S. Constitution and refers mostly to universally accepted practices, while also providing a framework for how nations interact with one another through treaties.

Fellmeth also emphasized that foreign law and international law are not the same thing. Foreign law, he said, rarely comes into play during U.S. court cases like those cited by Gray, and when it does, most judges will dismiss such a case and refer it to the proper country.

Gabriel Chin, a law professor at the University of Arizona, said the legislation could also cause economic harm. “Because it was not carefully written, it would make Arizona a terrible place to do international or interstate business,” said Chin. “No business could be assured that a treaty or choice of law provision in a contract would apply,” he added.

For that reason, Gray said she is in the process of amending the bill. “We don’t want to do anything to harm businesses,” she said.

international law offers more protections than U.S. law in the area of human rights, by requiring governments to protect citizens against violence.

The legislation being introduced in Arizona comes at a time when many Latin American nations are condemning SB 1070. The United Nations has also denounced that law, and another that would ban the teaching of ethnic studies in Arizona public schools.

The U.N. statement goes on to say that the two Arizona laws “raise serious doubts about... compatibility with relevant international human rights treaties to which the United States is a party.”

On Wednesday, a diverse coalition of over ten state groups that advocate for immigrant rights called for a moratorium on all legislation aimed at illegal immigration in light of the recent shooting in Tucson that left 6 dead, and 19 wounded, including congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

“We call on Arizona lawmakers to restore sanity and civility to politics,” said Joel Olson, a spokesperson for the group and a member of the Repeal Coalition. While the shooting was not connected to the immigration rhetoric used by politicians in the state, said Olson, the constant use of words like “criminal” and “invasion” have created a hostile environment towards immigrants.

The coalition group includes members of the PUENTE movement, Black Alliance for Just Immigration, Arizona Dream Act Coalition and the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Phoenix.

But human rights advocates are concerned the resolution will defeat the very purpose for which it was intended.

“I don’t understand the rationally behind it,” said James Kavanagh, a Republican representative. “To the extent that people are saying don’t run bills that we don’t like because of Tucson, I think they are capitalizing on the shooting for their own advantage.”

“It does the exact opposite, if the goal is to protect women’s rights,” said Jaime Farrant, policy director for the Border Action Network. “What this measure would do is stop judges from establishing that rape is a crime against humanity,” he added, citing one example of international law.

He is supporting Gray’s resolution as well as a number of new measures aimed at illegal immigrants, like one that would deny undocumented immigrants access to obtaining any type of professional license, such as a food handler’s card to cook in a restaurant.

In many respects, said Fellmeth,

Another proposal already introduced

would require state schools to keep track of undocumented students and provide a report to the State Legislature on the number enrolled in their schools.

Districts that refuse to comply would run the risk of loosing state funding.

Kavanagh said this would help the state keep track of how much it spends on undocumented students.

“The taxpayers and voters need to know… the cost of illegal immigration,” he said.

Educators are concerned that the bill will cause an increase in school dropouts and add to the climate of fear already created by SB 1070.

“When you put children in a position of feeling threatened, it impacts how they learn,” said Rosemary Agneessens, principal at Creighton Elementary School in central Phoenix. She said her school lost 100 students last summer, most likely in connection to immigration laws.

Another bill that is up for discussion this week would allow state lawmakers to hire their own private attorneys to provide legal defense on lawsuits filed against SB 1070. Yet another would allow National Guard troops to be deployed on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Jennifer Allen, executive director of the Border Action Network, said the strategy of immigrant advocates must shift this year to focus more on creating legislation that is positive towards minority communities.

“We’ve got to make sure… that we are counted, and have some control and accountability over the State Legislature,” said Allen.

Allen believes most of the bills being introduced won’t pass, but their impact, she said, is in the way they affect the tone of the immigration debate in Arizona.

While the PUENTE movement sent emails to Arizona Democratic legislators asking them to walk out of immigration legislation meetings as a form of protest, Kyrsten Sinema, a Democratic representative, said she disagrees with that strategy.

Sinema is planning to introduce a bill that would impose heftier penalties on individuals that operate “drop houses” used to hold undocumented immigrants hostage.

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“As an Arizonan Muslim, what were your thoughts about the shootings in Tucson involving Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords?”

By: Sumbal Akhter In regards to the shootings that occurred in Tucson, I feel like everyone was affected whether they are aware of it or not. I for one was traumatized and disgusted.

I’m not going to get into how it was Islamically incorrect for Jared Lee Loughner to shoot Giffords because he wasn’t Muslim. But as a human being there is a certain line, which you should not cross and I feel as though he has completely stepped past it. At the end of the day, who are we to judge someone for their actions. Everything happens for a reason and life goes on. – Noor Bhatti I was completely shocked by the shooting in Tucson involving Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Our nation should not have to deal with such senseless acts of violence with any individual. She is a courageous and compassionate woman who was just expressing her opinions. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Congresswoman Giffords and those also affected by this horrific tragedy. – Wahiba Bhuvad As an American, I feel extremely sad about the shootings that occurred in Tucson. My heart goes out to the friends and family of those killed. This is a rude awakening to Arizonans, as many of them have such different views when it comes to politics. There are right wing Republicans and strong Democrats therefore problems definitely arise. I think that everyone should respect each other’s views and when someone resorts to violence, we only have ourselves to blame because we harbor such anger and hatred when it comes to politics.

Situations like this really make you think

about what being an American is about. Is it about being a Democrat or a Republican? No. It’s about working together, accepting each other’s views, and moving forward as one.

Even though the shooter was mentally ill, the anger circling politics had to have played a role in his decision to kill others. I hope everyone takes a moment of silence for the lives that have been lost, and contemplate about what it really means to be an American. – Aminah Shakoor As an Arizonan Muslim, it was a shock to hear what happened to Congresswoman Giffords. Gabrielle Giffords was a politician that many loved and respected very much.

The whole setting in general was sad to hear about knowing that people as young as a child to people as old as senior citizens were affected. I believe when tragedies like this occur; the Muslim community needs to show our presence and let our community know we are here standing with them. – Reema Asfoor I am a Muslim but I am also an American. I feel that this was a terrible tragedy that no one saw coming. It is just one of those awful things that you wish could be undone. Living in Arizona, I feel like my sense of security and comfort was somewhat shattered. But I know that together, my fellow citizens and me will be able to pick up the shattered pieces and move on. However, I still believe that Arizona is a great place to live. – Hana Lodhi The shootings in Tucson were an incredible disappoint and quite shocking to say the least.

Our society is becoming a cruel and evil place.

Tucson was just another shooting case that has caused even more problems in our society. It’s unfortunate that mundane issues are turning into murder, and death. The world doesn’t seem like it is picking back up and turning into a sane and safe place. – Umber Aulakh

Noor Bhatti

Wahiba Bhuvad

Aminah Shakoor

Reema Asfoor

Hana Lodhi

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Multicultural Business Mixer draws new members “We put a face to a business” Muslim Voice Business owners from around the Valley showed up to our host Memo’s Cafe who gracefully opened their doors to our business group to network and mingle with each other. The gathering started at 6 PM and lasted until 8:30 PM. Tasty food was catered from Alzohour Market & restaurant in Phoenix. Everyone had the chance to meet others for the first time and got to know each other. Exchange of business cards, flyers and brochures was what

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Feel free to share this evaluation with your Leadership Team and Board of Directors. You may be surprised at the results!

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The magnitude of Allah 4 Mercies in Less Than 5 Minutes

By Ayda Hamdan On the morning of January 2 2011, eight young men set out on a one day trip to go snowboarding. Two of those young men (21, 19) were my sons.

There were two cars. They drove west on a highway with two lanes and a turning lane in the middle. My sons were in the first car that I will refer to as car A and the second car, Car B was behind them. The older of my two sons was in the passenger side of car A and the younger son was in the backseat car A. 20 minutes before they reached their destination a Mustang in front of Car A swirls on an ice patch in the road and turns 360 degrees before coming to a halt. Car A tries to brake but the inevitable happens Car A slides on the ice patch as well. Everyone in the car braces themselves for a collision with the Mustang.

had popped open during the spinning of the car. Both of my sons got out of car A and walked over to car B. My eldest son offers to drive Car B and gets behind the wheel; my second son helps the driver of Car B load up the hatch. Within seconds a Ford Bronco is heading west unaware of the ice patch ahead. The Bronco slides right by Car A and straight towards car B and the unprotected young men packing up the car.

Subahan Allah, Allah’s mercy prevents the impact of the 2 cars. Side by side the two vehicles had come to a halt. Within seconds car B is destined for the ice. This time car B is out of control revolving repeatedly in 360 degree turns. Once again Car A prepares themselves for impact because car B is headed right at them. Again, by Allah’s (Subhanna WA Taala) mercy car B passes Car A with only inches between them.

This indeed is the most blessed and profound of miracles that anyone could ever ask for. My son was towards the back end of car B and sees the Bronco heading straight for him. Allah Subanna Wa Taala helps him to leap backwards in just enough time for the Bronco to hit the back end of the car. He remembers the light shattering and pieces of plastic flying at him, hitting him in the chest.

The driver of car B was not as fortunate for He had not seen the Bronco coming.

In the words of my son “I saw the Bronco hit the tail of the car and then continue to move and then I did not see my friend standing there any longer”.

He ran around the other side of car B only to see that the driver of car B was now on the floor. He had been hit by the Bronco and thrown 20 feet in front of car B. The world stood still as Allah, Subanna Wa Taala, performed the 4th miracle and the driver of car B stood up.

Upon realizing that all three cars were safe, the Mustang leaves. Car A pulls onto the shoulder of the highway and waits for car B to regain their composure. Car B was facing south and immediately pulled into the passing lane facing west again. The driver of Car B, who is a wonderful young man, jumps out of the car to pick up items that had fallen out of the back of the car onto the road because the hatch

Let’s not ever forget the blessings of Allah (SWT) on a daily basis. Some we see in plain view, like the ones my sons had witnessed that day and some happen and we don’t even notice. The angel of death visits each person three times a day we never know when it will be our turn. Let’s not wait until there is a death for one of us to pray on a regular basis.

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Dishonest return preparers use a variety of methods to formulate fraudulent and illegal deductions for reducing taxable income. These include, but are not limited to, the following: * Preparing fraudulent Schedule C, Profit or Loss from Business, claiming deductions for expenses that have not been paid by the taxpayer to offset Form 1099, Miscellaneous Income, or income earned from outside employment, * Including false and inflated itemized deductions on Schedule A, Itemized Deductions, for: • charitable contributions • medical and dental expenses * Claiming false Schedule E, Supplemental Income and Loss, losses * Claiming false dependents

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• Avoid preparers who base their fee on a percentage of the amount of the refund.

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ISLAM VS. CULTURE Muslim Voice

By Fathiyyah Bashshar

Culture is defined as a people’s complete way of life. It consists of all the ideas, objects and ways of doing things created by the group.

Culture includes beliefs, customs, language and traditions (World Book Encyclopedia).

While there are numerous cultures and subcultures present in the world, of primary concern to us in this discussion are the two main opposing cultures in present-day society. One is the culture of Islam — the “complete way of life” set forth in the Qur’an and Sunnah. On the other opposing end is the Western culture. Both cultures present a “complete way of life.” However, both ways of life differ drastically.

The difference in the two cultures stems primarily from the source of the cultures. Islamic culture — the way of life of a Muslim — is defined by the Qur’an and Sunnah. It is the culture of Rasulullah, Messenger, (Peace be Upon Him). It is that way of life upon which he established the Sahaaba, Companions (R.A.) after having turned them away from the culture of jahiliyyah (ignorance).

On the other hand, Western culture is fashioned by a host of people; Capitalists, atheists, people who believe in same-gender marriages and others of a similar nature. Such people determine the decadent culture of the West.

NO FLIRTATIOUS INTENT The cornerstone of Islamic culture is morality (hayaa) and simplicity. Hayaa (morality / modesty) and simplicity are both qualities of faith. Thus, the true Islamic society upholds the highest

levels of morality and maintains simplicity in every aspect. Some of the salient features of this society are: No free intermingling between nonmahram (those who are not forbidden to marry) males and females. The laws of Hijaab will be observed.

• Modest dressing. Clothing will truly cover the body (also loose enough to cover the shape) and have no flirtatious intent.

• Men and women will fulfill the separate roles that have been apportioned to them — the husband as breadwinner and the wife as mother and one who fulfils the household responsibilities, etc. This is the foundation to a stable Islamic family which together with other such families forms a stable Islamic community.

Contrary to this, the cornerstone of Western culture is immorality and extravagance. The “live-in” culture where a couple live like man and wife but never marry — is almost the norm.

While there are numerous aspects that highlight the immorality of Western culture, perhaps the most visible and marked expression of this culture is in its dressing. Shorter, tighter and more revealing is the rule by which the dress code keeps changing. Western clothing, instead of covering and distracting any wrongful glances, is by and large designed for flirting, attracting and arousing.

As for simplicity in Western culture, it is almost a kind of tragedy. Since the poor fellow cannot afford to indulge in anything extravagant, hence merely due to circumstances, he is forced to adopt a simple lifestyle. Fashion-slavery is part of western life. If one does not have a branded garment, it is tragic. If the real thing is not available, a fake will also do. If it is not a branded product, it is then only for the have-nots even if it is

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of a better quality and lesser cost.

While the above are some of the serious core differences between Islamic and Western culture, the most important aspect is the difference in the mindset of both cultures.

PURPOSE OF LIFE The mindset of the Islamic culture stems from the conviction that Allah is our Creator and Sustainer. Hence in this short stay on earth, we are to serve Him alone. Thus the Islamic culture revolves around the firm belief that our mission in life is to establish complete religion in ourselves and on the face of this earth.

With this mindset, one will sacrifice one’s wealth, energies and time as much as possible for the purpose of life.

Indeed one will acquire the necessities of life as well, but religion will be the guiding light and driving force. Religion will dictate and all else will follow. The “purpose of life” will demand — and all else will submit.

CHASING FUN Conversely, the mindset of Western culture is that the purpose of life is worldly enjoyment. Every comfort and luxury that can be acquired must be attained at all costs. There is no mission in life. No objective. Merely the pursuit of temporal pleasure permeates every cell of the mind. Thus, life revolves around making money — from early morning till late at night — and having fun. There is no concern for proper upbringing. In order to “enhance the quality of life” (which means making more money to have more luxuries and more fun) anything can be sacrificed — parents, children and even religion. It is an extremely hollow existence without any peace or contentment — which only stops when one is placed in the hollow of the grave!

It is thus evident that Islamic culture and Western culture are worlds apart.

The problem is that when people of different cultures live together in the same community, the process of enculturation takes place where people from one culture adopt traits, customs, habits and ideas from the other culture.

There is no doubt that this enculturation has occurred in our communities.

Many Muslims have tragically become greatly Westernized in their mindset, in adopting a very extravagant lifestyle, in their dressing, in making life revolve mainly around chasing money and fun, etc. Religion for such people has become a “side-line.”

Why has this enculturation occurred?

The answer is alarming! According to social scientists, people abandon their own culture and borrow from another culture when they regard aspects of the other culture as “better” (World Book). Due to the weakness of faith and ignorance, the Sunnah culture is being abandoned by Muslims for some Western way which they regard as “better” or as having more pleasure and advantage than the Islamic culture!

This is no different to a child who gives away a priceless diamond in exchange for an insignificant shiny stone. He has no idea of the value of the gems he is abandoning and is duped by the shine on the stone.

Disintegration of family structures Every effort must therefore be made to preserve the culture of the Qur’an and Sunnah. This requires adopting the company of those who are Sunnah conscious. If Western trends take root, besides harming ourselves, we will also lay the foundation for the destruction of future generations. It is therefore imperative that we guard against this.

The only success for us in this world and the Hereafter is in upholding the way of life of the Qur’an and Sunnah.

May Allah Ta’ala keep us steadfast on this Religion of Islam?

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FEBRUARY 2011

Federalism Plays Lead Role in Destroying Somalia By: Mohamud Shalab The question that has been lingering through many peoples brain creates much c o n t r o v e r s y.

Is federalism appropriate for a poor which institutions are crumbled and forced them start from scratch country like Somalia? The answer is not complicated to understand.

First lets define federalism; it is a union of states under a central government distinct from that of the separate states, who retain certain individual powers under the central government.

This type of government is suited for a country with such diverse people that they are able to be broken up into separate states. They may have different religions, cultures, or speak different languages.

From 2002-2004 , the 14th NRC (National Reconciliation Conference) was held in Nairobi, Kenya, to established the Transitional Federal Government in Somalia.

The transitional Federal government was supposed to set up an independent Federal Constitution Commission shortly after they assumed their position in office.

However, four years later it hasn’t even been discussed publicly let alone completed.

There are multiple obstacles

in the way of Somalia having a stable government. The neighboring countries such as Kenya, and Ethiopia are great examples. It seems that these countries don’t want Somalia to up rise from their misfortune and regain their pride as a nation. The reason may be because Ethiopia is Land locked, so having the upper hand over Somalia could give them control over the sea also many Somali business people Invested their money in these countries, so if those people realize Somalia is in relative peace they will want to transfer their businesses back to their home land. That being said, The most obvious issue with having a stable government is the destruction and disorganization cause by the ongoing Civil war. This has broken down Somalia and its people. It destroyed the government and resulted in Somalia being ranked below a third world country. This, of course, urges other countries to interfere, which is the reason why Somali aid is directly controlled by foreign governments and agencies, such as the United Nations.

The UN helps Somalia to a certain extent but most of the money meant to benefit Somalia is spent in Nairobi.

Mainly because the UN agency is set up in that city.

Before the Civil war and all the destruction, Somalia used to have the Unitary system of Government. The Federal system is what most consider to be the main cause

of the fueling tension and the accelerating mistrust between different clans in the country.

This system of government provided unequal distribution of wealth and unfair portion

eventually led to the crisis and the disintegrated country that we see before us today.

Going back to that similar government system in the dark era of tribalism (1960)

of government support and aid to the general public of Somalia. In other words, 25% of Somalis were beneficiary 75% were deprived. For that reason, the grass roots should wake up and take immediate action upon this issue. The federal system

would be like placing yourself in a political trap. It is truly the only hope Somalia has to switch the federal system into the Unitary system. This type of government has one government, one president, and one flag. It allows us to be united as one nation.

Somalia is an independent country and having countries interfere with there own issue is belittling. The new Prime minister Somali-American Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed needs to reclaim Somalia’s solidarity and Unity. In doing so, many things are required to be amended starting with the government. There are 500 Members of Parliament and that is far to much for a country like Somalia because they don’t have a budget big enough for 500 people therefore that number must be reduced to at least 50.

By building institutional capacity and strengthening parliamentary oversight to the best interest of the people of Somalia we can change their lives for a better future.

We must abolish the federal government as well, and all clans must have equal power sharing. In order to achieve this goal, the only system that is well suited for a country like Somalia would be the Unitary System. This type of system is was used in Africa and it is one way that we can be sure equal opportunities and equal protection is provided to all Somali provinces and its people. Although this system of government may be frowned upon in some nations, it is the only way that we can ensure that there is no inequality between different clans. We have to secure the future of the Somali public while no one has a vested political interest. Its the only hope we have to a safe and peaceful nation.

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www.AZMuslimVoice.com 8 FEBRUARY 2011 OPINIONS African American History Month: The Future Has a Past Muslim Voice

by Ahmad Daniels, M.Ed. In 1926, Dr. Carter G. Woodson began what was then called Negro History Week. In recognition of President Abraham Lincoln and Abolitionist Frederick Douglass, both of whom celebrated their birth dates during the second week of February.

Dr. Woodson realized the need for such commemoration and saw it as an opportunity for all America to give pause and reflect on the myriad contributions of Black Americans. And, by participating in such a review, it would begin to chip away the false sense of superiority held by many whites as well as whittle away the false sense of inferiority maintained by many Blacks. Segregation was rampant in the early twentieth century and with textbooks being exclusively written with whites in mind, there existed a dire need for the likes of a Dr. Carter G. Woodson to bring front and center the contributions of Blacks.

Following are a few historical occurrences that are often left out of the distant and not too distant annals of history: Mary McLeod Bethune Born in 1875, near Mayesville, South Carolina, she would go on to receive a “head-heart-hand” education that focused on academic, religious, and vocational training at Scotia Seminary in Concord, North Carolina. McLeod had her heart set on serving in Africa as a missionary but was denied because Presbyterian policy did not permit African Americans to serve in Africa.

Signs of Mary McLeod Bethune’s character became evident when she applied her considerable educational training to open the Daytona Educational and Industrial Institute.

Despite Ms. Bethune’s humble beginnings, it did not prevent her from later merging with Cookman Institute to become BethuneCookman Institute. Her driven personality resulted in her founding the National Council of Negro Women and influencing President Mary McLeod Bethune Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal government.

She would also assist A. Phillip Randolph’s March on Washington Movement in 1941.

Mary McLeod Bethune’s legacy continues to encourage self-actualization.

Tuskegee Airmen A 1925 study commissioned by the Army War College claimed to have found scientific proof that Negroes were biologically unable to operate aircraft due

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to limited cranial (skull) capacity. Thanks to the efforts of the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the black press that placed pressure on elected officials, Congress passed Public Law 18, which called for the establishment of training programs for Negroes (support services only) at several black colleges of which Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama was one. An all black unit called the 99th Fighter Squadron came into existence and paved the way for many more who dared to traverse the trail they blazed.

These African American pilots wanted more out of their military experience so they took a chance on fulfilling their dreams of becoming aviators. They dared to stare racism in its ugly face and consequently changed the way the military viewed Black pilots.

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Bob Moses Bob Moses, a 25-year old Harvard Ph.D. candidate was so inspired by the student sitins of the 1960s that he quit his teaching job in New York to join the Civil Rights Movement.

He became the lead organizer of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and opened an office in Mississippi where he registered black voters. Bob Moses helped found the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO), which served as an umbrella organization bringing together all Mississippi civil rights organizations. In 1964, COFO launched a massive voter registration and education drive.

This onslaught of students that left the comforts and safety of their northern homes to come south came to be known as Freedom Summer.

Three students would be killed for daring to register Blacks in Mississippi that summer.

Bob Moses

Bob Moses sought more than a Harvard Ph.D. and the profits it would bring. He sought his purpose for living and found it through aiding others.

In 1976, the Bi-Centennial of the United States, Negro History Week would be expanded to include the entire month of February. Dr. Carter G. Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, an organization that continues to operate today; heightening the awareness of a long line of African Americans willing to shed blood, sweat, and tears to make the United States Constitution live up to what it professes to be about.

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FEBRUARY 2011

Pakistani Americans Must Combat Radicalism, Not Just Complain New American Media Pakistan Link, Commentary, Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy My green passport requires standing in a separate immigration line once my plane lands at Boston’s Logan Airport. The ‘special attention’ from Homeland Security, although polite, adds an extra two to three hours. I belong to the fortunate few who can get a visa, but I am still annoyed. Having traveled to the US frequently for forty years, I now find a country that once warmly welcomed Pakistanis to be strangely cold. The reason is clear.

America as the source of the world’s grief, they bravely sacrificed their jobs and careers. Having inhabited some part of their universe, I can understand something of what they went through.

Like Aafia Siddiqui — now al Qaeda’s poster girl — I, too, was a student at MIT. And, like her, I was furious at America. In the late 1960s, American B-52s were flattening Hanoi and Haiphong, while napalm and Agent Orange were destroying Vietnam’s people and jungles.

When Nixon ordered the Christmas bombings of 1972, I wept. How could one live in America and not fight it?

But instead of wanting to bomb Harvard Square, I chose to return to Pakistan — for good.

Foreigners carrying strong negative feelings — or perhaps harmful intentions — are unlikely to find enthusiastic hosts. I know that the man who tried to bomb Times Square, Faisal Shahzad, a graduate of the University of Bridgeport, is my compatriot. So is Aafia Siddiqui, our new-found dukhtur-e-millat (daughter of the nation). Another Pakistani, Farooque Ahmed, with a degree from the College of Staten Island, made headline news in November 2010 after his abortive attempt to blow up DC Metro trains.

If such violent individuals were rarities, their nationality would matter little. But their actions receive little or no criticism in a country consumed by bitter antiAmericanism, which now exceeds its anti-Indianism.

Example: after the Faisal Shahzad news broke in early May 2010, TV channels in Pakistan switched to denial mode. Popular anchors freely alleged conspiracies against Islam and Pakistan. None revisited their claims after Shahzad proudly pleaded guilty in June.

Calling himself a “Muslim soldier”, he read a prepared statement: “It’s a war … I’m going to plead guilty a hundred times over”.

Psychologists say that even hard facts can be denied when people subscribe to a radically different vision of the world. A glimpse of the current Pakistani weltanschauung — the mental makeup which selects and filters facts before they reach the conscious brain — can be had through the lives of the three young USeducated Pakistanis mentioned above.

Idealistic in their own way, they fought for a cause they believed was just. Influenced by an ambiance that puts

Reason and observation slowly changed me. Cruelty to the weak is not an American monopoly; wars and brutal conquests are as old as history. The US cannot be forgiven for the Vietnam and Iraq wars, among others.

But should India be forgiven for killing Kashmiris, West Pakistan for the East Pakistan massacres, Turkey for the Armenian genocide, or Japan for the Rape of Nanking? Countless states have blood on their hands.

But retribution would surely make the world an inferno.

If Pakistani-Americans wish to feel welcome in the country they have chosen to live in, then, they must judge the West and Pakistan using exactly the same criteria, and expose three popular falsehoods.

First, it is a lie that American Muslims are victims of extreme religious prejudice. Certainly, no country is free of religious discrimination. But, the secular West is infinitely less discriminatory than any Muslim country. How many churches are there in Saudi Arabia?

Yet Muslims have built hundreds of new mosques in America — with Saudi money — and many after 9/11.

9

New churches or temples are impossible in Pakistan; even old ones are burned down by rampaging mobs.

In America, Muslims successfully use the legal system to seek damages if there is discrimination in matters of employment, housing, or access to public facilities. But in Pakistan, if you are a Christian, Hindu, or Ahmadi, you simply accept your fate.

Second, it is a lie that US Muslims are physically endangered. In fact, Muslims are far safer in the US than in Pakistan. Does one see Kalashnikov-toting guards during Friday prayers outside a mosque in the West? Yet if you are a Barelvi or a Shia in Pakistan, your life may end at your place of worship. Scattered body limbs and pools of blood at Data Darbar, Abdullah Shah Ghazi, and the Pakpattan shrines testify that the cruelest of Islam’s enemies come from within.

While Pakistan’s terrified religious minorities live in fear of an intolerant majority, American Muslims get protection both from its people and the state. A personal example: the day after 9/11, I was appalled by the wild joy among my students. Worried about my former students, now studying in various US universities, I emailed them. Their return emails were reassuring. White American students had formed defense committees; no Muslim student was ever harmed on any campus.

So even though George W Bush — a religious zealot — was preparing to invade Iraq, ordinary Americans were largely decent.

Third, the nauseating hypocrisy of Pakistan’s radicalizing West-hating, West-baiting leaders needs to be exposed.

For example, Imran Khan — who speaks of the West as the fountainhead of evil — prefers to keep his family in London and New York, owes his fame to a game invented

by British colonialists, and employs real doctors rather than hakeems for his cancer hospital.

To conclude: if Pakistani-Americans want to feel welcome in the land they have chosen to settle in, they must actively combat the cancer of radicalism.

They must want to be part of the modern world, not the one they came from. To mosque imams and radical Islamists, they must say clearly and loudly: we want to live peacefully with other Americans in a modern, pluralistic and secular society that values freedom of belief, freedom for art and music and freedom for thought and expression.

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FEBRUARY 2011

A Tale of Two Gunmen

New America Media, Op-ed, Sandip Roy A moderate centrist politician who had taken some controversial stances is gunned down in broad daylight. The gunman is caught.

One happened in Arizona. The other, just a few days earlier, in Pakistan.

The parallels are striking, surely, but so are the differences.

In Arizona, the assailant is the crazy guy, the loner, the antisocial, the one everyone is quick to disown. The sigh of relief is that he acted alone.

The fact is, in America, the Jared Lee Loughners don’t have a long reach. They must exist in isolation, burning balls of fire, streaking through our media like a comet.

But, they cannot be part of any constellation of violence because we live in that constellation. Our house would be on fire.

Roger Ailes, president of Fox News, apparently did tell Russell Simmons he’d “told all of our guys, shut up, tone it down, make your argument intellectually.” But, in most parts, they were instead busy scrubbing the Internet for all traces of maps with representatives in the crosshairs.

Now, if Loughner had been Mexican American, it would have immediately been seized on as something systemic, not an isolated act of a mentally-disturbed person.

The groups that have succeeded in squashing ethnic studies in Arizona, would triumphantly say that ethnic studies bred just that

Yet, the political discourse in the United States is just as vicious and violent. There are enough people who secretly (and not so secretly) say, “They had it coming” when the other side goes down – whether it’s an abortion provider or an undocumented migrant or a politician. Shirley Phelps-Roger

In Pakistan, the assassin of Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer immediately becomes proof of something systemic.

Malik Mumtaz Qadri is just its apocalyptic messenger leaving behind a trail of guns and rose petals.

Qadri proves to American media that something is rotten in the state of Pakistan. But Jared Lee Loughner is cast as just a rotten apple. He, like Timothy McVeigh, exists in isolation, the aberration to the American story, even though that story is historically rife with gun-slinging vigilantes, cowboys and bank robbers who are valorized precisely because they took on the government.

When I read the headline this weekend in the New York Times – “An Assassin’s Long Reach,” I actually thought it was about Arizona. But, it was really about the assassination of Salman Taseer in Pakistan.

Enough people obviously made that same mistake. Next day on the website the headline had changed.

It read “A Pakistani Assassin’s Long Reach.”

www.AZMuslimVoice.com

Comcast-NBC Union Needs a Closer Look Philadelphia Tribune, Editorial, Staff

There’s something rotten in Washington, D.C. More specifically, the stench is not in the proverbial domain of Denmark, it is at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

The FCC approved the merger of Comcast, the nation’s largest deliverer of cable television in America, with NBC Universal, one of the biggest platforms for TV and movie entertainment, without releasing the Triennial Report which is mandated by Congress in the Communications Act that was signed by President Clinton.

First of all, a merger that creates a conglomerate of this size is bound to have ill effects on the market, especially where small — see minority- and female-owned companies and entrepreneurs — are concerned.

This turn of events, however, has a particular malodorous scent where Blacks and other minorities are concerned, for other reasons.

kind of violent ethnic pride, Aztlan by any force necessary. It would not matter if the gunman had been just as paranoid, mentally unstable and read Ayn Rand and the Communist Manifesto. Ban Chicano studies countrywide would be the refrain.

The reaction in some quarters of Pakistan has been shocking to many here – the showers of rose petals, so eerily reminiscent of what Dick Cheney promised would greet the Americans in Iraq.

In the United States, all sides were just quick to disclaim any responsibility that they might have fanned the rhetoric though

of the notorious funeral-picketing Westboro Baptist Church already told the media “God sent the shooter” since Gabrielle Giffords was one of the “rotten rebels” destroying the country. The health care town halls not so long ago showed that the Mecca of vitriol is not just in Tucson, Arizona.

But the point is not whether in our gotcha politics the left can draw a straight line connecting Sarah Palin’s target-practice maps to Giffords’ shooting. Or whether the right can claim that Loughner was a pot-smoking liberal.

The point is this thing of darkness: Can America claim it as her own?

The Triennial Report is way overdue. It should have been filed in 2009. Part of this report, Section 257, deals with “identifying and eliminating…market entry barriers for entrepreneurs and other small businesses.” This report has been filed every interval (1997, 2000, 2003 and 2006) since the law came into being, except 2009.

The National Coalition of African American Owned Media (NCAAOM) is calling foul. This is not a partisan issue. Project 21, a conservative think tank that deals with Black issues, is also crying bloody murder.

It was reported in The Hill, a publication that covers Congress, that the merger will enhance minority opportunities with 10

new independent cable networks, eight of which would service Black, Latino, Asian and other minorities, plus $20 million in venture capital for minority entrepreneurs.

That sounds good and it might actually be good, but why did the FCC not file the Triennial Report?

What is it hiding?

The support of FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, a President Obama appointee, was given to the merger less than a week after both companies entered into “memorandums of understanding” with Black, Latino and Asian special-interest groups, including the NAACP, the National Urban League and the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network (NAN).

The NCAAOM is saying a conflict of interest exists because the aforementioned minority interest groups took donations from Comcast and NBCU. The memorandum of understanding states that “NBCU will strive to ensure the presentation of diverse viewpoints…by considering “suggestions from the African American Council of individuals who could be considered for such participation.”

The Hill called it the Joint Diversity Council.

Who sits on this council and by what mandate do they represent the entirety of the Black, Latino, Asian, Native American and other minority populations?

There are too many questions here.

This deal that was made in the “memorandums of understanding” might be workable, but there needs to be more clarity and transparency.

The first step to that goal is filing the Triennial Report before the end of the month.

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Three Most Important Things to Know About Healthcare “Repeal”

11 Obama pitches open markets as key to jobs FEBRUARY 2011

New America Media, Commentary, Micah Weinberg

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE

The Republican majority has passed a bill out of the House of Representatives to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act signed into law last year

by President Obama. Though the vote itself is symbolic, the hostility to the law is very real.

WASHINGTON (AP) _ President Barack Obama pitched freer trade as a prescription for U.S. job growth Saturday and said the nation must spare no effort to open markets abroad.

Associated Press

Here are the three most important things to understand about the “repeal” effort.

The repeal ain’t gonna happen... yet. The full-scale repeal bill is extraordinarily unlikely even to come up for a vote in the U.S. Senate as Democrats maintain a majority there.

However, this may no longer be the case after the elections in 2012. If the Republicans gain a majority in the Senate and win the presidency, all bets are off. The major provisions of the bill aren’t implemented until 2014, so there would still be plenty of time for the Republicans to “repeal and replace” much of federal healthcare reform. Between now and then, they will hold a series of oversight hearings and advance small initiatives designed to defund and otherwise handicap the process of implementing the bill.

Two teams, one endzone. The ironic thing about the “repeal and replace” project is that most of the things that Republicans claim to want to do are already in the law. Healthcare reform is like a football game with two different teams, sets of uniforms, cheerleaders and cheers, but only one endzone. We succeed

by providing access to affordable universal coverage, and there aren’t many different plays that will get us there. For example, a key Republican talking point is that the bill didn’t include medical liability reform. This is untrue. The bill does include funding for state-based pilots of different strategies in this area.

This is an appropriate response because in all the states that have tried reform in this area, the experiments have either been directly counterproductive or have failed to control costs. The state of California has what most physicians consider the gold standard for medical liability law, and costs have been growing at a faster rate in California than in the rest of the nation. This gets forgotten amidst all the shouting, but there’s a reason we passed the law that we did: it’s a consensus solution that incorporates the best practical ideas from across the political spectrum.

there is real action going on in the state governments. It turns out that far from being a federal government takeover, the law relies on state governments and local delivery systems to put in place the changes that will guarantee access to affordable high-quality healthcare for all.

State policymakers are going to be making very important decisions, particularly around the development of the new marketplaces where people will purchase insurance. To the extent that people want to help decide how the bill is implemented, their energies should be focused on state capitals such as Sacramento and on the regulations put in place by the federal government that will structure the actions of the states as well as the incentives of doctors and hospitals in local delivery systems. So this is yet another area in which it necessary to think globally but act locally.

It’s all about the states. Though the vast majority of what is happening in Congress related to healthcare reform between now and the elections of 2012 is going to be political theater,

There’s a lot of shouting going on, but you’ve just got to tune it out because there is important work to be done to help ensure a better healthcare system for America.

Warming up for a State of the Union address that is expected to focus on jobs and the economy, Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday that getting access to foreign markets is the reason he met China’s President Hu Jintao at the White House in the past week.

During the summit, China announced $45 billion in contracts and said it would increase its investments in the U.S. by several billion dollars _ deals that Obama said will support 235,000 American jobs.

A newly inked trade deal with South Korea and recent agreements with India will also boost U.S. exports, Obama said.

Obama spoke the day after a quick visit to a General Electric plant in Schenectady, N.Y., that is producing steam turbines and generators for a project stemming from one of the Indian deals. He also lauded GE’s plans to build a clean energy center, an advanced battery manufacturing plant and other state-of-the-art facilities in that economically battered city in upstate New York _ all projects he said would create jobs and help make the United States more competitive globally. ``Leading the world in innovation, opening new markets to American products _ that’s how we’ll create

jobs today,’’ Obama said. ``That’s how we’ll make America more competitive tomorrow. And that’s how we’ll win the future.’’

Efforts to create jobs and help America compete with the rest of the world are expected to be major themes of the annual State of the Union address Obama will deliver Tuesday night to a joint session of Congress.

In Schenectady, Obama also announced that he had named Jeff Immelt, the chief executive of GE, to lead a new advisory panel that will generate ideas to keep the economy growing. ``Here’s the truth about today’s economy,’’ Obama said. ``If we’re serious about fighting for American jobs and American businesses, one of the most important things we can do is open up more markets to American goods around the world.’’

Republicans devoted their weekly message to the party’s promise to repeal the landmark health care law Obama signed last year. That effort got under way when the House voted 253-175 to wipe it off the books in the past week.

That sent the bill to the Senate.

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Ex-Colombian President’s Past Haunts UN Probe of Israel New America Media, Commentary, Kate Prengel UNITED NATIONS, NY—The release Sunday of an Israeli report defending its own actions in last year’s deadly raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla underscores the need for an objective international inquiry into the incident.

So why is former Colombian president Álvaro Uribe—who would not be called a defender of human rights even by his staunchest supporters —in the front lines of a UN investigation into the raid?

Uribe spent his eight years as president working to improve Colombia’s national security, primarily in efforts to battle the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) guerrillas, an armed, leftist resistance group that opposes the current Colombian government and its alliance with the United States. In the name of national security, Uribe’s army is said to have carried out thousands of extrajudicial killings. His intelligence agency spied on journalists and political dissidents.

Given this record, it came as a shock to many when the United Nations chose Uribe to help investigate alleged human rights abuses carried out by Israel during a raid on a flotilla of ships in the Mediterranean last May. Now, as the long-delayed report nears completion, the continuing controversy threatens to undermine the panel’s findings.

The flotilla of six ships, organized by the Free Gaza Movement and the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief, was en route to the Gaza strip carrying humanitarian aid, construction materials, gas masks, night-vision goggles and other supplies aimed at breaking the Israeli blockade.

The Israeli military apprehended five of the ships without loss of life.

But in a raid on the sixth ship, nine civilians—eight Turkish citizens and one Turkish-American—were killed.

After a huge international outcry, UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, appointed a three-person panel to look into the incident. Ban named Uribe, a staunch ally of the United States and by extension of Israel, as

the panel’s vice chair.

The Secretary-General’s panel is separate from a UN Human Rights Council investigation into the same incident. That inquiry concluded in September with a resounding condemnation of Israel’s behavior.

But Israel immediately rejected the report as biased and its own report, issued Sunday, exonerated the government, the military and individual soldiers and concluded that the raid did not violate international law.

The Ban Ki-moon panel, which has the backing of Israel and Turkey, was expected to be more even-handed.

But in the meantime, Uribe has

“culture of impunity” that prevailed during Uribe’s tenure in Colombia.

According to a 2009 Human Rights Watch report, the army was under so much pressure to get results against the FARC that it resorted to kidnapping civilians, murdering them, and then passing off the dead bodies as guerrillas.

former director, may be the only person who could prove that Uribe ordered the wiretaps and break-ins.

But in November— at a time when she was wanted for questioning— she fled the country and was granted political asylum in Panama, which means she will never have to testify about DAS.

HRW’s report directly implicated Uribe:

In New York, the SecretaryGeneral’s spokesperson dismissed the suggestion that the charges stemming against Uribe would affect his ability to do his new job. “This is an entirely separate matter,” Martin Nesirky told me. He insisted that Uribe’s work for the UN has nothing to do with his past in Colombia.

“The Defense Ministry has issued directives indicating that such killings are impermissible. But such directives have been regularly undermined by statements from high government officials, including President Uribe, who for years publicly denied the problem existed,

But in fact, the UN has had a long and troubled relationship with Uribe. In a 2009 report, the UN’s Office of the High Commission on Human Rights (UNHCHR) in Bogota slammed Uribe’s government for systematically undermining the country’s judiciary in order to increase executive power. The report accused the DAS of regularly targeting UN offices by tapping their phone and Internet lines and spying on their staff. The agency also accused the DAS of stealing a file on children’s rights.

As Wikileaks has revealed, Colombia is far from the only country to spy on the UN. Yet while the UN has been willing to smooth over, and even cover up, U.S. spying, it has taken a far tougher line against the Colombian government.

come under increasing international scrutiny for his acts while Columbia’s president.

Human rights organizations immediately slammed Uribe’s appointment, citing his record within Colombia as well as his troubled relations with Ecuador and Venezuela. The International Federation for Human Rights said that Uribe’s participation could “seriously damage the credibility of the panel.” The left-leaning Spanish politician, Willy Meyer, warned that putting Uribe on the panel was “like asking a fox to guard the hens.” These objections fell on deaf ears. Ban Ki-moon said simply that Uribe’s past had no bearing on his work as a panelist and that Uribe would “make a good contribution” to the investigation.

Indeed, human rights organizations have been denouncing for years the

and accused human rights defenders reporting these killings of colluding with the guerrillas in an orchestrated campaign to discredit the military.”

During Uribe’s presidency, Colombia’s intelligence agency, the Department of Administrative Security (DAS), regularly spied on journalists and members of the political opposition.

DAS is also accused of breaking into homes, threatening children, and using sexual threats against women.

The agency reports directly to the president.

Some of these accusations come from Uribe’s political opponents, who are now trying to bring cases against him in Colombia, Spain, and Belgium. So far, however, none of these cases has gotten off the ground because of the difficulty in tracing any of the abuses directly back to Uribe.

Maria del Pilar Hurtado, the DAS’s

UNHCHR’s Bogota director, Christian Salazar, has said publicly that his office is “closely following” the legal proceedings against DAS. But Salazar refuses to comment on Uribe’s new UN job. This itself raises questions.

Uribe’s past as a by-any-meansnecessary strongman seems ill-suited to a human rights panel. Of course, the general view is that the UN chose him precisely of his background. As a US ally, and a law-and-order man, he’s expected to be a staunch advocate for Israel. But was there no other Israel supporter available? Do all law-andorder leaders spy on the UN? In other words: was Uribe chosen because his American allies pushed hard enough to steamroll over all possible objections? Or, has the UN simply become so woolly that nobody remembered Uribe’s past when it came time to give him a job?

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Uncertainty in Ivory Coast, Optimism in Sudan Uncertainty in Ivory Coast, Optimism in Sudan Final Call, News Report, Jerron Muhammad According to published reports, ECOWAS has threatened to remove Laurent Gbagdo, Ivory Coast’s incumbent president, through the use of “legitimate force,” after being unable to “coax him into conceding defeat in elections. The West African Organization of States has called for a two-day meeting of its “defense chiefs (on) January 17 to plan future steps” if Gbagdo does not step down by then.

budget (according to 2008 figures). The sole export route for the landlocked South is a pipeline running to the North to Port Sudan on the Red Sea. Under the CPA, the two sides divide proceeds from Oil pumped in the South.”

honored. Few want this scenario to play out. There will be mass movement and displacement of people.

Minorities are already relocating in anticipation of Southern secession.” To read more go to: http://www. rusi.org/.

“If the South votes for secession,” according to the Royal United Service Journal, “as it is widely expected, many daunting challenges face the nascent country. If Abyei votes to join a separate South Sudan, the chances that the NCP disputes the border at Abyei

Africans Need To Focus On Peaceful Coexistence

“We need to give support to our continental leaders, but not to glorify them. Everyone needs to work together to make peace happen. I think we need to believe more that Africa can do it, we can resolve the situation we are in, in terms of conflicts, in terms of economic development and in turning around the fortunes of the continent for the better,” she said to PANA, during a international workshop she attended in Nigeria.

During a BBC report on the worsening situation in the Ivory Coast, a spokesman for Alassane Ouatara said discussions between Ouatar and Gbagbo are finished. He said a low-level civil war is already in progress, and since Gbagbo dismissed the latest effort by ECOWAS he feels military intervention is inevitable.

Optimism in Sudan The news service Reuters reports that nearly four million southern Sudanese, which equals half the South’s population are registered to vote in the Jan. 9 referendum that will likely divide the continent’s largest country in two.

Stressing the role of civil society in this area, she said, “We need to have a robust civil society. People on the ground must speak to people voted to power.

They need to hold them accountable and they need to organize themselves more. I think civil society has the key role to play in making peace work. It’s not just the leaders, they alone can’t deliver peace.”

Looking ahead at the new year, she said, “I think the outlook for Africa currently is positive, because there has been a decline in conflicts over the decades.

Conflicts like the one in Cote d’ Ivoire (and) Kenya a few years back, those are the types of issues we need to deal with. Elections have not equated democracy.”

“The U.S. State Department said it was optimistic ahead of the vote, which is due to begin” in a few days, “and marks the climax of an 2005 peace deal that ended a civil war sin Sudan that an estimated two million died from violence and famine, and destabilized much of the region.

“Recent remarks and actions from President Omar al Bashir have bolstered optimism about the referendum,” said Reuters. Bashir recently visited Southern Sudan, “in a move that a top official in the South called a ‘good gesture,’ ” according to Reuters.

This follows the NCP leader statement that he would respect the results of the referendum.

Abyei may hold key to peace in Sudan The latest edition of the Royal United Service Journal explains in much detail why the referendum in the oil rich Abyei area will be crucial to regional peace.

The news service IRIN writes that “oil revenue from Abyei accounts for 98 percent of Southern Sudan’s government revenue, and 60 percent of the national

Elizabeth Otitodum, a senior research fellow with the Center for Conflict Resolution in South Africa, recently stressed, in the new year, the need for Africa’s leaders to work in harmony to achieve peace across the continent.

are high, either directly or through proxy armed forces. If this occurs the SPLA and NCP will return to war. The SPLA will get support from East African countries and the U.S. (the SPLA are currently being trained by European and U.S. armed resources in an effort to develop a well-trained, disciplined army capable of defending its borders). Khartoum with its eyes on Asia will have little difficulty in securing military hardware as long as oil contracts are

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She believes democracy has to serve the people and not just the interest of those voted into office. “We need to re-conceptualize democracy in a way that just did not mean electing people. We need to democratize the development process, with the people at the grassroots level as the critical factor. This should be the characteristics of our new development strategy and the way forward.”

The research fellow participated in a workshop organized by the African Center for Development and Strategic Studies in Iiebu-Ode to review the commitment made by political leaders to Africa’s development.

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Tunisian Uprising: The Other Martyrs New America Media, News Report, Jalal Ghazi The Tunisian uprising didn’t just bring down a president, it gave birth to a new kind of martyr in the Arab world.

So far, more than a dozen young men and women in different countries have doused themselves with gasoline and set themselves on fire. The public and media are calling them martyrs.

Considering the ban on suicide in Islam, the pronounced support of these deaths seems to indicate a trend of turning away from religion when it comes to solving some of Arab society’s biggest problems.

Well-known theologian Yusuf AlQaradawi, who also hosts a popular program on Al Jazeera television called “Shariah and Life,” was one of the voices that initially opposed the rising trend of self-immolation. “I pray to God Almighty to forgive this young man [Bouazizi] and pardon his action that violates religion, which forbids the killing of one’s self,” Qaradawi said.

But the unpopular stance taken by him and other religious figures toward a revolutionary hero has led to some

Bouazizi.

While Al-Qaradawi and other religious figures continue to call on young Muslims not to immolate themselves, their words have fallen on deaf ears.

In the days since the Tunisian president was ousted, at least a dozen people in other Arab countries—including five in Egypt, eight in Algeria, and one in Mauritania—have set themselves on fire. They have caused a great deal of embaresment to their governmnts and brought attintion to the widespread

Rather, their purpose is calling attention to their plight by inflicting on themselves the most excruciating method of death. Their decision to violate the clear Islamic ban on selfimmolation is in effect a statement that they are losing their religion.

Islamic authority figures are more than a little alarmed.

While the Arab media has glorified Bouazizi, clerics and theologians of Islam have tried to emphasize the ban on suicide in Islam.

Near the area where Bouazizi set himself on fire, residents have placed his picture on a statue that was put there by the former regime. On the wall nearby, members of the public have written “this is the square of the martyr Bouazizi.” There have been calls for a street to be named after him.

It is hard to know what went through the minds of these new “martyrs” before they decided to light their matches, but writers in major Algerian newspapers seem to agree that the copycat immolators hope that their tragic deaths will bring about a similar uprising in their countries.

Arab media calls the new selfimmolation phenomenon “Al Bouazizieh,” after Mohammed Bouazizi, the 26-year-old Tunisian vendor who burned himself outside a government building, setting off what many Arab journalists now call the “glorious uprising.”

These aren’t suicide bombers; they are self-immolators. Their objective is not to kill the maximum number of people as a means of bringing about political change. And they do not expect to be escorted to heaven or be accompanied by 72 virgins while there.

hometown of Sidi Bouzid have already used the walls of their homes and buildings to publicize phrases glorifying Bouazizi and his role in igniting the uprising. The town has become a mural of homage to their hero.

“Frustration has caused the youth to lose their social and religious values,” a social scientist from the University of Algiers told Al-Quds AlArabi. “Religious decrees banning selfimmolation no longer deter those who are being subjected to injustices from dousing themselves with gasoline and setting themselves on fire.” backpeddling. Al-Qaradawi eventually retracted his position, explaining on his website that Bouazizi’s self-immolation was justifiable because it was in protest of hunger and humiliation.

Al-Qaradawi was referring to the event that reportedly triggered Bouazizi’s act: A police officer confiscated his only means of income, an illegal vegetable vending cart, and allegedly slapped him on the face in public—doubly offensive because the officer was female. She has been arrested, and her brother told the New York Times that she did not slap

coruption and injuctices, in ways sucide bombers have never been able to do.

Abdel al-Bari Atwan, the editor-in chief of the pan-Arab newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi, called for the erection of a statue of Bouazizi “to immortalize his memory and sacrifice.” Others, such as Tawfiq Rabahi, an Algerian writer and journalist who lives in exile, supported the call.

The Tunisian people aren’t waiting around for statues to be erected, however. The residents of Bouazizi’s

For the Bouazizi family, the reasons seem clear. ”What kind of oppression pushes a young man to self-immolate?” his sister Lila was quoted as asking.

“In Sidi Bouzid, those who do not have connections or do not have money to pay bribes are humiliated and not allowed to live.”

Judging by the support her family has received, and the growing numbers of people who have followed Bouazizi’s lead, Arabs identify with these problems, regardless of where they live. And they are no longer turning to religion for the answers.

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Egypt accuses Gaza militants in Coptic church bomb

By HAMZA HENDAWI Associated Press CAIRO (AP) _ Egypt’s top security official accused an al-Qaida-inspired group in the Gaza Strip on Sunday of being behind the New Year’s Day suicide bombing that killed 21 people outside a Coptic Christian church in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria.

Interior Minister Habib al-Adly said conclusive evidence showed the shadowy Army of Islam in the Palestinian territory was behind the planning and execution of the attack, which sparked three days of Christian rioting in Cairo and several other cities. It was the deadliest attack against Christians in Egypt in more than a decade.

tasked him with monitoring Christian and Jewish places of worship in Alexandria.

Last October, the statement said, Ibrahim identified two churches, including the one attacked on New Year’s Day, as likely targets and sent his handlers photographs of the two.

He was told in December that ``elements’’ have been sent to carry out the attack, the statement said without elaborating.

Security officials said earlier on Sunday that at least five Egyptians have been detained in connection with the

group.

In 2008, Hamas unleashed a deadly crackdown on it, storming its stronghold and killing 13 of its members and prompting it to since keep a low profile.

The Army of Islam is thought to have participated in the kidnappings of Israeli soldier Sgt. Gilad Schalit in 2006 and BBC journalist Alan Johnston, who was later released.

Late last year, Israel killed three members of the group in separate airstrikes,

Al-Adly said the group is believed to have recruited Egyptians in the planning and execution of the attack, but that this could not conceal the role it played in the ``callous and terrorist’’ act.

An Interior Ministry statement later identified 26-year-old Alexandria resident Ahmed Lotfi Ibrahim as a lead suspect in the attack, saying he was recruited by the Army of Islam when he sneaked across the border into the Gaza Strip in 2008.

It said operatives from the Army of Islam

The women have since been secluded by the Coptic Church, prompting Islamic hard-liners in Egypt to accuse the Church of imprisoning them and forcing them to renounce Islam. The Church denies the allegation.

Al-Adly’s announcement came in an address he delivered during a ceremony marking Police Day that was attended

by President Hosni Mubarak, Cabinet ministers and top police officials.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the bombing, which added to years of strained relations between Egypt’s sizable Coptic minority and the country’s Muslims. The government, eager to keep the sectarian tension under control, almost immediately blamed foreign elements for the attack.

The Army of Islam dismissed Sunday’s accusations on an extremist website, and the Hamas militants who control Gaza and have themselves battled with the smaller group was also skeptical of the Egyptian claim.

Suspicion for the Alexandria bombing had fallen almost immediately on some kind of al-Qaida-linked local organization after the terror group’s branch in Iraq vowed to attack Christians in Iraq and Egypt over the cases of two Egyptian Christian women who sought to convert to Islam. The women, who were married to priests in the Coptic Orthodox Church, were prohibited from divorcing their husbands and sought to convert as a way out.

In a separate address, Mubarak vowed that his government will ``triumph over terror’’ and that he will do his utmost to maintain unity between Egyptians.

About 10 percent of Egypt’s 80 million people are Christians.

Alexandria bombing. They said the suspects have given investigators a full account of how they were contacted and eventually recruited by the Army of Islam. It was not immediately clear whether Ahmed, a university graduate who subscribed to the cause of jihad through the Internet, was one of those detained.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share the information with the media.

The Army of Islam is estimated to have several dozen operatives committed, like al-Qaida, to the ideas of a global jihad.

The group seceded from the Hamaslinked Popular Resistance Committees in 2005 and currently has no ties with that

alleging the men had planned to attack Israeli and American targets in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. ``The Army of Islam in the land of Ribat (Palestine) denies the allegation made by the Egyptian regime about our relation with the attack in the city of Alexandria,’’ it said in an Internet posting.

Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, voiced doubts and asked Cairo to provide evidence to back up its charge. ``We call on the Egyptian brothers to provide evidence and information to the government in Gaza about these accusations. We deny the existence of alQaida in the Gaza Strip and we reaffirm that the Egyptian national security is our national security,’’ said Taher Nunu, Hamas government spokesman.

``I will not be lenient with any sectarian actions from either side and will confront their perpetrators with the might and decisiveness of the law,’’ warned Mubarak, Egypt’s ruler of nearly 30 years.

Mubarak also lashed out against calls made in the West, including by Pope Benedict XVI, for the need to protect the Christians of the Middle East after the Alexandria bombing and attacks against Christians in Iraq. ``The protection of Egyptians, all Egyptians, is our responsibility and duty,’’ Mubarak said. ``The age of foreign protection has gone and will never come back. We don not accept any pressure on or interference in Egyptian affairs,’’ he said.

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Mohamed Elebrashy - Real Estates

Dr. Shadwan Alsafwah

Amer - Sinbad Restaurant

Faisal Alsamarayi

Nasrin Heroabadi - Beauty Salons

Deaa Alshamry - Barber School

www.AZMuslimVoice.com

HEALTH

FEBRUARY 2011

When Eating Organic Was Totally Uncool To me, the organic food movement has become dizzyingly, surreally chic. Farmers have become rock stars; the most exclusive restaurants name-check them so much you can almost see dirt on the menu. But before organic produce exploded into a $25 billion industry, before city gardening became cool, I grew up in a Hmong refugee community, living the urban organic lifestyle not because it was fashionable, but because we were poor. I couldn’t wait to leave it behind.

I grew up in Del Paso Heights, a mixed-race inner city of Sacramento, Calif. -- the kind of neighborhood that had just two grocery stores between endless fast-food and liquor shops, and where we all paid for our groceries with food stamps. It was where we grew organic food and raised chickens in our backyards to survive. And where we did it in secrecy.

Like most Hmong in the United States, our community was from Laos, transplanted here after an alliance with the CIA turned our isolated tribe of farmers into mercenaries -- a failed secret war against the Communist Vietnamese that left Hmong as the targets of ethnic cleansing. Lifelong farmers-turned-international refugees, the older generation was ill-prepared to thrive in modern America. They settled into inner cities where many turned to social services as safety nets.

I remember watching grown-ups lose their identities and self-worth, slip into depression and cycles of poverty, illness and suicide. These were clan leaders who once commanded the respect of entire villages, tough guerrilla soldiers trained by the CIA -- like my father -- and proud providers who had, without writing, committed to memory centuries of the best farming practices. And they were humbled, receiving welfare and food stamps because there was no opportunity then in urban America for their main skill. Still, they farmed in the city for two necessities: food and a wistful connection to the old way of life.

We grew crops in every plot of soil that hinted of fertility -- parking lots, front lawns, even inside discarded paint buckets, which made terrific homes for lemongrass and chili

peppers. When I was in elementary school, the families in our apartment building worked a farm just outside of Sacramento.

Every person, every age, had a job. Meals were planned around what we gathered: We scraped fresh cucumbers, serving them with sugar over ice on hot summer days; we pounded the signature Hmong mix of hand-picked peppers, cilantro, green onions and lime in a mortar and served it as a dip for meat and sticky rice. I remember loving our imperfectly shaped cucumbers because I got to watch each one grow into its own unique shape and thought they all had more character than the “beautiful” ones wrapped in plastic at the grocery store. And I loved mustard greens, which grew in abundance once a year but could be pickled for yearround consumption.

We bartered with each other. We raised chickens in the backyard, letting them out to roam and feeding them by hand. We didn’t have a label for this back then, though now I suppose people call it “free-range,” and it costs more. We slaughtered our own hens, sometimes with rituals honoring the sacrifice of the animal’s life.

With the costs of vegetables offset by our gardens, all the families pitched in to buy a pig or cow from the closest farmer, dividing the meat. This way, we could also afford to buy rice.

But we had to keep our locavore tendencies secret. America’s food rules, which seemed to us to go against nature, left us fearful of punishment. At the time, exactly one person from our clan had attended an American college and became our cultural broker, translating to shamans the world of Western medicine, and to lifelong hunters and fishermen the rules of hunting and fishing. What license was needed for what, how many of what thing could be caught during which season, if you could take fruit from a tree depending on which side of a fence it hung. All of it was too complicated to keep straight, and so it felt safer to keep our food producing regimens to ourselves. I can’t remember how many times my father built, tore down and rebuilt the chicken coop, afraid that neighbors who heard crowing would report us.

“Don’t tell the Americans,” my mother would always say, and, eventually, as I grew into adolescence, I couldn’t agree more. I was afraid of being judged.

My mother sprinkled only fresh-cut grass in her garden, swearing by its ability to grow bigger and tastier vegetables. She often crossed dangerous lanes of traffic to get to a pile of lawn clippings. My sisters and I would jump out of the car to bag the grass, and we did it with the speed of a NASCAR pit crew, terrified of being seen by friends.

The parking lot of our neighborhood Kmart was a regular pickup spot for lawn clippings. In my teens, when merely being accused of shopping at Kmart was an epic embarrassment, you can imagine the horror I felt about being spotted stealing grass from its parking lot. “If anyone sees me, MY LIFE IS OVER!” I’d say. Unfortunately, dramatic teenage declarations of “life being over” didn’t fly in Hmong households, not when there would always be someone around to remind you of the time he narrowly escaped the death camps.

As the adolescent me tried to find her groove, navigating deeper into the treacherous social maze of an American high school, I tried to talk my mother out of picking cilantro and scallions from her garden, cleaning and separating and selling them for 50 cents a bunch at a local Hmong store. It never made her more than $20 a week, but she didn’t care. She was obsessed with the idea of doing something she knew how to do, something that could earn money.

My family searched for new places to grow food while I became increasingly afraid that outsiders would find out we lived in a replica Hmong village, built to resemble what the older generation knew as “home.” Then one day, I was outed by a classmate as a food stamp user as I stood in the collection line to count money for my mother. That was the day that I decided I hated everything about the way we got food -- from the paint-bucket chili peppers to the communal pig, cut up in pieces, ready to be bagged and shared. I wanted to run away from this mess. I wanted to be one of the cool kids. I would feed myself like they do.

17

Now, as an adult, I don’t have a garden.

Years after I finished college and was well into the working world, long after credit cards made checks obsolete at the grocery store, I still insisted on writing checks to pay for my brand-name groceries. The defiant child food stamp user in me still needs the validation that comes from putting pen to paper and declaring, in writing, that I earned the right to take this food home.

But who’d know that, just as I finally shed a former life of organic necessity, my mother would be the hip one? Now I go to the market and hear people boasting about the eggs in their backyards, or how much their garden looks like the one on the White House lawn. My best friend, also a former Hmong child gardener, laughs with me about collecting lawn clippings. If only we had had cool recyclable cloth bags with eco-friendly slogans, we joke. If only we could be heroic, claiming to be launching a food revolution. But for us, there was no room to think about glamour. That life just felt backward.

I imagine now how many “I told you so’s” my mother would impart on me if she could grasp the enormousness of today’s food movement: Pesticide-free produce, hand-fed chickens, cuisines boasting minimal ingredients all represent billions of dollars to be made. And, irony of ironies, now people’s food stamps can’t even cover the costs of organic and local produce at our markets.

But I stood recently at a popular farmers’ market in San Francisco, where I now live and where my relatives have a vegetable stall. Surrounded by a flurry of patrons enthusiastic about locally grown food, I felt ... proud. Proud that Hmong farmers owned their own stalls, their tradition of necessity now trendy and profitable. That day, my uncle gave me a bag of cucumbers and tomatoes from his stall. He said he had heard all about my schooling and my travels, and that he was proud I had made it. But as I looked at my bag and at all the customers flocking to his stall, I couldn’t help thinking he was making it in his own right.

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Now you can view the entire directory online at www.myplink.com

18

BAZAAR / CLASSIFIED

FEBRUARY 2011

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The Bazaar Market Place To advertise in this section call for details 602-258-7770 • Minimum 3 months

Salam Market

Gilbert 1150 S. Gilbert Rd., Ste.# 104 Gilbert AZ 85296

Tempe 616 S. Forest Ave. Tempe, AZ 85281

Farkhanda Khan, M.D.

Chandler Psychiatry PLLC

ZABIHA HALAL MEATS & GROCERIES THE LOWEST PRICES EVER !!

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Next to Tempe Mosque ®

Serving the Arab community by helping them make informed decisions when buying or selling their homes

Chandler Neurology & Sleep Disorders Associates P.C

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Specializing in all Neurological & Sleep Related Disorders Diagnostic Services include EEG, EMG, Polysomnography, MSLT & MWT

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Phone: 480-722-0239

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IRAQI CHILIDREN'S RELIEF ASSOCIATION,INC. in AZ ‫ّذين ِفي‬ ِ ‫قال تعالى (والذين هم على صالتهم دائمون َوا َل‬ ‫وم) وسيجزي اهلل المحسنين‬ ِ ‫ام َوال‬ ْ ْ ‫َسال َو ْال َم ْح ُر‬ ْ ‫ِهم َحق َّم ْعل‬ َ ‫ُوم ِلل‬ Helping Iraqi children who are orphans, handicapped, injured in wars.

This is an opportunity for those who want help humanity in this world by donating or helping this noble cause.

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For more information call 602-486-3935

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info@muslimvoice.com

Arabic language teacher and Islamic law and the Quran for all levels Giving lessons at home

For more information call 480-275-1538

Food Recipes Fried Chicken, American Style

By Chef Osama Ingredients 2 cups yogurt ¼ cup mustard paste 5 teaspoons salt 1 tablespoon ground dry mustard 1 teaspoon chili powder (optional) 1 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 chicken (1 ½ kilo approximately) 3 cups flour 1 tablespoon baking powder 1 tablespoon chopped garlic oil to fry Method - Mix yogurt, mustard, and little salt (2 teaspoons approximately), half teaspoon of ground mustard, and half teaspoon of chili powder.

Red Potato Salad with Thyme

- Wash chicken and cut in eight pieces.

Season with mixture of yogurt and put in the refrigerator from one day to three.

- Mix flour, baking powder, chopped garlic and the rest of the salt, pepper, ground mustard and chili powder until all get even.

- Remove chicken pieces and keep stock stuck to them as much as possible, then put in the flour mixture.

- Roll chicken pieces in seasoned flour mixture until covered completely. Set aside for an hour, and turn occasionally.

- Heat oil in a pan over a medium heat of 350 F. - Remove chicken pieces, dust excess flour and put in hot oil for 8 minutes on one side.

- Remove from oil and place on kitchen towel paper or a metal rack to get rid of excess oil.

- Serve hot with mash potatoes, cabbage salad and carrots.

By Chef Osama Ingredients 1/2 Kilo whole red potatoes 2 Tablespoon garlic, chopped 2 Tablespoon fresh Thyme, chopped 1 Green pepper Salt and pepper to taste 1/4 Cup olive oil 1 Tablespoon white vinegar Method - Rinse the potatoes and boil in salted water without removing the skin.

- Cut according to size, or leave whole and gently sauté in oil to give the potatoes a golden color.

- Put the green pepper on the burner directly, turning at the skin begins to burn.

- Place the green pepper in a plastic bag and close tightly for a few minutes.

Remove and cut in to half and remove the skin and seeds and chop into small pieces.

- Mix the olive oil and vinegar and set aside.

- In a serving bowl mix the potato, garlic and the Thyme and green pepper and add the oil and vinegar mixture, toss and season with salt and pepper to taste and keep in the refrigerator a few hours before serving to bring out the best taste.

Note: Fresh parsley may be substituted for the fresh Thyme. Any available potato may be substituted for the red potatoes.

CALENDAR / ANNOUNCEMENTS

www.AZMuslimVoice.com

FEBRUARY 2011

Tucson Prayer Times

Phoenix Prayer Times

February 2011 • Safar / Radi Al-Awwal 1432 H

February 2011 • Safar / Radi Al-Awwal 1432 H

DIRECTIONS TO THE ISLAMIC CULTURAL CENTER CEMETERY

ISLAMIC WEEKEND SCHOOLS Islamic Community Center of Phoenix:

Sunday at 9:45 am-1:20 pm.

Islamic Cultural Center:

Sunday at 10:00 am

Muslim Community Mosque:

Sunday at 10:00 am until 2:30 pm.

Masjid Omar

Saturday & Sunday from 10:00 am until 1:00 pm.

ICNEV Weekend Islamic School

Tel: (480) 346-2081Classes held on Sunday

FROM THE ISLAMIC CULTURAL CENTER (ICC):

Check our website for up to date information www.tempemasjid.com

1) Go South on Forest to University Drive. Turn right.

2) Go West on University to the I-10 highway.

Take I-10 East.

3) Proceed on I-10 East (~12 Miles). Exit at Queen Creek Rd. (EXIT #164).

4) Turn right on route 347 South. Proceed for about 14 miles.

5) Turn right on route 238 West. Proceed for about 8.7 miles.

6) Turn right on unnamed/unpaved street after you see the street sign which reads “36 miles” and proceed to the cemetery.

19

K thru’ grade 12 from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

ACA Weekend School

Sunday 10:00 am-1:15 pm. www.azacademy.org/weekend

Sultan Education in Chandler

Saturdays & Sundays - children/adults 480-593-7066

Greenway Islamic Academy

Tajweed, Islamic Studies, & Arabic Language 602-565-0500

IN CASE OF DEATH • Call Sandy at Angel’s Burial, at 480-962-6435 • Total cost is $1,800.00

COLORING CONTEST January Winner Ahmad Saad Send your coloring to the Muslim Voice to enter the drawing for the best picture.

Hint: If the paper is too thin to color, make a Xerox copy then color it.

Ages 3-12, please send a picture of yourself.

COLORING CONTEST FOR KIDS

ISLAMIC CENTERS IN ARIZONA

PHOENIX Arizona Cultural Academy 7810 S. 42nd Pl. • Phoenix 602-454-1222 Islamic Center of Arizona 9032 N. 9th St. • Phoenix

Islamic Center of N. Phoenix 13246 N. 23rd Ave. 85029 602-371-3440 Islamic Comnty Ctr of Phx 7516 N. Black Canyon Hwy. Phoenix • 602-249-0496 Muslim Community Mosque 1818 N. 32nd St. • Phoenix 602-306-4959 Masjid Al-Rahmah 2645 E. McDowell Rd. • Phoenix 602-275-5493 Masjid Muhammad Ibn Abdullah

5648 N. 15th ave.

Phoenix, AZ 85015 602-413-5279

Name:

Age:

Phone: #

February 2011

Al Rasoul Mosque 5302 N. 35th Ave. • Phoenix 602-864-1817

CHANDLER Masjid AsSalam 1071 N. Alma School Rd.• Chandler 480-250-7522

PEORIA Greenway Islamic Center 6724 West Greenway • Peoria, Islamic Center of East Valley AZ www.greenwaymasjid.com 425 N. Alma School Dr. • Chandler TEMPE 602-388-9900 Islamic Comnty Ctr of Tempe 131 E. 6th Street • Tempe LAVEEN 480-894-6070 Islamic Center of Laveen P.O. Box 1107 • Laveen Masjid Al Mahdi 602-361-4401 1016 S. River Dr. • Tempe 480-557-9699 MARICOPA Masjid Bilal Ibn Rabah Masjid Omar Bin Al-Khattab 44240 W. Maricopa/Casa6225 S.McClintock • Tempe Granda Hwy 480-775-6627 Maricopa Arizona 85139 contact# (602)312-7913 MESA Masjid-el-Noor CASA GRANDE 55 N. Matlock • Mesa Masjid Sajda is located c/o: 480-644-0074 The Legacy Suites 540 North Cacheris Court SCOTTSDALE Casa Grande`, Arizona 85122 Islamic Center of N.E. Valley 480.332.8618 12125 E. Via Linda • Scottsdale 480-612-4044

20

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