Racism, Quran and the Seven Degrees of White

"Are not asses, oxen, and even stones of white and red colour? Are there not among the white nations people who are stupid, unwise and of bad character? An ass still remains an ass even though it may be white in colour, and a man being white can still be an ass."

A wonderful, wonderful article from Lahore:

http://www.muslim.org/islam/colours.htm

Heh....a rose is a ward is a watbir, not just an orange! Allahu'akbar al'ham'du'lillah. Or rather, in English, EUREKA!

Beware of This

The first thing to go
is usually the teeth
in the town and then
the roads. Notice
when the animals
start coming in closer
to look and feed
because the lights
are suddenly
a bit dimmer.
Sound diminishes
but the voices within
are clear enough
as they mumble
through their mangled
gums and dentures.
Is it that time again?
says the rock.
The trees only say:
that is how it once was
before the fences.

Conversation with a Peaceful Non Sect Sectarian
(a new Islamic sect that hopes to deny that the original contestants (Ahl Baht/Ahl Sunna) for Divine Right either existed or were ignorant of their own cases) . He asked a girl named Hannah why it is Shia cannot simply "tow the line" and be the new "Flower Children" of Islam:

Well...why indeed. And on the mightily important occassion of Martin Luther King Day....

Here is what she told him:

That's nice sir but you know...I'm sure the Palestinians, the Iraqis, the Shia of S. Lebanon might disagree with this narrow world view and (no offense) mock piousness. It isn't that you are aware of it obviously...or you wouldn't pronounce it so truthfully here.

But to me it is a "let them eat cake" mentality. It is quietism and it ignores the fact that Islam is still very much alive, very much in a state of change and very much the most important aspect of the world right now and for all times.

Otherwise....Allah would have made us all into daisies. And I'm one of the only posters here that can tell you first hand about the Islamic wars we are engaged in my friend. I've lost my way of life because of them. Al'ham'du'la....Allah has provided for me very well in the aftermath of that but I'm just not able to do what it is so many here do and say what you say. Sure...I love the pipe dream idea of it all and sure...I cannot change anyone. And sure...I believe that I was chosen for this. Obviously....and not chosen to be something else.

For me...it is a new kind of "Chosen" people kind of thinking. And I know exactly how that must make some of you feel.

You know...what we Shia discuss and what the Sunni know and discuss are not comparable. Here is a link describing the difference in the Pillars:

http://www.blogger.com/www.important.ca/five_pillars_of_islam.html

No where in the Quran are the five pillars described and I have to wonder....where do they come from then? What is the relationship between articles of faith and actual "Pillars" which are things upon which something is built...whole societies not just individual muslims.

When people like redacted come along and say "prove it" then I have to equate that to nonmuslims who do the same exact thing. There are no proofs for them. There are never proofs for people who hide what it is they claim and do not disclose it clearly and in no uncertain terms.

The Sunni Pillars:

-The Testimony that there is none worthy of worship except God and that Muhammad is his messenger.
-Establishing of the five daily Prayers (salah).
-The Giving of Zakaah (charity), which is generally 2.5% of the yearly savings for a rich man working in trade or industry, and 10% or 20% of the produce for agriculturists. This money or produce is distributed among the poor.
-Fasting from dawn to dusk in the month of Ramadan (sawm).
-The Pilgrimage (Hajj) to Mecca during the month of Dhul Hijjah, which is compulsory once in a lifetime for one who has the ability to do it.

Those things are common to all muslims and in effect...describe them as a whole in terms of Sunna and practice. Two of those "Pillars" are in fact, impossible for some muslims i.e. Zakat and Pilgrammage. How then can anyone declare that they are actual Pillars of Islamic Society? As a matter of fact, in the absence of justice, those two things become even more impossible for the impoverished ones.

The Shia Pillars are:

-The Oneness of God (tawhid).
-The Justice of God ('adl).
-Prophethood (nubuwwah).
-The Leadership of Mankind (imamah).
-The Resurrection (me'ad).

What I see is that the Shia Pillars better reflect the manner in which societies ought to be built...not just how we muslims can describe ourselves. Justice being the most important Pillar right now and like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "Peace is not the absence of war (a fight) but the presence of justice." And each and every one of those Pillars is possible for all muslims to attain as in "develop" a belief in and a manner of viewing the world. Some of those things sir...are worth fighting for and especially worth fighting for when others hope to take them away from muslims generically and specifically. Like when George W. Bush declares that he doesn't want to take the nuclear potential away from the Shia in Iran but instead begins saying he wants to take the KNOWLEDGE away from them. Wow. That's not only dangerous rhetoric but it is truthful. And by all means, Allah did pick him to lead the US into this catastrophe and lead the Sunnis to a better understanding of those that they have spent millenia confronting, oppresssing and bad mouthing and doing so at the behest of their Sunni leadership.

Those Pillars also reflect how muslims must and will deal with non muslims in the future when they are made into the captains of this ship. It is clear to me that not everyone gets to be chosen for this and it is also clear to me that Allah made it perfectly known that he'd be dealing with everyone else equitably. I hardly think that the Sunni concept of leadership is suitable for most people and it is exactly that type of leadership that has caused fear to spread amongst non muslim socieities regarding "Sharia Law". Sharia Law is not the point you know. Islam and Allah will be followed whether or not a people like it, choose it or KNOW it. That is because it is a natural law that emanates from the creation itself. Don't ask a Sunni scholar though because they tend to get officious about it and declare that they know things which often times...no one knows. Not even a Shia scholar.

Having lived in a "Sunni Sharia State" i.e. Saudi Arabia...I'm here to tell you that nothing good came of that human experiment of history. The restrictions that Sunni leaders placed on people there have caused all sorts of debauched results to evolve in that society which, by my reckoning, ought to be the best Islamic society on earth seeing as how it is the "Holy Land".

And Allah said, "The Proof is in the Pudding" i.e. to paraphrase the notion that Allah will bring forth proofs for all his creatures regarding their very own natures and in essence, the societies composed of "like minded" individuals.

I do however, to give the benefit of the doubt to your "peaceloving" thinking...know that we are all moving to a more unified approach that blends our ideas instead of merely denying them which is what redacted are often engaged in here. They aren't really peace makers in that but only attempting (foolishly) to extinguish and suppress knowledge that does not support their own points of view.

Peace

H.E. Sayyed Nasrallah: Bush Visit to Region Disgraceful
Source: Al-Manar TV, 10-1-2008

Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah made a televised speech Wednesday on the occasion of the Hijri New year and the beginning of the Arab month of Muharram. The occasion coincided with US president George W. Bush's visit to occupied Palestine. "Today is a black day in the history of our Arab region and the history of our Arab and Islamic nation...It is a disgraceful and shameful day for all Arabs and Muslims when the Pharaoh (Bush) of this age sets foot on our occupied holy land," Sayyed Nasrallah added. He added that "Bush arrived here as if he is the defender of freedom and democracy. Who started the killings 60 years ago? The Palestinians didn't do it, and the Jews who lived in Arab states lived peacefully. The ones doing the killing were Zionist gangs.

His eminence also slammed US media outlets and US allies for presenting "Israel" as a symbol of democracy in the region. "Bush views "Israel" as a Jewish state, that is, racist...its existence is premised on race. "Israel" aspires for a racially pure existence." The Hizbullah chief stressed hope is in the hands of the free Arabs. He warned Muslims and Arabs as well about "Bush the faker, who fails to protect the Arabs from the real murderer and instead argues that he wishes to defend them from a fictitious enemy. He is attempting to convince our Arab and Muslim people of a bogus danger. It's a deception."

Sayyed Nasrallah attributed the reason for all wars to the "Zionist occupation of Palestine." Pointing to the "Israeli" war against Lebanon in 2006, his eminence slammed the international community that gives "Israel" the "right to embark on war for two soldiers who were taken captive...yet the Palestinians are not allowed to fire a rocket on Sderot or Ashkelon. This is the justice of the strong and of the imperialists."

In a statement, Hizbullah condemned Bush's visit and urged Arab governments to be aware of the "dangers" of U.S. policy on the future of Arab and Islamic worlds. "The U.S. sponsorship of the negotiations between the Palestinians and Zionists represents a direct cover for liquidating the Palestinian cause and displacing the remaining Palestinians under the so-called Jewish state," said the statement.

I guess the "free press" in the United States dropped the ball on this "breaking news" from the Gaza Strip this week. Where are all those sad faced and contrite journalists now? Oh yeah..they are still pouting over their last faux pas:

http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=161432

“The blood of children will not go in vain, it will turn into a fire that will burn up (Israel) sooner or later,” Zahar told Reuters at a tent erected for mourners for his son.

As Palestinians held a general strike over Israel’s killing on Tuesday of 19 people, an Israeli missile aimed at Islamic Jihad activists in Gaza hit a car and killed an entire family.

Free press my butt. And I think they've sort of covered up that part about Israel and the US being on the torture watch list as well. Oh well. At least we have the ezboards!

A Few Words About Nagi Al-Ali, Palestinian Cartoonist
They shoot horses don't they?

"I am from Ayn el-Helwa." (I am from the Sweet Well, a Palestinian Refugee Camp near the ancient city of Sidon that I used to drive by on my way to South Lebanon before Israel decided to demolish another of our dreams)

http://www.palestineremembered.com/Tiberias/al-Shajara/Story188.html

Where do I begin? Perhaps from the day we left Palestine on our way to the Ain Al-Helwa camp in southern Lebanon. And from those looks in the eyes of our mothers and fathers that did not speak of facts, but expressed a sorrow which was the language in which we learned about the world, a language of anger that finds its outlet sometimes in speech, sometimes in deeds. Most of the boys and girls of the fifties generation, to which I belonged, suffered a profound dejection. We would cast our eyes beyond our small prison in Ain Al-Helwa, searching for some force of good that might come to our rescue. When the July 1952 revolution broke out, we poured out into the streets of the camp shouting, "Long live the revolution!" and writing slogans on the walls. We were unable to do more than that, although we had dedicated ourselves and our lives to the revolution.

Nescafe for Refugees

The Prayer of Gertrudes

There is a stagnant moment
when a dream is not a dream
and she is going to die.
That one, yes.
Early in the morning
reaching over her chest
to find the answer.
It isn't there
nor on the stretcher
or in the young attendant's eyes.
The clouds begin
their lament
far away in the sky
and it is time.
A dream is not a dream
and she is going to die.
If only I could tell you more
but then they'd come for me.

Israel on a Bloody Rampage but America is deaf to the sound.....30 Palestinians massacred in two days of heavy bombardment in Gaza Strip. Sadly enough, movie star panties and lack of them are more important to citizens inside the borders of this sleepy country.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/945042.html

She's In
The Book of Nogales

I'm all eyes you see
wherever wisdom goes
the parade follows
but in the wrong direction -
this ratio of angels
drives us mad.
A plain old drama
drowns the bedlam
with its fury, this
snake swallows it whole:
(Remember this?
Of course not.)
Nothing escapes
a point of view
at a checkpoint
where we wait
for indictments and polls,
that sacred ammunition
and those officious absolutions.
From the windows
cameras spot vendors
as they ply the ancient art
of bait and switch,
the carrot on a stick.
I'm sure of it.
Our trunk is only full
of statues and banks
but they don't believe it,
those types insist
on certificates and honey.
Those types don't know
much about bones
and even less about the sea.

In the shadows
hueras exchange
dirty looks for pesos,
treasure after
treasure, Catrinas
for thin-thin dimes.
It's a long way home
for that one -
her clothes tell
the thousand tales
of babies and begging,
the stories that never end
and we've heard them all before.
She's a whole
cartel in her papoos
and just another exodus
on the sole of her huarache
spelled novena, nueva, nuestros.