The Power to Lead by Example

Narrated Ibn 'Abbas:
The Prophet recited aloud in the prayers in which he was ordered to do so and quietly in the prayers in which he was ordered to do so. "And your Lord is not forgetful." "Verily there was a good example for you in the ways of the Prophet."

Leadership Lost
With the Arizona Senate race heating up I am going to take the opportunity to explain why I am NOT voting for Jon Kyl.

Although he was named one of the Top Ten Senators by Time Magazine I believe his leadership to be sorely lacking, not only for his constituents here, but for the Republican Party in general. With his position on the Senate Judiciary Committee, he had a great chance to show leadership, but instead he followed. He followed by continuing the war on the Constitution by limiting the rights of all peoples. This is blatantly against what this country was founded on. He also undermined the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, why Mr. Kyl? He has had the chance to help to limit the size and intrusion of our government, a Ronald Regan conservative commitment, but instead he has helped to swell deficit and vote in more government bureaucracy.

The Republican Party had a history of inclusion and tolerance. Nowadays it is polarizing and the party of intolerance. If Senator Kyl is re-elected that cycle of intolerance is surely bound to continue. We need more leaders like Chuck Hagel that speak their mind, vote their conscience, and are not afraid to speak up against policies that hurt America and its citizens.

A vote for Kyl is a vote wasted on tired impotent leadership. That will surely lead to more death on destruction. And I am very tired of death and destruction.

The Power to Make a Difference

On the authority of Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (peace be upon him) is that among the sayings he relates from his Lord (may He be glorified) is that He said:
O My servants, I have forbidden oppression for Myself and have made it forbidden amongst you, so do not oppress one another. O My servants, all of you are astray except for those I have guided, so seek guidance of Me and I shall guide you, O My servants, all of you are hungry except for those I have fed, so seek food of Me and I shall feed you. O My servants, all of you are naked except for those I have clothed, so seek clothing of Me and I shall clothe you. O My servants, you sin by night and by day, and I forgive all sins, so seek forgiveness of Me and I shall forgive you. O My servants, you will not attain harming Me so as to harm Me, and will not attain benefiting Me so as to benefit Me. O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to be as pious as the most pious heart of any one man of you, that would not increase My kingdom in anything. O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to be as wicked as the most wicked heart of any one man of you, that would not decrease My kingdom in anything. O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to rise up in one place and make a request of Me, and were I to give everyone what he requested, that would not decrease what I have, any more that a needle decreases the sea if put into it. O My servants, it is but your deeds that I reckon up for you and then recompense you for, so let him finds good praise Allah and let him who finds other that blame no one but himself.
It was related by Muslim (also by at-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah).

Solidarity

My husband and I were having a chat with our children and the daughter of dear friends.
We were discussing what was going on in the world right now, and ways that we could make a difference. We know that the first and best course of action is prayer and du’aa . We also were looking for a way to show the world that Muslims are tired of oppression by all governments and peoples. Here’s an idea that came to us during the discussion:

Have a Solidarity Day (simplified). Each of us, on a day to picked, will dye our index finger with henna. Remember how they mark the Iraqi people with ink after they vote? Well this can be a mark to show our support. To mark the fact that we are with all of the oppressed and they are not forgotten by us.

This is just a very simple idea, not sure what you all think of this.

During the second intifada, I tried to start a World wide fast for Palestine, and actually got a pretty good response. That is from different parts of the world, but not one national organization here in the US. You can actually google umrami and get a hit about it.


A part of me still has the idealistic side I had when I was young; Alhamdulilah my husband is the same way. One person can make a difference, we all know this. Imagine how you would feel knowing the world is with you, praying for you, and thinking of you.

This is a Public Service Announcement

We interrupt this blog for only a moment, to tell you all a story.

This past May we had a Unity Day at my youngest daughter’s school. It was a lot of fun and because I was the chairperson of the event a lot of hard work! All of the students spent the day "visiting" other countries. We had 26 different countries set up in classrooms for each student to visit. They all had passports, and each time they visited a classroom and participated in the lesson they received a stamp in their passport from that country.

One of the countries represented was Palestine.

Which of course means the stage was set for a great debate.
We actually made it to a week before the event before the first "Palestine was not a country" and "the Palestinians haven't a flag" protests. The principal and my daughter's teacher stood their ground and said no Palestine, no event! This was Unity Day and that is the essence of the meaning of UNITY! I was so pleased. Everyone loved it so much that they are making Unity Day a permanent part of the curriculum. And I am again the chairperson.

King Tut donated lunch that day for all of the teachers and parent volunteers. And it was scrumptious Masha ‘Allah

Now the reason I told you the story……..

The school is selling those Entertainment Books to raise money for a shad structure on the playground. They are $25.00 and have great offers in them. Just the Safeway coupons alone are worth $20.00. If you want one please contact me or HS. She doesn’t know it yet, but she is going to help.

Any one out of town that wants to help can contact me umrami@yahoo.com and I will tell you how to order on-line with the school getting the credit of the sale.
They make $10.00 a book, so you see it could really add up fast.

Now back to our regular blog.

The Power to Think and Reason

Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Amr bin Al' As:
I heard Allah's Apostle saying, "Allah does not take away the knowledge, by taking it away from (the hearts of) the people, but takes it away by the death of the religious learned men till when none of the (religious learned men) remains, people will take as their leaders ignorant persons who when consulted will give their verdict without knowledge. So they will go astray and will lead the people astray."

How to Handle the Media 101

Now I do not profess to be an educator on Media Relations by any means. These are just lessons learned from my younger and much more active days; And quite a bit of observation over the past few years.

The Media gets “Juiced”

Handling was easier in the 80’s. Oh ya there were still the ratings hungry, bloodsuckers out there. But nowadays not only do we have those people to deal with but also the so called News COMMENTATORS, OR ANALYSTS as O’Reilly likes to call himself. This is the outcome I believe, of the O.J. Simpson trial. Those of you that remember the mid 90’s “Trial of the Century” all of which was televised. I used to laugh because all of the analysts used to tell the viewers what they saw. Funny thing was most of the analysts must not have watched too closely cause they got it WRONG!

Here is a bit of advice if you have to deal with the media:

Decide why you want to use the media. Determining why you want to use the media will help you determine how to use the media. Asking yourself these questions may help: Are you trying to draw people to an event? Are you trying to get information out to the public? Are you trying to recruit members? Are you trying to pressure local or state officials into siding with you?

Determine your target audience. In order to choose what type of media to use, you must decide who you want to impact. For example, if you want to target older people, your best bet would probably be an article in the local section of the paper or talk radio. If you want to reach a broader audience then a sound bite in the local news station is the way to go.

Decide who will handle the media for your organization. The person who speaks to the media should be a leader in your organization and someone who comes across well under pressure and on the spur of the moment. Practice is important, because working with the media can be scary the first time around. While the director is often the spokesperson for large organizations, volunteer leaders can also be effective as long as they are well informed and willing to do the job.

Continuing with Three Practice, Practice, and Practice!

You have to treat it almost like practicing to testify in a trial. Run through different scenarios. Have someone help you by firing tough questions at you. Most people in the media use the same old stereotypes, they are not too original. This can be to your benefit. And never give up, do not let them talk over you or give up your ground. Click the link to the right titled Watch Mr. Galloway. While most of you have probably seen this, it’s worth watching again.

Coming up next blog:

Solidarity

The Power of Research


Ali (raa) said that education is better than wealth, because you have to guard your wealth but your education will guard you.


Common Sense: What a great name for a blog. It was a pamphlet called “Common Sense” that helped ignite a revolution. I chose this name not because I thought of myself as a new age Thomas Paine. I chose it in part because I wanted to help educate others on the influence Islam had in Colonial America, and because I love politics, and the political process.

Bill O’Reilly. Just the name makes ones emotions run amuck. For over a year now he keeps harping on the incorrect assumption by him and others that the US Constitution was based on Judeo-Christian values. He and the others should do a little research, or even watch a little bit of the History Channel. Maybe then he will discover that Alexander Hamilton and James Madison studied the The Holy Quran and Ottoman leader Suleiman the Magnificent in order to perfect the constitution. Islam had a great influence on the founding fathers and some of their writings.

I invite you all to research this area. You will find it amazing. Educate yourself on the early Muslims in America. Sadly, many of them were slaves that had to hide their religion, or give it up under threat. But you will also find Islam had played a greater role on the creation of American Government that you could have imagined. One other item that O’Reilly kept in the forefront last Christmas Season, was to say that the founding fathers of America wanted Christmas Day to be celebrated. While I have no problem (and neither do ALL Muslims) with Christians celebrating Christmas; Someone needs to educate Mr. O’Reilly on the fact that Congress and the Federal government of the US, was in session on Christmas Day for the first 66 years of it’s existence!


Coming up next:
How to handle the media 101

Thinking Out Loud

Today I took the day off….from everything. Everything except of course the news. Cannot get away from it, no matter how hard I try. BBC, CNN, all of the Arabic news, and of course, the dreaded Fox News Channel. Analyst after analyst, but one stayed with me. A retired general that said “All we have to remember is that Iran is Persian and the Lebanese and Palestinians are Arabs. Persians and Arabs hate each other and we will always be able to exploit this. That comment made me start to think.

So many Muslims I know are all making the same comment: I feel so helpless; I want to do something but what? Now I would in know way be so arrogant as to say that I have the answer, but I do have a humble suggestion. BE KIND TO YOUR FELLOW MUSLIM. No matter what sect they are. How many times have we seen our brothers or sisters fighting or arguing about the most minute, insignificant item? And do not even get me started about the gossiping, by both sexes. Imagine where we could be by the grace and mercy of ALLAH, then the way we treat one another.

How many of you can relate to this? Walking in a mall or Costco, seeing some Muslim and watching them run out of the way to avoid saying Assalamu Alaikum to you? Or how many times have you done the running? How many times have we gone to the Masjid or a community picnic to see pockets of the faithful not communicating with the others? And yet we still claim to be the faithful when we are in essence denying our faith by our acts? When we are kind to each other we will begin to trust each other, and really become a true community. So many Muslims my age are worrying and complaining about the youth. Well, we are the examples. Every year since we came back from Syria my son has told me about a fight some men were having before or during the iftar in Ramadan. In RAMADAN! AND BELIEVE ME every year!

I am guilty of the same, all of the crimes against my religion I have mentioned. And before this Ramadan I have taken an oath to All Mighty ALLAH that I will be kind, regardless how other Muslims are to me. I will not use that as an excuse any longer. I truly believe that by starting a KIND REVOLUTION, we can help our fellow Muslims. I know they need far more than that, but it is a start in a positive direction. My advice is to read the Sunnah, drink it like water, soak it in as we do the sunlight. Oh Allah let us all become the shining examples to all of the Muslims!

COMING UP IN THE NEXT BLOG:

Why I named my blog Common Sense.