A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing.
Dear Ms. Levy,
It makes no difference to me whether or not you like Islam. I believe in God and I believe in the after life where you and I will be standing in the same line; not Line 1 for Jews, Line 2 Christians and Line 3 for Muslims. It is about Our God. If you do not like Islam, it is my religious duty as an authentic Muslim to tell there can be many ways of practicing faith but there is only one God.
According to your own statement made to me in your e-mail “This is Islam, not anything extreme or radical but pure Islam.”
· That effectively denounces 1.2 billion people as ignorant radicals. Please do not preach what you don’t know.
· You have given me part of an Ayah “Qur'an 9:29 and Sahih Muslim 4294” If you want me to explain something, you need to give me Sourah’s name, Verse and Ayah. I will consult both Shiah and Sunni religious experts to research the background and context of the verses that are troubling you. Islam does not allow unprovoked attack. Islam doesn’t practice offense. It only allows defense. You cannot just assume the meaning of a verse without understanding it.
You have pronounced all Muslims guilty until proven innocent and then you want to deny authentic Muslims an opportunity to present their side of the case.
Your knowledge is based on your interviews with so-called “born Muslims” who, fed up the barbaric treatment they received in the name of religion, are now only carrying the name “Muslim” and hating Islam with passion.
Your knowledge is based on an English translation, which is someone’s translation and interpretation. If you have read anything about me, you know that I wasn't Muslim for about a year as a teenager. I did and said exactly what your friends are telling you until I was literally forced to make my hajj to Mecca. When I entered the house of God, I realized, people have incorporated despicable culture into religion. Much of religion being practiced is not the divine order of God, although we always assume so.
What am I doing to change it? I am trying to modernize Islam with the help of Shiah, Sunni and open-minded Christians and Jews. The kind of Islam portrayed on TV is no longer about the true religion but has become a political religion. As an authentic Muslim I need to take the religion from people’s mind and place it into their hearts. Religion of the heart is sacred. Religion of the mind is for business people and is for sale and trade.
I understand the dilemma which causes women to turn against Islam, I myself was one of those women. In Middle East countries, too many men, most of them Muslim, although they may be Arabs of a different faith, behave horribly. There is no question of that and they get no pity from me. However, you’re “born” Muslims who turn against Islam are not doing any favor for the little kids being taught to hate.
Islam is not all violence. Customs evolve and, when permitted, people practice what pleases them. Most of the practices that non-Muslims and many Muslims consider objectionable are not religious but cultural.
Example: Burying girls alive in Jordanian and Pakistan on finding the girl had a boy friend. According to real Islam, if she likes him she should be given to him but that is not what families practice. If they don’t like the boy or if he is not of their tribe or type, they feel no compunction about killing her. He, of course, survives; even though it is almost always the man pursuing the woman because a woman can’t pursue a man. That is just a cultural fact.
Rape is taboo in Islam. Nevertheless, countless women in Islamic countries and abroad are raped by men in their family or people close to them. Does the real Islam promote or allow it? Absolutely Not. The Koran says the man will go to hell. In fact, it says if you find a man raping a woman you should kill him. However, many men do it repeatedly without fear of punishment, enlisting the purchased blessing of a mullah to dance around the religious rules. Does that make it OK? Hell, No!
The Koran instructs men to be gentle and treat their wives, mothers and females of the family with kindness. Most men in the Muslim world beat the hell out of their women. If a woman doesn’t follow his orders, even so far as to become a suicide bomber, he will make her life miserable and may put her in her grave while alive. This barbaric practice, which survives in many parts of our world today, has nothing to do with Islam. Islam declared this obscenity taboo 1400 years ago.
I can show you a video from Kurdistan Iraq of a young girl being stoned to death by her family as US forces watch with anguish because they were afraid of getting into a religious war with Kurdish men. YouTube title is: Unbelievable gore violence Kurdish Girl Stoned to Death.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rgSH0h45Eo
I am half Kurd myself. Do I think this is right? Hell, No! It should have been stopped.
4. In Saudi Arabia a young girl was raped by 15 men. She received 90 lashes but her rapists got off unpunished. I personally attended a protest of this miscarriage of justice by a group of wonderful American activists in front the Saudi Arabia Embassy in Washington, DC. Is this Islamic? Hell No! They should be in jail for many years for the crime they committed against her.
http://www.terrorfreeoil.org/videos/GO030907.php
5. In Iran, women are stoned to death for allegedly consorting with men, solely on the basis of a husband’s, or anyone else’s accusation and the testimony of two men who purport to have witnessed the offense. Is this Islamic? According to your e-mails, you might say, “yes.” I say, no. Prophet Mohamad, peace upon him, taught and Ali, the first Imam of Shiah, practiced true Islam; not the Islam promulgated by men like Bin Laden or your contacts. Witnesses must undergo extensive interrogation. They can’t just say they saw it. That is not good enough for God; yet is practiced and accepted by many as Islam. A lot of us don’t accept it.
None of the examples above have to do with Islam. They are related to ignorance and culture, abetted by the fact that women don’t bring up their daughters to be strong minded. They turn them into unquestioning followers until the girl decides she can take it no longer and becomes anti-Islam. Even though it is considered an insult, I can cite my own mother as an example.
You might ask, “Why are men doing this in the name of Islam?” It is because they can, because money and power allow them to, because they have always done so and will continue to do so for eternity unless educated people stop them or, at least, don’t help them. Men practice the kind of Islam they want to. Women have no choice but to follow. Women who speak up are often ostracized by their family.
To aggravate our pain, women like you organize the events for magazine front pages, bringing three anti-Muslim women to pronounce, without objection, that this is the real Islam. Ms. Levy, you slap our faces when you allow abusive, radical men to say, “Thank you, Ms. Levy, for helping us to be the kind of abusive authorities we want to be in the name of Islam. Thank you for giving us a podium and the legitimacy to repress women and kill more Americans and Israelis in the name of Islam.” You are doing the abusive men that we as Muslims despise a great favor. Your intention may be to hurt such men but, either willingly or unknowingly, you are helping them by refusing to wake up to reality.
There is a Farsi parable about a flying eagle hit by an arrow. When he looked at the arrow, wondering how it reached him so high, he saw one of his own feathers attached to it and said, “It is one of our own who will bring us down.” Only a woman can bring another woman down and you are that feather.
Your message of anti-Islam makes the job of authentic Muslims job extremely hard, if not impossible. Ignorance is a dangerous thing for the minds of innocent Muslims kids who are being indoctrinated by the Islamists.
You said there are no good Muslims. I quote “For us to trust that a Muslim is indeed a "good" Muslim, we are essentially putting a gun to our heads with one bullet in the chamber.” As to your decree damning all Muslims, I demur that such omnipotence is reserved for Our God
My concern about the message of your conference is: You push authentic Muslims aside; giving hard core radicals an opportunity to point at you as representative of Americans, instead of the millions of golden hearted Americans that I know are out there. You will ignite a hate crime against America that the American people don’t deserve. From what I have observed, you either want us to be anti-Islam Muslims or refuse to believe we exist. What is it with the American media which keeps asking “Where are the “good” Muslims? Why don’t they speak up?” We are trying. Either you recognize and accept us or don’t. You can’t have it both ways. If you want our help, you can have it but clearly you don’t want it. So please stop saying Muslims don’t come forward to help America.
You said “Clearly, we are not on the same page. Regrets-- Janet Levy” Perhaps not but there is no reason we cannot be.
You also said “The religion hasn't been "hijacked, this is the religion.” If that is your verdict, why are you even convening a panel to discuss it?
I don’t understand how you expect us to be your friends when you don’t even acknowledge that we have a right to our religion or that we, as practitioners of this religion, know it has been hijacked.
With your un-warranted pre-conceived condemnation of our faith, how do you expect us to stand up to the radicals that we know exist when you insist all Islam is radical? Contrary to your assertion, Islam does not teach terrorism and all Muslims are not terrorists
From were I sit, your point of view is geared toward war rather than peace. Is it because war stories make more news and money?
Peace is what people in this country, in the Middle East, in Israel and around the world want and need.
We don’t have to love each another. We don’t even have to like one another but we do need to respect each other. Regrettably, I don’t find any respect in your statements.
You have your First Amendment right to go on with your message of hating Islam. Just remember: Governments and powerful people do; the average folks pay.
I feel a duty, as a member and lover of our dysfunctional human family, to tell you that spreading hate based on one’s own judgment of a religion does not make one a patriot, a peace lover or a good and faithful practitioner of any faith. This is not about Blue or Red America, it is about America and the peaceful survival of future generations of children around our.
The only way for all of us to bring hardliners, radicals and terrorists down and stop them from indoctrinating children to become future terrorists is to work together to educate children instead of infighting and bad-mouthing all followers of a faith with which we don’t see eye to eye. Obviously, you don’t agree now but history will reveal who was your friend and who was your enemy. You may not like them because of their faith but Muslims struggling and willingly placing themselves in danger to reach out a hand, in America and abroad, are the difference between peace and war for this country and for the Middle East.
Ghazal OMID
http://www.ghazalomid.com/
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Ghazal,
Qur'an 9:29 and Sahih Muslim 4294 specify that Muslims must wage war against and subjugate non-Muslims. This is Islam, not anything extreme or radical but pure Islam.
I knew the redoubtable Oriana Fallaci and visited her several times in her apartment in New York during her last year of life. She contended that although there may be secular or moderate Muslims, the religion itself is toxic. Having read the Koran and seen the actions of modern day Muslims, I agree with this assessment. The religion hasn't been "hijacked," this is the religion. The chance for ijtihad is slim to none as this hasn't been allowed since the 900's A.D.
Read Ibn Warriq's "Why I Am Not a Muslim."
Clearly, we are not on the same page.
Regrets,
Janet Levy
--------------------------
I hope this e-mail finds you well. I am not sure you received my reply to your telephone message. I am sorry I couldn't answer you right away. I was on a radio show in TX when you called. By the time I got back to you, I understand you were on the way to L. A.
Since we didn't get a chance to talk, I think it is important for you to see the situation through a Muslim's eye. I was just relating to Bill Wright an incident about Dennis Miller making a Ramadan "joke" on Bill O'Reilly's TV show. I have been on Bill's show and have great respect for him. I think Dennis is a good guy too and I know he was trying to be funny but his lack of knowledge of Islam makes me think a lot of radicals can use his 'funny' comments to hurt America.
Sometimes we need to switch places to see one another through the other's eyes. May I ask you to be a Muslim for 30 seconds? This is what you would experience see from my perspective.
I understand that you and your colleagues believe that Islam is the problem because so many evil people have committed crimes in the name of Islam. You are not half as upset about that as I am because this is my Faith that I love that has been defamed by the crimes of these heretics. If you are sincere when you say, “Where are the decent Muslims who will speak out against the extremists?” then I should be part of your discussion. I am a faithful Muslim willing to speak out. I represent authentic Islam, not some debased political heresy.
I love the United States and Israel, as well as my Christian and Jewish brothers and sisters, and I want to rescue the dignity and beauty of my own beloved religion from the fanatics who have distorted it. However, I can't do it alone. If you really want constructive dialogue with genuine Muslims, then you should include me on your panel. If you prefer to disparage Islam, that is your privilege but it would seem the wiser course to cultivate some Muslim friends than to write off one-fourth of the human race.
We are on the same side and should be allies in the struggle against radical Islamists.
You are now free to go back to Christianity again (smile).
Greatest Regards,
Ghazal OMID
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Dear Ms. Levy,
I was taken aback by your wholesale denunciation of Muslims, reminiscent of the 19th Century frontier adage, "The only good Injun is a dead Injun", which leaves me puzzled as to why you would invite me to join the "Women in Islam" panel.
However, instead of taking offense at being convicted in absentia, I feel obligated to defend myself and millions of "good" Muslims. As suggested by a good Christian friend of mine, I prefer the term "authentic, instead of “good” or “moderate."
“Good” is know only by God and "Moderate' is a term coined by the media.
The term "moderate Muslim" has become a media catch phrase for non-radical Muslims, many of whom are indeed secular or uneducated in the Koran. I assure you there are devout Muslims who know and follow Koranic precepts that do not advocate the maniacal slaughter of innocents. I am as horrified as anyone by the horrendous atrocities committed by deranged murderers calling themselves Muslims. These animals are the truly uneducated Muslims in their warped 8th century interpretation of selected verses of the Koran.
"Infidel" does not mean all non-Muslims. The word is given to anyone who uses religion to advance his mission, whatever that religion might be. Bin Laden, Khomeini, Khameni, Al Zarqawi and their ilk, Muslims all or they call themselves, in my opinion they are/were infidels. Hitler, a Christian, and Stalin, an Atheist, earned the title infidels for their senseless slaughter of millions of innocents.
The often quoted Koran verses condemning "infidels" refers not exclusively to Christians or Jews, both of whom God has called "People of the Book.", but to Arabs who were the scourge of Arabia at the time.
I am an advisor to CMIP.org, an Israel based group studying text books, that is dedicated to eradicating the teaching of hatred of all things non-Muslim to Iranian children.
I was born Muslim but personal abuse caused me to lose my faith until a Jewish rabbi family friend paid my way to make my Hajj to Mecca. I do not teach or practice hate of any religion or no religion.
I do not propose a New Koran, a la New Testament. I do advocate educating Muslims and non-Muslims in a contemporary understanding of the context of the Koran when it was delivered.
I don't want to judge God and I sincerely ask you to reconsider thinking of all Muslims as barbarians.
I believe in OUR God, Creator or Heaven and Hell. I believe in Moses and Jesus. I believe in Human Rights for all. I believe blind hatred breeds blind hatred.
Thank you for the invitation. Whether I accept will require a better understanding of the agenda and format of the panel. I will not sit quietly as a convenient pre-judged "whipping boy.
I will be happy to receive your call in the early afternoon.
May Our God Bless you,
Ghazal Omid
-----------------------------
I'm happy to call you at a convenient time.
As far as my perspective is concerned, I'm in agreement with people like Robert Spencer (I work with him) and Ibn Warriq. I believe that there is no such thing as "moderate" Islam. (Islam being what is defined in the Koran). That being said, I know that there are secular and moderate Muslims. These are people who may not be aware of the contents of the Koran or choose not to follow Koranic precepts. What is problematic for the West is the Koranic requirement of taquiya with kuffars. For us to trust that a Muslim is indeed a "good" Muslim, we are essentially putting a gun to our heads with one bullet in the chamber. I don't hold out a lot of hope for ijtihad as I believe it closed in about 900 A.D.
You can read some of my articles at FrontPage magazine:
Recent Articles
• Banning the Flag in North Carolina
Published: Wednesday, September 26, 2007
• Think No Evil
Published: Friday, July 27, 2007
• The Al-Qaeda Reader
Published: Tuesday, July 17, 2007
• My Trip to Gitmo
Published: Monday, April 02, 2007
• Pakistan: Friend or Foe?
Published: Monday, February 19, 2007
• CAIR's Censorship Agenda Rolls On
Published: Thursday, February 01, 2007
• The Gym Jihad
Published: Thursday, December 07, 2006
• The Minneapolis Six Sabotage Airline Security
Published: Tuesday, November 28, 2006
• "Compromised" Intelligence
Published: Friday, September 29, 2006
• Terror's Trojan Horse
Published: Thursday, September 14, 2006
• Bush Did Not Lie
Published: Friday, June 16, 2006
Janet Levy
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It sounds very interesting. I would like to receive more specific information on this. I do know about Wafa Sultan. She does not consider herself a Muslim. Are you denouncing all Muslims and Islam or trying to make a difference and modernize it, if I may ask?
I will appreciate knowing more. And, I would like to speak with you on the phone rather than e-mails.
Kindest Regards,
Ghazal OMID
www.ghazalomid.com
www.livinginhell.com
Please take a look at what I stand for
http://www.bankruptterror.org/videos/GO092307.php
http://activistchat.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=31565#31565
My views on Islam can be found on
http://religionandspirituality.com/islam/view.php?StoryID=20070807-020156-7715r
http://religionandspirituality.com/columnists/columns.php?FixtureID=gomid
My political views are on
www.omedia.org
www.globalpolitican.com
---------------------------
From: Janet Levy
Sent: Sunday, September 30, 2007 4:33 PM
To: Ghazal Omid
Subject: Re: LivingInHell.com Info Request
The Following Request for Information was Submitted on September 30, 2007, 5:00 pm
from www.livinginhell.com
Name: Levy, Janet
Email:
Country: United States
Question: Are you available to speak on a panel "Women in Islam" for the David Horowitz Freedom Center (see FrontPage magazine at www.frontpagemag.com) in Florida on November 17th? Panelists will include Wafa Sultan, Nonie Darwish and Rosine Ghawji.
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