Imam Talib Shareef (L) of Washington, D.C.'s Masjid Muhammad, a retired U.S. Air Force veteran, with Paul Monteiro of the White House Office of Public Engagement, and Imam Earl El-Amin of the Muslim Community Cultural Center of Baltimore. Monteiro spoke during the banquet and public address at The Mosque Cares' 2011 Annual Muslim Convention in Tinsley Park, IL. (Also see previous post.)

Three generations of Muslim Americans: Imam Benjamin Shabazz (L) of the Seattle, WA Al Islam Center with his son and grandson during the Father/Son Breakfast.

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Nur-Deen-Haj (L) and Osie-Sheik Muhammad (Muslim American pioneers also featured in the previous post) were among the dozens of U.S. military veterans honored during the 2011 Annual Muslim Convention hosted by The Mosque Cares, Ministry of Imam W. Deen Mohammed.

— C.B. Hanif

Nur-Deen-Haj (L) and Osie-Sheik Muhammad during the Pioneer Reception at the 2011 Annual Muslim Convention hosted by The Mosque Cares, Ministry of Imam W. Deen Mohammed.

“…the best thing that came out of it is a sincere, conscious effort to understand Muslims better.”

While our mass media shamefully stereotype Muslims as Arabs, kudos to South Town Star reporter Steve Metsch for his perceptive “10 years after 9/11?” question during yesterday’s news conference, here in Chicago, at the 2011 edition of the annual Muslim Convention hosted by The Mosques Cares Ministry of Imam W. Deen Mohammed.

Also credit “The Imam’s” son Wallace Mohammed II, president of The Mosques, for his above-cited response. It is reflective of the constructive outlook of our dedicated and balanced Muslim American community, whose roots on these shores extend before the beginning of America, and who, thanks to the astute leadership of Imam Mohammed, continue influencing human society for the good.

As for any misguided  or ill-informed attempt to define for us what being Muslim is, here, from the news conference, the Friday congregational prayer, the Pioneer Reception, the Coalition for Good Government’s Town Hall Meeting, and a few other stops in between, are more scenes:

— C.B. Hanif

While in Chicago for The Mosque Cares’ 2011 Muslim Convention — I’m thanking my friend Larry Stauber who I see has posted excerpts of my (“What is Al-Islam”) talk of last Sunday, along with several dozen of my wife’s photos, at the First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Palm Beaches’ Facebook page. While there, note the many thought-provoking items listed.

— C.B. Hanif

…where beloved Imam Dr. Nasir Ahmad succinctly delivered the message that our fasting during Ramadan from the lawful and natural desires in the material world also helps the inner being grow, overcome and push back against the desires for the extremes in the material world that the forces of greed, etc. ever are seeking to cultivate in the human being.

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Imam Dr. Nasir Ahmad shares announcements following the Eid Al-Fitr prayer at Miami, FL's venerable Masjid Al-Ansar.

— C.B. Hanif

(L-R): Imams Yusuf Ramadan, Faheem Shuaibe and C.B. Hanif, among others at the 2011 Ramadan Session.

After all these years I shouldn’t have been surprised at how beautiful everyone looked during the 2011 Ramadan Session, hosted by The Mosques Cares Ministry of Imam W. Deen Mohammed last weekend in Elizabeth, NJ.

Of course, almost to a man and woman, we all were fasting for G-d’s sake. Still I was surprised that everyone seemed to be glowing.

So much for the question of why continue to have the Ramadan Sessions if our dear departed Imam W. Deen Mohammed, leader of the largest community of Muslims in the United States, no longer can be present to share his wisdom, as he did for us for so more than three decades. In fact the Imam was present — in part because we were, whether from California to Connecticut, Ohio to Florida.

Wallace D. Mohammed II, president of The Mosque Cares, affirmed his commitment to continue furthering his father’s work. Imam Kareem Muhammad (L) was a 2011 co-chair.

From the very first session, presented by Imam Dr. Nasir Ahmad, ’til the very last with Imam Faheem Shuaibe, and the other outstanding presenters in between such as Imams W. Deen Shareef and Earl El-Amin, right up to the Taraweh prayers each evening, there was wealth on which to reflect for every student of “Our Imam.”

But don’t just take my word for it. Get the CDs or DVDs. If a link for them becomes available, I plan to post it here. Meanwhile, once again as part of the continuing effort here to help chronicle this community, more scenes:

Ramadan Session 2011 Co-Chair Sutanah Whitfield announcing updates on the annual Islamic Convention, also hosted by The Mosque Cares each Labor Day weekend, again in Chicago, IL this year where an even larger gathering is expected.

— C.B. Hanif

In actuality I deserve none of the thanks here. It started with a kind note from one good man to another:

From: Nathan Wilson <Nathan@fccshelby.org>
To: Michael Saahir <saahir@sbcglobal.net>
Sent: Thu, August 18, 2011 1:24:13 PM
Subject: Please tell me what you think

Michael,

That article (see here and here) next was forwarded to me and others by Imam Mikal Saahir, my good friend and fellow student of Imam W. Deen Mohammed, with the note:

May the Peace that only G_d (Allah) can give be with you!  From Michael “Mikal” Saahir 

I in turn forwarded all that to my interfaith e-list. Soon, appreciation for Rev. Wilson began pouring in, as folks copied me their messages to him. I decided to archive some here, unedited (see below). But first, this addendum from Imam Saahir:

Here are the comments that reached me:

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I am so inspired by your article and more so by your courage to break the traditional interest-based boundaries that separate the human race. This Ramadan you and your family is in my prayers. Thank you for being unbiased and openminded. — Afifa

———

———

DEAR REV NATHAN. MAY OUR LORD CREATOR OR THE HUMAN FAMILY KEEP BLESSING AND REWARD YOU FOR YOUR GOOD WORK. AS SALAAM ALAIKUM — ABDUL KARIM ALI

———

———

Excellent!   We need this sort of interactive communication to make this a better world.   Best wishes for continued success in all your efforts. —  Hope P. Cramer

———

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Thanks for sharing.  The info is enlightening. — Rose Ann

———

Thank you Rev. Wilson for the enlightening article, that CB Hanif forwarded to me, about Ramadan and the true Muslim’s love of peace, which is really another word for Islam. It is so much more effective coming from a Christian, and a priest at that. The use of your personal experience with the Muslim hiker, told simply but elegantly, made your comment worth its weight in gold. We need more like you to spread the message of peace. It is only through understanding responses like yours that we can overcome the hatred of those misguided 9/11 zealots and their counterparts in our own American society. My sincere thanks and congratulations. My God bless you. It is fpeople like you — Jews, Christians and Sabians — people who have “faith and do good deeds” that the Quran says “have nothing to fear in the hereafter.” — Gholam 

And last, my thanks to our Maker for Rev. Wilson, and for all of you.

— C.B. Hanif 

Sister Joan Carusillo and Sister Lorraine Ryan of the Women's Circle at WXEL-TV's Boynton Beach studio.

From my latest InterFaith21 essay in The Coastal Star:

Our own Women’s Circle sisters are about to become TV celebrities…Sister Lorraine Ryan and Sister Joan Carusillo, co-founders of the Boynton Beach nonprofit that serves low-income women, are “starring” in a new documentary with imminent WXEL public-TV air dates.

In the meantime, it’s not too soon to mark your calendar for the annual Circle of Hope fundraising gala that supports all the good work of the Women’s Circle: Monday, February 20, 2012 at The Hamlet Country Club in Delray Beach with the Mardi Gras theme: “Carnivale of Caring.”

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Read the story here. Disclosure: I provide some paid and volunteer service for the Women’s Circle.

— C.B. Hanif

Marika offered the mike for others to present classic or original poems, and shared her own. We heard Robert Frost, Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes and other favorites.

It’s impossible to do justice to Susan Gross’ adept delivery of the Kaylin Haught poem she shared. Giving due respect to copyright, I’ll share just this link:

God Says Yes To Me

Susan’s emphatic “Yes! Yes! Yes!,” and all the other beauty emanating from the mike, prompted me to rise and share a reminder: of how far our country has come since earlier troubled times — the days of assassinations of our leaders, of my huge crush on Angela Davis, of my buddies and me singing Black Panther Party songs at our high school football and basketball games — and how far we, humanity, have yet to go.

The Last Poets: On the Subway

(Two quick promotional notes: Next Sunday: Rev. Carol Yorke on “What Makes A Religious Home?” And with the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan beginning this week, don’t miss my Aug. 28 talk on “What is Al-Islam?”)

— C.B. Hanif

What many who hold this view fail to recognize, is that they are equating Patriotism with Nationalism, patriotism’s evil twin, which though at first glance, might appear to be the same, is profoundly different.

My friend Richard Palermo delivered this timely, thought-provoking message during the July 3, 2011 Sunday service at the First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Palm Beaches.

I thought it deserving of wider distribution, and share it without further comment for those who may appreciate it as I did.

PATRIOTISM

Today, on the eve of July 4^th, the subject of patriotism is a very appropriate one. What is patriotism? Is it simply the pride, tingling and welling tears we sometimes experience when listening to our National Anthem, watching our flag fluttering in a parade, or hearing a rousing speech? In short, is it a purely emotional response to chauvinistic stimuli? “Yankee Doodle Dandy” Or is patriotism something more complex, containing both an emotional, and an intellectual component?

The only book length philosophical study of the subject, written in 1993 by Stephan Nathanson, defines patriotism as “Love of one’s country, identification with it, and special concern for its well being and that of its compatriots.”

I would qualify that statement by saying that patriotism is love of one’s country because the principles which engendered that country were consistent with universal moral philosophy, and that an unbiased examination of its history demonstrates that it has, to a reasonable extent, manifested those principles in its actions.

Over time, there has always existed among certain people, particularly those of liberal persuasion, an animus towards patriotism, a belief that it fosters aggression, and blinds us to the negative aspects of our nation’s policies. What many who hold this view fail to recognize, is that they are equating Patriotism with Nationalism, patriotism’s evil twin, which though at first glance, might appear to be the same, is profoundly different.

How do we distinguish between the two? George Orwell contrasted the differences in terms of aggressive vs. defensive attitudes. “Nationalism,” he wrote, “is about power; its adherents want to acquire as much power and prestige as possible for their nation, in which they submerge their individuality. And so while it is accordingly aggressive, patriotism is
defensive: it is a devotion to a particular place and a way of life one thinks best, but has no wish to forcibly impose on others.”

Many thinkers throughout the ages have expressed vastly different views on patriotism. Perhaps the best known, and most misunderstood, is Samuel Johnson’s definition of patriotism as: “the last refuge of a scoundrel.” Contrary to popular belief, Johnson was not denigrating patriotism, but rather indicting those who used it falsely, as a way of obfuscating or justifying their own immoral behavior.

Norman Thomas called patriotism “that most complex of motives,” and Leo Tolstoy declared patriotism to be “both stupid and immoral.” Stupid, said Tolstoy, because every patriot holds his country to be the best of all, whereas only one country can qualify, and immoral, because it enjoins us to promote our country’s interests at the expense of all other countries, by any means, including war, and is thus at odds with the golden rule. It can be argued here that Tolstoy, like many others, was equating Patriotism with Nationalism.

So what is the moral standing of patriotism? Is it a contradiction of a major tradition in moral Philosophy which defines morality as essentially universal and impartial, and, therefore, seems to rule out local attachment and loyalty? Or is it essentially meaningless and trivial, “nothing more than the love of an ass for its stall,” as one cynical observer claimed. Or can patriotism be something noble that is consistent with the major traditions of moral philosophy. It all depends, does it not, on the nature and basis of one’s patriotism?

As Americans, are we justified in believing that our country’s core values, and many of its achievements were based on noble and uplifting human ideas? I say we are; the rights and freedoms that are incorporated in our Constitution, have universal appeal, have been the driving force of many of our nation’s achievements.

Those same core values insured that a raw Republic espousing egalitarian concepts in an age of Royalty, would survive and prosper, beyond anyone’s wildest expectations. “My Country Tis of Thee”

I mentioned before that our patriotism must also be subjected to an unbiased examination of our country’s past and present record, in order to determine whether it has lived up to the standards of moral excellence established by its creators.

It is, of course, impossible to do this without finding numerous instances where the underlying principles of our great Republic were traduced, including unjust wars, abuse of individuals and minorities, systemic corruption, imperialism, and oligarchic control of our national policies. Nations, however, are comprised of people, and people are always and everywhere flawed, so it should not surprise or unduly discourage us to realize that the United States of America has had, and continues to have its dark moments.

However, a realistic evaluation of our history, particularly if undertaken in comparison to that of other great powers, would reveal that despite the threats imposed upon it by foreign enemies, and the catastrophes imposed upon it by domestic fools, thieves, and liars, our nation has been the most powerful force for good on earth, and remains, still, a template for those seeking freedom, safety, and economic opportunity.

And when we feel compelled to cite instances where the Government of these United States has violated its own Constitution, neglected its citizens, or waged an aggressive and immoral foreign policy, we need to stop and consider the monumental force for good in the world, that it has been, as well. Travel back with me a hundred years.

The 20th Century, the bloodiest in recorded history, ushered in German Militarism which threatened all of Europe, and resulted in the Great War of 1914 -18, in which 9 million died. After almost four years of static, deadly struggle, in the Spring of 1918, the German Army launched a highly successful offensive which may well have achieved victory, if not for the arrival at that crucial time, of the Americans, whose intervention assured an Allied victory. Americans entered and left that war with no territorial ambitions. “When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again”

The intervening years between the two World Wars, saw the emergence of two of the most powerful, barbaric and malignant political philosophies in human history, Fascism, and Soviet Communism. In 1939, the world was plunged into another cataclysmic disaster lasting six years and consuming 60 million lives. The intervention of the United States in Europe, along with its almost single-handed defeat of aggressive Japanese Militarism assured an Allied victory against world Fascism. And once again, the U.S. harbored no territorial ambitions. “American Patrol”

At the end of that war every major nation involved in it, lay in ruins, both structurally and economically; every nation that is except one, ours. We were king of the hill, our infrastructure was intact, our economy, and industrial strength, healthier than they’d ever been. Militarily we were supreme, the only nation in possession of atomic weapons. Our troops, stationed around the globe, also occupied large portions of Germany, and the whole of Japan. We could have declared ourselves masters of the world.

Instead, we joined in forming the United Nations, created the Marshall Plan to save Europe from starvation and further ruin, and ruled our defeated enemies with benevolence encouraging them to create their own democracies, and re-establish healthy economies. It is no accident that West Germany and Japan became two of the most prosperous democracies in the world during the post war period. Looking back on this monumental period of world history, and the splendid role the U.S. played in it, it is difficult to comprehend how a citizen of this nation could not feel patriotic, even up to this day and beyond.

By the end of WW11 we knew that the Soviet Union had replaced Nazi Germany as the greatest threat to democracy and world peace, but we hoped that this could change, peacefully, that the new world organization, the United Nations could serve as a mediator for peaceful resolution of disputes. Those hopes were soon shown to be ingenuous, and for the next 44 years world peace, such as it was, was maintained by the terrifying Dr. Strangelove prospect of nuclear annihilation. “We’ll Meet Again”

Throughout these decades, our fears of the Red Menace led us to perpetrate numerous breaches of our Constitution. Here at home McCarthyism crawled out from under the rock of our fears and paranoia to persecute, and ruin innocent Americans, and our foreign policy was often skewed, embracing tin pot tyrants around the world because of their alleged anti-Communism. Two wars were fought, Korea and Vietnam, the former a necessary one, the latter a tragically misguided one. Neither, however, was fought for economic or territorial gain.

In the late 80s, after being held at bay for almost a half century by the prospect of confronting American arms, Communism imploded, leaving the U.S. as the world’s single superpower, and since that point in time, despite the depredations of a group of Middle Eastern psychopaths, most of the damage done to our Republic has occurred from within.

Since the end of the Cold War, it has become fashionable among some, to make unfavorable comparisons between the U.S. and the much vaunted Western European Social Democracies. While some of these comparisons, like those relating to health care, are valid, it would do us well to remember that, to a significant extent, countries like Norway, Denmark, and France, among others, were able to spend the last 65 years morphing into their present iterations, because they were under the protection of their American allies for all that time, and did not have to spend a huge percentage of their GDP for military purposes.

I said earlier that this country remains a template for those seeking safety and economic opportunity. My parents were first generation Americans, the children of immigrants. Their education was, by virtue of economic necessity, limited to grade school or less. Despite this they were able to build decent lives for themselves, and live to see their children obtain graduate degrees, and we were not unusual; many of my relatives, friends, and contemporaries could relate the same kind of story from grade school to grad school; in a single generation, a virtual socio-economic quantum leap forward took place. I defy anyone to name another nation where such opportunity exists, even today.

Furthermore, within the context of educational opportunity, we are the only major nation that I know of that, permits people 2^nd, and even 3^rd chances. Americans can acquire advanced education at virtually any age. One could not do that in England or France, where a child’s educational destiny is determined by age 16.

Despite the serious political and economic problems inherent in contemporary American Society, masses of people still flock to this country, seeking a better life; and, when you hear our Government being assailed for its inept handling of the illegal immigration problem, stop and remember that since the historic revisions of our immigration laws from the 1960s through the 90s, no modern industrialized nation has come close to accepting the vast number of legal immigrants that we do. “This Land is Your Land”

Finally, let me say this. The dark moments in American history when our Government has breached individual liberties, have a positive corollary. Historically, a healthy dose of retrospective shame, the genius of our independent judiciary, and above all the resilience of our Constitution, have helped insure that any statutes or policies rashly undertaken while in the grip of fear, such as the cold war witch hunts, don’t survive for long. The rule of law ultimately prevails; and, this was true even in reference to the most shameful chapter in our History, the obscene evil of slavery and racism.

The former, slavery, was redeemed by the blood of 600,000 young Americans killed and perhaps two million maimed; and, while we still have a long way to go, the success of our efforts to rectify the latter, racism, can best be evaluated by the reality of a President of African-American heritage occupying the White House. “Battle Hymn of the Republic”

We are, today, in the midst of another dark moment, mired down in the longest war in our history with little expectation of success, fundamental freedoms taken away in the aftermath of 9/11 have still not been restored. Oligarchs exert enormous influence on our policies by virtue of their wealth and political contributions, and ultraconservative demagogic politicians supported by large numbers of our fellow citizens, who are most often misinformed or ignorant, wish to take us back to the Robber Baron era.

Greed and lack of oversight have left our economy in tatters, excessive materialism has created a cheap celebrity culture, and many of the gains painfully acquired by American Labor over decades of strife, have been degraded and reversed. The morale and determination of the American people is being steadily eroded, while the obscenely wealthy few continue amassing even more wealth.

This is, in short, an optimum time when there is a need for patriots to come forward and announce “not in my country you won’t” in whatever ways they can.

And so, I would urge you to dwell, not on the dark moments, but on what America was intended to mean, and what it has meant to you and yours, and, in doing so, remember, always, that a true American patriot is not defined by stickers exhorting us to “support our troops,” or flag pins in lapels, but by their belief in the principles on which this nation was created. “America the Beautiful”

In closing, let me repeat that a true American patriot is one who believes in the principles on which this country was created. Declaring yourself a patriot, therefore, should not be difficult, particularly for those here today, because if the essence of our Constitution were distilled into a single sentence, might it not sound something like: “Justice, Equity and Compassion in Human Relations?”

Members of the Israeli Scouts Friendship Caravan performed recently at Abbey Delray North.

—  from my latest InterFaith21 essay in The Coastal Star.

"Proud Papa" Shelly Weil, who for 38 years has been hosting the exemplary cultural program.

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— C.B. Hanif