Injustice! injustice!!

By JOHN GRISHAM
Published: August 10, 2013
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/11/opinion/sunday/after-guantanamo-another-injustice.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

ABOUT two months ago I learned that some of my books had been banned at Guantánamo Bay. Apparently detainees were requesting them, and their lawyers were delivering them to the prison, but they were not being allowed in because of “impermissible content.”

I became curious and tracked down a detainee who enjoys my books. His name is Nabil Hadjarab, and he is a 34-year-old Algerian who grew up in France. He learned to speak French before he learned to speak Arabic. He has close family and friends in France, but not in Algeria. As a kid growing up near Lyon, he was a gifted soccer player and dreamed of playing for Paris St.-Germain, or another top French club.

Tragically for Nabil, he has spent the past 11 years as a prisoner at Guantánamo, much of the time in solitary confinement. Starting in February, he participated in a hunger strike, which led to his being force-fed.

For reasons that had nothing to do with terror, war or criminal behavior, Nabil was living peacefully in an Algerian guesthouse in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Sept. 11, 2001. Following the United States invasion, word spread among the Arab communities that the Afghan Northern Alliance was rounding up and killing foreign Arabs. Nabil and many others headed for Pakistan in a desperate effort to escape the danger. En route, he said, he was wounded in a bombing raid and woke up in a hospital in Jalalabad.

At that time, the United States was throwing money at anyone who could deliver an out-of-town Arab found in the region. Nabil was sold to the United States for a bounty of $5,000 and taken to an underground prison in Kabul. There he experienced torture for the first time. To house the prisoners of its war on terror, the United States military put up a makeshift prison at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. Bagram would quickly become notorious, and make Guantánamo look like a church camp. When Nabil arrived there in January 2002, as one of the first prisoners, there were no walls, only razor-wire cages. In the bitter cold, Nabil was forced to sleep on concrete floors without cover. Food and water were scarce. To and from his frequent interrogations, Nabil was beaten by United States soldiers and dragged up and down concrete stairs. Other prisoners died. After a month in Bagram, Nabil was transferred to a prison at Kandahar, where the abuse continued.

Throughout his incarceration in Afghanistan, Nabil strenuously denied any connection to Al Qaeda, the Taliban or anyone or any organization remotely linked to the 9/11 attacks. And the Americans had no proof of his involvement, save for bogus claims implicating him from other prisoners extracted in a Kabul torture chamber. Several United States interrogators told him his was a case of mistaken identity. Nonetheless, the United States had adopted strict rules for Arabs in custody — all were to be sent to Guantánamo. On Feb. 15, 2002, Nabil was flown to Cuba; shackled, bound and hooded.

Since then, Nabil has been subjected to all the horrors of the Gitmo handbook: sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, temperature extremes, prolonged isolation, lack of access to sunlight, almost no recreation and limited medical care. In 11 years, he has never been permitted a visit from a family member. For reasons known only to the men who run the prison, Nabil has never been waterboarded. His lawyer believes this is because he knows nothing and has nothing to give.

The United States government says otherwise. In documents, military prosecutors say that Nabil was staying at a guesthouse run by people with ties to Al Qaeda and that he was named by others as someone affiliated with terrorists. But Nabil has never been charged with a crime. Indeed, on two occasions he has been cleared for a “transfer,” or release. In 2007, a review board established by President George W. Bush recommended his release. Nothing happened. In 2009, another review board established by President Obama recommended his transfer. Nothing happened.

According to his guards, Nabil is a model prisoner. He keeps his head down and avoids trouble. He has perfected his English and insists on speaking the language with his British lawyers. He writes in flawless English. As much as possible, under rather dire circumstances, he has fought to preserve his physical health and mental stability.

In the past seven years, I have met a number of innocent men who were sent to death row, as part of my work with the Innocence Project, which works to free wrongly convicted people. Without exception they have told me that the harshness of isolated confinement is brutal for a coldblooded murderer who freely admits to his crimes. For an innocent man, though, death row will shove him dangerously close to insanity. You reach a point where it feels impossible to survive another day.

DEPRESSED and driven to the point of desperation, Nabil joined a hunger strike in February. This was not Gitmo’s first hunger strike, but it has attracted the most attention. As it gained momentum, and as Nabil and his fellow prisoners got sicker, the Obama administration was backed into a corner. The president has taken justified heat as his bold and eloquent campaign promises to close Gitmo have been forgotten. Suddenly, he was faced with the gruesome prospect of prisoners dropping like flies as they starved themselves to death while the world watched. Instead of releasing Nabil and the other prisoners who have been classified as no threat to the United States, the administration decided to prevent suicides by force-feeding the strikers.

Nabil has not been the only “mistake” in our war on terror. Hundreds of other Arabs have been sent to Gitmo, chewed up by the system there, never charged and eventually transferred back to their home countries. (These transfers are carried out as secretly and as quietly as possible.) There have been no apologies, no official statements of regret, no compensation, nothing of the sort. The United States was dead wrong, but no one can admit it.

In Nabil’s case, the United States military and intelligence agents relied on corrupt informants who were raking in American cash, or even worse, jailhouse snitches who swapped false stories for candy bars, porn and sometimes just a break from their own beatings.

Last week, the Obama administration announced that it was transferring some more Arab prisoners back to Algeria. It is likely that Nabil will be one of them, and if that happens another tragic mistake will be made. His nightmare will only continue. He will be homeless. He will have no support to reintegrate him into a society where many will be hostile to a former Gitmo detainee, either on the assumption that he is an extremist or because he refuses to join the extremist opposition to the Algerian government. Instead of showing some guts and admitting they were wrong, the American authorities will whisk him away, dump him on the streets of Algiers and wash their hands.

What should they do? Or what should we do?

First, admit the mistake and make the apology. Second, provide compensation. United States taxpayers have spent $2 million a year for 11 years to keep Nabil at Gitmo; give the guy a few thousand bucks to get on his feet. Third, pressure the French to allow his re-entry.

This sounds simple, but it will never happen.

A lawyer and author of the forthcoming novel “Sycamore Row.”

*sigh!! May Allah help the muslims

A DRONE OVER THE SKIES OF MADINAH …’ (The Final Crusade)

Ask yourself: if the Prophet was with us today,
If he spoke the same words and lived the same way,
If he returned with the same message to relay,
How long would the forces of the world let him stay?

Back then, he taught humankind to: ‘Bow down to none,
No idol, no tyrant, no oppressive nation,
Keep your heart and mind free from their domination,
True power is with God, so don’t fear anyone!’

Quraysh let him be so long as he was benign,
And to his message, they thought that few would incline,
But when he preached openly, would not bend his spine,
The state turned against him, for he had crossed the line;

At first, they rushed to him seeking some compromise,
They’d give him the mic if he just ceased to chastise,
The ills around him they feared he would neutralize,
But he would not clothe his words in any disguise;

And he persisted in making more minds aware,
Of society’s false gods of which to beware,
Of the tyrants of Earth, so the state could not bear,
And his “freedom of speech” vanished into thin air;

Choking him as he prayed, they tried suffocation,
Then imposed three years of economic sanction,
Signed off authorizing his assassination,
He was hunted in his land, forced to migration;

To track down this “radical”, the vast land they’d comb,
Abu Jahl led the pack, his mouth frothing with foam,
Put him on a ‘Wanted’ list in his own home,
Like Jesus Christ before him at the hands of Rome;

And the Romes of today at whose hands we’re abused,
Who preach to us values from which they’re self-excused,
How similar the tools of repression they used,
The tyrants of past and present are ever fused;

Today, he’d see us consumed by the same fires,
With the gods in our hearts these worldly desires,
And the gods of the Earth nations and empires,
Headed by killers and professional liars;

He laid siege to Qaynuqa’ for one woman’s fear,
So what would he say to those who gang-raped ‘Abeer?
Muffled ‘Aafia’s screams as she shed tear after tear?
And occupy Muslim countries year after year?

He’d come back to remind us to: ‘Bow down to none,
No idol, no tyrant, no oppressive nation,
Keep your heart and mind free from their domination,
True power is with God, so don’t fear anyone!’

In a repeat of that reality uncouth,
Imagine he stood and struggled for the same truth,
And had the same impact on society’s youth,
Would they not once again fight this man nail & tooth?

Of course, they’d first test him to see what he’s about,
Would he stay true like before, or would he sell out?
Would fear of the state instill in his mind some doubt?
No doubt, he’d be a mountain shaking off their clout;

In an era where his inheritors deprave,
The trust of their knowledge so their skins they would save,
He’d be and inspiration for every field slave,
Craving an example of the fearless and brave;

Their think-tanks would scramble to counter his appeal,
Find scholars for dollars with whom to make a deal,
To persuade us: ‘The Prophet is just full of zeal,
Grieving injustices – quote – “perceived” and not real!’

They’d wiretap him as he said: ‘Bow down to none,
No idol, no tyrant, no oppressive nation,
Keep your heart and mind free from their domination,
True power is with God, so don’t fear anyone!’

Then they’d name him on a federal indictment,
American court would charge him with incitement,
Through Surat at-Tawbah – marked ‘Criminal Statement’
Khalid bin al-Walid as his co-defendant;

They’d say he conspired from the North to South Pole,
And seek a life sentence with no chance of parole,
In a bright orange suit on lockdown in the Hole,
Such do they treat those spirits they cannot control;

Like the rest of us who have committed no crime,
But to be a proud Muslim at this point in time,
As the war on his message has reached its full prime,
Giving those who live by it more mountains to climb;

When they saw that in this message he would persist,
They would designate him a global terrorist,
And just like Quraysh, they would pound an angry fist,
Before placing his name on their own target list;

Over the skies of Madinah, they’d send a drone,
Distribute ‘Wanted’ posters with his bearded face shown,
Talk to local tribes, make the reward money known,
For those who capture or kill him and retrieve each bone;

They’d study Badr and Uhud, learn his strategy,
And profile those who pledged to him under the Tree,
Try to identify his ‘Number Two’ and ‘Three,’
Is it Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman, or ‘Ali?

To the Prophet’s Mosque, they’d send an entire brigade,
To round up the Ansar who had given him aid,
To kick down his family’s door in a night raid,
To make him the target of their final crusade;

Because his message would still be: ‘Bow down to none,
No idol, no tyrant, no oppressive nation,
Keep your heart and mind free from their domination,
True power is with God, so don’t fear anyone!’

Imagine if the Prophet was with us today,
If he spoke the same words and lived the same way,
If he returned with the same message to relay,
They’d reserve him a cell at Guantanamo Bay …

صلي الله عليه و سلم
طارق مهنا
Tarek Mehanna
Monday 9th of Dhu al-Hijjah 1431/
15th of November 2010
Plymouth Correctional Facility, America
Isolation Unit – Cell #108

FOOTNOTES:
1.) Abeer Qasim al-Janabi, a 14-yr old Iraqi girl who was gang-raped,
beaten, shot, and burned along with her parents and siblings by American soldiers in March of 2006, south of Baghdad. (May Allah have Mercy on them)
2.) Referring to the hadith: “The scholars are the inheritors of the Prophets.”
3.) Referring to the Pledge of Ridwan given under a tree on the day of Hudaybiyah, as mentioned in Surat al-Fath, v.18.

The brother above was sentenced to 17 years for a 'thought crime' (Imagine?).. Read his sentencing speech, one of the most powerful speeches, i have read.

TAREK’S SENTENCING STATEMENT
APRIL 12, 2012

Read to Judge O’Toole during his sentencing, April 12th 2012.

In the name of God the most gracious the most merciful Exactly four years ago this month I was finishing my work shift at a local hospital. As I was walking to my car I was approached by two federal agents. They said that I had a choice to make: I could do things the easy way, or I could do them the hard way. The “easy ” way, as they explained, was that I would become an informant for the government, and if I did so I would never see the inside of a courtroom or a prison cell. As for the hard way, this is it. Here I am, having spent the majority of the four years since then in a solitary cell the size of a small closet, in which I am locked down for 23 hours each day. The FBI and these prosecutors worked very hard-and the government spent millions of tax dollars – to put me in that cell, keep me there, put me on trial, and finally to have me stand here before you today to be sentenced to even more time in a cell.

In the weeks leading up to this moment, many people have offered suggestions as to what I should say to you. Some said I should plead for mercy in hopes of a light sentence, while others suggested I would be hit hard either way. But what I want to do is just talk about myself for a few minutes.

When I refused to become an informant, the government responded by charging me with the “crime” of supporting the mujahideen fighting the occupation of Muslim countries around the world. Or as they like to call them, “terrorists.” I wasn’t born in a Muslim country, though. I was born and raised right here in America and this angers many people: how is it that I can be an American and believe the things I believe, take the positions I take? Everything a man is exposed to in his environment becomes an ingredient that shapes his outlook, and I’m no different. So, in more ways than one, it’s because of America that I am who I am.

When I was six, I began putting together a massive collection of comic books. Batman implanted a concept in my mind, introduced me to a paradigm as to how the world is set up: that there are oppressors, there are the oppressed, and there are those who step up to defend the oppressed. This resonated with me so much that throughout the rest of my childhood, I gravitated towards any book that reflected that paradigm – Uncle Tom’s Cabin, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, and I even saw an ehical dimension to The Catcher in the Rye.

By the time I began high school and took a real history class, I was learning just how real that paradigm is in the world. I learned about the Native Americans and what befell them at the hands of European settlers. I learned about how the descendents of those European settlers were in turn oppressed under the tyranny of King George III.

I read about Paul Revere, Tom Paine, and how Americans began an armed insurgency against British forces – an insurgency we now celebrate as the American revolutionary war. As a kid I even went on school field trips just blocks away from where we sit now. I learned about Harriet Tubman, Nat Turner, John Brown, and the fight against slavery in this country. I learned about Emma Goldman, Eugene Debs, and the struggles of the labor unions, working class, and poor. I learned about Anne Frank, the Nazis, and how they persecuted minorities and imprisoned dissidents. I learned about Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King,
and the civil rights struggle.

I learned about Ho Chi Minh, and how the Vietnamese fought for decades to liberate themselves from one invader after another. I learned about Nelson Mandela and the fight against apartheid in South Africa. Everything I learned in those years confirmed what I was beginning to learn when I was six: that throughout history, there has been a constant struggle between the oppressed and their oppressors. With each struggle I learned about, I found myself consistently siding with the oppressed, and consistently respecting those who stepped up to defend them -regardless of nationality, regardless of religion. And I never threw my class notes away. As I stand here speaking, they are in a neat pile in my bedroom closet at home.

From all the historical figures I learned about, one stood out above the rest. I was impressed be many things about Malcolm X, but above all, I was fascinated by the idea of transformation, his transformation. I don’t know if you’ve seen the movie “X” by Spike Lee, it’s over three and a half hours long, and the Malcolm at the beginning is different from the Malcolm at the end. He starts off as an illiterate criminal, but ends up a husband, a father, a protective and eloquent leader for his people, a disciplined Muslim performing the Hajj in Makkah, and finally, a martyr. Malcolm’s life taught me that Islam is not something inherited; it’s not a culture or ethnicity. It’s a way of life, a state of mind anyone can choose no matter where they come from or how they were raised.

This led me to look deeper into Islam, and I was hooked. I was just a teenager, but Islam answered the question that the greatest scientific minds were clueless about, the question that drives the rich & famous to depression and suicide from being unable to answer: what is the purpose of life? Why do we exist in this Universe? But it also answered the question of how we’re supposed to exist. And since there’s no hierarchy or priesthood, I could directly and immediately begin digging into the texts of the Qur’an and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad, to begin the journey of understanding what this was all about, the implications of Islam for me as a human being, as an individual, for the people around me, for the world; and the more I learned, the more I valued Islam like a piece of gold. This was when I was a teen, but even today, despite the pressures of the last few years, I stand here before you, and everyone else in this courtroom, as a very proud Muslim.

With that, my attention turned to what was happening to other Muslims in different parts of the world. And everywhere I looked, I saw the powers that be trying to destroy what I loved. I learned what the Soviets had done to the Muslims of Afghanistan. I learned what the Serbs had done to the Muslims of Bosnia. I learned what the Russians were doing to the Muslims of Chechnya. I learned what Israel had done in Lebanon – and what it continues to do in Palestine – with the full backing of the United States. And I learned what America itself was doing to Muslims. I learned about the Gulf War, and the depleted uranium bombs that killed thousands and caused cancer rates to skyrocket across Iraq.

I learned about the American-led sanctions that prevented food, medicine, and medical equipment from entering Iraq, and how – according to the United Nations – over half a million children perished as a result. I remember a clip from a ’60 Minutes‘ interview of Madeline Albright where she expressed her view that these dead children were “worth it.” I watched on September 11th as a group of people felt driven to hijack airplanes and fly them into buildings from their outrage at the deaths of these children. I watched as America then attacked and invaded Iraq directly. I saw the effects of ’Shock & Awe’ in the opening day of the invasion – the children in hospital wards with shrapnel from American missiles sticking but of their foreheads (of course, none of this was shown on CNN).

I learned about the town of Haditha, where 24 Muslims – including a 76-year old man in a wheelchair, women, and even toddlers – were shot up and blown up in their bedclothes as the slept by US Marines. I learned about Abeer al-Janabi, a fourteen-year old Iraqi girl gang-Molested by five American soldiers, who then shot her and her family in the head, then set fire to their corpses. I just want to point out, as you can see, Muslim women don’t even show their hair to unrelated men. So try to imagine this young girl from a conservative village with her dress torn off, being sexually assaulted by not one, not two, not three, not four, but five soldiers. Even today, as I sit in my jail cell, I read about the drone strikes which continue to kill Muslims daily in places like Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen. Just last month, we all heard about the seventeen Afghan Muslims – mostly mothers and their kids – shot to death by an American soldier, who also set fire to their corpses.

These are just the stories that make it to the headlines, but one of the first concepts I learned in Islam is that of loyalty, of
brotherhood – that each Muslim woman is my sister, each man is my brother, and together, we are one large body who must protect each other. In other words, I couldn’t see these things beings done to my brothers & sisters – including by America – and remain neutral. My sympathy for the oppressed continued, but was now more personal, as was my respect for those defending them.

I mentioned Paul Revere – when he went on his midnight ride, it was for the purpose of warning the people that the British were marching to Lexington to arrest Sam Adams and John Hancock, then on to Concord to confiscate the weapons stored there by the Minuteman. By the time they got to Concord, they found the Minuteman waiting for them, weapons in hand. They fired at the British, fought them, and beat them. From that battle came the American Revolution. There’s an Arabic word to describe what those Minutemen did that day. That word is: JIHAD, and this is what my trial was about.

All those videos and translations and childish bickering over ‘Oh, he translated this paragraph’ and ‘Oh, he edited that sentence,’ and all those exhibits revolved around a single issue: Muslims who were defending themselves against American soldiers doing to them exactly what the British did to America. It was made crystal clear at trial that I never, ever plotted to “kill Americans” at shopping malls or whatever the story was. The government’s own witnesses contradicted this claim, and we put expert after expert up on that stand, who spent hours dissecting my every written word, who explained my beliefs. Further, when I was free, the government sent an undercover agent to prod me into one of their little “terror plots,” but I refused to participate. Mysteriously, however, the jury never heard this.

So, this trial was not about my position on Muslims killing American civilians. It was about my position on Americans killing Muslim civilians, which is that Muslims should defend their lands from foreign invaders – Soviets, Americans, or Martians. This is what I believe. It’s what I’ve always believed, and what I will always believe. This is not terrorism, and it’s not extremism. It’s what the arrows on that seal above your head represent: defense of the homeland. So, I disagree with my lawyers when they say that you don’t have to agree with my beliefs – no. Anyone with commonsense and humanity has no choice but to agree with me. If someone breaks into your home to rob you and harm your family, logic dictates that you do whatever it takes to expel that invader from your home.

But when that home is a Muslim land, and that invader is the US military, for some reason the standards suddenly change. Common sense is renamed ”terrorism” and the people defending themselves against those who come to kill them from across the ocean become “the terrorists” who are ”killing Americans.” The mentality that America was victimized with when British soldiers walked these streets 2 ½ centuries ago is the same mentality Muslims are victimized by as American soldiers walk their streets today. It’s the mentality of colonialism.

When Sgt. Bales shot those Afghans to death last month, all of the focus in the media was on him-his life, his stress, his PTSD, the mortgage on his home-as if he was the victim. Very little sympathy was expressed for the people he actually killed, as if they’re not real, they’re not humans. Unfortunately, this mentality trickles down to everyone in society, whether or not they realize it. Even with my lawyers, it took nearly two years of discussing, explaining, and clarifying before they were finally able to think outside the box and at least ostensibly accept the logic in what I was saying. Two years! If it took that long for people so intelligent, whose job it is to defend me, to de-program themselves, then to throw me in front of a randomly selected jury under the premise that they’re my “impartial peers,” I mean, come on. I wasn’t tried before a jury of my peers because with the mentality gripping America today, I have no peers. Counting on this fact, the government prosecuted me – not because they needed to, but simply because they could.

I learned one more thing in history class: America has historically supported the most unjust policies against its minorities – practices that were even protected by the law – only to look back later and ask: ’what were we thinking?’ Slavery, Jim Crow, the internment of the Japanese during World War II – each was widely accepted by American society, each was defended by the Supreme Court. But as time passed and America changed, both people and courts looked back and asked ’What were we thinking?’ Nelson Mandela was considered a terrorist by the South African government, and given a life sentence. But time passed, the world changed, they realized how oppressive their policies were, that it was not he who was the terrorist, and they released him from prison. He even became president. So, everything is subjective - even this whole business of “terrorism” and who is a “terrorist.” It all depends on the time and place and who the superpower happens to be at the moment.

In your eyes, I’m a terrorist, and it’s perfectly reasonable that I be standing here in an orange jumpsuit. But one day, America will change and people will recognize this day for what it is. They will look at how hundreds of thousands of Muslims were killed and maimed by the US military in foreign countries, yet somehow I’m the one going to prison for “conspiring to kill and maim” in those countries – because I support the Mujahidin defending those people. They will look back on how the government spent millions of dollars to imprison me as a ”terrorist,” yet if we were to somehow bring Abeer al-Janabi back to life in the moment she was being gang-Molested by your soldiers, to put her on that witness stand and ask her who the “terrorists” are, she sure wouldn’t be pointing at me.

The government says that I was obsessed with violence, obsessed with ”killing Americans.” But, as a Muslim living in these times, I can think of a lie no more ironic.

-Tarek Mehanna
4/12/12

^^^^
I had not heard of this guy before now
I will never wish to argue with someone like him. He is so logical that it is intimidating

As for the judge (who had to sentence him though it was the jury that found him guilty), I don't think he would b able to sleep any day I remember this guy. On the other hand I believe judges are trained to inured to such injustice

His reference to Mandela was apt
Throughout the time Mandela was President of South Africa, he was officially a "terrorist" in the book of the US. He could not enter the US legally. Whenever he had to attend any UN event in the US, the then American Secretary of State (Rice) had to go to President Bush to seek a waiver to allow Mandela enter the US

Furthermore during WWII, after the invasion of several European countries by Germany a lot of their citizens went underground. In France de Gaulle was one of the leaders of the people who worked to sabotage the Germans. They were assisted by both America and Britain. And they were called "The Resistance"

Some Iraqis did something similar in 2003 and onwards, they were called "insurgents"

Read more here about the brother: http://www.freetarek.com/

I think i cried, the first time I read the poem. The media is such a powerful tool in shaping minds. Imagine if a muslim country had a guantanamo bay, equivalent.

The ummah is so weak, it breaks my heart. No one even has the courage to talk about injustice. All we do is hate it in the heart, the weakest of faith.

Plus we have idiots who are not worried about the alchohol in their cities but carry guns claiming to be mujahideen and blowing up public places. When did muslim blood become so cheap? The prophet (SAW) told us that muslim blood is more valuable than the kaaba yet muslims spill muslim blood.

May Allah have mercy on the muslims.

@ tbaba1234, has there been any time the muslim\arab world, or at present, has been unjust to pple? My answer is 'yes'.


History has it that mohammed led many war campaigns to establish Islam in the middle-east unparrarel in history of any knwn prophet of religios leaders, taking prisoners and spoils (including women. To u dis is no big deal.


History has it that mohammed shed more blood than any military camapainer during his era. To u its no big deal.


History has it that Mecca and Medina belongs to the muslims while Jerusalem (dat history all over points to the jews and their prophets) must be shared bw muslims and the jews. To u no big deal.


History has it that mohammed, having attained military supremacy and unopposed (at 50+), married a six yr old small girl. To u, u see norring wrong with ur prophet's action.


History has it that uthman dan fodio led a military campaign to overthrow the traditional authority in hausaland in order to establish the present autocratic\emirate system in the north. To u its normal


Contemporary international event has it that Ahmed ahmedijabab (dnt knw the real spellin) of Iran said and i quote, 'Israel must be wiped out frm the face of the earth' and their was jubilation acros the muslim world for that offensive rhetorics. Which speaks volume of the mind of an average muslim towards the state of Israel.


In Nigeria, a pastors daughter was abducted & adopted against the wishes of her parents, and the girl, advised by the muslim community, to take the father to court in order to 'free' herself from her parents. U see norring wrong.


Pls stop this 'guatanamo' whinnin and clean up all the mess ur religion\prophet had brot upon the world. If Muslims are detan ing pple it would have been far better, but they would rather kill.

@tbaba1234, he who seeks equity\justice must come with clean hands.

My muslim brodas are so funny. They will come to the west preaching religios freedom, human right, free thought etc, but in their home country they dare not ask of those 'benefits'.

tbaba1234: Read more here about the brother: http://www.freetarek.com/

I think i cried, the first time I read the poem. The media is such a powerful tool in shaping minds. Imagine if a muslim country had a guantanamo bay, equivalent.

The ummah is so weak, it breaks my heart. No one even has the courage to talk about injustice. All we do is hate it in the heart, the weakest of faith.

Plus we have idiots who are not worried about the alchohol in their cities but carry guns claiming to be mujahideen and blowing up public places. When did muslim blood become so cheap? The prophet (SAW) told us that muslim blood is more valuable than the kaaba yet muslims spill muslim blood.

May Allah have mercy on the muslims.

It's really sad terrible sad, not just the alcohol but all the terrible things in their cities that need to be fixed.

true2god: My muslim brodas are so funny. They will come to the west preaching religios freedom, human right, free thought etc, but in their home country they dare not ask of those 'benefits'.

Who are these your muslim brothers that are stopping you from practising your religion or having a voice
I have demonstrated that right in the Southern part of Nigeria, where people espouse tolerance,
inspite of a court order the authorities of Rivers State university FORBID a mosque from being built
Yet the same authorities built churches for Christians
What have you say to this - @true2god?

A muslim girl wearing hijab after school hours is caned 43 time in Lagos
I have heard of people speak of uniform, rules should be obeyed. But no one talk about the rule
forbidding corporeal punishment
What have you say to this - @true2god?

I have heard people from SE of Nigeria freely speak their language on the streets of Dubai
Ala Ndigbo have shops in the same Dubai
They are active in Malaysia
Yet, I have never seen a thread opened by Christians to speak in favour of Muslims
It is always accusations of "Muslims want to exterminate us." If so, what are you doing inn their "repressive and despicable" countries?
Actions speak louder than voice!
What have you say to this - @true2god?

true2god: My muslim brodas are so funny. They will come to the west preaching religios freedom, human right, free thought etc, but in their home country they dare not ask of those 'benefits'.

There is nothing strange here
You live by the constitution of wherever you find yourself
No one os allowed to abuse the Pope in the Vatican
You cannot abuse Muslim figures in Saudi Arabia
All of these are allowed in the West
So why should a Muslim, living in the US, who is not allowed to protest abuse of Muslim figures not also press for the recognition of his rights to freedom, free thought etc?
Afterall they don't ask him to pay zakat; they collect taxes from him
Nor are people allowed to freely hunt bush meat they way they can in Nigeria

Let me add. Some people protested in London last week the very very sensible anti homosick law passed by Russia
Somebody asked why they could not go to Russia to protest. A commentator responded that any one who tried to protest in Russia would "disappear".
But nobody denies Russians in the west the right to protest because Russians in the West cannot deny the right of Westerners to abuse Russian President Putin as much as they want
When one is in the US, he does not live in accordance to the rules of his home country
This applies to ALL, and not to Muslims alone

Do you agree with this - @true2god?

I have asked you these questions specifically because on another thread you felt offended that
"your people" were being wrongly accused of being intolerant (you have to concede that it was not on that thread as we would not condone such tribalism in the Muslim section),
but as soon as we pointed out the errors in your post you never responded but opened another vista of accusations

It is tiring but we will answer all. insha Allah
Meanwhile we will leave you with your conscience and allow objective readers to judge if it is ok to protest "wrong" accusations directed at you (incidentally not by us) while you come around making wild and fabricated allegations
And tellingly, you make those wild allegations on a thread talking about serial injustice
Thus the cold objective of your post is - "they" deserve it all!

tbaba1234: Plus we have idiots who are not worried about the alchohol in their cities but carry guns claiming to be mujahideen and blowing up public places. When did muslim blood become so cheap? The prophet (SAW) told us that muslim blood is more valuable than the kaaba yet muslims spill muslim blood.

May Allah have mercy on the muslims.

I have always asked this question. How does Boko Haram benefit me as a muslim?
How does killing people enmasse help Islam?

I have seen children of mixed religious marriage where the mom continues to go to church.
At what age will she leave her baby at home when she is going to church - 1 month, 2, 6 1 year
Even if they had both agreed that the baby will practise Islam, this baby might be in church when these guys strike
So what is the benefit of their deeds to Islam?
Even if they kill 10,000 (and may Allah forbid that), they make it difficult for 1m to listen to our dawah

I have always wondered if these people have any clue about Islam
It is on record that when Khalid, RA, (then a new convert) killed some people in error, the earlier converts immediately asked Allah to bear witness that they did not support Khalid's action. Because they knew better
Religion is never practised by emotion but by knowledge!

May Allah guide us

Underage Marriage or underage sex?

@true2god
There is a clear difference between marriage and intimacy

Do you see anything wrong here. Have you led a protest?

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/02/pastor-nabbed-over-alleged-molestation-of-12-yr-old-housemaid/
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/03/court-remands-pastor-for-alleged-molestation-of-church-member/
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/07/police-parade-gay-pastor-for-alleged-molestation-of-member/
http://www.punchng.com/news/pastor-accused-of-Molesting-minors-at-orphanage/
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/07/why-we-defile-small-girls-pastor-others/
http://www.punchng.com/news/police-arraign-pastor-accused-of-Molesting-12-year-old-girl/
http://www.punchng.com/news/pastor-accused-of-raping-12-year-old-girl/
http://www.punchng.com/feature/ogun-horror-orphanage-owner-started-raping-me-at-10-victim/
http://www.punchng.com/metro/pastor-security-guard-arrested-for-raping-underage-girls/


You are unhappy over
a marriage done 1400 years ago
with parental consent
with custodians of Arabian customs in the know
and the enemies of the Prophet (SAW) in the know

Please tell me what you have done

@true2god
I challenge you. I am ready to pay N10,000 to you through the moderator of this section of you can
Prove that Muslims are more guilty if underage sex than Christians
You can use the family court in Lagos as a case in point
I beg you, I plead with you, I beseech you, please take up this challenge

Oga betathings...pls soffry soffry o...

This guy is just one of our banister's brothers who always talk about what they hear. He has no knowledge of what he is saying, yet you bombard him with all these. I think its too much for him anyway, but I wonder what one. - who knows nothing about how islam got to the northern nigeria and yet speaks so ignorantly despite the google and other ORIJOs at his disposla - has to say to defend himself here.

Let's see what he has for us anyway.

Rosa Caputti, an Iraqi war veteran, writes this on Tarek Mehanna:
If Mehanna is a terrorist conspirator for
advocating resistance to US military
occupation, then so am I, a Marine veteran.
On 12 April, Tarek Mehanna was found guilty
of conspiracy and of giving material support for terrorism
and was sentenced to 17 years in prison. The
prosecution accused Mehanna of translating
statements for al-Qaida and of disseminating
pro-jihadist material on the internet. Mehanna
maintains that he does not support the world
view of al-Qaida, though he is unapologetic for
supporting the rights of Muslims to defend
themselves against their oppressors – in this
case, US and British soldiers. The American
Civil Liberties Union has said that the verdict
against Tarek "undermines" free speech
, while the prosecution holds that Tarek was
"conspiring to support terrorists" and "for
conspiring to kill Americans overseas"
.
However, if Tarek Mehanna is guilty, so am I.
I, too, support the right of Muslims to defend
themselves against US troops, even if that
means they have to kill them, and I try to give
the Iraqi resistance a voice through my
website. I have done everything that Tarek
Mehanna has done, and there are only two
possibilities as to why I am not sitting in a cell
with him: first, the FBI is incompetent and
hasn't been able to smoke me out; second, the
US judicial system would never dream of
violating my freedom of speech because I am
white and I am a veteran of the occupation of
Iraq.
Indeed, Mehanna is being punished for his
ideas, and the case against him stinks of a
lynch-mob mentality. The Islamophobia that
still grips the US has often resulted in a
hysterical witch-hunt for "radical" Muslims, of
which Tarek Mehanna is the most recent
victim. Most Muslims in the US can get by as
long as they proclaim their love for this
country and keep their mouths shut about
American foreign policy, but a Muslim who is
vocally critical of US policy is still a very scary
thing for many in the US. Mehanna's ideas
have been criminalized because they are
critical of US policy and advocate for jihad ,
which, unfortunately, is pitifully
misunderstood in the US. In the current
political atmosphere, critical ideas are too
often equated with extremism, and jihad is
equated with terrorism.
Jihad is not synonymous with terrorism,
however, and most Americans would be
shocked to learn that they share many values
with jihadists, such as duty, the importance of
self-improvement, and the right to self-
defense. Jihad, which literally means "struggle"
or "effort", can describe an internal struggle to
refrain from sin, an effort to promote Islamic
values, or a duty to defend other Muslims
when they are under attack. Jihad is not an
aggressive war to convert others, nor does it
condone terrorism. Yet, jihad is popularly
understood in America to be a call for
terrorism against infidels.
I found Tarek Mehanna's sentencing statement
eloquent and truthful. I agree with him that
much of what the US military has done in Iraq
and Afghanistan can be characterized as
terrorism, and I support Afghans and Iraqis
who fight back against us. What I helped do to
the city of Fallujah was terrorism
, and I lost two dear friends in that operation,
but I cannot hate or begrudge the resistance in
Fallujah for killing them. They were only doing
what I would have done had a foreign army
been laying siege to my hometown. We were
the aggressors and the terrorists, and I can see
that now, eight years too late.
I agree with Tarek Mehanna that when Muslims
attack US troops that have invaded and
occupied their country, it is not an act of
terrorism. It is simply warfare. Just as when
George Washington's army attacked British
troops in 1776, it was not terrorism, but
warfare. However, such a comparison assumes
that there is an objective definition of
"terrorism" that is used consistently by
Americans. But as Tarek Mehanna pointed out
in his sentencing statement, the term
"terrorism" is subjective in American
discourse, because the term is only acceptable
when it is used to refer to what the official
enemy does to us.
If there were an objective definition, then the
same standards by which we condemn the
terrorism of others could be used to condemn
our acts of terrorism. We could then say that
the "shock and awe" bombing of Iraq killed
more innocent civilians than the attacks of
9/11
, and was also an act of terrorism. We could
also say that what we did to Fallujah was an
act of terrorism. But such statements are
shocking and unthinkable to Americans.
I'm not afraid to profess my support for Tarek
Mehanna, or to advocate for his ideas, because
I know the law does not apply equally to all in
America. My whiteness and my status as a
veteran will protect me. But Tarek was brown
and he never made the mistake of enlisting in
the Marine Corps, as I did. So he will spend
the next 17 years in a prison cell.

@true2god;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfBYlwIoIu8


thats a good history lesson from a white american.

golpen: Oga betathings...pls soffry soffry o...

He is rationalising inequity
The muslims deserve it! Can you imagine.

golpen:
This guy is just one of our banister's brothers who always talk about what they hear. He has no knowledge of what he is saying, yet you bombard him with all these. I think its too much for him anyway, but I wonder what one. - who knows nothing about how islam got to the northern nigeria and yet speaks so ignorantly despite the google and other ORIJOs at his disposla - has to say to defend himself here.

Let's see what he has for us anyway.

It is all about propaganda. I used to think they should be ignored until I read a book about the nature of propaganda (its message gradually and steadily takes hold over time) and I realised the people who do it have their reasons

These guys keep shouting Yerima, Yerima!!
The greatest harm Yerima can do is to ask a man for the hands of his 13? yr old daughter
And he will have the opportunity of saying no

Is that comparable to a pastor you willingly entrust your daughter to for religious and moral instruction violating her?
Which one poses the greater harm?
A MARRIAGE done 1400 years ago is being lamented by people whose pastor-neighbour are damaging their daughter
Is this about what is right (improving society, protecting the weak etc) or about maligning a religion?

We know the religion that needs to be cleaned up!
He should simply accept my challenge and the truth will come out.
I dare him again!

^

Alhamdulillah, ALLAH that owns HIS religion has been holding it up high and will never make it fall. Despite that muslims are being maltreated all over the world, despite their sleepless nights and daily plots against islam and muslims, it is still the fastest growing. The funny thing is that, brothers tarek and nabil's cases must have driven someone to find out the truth about islam.

May ALLAH come to the aid of muslims.

I just feel our true2God is just the roadside islam hater. He doesn't really understand more than what there pastors and the wives tell them at church. I'll suppose he doesn't even know where to start, if he takes up the challenge. Maybe his more sophisticated brothers like truthman2012, cleanvessel and all should join hands.

wwhere is t2g? betathings na wa oh!

vedaxcool: wwhere is t2g? betathings na wa oh!

Im in the office, will educate u wen im free. Regards,

ok will be waiting, hope it is not 24 hrs job?

vedaxcool: ok will be waiting, hope it is not 24 hrs job?

lol