15 per cent of Muslims in Western societies have turned away from the Muslim faith,


which would mean that in Britain there are about 200,000 "apostates."

Yasmin, who was raised in the North of England, has been forced out of her town once, and is now trying to resist being chased out again.

Raised in a Muslim family, she converted after having a vision of Jesus when she gave birth to her youngest son and was baptized in her thirties, the Times Online reported. "My family completely disowned me. They thought I had committed the biggest sin — I was born a Muslim, and so I must die a Muslim. When my husband found out he totally disowned my sons. One friend tried to strangle me when I told him I was converting," she said.

"We had bricks though our windows, I was spat at in the street because they thought I was dishonoring Islam," Yasmin told the Times Online. "We had to call the police so many times. I had to go to court to get an injunction against my husband because he was inciting others to attack me."

She fled to another part of Britain, but the attacks soon started again as locals found out about her. "I wasn't going to leave again," Yasmin told the Times Online, adding that it was the double standards of her attackers that made her most angry. "They are such hypocrites — they want us to be tolerant of everything they want, but they are intolerant of everything about us."


Apostates (http://www.mensnewsdaily.com/archive/r/reynalds/2005/reynalds030205.htm)

Experience of a Canadian Woman
Many may ask why a young, Canadian-born, Caucasian woman would embrace a religion that not only supposedly oppresses women, but takes all her freedom and independence and treats her as a second class citizen.
I reject such accusations and pose to them the following question. "Why is it that so many women who have been born and brought up in the so-called 'civilized' societies of Canada, USA, and Europe are willing to reject their liberty, and independence, to embrace a religion that supposedly oppresses them and is widely assumed to be prejudicial to them?"
As a Canadian revert to Islam, I can only present my personal experience and reasons for rejecting the freedom, that women claim to have in this society, in favor of the only religion that truly liberates women by giving us a status and position which is completely unique when compared to non-Muslim counterparts.

As a child growing up in a non-religious home, I often asked my parents if there was a God, who is He, and where did He come from? Their response was always, believe in what you want to believe. This confused me, because many of my friends had religions, and I never understood why I didn't.

I remember when I was six or seven years old, I attended Sunday School, at a Church with a friend a couple of times. I found it very boring. I didn't feel comfortable around the other children, and felt pressured by the instructor and other children because I didn't know anything about Jesus Christ, may Allaah exalt his mention. Feeling this way I stopped going to the Sunday school, and continued growing up without a religion, with no knowledge of God, which made me feel very lonely.

It wasn't until I was in high school when I learned about religion in my social studies class, and remember vividly how my teacher told us women in Islam have no rights, women are denied education, must be circumcised, and how women must obey men, otherwise, the men can beat them.

This made me think

No matter what this teacher said, something in my mind kept telling me this couldn't be true. Ironically, around the same time I was learning this, I met a Muslim, named Khaled (who is now my husband) at the place where I worked and asked him about what my teacher said. He was shocked to hear the school boards were teaching this about Islam and told me they were all untrue. When discussing this with my teacher in front of my fellow students, the teacher told me that my source is wrong, and he has the information in his books, otherwise he wouldn't be teaching us this stuff.

My teacher pretty much made me look stupid; however some of my friends believed me. I continued talking to Khaled at work about Muslim women and was very curious about the role of Muslim women. I have to admit that I never agreed all the time with what Khaled said, but I was also a non-believer at that time, and never understood fully what Islam was. I was (and still I am) always fascinated with how the Muslim women would cover themselves, they always seemed to have the look of peace on their faces. I would never have guessed that I would one day be one of those ladies who is fully covered.

Two years later, Khaled and I were married and had our first child, Al-Hamdulillah. It wasn't until one year after my second child was born, Al-Hamdulillah, when I began to feel depressed and adrift, feeling a large spirituality void. I felt there was a big chunk of my life still missing. This was when I began to read about various religions, and it wasn't until I bought a translation of the Holy Quran when I finally understood the true meaning of life, and that there is none has the right to be worshipped but Allaah). The Quran answered all the questions I was looking for, and some that I never even thought of.

One week before the holy month of Ramadan, I taught myself to pray, memorized two suras (Quranic Chapters), and said my Shahadah (Testimony of faith). I no longer felt adrift and I believed in Allaah. It was like having the feeling and guidance from Allaah.

Wearing the scarf for the first time made me feel as though I had more peace, I was someone, not only a someone, but a Muslim. I was (and am) protecting myself from all evil. I felt a lot more close to Allaah, because He has ordained women in the Noble Quran to cover themselves.

I know in my heart that it bothered my husband a lot to have a wife who did not only embrace Islam, but to see her practicing it when he wasn't. My husband and I have no differences anymore in terms of raising our children (as Muslims), and have never been so happy since he and I started practicing Islam.

My life has changed a lot since I embraced Islam (all for the best), and I'm loving every minute of it! I recommend it to everyone out there, whether a Muslim, Christian, Jew, Hindu, to pick up a copy of the Noble Quran and to read not just some of it, but all of it. May Allaah give everyone the strength and courage that He has given me during the past year.

Tuesday : 09/08/2005

googs

Please inform the women of Saudi Arabia who are forbidden to drive just how free they are. Tell the same thing to the women of Afghanistan who are forced to marry men they don't love and who's husbands can divorce them simply by saying, "I divorce you". three times. Then tell it to the women of Iran who were forced to take the veil after decades of not having to wear it.

I am happy you have found peace in Islam but please don't tell me that women are free in the Muslim religion.

The Amazing Potential of Muslim Women

Muslim women have helped shape the Islamic landscape and contributed substantially to the prominence of Islamic civilization.

Muslim women have the potential to benefit the Ummah (Muslim community) in many diverse ways. The Ummah is suffering immensely in this time and both Muslim men and Muslim women need to rise up to the challenge and help to re-establish its glory.

There is much work to be done and there is no time to waste. A look at some examples in history will elucidate the significant role that women have played, and can continue to play, for the benefit of the society.

As Scholars

Women have the ability to learn and excel in various disciplines and to use this knowledge for the benefit of the Ummah. The Ummah is particularly in need of female Islamic scholars who can help to guide the women and the nation as a whole.
Although Islamic Studies may be viewed as somewhat inferior to other fields of study, it is time to return it to a superior position once again. The finest example of the scholarship of Muslim women is, of course, Aisha bint Abu Bakr.

There is wisdom in the young age at which she married the Prophet (SAWS) that is often overlooked, for she lived almost 50 years after his death. During her time with the Prophet (SAWS) she learned and acquired knowledge from the two most important sources of Allah's guidance, the Qur'an and the Sunnah (Tradition) of the Prophet (SAWS).

After his death, she spent those 50 years teaching, narrating, advising, and assisting others. Aisha is one of four persons who transmitted more than two thousand sayings of the Prophet (SAWS).

Many Companions of the Prophet (SAWS) benefited from her knowledge such that Abu Musa al-Ashari said, "when we, Companions of the Prophet (SAWS) encountered any difficulty in the matter of any hadeeth we referred it to Aisha and found that she had definite knowledge about it." She was one of the earliest Jurists of Islam and was one of three wives of the Prophet who had memorized the complete Qur'an.

She was a scholar of law and medicine, an educator and an orator. In general, she played a critical role in preserving and transmitting both the Qur'an and the Sunnah to the next generations, along with a wealth of other knowledge.
She provides a magnificent example of the achievements and contributions that a Muslim woman can make for the benefit of the Ummah. We need to encourage our young women to become the Aishas of today and tomorrow.

As Benefactors

Islamic Law recognizes the full property and economic rights of women before and after marriage. They may buy, sell or lease their properties at their own discretion and may use their wealth without interference by anyone.

For this reason, some Muslim women become quite wealthy. Throughout history, women have used their resources for the cause of Islam and for the benefit of the Muslim Ummah. Khadijah bint Khuwaylid was the finest example of this generosity. She was the first wife of the Prophet (SAWS) and a wealthy businesswoman.

Her support of the Prophet (SAWS) was evident in many ways, including financial, as she gave a large portion of her wealth for his mission. The Prophet (SAWS) said regarding Khadijah, "She believed in me when the people rejected me. And she held me to be honest when the people said I was a liar. And she supported me with her wealth when the people withheld from me." (Bukhari and Muslim)

There are many other examples of women benefactors throughout the history of Islam. Fatimah al-Fihriyah (d. 880) inherited a considerable amount of wealth, and she used this wealth to build a school and Masjid (Mosque) in Qarawiyiin, Morocco. The Qarawiyiin Masjid and school has been the center of Islamic learning in Morocco for more than 1000 years and is the oldest university in Morocco.

Maryam bint ash-Shams (d. 1313), Barakah bint Abd-Allah (d. 1372), and Al-Udar al Karimah of Yemen (d. 1 360), also built great schools and Masajid (Mosques) throughout that country. Banafshaa' ar-Rumiyah (d. 1008) renovated Baghdad and established her own school and endowment there.

Many women have the financial capability to advance the Ummah in numerous ways as evidenced by the examples of our predecessors. The Ummah is in need of schools, Masajid, social service centers, and so forth, Muslim girls need to be taught the value of money from a young age, as well as the importance of donating their wealth for the sake of Allah. We need to encourage our young women to become the Khadijahs of today and tomorrow.

Muslim women have played a significant role in society throughout Islamic history. They have been doctors and social workers, scholars and educators, benefactors and administrators.

They have helped shape the Islamic landscape and contributed substantially to the prominence of Islamic civilization. They have done all of this while maintaining the Islamic principles of modesty, dignity, and honor. Muslim women have an amazing potential. It is time to fulfill those possibilities and assist in returning Islam to its rightful place.

How Aisha Bhutta Converted her Parents, Family and 30 Friends to Islam


Aisha Bhutta, also known as Debbie Rogers, is serene. She sits on the sofa in big front room of her tenement flat in Cowcaddens, Glasgow. The walls are hung with quotations from the Koran, a special clock to remind the family of prayer times and posters of the Holy City of Mecca. Aisha's piercing blue eyes sparkle with evangelical zeal, she smiles with radiance only true believers possess. Her face is that of a strong Scots lass - no nonsense, good-humoured - but it is carefully covered with a hijab.

For a good Christian girl to convert to Islam and marry a Muslim is extraordinary enough. But more than that, she has also converted her parents, most of the rest of her family and at least 30 friends and neighbours.

Her family were austere Christians with whom Rogers regularly attended Salvation Army meetings. When all the other teenagers in Britain were kissing their George Michael posters goodnight, Rogers had pictures of Jesus up on her wall. And yet she found that Christianity was not enough; there were too many unanswered questions and she felt dissatisfied with the lack of disciplined structure for her beliefs. "There had to be more for me to obey than just doing prayers when I felt like it."

Aisha had first seen her future husband, Mohammad Bhutta, when she was 10 and regular customer at the shop, run by his family. She would see him in the back, praying. "There was contentment and peace in what he was doing. He said he was a Muslim. I said: What's a Muslim?".

Later with his help she began looking deeper into Islam. By the age of 17, she had read the entire Koran in Arabic. "Everything I read", she says, "Was making sense."

She made the decision to convert at16. "When I said the words, it was like a big burden I had been carrying on my shoulders had been thrown off. I felt like a new-born baby."

Despite her conversion however, Mohammed's parents were against their marrying. They saw her as a Western woman who would lead their eldest son astray and give the family a bad name; she was, Mohammed's father believed, "the biggest enemy."

Nevertheless, the couple married in the local mosque. Aisha wore a dress hand-sewn by Mohammed's mother and sisters who sneaked into the ceremony against the wishes of his father who refused to attend.

It was his elderly grandmother who paved the way for a bond between the women. She arrived from Pakistan where mixed-race marriages were even more taboo, and insisted on meeting Aisha. She was so impressed by the fact that she had learned the Koran and Punjabi that she convinced the others; slowly, Aisha, now 32, became one of the family.

Aisha's parents, Michael and Marjory Rogers, though did attend the wedding, were more concerned with the clothes their daughter was now wearing (the traditional shalwaar kameez) and what the neighbours would think. Six years later, Aisha embarked on a mission to convert them and the rest of her family, bar her sister ("I'm still working on her). "My husband and I worked on my mum and dad, telling them about Islam and they saw the changes in me, like I stopped answering back!"

Her mother soon followed in her footsteps. Marjory Rogers changed her name to Sumayyah and became a devout Muslim. "She wore the hijab and did her prayers on time and nothing ever mattered to her except her connections with God."

Aisha's father proved a more difficult recruit, so she enlisted the help of her newly converted mother (who has since died of cancer). "My mum and I used to talk to my father about Islam and we were sitting in the sofa in the kitchen one day and he said: "What are the words you say when you become a Muslim?" "Me and my mum just jumped on top of him." Three years later, Aisha's brother converted "over the telephone - thanks to BT", then his wife and children followed, followed by her sister's son.

It didn't stop there. Her family converted, Aisha turned her attention to Cowcaddens, with its tightly packed rows of crumbling, gray tenement flats. Every Monday for the past 13 years, Aisha has held classes in Islam for Scottish women. So far she has helped to convert over 30. The women come from a bewildering array of backgrounds. Trudy, a lecturer at the University of Glasgow and a former Catholic, attended Aisha's classes purely because she was commissioned to carry out some research.

But after six months of classes she converted, deciding that Christianity was riddled with "logical inconsistencies". "I could tell she was beginning to be affected by the talks", Aisha says. How could she tell? "I don't know, it was just a feeling."

The classes include Muslim girls tempted by Western ideals and needing salvation, practicing Muslim women who want an open forum for discussion denied them at the local male-dominated mosque, and those simply interested in Islam. Aisha welcomes questions. "We cannot expect people blindly to believe."

Her husband, Mohammad Bhutta, now 41, does not seem so driven to convert Scottish lads to Muslim brothers. He occasionally helps out in the family restaurant, but his main aim in life is to ensure the couple's five children grow up as Muslims. The eldest, Safia, "nearly 14, Al-Hamdulillah (Praise be to God!)", is not averse to a spot of recruiting herself. One day she met a woman in the street and carried her shopping, the woman attended Aisha's classes and is now a Muslim.

"I can honestly say I have never regretted it", Aisha says of her conversion to Islam. "Every marriage has its ups and downs and sometimes you need something to pull you out of any hardship. But the Prophet Peace be upon him, said: 'Every hardship has an ease.' So when you're going through a difficult stage, you work for that ease to come."

Mohammed is more romantic: "I feel we have known each other for centuries and must never part from one another. According to Islam, you are not just partners for life, you can be partners in heaven as well, for ever. Its a beautiful thing, you know."

I have read of school girls in morroco being raped and murdered for going to school past the 6th grade.

The Islamics who killed them said that raping them first was their god given reward for killing them. The Islamics were arrested for the crime but I don't know what ever happened to them.

In Saudia Arabia I read of a fire in a school for girls and the religious police wouldn't let the firemen rescue the girls because they were in a higher grade of school than allowed for Muslim women. Any Muslim woman driving a car alone or with anybody but an immediate relative will be stopped and beaten with rods by the religious police.

I know many Muslim women have more freedom than that but even in Europe Muslim women will be beaten for improper dress.

In Australia, Muslims were beating Western women for wearing bikini's. When western men intervined and there was a riot, the police arrested the Western men because they were afraid of what would happen if they arrested the Muslim men. I have read of the Muslim men rioting and and taking over the police stations.

Really in Europe? I had thought they were the ones converting to Islam.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz0rtWAmAT8&search=converting%20islam

This videos is even more interesting. I have to know what your going to say about this old-rebb.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8zUaYuSpyE&search=converting%20islam

I am happy you have found peace in Islam but please don't tell me that women are free in the Muslim religion. Ummm...I think instead of "muslim religion" you ment to say "muslim countries"...

Well, I think it's great that some people do find peace, happiness and a moral compass in a religion. Be it Islam, Judaism or Christianity. In a way I envy people who do have a religion and something to believe in, because I don't believe in any particular religion and doubt there is any kind of afterlife.

Now as far as goog's posts are concerned it's great that he thinks Islam is such a great religion. Unfortunately, there is that little problem of Muslims flying planes into buildings, sawing people's heads off on prime time Al-Jazeera, labeling people who strap bombs to their bodies and blow up buses, pizza parlors and such "martyrs," hijacking airplanes, exporting terrorism, blowing up mosques, burning down embassies, kidnapping journalists, holding schoolchildren hostage for days on end, preaching Jihad in the Mosques, treating women like cattle, establishing rather tyranical governments and generally running amok, the Muslims take first prize.


The West, went through a Renaissance, an Enlightenment and a Scientific Revolution. Periods of history when Western powers took a long deep hard look at itself and tried to improve. It would be nice if the Muslims did the same, though I'm not holding my breath, dammit.

Nice of you to gloss over that whole Inquisition, Drak ages, Crusades bit.

But then again you would have to admit that it is a problem of empowering religious fanatics rather than some racist fantasy of yours...

Even if you assume that there 30,000 murderous muslim whackos out there (which I assure you there is not that many) that still only represents .0002% of the muslim population.

Oh, and I just know I'm going to get myself beheaded one day if I keep on like this, dammit.


And guerilla, you DID read the part where I said that the West did take a long hard look at itself and tried to improve, did you not? I KNOW Western civilization is not pure and clean as the wind-driven snow, but we here in the West must face facts, no matter how pleasant they are, dammit.


I'm really a candidate for a good beheading now.

Dammit.

Non-Muslims try to learn more about Islam
Jennifer Garza, The Sacramento Bee

Margaret Lawston was reluctant to tell her friends what she was doing on Thursday nights. When she finally told them she was spending her evenings at a mosque learning about Islam, most of them had the same reaction: Why?
One friend told her it was spiritually wrong. Lawston, a retired schoolteacher and a Catholic, assured her friend that she wasn't going to convert. Lawston just wanted to know more about the faith.

"I decided I didn't want to hear any more propaganda from either side. I wanted to learn about Islam for myself," says Lawston, who is taking a free 10-week course called "Discover Islam" in Sacramento. "I wanted to get my questions answered and learn about their beliefs from someone who can explain them."

Violent protests over the Danish cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad have sparked renewed questions about and criticism of Islam. Not since the early days after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, say some Muslim leaders, have so many people questioned them about their religion.

"A lot of people don't know what to think because there is a lot of misinformation out there," says Imam Mohammed Abdul Azeez of the Sacramento Area League of Associated Muslims mosque.

Mosque officials expected only about a dozen people to sign up for the course. Instead, 40 showed up.

"Fortunately, a lot of people are saying they want to learn more," Azeez says.

Many of those questions are about Muhammad, the man Muslims regard as the last great prophet and the founder of Islam. The religion that was started by the humble merchant now has 1.2 billion followers and is believed by many to be the fastest-growing faith in the world.

Considering the influence his life has had, most people in the West know little, if anything, about Muhammad. For years, many Westerners incorrectly referred to the faith as Muhammadism or believed that Muslims worship him. They do not.

"We worship God, not the man," says Metwalli Amer of SALAM.

The class Lawston is attending at the SALAM center is one effort Muslims are making to educate the public about their faith and their prophet. The Council on American-Islamic Relations recently launched a campaign offering a free DVD of a PBS documentary and a book about the life of Muhammad.

Amer hopes all of this will help people understand what the prophet means to Muslims.

"We want to explain who he was and why Muslims are so angry about the cartoons," says Amer.

Who was Muhammad?

An orphan who could not read or write, Muhammad grew up in the bustling city of Mecca in what is now Saudi Arabia. He was a married man and a father who was widely known for his integrity. Rejecting the custom of his day, Muhammad did not worship idols. Instead, he often meditated by himself in a cave. By the time he was in his 40s, Muhammad was a leading citizen of the city, according to Amer.

He became more than that one night in the year 610, according to believers. That night, he was resting in his cave when the angel Gabriel appeared and revealed to Muhammad the first verses of what came to be known as the Quran.

Islam, which in Arabic means to surrender and be content, had a slow start -- only 10 converts in the first year, according to "Muhammad" by Yahiya Emerick (Alpha, $14.95 paperback, 336 pages). But by the time Muhammad died at age 63, thousands considered Islam their religion and the principles of the faith had been established.

Although it is common in other faiths to have mental images of their religious leaders -- think of Moses, and you see Charlton Heston -- it is rare to see a physical depiction of Muhammad. In fact, in the only full-length film made about his life, the 1977 movie "The Messenger," Muhammad is off-camera.

Many Muslims have been offended by the Danish cartoons -- some of which, they believe, depict Muhammad as a terrorist -- but they also believe the resulting violence has been worse and much more harmful to Islam. More than 60 people reportedly have been killed.

A story of peace

Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, chairman of the Islamic Supreme Council of America in Michigan, believes the protests have more to do with politics than religion.

"These Islamists have manipulated the situation, they don't care about Islam," Kabbani says. "If they did, why didn't they say anything about the destruction of holy sites in Mecca?"

To illustrate that Muhammad was a peaceful man, Kabbani recounts the story of the prophet and his neighbor.

For seven years, Muhammad's next-door neighbor dumped garbage on the front steps to his house. The prophet never told anyone; instead, he quietly removed the garbage. One day, he noticed that the mess was not at the front door and he asked about the neighbor. He was told she was sick. Muhammad visited her to pay his respects. When he walked in, his stunned neighbor became a believer. "For seven years, I tortured you and you didn't tell anyone," she said. "How can that be?"

Such stories about Muhammad would not likely persuade many who believe Islam is a violent religion. They cite the Quran, the Islam holy book, which endorses military struggle on behalf of God.

But Islamic religious leaders say the words and the meaning have been taken out of context.

"Muhammad didn't abuse his sword," says Kabbani. "He wanted to live in peace."

Lawston knew a little about Islam when she decided to take the course at SALAM. In the past few weeks, she has learned everything from the basic beliefs of Islam to how the faith views other religions. She also learned that many religions have a lot in common.

"Everybody wants to follow the same path," says Lawston. "They just choose different ways to get there."

Originally posted by 500lbguerilla
Ummm...I think instead of "muslim religion" you ment to say "muslim countries"...

First time 500 said anything that I agreed with.

Originally posted by 500lbguerilla


Even if you assume that there 30,000 murderous muslim whackos out there (which I assure you there is not that many) that still only represents .0002% of the muslim population.


That is way too small a number. The whole palestine population is daily worked into a frenzy to kill Jews. All Nazis were not front line as Storm Troopers.

I once went to an American Muslim with the thought of converting, I wanted a religion where they really really believed so I could really believe. I visited his home for dinner and I asked him what he would do if he saw Salmon Rushdie and he started jumping around like a wild monkey and his wife and daughters were terrified. He went into graphic details on how he would kill Rushdie. Hmmm Here is a Muslim whose family has been in the USA for 200 years and I work and drink with him and he is a terrorist ready to kill for Allah. How many more are there like him? More than 30,000 for sure. I changed my mind about being a Muslim.

Does anybody watch googs movies or read his long cut and paste?

Lol...old-reb...im guessing you dont read my long posts and watch my videos.:p

Originally posted by googs
Lol...old-reb...im guessing you dont read my long posts and watch my videos.:p

What is this referenced to?

I don't watch the movies because they are boring propaganda but I read your BS post before replying.

Well i can say the same about your videos and your posts.;)