What Will I Be Asked When I Die?

You'll be asked quite a bit actually. Judaism teaches that each person is accountable for four things when we leave this earth:

1) What did you do with the piece of Me I put in you? Your purpose I created in you?

2) Did you do business in good faith? Were you honest and just in business dealings? Speaking out against a boss or co-worker damages their soul; and thereby robs God who created that soul and gave it purpose.

3) Did I love my neighbor as my own self? Did I treat him in love and bless even those who curse me?

4) Did I hope for Messiah’s return?

Evaluate yourself. How are you doing? What do you need to work on?

Ask a friend who you can trust to tell you the truth. Ask them, "How am I doing? What do I need to work on?"

Then ask a co-worker. And a neighbor. What did they say?

If you were to die today, how would you answer these questions?

Why Wait to Resurrect Lazarus?

Have you ever wondered why it took Yeshua so long in getting to Mary and Martha's when he heard Lazarus had died? He healed the centurion's servant from a distance, without even being there. Why didn't He do that for Lazarus?

He loved Lazarus, Mary and Martha very much, so why give the sister's the agony of waiting? They knew Yeshua could heal Lazarus and were disappointed when He tarried two days in coming.

As is often true, there is more to understand about this than when simply reading the story. Consider this: Had Yeshua raised Lazarus after only a day or two or even three days had gone by, no one would have noticed too much and it would not have seemed like such a great miracle!

But why not?

Here's a little cultural background for you: In Judaism it is taught that the soul takes a seven day journey after leaving the physical body upon death. Jews mourn a seven day time period called Shiva for an entire week after someone dies.

(By the way, number's are VERY significant in Judaism. Each Hebrew letter corresponds to a number. The number seven signifies completion - just as God chose to complete the creation of the world and rest on the seventh day, so throughout Scripture the number seven symbolizes completion.)

What is extraordinary and unknown to most is that during the first three days after death the departed soul could come back to the body and it would not be considered anything abnormal nor a resurrection. Once the soul reaches the point in the journey beyond the third day, there is no return except for a miraculous resurrection of divine nature. Do you see?!

Let me paint a picture for you a little bit: everyone is there to mourn Lazarus; they are standing around watching to see what Yeshua would do. They know it's past the three day mark. Yeshua has performed many miracles, but not from the dead. What will He do? Better yet, what can He do? Is He really the Son of God? Some still did not believe. And why didn't He come sooner?

Yeshua even said before He went to Lazarus: “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” (John 11:4) He knew why this had to happen. He goes on to say: “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.” His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” Yeshua had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” (Question: Why then did Thomas - assuming it's the same Thomas - still doubt Yeshua's resurrection when he was there to observe the resurrection of Lazarus?! (John 11:16) Oh Thomas...may we learn from you!)

Imagine how amazed everyone would have been see Lazarus come out after so many days in the grave! To the Jewish community if Yeshua had raised Lazarus within the first three days of his death, it would have not been considered a miracle. Yeshua most likely purposefully waited until AFTER the third day to raise Lazarus - thereby truly showing His power over death!

Indeed, TRULY THIS MAN IS THE SON OF GOD.

The Taste of Government Waste is Indigestion-Inducing

Michelle Malkin is a conservative columnist and hits the nail on the head in this article. Federal government programs incorporated nationwide don't work; local programs are best. It angers me that places like Chicago banned kids from bringing their mother's homemade meals to school and everyone is required to eat cafeteria food that has been found in places like LA, to be not only distastful in their nutritiousness, but undercooked and moldy. Nutrition is important, but needs to be locally supported, administrated and implemented!

Michelle Obama’s Unsavory School Lunch Flop

By Michelle Malkin  •  December 21, 2011 11:05 AM

Michelle Obama’s Unsavory School Lunch Flop
by Michelle Malkin
Creators Syndicate
Copyright 2011

The road to gastric hell is paved with first lady Michelle Obama’s Nanny State intentions. Don’t take my word for it. School kids in Los Angeles have blown the whistle on the east wing chef-in-chief’s healthy lunch diktats. Get your Pepto Bismol ready. The taste of government waste is indigestion-inducing.

According to a weekend report by the Los Angeles Times, the city’s “trailblazing introduction of healthful school lunches has been a flop.” In response to the public hectoring and financial inducement of Mrs. Obama’s federally subsidized anti-obesity campaign, the district dropped chicken nuggets, corn dogs and flavored milk from the menu for “beef jambalaya, vegetable curry, pad Thai, lentil and brown rice cutlets, and quinoa and black-eyed pea salads.”

Sounds delectable in theory. But in practice, the initiative has been what L.A. Unified’s food services director Dennis Barrett plainly concludes is a “disaster.” While the Obama administration has showered the nation’s second-largest school district with nutrition awards, thousands of students voted with their upset tummies and abandoned the program. A forbidden-food black market — stoked not just by students, but also by teachers — is now thriving. Moreover, “(p)rincipals report massive waste, with unopened milk cartons and uneaten entrees being thrown away.”

This despite a massive increase in spending on nutritional improvements — from $2 million to $20 million alone in the last five years on fresh produce.

This despite a nearly half-billion-dollar budget shortfall and 3,000 layoffs earlier this year.

Earlier this spring, L.A. school officials acknowledged that the sprawling district is left with a whopping 21,000 uneaten meals a day, in part because the federal school lunch program “sometimes requires more food to be served than a child wants to eat.” The leftovers will now be donated to nonprofit agencies. But after the recipients hear about students’ reports of moldy noodles, undercooked meat and hard rice, one wonders how much of the “free” food will go down the hatch — or down the drain. Ahhh, savor the flavor of one-size-fits-all mandates.

There’s nothing wrong with encouraging our children to eat healthier, of course. There’s nothing wrong with well-run, locally based and parent-driven efforts. But as I’ve noted before, the federal foodie cops care much less about students’ waistlines than they do about boosting government and public union payrolls.

In a little-noticed announcement several months ago, Obama health officials declared their intention to use school lunch applications to boost government health care rolls. Never mind the privacy concerns of parents.

Big Government programs “for the children” are never about the children. If they were, you wouldn’t see Chicago public school officials banning students from bringing home-packed meals made by their own parents. In April, The Chicago Tribune reported that “unless they have a medical excuse, they must eat the food served in the cafeteria.” The bottom line? Banning homemade lunches means a fatter payday for the school and its food provider.

Remember: The unwritten mantra driving Mrs. Obama’s federal school lunch meddling and expansion is: “Cede the children, feed the state.” And the biggest beneficiaries of her efforts over the past three years have been her husband’s deep-pocketed pals at the Service Employees International Union. There are 400,000 workers who prepare and serve lunch to American schoolchildren. SEIU represents tens of thousands of those workers and is trying to unionize many more at all costs.

In L.A., the district’s cafeteria fund is $20 million in the hole thanks to political finagling by SEIU Local 99. The union’s left-wing allies on the school board and in the mayor’s office pressured the district to adopt reckless fiscal policies awarding gold-plated health benefits to part-time cafeteria workers in the name of “social justice.” As one school board member who opposed the budget-busting entitlements said: “Everyone in this country deserves health benefits. But it was a very expensive proposal. And it wasn’t done at the bargaining table, which is where health benefits are usually negotiated. And no one had any idea where the money was going to come from.”

Early next year, Mrs. Obama will use the “success” of her child nutrition campaign to hawk a new tome and lobby for more money and power in concert with her husband’s re-election campaign. It’s a recipe for more half-baked progressivism served with a side order of bitter arugula.

Know Your Own Character

Quote of the Day:

"The true way is to know one's character, truly recognizing one's own deficiencies and one's good qualities. And when one knows his deficiencies - he should correct them with actual avoda (work), and not satisfy himself merely with bemoaning them."

- Compiled and arranged by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of righteous memory, in 5703 (1943) from the talks and letters of the sixth Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson, of righteous memory. 

Petition Opposing Shariah in American Courts and in Support of Liberty Counsel's Demand Letter to Nashville's Hutton Hotel The Issue: Shariah's infiltration into American courts -- the U.S. expression of a world-wide movement to overturn Western societies by the imposition of Islamic law and culture -- is quickly becoming the leading cultural and legal threat to our way of life. With increasing frequency, American courts and communities are submitting to Shariah in ways that directly undermine and subvert our Constitution. As a public interest law firm, Liberty Counsel is taking aggressive action to stop the threat of Shariah -- both in the courtroom and the court of public opinion. Recently, Hutton Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, cancelled an important national conference on the impact of Shariah on the U.S. Constitution. In response to this unjustifiable act, Liberty Counsel's Mat Staver -- one of the scheduled speakers -- sent a "Demand Letter" challenging Hutton Hotels' decision to censor the conference. Sign Our Petition Opposing Shariah in American Courts!  We are calling on citizens across the nation to join with Liberty Counsel in exposing and opposing efforts to implement Shariah here in America by signing our Citizen Petition. This petition is a clear statement of your opposition to legal and cultural efforts to impose Shariah, as well as your support of Liberty Counsel's Demand Letter to the Hutton Hotel. Shariah now represents a serious legal and cultural threat to our Constitution and our way of life. Please sign the petition today! The Petition: As a citizen of the United States, I am deeply concerned by efforts under way to subvert our Constitution and way of life through the imposition of Shariah in our legal system. Shariah is the proximate cause of oppression and suffering for millions of people worldwide and represents the greatest threat America currently faces from the radical Islamic agenda.I specifically oppose the admittance, recognition, or use of Shariah in any U.S. Courtroom or government jurisdiction. I also call on private institutions to resist pressures to cater to Shariah or its proponents. I also support Liberty Counsel's Demand Letter of October 26, 2011, to the Hutton Hotel, an operating unit of Amerimar Enterprises, and call on Hutton Hotel to reverse its policy of suppressing the free speech rights of those who peacefully speak out about threats to our Constitution and the impact of recognizing Shariah in American courtrooms.

Chana and Penina - A Lesson in Sensitivity

Chana and Penina

A Lesson In Sensitivity

By

Robyn Cuspin

Chana and Penina were both wives of the same

man, a holy and righteous man named Elkanah.

Penina had many children and Chana had none.

When it was time to bring a sacrifice in the

Sanctuary, the whole family would journey to the

Sanctuary in Shilo.

My sister-in-law and I both became pregnant at

the same time. She was pregnant with her first,

and I was pregnant again after a devastating loss,

pregnant with what I hoped would be our third

child. We were not close, but we were connected

by the bonds of the family we shared.

At that time, Penina would ask Chana "Where are your children?" And

Chana would be heartbroken. She would cry and not eat her portion of

the sacrificial offerings. When Elkanah saw that Chana was crying, he

would comfort her, saying, "Why do you cry and why do you not eat? Why are you heartbroken?

Am I not as dear to you as ten children?"

Again, my baby died mid-term, and I went from pregnancy to surgery, to have the now-dead

contents of my uterus removed. My husband tried to comfort me. "Look at our beautiful family.

We have two lovely children. Isn't that enough?"

Yet, despite the special connection she shared with her husband, Chana was not comforted.

She went to the Sanctuary courtyard, and silently poured out her heart to G-d.

The day that would have been my due date was especially heartbreaking. I don't think it is possible

to process the full impact of a mid-pregnancy loss until one's due date. Until then, I was just

relieved not to be feeling so sick anymore. I was relieved to no longer require daily injections. I

was relieved to no longer worry about the constant threat of miscarriage.

Yet, when my due date arrived, the realization hit me that there would be no baby. My milk came

in nonetheless, despite the months that had passed since the loss. My heartbreak came at a time of

great celebration for the family. Our due dates were close. My sister-in-law had delivered a baby

girl, and suddenly every conversation revolved around her new daughter, the new grandchild and

newest addition to the family.

Eli, the high priest, observed Chana's prayer. He mistook Chana's silent sorrow for drunkenness,

and he rebuked her.

I was happy for her and yet, every mention of the baby tore into me, bringing fresh waves of grief

until I felt like I was drowning.

My grief was fresh. It was raw. It was part of me. It was also all that

remained of the soul that had entwined with mine for several months, not

long enough to have been born, but certainly long enough to be mourned.

I explained to the family that although I was happy for my sister-in-law, my grief was too fresh and

I could not participate in the family celebrations.

Yet I was told that my loss was months ago, and I should not make such a big deal about the

miscarriage.

Chana answered him "No, my Lord, I am a woman of aggrieved spirit. I have drunk no wine. I

have poured out my soul before my Creator."

I consulted with a rabbi whose opinion I valued. I confessed my heartbreak and the "indulgent

nature" that my grief was viewed as by the larger family. "What shall I do?" I beseeched him.

"You have a right to mourn," he told me. "Right now, you and your sister-in-law are like Chana

and Penina. It is too close to your own loss to expect you to be able to rejoice with her now."

Eli answered "Go to Peace. The God

of Israel will grant the request you made of Him." Chana
 was comforted, and she returned to her family.

While my husband and children attended yet another round of family celebrations I could no

longer face, I remained behind, alone in my hotel room. I sought refuge in my prayer book.

"Oh G-d" I prayed. "It was Your will that women become mothers. It was Your Will that Jewish
 families be large and vibrant, continually growing from one generation to the next. How then am I

to understand why some women, like Chana, are denied the ability to have children at all, while

others, like myself, are prevented from being able to continue to bring life? How do I understand

why some souls enter the womb, but not the world? How do I face these trials without becoming

bitter or feeling abandoned by You?"

My tears stained the pages of my prayer book. Like Chana before me, I poured out my soul to

G-d.

Yet I hesitated to pray for another child. Doctors had helped me twice to become pregnant, yet they

could not sustain those lives that had taken root. I prayed instead that G-d direct

me, and show me what to strive for.

Across town, my husband sat with his family, while I sat alone with G-d

and my grief. I could not part with my grief, and I was not permitted to

make my grief a part of the family's story.

We read the story of Chana and Penina on Rosh Hashanah, when we pray for a good, sweet year.

We pray for abundant blessings. Yet I believe there is a lesson in their story, cautioning us that

with blessings come responsibility. We are not meant to flaunt them, and inadvertently cause

heartbreak and pain to others.

This message is beautifully demonstrated in the actions of a simple woman I once knew. She

worked as a secretary in a school where there was a teacher on staff who had been married many

years, but had no children. This secretary chose not to display any pictures of her children at work.

"I can see my children at home whenever I want," she once explained to me. "Why should I display

their pictures at work knowing that it might bring grief to someone else?" Her quiet self-restraint

demonstrated how deeply she had internalized the story of Chana and Penina.

Is it possible to truly never cause pain to someone else, especially to those we are close to, like

members of our own families? Perhaps not. Yet if we recognize that sometimes our bounty can

bring pain to another, we can strive for a higher way of living – for the ability to have and yet not

hurt other people with what we have. Surely, like that secretary, we must try to make room for the

hidden pain of others.

Robyn Cuspin is a therapist living in Israel.

Christian Girls Vulnerable to Rape, Forced Conversion and Forced Marriage in Pakistan

Christian Girls Vulnerable to Rape, Forced Conversion and Forced Marriage in Pakistan    

Published by Morpheus on 2011/10/12  

• 

Enlarge

Rifkha (name changed for security reasons) works at a Muslim farm in the village of Muphat Pura, in Kasur district of Pakistan. On September 16 at 5 pm, Rifkha was working alone on the farm when three relatives of her Muslim employer came and repeatedly raped her.


Warned not to report the rape to anyone, Rifkha told us, “I am very sad about what happened to me. If I report this case, it will be difficult for me and my family to live in the area. The Muslims have threatened to kill me and my brothers (who also work for the same employer) if I report the case to the police. We are Christians and we are very poor that is why we are targeted by the Muslims.”


Unfortunately, Rifkah’s experience is not an isolated one. Many Christian girls are raped at the hands of Muslims in Pakistan. Rape has been used as a weapon of persecution against Christian girls in Pakistan, a country where Christians are treated as third-class citizens. In the Muslim majority country, Christian girls are particularly vulnerable to these types of crimes because Muslim authorities are reluctant to protect them when their rights are violated by Muslims. According to Compass Direct News, a Christian mother of five said that she was raped by two Pakistani Muslims on September 15th. In January, Muhammad Aftab was arrested after raping six Christian girls at different times.


The president of the Pakistan Christian Congress, Dr. Nazir Bhatti, told us, “The incidents of rape and enforced conversion of Christian women to Islam is rising every year. 99.9% of rape cases go unreported in Pakistan… If a Muslim man rapes a Christian girl, then he easily forces her to convert to Islam, marries her and covers up his heinous crime of rape under Islamic law. Some cases of rapes of Christian women are reported, but the majority of such rapes are never reported.”


Unfortunately, Rifkha’s story is not even unique to Pakistan, but is rampant in much of the Islamic World. In our November newsletter, we are focusing on Christian women like Rifkha who, in many parts of the world, are vulnerable, easy targets for abduction, rape, forced marriage, forced conversion, and even sexual slavery. Make sure you sign up in the next week to get ensure you get your copy. This is an issue that is largely overlooked and urgently needs the Church’s attention.


Source: persecution.org

This Breaks My Heart! Father Bring Justice!

Wake Up and Smell the Falafel

Monday, September 26, 2011

Only a Rock

As a whole, we humans are easily desensitized. We log onto the internet or turn on the TV and daily, if not hourly, we are given a menu of tragic stories to choose from. Horrific images keep our attention. That is, until the next story comes along. Or we hear the same story for so long, the seriousness of the story is lost on us. Example: Arabs throwing rocks. No big deal, right?

How often have we heard or seen on the news that Arabs are throwing rocks? I did a word search on the web. “Arabs throw rocks” brought up 11,000,000 results. Arabs in Israel have been throwing a lot of rocks for a lot of years. Which unfortunately gives us, the outside world, a ho-hum attitude whenever we hear of such an event. Arabs throw rocks; crickets chirp around the world. A Kardashian breaks a fingernail; the world is inundated with coverage of the details.

To undo the desensitization, imagine these scenerios with me. God forbid you ever really experience anything like them.

You are a woman dressed up in your finery. You buckle your toddler in her car seat. You get behind the wheel and breath a little sigh of relief. You’re on time. You’ll get to your friend’s wedding with time to spare. That is until you hear a crash. You slam on the breaks. Your heart stops. You can’t turn fast enough to check on your baby girl. And your worst fear has just been realized. Blood covers your baby’s face. Broken glass covers the rest of her. The rock was thrown hard enough. Fast enough. Accurately enough, to hit your baby in the face. You and your baby experience first-hand what a rock can do. The rest of the world will think it was only a rock. You know the rock was intended to be a deadly weapon.

Or G-d forbid, imagine this. You are a young father. While your wife works her shift as a nurse, you share in the wonderful duties of taking care of your one-year old son. Family members describe you as a "quite and special man." That’s easy to see when you are with your son. You gently buckle him in his car seat. Perhaps you even say, “We’re about to see Mommy,” as you start on your way to pick her up. It happened so fast, you probably didn’t see it coming. The rock crashes through the front windshield and hits you in the head. Hopefully, your death happened instantly so you wouldn't have time to think, even for a split second, what was going to happen to your son as the car flipped. He would die too. The first “responders” to arrive on the scene stole your gun and your wallet. Animals arriving upon the carnage they just created. With rocks. The rest of the world will think, it was only a rock. It was a deadly weapon.

May God bring a complete recovery from Heaven for Dorit Tehallel bat Shlomit.


May God bring comfort to the family and avenge the blood of Asher Palmer and young Yehonatan.

L'Shanah Tova!! May You have a Good and Sweet New Year!!

Do you not feel it in the brisk fall air? Do you not feel an anticipation that's arising? Do you not sense that there is a special significance to this time? A need to go deep within yourself and emerge better than before? I love fall! And there is so much more to it than just the beautiful, bold, vibrant colors!

For those who don't know, the Jewish world celebrates a new year twice a year! How fun is that! A new start twice a year! And today and tomorrow is the celebration of Rosh Hashanah - the high holiday celebrating the creation of the world! This is a special time that the entire world will one day celebrate when Messiah returns. It's a new time; a time of new beginnings! Even as a Gentile, this is a holiday that applies to you too.

Elul, the month preceding this high holiday, is the month when you are to reflect upon the year and determine how you can be more righteous. It's the time to prepare to make a change; to prepare to make a new and fresh start on Rosh Hashanah before the King arrives!

It is well-known in Judaism that this is the time of year that Messiah will come for His bride. All during the rest of the year, we are ushered into the King's palace to seek an audience, but during Elul, the King comes to the fields looking for His Bride. He invites and desires us to walk closer in intimacy with Him. 

Just as a bride sets aside time to prepare herself for her groom, so too it makes sense that He gives us the whole month of Elul to cleanse and purify ourselves before the Bridegroom's arrival! He will come for a pure bride and invite her to join in on His celebration and enjoyment of what He has made. So come! Walk with the King of Kings and celebrate what He has made...for us, His bride. Let's make ourselves pure for the King, our Bridegroom.

The Hebrew greeting shared during this time is: Shanah Tovah - the simple translation means, "May you have a good a sweet new year"; the deeper translation means, "May you be inscribed this year in the Book of Life!" Amen!

I love how Shorashim Shop puts it:

SHANAH TOVA UMEVORECHET

A BLESSED AND SWEET NEW YEAR

May the world be judged with sweetness and compassion.

May we sense the great potential within us to change.

May we turn inwards and upwards and achieve our great spiritual potential...because that is what Hashem, God of Mercy, expects from us.

By: Shorashim Shop

The King in the Field

 

Excerpt from the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of righteous memory.

The Exception

For eleven months of the year, our lives alternate between the holy and the mundane -- between the material labor of life and the spiritual vision of that labor's objective. For eleven months of the year, we must, at regular intervals, cease our work and rise above it in order to glimpse its soul and purpose.

The exception to this rule is the month of Elul. For during the month of Elul, the king comes to the field.

The king is the heart and soul of the nation, the embodiment of its goals and aspirations. The king, though sequestered behind the palace walls and bureaucracy, though glimpsed, if at all, through a veil of opulence and majesty, is a very real part of the farmer's field. He is the why of his plowing, the reason for his sowing, the objective of his harvest. No farmer labors for the sake of labor. He labors to transcend the dust of which he and his field are formed, to make more of what is. He labors for his dreams. He labors for his king.

So is the king in the field an apparition out of its element? Hardly. We may not be used to seeing him here, but is not the royal heart, too, sustained by bread? His bread may be baked in the palace, its raw ingredients discreetly delivered to a back entrance; the golden tray on which it is served may in no way evoke the loamy bed from which it grew; but it is the yield of the field all the same. The king in the field is making contact with the source of his sustenance, with the underpinnings of

his sovereignty. And the field is being visited by its essence.

Shabbat is when the farmer is invited to the palace. On Shabbat, his overalls are replaced with the regulation livery, his vocabulary is polished and his manners are refined, his soul and fingernails are cleansed of the residue of material life. On Shabbat, the farmer is whisked from the hinterland to the capital and ushered into the throne room.

But Elul is when the king comes to the field.

When the farmer sees the king in his field, does he keep on plowing? Does he behave as if this were just another day in the fields? Of course not. Elul is not a month of ordinary workdays. It is a time of increased Torah study, more fervent prayer, more generosity and charity. The very air is charged with holiness. We might still be in the field, but the field has become a holier place.

On the other hand, when the farmer sees the king in his field, does he run home to wash and change? Does he rush to the capital to school himself in palace protocol? But the king has come to the field, to commune with the processors of his bread in their environment and on their terms.

In the month of Elul, the essence and objective of life become that much more accessible. No longer do the material trappings of life conceal and distort its purpose, for the king has emerged

from the concealment of his palace and is here, in the field. But unlike the holy days of the year, when we are lifted out of our workday lives, the encounter of Elul is hosted by our physical selves, within our material environment, on our working-man's terms.

What a great, awesome, yet humble God we serve!

911 Freedom Rally: Text of Speech by a Former Muslim, Michael Paul

 

911 Freedom Rally: Text of Speech by a Former Muslim, Michael Paul

I thought Atlas readers should see the full text of former Muslim and human rights activist Michael Paul's remarks.

Freedom Rally Speech 9-11-2011, Michael Paul
I am here today, not to speak against Muslims, but to talk directly to those who adamantly demand to build a mosque here at Ground Zero and name it the Cordoba mosque.
I’m going to give proof through the Quran and Sunah that their plan is ill-conceived. If they believe in these proofs they will have to stop the construction of the mosque. If they don’t believe and instead they go far away from them to some Islamic theologians’ extremist radical interpretation of the Quran as justification to build the mosque, then we will all know that they believe in the interpretation used by the terrorists who attacked on 9/11.
But before I go into that, I would like to thank the American people for their brave efforts that have liberated Arab and Muslim countries from the grip of dictatorship and tyranny. Through direct military intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq. Also through diplomatic intervention, in international forums and material and logistical support as in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria. Etc.
There are already many Sunni and Shiite mosques in New York. Some have been penetrated by terrorist ideology, others washed in the tide of Islamic Iran’s Revolutionary thinking. Now, that poison is being spread from here across the United States to other mosques. The true purpose of this mosque isn’t for daily worship. Most Muslims  don’t worship on a daily basis because they are too busy working during the week. The true purpose is suspicious.
You, you who want to build the mosque, should appreciate America as a country that supports and sacrifices for the right of man to be free no matter what the sex, race, or religion. Muslims living here have the full rights given in the Constitution and American society. And those rights far exceed those given in your native country.  Why do you now try to use the same laws that have set Muslims free from slavery as a weapon against the people who created those laws? Why do you want to build a mosque on the lives and wounds of the society that liberated so many Muslims around the world? Is it necessary to build the mosque here in this spot on ground that still moans from its wounds? Do you need to renew the pain of all those who’s loved ones were killed here? The extremist ideology that killed them grew up in a mosque.
Ground Zero has seen the worst form of mass murder and crimes against humanity. The act was carried out by criminals who hate, even though they ate and drank of the best of this country, and breathed the human freedom she gave them. It is an act of shame that they attacked her and killed in the name of Islam.
It is a reminder of the ugly colonial history that is based on attacking people and trying to force a change of religious beliefs by the sword. A history that includes Spain, where the original Cordoba mosque was built over the Christian Church of Saint Vincent. Where that Christian country was occupied, men killed, and women captured and taken to Muslim’s countries as maids and servants who provided sexual pleasure for their conquerors. Many in Islam still boast about that and glory in that conquest. They consider it a symbol of their power and greatness. For them, this new Cordoba mosque will also be considered a symbol of Islamic supremacy, part of their long tradition of building structures on the holy ground of their conquered enemies.
Do you see how desiring the mosque to be named Cordoba is not just an innocent choice? It is being done because the name carries the seeds of dreams that destroy freedom and individual rights. The fruit will be the expansion of radical Islam.
I would like to refer to verse 107 of Sura Repentance in the Qur’an, which says “And there are those who put up a mosque by way of mischief and infidelity– to disunite the Believers – and in preparation for one who warred against Allah and His Messenger aforetime. They will indeed swear that their intention is nothing but good; but Allah doth declare that they are certainly liars.”
You, who want to build this mosque, know the story of Dirar. It was a mosque built at the time of Mohammad in Medina, by the tribe of Auf, on land they stole from Christian Priest Abu Amar. And you know it was stolen because of their jealousy of their cousin tribe who had already built a mosque nearby. The Christian priest told Caesar about the terrible injustice done to him by the tribe of Auf and Mohammad sent three men to burn the Dirar mosque.
As we see in the story Dirar, and through the action Mohammad took, if the construction of any mosque causes division among people it is permissible to burn it.
Most of the Muslim theologians said that the meaning of  Dirar (which in English means devastating and is what Allah named the mosque in the story) is when you do something that doesn’t even benefit yourself while it damages your neighbor.
Most Muslim theologians have gathered and agreed that no mosque should be built on dirar, and if it is, it is not permitted by Allah to be prayed in.
My question to these men and women who are demanding construction of the mosque is, how do you believe in Islam and you don’t follow what your Prophet Muhammad has said? Instead you try to make the people fear you with your determination to build the mosque here. Muhammad said, “I swear in God’s name, anyone who causes his neighbor to fear him is not a Muslim Believer.”
 
Also, the Prophet of Islam said: By Allah, the ground of all the earth has been my mosque and cleansed for me. All the earth except five places. One of those five places is the cemetery or the grave, or place of death.
A second place that it is forbidden in Islam to build a mosque is coerced land. I am sure that those who want to build here will criticize me, because they will say that they obtained  the land by the regular way. But Mohammed says that anything that you obtained the regular way from people who were bashful to give it to you is the same as coercing it from them.
You who demand to build this mosque and name it Cordoba know full well that this place is a place of death. A place where over 3,000 innocents died. It is a cemetery of their souls. To build a mosque here is forbidden by Islam. If you believe that Allah cleansed all the earth for a mosque, why must you build on this specific site? Also, you are in effect seizing the land by coercion because the majority of Americans don’t want it built here. And beyond that it doesn’t benefit you because there are already many mosques in the area, and other sites that you could build on. It doesn’t benefit you and it damages your neighbors. This is dirar.
I can’t believe that you claim the mosque and Islamic center to be built here will be a center of peace. How can it be when the Prophet of Islam said in the hadith  that was narrated in Saheeh Muslim’s book: Don’t begin to make peace with Jews and Christians. If you meet one of them along the way, make the way narrow for them.
I am sure that the people insisting to build the mosque understand the meaning of that Hadith. But I want to explain the meaning for my American audience. It means if you are among Jews and Christians there  is an obligation from Muhammad to every Muslim to not start peace with them         or even give a simple greeting like “Salam aleikom.” 
The broad interpretation of that hadith is when it speaks of “meeting Jews and Christians along the way,” it means “ meeting them in life.” It is saying when you meet Jews and Christian’s in life, make their life Hell.
Also, the Qur’an says in Surat Repentance verse (28): ‘’Ye who believe! Truly the Pagans are unclean, so let them not after this year of theirs, approach the Sacred Mosque. And if ye fear poverty, soon will Allah enrich you, if He wills, out of His bounty , For Allah is all-knowing, all wise.”
The Qur’an text clearly states here not to allow non-Muslims (Jews and Christians) to get close to the mosque because we are unclean. So why insist on the construction of the mosque in our midst? The Qur’an forbids it. I challenge you who want to build this mosque to tell me this is an untruth.
So I ask again how we can believe this mosque will be a center of peace, especially when the area where Ground Zero is located is populated mostly with Christians and Jews. America itself is about 78% Christian and 1.7% Jewish.
You who insist to build this mosque at the site of Ground Zero, if you refuse all of this conclusive evidence I have given from the Qur’an and Sunnah, and continue to make your claims, it seems that you believe in the same diabolical interpretation of the Qur'an (verse 109-110 from Surat Repentance), which the terrorists based their attack on when they struck this region in 2001. Most Arabs and Muslims heard about that through the media and internet, though most did not agree with the terrorists.
But the majority of Americans do not know that when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center in New York they believed they were fulfilling a prophecy which is based on the Sura of Repentance verses (109-110). The verses say: “Which then is best - he that layeth his foundations on piety to Allah and His good pleasure? –  or he that layeth his foundation on an undermined sand cliff ready to crumble to pieces? And it doth crumble to pieces with him, into the fire of Hell. And Allah guideth not people that do wrong.”
I will  now clarify the prophecy the terrorists thought they were fulfilling. The Sura of Repentance is Sura number 9 in the Qur’an and it is found in part number 11 of the Qur’an. The terrorists understood that to be a date: 9-11. Then with further mathematical calculations, using the letters of the surat, they came up with the number 2001. This gave them the date 9-11-2001.  The date of the most terrible attack ever on our soil. Even the number of stories in the towers, 110, matched the number of the Sura verse I just quoted.
The terrorist were dreaming to let the prophecy be fulfilled because in the same verse 109 it speaks of building a mosque, laying the foundation on piety to Allah is better than a building built on a sand cliff.
There is a lot of this kind of demonic interpretation used by radicals and killers. Today I have told you about some of them, but there is a lot more that we haven’t heard about. Other demonic interpretations that they believe in.
Last but not least, I am an Arab citizen, but I live free in this country, and I speak freely. There is no question that there is a legal right to build the mosque here.      But what is legal is not always just. You who follow the moderate interpretation of the Qur’an, separate yourselves from the extremists. Unite and raise money not to build a mosque, but to rebuild the WTC. Extend your hand in peace. There is no excuse for these claimants to build a mosque here. Their intentions are dreadful, cynical, and suspicious, suspicious, suspicious.
And to Mayor Bloomberg and the Obama administration I plead with you and I am trustful that you will protect and defend America by using wisdom when you administer her laws and offer her freedoms to others.
My hope to all who have heard my speech and the evidence I have presented, whether Muslim or of any other religion, is that you will do everything in your power to prevent the work of evil trying to be done here at Ground Zero.
God bless America. May His will be done on earth.
Michael Paul

American Laws for American Courts

Thanks Pamela Geller for posting this article on http://www.atlasshrugs.com/:

Muslim Brotherhood proxies in the US seek to impose blasphemy laws under the sharia and silence voices of freedom and restrict free speech. Just discussing this very thing brings down a rain of insults, smears, libels and defamation on the "blasphemer" by the leftist/Islamic machine. We must break the shackles of self imposed sharia and fight for freedom.

American law for American courts is fundamental protection of our unalienable rights guaranteed under the law.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

American Public Policy Alliance Spokesman Stephen Gelé Responds
to CAIR-MI Attacks on American Laws for American Courts

Washington, DC, August 16th, 2011 - Stephen Gelé, spokesperson for the American Public Policy Alliance, issued the following statement in response to the mistaken protests in Michigan against HB 4769:

Rep. Dave Agema has been unfairly attacked by the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), an organization that was identified as a Muslim Brotherhood front group and named an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terrorism financing conviction in U.S. history. CAIR falsely characterizes Rep. Agema’s HB4769 American Laws for American Courts bill for Michigan as “unconstitutionally” targeting “Islamic principles.”

The American Laws for American Courts bill’s sole objective is to protect all U.S. citizens and residents from the application of foreign laws when the application of a foreign law will result in the violation, in the specific matter at issue, of a liberty guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States or the public policies of the state in question.  Such violations would include infringements on due process, freedom of religion, speech, or press, equal protection, and any right of privacy or marriage as specifically defined by the constitution of the state.

Rep. Agema’s bill is constitutional, facially neutral and in the two years since its passage in three other state legislatures it has never been challenged in court.

Reviews of court records provide extensive evidence that foreign laws and legal doctrines have been introduced into U.S. state court cases, including, notably, Shariah law, which is applied in courts in dozens of foreign nations.

Unfortunately, because state legislatures have not been explicit about what the public policy is relative to application of foreign laws in state courts, the courts and the litigants have repeatedly failed to recognize that granting comity to a foreign judgment may be at odds with our state and federal constitutional principles in the specific matters at issue.
The American Laws for American Courts bill is carefully limited in scope, recognizing the need to balance individual liberties with other legal principles:

• The American Laws For American Courts bill does not apply to a business entity that contracts to subject itself to foreign law in a jurisdiction other than the state or the United States.

• The American Laws for American Courts bill does not interfere with the right of any individual to freely exercise his or her religion as guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

• The American Laws for American Courts bill does not conflict with any federal treaty or international agreement to which the United States is a party.

The goal of HB 4769 is a clear and unequivocal application of what should be the goal of all state courts: No U.S. citizen or resident should be denied the liberties, rights, and privileges guaranteed in our constitutional republic.

American Laws for American Courts is needed especially to protect women and children, identified by international human rights organizations as the primary victims of discriminatory foreign laws.

Far from targeting those practicing the Islamic faith, the American Laws for American Courts legislation actually seeks to ensure that American Muslim families have the same constitutional protections and liberties as other Americans.

Opponents of the American Laws for American Courts bill exhibit indifference to American Muslim families who have already been denied equal protection and due process by American courts applying shariah law from the legal systems of foreign, oppressive regimes.  Indeed, every concern raised by opponents at today’s press conference was irrelevant to the legislation.

The legislation, designed to protect American litigants from the application of foreign legal doctrines, recognizes that, for decades, through a misguided use of comity (a deference to foreign legal judgments), American courts have applied laws from nations such as Pakistan, Lebanon, Egypt and even Iran, often denying Americans their constitutional rights. These Americans, nearly all women, often came to America to escape the harsh and discriminatory doctrines of Shariah law, only to have those doctrines enforced in our state courts. A report entitled “Shariah Law and American State Courts,” addresses 50 sample cases (http://t.ymlp180.com/juapausyuadauyhazausjs/click.php) involving shariah law in American courts. Ten of those cases are briefly summarized below (see “Ten American Families and Shariah in American State Courts”).

Despite the completely unfounded accusation laid by CAIR, these cases enforcing shariah do not involve the exercise of religion, but issues of secular law commonly adjudicated in American courts, such as sexual assault, divorce, spousal support and child custody. Shariah rules governing issues of family law are regularly enforced by the authority of the state as a legal code in numerous foreign countries. Judgments from these courts have repeatedly reached American shores to be imposed upon Muslim families in our state courts.

Critics, such as CAIR, not only ignore the dozens of published legal cases involving the application of shariah law in American courts, but also misinform Americans regarding easily verifiable facts, such as the actual content of this protective legislation. Rather than acknowledging the relevant jurisprudence, and accurately describing the curative legislation, CAIR impugns their fellow Americans who seek to ensure constitutional equal protection, due process and civil liberties for all Americans, especially American Muslims who are denied their rights through courts imposing foreign laws contrary to our Constitution.

Below are ten cases (excerpted from “Shariah Law and American State Courts“).
In cases 1-3, the Appellate Courts upheld Shariah law; in cases 4-7, the  Trial Courts upheld Shariah, but the Appellate Courts reversed (protecting the litigant’s Constitutional rights); in cases 8-10, both Trial and Appellate Courts rejected the attempts to enforce Shariah law.

Ten American Families and Shariah in American State Courts

• Joohi Q. Hosain (FKA Malik) V. Anwar Malik, (http://t.ymlp180.com/jeakausyuadauyhatausjs/click.php ), Shariah law of Pakistan, Maryland, 1996: Trial and Appellate Courts upheld foreign Shariah law and denied mother custody.  She lost custody because going to custody hearing in Pakistan would have risked prison, torture or execution.
• Laila Adeeb Sawaya Malak v. Abdul Latif Malak (http://t.ymlp180.com/jmanausyuazauyhaxausjs/click.php ), Shariah law of Lebanon/UAE, California, 1986: Appellate Court upheld foreign Shariah law and denied mother custody, reversing Trial Court.
• Parveen Chaudry v. M. Hanif Chaudry, M.D., (http://t.ymlp180.com/jjazausyuakauyhaoausjs/click.php ), Shariah law of Pakistan, New Jersey, 1978: Appellate Court upheld foreign Shariah law, overturned Trial Court.  Wife denied support and child support and division of property; prenuptial agreement signed by parents giving her only $1,500 from marriage upheld by Appellate Court.
• In re the Custody Of R., minor child. Dato Paduka Noordin v. Datin Laila Abdulla, (http://t.ymlp180.com/jbavausyuaaauyhalausjs/click.php , Shariah law of Philippines, Washington, 1997: Trial Court upheld foreign Shariah law of Philippines (which has parallel Shariah court system) granting father custody; Appellate Court reverses, allowing mother to contest Philippines Shariah court custody decision.
• S.D., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. M.J.R., (http://t.ymlp180.com/jhazausyuapauyhadausjs/click.php ), Shariah law of Morocco, New Jersey, 2010: Pregnant mother is beaten and raped by her husband, Trial Court refuses restraining order citing foreign Shariah law, Appellate court reverses and  grants restraining order.
• Pamela Tazziz VS. Ismail Tazziz (http://t.ymlp180.com/jwagausyuaxauyhaaausjs/click.php ), Shariah law of Israel, Massachusetts, 1988: Trial Court upheld foreign Shariah law of Israel (which has parallel Shariah court system ) requiring mother of four  children to bring family to Shariah hearing; Appellate Court reversed.
• Saida Banu Tarikonda, , v. Bade Saheb Pinjari (http://t.ymlp180.com/jqadausyuadauyhazausjs/click.php ), Shariah law of India, Michigan, 2009: The Trial Court accepted a Talaq divorce (the husband says “I divorce you” three times, no prior notice to wife required). The Appellate Court reversed.
• Irfan Aleem v. Farah Aleem  (http://t.ymlp180.com/jyagausyuadauyhanausjs/click.php ), Shariah law of Pakistan, Maryland, 2007: Trial Court rejected argument permitting a foreign Shariah law Talaq divorce to prevent community division of property; Appellate Court upheld.
• Magda Sobhy Ahmed Amin v. Abdelrahman Sayed Bakhaty (http://t.ymlp180.com/bsaiausyuavauyhavausjs/click.php ), Shariah law of Egypt and Lebanon, Louisiana, 2001: Mother convicted under foreign Shariah law of Egypt for leaving Egypt with child for U.S. without husband’s permission;  Under Egyptian Shariah law, father files for divorce and custody; Trial Court and Appellate court do not grant comity.
• Bita Donboli, Respondent, and Nader Donboli (http://t.ymlp180.com/buanausyuacauyhanausjs/click.php ),Shariah law of Iran, Washington, 2005: Mother is dual citizen of U.S. and Iran, alleges beatings, not allowed to leave Iran with son without husband permission, and refuses to comply with foreign Iranian Shariah law custody decree.  Trial and Appellate Courts uphold her position.

Posted by Pamela Geller on Tuesday, August 16, 2011 at 09:04 PM in Islamic law in America