NEWLY CONVERTED ISLAM

Michael Jackson Became a Muslim

2009-07-11T10:24:00.000-07:00

Michael Jackson Became a Muslim

Alhamdulillah, it is now believed that singer Michael Jackson had accepted Islam before his death. His brother Jermaine Jackson, who became a Muslim in 1989, mentioned that he had given him many Islamic books to read. Michael Jackson was very interested in Islam and the media confirmed that he accepted the faith in 2008.

X17 Online has posted the following information on their website:

A source close to the Jacksons has exclusively revealed to X17 Online that family will likely have a traditional Muslim burial for late Michael Jackson. "The family is considering following the Muslim burial traditions because they believe Michael would have wanted to be laid to rest in keeping with his new-found religious beliefs," says the source.

"Michael's brother Jermaine is educating the family as to the special rites because he feels it's important to bury his brother according to the Muslim way," adds the source. Despite earlier reports that both public and private memorial services for the late music performer have been set to be held this week, there has been no official confirmation just yet from Michael's family on the location where his body will be laid to rest.

Michael Jackson was reported converting to Islam in late 2008, years after expressing his interest to join the faith. He later on changed his name into "Mikaeel", which was meant as a reference to the name of one of Allah's angels.

In Muslim burial, per X17 Online, someone's body "has to be cleaned, but ideally not embalmed, and wrapped in a white sheet, and it must be buried facing Mecca. The Koran also dictates that the body be buried as close to the place of death and as soon after death as possible. There should be no tombstone near the grave."

Related Videos:========================///////

Jermaine Jackson on his brother's death

When Michael Jackson became a Muslim, Allah had forgiven all his previous sins. Now we pray to Allah that He shrouds our brother in His mercy and grants him eternal salvation. We as Muslims must be well wishers for the whole humanity. We pray that everyone in the world finds the happiness and peace that is hidden under this beautiful religion

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MICHAEL JACKSON has become a Muslim -

and changed his name to MIKAEEL.

The way you Mecca me feel

The skint superstar, 50, donned Islamic garb to pledge allegiance to the Koran in a ceremony at a pal's mansion in Los Angeles, The Sun can reveal.

Jacko sat on the floor wearing a tiny hat after an Imam was summoned to officiate - days before the singer is due to appear at London's High Court where he is being sued by an Arab sheik.

Ceremony ... pop king Jacko

A source told last night how Jacko, brought up as a Jehovah's Witness, decided to convert as he used a studio at the home of his chum to record a new album.

The star - whose hits include The Way You Make Me Feel - was spotted looking "a bit down" by a producer and a songwriter who had both embraced Islam.

Shahada

The source said: "They began talking to him about their beliefs, and how they thought they had become better people after they converted. Michael soon began warming to the idea.

"An Imam was summoned from the mosque and Michael went through the shahada, which is the Muslim declaration of belief." Mikaeel is the name of one of Allah's angels.

"Jacko rejected an alternative name, Mustafa - meaning "the chosen one".

Brit singer Yousef Islam, 60 - who was called Cat Stevens until he famously converted - turned up to help Jacko celebrate.

It was his pals David Wharnsby - a Canadian songwriter - and producer Phillip Bubal who counselled Jacko.

The pair's new names are Dawud Wharnsby Ali and Idris Phillips.

Jacko now prays to Mecca after the ceremony at the Hollywood Hills home of Toto keyboard player Steve Porcaro, 51, who composed music on the singer's Thriller album.

Jacko, who rarely ventures out without a mask, is due to give evidence on Monday in a £4.7million lawsuit brought by Prince Abdulla Al-Khalif of Bahrain.

The sheik claims he bankrolled the singer's lavish lifestyle in exchange for an exclusive recording contract. The billionaire sent songs for him to record but claims he was blanked.

He told the court yesterday: "Many times he confirmed to me he would pay me back."

n.syson@the-sun.co.uk

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TEN SICKNESS

OF THE HEART
1. You believe in the existance of Allah Ta'ala, but you do not fulfil his commands.

2. You say you love the Holy Prophet Mohammed (Sallallahu 'alahi wasallam), but you do not follow his sunnah (ie, his example).

3. You Read The Qur'an but you do not put it into practice.

4. You enjoy all the benefits from Allah Ta'ala, but you are not grateful to him.

5. You acknowledge Shaytan as your enemy, but you do not go against him.

6. You want to enter paradise, but you do not work for it.

7. You do not want to be thrown into hell-fire, but you do not try to get away (ie, do good deeds).

8. You believe that every living-thing will face death, but you do not prepare for it.

9. You gossip and find faults in others, but you forgot your own faults and mistakes.

10. You bury the dead, but you do not take a lesson from it.
By Hazarth
Ibrahim Bin Adham (rah)

NEWLY CONVERT ISLAM DETIAL

2009-07-10T09:32:00.000-07:00

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Wayne Parnell

Wayne Dillon Parnell (born 30 July 1989 in Port Elizabeth) is a cricketer who plays Tests, One Day International and Twenty20 matches for South Africa. At domestic level he plays for the Warriors having previously represented Eastern Province, he has also played county cricket for Kent. In 2010, Parnell was signed by the Delhi Daredevils for the 2010 Indian Premier League, in 2011 he joined the Pune Warriors.

Conversion to Islam

On July 28, 2011 Parnell announced that he has converted to Islam. His new first name after converting to Islam is Waleed, although he will keep his middle name and surname. He converted to Islam in January 2011, after a period of personal study. Parnell confirmed that he will "continue to respect the team's endorsement of alcoholic beverages." Parnell also confirmed that his team-mates Hashim Amla and Imran Tahir along with team manager Mohammad Moosajee had no influence over his decision to convert to Islam. ^[2

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European man explains

why he converted to Islam

October 30, 2010 | 8:46 am

The story of Malcolm is intriguing, and perhaps a bit puzzling.

Why would a left-leaning young man from one of the world's most secular and liberal countries choose to become a pious Muslim?

The 34-year old Swedish music teacher from Stockholm, who asked that his last name not be published, attempted to explain his decision, describing it as the culmination of a long journey searching for faith and him solidifying his religious beliefs that he couldn’t always place.

“I have never doubted my faith," he told Babylon & Beyond while on a recent visit to Beirut. "It feels like I've had the same faith all the time but it feels so cleanly formulated in Islam."

For Malcolm, becoming a Muslim gave him a connection to others in a country where identity is not always clean-cut.

"I feel very comfortable as a Muslim.... We’re social creatures and we want to feel a sense of belonging," he said. "If it’s not a clan it’s a nation or a soccer team. For me it’s nice to have a belonging which is not a nation or a football team."

Growing up in predominantly Protestant Sweden, Malcolm's doubts about his faith lingered as he got older.

He started to study different religions and read philosophy texts. He felt drawn to Islam and fascinated by its teachings, especially to what he says is the religion's focus on seeking knowledge.

He used the Internet to learn about Islam and the Koran, dedicating many hours in front of his computer learning how to recite the Koran and memorizing its chapters.

Malcolm wasn't the only member of his family who embraced Islam. His brother, too, became a Muslim.

The day he "officially" became a Muslim some three years ago will be forever ingrained in his memory.

He had attended Friday prayer service in the grand mosque of Stockholm, when after the program an Imam reached for the microphone and called out in the loudspeakers before the jampacked crowd: “Now, we have a brother here who will say the Shahada,” the Muslim declaration of belief.

The room became quiet as the blond-haired, blue-eyed Swede got up from his seat and started to read out the text alongside the imam in Arabic. From a stand above in the women’s section, his Muslim wife was watching him.

“It felt big. When it was over everyone came up to hug and congratulate me ... one guy from Morocco gave me a kaftan as a gift," Malcolm said.

Since then, then 34-year old strictly observed the rules of Islam. There is no more pork on his dinner plate or drinking of alcohol, no gambling in casinos on the weekends. During the holy month of Ramadan, he fasts. Whenever he can, he attends Friday prayer service at a mosque.

His brother, he said, observered Islam even more strictly.

What's the appeal? In part, Malcolm said, Islam fits in well with his left-wing views. "In that sense, Islam fits me really well," he said. "I am completely against capitalism."

As a Muslim living in Europe, Malcolm is also concerned about what he and others see as the bashing of Islam in the region as acted out in French burka bans, a Swiss decree to ban the building of minarets and the rise of far-right political parties in several European nations.

In September, Sweden made international headlines when it voted the far-right anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats party into Parliament. Members of the party have called Islam “un-Swedish” and said that Muslims should be driven out of Sweden with a policy of “sticks and carrots.”

-- Alexandra Sandels in Beirut

Photo: Malcolm, a 34-year old Swedish music teacher, converted to Islam a couple of years ago.
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Tony Blair's sister-in-law

Lauren Booth

converts to Islam after a

'holy experience' in Iran

By Mail On Sunday Reporter
Last updated at 2:02 PM on 24th October 2010

Conversion: Lauren Booth

Tony Blair’s sister-in-law has converted to Islam after having a ‘holy experience’ in Iran.

Broadcaster and journalist Lauren Booth, 43 - Cherie Blair’s half-sister - said she now wears a hijab head covering whenever she leaves her home, prays five times a day and visits her local mosque ‘when I can’.

She decided to become a Muslim six weeks ago after visiting the shrine of Fatima al-Masumeh in the city of Qom.

‘It was a Tuesday evening and I sat down and felt this shot of spiritual morphine, just absolute bliss and joy,’ she told The Mail on Sunday.

When she returned to Britain, she decided to convert immediately.

‘Now I don’t eat pork and I read the Koran every day. I’m on page 60. I also haven’t had a drink in 45 days, the longest period in 25 years,' she said.

'The strange thing is that since I decided to convert I haven’t wanted to touch alcohol, and I was someone who craved a glass of wine or two at the end of a day.’

Refusing to discount the possibility that she might wear a burka, she said: ‘Who knows where my spiritual journey will take me?’

Before her awakening in Iran, she had been ‘sympathetic’ to Islam and has spent considerable time working in Palestine. ‘I was always impressed with the strength and comfort it gave,’ she said of the religion.

Miss Booth, who works for Press TV, the English-language Iranian news channel, has been a vocal opponent of the war in Iraq.

In August 2008 she travelled to Gaza by ship from Cyprus, along with 46 other activists, to highlight Israel’s blockade of the territory.

She was subsequently refused entry into both Israel and Egypt.

In 2006 she was a contestant on the ITV reality show I’m A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out Of Here!, donating her fee to the Palestinian relief charity Interpal.

She said she hoped her conversion would help Mr Blair change his presumptions about Islam.

Influential position: Lauren Booth hopes her conversion will have an influence on how her brother-in-law - Tony Blair - views Islam

During her visit to Iran last month, Booth wrote a public letter to Mr Blair asking him to mark Al-Quds (Jerusalem) day - a protest at Israel's occupation of Palestine.

The missive was a bitter attack on the former Prime Minister, who is now a Middle East envoy working for peace in the troubled region.

'The men, women and children around me withstood a day of no water and no food (it’s called Ramadan, Tony, it’s a fast),' Booth wrote.

'Coping with hunger and thirst in the hundred degrees heat, as if it were nothing. They can withstand deprivation in the Muslim world.

'Here in Iran they feel proud to suffer in order to express solidarity with the people of Palestine. It's kind of like the way you express solidarity with America only without illegal chemical weapons and a million civilian deaths.'

She adds: 'Your world view is that Muslims, are mad, bad, dangerous to know. A contagion to be contained.

'In the final chapter [of his autobiography] you say we need a "religious counter attack" against Islam. And by "Islam" you mean the Al Quds rallies, the Palestinian intifada (based on an anti Apartheid struggle Tony, NOT religious bigotry), against every Arab who fails to put their arms in the air as the F16 missiles rain on their homes and refugee camps and sing a rousing chorus of ‘Imagine all the people...’

Booth stands next to a damaged building in Gaza in 2008

Booth moved to France with her family - husband Craig Darby and two daughters Alexandra and Holly in 2004.

Her husband was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident in April 2009 when he was drunk and not wearing a helmet.

He suffered a severe brain injury, a fractured neck, damage to his spine and several broken ribs and was in a deep coma for two weeks.

The 42-year-old had to learn how to walk and talk again. He lost much of his memory, has sight problem and cannot work.

The couple decided to move back to Britain to help his recovery and reduce the amount of time Booth has to work away from home.

Booth with husband Craig and daughters Alex and Holly at their home in France last year. They have now returned to Britain

Booth took part in I'm A Celebrity... Get Met Out of Here! in 2006 alongside Myleene Klass and Jason Donovan, finishing ninth.

Of her relationship with the Blairs, she said at the time: 'I'm happy to criticise them politically if they deserve it but that on a personal level we get on fine.'

Mr Blair was famously told not to 'do God' by his spin doctor Alistair Campbell while he was Prime Minister.

But on leaving office, he converted to Catholicism after starting to go to Mass - saying later that it was his wife who spurred his decision.

He said last year that it was like 'coming home' and is now 'where my heart is, where I know I belong'.

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Why ARE so Many Modern British Career Women Converting to Islam?

November 4, 2010

By Eve Ahmed

Changing values: Camilla Leyland, 32,

pictured in Western and Muslim dress,

converted to Islam in her mid-20s for

‘intellectual and feminist reasons’

Tony Blair’s sister-in-law announced her conversion to Islam last weekend. Journalist Lauren Booth embraced the faith after what she describes as a ‘holy experience’ in Iran.

She is just one of a growing number of modern British career women to do so. Here, writer EVE AHMED, who was raised as a Muslim before rejecting the faith, explores the reasons why.

Much of my childhood was spent trying to escape Islam.

Born in London to an English mother and a Pakistani Muslim father, I was brought up to follow my father’s faith without question.

But, privately, I hated it. The minute I left home for university at the age of 18, I abandoned it altogether.

As far as I was concerned, being a Muslim meant hearing the word ‘No’ over and over again.

Girls from my background were barred from so many of the things my English friends took for granted. Indeed, it seemed to me that almost anything fun was haram, or forbidden, to girls like me.

There were so many random, petty rules. No whistling. No chewing of gum. No riding bikes. No watching Top Of The Pops. No wearing make-up or clothes which revealed the shape of the body.

No eating in the street or putting my hands in my pockets. No cutting my hair or painting my nails. No asking questions or answering back. No keeping dogs as pets, (they were unclean).

And, of course, no sitting next to men, shaking their hands or even making eye contact with them.

These ground rules were imposed by my father and I, therefore, assumed they must be an integral part of being a good Muslim.

Small wonder, then, that as soon as I was old enough to exert my independence, I rejected the whole package and turned my back on Islam. After all, what modern, liberated British woman would choose to live such a life?

Well, quite a lot, it turns out, including Islam’s latest surprise convert, Tony Blair’s sister-in-law Lauren Booth. And after my own break with my past, I’ve followed with fascination the growing trend of Western women choosing to convert to Islam.

Broadcaster and journalist Booth, 43, says she now wears a hijab head covering whenever she leaves home, prays five times a day and visits her local mosque ‘when I can’.

She decided to become a Muslim six weeks ago after visiting the shrine of Fatima al-Masumeh in the city of Qom, and says: ‘It was a Tuesday evening, and I sat down and felt this shot of spiritual morphine, just absolute bliss and joy.’

How, I wondered, could women be drawn to a religion which I felt had kept me in such a lowly, submissive place? How could their experiences of Islam be so very different to mine?

According to Kevin Brice from Swansea University, who has specialised in studying white conversion to Islam, these women are part of an intriguing trend.

He explains: ‘They seek spirituality, a higher meaning, and tend to be deep thinkers. The other type of women who turn to Islam are what I call “converts of convenience”. They’ll assume the trappings of the religion to please their Muslim husband and his family, but won’t necessarily attend mosque, pray or fast.’

I spoke to a diverse selection of white Western converts in a bid to re-examine the faith I had rejected.

Women like Kristiane Backer, 43, a London-based former MTV presenter who had led the kind of liberal Western-style life that I yearned for as a teenager, yet who turned her back on it and embraced Islam instead. Her reason? The ‘anything goes’ permissive society that I coveted had proved to be a superficial void.

The turning point for Kristiane came when she met and briefly dated the former Pakistani cricketer and Muslim Imran Khan in 1992 during the height of her career. He took her to Pakistan where she says she was immediately touched by spirituality and the warmth of the people.

Kristiane says: ‘Though our relationship didn’t last, I began to study the Muslim faith and eventually converted. Because of the nature of my job, I’d been out interviewing rock stars, travelling all over the world and following every trend, yet I’d felt empty inside. Now, at last, I had contentment because Islam had given me a purpose in life.’

‘In the West, we are stressed for superficial reasons, like what clothes to wear. In Islam, everyone looks to a higher goal. Everything is done to please God. It was a completely different value system.

‘In the West, we are stressed for superficial reasons, like what clothes to wear. In Islam, everyone looks to a higher goal. Everything is done to please God’

‘Despite my lifestyle, I felt empty inside and realised how liberating it was to be a Muslim. To follow only one god makes life purer. You are not chasing every fad.

‘I grew up in Germany in a not very religious Protestant family. I drank and I partied, but I realised that we need to behave well now so we have a good after-life. We are responsible for our own actions.’

For a significant amount of women, their first contact with Islam comes from dating a Muslim boyfriend. Lynne Ali, 31, from Dagenham in Essex, freely admits to having been ‘a typical white hard-partying teenager’.

She says: ‘I would go out and get drunk with friends, wear tight and revealing clothing and date boys.

‘I also worked part-time as a DJ, so I was really into the club scene. I used to pray a bit as a Christian, but I used God as a sort of doctor, to fix things in my life. If anyone asked, I would’ve said that, generally, I was happy living life in the fast lane.’

But when she met her boyfriend, Zahid, at university, something dramatic happened.

She says: ‘His sister started talking to me about Islam, and it was as if everything in my life fitted into place. I think, underneath it all, I must have been searching for something, and I wasn’t feeling fulfilled by my hard-drinking party lifestyle.’

Lynne converted aged 19. ‘From that day, I started wearing the hijab,’ she explains, ‘and I now never show my hair in public. At home, I’ll dress in normal Western clothes in front of my husband, but never out of the house.’

With a recent YouGov survey concluding that more than half the British public believe Islam to be a negative influence that encourages extremism, the repression of women and inequality, one might ask why any of them would choose such a direction for themselves.

Yet statistics suggest Islamic conversion is not a mere flash in the pan but a significant development. Islam is, after all, the world’s fastest growing religion, and white adopters are an important part of that story.

‘Evidence suggests that the ratio of Western women converts to male could be as high as 2:1,’ says Kevin Brice.

Moreover, he says, often these female ¬converts are eager to display the visible signs of their faith — in particular the hijab — whereas many Muslim girls brought up in the faith choose not to.

‘Perhaps as a result of these actions, which tend to draw attention, white Muslims often report greater amounts of discrimination against them than do born Muslims,’ adds Brice, which is what happened to Kristiane Backer.

She says: ‘In Germany, there is Islamophobia. I lost my job when I converted. There was a Press campaign against me with insinuations about all Muslims supporting terrorists — I was vilified. Now, I am a presenter on NBC Europe.

Ex-MTV Presenter Kristiane Backer with Mick Jagger in the late Eighties.

‘I call myself a European Muslim, which is different to the ‘born’ Muslim. I was married to one, a Moroccan, but it didn’t work because he placed restrictions on me because of how he’d been brought up. As a European Muslim, I question everything — I don’t accept blindly.

‘But what I love is the hospitality and the warmth of the Muslim community. London is the best place in Europe for Muslims, there is wonderful Islamic culture here and I am very happy.’

For some converts, Islam represents a celebration of old-fashioned family values.

‘Some are drawn to the sense of belonging and of community — values which have eroded in the West,’ says Haifaa Jawad, a senior lecturer at the University of Birmingham, who has studied the white conversion phenomenon.


Escape route: Former DJ Lynne Ali is happy to pray five times a day. Liberating: Kristiane Backer says being a Muslim makes her life purer.

‘Many people, from all walks of life, mourn the loss in today’s society of traditional respect for the elderly and for women, for example. These are values which are enshrined in the Koran, which Muslims have to live by,’ adds Brice.

It is values like these which drew Camilla Leyland, 32, a yoga teacher who lives in Cornwall, to Islam. A single mother to daughter, Inaya, two, she converted in her mid-20s for ‘intellectual and feminist reasons’.

She explains: ‘I know people will be surprised to hear the words “feminism” and “Islam” in the same breath, but in fact, the teachings of the Koran give equality to women, and at the time the religion was born, the teachings went against the grain of a misogynistic society.

‘The big mistake people make is by confusing culture with religion. Yes, there are Muslim cultures which do not allow women individual freedom, yet when I was growing up, I felt more oppressed by Western society.’

She talks of the pressure on women to act like men by drinking and having casual sex. ‘There was no real meaning to it all. In Islam, if you begin a relationship, that is a commitment of intent.’

Growing up in Southampton — her father was the director of Southampton Institute of Education and her mother a home economics teacher — Camilla’s interest in Islam began at school.

She went to university and later took a Masters degree in Middle East Studies. But it was while living and working in Syria that she had a spiritual epiphany. Reflecting on what she’d read in the Koran, she realised she wanted to convert.

Her decision was met with bemusement by friends and family.

‘People found it so hard to believe that an educated, middle-class white woman would choose to become Muslim,’ she says.

While Camilla’s faith remains strong, she no longer wears the hijab in public. But several of the women I spoke to said strict Islamic dress was something they found empowering and liberating.

Lynne Ali remembers the night this hit home for her. ‘I went to an old friend’s 21st birthday party in a bar,’ she reveals. ‘I walked in, wearing my hijab and modest clothing, and saw how everyone else had so much flesh on display. They were drunk, slurring their words and dancing provocatively.

‘For the first time, I could see my former life with an outsider’s eyes, and I knew I could never go back to that.

‘I am so grateful I found my escape route. This is the real me — I am happy to pray five times a day and take classes at the mosque. I am no longer a slave to a broken society and its expectations.’

Kristiane Backer, who has written a book on her own spiritual journey, called From MTV To Mecca, believes the new breed of modern, independent Muslims can band together to show the world that Islam is not the faith I grew up in — one that stamps on the rights of women.

She says: ‘I know women born Muslims who became disillusioned and rebelled against it. When you dig deeper, it’s not the faith they turned against, but the culture.

‘Rules like marrying within the same sect or caste and education being less important for girls, as they should get married anyway —– where does it say that in the Koran? It doesn’t.

‘Many young Muslims have abandoned the “fire and brimstone” version they were born into have re-discovered a more spiritual and intellectual approach, that’s free from the cultural dogmas of the older generation. That’s how I intend to spend my life, showing the world the beauty of the true Islam.’

While I don’t agree with their sentiments, I admire and respect the women I interviewed for this piece.

They were all bright and educated, and have thought long and hard before choosing to convert to Islam — and now feel passionately about their adopted religion. Good luck to them. And good luck to Lauren Booth. But it’s that word that sums up the difference between their experience and mine — choice.

Perhaps if I’d felt in control rather than controlled, if I’d felt empowered rather than stifled, I would still be practising the religion I was born into, and would not carry the burden of guilt that I do about rejecting my father’s faith.

Daily Mail
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A Hindu who demolished Babari Masjid Converted to

Islam and is now Constructing Masajid every year on

06 December.

DEMOLITION OF BABRI MOSQUE MIRACLE THAT CHANGED HINDU EXTREMISTS TO MUSLIMS.
Written by Admin
Saturday, 17 January 2009
DEMOLITION OF BABRI MOSQUE ─ MIRACLE THAT CHANGED HINDU EXTREMISTS TO MUSLIMS.
The demolition of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhiya, India by Hindu extremists on December 6, 1992 is a well-known tragic event in recent Indian history. Two of the most ardent extremists who took part ─ Balbir Singh of Shiva Sena's (Hindu extremist organisation) Youth Flying Squad; and Yogender Pal ─ have BECOME MUSLIMS; taking the names of Mohamed Aamir and Mohamed Omar respectively, after a most shocking tragedy which befell them! (What the tragedy was, is a long account; refer to the book for details).
As atonement for the sin committed by them (demolition of the Babri Mosque) one of them ─ Bro.Mohamed Omar ─ has taken an oath that he would build 100 mosques in villages where there are no mosques; and the other ─ Bro.Mohamed Aamir ─ has vowed that he would renovate 100 mosques that are in dilapidated condition. Till December 2004, Bro.Mohamed Omar has built 20 new mosques; while Bro.Mohamed Aamir has renovated 13 mosques.
Their aim: to complete at least 1 new mosque; and renovate at least 1 dilapidated mosque by 6th December each year.
Their message: If the Muslims had done their duty ─ explaining to non-Muslims about Islam and the sanctity of mosques ─ the most heart-breaking tragedy of demolition of Babri Mosque would not have happened. Those members of Shiva Sena, Bajrangdal (Hindu extremist organisation) and others, who took part in the demolition of Babri Mosque, do not know anything about Islam; nor about Muslims, Al-Quran, and the sanctity of mosques. If we had known then, things would have been different: no demolition of the mosque would have occurred.

If only Pal Thackery, Vinay Kattiyar, Uma Barathi, Asoksingh Kal (all leaders of Hindu extremists organisation in India) had known the truth in Islam, they would have realised that Islam is their religion also; and that it is necessary for them too; and each of them would have taken it as his duty to rebuild the Babri Mosque at his own expense.
(Extract from 'Why We Become Muslims' published in Tamil by 'Shariath Peravai' of Tamil Nadu, India)
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Tyson's Spiritual Journey

Mike Tyson during his

journey to Mecca

"my whole life has been a waste –

I've been a failure."

Mike Tyson's life is a highlight reel of personal
tragedy.Rising from petty criminal to heavyweight
championover a span of five years, it was assumed
he would goon to become one of the greatest boxers
of all time;however, his personal demons continued
to haunt him leading him back into prison and the
demise of his boxing career.

While in prison in the early 1990s, through the
Nation of Islam, he converted to Islam. Over the
last 20 years he has come full circle returning to
his spiritual roots on a pilgrimage he completed
July 9. Tyson completed the Umrah, the lesser
pilgrimage.

Tyson has been through a lot over his 44 years.
The vast majority of which has been self-inflicted.

His father abandoned his family when Tyson was
2-years-old. Without a strong male influence he
was easily led into petty crime while still an
adolescent in Brownsville, New York. He was
arrested 38 times by the age of 13.

While incarcerated in a juvenile detention center
his boxing ability was realized and he was led to
the legendary boxing manager and trainer Cus
D'Amato, who eventually took custody of Tyson
when the young man's mother died when he
was just 16.

D'Amato trained Tyson into becoming a knockout
machine, but moreover taught him how to be a man.
He was also his mentor and he was a father like
figure,taking Tyson into his home and providing
him with structure for the first time.

Unfortunately, shortly before Tyson's first title fight,
D'Amato passed away. Nevertheless D'Amato had
trained him well, speeding him up the heavyweight
boxing ranks.After D'Amato's death Tyson became
the heavyweight champion and was considered by
many to be on his way to becoming one of the
greatest heavyweights all time. Some experts even
cut him out of the same cloths of the great Sonny
Liston and Jack Dempsey.

However because of D'Amato's absence, Tyson's
personal and professional life was spiraling out of
control. In 1990 he lost his title in a tenth round knock
out by the hands of Buster Douglas and a year later
he was arrested and later convicted of raping a
19-year-old beauty queen.

During this turbulent time of his life is when he
came to Islam. After his release he went through
several more ups and downs both in the ring and
out of it.

He went through two feuds in the nineties between
him and Lennox Lewis and another wutg Evander
Holyfield. The Holyfield fight led to Tyson's
psychological state to come into question by many in
the media and to him being more of a sideshow with
people buying his fights just to see the train wreck
they were certain would occur.

Post Holyfield, Tyson's career was a myriad of sub
par performances against inferior opponents, the
of boxing licenses, Wrestlemania appearances to
deal with his increasing legal costs and mounting
debt, and another jail sentence.

A routine beating at the hands of Lennox Lewis
effectively ended his career as a marquee boxing
draw; losing three of his final four bouts, all to
knockout. During this period Tyson said "my whole
life has been a waste – I've been a failure."

Shortly after he was arrested again and his several
drug addictions were exposed. A few years later the
opinion people had of him slightly softened when
his 4-year-old daughter got tangled in an exercise
treadmill cord and died.

Several days later he reportedly married his then
girlfriend, Lakiha Spicer. And now he is making
his pilgrimage to Mecca.

Nearly 20 years after his conversion he has seen
every peek and valley one could imagine; a man
humbled through actions inside and outside of
control.

The picture taken of "Iron" Mike Tyson in front
of the holy Ka'aba reminds believers the reason
that Muslims make the pilgrimages: it is a time
for deep personal reflection and growth. After the
life Tyson has led, is there anyone more deserving?

======================================

MY JOURNEY TO ISLAM

MOSQUE BREAKERS

BECOME MOSQUE MAKERS

6th December 1992 : Balbir Singh, Vice president Shiv Sena Youth Wing leads the demolition squad and becomes the first person to strike his pickaxe against the central Dome of Babri Masjid. Within minutes the whole structure is razed to ground.

25th June 1993 : Balbir Singh takes rebirth as Mohammad Aamir when he embraces Islam (Al-hamdu Lillah) having lived lives and experienced psyches poles apart from each other. Mohammad Aamir admonishes the Muslim Ummah about their responsibilities and is trying his utmost to awaken them from the slumber they are in.

Master Mohammad Aamir (former Balbir Singh) gives in this write-up( Part-I) a detailed account of his sensational phase of life beginning from affiliations with the Shiv Sena Youth Wing to his ultimate reversion to Islam, as narrated to Ahmad Awah of Armugan-i-Waliullah, Phulat, U.P.

I COME FROM A VILLAGE OF district Panipat in Haryana. Born in a Rajput family on 6th December 1970, I was named Balbir Singh. My father in addition to being an honourable farmer was headmaster in the primary school. A good human being at heart his religion was philanthropy. Cruelty in any form and against anyone was just unbearable for him. He was an eye witness to the communal roits of 1947 and would talk about these with a heavy heart. He considered the massacre of Muslims (during the partition and riots following that) a blot on the face of India and was always on the forefront in rehabilitating the remaining Muslims. Muslim children in the school and their education was his special concern. I did my matriculation from the local high school and got admission for my intermediate in Panipat.

Joining the Shiva Sena

Panipat is a strong hold of Shiva Sena perhaps second only to Mumbai. The youth and the people associated with schools are very much linked to Shive Sena. I came across some Shiva Sainks and ultimately got enrolled in Panipat branch of the Sena. Owing to the historical position of Panipat, the youth there are poisoned against Muslims especially Babar and other Muslim rulers. When my father came to know that I had joined Shive Sena he tried to advise me and explain the situation from historical perspective. He would relate the stories of justice and unbiased treatment meted out by Babur and Aurangzeib towards their non-Muslim subject. He would explain that the British distorted the history and made us fight each other and weaken the nation. In light of the communal roits and massacres of 1947 he tried his utmost to keep me away from Shive Sena, but I wouldn’t listen.

I was entrusted with special responsibilities during 1990 Rath Yatra of L.K. Advani. During the Rath Yatra our leaders poisoned us against Muslims and the hatred against the community was at its climax. I swore by Shivaji “Come what may, I will go alone and demolish the bloody structure at the site of Ram Mandir”.

As a reward for my services during Rath Yatra I was elevated to the position of Vice President Shive Sena Youth Wing. I took charge of my young team and reached Ayodhia on 30th October. Enroute police stopped us at Faizabad. I along with some of my friends escaped from police and reached Ayodhiya but it was too late. The situation had got out of control and police had resorted to firing. Consequently Babri Masjid was sealed off. After trying so hard I could not reach Babri Masjid, my hatred for Muslims was out of bounds. I would repeatedly tell my companions “better to die than live like this. How unjust! Ram’s servants be shot at, right at Rams birth place and that too because of these bloody Arab pirates”. I was infuriated and wanted to go to Lucknow to shoot Mulayim Singh with my own hands. Roits were going on in the country and I was restless waiting for the moment when I could demolish Babri Masjid with my own hands.

Raizing the Babri Masjid

Day by day the unfortunate moment was approaching, which I considered a “moment of bliss” at that time. I took many of my hot headed friends with me and reached Ayodya well in advance on 1st December 1992. Yoginder Pal a young man from a Jat village of Sonipat was with me. He was my best friend. His father was a farmer and philanthropist too. In addition to his father, his uncle too had tried hard to stop their lone son from going to Ayodhiya, but to no avail.

The night before 6th December 1992, we had reached very close to the Babri Masjid and spent the night on the roof tops of the Muslim houses adjacent to the Babri Masjid. I had apprehensions that we might be stopped from the sacred mission like 30th October 1990. In the heart of my hearts, I was thinking of proceding for Kar Seva even if our leaders didn’t turn up, but our group leader stopped us and insisted on maintaining discipline. Oma Bharti’s speech turned the Kar Sevaks volatile. During her speech I along with Yoginder Pal came down from the roof of the house and ascended the roof of the Babri Masjid, with a spade in my hand. Oma Bharti shouted “Dhaka Aik aur doo, Babri Masjid tood doo” (one more blow, raze the Babri Masjid). That was it. I was seeing my dream coming true. I struck the central dome of Babri Masjid with a mighty blow of my spade coupled with an ear deafening shout; “Baghwan Ram Ki Jai”. Within minutes the job was over. Babri Masjid was no more there. With the mission accomplished our joy was boundless. After placing the statues of Ram there, we paid our respects and returned home happily taking with us two bricks of the Babri Masjid which I displayed to my friends in Panipat. My friends would praise me for my outstanding achievement. The bricks were placed in Shive Sena office and a gathering was organized to celebrate the event. Every one would praise me in his speech and the feeling of the pride, that in service of Ramji it was a youth of Panipat who struck his spade first on Babri Masjid, was running high.

My family disowns me

I proudly related this at my home. My father felt displeased and saddened and declared in no ambiguous words “Now you and me, both can not live in this home. If you live here I am going, otherwise you have got to leave. I do not want to see one who demolished Lord’s house. Do not show me your face till I die”. This was unexpected. I tried to make him understand and tried to explain the position of respect which I had achieved in Panipat. His reaction was that the nation was destined to doom owing to such exploiters and in a state of extreme anger he started to move out of the home. I sensed the gravity of the situation and volunteered to abandon the home where the servants of Ram Temple were called oppressors. So I left my home to live in Panipat.

My friend turns insane!

Yoginder Pal, my friend, announced that a couple of bricks of the brutal structure that stood at the place of Ram Temple are in our possession. My (Hindu) brethren are invited to express their faith by urinating the bricks. Every one would come and in utter contempt would take part in the nasty act of urinating on the bricks. The Lord of mosque was acting in His own way. Four or five days later Yoginder Pal experienced a total mental breakdown. In the state of complete lunacy he would tear down all his clothes. Being the lone son of honorable land lord the situation was turning disgusting. During these fits of madness he would time and again try to take off the clothes of his mother. He would cling to her and repeatedly attempted and demanded to commit incest with her.

Muslim Clerics Help

The family especially his father got extremely worried. They took him to many Muslim clerics, prayed for Lord’s forgiveness and would offer alms but Yoginder tried to molest his mother and only neighbours could save her after she cried for help. In order to keep the situation under control Yoginder was chained and his father decided to shoot him instead of risking the honour of the family. Just before he could put his plan in action some one suggested him to see the senior cleric (Molvi Sahab) in the Madrasa of Sonipat Eidgah. “Just see him once and if the situation doesn’t improve then you can do as you please” suggested the adviser. Chowdhry Ragubir Singh took his son Yoginder Pal to Sonipat, Eidgah but the cleric (Molvi Sb.) had left the day before. He was told that the cleric visits the school on 1st of every month for one day. Disappointed he started looking for the local cleric only to know that he too had left with senior one. A shopkeeper from the Eidgah gave him the address of cleric in Delhi and informed him that the cleric is coming to his residence Boowana,Delhi the following Wednesday. Along with chained Yoginder, Chowdhary Ragubir Singh heads for Boowana. The cleric of Boowana Mosque was a disciple of Molvi Kalim Sidiqi Sahib. The cleric informed Chowdhary that owing to the tight schedule Molvi Kalim Sidiqi Sahib has not been able to fulfil the desire of his friends to come to Boowana for a long time. But this time he has promised to be here (in Boowana) at Zuhar prayer after his two day trip in the area. The cleric of Boowana added that owing to the tense situation most of the clerics (Imams) and teachers had gone to their families in UP and many had not shown up even after a month. Molvi Kalim Sidiqi Sahib had delivered a speech on this topic and made clear that if Muslims had approached these non-Muslim brethren and explained the message of Islam, Allah and the mosques, the situation like 6th December 1992 would not have occurred. Molvi Sahib had added that we Muslims are equally responsible for the destruction of Babri Masjid and if we come to senses even now and discharge our duties regarding inviting others to the message of Islam these demolishers of the mosques will turn to be builders of the mosques. Prophet of Islam, Mohammad (May peace and blessings of Allah be on him) had prayed in similar situations “O Allah guide my people (to righteousness) for they know not (what they are doing)”.

At the time when Chowdhary Ragubir Singh met the cleric of Boowana (whose name was perhaps Molvi Bashir Ahmad) he was extremely impressed by the speech of his spiritual guide Molvi Kalim Sidiqi Sahib. He informed Chowdhary Ragubir Singh that he used to exorcize the evil spirits but now his spiritual teacher has advised him to abstain from that as lying and mixing with opposite sex is a prerequisite in that profession. Your son is not under any evil spell but this is a punishment from the Lord. You have got an opportunity, our spiritual guide is coming her on following Wednesday afternoon. You will have to put your problem before him, we hope your son will recover soon. But the deal is you will have to embrace Islam once your son recovers. Chowdhary Ragubir affirmed: “I am ready to do anything once my son recovers”.

Finally Allah’s Mercy Arrives

The following Wednesday Chowdhary Ragubir Singh reached Boowana at 8. a.m along with chained Yoginder. Molvi Kalim Sidiqi also arrived well before Zuhar prayer. With Yoginder Pal Singh chained and without clothes Chowdhary sahib cried bitterly and fell on the feet of Molvi Sahab, “Molvi Sahab, I tried to stop the rascal but he came under the influence of some rogues in Panipat”. Molvi Sahab refrained him from prostrating before him and then listened the whole story.

He said to Chowdhary Sahib, “By demolishing the house of Omnipotent Allah he has incurred such a wrath that if the Lord puts an end to the whole world it will be justified.” It was just too light a sentence from the Lord that only he is being punished. We too are his servants and we too are a party to that sacrilegious act. We have not discharged our duty of delivering the message of truth to the demolishers of the mosque. Now we can do nothing! Only way out is that you beg for forgiveness from the Lord and we too beg for His forgiveness”. Molvi Sahib added, “During the time we are in the mosque you concentrate towards Lord Almighty and with the broken heart pray for forgiveness. Pray O Lord only you can alleviate my misery”. Chowdhary Sahib fell again on his feet and submitted “If I were that good why would something like this have befallen me. You are close to Him, please do something”. Molvi Sahib said, “You have come to me for help. Now do whatever I say” Chowdhary Sahib tacitly accepted. Molvi Sahib went to the mosque, offered his prayers followed by a short speech and supplication. Molvi Sahib requested everyone to pray for Chowdhary Sahib. At the end of the programme some refreshment was served in the mosque.

Yoginder re-born as Mohammad Omar

When people were coming out of the mosque, Lord Almighty had already showered his mercies. Yoginder had covered his body with the turban of his father and was talking to his father as a normal human being. Every one was overjoyed. Imam Sahib of Boowana was delighted and reminded Chowdhary Sahib his promise. He also warned him that if he did not fulfill his commitment Yoginder’s position could be worse. Chowdhary sahib replied “Molvi Sahib my seven generations can not repay your generosity. I am at your disposal”. When Molvi Kalim Sidiqi came to know about this, he advised Imam Sahib that he has not exercised caution in dealing with the situation.

Chowdhary Sahib started moving towards mosque when Yoginder Pal asked, “Father where are you going?” He replied “To embrace Islam”. Yoginder said, “It is me who shall be the Muslism first as I have to construct the Babri Masjid again.” In such a pleasant atmosphere both performed ablutions and recited the Kalima- Islamic Testimony of Faith. Chowdhary Ragubir Singh was named Mohammad Usman and Yoginder Pal Singh was named as Mohammad Omar.
Overjoyed Mohammad Usman and Mohammad Omar both went to their village and met the Imam Sahib (cleric) of the small mosque of their village. Imam Sahib gave the good news to Muslims and soon everyone in the area came to know about the episode. Hindus too came to know about this and a meeting of influential members of the community was organized in urgency. In the meeting it was decided that both the persons shall be killed during the night. Otherwise many other’s faith will be at stake. One of the persons present in the meeting informed Molvi Sahib about the plan. With Allah’s blessing both were taken out of village and shifted to Phulat, U.P. A few days later both Mohammad Usman and Mohammad Omar went with Jamaat for forty days course. Later on his mother too embraced Islam. Mohammad Omer was married to an honourable family in Delhi. They have sold their property in the village and set up an industrial unit in Delhi, where all of them live happily now. (to be concluded)

Translated by Er Rafeek Ahmad

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

B“6th December 1992: Balbir Singh, Vice president Shiv Sena Youth Wing leads the demolition squad and becomes the first person to strike his pickaxe against the central Dome of Babri Masjid. Within minutes the whole structure is razed to ground. 25th June 1993: Balbir Singh takes rebirth as Mohammad Aamir when he embraces Islam (Al-hamdu Lillah) having lived lives and experienced psyches poles apart from each other Mohammad Aamir admonishes the Muslim ummah about their responsibilities and is trying his utmost to awaken them from the slumber they are in. Here is the part II of his story in continuation to part I which appeared in the June issue of CRESCENT.

Pride hath a fall

My embracing Islam can not be separated from this story of Mohammad Omar (former Yoginder Pal Singh) which is incomplete yet. On 9th March 1993, my father succumbed to cardiac arrest. He was worried about the demolition of the Babri Masjid and my participation in the demolition. He used to ask my mother: “Why hasn’t Lord given us birth in some Muslim family. Being Muslim we could have been among the oppressed and not the oppressors”. He had advised the family that Balbir shall not attend his funeral. His body shall either be buried or thrown in water and not burned according to the customs of oppressors. He had advised that his body shall not be taken to Hindus crematory. Family members acted as per his will. I came to know about his death eight days later. My heart was broken. After his death the demolition of Babri Masjid seemed to me some gruesome act. I started feeling sorry instead of proud about that. With my heart sunk, whenever I visited my home my mother would cry in memory of my father. She would blame me for hurting the noble soul and subsequent death of my angle like father. Finally I stopped visiting my home.

Encounter with Truth

In June 1993, Mohammad Omar (former Yoginder) returned from Jamaat and came to visit me in Panipat. He related to me his story in detail. Since two months I was feeling scared as if something was going to befall me. My father’s tragic death and demolition of Babri Masjid were breaking my heart. The story of Mohammad Omar worried me further. Br. Omar insisted that I should see Molvi Kalim Sidiqi who was arriving in Sonipat on 23rd June. I scheduled the trip but was a little late. Br. Omar had reached early and told Molvi Sahib about me. When I reached there Molvi Sahib received me with love and affection and said, “What ever has happened to Omar (former Yoginder) who sinned at your behest can well be repeated by Almighty Lord with you too. Even if He does not punish anyone in this world the punishment in the eternal life of Hereafter is beyond your imagination”. After being with him for an hour I decided that if I have to save myself from some supernatural disaster I have to embrace Islam. Molvi Sahib was leaving for a two days trip. I expressed my desire to be with him during the trip, which was gladly accepted. One day in Haryana, then Delhi followed by Khorja and back to Phulat after two days. After these two days I was ready to embrace Islam. I expressed my desire to Br. Omar and he gladly conveyed the same to Molvi Sahib. On 25th June 1993 after Zuhar prayer I came within the fold of Islam (alhamdulillah). Mohammad Aamir was the name given to me by Molvi Sahib and he suggested me to remain in Phulat to study Islam and learn prayers, etc.

Family Welcomes my Reversion

I expressed my obligations regarding my wife and little child to Molvi Sahib and a house was arranged for me and my family. We continued in Phulat for a few months and constant teaching helped my wife to learn and understand Islam. Thank God she embraced Islam after three months.

When I told my mother about my reversion to Islam she was very happy and said, “Your father’s soul will rest in peace by this”. She too embraced Islam the same year.

New Mission

Brother Omar and myself decided to rehabilitate the abandoned mosques and construct some new one to somehow counter the evil we had incurred by demolishing the Babri Masjid. For smooth functioning, while co-operating with each other, I took the responsibility of rehabilitating the deserted mosques and Brother Omar took the responsibility of constructing new mosques. We have set a target of rehabilitating one hundred deserted mosques and constructing one hundred new mosques. With the grace of Almighty I (the sinner) have been able to rehabilitate thirteen abandoned and forcibly occupied mosques in Haryana, Punjab, Delhi and Meeruth upto 6th December 2004. Brother Omar is ahead of me. He has constructed twenty mosques and laid the foundation of twenty first (See note at the end). We have further decided that at each anniversary of Babri Masjid demolition on 6th December the regular prayers must be started in one deserted mosque and foundation must be laid for one new mosque. Thank God we have maintained this so far but the target of one hundred is yet far off. This year hopefully the progress is better. We are working on eight mosques and hope to rehabilitate those within a few months. Brother Omar is ahead of me. In fact my work is a part of only his work, for he became the reason to lead me out of darkness.

Now-a-days I am running an English medium junior high school with Islamic Studies as a part of our curriculum. In addition to my mother, my elder brother has also embraced Islam now.

Finally the Message

My submission to my Muslim brethren is that they should recognize objective of their life and consider Islam as something they owe to humanity. Just being anti-Muslim shall not persuade you for revenge against any one. Based on personal experience I am sure that if all the participants in Babri Masjid demolition whether Shiv Saniks, Bajrang Dal, or any other Hindu know about what Islam is, what a Muslim means, what Quran teaches or what a mosque prepares one for every one of them can think of constructing a mosque. The question of demolition of mosque will not arise.
I am sure if leaders like Bal Thakrey Ji, Vinay Katyar, Oma Bharti or Ashok Singhal will come to know about the spirit of Islam and that Islam is their’s too, they will consider themselves fortunate to help reconstruction of Babri Masjid at their expenses.

Some people are notorious for their anti-Muslim attitude and activities but out of one billion Hindus their number will not be even one lac- perhaps one lac is too big a number. The remaining ninety nine crore and ninety nine lac Hindus are just like my father- philanthropists, loving the Islamic principles from the core of their heart. Wasn’t my father a Muslim by nature. I consider my self to be a great sinner being the demolisher of Babri Masjid but even worse are the Muslism whose carelessness and indifference caused my dear father to end in hell. Molvi Sahib speaks with sincerity when he says, “You became, the demolishers of Babri Masjid as you didn’t know Muslims and Islam. You have sinned unknowingly. But Muslims deliberately promote the cause of leading others to hell”. The very idea of my father dying as a rejecter of faith renders my nights sleepless and compels me to resort to sleep inducing drugs.

I wish Muslims feel my pain.

Note : Br. Mohammad Aamir has been kind enough to visit Kashmir along with Allama Kaleem Siddiqui in May 2009. His visit was earlier scheduled last year, but could not materialize. In an interview to Crescent Br. Aamir said that till date 38 new mosques have been constructed by Br. Omar. He and his team have rehabilitated 69 mosques in Haryana, Punjab, Delhi & Meerut. – Editor

Translated by Er. Rafeek Ahmad

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Indian atheist

Dr. Periyardhsan

embraces Islam

Dr. Periyardhsan, an Indian professor, became a Muslim at a Dawa center in Riyadh on Thursday. (AN Photo)

By MD RASOOLDEEN | ARAB NEWS

Published: Mar 12, 2010 23:25 Updated: Mar 13, 2010 18:14

RIYADH: A well-known Indian psychotherapist embraced Islam on Thursday.

Dr. Periyadarshan, who has changed his name to Abdullah, told Arab News Friday that Islam is the only religion in the world that follows a book directly revealed from God.

He said that as a student of comparative religions he believes books of other faiths have not been directly revealed to mankind from God. He said the Holy Qur’an is still in the same format and style as it was revealed to the Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) from Almighty Allah.

Dr. Abdullah is a visiting professor at the University of California in Los Angeles.

He also acted in the famous Tamil film “Karuthamma” about the killing of newborn baby girls in some remote villages in India. The production received national award from the Indian government.

“I was well known in India for my atheist theology and later I became to realize that religion is the only way out for human beings both in this world as well as in the hereafter,” he said.

Dr. Abdullah will be performing Umrah on Saturday on his first visit to the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah.

FROM VARIOUS RELIGION CONVERTED TO ISLAM

2009-07-10T09:17:00.000-07:00

From Judaism

Jewish actress, Leila Mourad

Abdullah ibn Salam - 7th century sahabi said to have been a rabbi of aristocratic stock. ^[152]
Hibat Allah Abu'l-Barakat al-Baghdaadi - influential physicist, philosopher, and scientist who wrote a critique of Aristotelian philosophy and Aristotelian physics.^[153]
Ibn Yahyā al-Maghribī al-Samaw'al was an Arab Muslim mathematician and astronomer of Jewish descent.^[154] His father was a Jewish Rabbi from Morocco, but al-Samawʾal converted to Islam.^[155]
Jacob Querido - 17th century successor of the self-proclaimed Jewish Messiah Sabbatai Zevi.^[156]
Jemima Goldsmith daughter of the billionaire Sir James, that was married to Imran Khan ^[157]
Leila Mourad - Egyptian singer and actress who rose to fame in the 1940s and 1950s.^[158]
Muhammad Asad (Leopold Weiss) - Viennese journalist who visited the Hijaz in the 1930s. Later, after WWII, he became Pakistani ambassador to the United Nations^[159]. Also translated the Qur'an into English and wrote several books on Islam. His son Talal Asad is an anthropologist at the City University of New York
Ibn Yahyā al-Maghribī al-Samaw'al - mathematician and astronomer who wrote critical works on Judaism, his former faith.^[160]
Rashid al-Din - 13th century Persian physician^[161]
Suleyman Ahmad an American journalist and author^[162]
Sultan Rafi Sharif Bey (Yale Singer) - a pioneer in the development of Islamic culture in the United States.^[163]
Yaqub ibn Killis - 10th century Egyptian vizier under the Fatimids.^[164]

From Dharmic religions

From Buddhism

The Barmakid family - originally the guardians of the great Buddhist shrine near Balkh, upon conversion they became "the greatest family" in the early Abbasid caliphate.^[165]
Mahmud Ghazan - seventh ruler of the Ilkhanate.^[166]
Muhammad Khodabandeh - eighth Ilkhaid dynasty ruler in Iran from 1304 to 1316.^[167]
Mubarak Shah - head of the ulus of the Chagatai Khanate (1252–1260, March-September 1266).^[168]
Tarmashirin - Khan of the Chagatai Khanate following Duwa Timur.^[169]
Hussein Ye - An Islamic scholar of Chinese descent whose lectures are frequently aired on Peace TV.^[170]

From Hinduism

Parameswara (sultan) the Palembang Hindu descent. prince of

Parameswara - Malay prince of Palembang Hindu descent from Srivijaya that founded the Sultanate of Malacca around 1402.^[171]

Sumita Devi - Bengali actress and filmmaker.^[172]
Vilayil Fazila - popular Mappila songs singer from Kerala.^{[citation needed]}
Murshid Quli Khan - the Mughal governor of Bengal.^[173]
Malik Kafur - Indian military general.^[174]
Abdul Wahid Pedersen - Danish cleric.^[175]
Cheraman Perumal - The first Indian king to accept Islam^[176]
Sahaj Ram Sapru - the grandfather of the British-Indian Muslim Philosopher, Sir Dr. Muhammad Iqbal, who was an official in Kashmir during the administration of the Afghan Governor Azim Khan. ^[177]
Kamala Suraiyya (formerly Kamala Das) - Anglo-Malayalam writer^[178]
Sharmila Tagore (Begum Ayesha Sultana) - Bollywood film actress.^[179]
Megat Iskandar Shah - first Muslim ruler of Malacca.^[180]^[181]
Kabir Suman- Modern Bengali singer & songwriter officially converted to Islam from Hinduism in 2000. ^[182]
Tansen - Notable musician and poet.^[183]^[184]
A.R. Rahman (stands for Allah Rakha Rahman) - Modern South Indian singer ,songwriter & Oscar winner officially converted to Islam from Hinduism.^[185]

From Sikhism

Ubaidullah Sindhi - religious leader and political activist.^[186]

Other

From Paganism

From Atheism

A. R. Rahman (Initially raised Hindu, but was atheist as a teenager until conversion to Islam) - famous Indian music composer^[200]
Zhang Chengzhi - contemporary Hui Chinese author; raised as an atheist.^[201]
Charles le Gai Eaton - British diplomat and writer.^[202]
Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) - British musician and singer (had a nominally Christian upbringing, but never was a believer)^[203]
Jeffrey Lang - American, Professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Kansas. (Raised Catholic, but atheist from age 18 to conversion)^[204]^[205]
Martin Lings - a widely acclaimed British scholar. He was raised as a Protestant, became an atheist, and later converted to Islam.^[206]
Mos Def - American rapper and actor. ^[207]
Nursultan Nazarbayev - The incumbent President of Kazakhstan. Formerly held atheistic views during the Soviet era.

Undetermined former religion

Nur al-Anwar al-Jerrahi (born Lex Hixon) - syncretist, Sufi convert, and co-founder of the Nur Ashki Jerrahi Sufi Order in the United States.^[208]
Thomas J. Abercrombie -Famous photographer and writer for National Geographic Magazine http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/06/AR2006040602187.html
Edoardo Agnelli - eldest son of Gianni Agnelli, the industrialist patriarch of Fiat.
Nilla Cram Cook - Associate of Mahatma Gandhi ^[209]
Abd al Malik - birth name Régis Fayette-Mikano - French rapper of Congolese origins.^[210]
Mumia Abu-Jamal - journalist, Black Panther, political activist, and although widely disputed, a convicted murderer.^[211]^[212]
B.G. Knocc Out - American west coast rapper.^[213]
Hasan Akbar (born Mark Fidel Kools) - American sentenced to death for the murder of two fellow soldiers during the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.^[214]
Maurice Béjart - French choreographer.^[215]
Robert "Kool" Bell - musician.^[216]
Ronald Bell - musician.^[217]
Mohammed Knut Bernström - Swedish ambassador.^[218]
Khaled Edward Blair - British barrister, later married Princess Badiya bint El Hassan of Jordan.^[219]
Charles Brooks, Jr. - converted while serving a sentence for murder; first person to be executed by lethal injection in the United States.^[220]
H. Rap Brown - civil rights activisit.^[221]
Titus Burckhardt - Swiss writer and scholar.^[222]
Amir Butler- author, engineer and Islamic activist.^[223]

Ice Cube, famous rapper , actor, screenwriter and director.

Kérim Chatty- Swedish bodybuilding stuntman who was once suspected of attempted hijacking. The preliminary inquiry was dropped. ^[224]
Common - American rapper.^[225]
Jill Courtney - Australian, girlfriend of convicted killer and drug trafficker Hassan Kalache, arrested on 26 March 2006 for attempted murder of unnamed people.^[226]^[227]^[228]
Robert D. Crane - former Presidential advisor and ambassador.^[229]
Ice Cube - Gangsta rapper and actor.^[230]
Bob Denard - French mercenary.^[231]
Jeffrey Mark Deskovic - served 15-year wrongful imprisonment sentence.^[232]
Isabelle Eberhardt - explorer and writer.^[233]
Baron omar Rolf von Ehrenfels - Austrian anthropologist and orientalist.^[234]
Everlast - Irish-American rapper and singer-songwriter.^[235]
Alys Faiz - human rights and peace activist;^[236] converted at the time of her marriage to Urdu poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz.^[237]
Jeff Fort - former Chicago gang leader, co-founder of the Black P. Stones El Rukn faction. He was convicted in 1987 of conspiring with Libya to perform acts of domestic terrorism.^[238]^[239] gang, and founder of its
Philippe Fragione - French rapper and producer of French hip hop.^[240]
Christian Ganczarski- Head of "al Qaeda in Europe".^[241]
Philippe Grenier - (1865–1944) French doctor, first and only Muslim MP in France.^[242].^[243]
Gigi Gryce - American saxophonist, flutist, clarinetist, composer, arranger, and educator.^[244]
Walt Hazzard - former NBA player.^[245]
David Hicks - convicted Australian terrorist.^[246]
Lim Yew Hock - Singapore’s second Chief Minister from 1956 to 1959.^[247]
Craig Hodges - former NBA player.^[248]
Ibrahim Hooper (Douglas Hooper) - Islamic activist, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).^[249]
Abdullah Ibrahim - South African Jazz musician.^[250]
Umar Islam - one of the suspects arrested in the UK in connection to the 2006 transatlantic aircraft terrorist plot in the United Kingdom.^[251]
Malik ul Salih - established the first Muslim state of Samudera Pasai.^[252]
Tiara Jacquelina - Malaysian actress.^[253]
Ahmad Jamal - Jazz pianist.^[254]
Jan Janszoon - Dutch pirate.^[255]
Larry Johnson - retired American professional basketball player.^[256]
Gustave-Henri Jossot - French caricaturist, illustrator and Orientalist painter.^[257]
Vladimir Khodov - leader of the Beslan school hostage crisis- converted in prison.^[258]
Abd al Haqq Kielan - Swedish cleric.^[259]
Ghostface Killah - member of the Wu-Tang Clan.^[225]
Begum Om Habibeh Aga Khan - born Yvette Blanche Labrousse, Miss France 1930, wife of Aga Khan III.^[260]
Yusef Lateef - American Jazz musician.^[261]
Johann von Leers - advisor to Muhammad Naguib known for his anti-Semitic polemics.^[262]^[263]^[264]
Gary Legenhausen - American philosopher and writer.^[265]
Brandon Mayfield - American attorney-at-law, was erroneously linked to the 2004 Madrid train bombings.^[266]
MC Ren - American rapper and hip-hop producer.^[267]
Ali Shaheed Muhammad - member of A Tribe Called Quest.^[268]
Idris Muhammad - American jazz musician.^[269]
John Allen Muhammad - convicted serial killer, known as the Beltway Sniper.^[270]^[271]
Anthony Mundine - Australian Boxer.^[272]
Abdul Alim Musa - Muslim activist and director of Masjid Al-Islam in Washington, D.C.^[273]
Susanne Osthoff - German archaeologist who had worked in Iraq since 1991 and had been taken captive there for three weeks.^[274]
José Padilla - the respondent in Rumsfeld v. Padilla currently on trial as an alleged al-Qaida operative, converted while in prison for aggravated assault.^[275]
Sokollu Mehmet Paşa - Grand Vizier of Suleiman the Magnificent.^[276]
Christopher Paul (aka Paul Kenyatta Laws aka Abdulmalek Kenyatta) - American citizen, alleged member of al-Qaeda.^[277]^[278]

Swiss explorer, Isabelle Eberhardt

Charles John Pelham (Abdul Mateen), 8th Earl of Yarborough.^[279]
Q-Tip - North American hip-hop emcee, actor, and hip hop producer who was the leader of the critically acclaimed group A Tribe Called Quest.^[280]
Dwight Muhammad Qawi - former boxing world heavyweight champion.^[281]
Jack Roche - convicted of involvement in an al-Qaeda plot to blow up the Israeli embassy in Canberra.^[282]
Ilich Ramírez Sánchez - aka "Carlos the Jackal", convicted murderer and terrorist, currently in prison in France.^[283]
Ibrahim Savant - one of the suspects arrested in the UK in connection to the 2006 transatlantic aircraft terrorist plot in the United Kingdom.^[251]
Frithjof Schuon - metaphysician, poet, painter, philosopher (in the original and Platonic sense of this term), and a leading figure of the perennialist school.^[284]
Stephen Schwartz - American journalist, columnist, and author.^[285]
Derrick Shareef- charged in a plot to set off four hand grenades in garbage cans 22 December at the CherryVale Mall in Rockford, Illinois during the Christmas rush.^[286]
Sahib Shihab - jazz saxophonist and flautist.^[287]
Divine Styler - American hip-hop musician.^[288]
Nahshid Sulaiman - alternative hip hop artist.^[289]
Apisai Tora - Fijian politician.^[290]
Mike Tyson (Malik Abdul Aziz) - former heavyweight boxing champion of the world. Converted while in prison after being convicted of rape.^[291]^[292]
Abdul Waheed (Don Stewart-Whyte) - accused of participating in the 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot.^[293]^[294]
Jason Walters - of the Netherlands, member of the Hofstad Network, convicted on charges of terrorism.^[295]
John Ward - (changed name to Yusuf Reis) British corsair and pirate.^[296]
Rakan Ben Williams - suspected member of Al-Qaeda terrorist.^[297]
Michael Wolfe - American poet, author, and the President and Executive Producer of Unity Productions Foundation.^[298]^[299]
Michael X - civil rights activist in the United Kingdom ^[300]
Yusuf Chambers - U.K. based Da'ee of international fame. Yusuf Chambers is a young preacher from London, has greatly involved himself in many organizations in U.K. and outside like Peace TV, Islam Channel, Al-Jumuah magazine, Unity TV etc
Andrea H - canadian non-believer to islam

Disputed or forced conversions

Francis Bok a Sudanese ex-slave forced to convert to Islam

Anusim of Meshhad, Jewish community in 1839. Most continued Jewish practices in secret and many of their descendents returned to Judaism in the early 20th century.^[301]
Francis Bok - Sudanese-American activist, from Christianity; later returned to his Christian faith.^[302]
Steve Centanni and Olaf Wiig - while Ramattan TV showed footage of the two converting, both denied the conversion, explaining they had made statements on a gunpoint.^[303] Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi, professor of sociology and history at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, also denies that any valid conversion took place.^[304]
Joseph ben Judah ibn Aknin - 12th century Jewish philosopher, forcibly converted by Almohads, lived as crypto-Jew.^[305]
Sabbatai Zevi - convert from Judaism, 17th century mystic, pseudo-Messiah and the self-proclaimed "King of Jews". Converted ostensibly of his own free will as "Aziz Mehmed Effendi", in 15 September 1666 while in prison. Although, some speculate that he may have been executed for treason had he not converted,^[306] Muslim authorities were opposed to his death.^[307] He lived his remaining ten years as a public Muslim favoured by the Sultan. Some of his Sabbatean followers became the Donmeh, who behave externally as Muslims.
Jacob Frank - publicly converted to Islam in 1757^[306] and to Christianity in Poland but actually presented himself as the Messiah of a syncretic derivation of Shabbatai Zevi's Messianism.
Omar Sharif - Academy Award-nominated Egyptian actor who has starred in many Hollywood films. He converted formally to Islam in the 1960s to marry a Muslim woman, however at present he does not follow any religion

Abdul-Karim al-Jabbar

2009-07-10T05:47:00.000-07:00

Abdul-Karim al-Jabbar, previously Karim Abdul-Jabbar (born Sharmon Shah on June 28, 1974), is an American former football player. A 5'11" running back, he played in the National Football League (NFL) from 1996 to 2000 with the Miami Dolphins, Cleveland Browns and Indianapolis Colts.

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[edit] College

Born in Los Angeles, California, he played for the UCLA Bruins from 1992 to 1995 under head coach Terry Donahue. He set the school record for rushing yards in a season and was named team MVP in consecutive years under the names 'Sharmon Shah' in 1994 and 'Karim Abdul-Jabbar' in 1995. He was a three-year letterman and two-year starter at UCLA. Despite leaving school with one season of eligibility remaining, he ranks third on the Bruins' all-time rushing list with 3,030 yards on 582 carries (5.2 avg.) with 16 touchdowns. He also added 36 receptions for 306 yards with one touchdown. Karim averaged 110.1 total yards per game in college and was the only player in school history (and seventh in Pac 10 annals) to rush for over 1,200 yards

[edit] Professional career

Al-Jabbar was drafted in the third round of the 1996 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins, with whom he would play three and a half seasons. In his rookie year, he set many of the Dolphins' rookie records for rushing by a running back. He became only the second Dolphin to lead the team in rushing in each of his first two seasons in the league. In 1997, he led the NFL in total touchdowns with 16 and tied Denver Broncos running back Terrell Davis for the league lead with 15 rushing TDs. Afterwards his productivity decreased. In 1999, the Dolphins traded him to the Cleveland Browns for a third round draft pick in the 2000 NFL Draft; while he did put up some decent numbers, it was not enough to earn himself a contract extension. [1].

[edit] NFL statistics

Jersey Number: 33 (Dolphins, Colts) and 27 (Browns)
Games Played: 60
Rushing Yards (career): 3,063
Most Rushing Yards (season): 1,116 (1996)
Rushing Attempts (career): 888
Most Rushing Attempts (season): 307 (1996) and 283 (1997)
Most Rushing Attempts (game): 33 (9/20/98 vs. Pittsburgh)
Rushing Touchdowns (career): 33
Most Rushing Touchdowns (season): 15 (1997) and 11 (1996)
Most Rushing Touchdowns (game): 3 (10/19/97 at Baltimore), 5,5,6 and 3 (11/23/97 at New England)
Most Consecutive Games with Rushing Touchdowns: 5 (10th through 14th in 1997)
100 Yard Games (career): 9
Most 100 Yard Games (season): 4 (1996)

[edit] Name controversy

In 1995, the Muslim Sharmon Shah was given the name "Karim Abdul-Jabbar" by his Imam. The new name he was given quickly garnered major attention upon his NFL debut. Some commentators mistakenly believed that he was the son of former basketball great, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.^{[citation needed]} He also wore number 33, the same number that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had made famous.

In 1998, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar filed a lawsuit against Karim, stating that there were too many similarities between the two. In the lawsuit, Kareem listed that they both attended UCLA and both wore the #33. He felt that Karim was making profits and sponging off the name and number he made famous in the 1970s. He won a court order that required Karim to drop the "Abdul-Jabbar" name off his jersey. In addition, all Dolphins jerseys with the "Abdul-Jabbar" name and #33 were immediately pulled from the shelves and merchandising catalogs. Karim complied and had his name changed to simply 'Abdul'. Karim maintains that he chose the #33 as his uniform number not because of Kareem, but because of former Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Dorsett. After the lawsuit, he changed his name to Abdul-Karim al-Jabbar in 2000.^[1]

Abu Tammam

2009-07-10T05:46:00.001-07:00

Abu Tammam (Habib ibn Aus) Arabic, أبو تمام حبيب بن أوس (c. 805 – c. 845) was a famous Arab poet and Muslim convert born to Christian parents.^[1] His life is not precisely dated, and some sources give 807 – 850.^[2]

[edit] Biography

He was born in Jasim (Josem), Syria, a place to the north-east of the Sea of Tiberias or near Hierapolis Bambyce. He seems to have spent his youth in Homs, though, according to one story, he was employed during his boyhood in selling water in a mosque in Cairo. His first appearance as a poet was in Egypt, but as he failed to make a living there he went to Damascus, and then to Mosul. From there he made a visit to the governor of Armenia, who awarded him richly. After 833 he lived mostly in Baghdad, at the court of the caliph Mo'tasim. From Baghdad he visited Khorasan, where he enjoyed the favour of Abdallah ibn Tahir. About 845 he was in Ma'arrat un-Nu'man, where he met the poet al-Buhturi (c. 820–897). He died in Mosul.

Abu Tammam is best known in literature for his 9th century compilation of early poems known as the Hamasah. The Hamasah (Arabic, "exhortation") is one of the greatest anthologies of Arabic literature ever written. Abu Tammam gathered these works together when he was snowbound in Hamadan, where he had access to an excellent library. There are ten books of poems in the Hamasah, all classified by subject. Some of them are selections from long poems. This is one of the treasuries of early Arabic poetry, and the poems are of exceptional beauty. A later anthology by the same name was compiled by the poet al-Buhturi, and the term has been used in modern times to mean "heroic epic."

Two other collections of a similar nature are ascribed to Abu Tammam. His own poems have been somewhat neglected owing to the success of his compilations, but they enjoyed great repute in his lifetime. His poems of valour, often describing historical events, are important as source material. They were distinguished for the purity of their style, the merit of the verse, and the excellent manner of treating subjects. His poems were published in Cairo in 1875.

Abu Usamah

2009-07-10T05:45:00.000-07:00

Abu Usamah at-Thahabi (born March 10, 1964) is an Imam at Green Lane Masjid Birmingham, England. in

[hide]

[edit] History

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2007)

Abu Usamah, Khalifah At-Thahabi was born and raised in Passaic, New Jersey, the third eldest of 4 children.

He converted to Islam in 1986 and applied to attend the University of Madinah as was the practice of many new converts to Islam at that time. He completed his BSc in Usool-Ul-Deen and learned the Arabic language. After his graduation from the University, Abu Usamah went to teach in the UK before returning to the US in 1996 in order to pursue his first position of Imam in Orlando, Florida. He was an imam at a mosque in Philadelphia (he left in 2001 under a cloud of allegations of sexual misconduct), Cleveland, and Peoria before he moved to the UK, where he surfaced briefly in Keighley before moving to Birmingham to take up his place at Green Lane Mosque.

[edit] Controversy

Abu Usamah has been accused of preaching messages of hate towards non-Muslims. On 14 January 2007, a documentary by Channel 4 entitled Undercover Mosque was aired attributing to him various comments, such as stating that Osama bin Laden was better than a "million George Bushes and a thousand Tony Blairs," or that non-Muslims were "pathological liars."^[1] Abu Usamah stated in defense that the documentary had quoted him out of context.^[2]^[3] Following the release of the documentary, nine people were arrested. The West Midlands Police investigated the allegations raised by the programme but found no evidence to press charges.^[4] Furthermore, the Crown Prosecution Service criticised Channel 4 for "totally distorting" what Abu Usamah and others had said. West Midlands Police have lodged a formal complaint with the regulator and asked the CPS to consider a prosecution against Channel 4 which was denied due to lack of sufficient evidence. Channel 4 have rejected these claims by the West Midlands Police and the CPS.^[3]^[5]Ofcom said it found no evidence that "Undercover Mosque" had misled its audience.^[6]

The Saltley Gate Peace group, an inter-faith action group based at the Saltley Methodist Church in Birmingham (which includes Muslims and non-Muslims), gave its "undiminished support" for Abu Usamah and Green Lane Mosque and made a press release prior to the airing of the Channel 4 documentary. The press release included the following statements:^[7]

That Imam Abu Usaamah, one of the preachers featured in the documentary, is acknowledged by the a significant portion of his congregation and the wider interfaith community "to be a peaceful man and is known to promote peace to his congregation", and that he has denounced terrorism.
That the Green Lane Mosque is not known to promote extremism and the founders and committee of the mosque have always distanced themselves from such extremism
That the UK branch of Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith are based at the Green Lane mosque and Islamic. The statement explains that Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith is known loosely as 'Salafism', and that this school of thought does not promote extremism. However, it concedes that there may be a minority that feel otherwise. Nonetheless it states that those following the Salafi methodology strive to follow the earliest traditions so that their Islam is peaceful and pure.

Furthermore, Abu Usamah was known to have openly and consistently opposed terrorist and extreme takfiri thought from as early as the early 1990s^[8] to the extent that the extremist preacher Abdullah el-Faisal had called for the assassination of Abu Usamah.

Ahmad Rashād

2009-07-10T05:43:00.000-07:00

Ahmad Rashād (born Robert Earl Moore November 19, 1949 in Portland, Oregon) is an Emmy award-winning sportscaster (mostly with NBC Sports) and former professional football player. An All-American running back and wide receiver Oregon known as Bobby Moore, Rashad was the fourth overall pick in the 1972 NFL Draft, drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals. He was the first skill-position player taken, following three linemen. from

Rashād was converted back to wide receiver while with the Cardinals, where he played for two seasons. He then played for the Buffalo Bills (1974–1976), the Seattle Seahawks (1976), and, most notably, the Minnesota Vikings (1976–1982), where he earned four Pro Bowl selections from 1978 to 1981.

Rashād graduated from Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma, Washington in 1967 and accepted a football scholarship to the University of Oregon.

[hide]

[edit] Biography

[edit] Conversion and football career

In 1972, Moore converted to Islam and changed his name to Rashād, which means "Admirable One Led To Truth". His last name comes from his mentor in St. Louis Rashad Khalifa. There are at least three players in the NFL that were named after him, Ahman Rashad Green, running back for the Houston Texans, Ahmad Rashad Merritt, wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals, and Ahmard Rashad Hall, fullback for the Tennessee Titans. Orlando Magic NBA basketball player Rashard Lewis was also named after Rashad.

Rashād eventually graduated from the University of Oregon, where he played wide receiver as a sophomore in 1969; then was moved to running back where he was an All-American in 1971—playing with quarterback Dan Fouts. Rashād was named to the College Football Hall of Fame on May 9, 2007. ^[1]

During his pro football career, Rashād caught 495 passes for 6831 yards and 44 touchdowns, while also rushing for 52 yards. The standout catch of his career came in a December 1980 game against the Cleveland Browns. Vikings quarterback Tommy Kramer threw a Hail Mary pass to Rashād that resulted in a come-from-behind 28-23 victory and a Central Division title for the Vikings. This became known as the Miracle Catch. Rashād also has the distinction of the longest play from scrimmage that didn't score a touchdown: 98 yards in a 1972 game against the Rams.

Ironically, Rashād replaced the same receiver, John Gilliam, in both St. Louis and Minnesota.

[edit] Broadcasting and television career

After his football career, he covered NFL and NBA televised contests as a studio anchor and game reporter for NBC and ABC, as well as hosting NBA Inside Stuff. He also has hosted the video-clip show Real TV, the reality show Celebrity Mole,game show Caesar's Challenge along with co-host Dan Doherty, and NBA Access with Ahmad Rashad on the ABC network. Rashād has also guest starred on several TV shows, mainly ones that starred his then wife Phylicia. He used to interview long-time friend Michael Jordan frequently while he was at NBC. the

See also: NFL on NBC, NBA on NBC, and NBA on ABC

[edit] Rumored NBA career

There is video footage of Rashad sinking a basket in a real NBA game as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers.^[2] The context surrounding his appearance is unknown, but he is seen bragging jestfully regarding his status as the only player in NBA history to shoot 100% for his career (implying this was his one and only appearance in an NBA game).^[3] It has been theorized Rashad participated in only one preseason game for the Sixers, possibly as a celebrity detail.^[4] Reliable pro basketball databases do not identify Rashad as a former NBA player.^[5]

[edit] Family life

Rashād has been married four times and divorced three. In 1969, he married his first wife Deidre Waters. They had a daughter, Keva, born in 1970. In 1976, he married his second wife, Matilda Johnson. They had two children, daughter Mayisha (born in 1976) and son Ahmad Jr. (born in 1978). They divorced in 1979.

In 1985, Rashād married Cosby Show actress Phylicia Ayers-Allen, to whom he proposed on national television during the pregame show of NBC's broadcast of the Thanksgiving Day football game between the Detroit Lions and the New York Jets.^[6] It was a third marriage for both. Unlike many actresses, she adopted his surname shortly after the wedding, and still uses the name "Phylicia Rashād" professionally to this day. Out of this marriage, he gained a stepson Billy Bowles (born 1973). After a year of marriage, Ahmad and Phylicia had a daughter, Condola Phylea Rashād (named after his mother). After nearly sixteen years of marriage, Ahmad and Phylicia divorced in 2001.

In 2007, Rashād wed his fourth wife, Sale Johnson, the ex-wife of Johnson & Johnson billionaire Woody Johnson. He has gained a stepdaughter from this marriage.^[7]

Ahmed Santos (militant)

2009-07-10T05:39:00.000-07:00

Ahmed Santos (aka Hilarion del Rosario is a Filipino who converted to Islam while working in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 1991.^[1]^[2]^[3] Santos was captured by Military officials for being involved in organizing and planning terrorist activities, including preparation of bombs.^[4] He is the founder of the Rajah Solaiman Movement.^[5]

[hide]

[edit] Association with terrorism

Santos was detained in October 2005, for taking part in planning bomb attacks in predominantly Christian cities around the Philippines.^[5]. According to police officials, the Rajah Solaiman group founded by Santos after his conversion to Islam, is believed to have forged an alliance with two al-Qaeda-linked organisations - Philippine-based Abu Sayyaf and the regional militant group Jemaah Islamiah.^[5] Explosives were seized from Santos's room by police in March 26, 2004. ^[6]. A reward of $500,000 was presented to two Filipino citizens for providing key information that lead to the arrest of Santos.^[7]

Ahmad Thomson

2009-07-10T05:38:00.000-07:00

Ahmad Thomson is a British barrister and writer and also a member of the Murabitun movement and a co-founder of the Association of Muslim Lawyers . He is the head of Wynne Chambers^[1] and the author of several books, including the revised edition of Dajjal: the AntiChrist (1997); Making History (1997); the revised editions of Jesus, Prophet of Islam and Blood on the Cross (in two volumes, For Christ's Sake and Islam in Andalus) with Muhammad Ata Ur-Rahim (1996); The Next World Order (1994); The Difficult Journey and The Way Back (1994) and The Last Prophet (2000).^[2] He was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1979, and is a member of the Association of Muslim Lawyers.^[3] He is co-author of The Islamic Will with Hajj Abdalhaqq and Aisha Bewley (1995).^[4] He has been described by some in the press as having acted as an informal advisor to 10 Downing Street on matters related to Muslims,^[3] although he has never set foot inside No. 10 or met any Prime Minister except Kenneth Kaunda in Zambia, in 1965. He made both written and oral representations to the House of Lords Select Committee on Religious Offences in 2002, arguing that different religious groups including Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Sikhs should have equal rights and equal protection under English law.^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10] He has given regular talks about Islam throughout the United Kingdom, including the annual Gateway to Divine Mercy event.^[11] He has been a regular contributor to the annual interfaith conferences held at the Regents Park Mosque and Islamic Cultural Centre^[12] and also contributed to the College of Law LNTV Programme 1378 which is concerned with Islamic Family Law and its interaction with English Family Law.^[13]

[hide]

[edit] Background

He was born as Martin Thomson^[3] in Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia, and educated in Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, and England. Most of his early years were spent in remote locations in the African bush where there was no electricity, gas or piped water. After being awarded an LLB (Hons) in 1972 at Exeter University, England, he worked as a bus conductor in Exeter, Devon, for a year before moving to London where he worked firstly as a labourer building the Piccadilly Line extension to Heathrow and then as an accountant at Luzac & Co, Oriental Booksellers. He embraced Islam on August 13, 1973.^[14] After going on Hajj (the pilgrimage to Makka) overland in 1977 ^[15], Ahmad Thomson completed his training as a lawyer and was called to the Bar of England & Wales on the 26 July 1979.^[16]

[edit] British Media and The Next World Order

Thomson first came to public attention in 2001 when he featured in an award winning documentary My Name is Ahmed broadcast on BBC2 on the 14th August 2001 and in Prince Naseem's Guide to Islam broadcast on BBC2 on the 15th August 2001. He subsequently appeared in the first two Shariah TV series^[17]^[18] and 25 May 2004^[19] and in April 2005.^[20] He also participated in The Muslim Jesus ^[21] and Celebrity Lives Sharia Style ^[22]. He has been an occasional guest on the Hassan & HabibahLegal Corner, Legal Forum, Weekly Review and the Hayaat show ^[23] broadcast on Channel 4 on the 18th May 2004 show, broadcast on Islam Channel.

Following his support of Dar Al-Taqwa’s successful complaint to the Press Complaints Commission^[24] concerning a deliberately inflammatory attack by the Evening Standard in July 2005,^[25]^[26] a group of British journalists (including Toby Helm, David Cesarani and Daniel Kahtan) who Mr Thomson claims never to have met, retaliated by alleging that Thomson's 1994 book, The Next World OrderFreemasons and Jews control the governments of Europe and America, and that it was a "big lie" that six million Jews died in the Holocaust.^[3]^[27] (which had, by then, been out of print for several years), contained allegations that

In fact Thomson had simply stated that it is a “big lie” to assert that those whom Arthur Koestler has described as “the thirteenth tribe” are descended from the Tribe of Israel (Jacob the son of Isaac) when in fact they are not descended from Shem, the son of Noah, but from Yapheth, the son of Noah. Thomson had allegedly written that Jews have no right to live in what he called "the Holy Land," because they are not a "pure race," and are therefore not the biblical Israelites. In fact he had simply pointed out that the homeland of the descendants of the Khazars is between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, not Palestine.^[28]^[29]

Elsewhere it was alleged that Thomson has said that Saddam Hussein was used as an excuse for U.S. troops, "including thousands of Jews," to occupy Saudi Arabia^[3] that the invasion of Iraq was "part of a Zionist plan,"^[30] to realise the publicly declared Zionist aim of establishing the Greater Eretz between the Nile and the Euphrates. and

By using each other as their sources, these journalists created the impression that their articles were thoroughly researched and were therefore eligible to be regarded as “reliable sources” by newspapers and internet bloggers alike.

Asked about Thomson's role as an informal advisor to the government, a government spokesperson told the Daily Telegraph: "We talk to a lot of people, including many whose views we do not necessarily agree with,"^[3] – and some whose views are deliberately distorted by the media in order to encourage involuntary disagreement with them from the outset, just in case they might possibly have something worthwhile to say.

Thomson responded to the reports by saying that the story was "grossly distorted." He said that he had not denied the Holocaust and that: "I have always said that one unjust death is one too many."^[30] At present only the slaughter of Muslim civilians requires independent verification. He also wrote, “To be anti-Zionism is not to be racist or anti-Jewish”, and, “To be anti-Zionism is not to be anti-Semitic”, and, “To be anti-Zionism is not to be a conspiracy theorist.”^[31]

[edit] Views on Islam

Thomson has written that "radical Islam" is a contradiction in terms. "It is not possible to be a true Muslim and simultaneously a violent terrorist."^[32] He has also written unequivocally against any form of military-industrial-complex dictated, bank authorized, state sponsored, indiscriminate laser precision bombing (whether this involves the collective punishment of civilians or their decimation or their genocide) or suicide bombing.^[33]

Thomson has also been quoted as saying: “Islam is not just a matter of words. As the Prophet said, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ‘The Shahada is easy on the tongue, but much flows from it.’ Ever since I said Shahada, I have lived every moment of my life finding out what it entails. It is a process that never ends.”^[34] The Shahada is to bear witness that there is no god other than Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

When describing his first pilgrimage to Makka, Thomson wrote: “When I had first embraced Islam some four years earlier, I had known next to nothing about it, other than the fact that the community of Muslims whom I had joined were more knowledgeable and radiant and better behaved than any other human beings that I had ever met during my life up until then. I had embraced Islam in the hope of acquiring that knowledge and radiance and courteous behaviour, and as time passed my hopes were gradually fulfilled, as, little by little I learned about and tried to embody the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, may the Blessings and Peace of Allah be on him.^[35]

Thomson has also been quoted as saying: “Islam is the solution, not the problem. It’s a wonderful time to be Muslim because we’re at the beginning of a new chapter. Never be afraid to be who you are. Have trust in Allah and He will protect you,” and, “Islam is safety and salvation. It provides us with the courtesy and generosity to step back from such petty disputes in this world, to live our brief lives with nobility and wisdom – and to connect our hearts to Allah and the certain promise of something ever lasting, the peace of the Garden in the next world.”^[36]

In 2009 he gave a talk at Cambridge University entitled Shariah Law: A Stairway to Heaven.^[37]^[38]

[edit] Book Reviews

Qur'an Review Review of the Bewley translation of the Qur'an by Ahmad Thomson
Review of Zakat - Raising a Fallen Pillar, by Hajj Abdalhaqq Bewley and Hajj Amal Abdalhakim Douglas
Review of Islam – Its Basic Practices and Beliefs by Hajj Abdalhaqq Bewley

Akhenaton (rapper)

2009-07-10T05:37:00.000-07:00

Akhenaton (real name Philippe Fragione, born 17 September 1968 in Marseille) is a French rapper and producer of French hip hop. He has also worked under the aliases Chill, AKH, Sentenza, and Spectre. He became famous as a member of the group IAM, and has since made a number of records, both with IAM and as a solo artist.

Akhenaton has also worked as a producer, producing songs for several French rappers and groups such as Passi, Stomy Bugsy, Chiens de Paille, Fonky Family, Freeman (a fellow member of IAM who has since made his break as a solo artist), La Brigade, Le 3ème Œil, etc. He is the creator of the record label Côté Obscur, the publishing house La Cosca, and the vinyl record label 361.

[edit] Biography

Akhenaton was born Philippe Fragione in Marseille on 17 September 1968, and spent his youth in Plan-de-Cuques, a small village on the outskirts of the city. In 1981, he discovered hip hop music and started traveling frequently to New York City where he received the nickname "Chill Phil". At about the same time, back in Marseille, he met Éric Mazel, a DJ who would later be known as Khéops. Mazel and Fragione started working together to advance the cause of French hip hop.

In 1988, Fragione debuted as a hip hop theorist, publishing the essay La deuxième génération du hip-hop (The second generation of hip-hop) in the fanzine Vé. The same year, he appeared on the B-side of the US rapper MC Choice's single "Let's Make Some Noise". Having returned to Marseille, he met Geoffroy Mussard (Shurik'n) and Malek Brahimi (Freeman). Fragione became known as Akhenaton, and together with Khéops and Shurik'n formed the group B.Boys Stance, renamed IAM in 1989. The group was later joined by Freeman, Imhotep and Kephren.

Four of the six members of IAM chose ancient Egyptian names as stage names. It should be noted that that Akhenaton also converted to Islam from Catholicism.^[1]^[2]. Musicologists argue that Akhenaton and the other members of IAM index the modern Arab world through the use of their names. Instead of overtly pointing out North African countries and the turmoil that has surrounded the contemporary Arab community, the Egyptian names allow the audience to covertly draw parallels between IAM and North Africa.

Instead of focusing on violence and rebellion like many other French rappers, Akhenaton and IAM remain true to their hometown, Marseille. Violent protests, arson and looting have been prominent among French youth, but in Marseille rap has remained fairly innocuous. Akhenaton explains that rappers in Marseille are more socially conscious than most hip hop artists because they feel a strong sense of community.^[3]

After IAM's first three albums' success, Akhenaton released his first solo album, Métèque et mat, in 1995. The album sold 300,000 copies, and it was followed by Sol Invictus in 2001. He began to delve into his other projects, such as producing Passi's album Les tentations (1997) and the 2001 film Comme un aimant. He continued working with IAM, releasing the album Revoir un printemps in 2003 and Saison 5 in 2007.

[edit] Discography (solo)

1995: Métèque et mat
1998: Taxi, original soundtrack
2000: Comme un aimant, original soundtrack
2000: Electro Cypher, compilation
2001: Sol Invictus
2002: Black Album
2006: Soldats de fortune

Alexander Litvinenko

2009-07-10T05:32:00.000-07:00

Alexander Valterovich Litvinenko (Russian: Алекса́ндр Ва́льтерович Литвине́нко) (30 August 1962^[1] – 23 November 2006) was an officer who served in the Soviet KGB and its Russian successor, the Federal Security Service (FSB). In November 1998, Litvinenko and several other FSB officers publicly accused their superiors of ordering the assassination of Russian tycoon and oligarch Boris Berezovsky. Litvinenko was arrested the following March on charges of exceeding his authority at work. He was acquitted in November 1999 but re-arrested before the charges were again dismissed in 2000. He fled with his family to London and was granted asylum in the United Kingdom, where he became a journalist and writer.

During his time in London Litvinenko authored two books, "Blowing up Russia: Terror from within" and "Lubyanka Criminal Group," where he accused Russian secret services of staging the Russian apartment bombings and other terrorism acts in an effort to bring Vladimir Putin to power. He also accused Putin of ordering the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

On 1 November 2006 Litvinenko suddenly fell ill and was hospitalised in what was established as a case of poisoning by radioactive polonium-210 and resulted in his death on 23 November. The events leading up to his poisoning and death are a matter of controversy, spawning numerous theories relating to his poisoning and death. The British investigation into his death resulted in a failed request to Russia for the extradition of Andrey Lugovoy whom they accused of Litvinenko's murder, contributing to the further cooling of Russia–United Kingdom relations.

[hide]

[edit] Early life and career

Alexander Litvinenko was born the son of physician Walter Litvinenko in the Russian city of Voronezh.^[2] After he graduated from a Nalchik secondary school in 1980 he was drafted into the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs as a Private. After a year of service, he matriculated in the Kirov Higher Command School in Vladikavkaz. After graduation in 1985, Litvinenko became a platoon commander in the Dzerzhinsky Division of the Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs. He was assigned to the 4th Company, where among his duties was the protection of valuable cargo whilst in transit.^[1]^[3]^[4] In 1986 he became an informant when he was recruited by the MVD's KGB counterintelligence section and in 1988 he was officially transferred to the Third Chief Directorate of the KGB, Military Counter Intelligence.^[3] Later that year, after studying for a year at the Novosibirsk Military Counter Intelligence School, he became an operational officer and served in KGB military counterintelligence until 1991.^[3]^[5]

[edit] Career in Russian security services

In 1991, he was promoted to the Central Staff of the Federal Counterintelligence Service, specialising in counter-terrorist activities and infiltration of organised crime.^{[citation needed]} He was awarded the title of "MUR veteran" for operations conducted with the Moscow criminal investigation department, the MUR.^{[citation needed]} Litvinenko also saw active military service in many of the so-called "hot spots" of the former USSR and Russia.^{[citation needed]} During the First Chechen War Litvinenko planted several FSB agents in Chechnya. Litvinenko also served as a foot soldier during the Russian operation in the Dagestani village of Pervomayskoye, where two of his comrades were killed by friendly fire from the rocket artillery.^{[citation needed]} Although he was oft reported as being a spy, throughout his career he was not an 'intelligence agent' and did not deal with secrets beyond information on operations against organised criminal groups.^[3]^[6]^[7]

Livtinenko met Boris Berezovsky in 1994 when he took part in investigations into an assassination attempt on the oligarch. He later began to moonlight for Berezovsky where he was responsible for the oligarch's security.^[3] The moonlighting by Litvinenko and other security services personnel was illegal, but the State somewhat tolerated it in order to retain personnel who were at the time underpaid.^[3] Litvinenko's moonlighting for the controversial businessman was not investigated, but often investigations in Russia were selective and often targeted only at those who had stepped out of line.^[3]´

In 1997, Litvinenko was promoted to the FSB Directorate of Analysis and Suppression of Criminal Groups, with the title of senior operational officer and deputy head of the Seventh Section.^[8] According to Dimitri Simes, the Directorate was viewed as much as a part of organised crime as it was of law enforcement.^[9]

While in exile, Berezovsky had to fight legal battles over his holdings in Russia.^[10] According to New York Times, there is a suspicion that Berezovsky's later critical activities against the Russian government could simply be an attempt to orchestrate a political crisis for Putin and win political asylum in Britain as a means to protect permanently the wealth he carved out of Russia in the early days, when the pickings were easy.^[10]

[edit] Claims against FSB leadership

According to his widow Marina, during Litvinenko's tenure of employment in the FSB he discovered numerous connections between top brass of Russian law enforcement agencies and Russian mafia groups, such as the Solntsevo gang, which he detailed in a memorandum to Boris Yeltsin.^[when?]^{[citation needed]} Berezovsky arranged a meeting for him with FSB Director Mikhail Barsukov and Deputy Director of Internal affairs Ovchinnikov to discuss the alleged corruption problems, with no result, leading him to come to the conclusion that the entire system was corrupt.^[11]

In December 1997 he claimed he received an order to kill Berezovsky, but didn't inform his part-time employer until 20 March 1998.^[3]^[12] According to his widow, on 25 July 1998, the day on which Vladimir Putin replaced Nikolai Kovalev as the Director of the Federal Security Service, Berezovsky introduced Litvinenko to Putin, whom Berezovsky claimed he had helped to install into the Director's position.^[13] According to his widow, Litvinenko reported to Putin on corruption in the FSB, but Putin was unimpressed.^[13]

On 13 November 1998 Berezovsky wrote an open letter to Putin in Kommersant, in which he accused Director of the Directorate of Analysis and Suppression of Criminal Groups Major-General Yevgeny Khokholkov and his deputies of ordering the oligarch's assassination.^[14] On 17 November 1998, Litvinenko and four other officers, all of whom were in the employ of both the FSB in the Directorate of Analysis and Suppression of Criminal Groups and of Boris Berezovsky on a part-time basis,^[3] appeared together in a press conference at the Russian news agency Interfax, at which they repeated the allegation made by Berezovsky four days previous, but offered no evidence to support the accusations.^[3]^[12] The officers also claimed they were ordered to kill Mikhail Trepashkin, who was also present at the press conference, and to kidnap a brother of the businessman Umar Dzhabrailov.^[12] In 2007, Sergey Dorenko provided The Associated Press and The Wall Street Journal with a complete copy of an April 1998 interview he conducted for ORT television station with Litvinenko and his fellow employees. The interview, of which only excerpts were shown in 1998, shows the FSB officers, who were disguised in masks or dark glasses, claim that their bosses had ordered them to kill, kidnap or frame prominent Russian politicians and businesspeople. Critics have charged that the interview was a ruse developed by Berezovsky, and Jim Heintz of The Associated Press opined that although Berezovsky does not appears in the interview, he has an omnipresence in it, given that that officers worked for him, and the interview was taped by Dorenko, a Russian journalist who was an employee of the then-Berezovsky-owned ORT, and who was subsequently fired in 2000.^[15]

[edit] Dismissal from the FSB

After holding the press conference, Litvinenko was dismissed from the FSB.^[16] Putin said later in interview to Yelena Tregubova that he personally ordered the dismissal of Litvinenko, stating "I fired Litvinenko and disbanded his unit ...because FSB officers should not stage press conferences. This is not their job. And they should not make internal scandals public."^[17] Litvinenko also believed that Putin was behind his arrest. He said: "Putin had the power to decide whether to pass my file to the prosecutors or not. He always hated me. And there was a bonus for him: by throwing me to the wolves he distanced himself from Boris in the eyes of FSB's generals."^[18]

[edit] Arrest

This section requires expansion.

He was then arrested twice on charges which were dropped after he had spent time in Moscow prisons.^{[citation needed]} In 1999, he was arrested on charges of abusing duties.^{[citation needed]} He was released a month later after signing a written undertaking not to leave the country.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Flight from Russia and asylum in the United Kingdom

This section requires expansion.

In October 2000, in violation of an order not to leave Moscow, Litvinenko and his family travelled to Turkey, possibly via Ukraine.^[19] Whilst in Turkey, Litvinenko applied for asylum at the United States Embassy in Ankara, but his application was denied.^[19] Henry Plater-Zyberk opined that the denial of application may have been based upon on a possible American opinion that Litvinenko's knowledge was of little benefit and that he may create problems.^[3] With the help of Alexander Goldfarb, Litvinenko bought air tickets for the Istanbul-London-Moscow flight,^[20] and asked for political asylum at Heathrow Airport during the transit stop on 1 November 2000.^[21] Political asylum was granted on 14 May 2001,^[22] not because of his knowledge on intelligence matters, but rather on humanitarian grounds.^[3] Whilst in London he became a journalist for the separatist Chechenpress and a controversial author, and also joined Berezovsky in campaigning against Putin's regime.^[23]^[24] In October 2006 he became a naturalised British citizen with residence in Whitehaven.^[25]

[edit] Alleged career in MI6

On 27 October 2007, the Daily Mail, citing "diplomatic and intelligence sources," stated that Mr Litvinenko was paid about £2,000 per month by the MI6 at the time of his murder. John Scarlett, the head of MI6 who was once based in Moscow, was allegedly personally involved in recruiting him.^[6] The Independent stated that whilst whether Litvinenko was or was not receiving a retainer from MI6 will likely never be known, MI6 regularly provided payments to exiles, and the retainer would indicate that there was a cooperative relationship between the two parties.^[26]

[edit] Alleged threats against Litvinenko

An image of the Alexander Litvinenko target (far left) at the Vityaz Training Centre.

Former FSB officer Mikhail Trepashkin stated he warned in 2002 that an FSB unit was assigned to assassinate Litvinenko.^[27] In spite of this, Litvinenko often travelled overseas with no security arrangements, and freely mingled with the Russian community in the United Kingdom, and often received journalists at his home.^[3]^[28] In January 2007, Polish newspaper Dziennik revealed that a target with a photo of Litvinenko on it was used for shooting practice by the Vityaz Training Centre in Balashikha in October 2002.^[29] The centre run by Sergey Lyusyuk is not affiliated with the government, and trains bodyguards, debt collectors and private security forces,^[30] although in November 2006 the centre was used by the Vityaz for a qualification examination due to their own centre being under renovation.^[30] The targets, which Lyusyuk says were bought in the Olympic Market, were also photographed when the chairman of the Federation Council of Russia Sergei Mironov visited the centre and met Lyusyuk on 7 November 2006.^[29]^[30] When asked why the photographs of Mironov's visit were removed from the centre's website Lyusyuk stated "(t)hose Poles are up to something" and added that Mironov didn't see the targets and knew nothing about them.^[30]

[edit] Alleged blackmail activities

According to Julia Svetlichnaya, a Russian doctoral candidate at the University of Westminster's Center for the Study of Democracy, Litvinenko told her that he was planning to blackmail or sell sensitive information on a wide range of people, including oligarchs, allegedly corrupt official and figures within the Kremlin hierarchy, in which he would extort £10,000 per instance to have him stop publication of alleged documents. Svetlichnaya noted that Litvinenko didn't have a steady income and was certain he could obtain the necessary files for this purpose.^[31] According to The Observer, Litvinenko's alleged threats and access to FSB materials may have turned him into an enemy of big business and the Kremlin.^[31]

[edit] Conviction in Russia

In 2002 he was convicted in absentia in Russia and given a three and a half year jail sentence.^[32]

[edit] Allegations

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Litvinenko told anyone who would listen about his theories relating to the power structures in Russia, and would bombard his contacts with relating to his conspiracy theories.^[3]^[28]^[33] In a report for the Conflict Studies Research Centre, Henry Plater-Zyberk, a lecturer at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom and Russian politics expert, described Litvinenko as a one-man disinformation bureau, who was at first guided by Berezovsky but later in possible pursuit of attention for himself. Plater-Zyberk notes that Litvinenko made numerous accusations without presenting any evidence to give credence to his claims, and these claims which became increasingly outlandish were often accepted by the British media without question.^[3] According to Michael Mainville, Litvinenko knew the secret to a conspiracy theory is that they are based upon an absence of proof, and that the more outlandish the claim, the harder it is to disprove.^[33] which has lead to some political analysts to dismiss his claims as those of a fantasist.^[31]

[edit] Armenian parliament shooting

Main article: 1999 Armenian parliament shooting

Litvinenko accused the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General-Staff of the Russian armed forces had organised the 1999 Armenian parliament shooting that killed Prime Minister of Armenia Vazgen Sargsyan, ostensibly to derail the peace process which would have resolved the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, but he offered no evidence to support the accusation.^[3]^[34]^[35] The Russian embassy in Armenia denied any such involvement, and described Litvinenko's accusation as an attempt to harm relations between Armenia and Russia by people against the democratic reforms in Russia.^[36]

[edit] Russian apartment bombings

Main article: Russian apartment bombings

Litvinenko alleged that agents from the FSB coordinated the 1999 Russian apartment bombings that killed more than 300 people, whereas Russian officials blamed the explosions on Chechen separatists. This version of events was suggested earlier by David Satter,^[37] and Sergei Yushenkov, vice chairman of the Sergei Kovalev commission created by the Russian Parliament to investigate the bombings.

[edit] Moscow theatre hostage crisis

Main article: Moscow theatre hostage crisis

In a 2003 interview with the Australian SBS TV network, and aired on Dateline, Litvinenko claimed that two of the Chechen terrorists involved in the 2002 Moscow theatre siege — whom he named as "Abdul the Bloody" and "Abu Bakar" — were working for the FSB, and that the agency manipulated the rebels into staging the attack.^[38] Litvinenko said: "[w]hen they tried to find [Abdul the Bloody and Abu Bakar] among the dead terrorists, they weren't there. The FSB got its agents out. So the FSB agents among Chechens organized the whole thing on FSB orders, and those agents were released." This echoed similar claims made by Mikhail Trepashkin.^[39] The leading role of an FSB agent Khanpasha Terkibaev (the "Abu Bakar") was also described by Anna Politkovskaya, Ivan Rybkin and Alexander Khinshtein.^[40]^[41]^[42]^[43] In the beginning of April 2003 Litvinenko gave "the Terkibaev file" to Sergei Yushenkov when he visited London, who in turn passed it to Anna Politkovskaya.^[17] A few days later Yushenkov was assassinated. Terkibaev was later killed in Chechnya. According to speaker of Russian State Duma Ivan Rybkin, "The authorities failed to keep [the FSB agent] Terkibaev out of public view, and that is why he was killed. I know how angry people were, because they knew Terkibaev had authorization from presidential administration." ^[44]

[edit] Beslan school hostage crisis

Main article: Beslan school hostage crisis#Allegations_of_a_false_flag_operation_directed_by_the_Russian_government

Alexander Litvinenko suggested in September 2004 that the Russian secret services must have been aware of the plot beforehand, and therefore that they must have themselves organized the attack as a false flag operation. He spoke in an interview before his death with Chechenpress news agency, and said that because of the fact that the hostage takers had previously been in FSB custody for committing terrorist attacks, it is inconceivable that they would have been released and still been able to carry out attacks independently. He said that they would only have been freed if they were of use to the FSB, and that even in the case that they were freed without being turned into FSB assets, they would be under a strict surveillance regime that would not have allowed them to carry out the Beslan attack unnoticed.^[45] Ella Kesayeva, co-chair of the group Voice of Beslan, formalized Litvinenko's argument in a November 2008 article in Novaya Gazeta, noting the large number of hostage takers who were in government custody not long before attacking the school, and coming to the same conclusion that Beslan was a false flag attack.^[46]

[edit] Support of terrorism worldwide by the KGB and FSB

Main article: Allegations of state terrorism by Russia

Litvinenko stated that "all the bloodiest terrorists of the world" were connected to FSB-KGB, including Carlos "The Jackal" Ramírez, Yassir Arafat, Saddam Hussein, Abdullah Öcalan, Wadie Haddad of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, George Hawi who led the Communist Party of Lebanon, Ezekias Papaioannou from Cyprus, Sean Garland from Ireland and many others." He says that all of them were trained, funded, and provided with weapons, explosives and counterfeit documents in order to carry out terrorist attacks worldwide and that each act of terrorism made by these people was carried out according to the task and under the rigid control of the KGB of the USSR.^[47] Litvinenko said that "the center of global terrorism is not in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan or the Chechen Republic. The terrorism infection creeps away worldwide from the cabinets of the Lubyanka Square and the Kremlin".^[48]^[49]

[edit] Alleged Russia-al-Qaeda connection

In a July 2005 interview with the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita, Litvinenko alleged that Ayman al-Zawahiri, a prominent leader of al-Qaeda, was trained for half of a year by the FSB in Dagestan in 1997 and called him "an old agent of the FSB"^[47]^[50] Litvinenko said that after this training, Ayman al-Zawahiri "was transferred to Afghanistan, where he had never been before and where, following the recommendation of his Lubyanka chiefs, he at once ... penetrated the milieu of bin Laden and soon became his assistant in al Qaeda." ^[51] Former KGB officer and writer Konstantin Preobrazhenskiy supported this claim and said that Litvinenko "was responsible for securing the secrecy of Al-Zawahiri's arrival in Russia, who was trained by FSB instructors in Dagestan, Northern Caucasus, in 1996-1997" ^[52]. He said: "At that time, Litvinenko was the Head of the Subdivision for Internationally Wanted Terrorists of the First Department of the Operative-Inquiry Directorate of the FSB Anti-Terrorist Department. He was ordered to undertake the delicate mission of securing Al-Zawahiri from unintentional disclosure by the Russian police. Though Al-Zawahiri had been brought to Russia by the FSB using a false passport, it was still possible for the police to learn about his arrival and report to Moscow for verification. Such a process could disclose Al-Zawahiri as an FSB collaborator. In order to prevent this, Litvinenko visited a group of the highly placed police officers to notify them in advance." According to FSB spokesman Sergei Ignatchenko, Ayman al-Zawahiri was arrested by Russian authorities in Dagestan in December 1996 and released in May 1997.^[53]

When asked in an interview who he thought the originator of the 2005 bombings in London was, Litvinenko responded saying^[47] "You know, I have spoken about it earlier and I shall say now, that I know only one organization, which has made terrorism the main tool of solving of political problems. It is the Russian special services."

On 1 September 2005, Al Qaeda members Ayman al-Zawahiri and Mohammad Sidique Khan claimed responsibility for the attacks on a video tape which aired on al-Jazeera.^[54]

[edit] Danish cartoon controversy

According to Litvinenko, the 2005 controversy over the publication in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten of editorial cartoons depicting the Islamic prophet Muhammad was orchestrated by the FSB to punish Denmark for its refusal to extradite Chechen separatists.^[33]

[edit] Assassination of Anna Politkovskaya

Main article: Anna Politkovskaya assassination

Two weeks before his poisoning, Alexander Litvinenko accused Vladimir Putin of ordering the assassination of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya and stated that a former presidential candidate Irina Hakamada warned Politkovskaya about threats to her life coming from Russian president. Litvinenko advised Politkovskaya to escape from Russia immediately. Hakamada denied her involvement in passing any specific threats, and said that she warned Politkovskaya only in general terms more than a year ago.^[55] It remains unclear if Litvinenko referred to an earlier statement made by Boris Berezovsky who claimed that former Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Boris Nemtsov received a word from Hakamada that Putin threatened her and like-minded colleagues in person. According to Berezovsky, Putin uttered that Hakamada and her colleagues "will take in the head immediately, literally, not figuratively" if they "open the mouth" about the Russian apartment bombings.^[56]

[edit] Allegations concerning Romano Prodi

Main article: Italian Mitrokhin Commission

According to Litvinenko, FSB deputy chief, General Anatoly Trofimov said to him "Don’t go to Italy, there are many KGB agents among the politicians. Romano Prodi is our man there",^[57]^[58] meaning Romano Prodi, the Italian centre-left leader, former Prime Minister of Italy and former President of the European Commission. The conversation with Trofimov took place in 2000, after the Prodi-KGB scandal broke out in October 1999 due to information about Prodi provided by Vasili Mitrokhin.^[13]

In April 2006, a British Member of the European Parliament for London, Gerard Batten of United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) demanded an inquiry into the allegations.^[57]^[58] According to Brussels-based newspaper, the EU Reporter on 3 April 2006, "another high-level source, a former KGB operative in London, has confirmed the story".^[59] On 26 April 2006, Batten repeated his call for a parliamentary inquiry, revealing that "former, senior members of the KGB are willing to testify in such an investigation, under the right conditions." He added, "It is not acceptable that this situation is unresolved, given the importance of Russia's relations with the European Union."^[60] On 22 January 2007, the BBC and ITV News released documents and video footage, from February 2006, in which Litvinenko repeated his statements about Prodi.^[61]^[62]

A report by the Conflict Studies Research Centre of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom from May 2007 noted that Trofimov was never the head of the FSB, which did not oversee intelligence operations, had never worked in the intelligence directorate of the KGB or its successor the SVR, nor had he worked in the counterintelligence department of the intelligence services, nor had he ever worked in Italy, making it difficult to understand how Trofimov would have had knowledge about such a recruitment. Henry Plater-Zyberk, the co-author of the report suggested that Trofimov was "conveniently dead", so "could neither confirm nor deny the story", and noted Litvinenko's history of making accusations without evidence to back them up.^[63]

[edit] Other allegations

In his book Gang from Lubyanka, Litvinenko alleged that Vladimir Putin during his time at the FSB was personally involved in protecting the drug trafficking from Afghanistan organized by Abdul Rashid Dostum [2]. In December 2003 Russian authorities confiscated over 4000 copies of the book.^[64]

Litvinenko commented on a new law that "Russia has the right to carry out preemptive strikes on militant bases abroad" and explained that these "preemptive strikes may involve anything, except nuclear weapons," Litvinenko said that "You know who they mean when they say 'terrorist bases abroad'? They mean us, Zakayev and Boris, and me."^[17]. He also said that "It was considered in our service that poison is an easier weapon than a pistol." He referred to a secret laboratory in Moscow that still continues development of deadly poisons, according to him.^[65]

In an article written by Litvinenko in July 2006, and published online on Zakayev's Chechenpress website, he claimed that Vladimir Putin is a paedophile.^[66] Litvinenko also claimed that Anatoly Trofimov and Artyom Borovik knew of the alleged paedophilia.^[67] The claims have been called "wild",^[68] and "sensational and unsubstantiated"^[69] in the British media. Litvinenko made the allegation after Putin kissed a boy on his belly whilst stopping to chat with some tourists during a walk in the Kremlin grounds on 28 June 2006.^[69] The incident was recalled in a webcast organised by the BBC and Yandex, in which over 11,000 people asked Putin to explain the act, to which he responded, "He seemed very independent and serious... I wanted to cuddle him like a kitten and it came out in this gesture. He seemed so nice...There is nothing behind it."^[70] It has been suggested that the incident was a "clumsy attempt" to soften Putin's image in the lead-up the 32nd G8 Summit which was held in Saint Petersburg in July 2006.^[69]

[edit] Poisoning and death

Main article: Alexander Litvinenko poisoning

Alexander Litvinenko at University College Hospital

On 1 November 2006, Litvinenko suddenly fell ill and was hospitalised. His illness was later attributed to poisoning with radionuclide polonium-210 after the Health Protection Agency found significant amounts of the rare and highly toxic element in his body. In interviews, Litvinenko stated that he met with two former KGB agents early on the day he fell ill - Dmitry Kovtun and Andrei Lugovoi, though they deny any wrongdoing. The men also introduced Litvinenko to a tall, thin man of central Asian appearance called 'Vladislav Sokolenko' who Lugovoi said was a business partner. Lugovoi is also a former bodyguard of Russian ex-prime minister Yegor Gaidar (who also suffered from a mysterious illness in November 2006). Later, he had lunch at Itsu, a sushi restaurant in Picadilly in London, with an Italian acquaintance and nuclear waste expert, Mario Scaramella, to whom he made the allegations regarding Italy's Prime Minister Romano Prodi.^[71] Scaramella, attached to the Mitrokhin Commission investigating KGB penetration of Italian politics, claimed to have information on the assassination of Anna Politkovskaya, 48, a journalist who was killed at her Moscow apartment in October 2006.

Marina Litvinenko, widow of the deceased, accused Moscow of orchestrating the murder. Though she believes the order did not come from Putin himself, she does believe it was done at the behest of the authorities, and announced that she will refuse to provide evidence to any Russian investigation out of fear that it would be misused or misrepresented.^[72]

[edit] Conversion to Islam

Two days before his death Litvinenko informed his father that he had converted to Islam. According to his father, Litvinenko had become increasingly disenchanted with the Russian Orthodox Church and had been contemplating conversion for "some time." Litvinenko's conversion to Islam and the related wish for Muslim funeral rites were recognized by his father. However, his widow, Marina, as well as his close friend (and press spokesman during his illness), Alexander Goldfarb, preferred a non-denominational ceremony. Goldfarb stated, "Unfortunately some people appeared and against the explicit wishes of the widow performed Muslim rites over the funeral. We had a choice to turn it into an unseemly situation, but Marina asked us to respect the memory of Alexander and let these people do what they did. Let God be their judge." Ghayasuddin Siddiqui, head of the Muslim Parliament of Great Britain, contended that Litvineko actually converted to Islam 10 days before he was poisoned.^[73]^[74]^[75]

Akhmed Zakayev, Foreign Minister of Chechen government-in-exile who lived next door to Mr Litvinenko and considered him "like a brother,"^[76] said: "He was read to from the Qur'an the day before he died and had told his wife and family that he wanted to be buried in accordance with Muslim tradition."^[77]

[edit] Death and last statement

On 22 November, Litvinenko's medical staff at University College Hospital reported he had suffered a "major setback" due to either heart failure or an overnight heart attack. He died on 23 November, and Scotland Yard stated that inquiries into the circumstances of how Litvinenko became ill would continue.^[78]

On 24 November, a posthumous statement was released, in which Litvinenko directly accused Vladimir Putin of poisoning him. Litvinenko's friend Alex Goldfarb, who is also the chairman of Boris Berezovsky's Civil Liberties Fund, claimed Litvinenko had dictated it to him three days earlier. Andrei Nekrasov said his friend Litvinenko and Litvinenko's lawyer composed the statement in Russian on 21 November and translated it to English.^[79]

Putin disputed the authenticity of this note while attending a Russia-EU summit in Helsinki and claimed it was being used for political purposes.^[80]^[81] William Dunkerley, in a briefing from May 2007 for a round table which discussed Litvinenko's case and the way it was handled by the Russian and Western media, called into question the authenticity of the statement, noting that the statement did not read like a statement made on one's deathbed and was typed in English, a language which Litvinenko was far from proficient in, with the signature and date handwritten.^[23] Goldfarb later stated that Litvinenko instructed him to write a note "in good English" in which Putin was to be accused of his poisoning. Goldfarb also stated that he read the note to Litvinenko in English and Russian, to which he claims Litvinenko agreed "with every word of it" and signed it.^[82]

Grave of Alexander Litvinenko at Highgate Cemetery

His postmortem took place on 1 December at the Royal London Hospital's institute of pathology. It was attended by three physicians, including one chosen by the family and one from the Foreign Office.^[83] Litvinenko was buried at Highgate Cemetery in north London on 7 December.^[84] The police are treating his death as murder.^[85] On 25 November, two days after Litvinenko's death, an article attributed to him was published by The Mail on Sunday entitled "Why I believe Putin wanted me dead".^[86]

In an interview with the BBC broadcast on 16 December 2006, Yuri Shvets said that Litvinenko had created a 'due diligence' report investigating the activities of a senior Kremlin official on behalf of a British company looking to invest "dozens of millions of dollars" in a project in Russia. He said the dossier was so incriminating about the senior Kremlin official, who was not named, it was likely that Litvinenko was murdered out of spite. He alleged that Litvinenko had shown the dossier to another business associate, Andrei Lugovoi, who had worked for the KGB and later the FSB. Shvets alleged that Lugovoi is still an FSB informant and he had spread copies of the dossier to members of the spy service. He said he was interviewed about his allegations by Scotland Yard detectives investigating Litvinenko's murder. Shvets has also doubted Litvinenko's capacity to perform honest unbiased due diligence.^[87] The poisoning and consequent death of Litvinenko was not widely covered in the Russian news media.^[88]

According to Mary Dejevsky, the chief editorial writer of The Independent, the view that the British public had of Litvinenko's illness and death was essentially dictated by Berezovsky, who funded an expertly conducted publicity campaign.^[89]

[edit] Theories and investigations into death

Main article: Litvinenko assassination theories

[edit] UK criminal investigation

On 20 January 2007 British police announced that they have "identified the man they believe poisoned Alexander Litvinenko. The suspected killer was captured on cameras at Heathrow as he flew into Britain to carry out the murder."^[90] The man in question was introduced to Litvinenko as 'Vladislav'.

As of 26 January 2007, British officials said police had solved the murder of Litvinenko. They discovered "a 'hot' teapot at London's Millennium Hotel with an off-the-charts reading for polonium-210, the radioactive material used in the killing." In addition, a senior official said investigators had concluded the murder of Litvinenko was "a 'state-sponsored' assassination orchestrated by Russian security services." The police want to charge former Russian spy Andrei Lugovoi, who met with Litvinenko on 1 November 2006, the day officials believe the lethal dose of polonium-210 was administered.^[91]

On the same day, The Guardian reported that the British government was preparing an extradition request asking that Andrei Lugovoi be returned to the UK to stand trial for Litvinenko's murder.^[92] On 22 May 2007 the Crown Prosecution Service called for the extradition of Russian citizen Andrei Lugovoi to the UK on charges of murder .^[93] Lugovoi dismissed the claims against him as "politically motivated" and said he did not kill Litvinenko.^[94]

A British police investigation resulted in several suspects for the murder, but in May 2007, the British Director of Public Prosecutions, Ken Macdonald, announced that his government would seek to extradite Andrei Lugovoi, the chief suspect of the case, from Russia.^[95] On 28 May 2007, the British Foreign Office officially submitted a request to the Government of Russia for the extradition of Lugovoi to face criminal charges in the UK.^[96]

[edit] Russian criminal investigation

On 5 July 2007, Russia officially declined to extradite Lugovoi, citing that extradition of citizens is not allowed under the Russian constitution. Russia has said that they could take on the case themselves if Britain provided evidence against Lugovoi but Britain has not handed over any evidence. The head of the investigating committee at the General Prosecutor's Office said Russia has not yet received any evidence from Britain on Lugovoi. "We have not received any evidence from London of Lugovoi's guilt, and those documents we have are full of blank spaces and contradictions.^[97] However the British ambassador to Russia, Anne Pringle, stated that London has already submitted sufficient evidence to extradite him to Britain.^[98]

Alexander Russell Webb

2009-07-10T05:28:00.002-07:00

Mohammed Alexander Russell Webb (November 9, 1846, Hudson, New York – October 1, 1916, Rutherford, New Jersey) was an American writer and publisher.

[edit] Biography

His father, Alexander Nelson Webb, was a leading journalist of his day and perhaps influenced his son’s later journalistic exploits.

Webb received his early education at the Home School in Glendale, Massachusetts Hudson, New York. He became editor of the Unionville Republican, Unionville, Missouri. His prowess as a journalist was soon apparent, and he was offered the city editorship of the St. Joseph Gazette in St. Joseph, Missouri. Next he became associate editor of the Missouri Morning Journal. Later he became the Assistant City Editor of the Missouri Republican in St. Louis. This newspaper was the second oldest and largest daily newspaper at that time. and later attended Claverack College, an advanced high school near

While working for the Missouri Republican, he was appointed (in September, 1887) by President Cleveland to be Consular Representative to the Philippines at the U.S. office at Manila. According to the editor of his book The Three Lectures, he had given up any concept of religion at least fifteen years before that point.

He started his life as a Presbyterian but found it dull and restraining. As early as 1881 he started a search for his true faith by reading in books from a well stocked library of over 13,000 volumes that he had access to. He started his study with Buddhism and finding it lacking, he began to study Islam. In 1888, he formally declared himself to be a Muslim.

At that time he had yet to meet a Muslim but was put in contact with several Muslims in India by a local Parsi businessman. A newspaper publisher, Budruddin Abdulla Kur of Bombay, published several of Webb's letters in his paper. A local businessman, Hajee Abdulla Arab, saw these letters and went to Manila to see Webb.

After the visit, Webb began plans to tour India and then return to the U.S. to propagate Islam. Webb's wife, Ella G. Webb, and their three children had also accepted Islam. Hajee Abdulla returned to India and raised funds for Webb's tour. Webb visited Poona, Bombay, Calcutta, Hyderabad, and Madras and gave speeches in each town.

All are published at least once separately and some are published in collection. His Islam in America and all later works were basically derived from rewrites of these successful speeches.

He resigned his post in 1892 and toured India then returned to the U.S. His family stayed in San Francisco until he sent for them.

Settling in New York, he established the Oriental Publishing Company at 1122 Upper Broadway. This company published his writings (including his magnum opus- Islam in America), such as:

Islam in America - contained 70 pages divided into eight chapters namely:

I) Why I Became a Muslim

II) An Outline of Islamic Faith

III) The Five Pillars of Practice

IV) Islam in Its Philosophic Aspect

V) Polygamy and the Purdah

VI) Popular Errors Refuted

VII) The Muslim Defensive Wars

VIII) The American Islamic Propaganda

Along with this venture he started the organ of the American Muslim Propagation Movement called Moslem World. The first issue appeared May 12, 1893, and was dedicated to The Interests of the American Islamic Propaganda and "[t]o spread the light of Islam in America". It lasted for seven monthly issues (May to November 1893).

In December 1893, John A. Lant and Emin L. Nabakoff broke from Webb's movement and formed the First Society for the Study of Islam and set up shop in Union Square.

Webb was the main representative for Islam at the 1893 World Parliament of Religions in Chicago. On September 20th and 21st, 1893, he gave two speeches. His speeches were entitled: The Influence of Islam Upon Social Conditions and The Spirit of Islam and were published in the large two volume proceedings of the Parliament called The First World's Parliament of Religions (1894).

For the rest of his life he was the main spokesman for Islam in America. Many of America’s most prominent thinkers heard him speak on the Islamic Faith, including Mark Twain.

On Broadway, in Manhattan, he founded a short-lived masjid. The reasons for the termination of this Masjid are unknown, but it could be due to a lack of financial support from India. Throughout the rest of America he started study circles, i.e. in Chicago, Washington, D.C., Newark, Manhattan, Kansas City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland. They were named Mecca Study Circle No. I (NYC), Koran Study Circle, Capital Study Circle No. 4, etc. Each using an Islamic city or reference in its title. It is likely they studied Webb's works and those he suggested. The last meeting was in 1943 in Manhattan and was attended by his daughter Aliyyah.

He is also known for his writing of two booklets about the Armenian GenocideThe Armenian Troubles and Where the Responsibility Lies and A Few Facts About Turkey Under the Rule of Abdul Hamid II. He was appointed the Honorary Turkish Consul in New York by Sultan from a Muslim point of view: Abdul Hamid II. The Sultan had been shown plans by Webb for a Muslim cemetery and Masjid and complimented Webb on them. These plans never materialized.

From 1898 to the time of his death on October 1, 1916, aged 69, he lived in Rutherford, New Jersey. There he owned and edited the “Rutherford Times”. He was buried in Hillside Cemetery on the outskirts of Rutherford.

André Carson

2009-07-10T05:28:00.001-07:00

André D. Carson (born October 16, 1974) is the United States Representative for Indiana's 7th congressional district and the grandson of his predecessor, former U.S. Representative Julia Carson (1997–2007).^[1]^[2] Carson, who is African American, describes himself as "an Orthodox, universal, secular Muslim."^[3] He is the second Muslim to serve in the U.S. Congress, after Keith Ellison (D-MN), and is the first Muslim elected to federal office from Indiana. He is currently the youngest Democratic Member of Congress.

[hide]

[edit] Biography

Carson is a native of Indianapolis, Indiana. He attended Indianapolis Public Schools and is a graduate of Arsenal Technical High School. Carson went on to graduate with a Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice Management from Concordia University Wisconsin and a Master of Business Management from Indiana Wesleyan University. He was a local board officer and investigator for the Indiana State Excise Police for nine years. He also served in the Indiana Department of Homeland Security at the Intelligence Fusion Center, supervising an anti-terrorism unit. He was a marketing specialist for Cripe Architects + Engineers.^[4] He is also a Democratic Party committeeperson in Center Township of Marion County, Indiana.

He, his wife Mariama, and daughter Salimah live in the Fall Creek Place neighborhood of Indianapolis.

[edit] Political career

Carson was elected to the Indianapolis City-County Council in 2007 to replace Councillor Patrice Abdullah in the 15th Council district of Indianapolis. Abduallah resigned his seat before completing his term.^[5]

[edit] U.S. House of Representatives campaign

André Carson won the Nominating Caucus of the Marion County Democratic Party for the Democratic nomination for the special election in Indiana's 7th congressional district, with 223 of 439 votes cast in his favor; the seat became vacant after the death of his grandmother Julia Carson. Carson won the special election on March 11, 2008, to complete the term of his grandmother, winning 53% of the vote.

He was endorsed by U.S. Senator Evan Bayh,^[6] former Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson, Marion County Sheriff Frank J. Anderson,^[7] current Representative from Indiana's 8th district Brad Ellsworth,^[7] retired U.S. Congressman Andy Jacobs, Jr, and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. Carson is not a member of the Nation of Islam and denies any specific link to Farrakhan. According to the Jewish Daily Forward, "André Carson is fighting claims about his family’s connection with Farrakhan".^[8] U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) contributed $4,000 each from their own campaign funds and $10,000 each from their political action committees to the Carson campaign.^[9]

Carson ran a grassroots campaign that included on-foot canvassing by the Neighbors for Carson campaign.

Carson defeated Republican State Representative Jon Elrod and Libertarian Sean Shepard in the special election on March 11, 2008.^[10] Despite speculation to the contrary,^[11] Carson took his oath of office while holding a bound copy of the United States Constitution, not on the Qur'an.^[1]. This was during a mock swearing-in ceremony as there is no official ceremony for interim Congressmen.

Carson endorsed U.S. Presidential Candidate Barack Obama in April 2008, and later won Obama's endorsement for his own May 2008 Democratic primary battle. Carson was the first of Indiana's five U.S. House Democrats to announce support for a presidential candidate.^[12]

Carson is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus. In June 2008, he announced he was joining the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Equality Caucus of the U.S. House, chaired by U.S. Representative Barney Frank (D-MA).

[edit] Committee assignments

Committee on Financial Services
- Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government-Sponsored Enterprises
- Subcommittee on International Monetary Policy and Trade

[edit] Election history

United States Representative from Indiana's 7th congressional district, 2008 (special)
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Democratic	André Carson	45,668	54.0%
	Republican	Jon Elrod	36,415	43.1%
	Libertarian	Sean Shepard	2,430	2.9%

United States Representative from Indiana's 7th congressional district, 2008
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Democratic	André Carson	172,650	65.1%
	Republican	Gabrielle Campo	92,645	34.9%
	Republican	Delbert Suits (write in)	4	0.0%

Abdul Raheem Green

2009-07-10T05:25:00.000-07:00

Abdul Raheem Green (also known as Abdur Rahim Green, Abdur Raheem GreenAbdul Rahim Green), formerly Anthony Green, born 1964 ^[1], is a British revert" to Islam and Islamic lecturer. and "

[hide]

[edit] Biography

Born in Dar-es-salaam in Tanzania to British parents ^[1], his father (born in England), Gavin Green, was a colonial administrator in the then extant British Empire. At an early age he moved back to the UK with his parents. His mother is of original Polish origin ^[2] ^[3].

At the age of ten^{[citation needed]} he attended a Roman Catholic Monastic boarding school at Gilling Castle and then went onto Ampleforth College and went on to study history in the University of London. However, he left his education unfinished in an effort to devote himself to Islamic works.

He became dissatisfied with Christianity at the age of eight ^[1] ^[4] ^[2] ^[3].

Green researched and practiced many religions ^[5] ^[2] ^[3], including Buddhism^[1] (for three years) before converting to Islam.

Whilst in Britain his father in 1976 began working for Barclays Bank International and was subsequently sent to Cairo, Egypt, to set up a branch of the bank there.

His study of the Qur'an immediately attracted him to Islam leading to his reversion in 1988. He has given Da'wah in Britain since then. ^[1] ^[6].

Green worked for five years in the London Central Mosque and Islamic Cultural Centre as the Visits and English Dawa Co-ordinator, but now runs a consultancy, Green and Chambers Consulting, with his friend and fellow convert to Islam Yusuf Chambers, as well as making regular appearances on PeaceTV and Islam Channel.

[edit] Personal life

Green had two wives, now one, who is British-born Muslim of Pakistani origin and has eleven children. Whilst claiming two wives, Green was asked in an interview: Does not the British law prohibit bigamy? Green responded "It does. Yet several Britishers are bigamists. But those who practise bigamy can protect the second marriage under the provisions of 'common law wives'. Under this children out of such marriages are legitimate and wives inherit property."^[7]

[edit] Recent activities

Currently, he is working with an Islamic media company based in England and engages himself in da’wah activities including lectures on Islam in London’s famous Hyde Park. He is well known for his efforts at the renowned "Speaker’s Corner" in London’s Hyde Park.^[1] Green has starred many TV-shows on Peace TV, including Peace Missile. He often travels around the world on lecture tours. He was recently in 2008 in Canada holding lectures on different subjects. In 6th to the 7th march 2009, Abdur Raheem Green was on his first trip to Norway, joining up with Det Islamske Nettverk - Islam Net.^[8] He gave three lectures; On Friday 6th of March he was speaking about "Does God Exist", and on Saturday 7th March he gave the lectures "How I came to Islam" and the "Islam the misunderstood religion" concluding the session.

NEWLY CONVERTED ISLAM

Michael Jackson Became a Muslim

Michael Jackson Became a Muslim

Shahada

NEWLY CONVERT ISLAM DETIAL

------------------------

Conversion to Islam

Tony Blair's sister-in-law

Lauren Booth

------------------------------------------------

Why ARE so Many Modern British Career Women Converting to Islam?

Tyson's Spiritual Journey

"my whole life has been a waste –

I've been a failure."

Joining the Shiva Sena

Raizing the Babri Masjid

My family disowns me

My friend turns insane!

Muslim Clerics Help

Finally Allah’s Mercy Arrives

Yoginder re-born as Mohammad Omar

Pride hath a fall

Encounter with Truth

Family Welcomes my Reversion

New Mission

Finally the Message

FROM VARIOUS RELIGION CONVERTED TO ISLAM

From Judaism

From Buddhism

From Hinduism

Other

From Paganism

From Atheism

Undetermined former religion

Disputed or forced conversions

Abdul-Karim al-Jabbar

Contents

[edit] College

[edit] Professional career

[edit] NFL statistics

[edit] Name controversy

Abu Tammam

[edit] Biography

Abu Usamah

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Controversy

Ahmad Rashād

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Conversion and football career

[edit] Broadcasting and television career

[edit] Rumored NBA career

[edit] Family life

Ahmed Santos (militant)

Contents

[edit] Association with terrorism

Ahmad Thomson

Contents

[edit] Background

[edit] British Media and The Next World Order

[edit] Views on Islam

[edit] Book Reviews

Akhenaton (rapper)

[edit] Biography

[edit] Discography (solo)

Alexander Litvinenko

Contents

[edit] Early life and career

[edit] Career in Russian security services

[edit] Claims against FSB leadership

[edit] Dismissal from the FSB

[edit] Arrest

[edit] Flight from Russia and asylum in the United Kingdom

[edit] Alleged career in MI6

[edit] Alleged threats against Litvinenko

[edit] Alleged blackmail activities

[edit] Conviction in Russia

[edit] Allegations

[edit] Armenian parliament shooting