Muslim Voice Jan. 2011

VoiceMusliM VoiceMonthly Newspaper | Vol.14 Issue No.172 | January 2011 Muharram / Safar 1432H

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By Janan Atiyeh

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Gregory A. Peters, 37, of Mesa, Arizona was sentenced in September 2010 to 32 months in federal prison as a result of his guilty plea to one count of mail fraud, one count of bank fraud and one count of filing a false tax return for the year 2002. In his plea, Peters admitted that he stole almost $600,000 in sales tax funds remitted to him by clients.

Shelia Young, 47, Deane Young, 47, and Kennith Defoor, 70, of Heber-Overgaard, Arizona were charged this month on a 12-count indictment charging them with conspiring to defraud the U.S. and submitting false claims for tax refunds. The indictment also identifies 122 fraudulent tax returns that the Youngs and Defoor filed with the IRS for the tax year 2008 that claimed inflated refund amounts.

To encourage clients to file the fraudulent tax returns, the Youngs and Defoor told them that the filing method was legal and was based on a tax loophole unknown to the general public.

“This indictment should warn others that businesses built on deception are fragile and illegal and that their house of cards will

eventually come down on them,” said U.S. Attorney Dennis K. Burke.

I met with Bill Brunson, the Media Relations Officer for the Internal Revenue Service, IRS, for the States of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah and Special Agent in Charge N. Dawn Mertz at the IRS Office on Central and Indian School Road. They were very informative and gracious.

“We as an IRS agency offer interpretative services in our walk in taxpayer system center and we can assist any taxpayer and any issues that they might have. The primary language used is English, however, if the taxpayer is limited in the English language there are about 183 different languages that we can connect with an interpreter,” explained Spokeman Brunson.

Ultimately, the taxpayer is responsible to make sure that they hire a good and ethical tax preparer because the taxpayer is responsible for his return. “Make sure that the tax preparer is ethical and has gone back to the school house and learned about different things so that they can apply the current tax law to taxpayer’s circumstances. The responsibility of a taxpayer is to check up on the tax preparer or accountant, states Brunson.

ACCIDENT & INJURYLAWYER

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King’s Last, Forgotten Crusade

Continued on page 5

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JANUARY 2011 www.AZMuslimVoice.com2 CARTOON / LOCAL

Fathiyyah Bashshar

Can we do better?

O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise

(each other). Qur’an 49:13 Surah Al-Hujurat.

In the context, “Being different in culture” is a parallel thought to “being different ethnically” (in tribes and nations) but these difference in us should lead us to get to know each other, make us interesting to each other, learn from each other and be challenged to compete in doing good, not to despise and fight each other because he is different.

Do our differences have to separate us?

Leyla Nur of Michigan stated that “there should be more activity amongst all masaajids where people can actually spend time together in the more social gatherings in order to strengthen the bonds; but how many actually have the time? Most time is spent working trying to survive - especially those of us that are unmarried and therefore have complete responsibility and thus don’t have the free time to spend even if the desire is there.

Zarinah Awad of Phoenix, AZ stated; “The fact of the matter is it has nothing to do with Islam. It is the natural feeling of wanting to be with what is familiar to you, language wise, and culturally …I believe it happens on a natural level more than something planned. I realized that it should be our role as a whole and that is what bridges the gap!!! Food concerns, clothing and shelter concerns have no face and we can’t discriminate when it comes to serving the community as a whole. So our Masaajids need to become more community oriented and it will certainly bridge a big gap…I see everyone from every background coming through these doors here at the food bank. We talk and laugh, cry and work together toward a common goal for all.”

What is the basis for unity?

Every Muslim talks about the unity. Nevertheless, as days elapse, Muslims are becoming more and more disengaged. The division is multidimensional. The division amongst Muslims is accredited to several factors such as nationalism, regional preferences, ethnicity, languages and above all factional sectarian beliefs in the name of Islam.

All Muslims know the value and importance of uniting the Muslims around the world. We have read and heard many times the famous verse from Surah Ali-Imran, “ And hold fast all together by the rope which Allah (stretches out for you) and be not divided among yourselves; and remember with gratitude Allah’s favor on you; for ye were enemies and He joined your hearts in love so that by His grace ye became brethren; and ye were on the brink of the pit of fire and He saved you from it. Thus doth Allah make his signs clear to you: that ye may be guided? “(Verse 013, Ali-Imran ).

How can we do better?

Muslims should strive their best to achieve their unity in all aspects. It is against the spirit of Islam to see Muslims divided. It is best for Muslims to be united and forget about their differences. Unity is a unique feature of Islam. Muslims must think as one nation and must overcome the linguistic, geographical, regional and

ethnic differences. Muslims must leave linguistic and regional nationalism behind and become one body. It has been said “If any part of the body feels pain the entire body should feel it and find the cure for it.”

Regardless of our nationality or regional culture we are all Muslims. In his last sermon the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: all mankind is descended from Adam and Eve, an Arab is not better than a non-Arab and a non-Arab is not better than an Arab; a white person is not better is not better than a black person, nor is a black person better than

a white person except by piety and good actions. Learn that every Muslim is the brother of every other Muslim and that Muslim form one brotherhood.

Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi, former President of the Islamic Society of North America, states:

“Our purpose as Muslims is moral and spiritual. Our purpose is to please Allah and to work for the advancement of His religion in this world. Our goal is to achieve ultimate success and salvation in the Hereafter. There is no better reason to be united than this. If we keep in our mind our purpose and goal, we can easily overcome our differences.”

In summary:

Disunity among Muslims is our greatest problem today. We are at present a very fragmented and divided people. We have disunity at every level: within our communities, at the local level, national level, and international level. We talk about unity and discuss the problem of disunity in our meetings and

conferences, but we fail to be united. We fail to work together, although everything in our religion and in our condition demands that we come together and work together. The Quran has the final answer:

Let their arise out of you a group of people inviting to all that is good, enjoining what is right, and forbidding what is wrong: they are the ones to attain felicity. Be not like those who are divided amongst themselves and fall into disputations after receiving Clear Signs: for them is a dreadful Penalty) (Ali Ìmran 3: 102-105).

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TERMS USED IN THIS PAPER

Alhamdulilah: Praise GodAllah: Arabic word for GodFatwa: Islamic decision based on Shari’aHadith: Sayings of the Prophet Moham-madHajj: Pilgrimage to MeccaHalal: Allowed in IslamHalaqa: Group studyHaram: Prohibited in IslamHijab: Head cover for womenHijra: Migration of the Prophet from Mecca to MadinaImam: Islamic scholarIman: FaithInshallah: God willingMadina: City near Mecca in Saudia ArabiaMasjid: Place were Muslims gather for prayer and studiesMecca: City in Saudi Arabia where Prophet Mohammad was bornPbuh: Peace be upon himQuran: Islam’s Holy bookShahadah: Is saying “I accept Allah as the one God and Mohammad as his messen-ger” when someone accepts Islam.Sharia’: Islamic lawShura: A council of Muslim scholars(SWT) Subhanahu Watala: Praise be to AllahTaqwa: God consciousness

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Unity vs. Differences

JANUARY 2011www.AZMuslimVoice.com 3LOCAL 3ACA’s Tax Donation Festival

By Rasheed Ahmad

The ACA, Arizona Cultural Academy, end of the year festival was a blast! It took place on Sunday December 26, 2010. There were at least 150 people at the festival. There were activities for children, and a speech that was mostly attended by adults. The teenagers were mostly volunteering. Mohammed Al Zubaidi volunteered at the cotton candy stand handing out

cotton candy to children of all ages. There was lots of fun and activities such as a rock wall, a bouncy house, pony rides, a petting zoo, and halo/black ops duels. They also had lots of food. There were hamburgers, hotdogs, Chinese food, popcorn, and cotton candy. The event started at 11:00 a.m. and wrapped at around 4:00 p.m. It was a very social event. Most people either went for the kids or to help or just to see there friends. I enjoyed the ACA festival and hope to go to it next year.

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JANUARY 2011 www.AZMuslimVoice.com4 LOCAL

Local charity “Day of Dignity” helps nearly 1,200 Phoenix homeless

Welcome back from Hajj

Muslim Voice congratulates

pilgrims

PHOENIX —Volunteers from varying religions and backgrounds came together to give aid to nearly 1,200 Valley homeless for Islamic Relief USA’s Day of Dignity on Dec. 4, 2010.

Day of Dignity is sponsored by Islamic Relief USA and local organizations in 22 cities across the United States to provide hope and aid to those afflicted with homelessness.

During Phoenix’s Day of Dignity, local organizations and 75 volunteers gathered at the Human Services Campus in Phoenix to provide Valley homeless with food, clothing, hygiene kits and lots of smiles. Volunteers like Amna Fares, Naima Najam and Angela McKinley served lunch at St. Vincent de Paul or chatted with clients as they picked out which color backpack or fleece blanket they liked. Other activities included health screenings, live music, open-mic poetry, t-shirt decorating and social services connections.

Children and families also had fun doing arts and crafts, story telling and other activities at the Watkins Overflow shelter. Younger volunteers showed up to spend time with the children including members of a Muslim Girl Scout Troup in the Valley.

“This event is not just to establish one ‘Day of Dignity,’ said Zarinah Awad, director and founder of the Cultural Cup Food Bank. “It’s a day to plant the idea of a lifetime of dignity and to work together to sow the seeds of progress.’’

For the past four years the Cultural Cup Food Bank in Phoenix has been the driving force behind this event in Arizona. By teaming up with the Lodestar Day Resource Center and St. Vincent de Paul, they have been able to bring together many resources and services and are eager to expand this collaboration with more agencies and organizations.

This event was made possible by the following supporters:

American Muslim Women’s Association, LDS Church, St. Vincent de Paul, St. Mary’s Food Bank, Al Mahdi Masjid, Islamic Relief, Cultural Cup Food Bank, the Lodestar Day Resource Center, Valley of the Sun United Way, Girl Scout Troop 2140, Costco, Changing Hands Books and Arizona Peace Alliance.

About The Cultural Cup Food Bank, Inc.

The Cultural Cup Food Bank Inc. is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation that specializes in providing food boxes to those in need with dietary restrictions. The organization is located in Phoenix and recently opened the Cultural Cup Free Clinic, which operates every Saturday 10:00 am - 2:00 pm.

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Caitlin Flaherty, Executive Director of AZ Peace Alliance, was the M.C. for the program which included speeches, live

music and entertainment.

Karen Hadley (left) and Gretchen Assaad (right) in the volunteer room preparing raffle prizes.

Fayza Abdurahman and Salahadin Aberra

From left Mohannad Najem, Emad Abushanab and Ali Alsayyed

JANUARY 2011www.AZMuslimVoice.com 5LOCALContinued from page 1

Beware of Tax FraudSpecial Agent Mertz stated simply that “If the refund seems too good to be true it probably is.” Taxpayers must not sign a blank return and make sure the tax preparer signs the return and includes his/her information as well. All must be aware of return preparer fraud. Taxpayers might face severe consequences if they are involved in any illegal activity or tax fraud. “Tax schemes are illegal and can lead to imprisonment and fines for both scam artists and taxpayers. Taxpayers pulled into these schemes must repay unpaid taxes plus interest and penalties. The IRS pursues and shuts down promoters of these and numerous other scams.

IRS is implementing a number of steps for future filing seasons as of January 2011. These steps include a requirement that all paid tax return preparers register with the IRS and obtain a preparer tax identification number (PTIN), as well as both competency tests and ongoing continuing professional education for all paid tax return preparers except attorneys, certified public accountants (CPAs) and enrolled agents.

Spokesman Brunson further explains the agencies that individuals can use to check their perspective tax preparer, accountant, tax attorney, or enrolled agent are the Better Business Bureau, the state’s board of accountancy for CPAs, the state bar association for attorneys and or the IRS Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) for enrolled agents or the oversight agency in states that license or register tax preparers.

Tactics Used by Dishonest Abusive Return PreparersDishonest return preparers use a variety of methods to formulate fraudulent and illegal deductions for reducing taxable income. These include, but are not limited to, the following:

* Preparing fraudulent Schedule C, Profit or Loss from Business, claiming deductions for expenses that have not been paid by the taxpayer to offset Form 1099, Miscellaneous Income, or income earned from outside employment,

* Including false and inflated itemized deductions on Schedule A, Itemized Deductions, for:

• charitable contributions

• medical and dental expenses

* Claiming false Schedule E, Supplemental Income and Loss, losses

* Claiming false dependents

Helpful Hints when choosing a Return Preparer to ensure you don’t hire an Abusive Return PreparerIRS Criminal Investigation (CI) reminds you;

* Taxpayers are responsible for the accuracy of all entries made on their tax returns, which include related schedules, forms and supporting documentation. This remains true whether the return is prepared by the taxpayer or by a return preparer.

* Be careful in selecting the tax professional who will prepare your return. Some basic tips and guidelines to assist taxpayers in choosing a reputable tax professional are:

• Avoid return preparers who claim they can obtain larger refunds than other preparers.

• Avoid preparers who base their fee on a percentage of the amount of the refund.

• Use a reputable tax professional that signs your tax return and provides you with a copy for your records.

• Consider whether the individual or firm will be around to answer questions about the preparation of your tax return, months, even years, after the return has been filed.

• Never sign a blank tax form.

• Ask questions. Do you know anyone who has used the tax professional? Were they satisfied with the service they received?

• Tax Evasion is a crime, a felony, punishable up to 5 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.

When in doubt, check it out! Taxpayers hearing claims from preparers offering larger refunds than other preparers are encouraged to check it out with a trusted tax professional or the IRS before getting involved.

For more information log on to www.irs.gov.

Bill Brunson from right and Dawn Mertz from left Discusses the subject of taxes with Janan Atiyeh

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JANUARY 2011 www.AZMuslimVoice.com6 LOCAL

Muslim Voice

Many know or hear of the community Lawyer Mohammed Alzaidi but how many know details of his life and how he came to the US and to serve his community.

After being born and raised in Baghdad, Iraq, at age of 17 Mohammed traveled to England to complete his higher studies. In England he pursued an Electronic engineering degree and graduated from Middlesex University before he moved to the United State to continue his education. He then enrolled at Arizona State University in Tempe were he completed his Political Science degree. Mohammed’s ambitions were to get into law to become an attorney defending people who are victims of different types of injustices. That was when he decided to move to Cleveland to enroll in Cleveland Marshal Law School and graduated before moving back to Phoenix.

In 1993 Mohammed established his own practice of law in Phoenix and began taking cases especially from his own Muslim and Arab community which he felt there was a need to help and support. His law offices today take cases from personal injuries, medical malpractice to civil rights.

Mohammed’s hobbies include playing soccer, tennis as well as enjoying supporting his home town football teams the Arizona Cardinals and ASU Sun Devils.

His motto in life “No justice, No peace” is what drives him to fulfill his passion of helping others utilizing his knowledge and expertise of the law. Mohammed believes in helping the underdog, he says, those who are less fortunate to be defended and get their rights.

“The American system is the best justice system in the world. No place in the world can an individual go to civil court without paying for legal representation until winning except America” Mohammed stated. “No one is above the law in America” he added. “I’m doing my part to represent the Muslim and Arab community in Arizona whether it’s accident case or police discrimination”. “It’s rewarding at the end of the day to help the helpless” Mohammed said.

Mohammed serves on the City of Phoenix Police Advisory board that communicates and gives recommendations to city police when it comes to the Muslims living in Phoenix. He is also a member of Arizona Trail Lawyer Association, and licensed in Arizona State court as well as Federal court.

Mohammed wishes that the Muslim community can learn more about the law in this country to know their rights and learn how democracy and freedom work. In addition, the fact that this is a free country they must be assertive and speak their minds freely.

Muslim Voice

The Muslim Voice Newspaper has had an online presence www.azmuslimvoice.com for the past nine years via its interactive website and now the Muslim Voice readers and fans can view its printed version online as well as through the new service. Muslim Voice has joined the publishing online site www.issuu.com that provides publishers with tools to post copies of the printed version online for people to view and read.

This new service will allow readers from all over the world to see Muslim Voice and read all its pages the same as it is seen on the printed version. Readers can subscribe electronically

at no charge where they would receive regular notifications every time a new issue is released.

Muslim Voice continues to strive to provide the best and latest in technological advancement to its readers everywhere.” Said Marwan Ahmad, Publisher and President of Breek Publishing and Marketing.

Muslim Voice

The oldest and most comprehensive multicultural directory in Arizona, the Multicultural Yellow Pages (MYP) has published its 18th annual edition for 2011 this month. MYP serves primarily the Muslim and Middle Eastern community as well as other cultural groups around the Valley. It continues to bring its colorful directory to the residence of the Greater Phoenix area.

“The community is growing so is its businesses and we keep records and track of this growth through our market studies and research” said Marwan Ahmad Publisher of MYP and President of Breek Publishing and

Marketing in Arizona. “This directory continues to be the main source of comprehensive information about various communities in Arizona,” added Ahmad. “Many individuals, companies and governmental agencies use our directory as a resource to find information, businesses, organizations within our Multicultural community in the Greater Phoenix area” Ahmad elaborated.

MYP could be viewed online on www.myplink.com and distributed throughout the Valley to over 150 businesses, Mosques, Churches, and local events through out the year. Its distributed quarterly to keep itself available to new comers to the Valley. It will be on the shelves starting the 15th of January.

Getting to KnowMohammed Alzaidi

Muslim Voice launches electronic online version

Multicultural Yellow Pages Publishes it 18th Edition for 2011

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PHOENIX (AP) _ Arizona’s decade-long population surge is widely expected to earn the state its ninth seat in the House of Representatives when the U.S. Census Bureau releases the first results of the 2010 count on Tuesday.

The new seat will likely be centered in Maricopa and Pinal counties, which saw most of the increase in residents, a redistricting consultant who analyzed state population trends has said.

The district lines will be drawn by an independent redistricting commission.

The first use of the voter-approved system after the 2000 census led to a yearlong court battle, and early arguments as the new commission is picked signal more of the same this time around.

Arizona grew by more than 28 percent from 2000 to 2009, bringing its population from 5.1 million to an estimated 6.3 million.

The figures released on Tuesday may give the first solid indicator of whether the recession and Arizona’s crackdown on illegal immigration slowed or reversed that growth.

There is some indication that the state’s population has been overestimated in recent years, and that growth has slowing greatly, said Bill Schooling, the state’s demographer. For instance, birth rates are down, and death rates

are remaining steady after years of increases.

What might be revealed by Tuesday’s state population numbers are whether illegal immigrants and others who lost jobs in the recession left the state in high enough numbers to show a net decline in population in the past two years, said Tom Rex, a longtime demographic and economic researcher at Arizona State University

If that happens, it will be the first time since the Depression that Arizona had negative population growth, Rex said.

``Clearly I think this time around we’ve had net outmigration,’’ Rex said. ``Whether it’s been greater than the natural increase, that’s not clear. But I think it’s pretty certain we had a net loss of people that were already here versus those moving in from out of state. And that hasn’t happened since the Depression.’’

The Great Recession that began in 2007 decimated the state’s booming construction industry and led to the loss of about 300,000 jobs, with the state’s unemployment rate now hovering around 9.5 percent.

Legislative crackdowns on employers who hire illegal workers and on illegal immigrants is believed by many to have driven people from the state.

The attention on illegal immigrants also may have led to significant undercounts, Rex said, a reversal from high counts seen during the 2000 census.

``But with the change in sentiment

against immigration, one has to wonder if the immigrants didn’t make themselves scarce during the census count, the undocumented immigrants,’’ Rex said.

Once the census numbers are released, the once-a-decade job of drawing new political boundaries for the state will begin. Every congressional district will be redrawn, as will every state legislative district.

Arizona voters approved a 2000 constitutional amendment that took redistricting out of the hands of the Legislature and handed it to an appointed commission. The idea was to de-politicize the process. That hasn’t worked out.

Democrats challenged the first redistricting, and the maps were finally upheld by the Arizona Supreme Court just last year.

The new redistricting commission being chosen by a panel of judges is already showing signs that it will be closely scrutinized.

Just last week, top Republicans in the Legislature accused one member of using religion to exclude a Republican who applied for the five-person map-drawing group. The judge denied that, but resigned anyway.

Once the nominating commission narrows the field, it will send the names of 25 applicants to Republican and Democratic leaders of the state House and Senate, and each leader will appoint one redistricting commission member. The four appointees then will pick the fifth member from applicants who aren’t Democrats or Republicans.

Census expected to give Arizona 9th House seat

Local School named ‘Charter

School of the Year’ in Arizona

Mesa, ARIZ. – For Anjum Majeed, her childhood in Pakistan and her career in Mesa, Ariz., might be half a world away, but their connection is remarkably close. And successful.

Majeed founded Self Development Charter School (SDCS) in 2000, and it was named Charter School of the Year on Nov. 12 by the Arizona Charter Schools Association.

“The legacy my parents and grandparents instilled in me during my childhood in Pakistan drives me to impart to others the passion for education,” Majeed said. In addition to serving as principal of SDCS, Majeed also founded a private preschool, Self Development Preschool, and is working toward her doctorate in educational leadership.

Majeed’s grandfather committed to educating children, regardless of their sex, which was a revolutionary thought 80 years ago. Her parents dedicated their lives to educating and serving the marginalized people in their Pakistani community. Majeed moved to the United States as a high school exchange student.

“I believe all students can learn and are eager to be challenged to make yearly progress, and as a school, we’re mindful of our role to insure student learning in all areas of growth and development,” Majeed said. “We encourage them to become lifelong learners, appreciating their individual and unique strengths in a diverse and safe environment.”

SDCS began with 37 students, and has grown to 20 teachers that teach 325 students in grades first-eighth. SDCS is a top performer in the state on standardized tests and teaches one grade level above Arizona standards.

“Anjum’s dedication to her students is inspiring,” Vernetta Madsen, Majeed’s employee of more than 20 years, said. “She gives students high fives as she walks down the hall, teaches in the classrooms,

Continued on page 8

JANUARY 2011 www.AZMuslimVoice.com8

King’s Last, Forgotten CrusadeIn his final years he took a bold and lonely stand against the war in Vietnam

Ahmad Daniels, M.Ed.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968) was a multi-faceted, multi-dimensional and multi-talented man. However, because many fail to study the great works written about African

American people, great numbers often find themselves victims of 30-second sound bites on the 6 o’clock news where excerpts of his omnipresent “I Have a Dream” speech are played over and over ad infinitum. Thus, great numbers fail to come to the realization that there were at least two periods to King’s life. The second period was in sharp contrast to the Martin Luther King many in America are familiar with and celebrate as a national holiday the third Monday in January.

Period One began with the Montgomery Bus Boycott of December 1955 and culminates with the enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This period is replete with marches such as the Selma-to-Montgomery, Alabama trek and writings like King’s “Letter From A Birmingham Jail” written while King was incarcerated in Birmingham and in response to white clergy who criticized King for being a trouble maker.

Period Two is more obscure and seldom discussed, perhaps as a result of its sheer poignancy. This period began in the fall of 1965 and continued to King’s brutal assassination on April 4, 1968. Ironically, it was a speech that King made exactly one year earlier (April 4, 1967) that would irrevocably change his life and, many believe, hasten his death. That audacious and uncompromising stand was his decision to deliver a speech entitled

“Beyond Vietnam” -- a speech said to have been heard around the world.

Not a consensus leader

King saw the war America was waging against the people of Vietnam as an “unjust, evil and futile war.” King, a self-proclaimed pacifist, stated he would have fought against Hitler but did not see the Vietnam War as being like World War II.

King said, “I agree with Dante—that the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, during a period of moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.” Followers of King and members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (S.C.L.C.) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (N.A.A.C.P.) importuned him to keep silent about the war because he risked alienating President Lyndon Johnson and the financial supporters of the S.C.L.C. King’s response to those who asked him to be quiet was, “I’m sorry, you don’t know me. I’m not a consensus leader. I don’t determine what is right and wrong by looking at the budget of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference or by taking a Gallup Poll of the Majority opinion. Ultimately a genuine leader is not a searcher of consensus but a molder of consensus.”

Morally correct

When Whitney Young of the Urban League cornered King and publicly castigated him for his views on Vietnam, King responded sharply, “Whitney, what you’re saying may

get you a foundation grant, but it won’t get you into the kingdom of truth.”

Martin Luther King, once having decided to do what was morally correct, if not politically correct, began to unleash a barrage of vituperations at his white allies in government and the media.

They supported his stand on nonviolence during sit-ins and freedom rides and embraced his civil-disobedience in cities like Birmingham and Selma

but rejected his position on Vietnam:

“They applauded us in the sit-in movement when we nonviolently decided to sit

in at lunch counters. They applauded us on the freedom rides when we accepted

blows without retaliation, They praised us in…Birmingham and Selma, Alabama.

Oh, the press was so noble in its applause and …praise when I would say, ‘Be

nonviolent toward Bull Connor,’ ‘Be nonviolent toward Jim Clark.’ There is

something strangely inconsistent about a nation and a press that would praise you

you when you say, ‘Be nonviolent toward Jim Clark,’ but will curse and damn you

when you say, ‘Be nonviolent toward little brown Vietnamese children!’ ”

Not just songs of passivity

Many may have wondered why elected officials like Senator Jesse Helms, R.-NC, the state of Arizona, among others, voiced vigorous opposition to making King’s birthday a national holiday. Supporters of the acknowledgement could not understand why there would be so many objections to a man who simply wanted to hold hands and sing “We Shall Overcome.”

But King did more than just sing songs of passivity. During the last three years of his life he began to provide a very analytical perspective on the evils of militarism, racism and economic exploitation; a tune that was and still is dismissed as so much harmonic dissonance.

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Continued from page 7

provides curriculum for all grades and encourages staff excellence and camaraderie.”

The association evaluated SDCS on the culture of the school, teamwork, and systematic, data-proven methods of educating students through a nomination form and on-site observation.

In her professional career, Majeed has founded several organizations still in operation. In Wyoming where she resided prior to coming to Arizona, she founded four preschool programs and a non-profit children’s organization that provided training, seminars, and served as a resource to early childhood programs – statewide. In Arizona she provided the vision for the American Muslim Women’s Association and was its founding President for four years. She was also instrumental in revamping a children’s theatre. She worked tirelessly with the theatre’s founders and community members to help reestablish the children’s theatre under its new name of East Valley Children’s Theatre. Majeed has also been an active member and held leadership positions in several community and service organizations including serving as the President of the Soroptomist International of Mesa.

About Majeed’s family: Her husband, Asif Majeed, is an engineer with the AZ State Department of Environmental Quality. Her two children, Shina and Sami, are married and reside in Washington DC. Shina is a graduate of Yale University and New York University Law School. Sami is a graduate of Vassar College and is a second year law student in DC. She has two adorable grandchildren.

JANUARY 2011www.AZMuslimVoice.com 9NATIONAL

Arab Deli Workers Divided on “Guns for All”Aramica, News Report, Rachel Millard

BROOKLYN, NY—Some evenings, Mohammed Koko feels like a marked man.

Until about 11pm, Koko works the counter at the deli at 309 Utica Avenue, Crown Heights, selling mainly cigarettes, candy and phonecards to passersby, locals and clients at the next-door barbershop.

Maybe only the regulars realize what makes Koko so jumpy: In March 2009, the men sitting where he sits now, Yemeni father and son Mohammed and Abdul Abuzaid, were dragged into the basement by robbers and shot dead.

And a few weeks ago, Koko saw another man gunned down in the street opposite, one of 15 murders in the area in the last 20 months.

“’I feel very nervous for my safety,” he told an Aramica reporter who stopped by one recent evening.

That’s why Koko supports a campaign launched late October by Hispanics Across America (HAA), an advocacy group, to arm 14,000 NYC bodegas (delis) so that workers can protect themselves against dangerous thugs.

“That’s a good idea,” said Koko. “We need to defend ourselves. And if stores could post a sign on their windows saying, ‘The owner of this store carries a gun,’ that would also be a big deterrent to would-be robbers.”

HAA workers started handing out gun license applications to delis in Hamilton Heights, north Manhattan, on October 28, days after deli owner Juan Torres was shot dead at his store in Laurelton, Queens.

The group said that bodega workers are “sitting ducks” to robbers because they’re usually stuck behind the counter in stores often open all night and thought to hold large amounts of cash.

Bodega workers “must be able to defend themselves,” said HAA.

The campaign coincides with Mayor Bloomberg’s recent proposal to cut the price of a gun permit from $340 to between $25 and $110.

But not all Arab American bodega owners visited by Aramica agreed that they’d be safer with a gun (and 60% of New York delis are thought to be Arab owned).

Indeed, Koko is unlikely to get the gun he wants, because his boss resists the idea.

“He doesn’t think violence or retaliation is the way to go,” said Koko. “I told him, ‘you may have a chance to defend yourself,’ but his view is ‘what happens happens.’”

A few blocks north of Koko’s store, 22-year deli owner Mohammed Abaad said having a gun “makes no sense.”

“It won’t make you any safer—it could make the situation more dangerous,” he said. “If you know how to handle people, you’ll be alright without one.”

Mohammed Al Saedi, owner of Al Saedi deli in Sunset Park, south west Brooklyn, was robbed of $1230 two days ago—in broad daylight—but still

doesn’t want a gun.

A weapon would have been no good, he said, against the “sneaky” robbers—three men who distracted him while their female colleague ran off with the cash register.

What’s more, “A robber who wants to shoot you probably won’t even give you a chance to react,” he added.

“I don’t think guns are good idea,” agreed Walid at his deli on 5th Ave. near 36th street, who worried that gun-holders

might misuse the weapon if they “get mad or frustrated.”

For Jamal Alkawsi, one block west, the gun-permit drive was unnecessary: “We have CCTV and we are opposite the subway station, so there are a lot of police around,” he said. “I feel safe here.”

Brothers Yahia Sulaiman, 21 and Saleh Yaiface, 18, meanwhile, were enthused about the gun campaign.

They discussed the plan while buffing the counters at their two-month old, 24-hour deli on Fourth Avenue near 20th Street.

“It’s good to help businesses carry guns,” said Sulaiman. “It can be very dangerous

to work in a deli.”

Once, Sulaiman told, his family’s deli in Canarsie, Brooklyn, lost more than $1000 to robbers who entered the store via the ceiling.

Arab, working at his deli on Fourth Ave. near 30th street, said a gun would help him feel less vulnerable when working nights.

“It’s scary when you’re here by yourself; you never know what’s going to happen,” he said. “Every day there’s another story about a store owner getting hurt.

“Yes, I would feel safer with a gun, or even a baseball bat—some kind of protection.”

Some sixty blocks south, in Fort Hamilton—an area with the second lowest crime rate in Brooklyn—‘Guns For All’ has fewer takers.

“I’ve been here over 20 years and not had any problems,” said Mike, an Arab American who runs a deli on Third Ave. near the Verrazano Bridge. “We don’t need guns.”

“You should go to Crown Heights,” he told the reporter, while sharing a knowing smile with his friend.

“Up there, they need machine guns.”

THE PERILS OF THE JOB

Deli workers are killed or injured in robberies with alarming frequency. Here are some incidents in recent years:

• November 30, 2009: Mohinder Singh, the manager of Three Stooges Supermarket on Springfield Avenue, Newark, N.J., is stabbed to death in a botched robbery.

• January 24, 2009: Ahmad Alsurakhi is shot dead while working at his father’s deli on MacArthur Avenue, N.J.

• July 31, 2008: Employees at the Rockaway Deli & Grocery, Rockaway Beach Boulevard, are stabbed by a customer on a violent rampage.

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Bridging the gap between America & Islam

New America Media/Bangla Patrika, News Feature, Abu Taher

Rezina Begum, 65, moved to New York just a year ago to live with her daughter’s family, only to find her lifelong perception of America as a living poem of happiness, pleasure and prosperity turned upside down.

“What a life it is,” Begum said. “Everyone is busy with himself. There is no time to look back, no time to see relatives. We are not human beings; it’s as if everyone is a machine. It’s as if happiness, sorrow, joy and tears have fled from us over time. What kind of life is this?”

Not only did Begum echo the sense of distress expressed by other senior immigrants from Bangladesh, but also interviews for this article with Bangladeshi leaders in social, religious and media organizations confirmed that none of the groups has taken any initiative to address the issue of old age, even though Bangladeshi elders face linguistic, social and community problems here.

Little for Bangladeshi Elders

The culture of respect for elders in Bangladesh often gives way in the United States to the struggle for survival as a new community, Rana Ferdous, general secretary of the Bangladesh Society of New York, said in an interview.

For many Bangladeshi families, Ferdous said, the day-to-day effort and stress of just getting by means that many who have brought their aging parents here cannot properly take care of them.

Ferdous conceded that her organization has not yet developed specific programs for Banglaseshi seniors, but the group

will soon consider how to respond to the increasing number of elders asking them for help.

Even though most older immigrants don’t speak English, mosques and community centers where they go each day don’t have an interpreter. Nasir Uddin Ahmed, president of the Modina Mosque in New York, said there is no infrastructure for the seniors in the Bangladeshi community there.

Ahmed, known in the community as Advocate Nasiruddin, said the mosques do provide older people considerable emotional support, but elders often go to different mosques where many remain idle for the whole day. Often, Nasiruddin went on, they seem perturbed by the disappointments in their lives.

Anisuzzaman Khokan, director of Rupashi Bangla, the oldest television channel for New York’s Bangladeshi community, noted that because the social systems of Bangladesh and the United States are so different, those who come to the United States first must withstand a heavy jolt at any age. For the seniors the problems go especially deep.

Not only are many Bangladeshis arriving in this country in their later years, usually sponsored by relatives, but quite a few who immigrated when they were younger are now experiencing the challenges of old age, observed Bedarul Islam Babla, former president of the Bangladesh League of America, the first organization of Bangladeshis in the United States.

Loose Family Bonds in U.S.

Rezina Begum, who lived and taught school in Sylhet, Bangladesh, she said that in spite of being with her loving family, she

felt “imprisoned” by her inability to talk with them because of the loose family and social bonds that come with America’s fast lifestyle.

She found herself largely isolated from the Bangladeshi community and alienated by

the materialistic attitudes of her children and grandchildren, which she finds cold and disrespectful of elders.

American television is too crass and commercial, she observed, and only the occasional Bengali

newspaper or video helps her pass the time.

In Bangladesh, she said, despite unanswered wants, sorrow and impoverishment, the people have not lost “the warmth of their hearts.”

Like Begum, Nurul Islam immigrated to New York to be with his daughter’s family. He found everyone too busy to spend time together. For elders, he said, “Times goes by slowly. One can’t find the words to describe how sad this is.”

Islam stated, “Every moment is poisonous. In Bangladesh I

was a professor at the Bangla literature department at Sandwip Mustafizur Rahman College, near the port city of Chittagong. Everyone used to respect me there.”

Graying at the Mosque

One place where Bangladeshi elders are sure to find respect and comfort is the mosque. Late on a recent afternoon at Manhattan’s Modina Mosque, the Prayer of Asr had come to an end.

An old man with a white beard

and wearing a traditional white Bengali dress sat in the northern corner of the mosque reading with concentration, as some other people gathered before him were doing.

No one spoke with one other, but their lips were moving. At first they seemed to carry the weariness of many years. But by the end of their prayer, they sat in a circle with a look of happiness clear on their faces. For some time they engaged in gossip and finally parted company at around 9 p.m.

One of these elders wass Azhar Hossen, about 70, who immigrated

to the United States in 2008.

Hossen, who immigrated to New York with his only son, recalled, “I came with many dreams of this country. But my illusion came to an end after being here.”

His son, he said, “has become a different person. He does not know anything else except money and work.” He added, “My grandchild doesn’t understand my language. There is no way to converse with him.”

Hossen struggles to suppress feelings of anger and isolation. Although he says he was seldom sick before coming to the United States, he now suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure.

For Hossen, the mosque is the best place to spend his days. “I come to the mosque right after having my morning shower. I don’t leave the mosque without a special reason. Some days I take both my lunch and dinner here and go to sleep at the residence at night.” The mosque, he emphasized, “is my main home.”

Mainuddin Ahmed, 67, is the resident of New York’s Astoria section. He came to the United States for a better life in 1996. Today, he said, older people like him should not come to the United States.

Unlike life for elders in Bangladesh, Ahmed said, older people here are not recruited for jobs. Also, few older immigrants receive Social Security benefits. As a result, seniors are under constant stress to find work to avoid dependency on others.

“I went from door to door. But no one wants to give me a job due to my age. Everyone wants young people,” Ahmed said.

He soon plans to return to Bangladesh.

Bangladeshi Elders “Imprisoned” by U.S. Culture

JANUARY 2011www.AZMuslimVoice.com 11NATIONAL

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Final Call, News Report, Nisa Islam Muhammad

WASHINGTON (FinalCall.com) - Michael Stevenson left for college five years ago with big dreams and high hopes. Since graduating last year his dreams have been deferred because he can’t find a job in his field and his high hopes have been replaced with high student loan debt.

“No job and bill collectors was not part of the plan,” he told The Final Call. “I have a college degree and can’t find a job. I’m about to get a Christmas job with the hope that they keep me year around. I need the money.”

Mr. Stevenson’s story is becoming more common. College seniors who graduated in 2009 carried an average of $24,000 in student loan debt, up 6 percent from the previous year. Meanwhile, unemployment for recent college graduates climbed from 5.8 percent in 2008 to 8.7 percent in 2009—the highest annual rate on record for college graduates aged 20 to 24.

The Project on Student Debt’s new report, “Student Debt and the Class of 2009,” analyzed the average debt levels for the 50 states and District of Columbia and more than 1,000 public and private non-profit four year U.S. colleges and universities.

Students in the District of Columbia and New Hampshire graduated with the highest average debt levels: $30,033 and $29,443, respectively. Those in Utah and Georgia had the lowest average debt: $12,860 and $16,568 respectively.

Add high unemployment and high debt, the result is high

loan default rates.

In September, the Department of Education released new data showing that the national “cohort default rate” on federal student loans is 7.0 percent for borrowers who entered repayment in 2008, up from 6.7 percent last year. The data released measures the share of each college’s federal student loan borrowers who default within the first two years of repayment.

Since it takes at least nine months of non-payment to default, these are people who are unable to make their

loan payments very soon after leaving school. The consequences of default for students are severe and long-lasting.

The resulting debt can follow borrowers for the rest of their lives, subjecting them to harassment by collection agencies, ruining their credit, making it difficult to buy a

car or a home, limiting their job prospects, and making it impossible to get federal grants or loans to return to school. Colleges with high cohort default rates may lose the ability to offer federal grants and loans to their students.

“These new data underscore the urgent need for the Obama administration to adopt and enforce regulations to curb career education practices that leave students deep in debt they cannot repay,” said Debbie Cochrane, program director at the Institute for College Access & Success.

By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS

AP Legal Affairs Writer

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) _ A Muslim group says a 20-year-old Somali immigrant reported being attacked with pepper spray outside an Ohio mosque and that the attacker told her to leave the country.

Columbus police Sgt. Richard Weiner says officers interviewed the woman Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile, the FBI says it will likely open a civil rights investigation. FBI spokesman Mike Brooks says the results would be turned over to prosecutors for possible charges.

The Columbus chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, says a mosque security camera recorded the assault Monday.

The group says someone followed the woman to the mosque, harassed her and then attacked her with pepper spray. CAIR says the attacker also threatened to kill her and told her to leave the country.

La Opinión, News Report

LOS ANGELES -- A bill similar to Arizona’s controversial Senate Bill 1070 has been filed in California. Yesterday the California secretary of state authorized a signature drive for the “Support Federal Immigration Law Act” to be considered by voters in the next state election. Tea Party activist Michael Erickson, of Belmont, Calif., filed the proposal. The initiative would require law enforcement to verify the legal status of people they stop, even if they don’t arrest them; make it illegal to transport undocumented people, or look

for work on the street; impose heavy fines on employers who hire undocumented workers, “knowingly or unknowingly”; and mandate businesses to use the E-Verify system. It would also make sanctuary cities illegal.

In an interview with La Opinion, Erickson said he has a “network of activists, mainly from the Tea Party, will work to circulate the petitions and seek help in other communities.”

He added that this is not an attempt to target a sector of the population, since, he says, “half of the members of my executive committee are Hispanic.”

Student debt, Joblessness Rising for Recent Grads

Muslim womanreports attack near US

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SB 1070 in California?

JANUARY 2011 www.AZMuslimVoice.com12 NATIONAL

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New America Media, News Analysis, Marcelo Ballvé

Eighteen-year-old Francisco Curiel was present in the U.S. Senate chamber as the votes were tallied. His hopes alternately surged and crashed as each of the powerful legislators made their choice, “yea” or “nay,” on the DREAM Act.

The DREAM Act—or Development, Education, and Relief for Alien Minors Act—would have provided a chance at legal residency for young undocumented immigrants like Curiel who want to finish high school and go on to college or the military.

Curiel’s presence in the ornate Senate gallery the morning of Dec. 17— his hands clenching those of other undocumented immigrant students sitting with him— marked the culmination of a huge push to pass the DREAM Act this year.

But, in the end, the DREAM Act failed to win enough support to advance.

In a Saturday morning session as Congress raced to finish business before the holidays, it fell five votes short of the 60-vote “supermajority” needed to stave off a filibuster threat.

Thirty-six Republicans and five Democrats voted against advancing the DREAM Act.

Fifty Democrats, three Republicans, and two Independents voted in favor of it.

So the “DREAMers,” as the bill’s student supporters call themselves, were left asking, “Why?” and wondering what comes next.

“What is it that makes the legislators unable to see that this isn’t a favor we’re asking, but an opportunity to be allowed to contribute something?” asked Curiel after filing out of a Senate news conference.

At the conference, the DREAM Act’s proponents, including Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid, had expressed their own disappointment over the act’s defeat.

“What happened today, to me, is beyond sad, because it’s a lose-lose for everybody,” said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., the Senate’s only Latino member, pointed to the disproportionate number of “nay” votes coming from Republicans,

and said he was “disheartened” by this partisanship.

But what Menendez failed to mention was that if all Democrats had voted to advance the act, it would have reached the needed 60 votes required to cut off a filibuster. Partisanship was not the whole story.

However, even in the midst of the legislative post-mortem, there were signs of hope for a new DREAM Act in the future— perhaps even in next year’s Congress.

The act did pick up Republican support, including votes from outgoing Utah Sen. Bob Bennett, Sen. Lisa Murkoswski of Alaska, Indiana’s

Dick Lugar.

Sen. Bennett has even said recently that Republican colleagues in the lower house (where Republicans will have a majority beginning next year) are unhappy with the “specifics” of current DREAM legislation but might write their own version of the bill and send it up to the Senate next year.

“And as I’ve talked, particularly to my Republican friends, I’ve said we really need to do this,” Bennett said in a Dec. 10 news conference. “Their reaction has been to me, privately, ‘You’re right. We do really need to do it.’”

In other words, Republicans might line up behind a version of the DREAM Act if it is not identified with the Democrats and they can attach the Republican “brand” to it, winning over Latinos and immigrant votes as a result. The DREAM Act could also return as part of a larger comprehensive immigration reform package, which is what some Republicans said they would like to see.

The current DREAM Act attaches a series of conditions to granting legal residency to undocumented immigrant high school graduates.

The act gives students an incentive to pursue higher education or military careers. But it also makes it more feasible, since legal residency will allow them access to scholarships and loans that they are not currently eligible for, even if they excel academically.

The act requires that qualifying young people establish that they were younger than 16 years old when they entered the country, a way of determining that it was their parents’ decision to bring them into the country

illegally, not their own. Only those 29 years of age or younger at the time of the bill’s passage would benefit.

Finally, the bill requires a clean criminal record, and a high school diploma or GED equivalent in order for legal residency to be awarded.

If all of these conditions are met, then, under the program, undocumented immigrants who enroll in college (including community college and vocational schools) or enlist in the military would be granted conditional legal residency for 10 years.

After that conditional period, they could apply for citizenship.

The Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan Washington, D.C. think tank, estimates that roughly 800,000 young people would benefit from the current version of the bill.

Those who oppose the DREAM Act give various reasons. Some say that it’s an attempt to pander to Hispanics with a watered-down immigration

amnesty that rewards illegal behavior -- even if the young immigrants were not responsible for it. Others argue that it is undesirable because it would enlarge the pool of those eligible for U.S. citizenship, since any student who gains citizenship could apply for relatives to enter the country legally under family reunification policies.

Supporters insist that the immigration status of the “DREAMers” is no fault of their own, and argue that the act would help boost the country’s economy and security by allowing a diverse set of educated youth to contribute fully.

Outside of the political wrangling in Washington, D.C., the larger question is what the next steps should be for the “DREAMers.”

Curiel, who attends high school in Queens, New York, says they should embrace the 55-vote result as a milestone, and keep working.

“We have the power. We just need to keep moving forward,” said Curiel, who is a youth organizer at Make the Road New York, an immigrant advocacy group in Queens.

Saturday’s vote was not just a peak moment in Curiel’s journey, which began when he arrived in the United States, and continued through years of schooling in New York’s immigrant-filled public classrooms.

The DREAM Act vote was also a high-water mark for a movement. Over the last year, immigrant rights grassroots organizations at the state and local level have pushed a great deal of money and time into helping student groups and youth organizers build a base for the legislation.

The DREAM Act has become a household word in immigrant communities and multilingual media.

Immigrant youth groups and allied organizations have flooded Capitol Hill switchboards with messages in favor of the DREAM Act, while young activists have risked arrest and deportation in public demonstrations around the country.

The DREAM Act constituency vows to press on with such actions.

“Today we mourn, but tomorrow we shift back into gear to fight for justice and inclusion in America,” said a prepared statement from Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Illinois, the act’s main backer in the lower house, who is a hero to the “DREAMers.”

Dreamers Wonder What’s Next

2011

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JANUARY 2011www.AZMuslimVoice.com 13INTERNATIONAL

By BARBARA SURK and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA

Associated Press

BAGHDAD (AP) _ Parliament swore in a new Iraqi government Tuesday after nine months of bitter political haggling, solidifying the grip that Shiites have held on political power since Saddam Hussein’s ouster while leaving open the question of whether the country’s disgruntled Sunni minority will play a meaningful role.

The new government led by incumbent Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki got off to a shaky start as disagreements among coalition partners prevented al-Maliki from naming some of his more than 40 Cabinet ministers. And this fragile coalition must address enormous and pressing challenges such as the heavy cost of rebuilding from the devas tation seven years of war has wrought and lingering sectarian tensions that periodically explode into violence.

Another urgent priority will be leading the country through the withdrawal of American troops, scheduled for the end of next year. More than 4,400 American troops and tens of thousands of Iraqis died in a war that has yet to bring stability and prosperity to this oil-rich Middle Eastern nation.

Lawmakers approved about 30 ministers including al-Maliki to form the new government. The remainder of the 42-member Cabinet is made up of acting ministers who will be replaced at a later date because of ongoing disputes between coalition partners.

``The most difficult task in the world is forming a national unity government in a country where there is a diversity of ethnic, sectarian and political backgrounds,’’ al-Maliki said speaking before the vote.

He vowed to create a government that would combat terrorism, address the still-festering sectarian divisions and repair relations with neighboring, Sunni-dominated Arab countries, who are largely suspicious of the Shiite-led government.

The new Cabinet members were immediately sworn in following the nationally televised vote that approved them.

President Barack Obama called the government formation a ``significant moment’’ in the country’s

history and a `major step forward.’’ Obama also said it was a ``clear rejection’’ of sectarian extremism.

A spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described it as `à major step forward in Iraq’s democratic progress’’ while calling on the new government to now get to work on national reconciliation, reconstruction and long-term stability.

Iraqis elections on March 7 did not give any single bloc a majority in the 325-member parliament, leading to nine months of political jockeying to form the new government. Although al-Maliki’s coalition came in a close second to a Sunni-backed coalition led by former prime minister Ayad Allawi, it was al-Maliki who was able to eventually p atch together the necessary support needed to keep his office.

The new government includes members of all of Iraq’s major political and sectarian factions, including Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds.

The vote Tuesday was largely a display of unity that belies the still festering problems between the Shiite majority and the Sunni minority that used to make up the backbone of the insurgency. Sunnis dominated the regime under Saddam.

Allawi, who at one point had vowed to never join an al-Maliki-led government, told lawmakers ahead of the vote that his bloc of 91 lawmakers would support and cooperate with the new government.

One of the key questions leading up to the government formation was the role that the Sunni-backed Iraqiya coalition would play. U.S. officials had lobbied heavily for Allawi to be included in some fashion, fearing that leaving him and the Iraqiya coalition out of the government entirely or excluding them from meaningful roles would incite a return to the type of sectarian violence that at one point almost tore the country apart.

Allawi is slated to head a new council overseeing foreign policy and security related issues but there are already disagreements between his coalition and al-Maliki’s about how much power the council will have.

Iraqiya only recently dropped its long-standing demand that Allawi should have the first shot at forming the government. Allawi’s concession came after he was assured that Sunnis will not be excluded

from the government.

Other members of Iraqiya to garner top Cabinet posts were Saleh al-Mutlaq, who will be deputy prime minister and Rafia al-Issawi, who will be finance minister.

Kurdish lawmaker Hoshyar Zebari will hold onto the influential foreign ministry post.

But some of the ministries are still to be decided, reflecting the challenges al-Maliki faces including all the country’s sects and political affiliations in the new government. He has named acting ministers to fill those ministries after disputes with his erstwhile Sadrist allies about who among the Sadrists would get Cabinet posts.

It was al-Sadr’s support _ in a deal brokered by Iran _ that largely enabled al-Maliki to build the framework for a majority coalition.

The Sadrist alliance holds 40 of parliament’s 325 seats. Their partnership with al-Maliki has always been tenuous, and came as a surprise because the two had been enemies since 2008 when the prime minister launched an offensive crushing al-Sadr’s militia in eastern Baghdad and the southern city of Basra.

The ministries still to be decided include the critical defense, interior and national security posts. Those positions are closely watched in Iraq for any sign that they are being abused by one side or another across the sectarian divide.

The role of the those positions will become even more important as Iraq takes over more security responsibilities from American troops who are scheduled to leave the country by the end of next year.

In addition to his role as prime minister, al-Maliki will also serve as acting defense, interior and national security minister.

The Iraqiya alliance narrowly defeated al-Maliki at the March election, garnering 91 seats to al-Maliki’s 89 seats. But after months of wrangling, Iraqiya could never find enough support to form a majority government.

Al-Maliki has served as prime minister since May 2006.

Iraq finally has a new government

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JANUARY 2011 www.AZMuslimVoice.com14

MAGGIE MICHAEL

Associated Press

CAIRO (AP) _ Egyptian authorities have charged a local businessman and two Israelis for recruiting agents in Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon to spy for Israeli intelligence, a State Security prosecutor said Monday.

Prosecutor Hisham Badawi told reporters that a businessman named Tarek Hassan was arrested in August and has now been charged with harming the country’s national interests. Two other Israelis have been charged in absentia.

Hassan allegedly received $7,500 dollars to search for potential agents working for telecommunication companies in the three countries that could spy for Israel.

Over the last few months, Lebanon has also repeatedly accused Israeli intelligence of attempting to spy on and infiltrate its telecommunication networks.

Israel said that it had no information about the case.

``We are not familiar with the charges,’’ said Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesman Yigal Palmor. ``We will have to look into it in order to understand what this is all about.’’

Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace agreement with Israel in 1979, however, relations have been cool and Egyptian authorities have since periodically arrested and convicted people of spying for the Jewish state.

Earlier media quoted unnamed security officials saying that four Egyptians had been arrested for spying for Israel as well as gathering information about tourists in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. There were also two Israelis involved in this version of events and both involved infiltrating telecommunications companies.

The discrepancies between the two versions could not be immediately resolved.

News about the longstanding case came out as Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak publicly criticized Israel for causing a stalemate in peace talks with the Palestinians.

Egypt charges businessman for spying for Israel

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By MOHAMED OSMAN

Associated Press

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) _ Sudan’s president has vowed to more deeply entrench strict Islamic Sharia law in the northern half of his country if the predominantly animist and Christian south votes to secede in a Jan. 9 referendum.

President Omar al-Bashir’s comments on Sunday appear to reflect his anger at the strong likelihood that the south will vote overwhelmingly in favor of independence from the mainly Arab and Muslim north in the long-awaited referendum. The vote is a key provision agreed on in the 2005 peace accord that officially ended more than two decades of north-south civil war.

Al-Bashir will meet the leaders of Sudan’s two most powerful neighbors _ Egypt and Libya _ in the capital Khartoum Tuesday to discuss the future of his country ahead of the referendum. Al-Bashir is wanted on an international indictment for war crimes in the western Sudanese region of Darfur.

With only three weeks left before the vote, al-Bashir appears to be resigned to the secession of the south and also prepared to do away with key provisions of the 2005 peace accord that recognizes Sudan’s ethnic, religious and linguistic diversity.

The secession of the south, he said, would be like ``losing a part of the homeland, but it will not be the end of the world.’’

`Ìf the south breaks away, God forbid, the constitution will be

amended to have Sharia (Islamic law) as the main source of legislation, Islam the official religion of the state and Arabic the state’s main language,’’ said al-Bashir, who came to office in a 1989 military coup backed by Islamists.

A full-fledged implementation of Sharia law in northern Sudan could create a new point of friction between south and north because hundreds of thousands of non-Muslim southerners live in the north and many of them were expected to stay there even if the south breaks away. Currently, non-Muslims are exempt from harsh, prescribed Sharia puni shments.

Al-Bashir’s comments could be an attempt to cover up his failure to keep Sudan united and intact, according to Sudanese analyst Fayez Selik.

`Àl-Bashir is saying to the north: we lost the south but we won Sharia,’’ said Selik, editor of the pro-south daily Ajras al-Hurriya, or Freedom Bells.

Al-Bashir could also be seeking to rally extremist Islamic groups behind him, he said.

Sharia law was first introduced in Sudan in 1983 and it fueled a southern insurgency in its early years. Authorities soon relaxed implementation, but began to be strictly apply it again when al-Bashir came to power. It was relaxed again after the 2005 peace accord.

Al-Bashir is expected to meet Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and southern Sudanese leader Salva Kiir in Khartoum on Tuesday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed

Aboul Gheit said in Cairo Monday.

Aboul Gheit told reporters the meeting was designed to ensure that the referendum is held in a ``climate of freedom, transparency and credibility, reflecting the will of the sons of the south’’ and that the south and north build strong ties.

Aboul Gheit also said that the summit would review some of the outstanding issues between the two Sudanese sides, such as the demarcation of the border and the future of the oil-rich area of Abyei on the border between north and south Sudan.

Both Libya and Egypt view Sudan as their strategic backyard and would want to see the breakup of their southern neighbor to be peaceful and avoid any massive flow of refugees into their territory as a result of any renewed fighting.

While Libya sees Sudan as a vital piece of its Africa-focused foreign policy, there is much more at stake there for Egypt, the most populous Arab nation.

Sudan lies astride the middle reaches of the Nile, the primary source of water for mainly desert Egypt. The White Nile, one of the river’s two main tributaries, runs through south Sudan.

Egypt fears an independent south Sudan may come under the influence of rival Nile basin nations like Ethiopia that have been complaining Egypt uses more than its fair share of the river’s water.

``Guaranteeing our water needs and safeguarding our Nile resources are a central component of our vision for the future,’’ Mubarak told his parliament on Sunday.

Sudan leader vows to bolster Islamic law in north

JANUARY 2011www.AZMuslimVoice.com 15

By SELCAN HACAOGLU

Associated Press

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) _ Turkey on Tuesday slammed a maritime border accord between Cyprus and Israel, saying it was ``null and void’’ because it disregards the rights and jurisdiction of Turkish Cypriots on the island.

The agreement, signed last week, was aimed at facilitating the search for mineral deposits in the east Mediterranean, where huge natural gas reserves have been discovered by a U.S. firm.

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement it has no claims on the areas subject to the agreement, but ``Turkish Cypriots have also rights and jurisdiction over the maritime areas of the island of Cyprus.’’ It said the Greek Cypriot government should not unilaterally sign international agreements without a solution to the division of th e island.

Cyprus was split into a Greek Cypriot south and a Turkish Cypriot north in 1974 when Turkey invaded in response to a coup by supporters of a union with Greece. The island joined the European Union in 2004, but only the internationally recognized south enjoys membership benefits. Turkey only recognizes the breakaway north where it maintains 35,000 troops.

Talks aimed at reunifying the island have produced only limited progress since they began more than two years ago.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry statement said countries in the regions should not back moves ``that would have a negative impact on the comprehensive settlement negotiations’’ and that `àgreements signed by the Greek

Cypriots with countries of the region are null and void for Turkey.’’

Turkey does not recognize the Greek Cypriot government as representing the entire island and its ties with Israel have been strained over a deadly Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla in May. Turkey withdrew its ambassador from Tel Aviv after Israel killed nine Turkish activists on board a ship that aimed to break Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Turkey stated that it ``does not have any claim regarding the maritime areas,’’ subject to the demarcation agreement.

Cyprus has licensed Noble Energy to explore an 800,000-acre area bordering Israeli waters where massive gas fields have been found under the seabed. Two fields, Tamar and Dalit, discovered last year, are due to start producing in 2012, and experts say their estimated combined reserves of 5.5 trillion cubic feet (160 billion cubic meters) o f natural gas can cover Israel’s energy needs for the next two decades.

Cyprus says there are currently no estimates on gas reserves inside the Cypriot zone because drilling has yet to begin.

Turkey, however, has claims in other maritime areas surrounding Cyprus, which struck similar agreements with Egypt and Lebanon, but the Lebanese parliament has yet to ratify the deal.

Turkey objects to any Greek Cypriot search for oil and gas inside the island’s 51,000 square-kilometer (17,000 sq. mile) exclusive economic zone off its southern coast, saying it also has rights and interests in the area.

Turkey, meanwhile, is considering plans to start oil and gas exploration off the coast of northern Cyprus.

The Department of State is pleased to announce the introduction of a redesigned Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA, or Form FS-240). The redesigned CRBA, which is an official record confirming that a child born abroad to a U.S. citizen parent or parents acquired U.S. citizenship at birth and serves as proof of citizenship, has been updated with a variety of state-of-the-art security features to help prevent fraud and identity theft. Beginning January 18, 2011, overseas posts will still document the citizenship of children born overseas to U.S.-citizen parents, but the CRBAs will be printed at our passport agencies in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and New Orleans, Louisiana, using the information provided by overseas posts. By centralizing production and eliminating the distribution of controlled blank stock throughout the world, we will help ensure uniform quality and lessen the possibility of fraud. Additionally, the Department will no longer issue the DS-1350 Certification of Report of Birth Abroad. Instead, the Department will simply provide new FS-240s in response to requests for additional, replacement, or amended CRBAs. In order to upgrade our systems for this change, the Embassy is suspending CRBA adjudication from January 1 through January 18, 2011. CRBA applications submitted during that time will be adjudicated after January 18.

U.S. citizens living or traveling in Lebanon are encouraged to enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, or STEP, through the State Department’s STEP website, https://

travelregistration.state.gov/ibrs/ui/, so that they can obtain updated information on travel and security within Lebanon. Americans without Internet access may enroll directly with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate.

You can also get global updates at the U.S. Department of State’s, Bureau of Consular Affairs website where you can find the current Worldwide Caution, Travel Warnings, Travel Alerts, and Country Specific Information. If you don’t have internet access, we have a call center for updates--1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the U.S. and Canada, or outside the U.S. and Canada on a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444. These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).

The U.S. Embassy is located in Awkar, near Antelias, Lebanon. Public access hours for U.S. citizens are Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. U.S. citizens may e-mail [email protected] if they have questions about services provided by the section; they may also call 04 543 600 and ask for the American Citizens Services Section Mondays through Fridays between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Any U.S. citizen in need of emergency services outside these hours may contact the Embassy by telephone at any time. The telephone numbers are (961-4) 542-600, 543-600, and fax 544-209. Information is available on the Embassy’s website at http://lebanon.usembassy.gov. The Arabic language website is http://arabic.lebanon.usembassy.gov/.

Turkey criticizesCyprus-Israel maritime accord

Report of Birth AbroadU.S. Dept of State

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JANUARY 2011 www.AZMuslimVoice.com16 FAMILY / ISLAM

Choosing a Career: The Clash Between Our Children’s Goals and Our Goals for Them

Tips for Quran Memorization

“Nineteen-year-old college student commits suicide because he received a C in Biology.”

Although this was not an actual headline, it could have been. Over the years, we have seen suicides by students for similar reasons.

Parent’ Expectations

Parents often have very high academic and career expectations for their children, which some children cannot live up to. Unfortunately, in some societies concern about disappointing one’s parents is a tragedy the student cannot deal with, so he kills himself.

I remember an engineering student who lived next door to me when I was in college. He used to study all of the time, and it was rare to see him. Once I told him that he must love engineering to work so hard for it. He said that he didn’t really want to be an engineer, but that’s what his parents wanted him to be. He really wanted to be a

photographer.

Children’s Interests

This is not an uncommon situation. A child has a field of study that he is interested in, but the parent has a totally different goal for him. The child wants to be an artist; his parents want him to go to med-school and become a doctor. The child wants to be a political scientist; his parents want him to be an engineer. This clash seems to be especially prevalent in immigrant Muslim families.

In some cases, the parents mean well. They want their children to work in a profession in which they have a good chance of succeeding economically. They feel that the social sciences and arts in general do not offer as much potential for financial success as do engineering, medicine, business, and law. And they are right. However, many young people do not place the same priority on getting a high salary as their parents do. They might be more interested

in a lower paying career that matches their interests or that provides spiritual, emotional, psychological, or social rewards, rather than monetary ones.

All Halal Occupations are Honorable in Islam

Unfortunately, many parents may want their children to work in a highly paid and prestigious field because of social snobbery or as a form of competition with their friends and relatives whose children may be studying or working in a prestigious field. In Living With Teenagers: A Guide for Muslim Parents, Ruqaiyyah Waris Maqsood writes:

“Sometimes parents are rather snobbish---they only tend to think in terms of the highly paid, skilled salaried jobs for their offspring. Whereas it is true that Islam encourages every person to seek the most knowledge that they can, and to aim as high as they can, any social snobbery is totally against the spirit of Islam, which gives dignity to every

honorable employment, no matter how lowly.

Parents have therefore to watch out that they do not push him or her above their capabilities. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, taught that there is no room in Islam for snobbery. The man who works as a simple porter or road-sweeper has as much right to his dignity as the manager of a great business concern (particularly in this age when the manager is deeply immersed in banking and interest transactions which are forbidden). What counts is honesty, and the attitude to the work one is doing.

Since society needs rubbish collectors just as much as brain surgeons, nobody need regard any useful employment as being beneath them---the prophet Dawud was a shepherd and a metalworker, Nuh and Isa were carpenters, and Musa was a shepherd, peace be upon them, and Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him

peace, was a trader. Islam actually gave dignity to many professions which people had previously considered lowly and degrading, including, incidentally, being a housewife.”

A Career: More than Financial Security

In the past, just having a job and being able to support oneself and one’s family was essential. People often went into the same profession as their father. A farmer’s son became a farmer. A carpenter’s son became a carpenter. Opportunities to advance or to go into a field of one’s choice were quite rare. Today, we have a totally different situation. People have a much greater choice in the career they pursue. A career is no longer just a means of financially supporting one’s family; it is a major part of one’s life. To be trapped in a career one hates can be very difficult. To have a job one loves and enjoys can be one of life’s great joys.

1- Correcting Pronunciation and Recitation:

The first step in memorizing the Qur’an is to correct the pronunciation. This cannot be fulfilled unless one listens to a good and precise reciter or memorizer of the Qur’an.

The Qur’an cannot be learned without a teacher. Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, was the most eloquent of all the Arabs. Yet, he learnt the Qur’an from Angel Jibreel (Gabriel) orally. Also the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, used to recite the Qur’an to Jibreel once in every year - in Ramadan. And in the year that he died, he recited it to him twice.

Likewise, Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, taught the Qur’an to his Companions orally; and he heard it from them, after they had learned it from him, time and again.

Therefore, one is required to learn the Qur’an from a good reciter, to correct one’s recitation on a first basis. Also, one should not rely solely on oneself in learning the recitation of the Qur’an, even if one is knowledgeable of the Arabic language and its principles. This is so because in the Qur’an there are many verses that occur in a way uncommon in the rules of the Arabic language.

2- Adhering to a daily Limit for Memorizing the Qur’an:

One must set a daily limit for some verses of Surahs (Chapters) of the Qur’an that one wishes to memorize. This limit should be reasonable and possible to fulfill. It varies in its amount from one person to another.

One should resist the temptation to move to a new portion of the Qur’an before perfecting the memorization of the current portion that agrees with the set limit. This is a disciplinary measure that helps one concentrate on one thing at a time, reducing interruption, and enabling one to firmly establish one’s current portion in one’s mind.

3- Continual Recitation and Revision:

Once one has corrected one’s recitation and set one’s daily limit, one should begin his memorization process by continual recitation and repetition of one’s daily portion.

The memorizer must occupy himself with this through the hours of the day and night. He should recite it:

-in the Fard (obligatory) as well the Nafl (optional) prayers,

-while sitting in the Masjid (mosque) awaiting the Jama’ah (congregational) prayer,

-for a few minutes after the Jama’ah prayer,

-before going to sleep,

-while waiting for anything (bus, dentist, etc.),

-while riding a bus, car, etc.

In this way, it is possible for a person to practice his memorization even when occupied with other matters, because one is not restricted to just one specific time for memorizing the Qur’an. And

with approach of night one will find that one’s set limit is memorized and firmly established in one’s mind. And if something unusual happens to occupy the memorizer during the day, preventing him from completing the set limit, one should not move onto the next portion of the Qur’an on the following day. Rather, one should continue with what one had started the day before, until the memorization is perfected.

4- Reciting in a Melodic Tone:

During memorization, one should recite the Qur’an in a melodic tone, beautifying the reading as much as possible. It is important the one reads melodically because of the following reasons:

5- Using the Same Copy of the Qur’an (Mushaf):

A memorizer of Qur’an should have a specific Mushaf (copy of the Qur’an) from

which he reads all the time. A person memorizes using vision as he does using hearing. The script and form of the verses, and their places in the Mushaf leave an imprint in the mind when they are recited and looked at frequently.

6- Understanding Is the Way to Memorizing the Qur’an:

An important thing that greatly aids the process of memorizing the Qur’an is to understand the meaning of the verses one is memorizing, and know how they are linked to each other. Thus the memorizer should read the Tafsir (explanation) of the verses that he desires to memorize, and should bring their meanings to mind

while he is reciting them. This makes it easy easier for him to remember them.

Knowing the meaning of the verses is extremely important for memorizing the Qur’an, and to increase the rewards of reciting the Qur’an. However, one should not merely rely on this for memorization. Rather, as explained earlier, the repetition of these verses should be the foundation. He should repeat them many times, until the tongue can recite them easily - even if the mind drifts away from the meaning. As for the one who relies upon the meaning alone, he will forget often, and his recitation will be disrupted as soon as his mind wanders, which is a common occurrence with lengthy readings.

7- Linking the Verses:

As one completes memorizing a full Surah, one should perfect it by connecting its verses together, both in meaning and

in the flow of his tongue easily through them.

One should be able to recite the verses without having to think or go through trouble remembering them. Reciting these verses should become as easy for him as the flow of water. He should be able to recite them without hesitation, even if his mind wanders away from their meaning.

When the verses are well linked and perfected, one should be able recite them almost as easily as one recites Surat al-Fatihah. This only occurs through repeating these verses frequently and reciting them often.

8- Reciting to Others:

A memorizer should not rely on memorizing individually. Rather, he should test his memorization by reciting the verses to a companion who knows them by heart, or who can follow from the Mushaf. It would be most recommended that this companion be a precise memorizer himself - he would then be able to alert him to possible subtle errors, as well as prompting him when he forgets or makes mistakes.

9- Constant Review of What Has Been Memorized:

Qur’an is different from any other material that one memorizes, whether poetry or prose. It quickly evaporates from one’s mind. Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “By Him in whose Hand is my soul, it (the Qur’an) is more likely to escape than tied camels.” No sooner would a memorizer leave what he finished memorizing, even for a short while, than it starts slipping away from him - he quickly forgets it! Thus, it is necessary for one to follow up to what one has memorized in a constant and careful manner.

10- Watching for Analogous Sections of the Qur’an:

Various parts of the Qur’an resemble each other in meaning, wording, or repetition of verses. The Qur’an consists of more than six thousand verses. Of those approximately two thousand carry some sort of resemblance to others. The resemblance varies from total coincidence, to a difference in one letter, a word or two, or more.

Thus a good reciter of the Qur’an should direct special attention to the verses that resemble each other in wording. The excellence of one’s memorization depends on this watchfulness in this regard.

JANUARY 2011www.AZMuslimVoice.com 17HEALTH

Final Call, News Report, Starla Muhammad

“To see our people in all of the convenience stores in our community, all of them have a bunch of garbage, there’s no fresh fruit, no fresh vegetables,” Chicago resident and community activist Derek Covington told The Final Call.

Lack of availability and access to healthy and nutritious foods, an overall food shortage and its correlation to sickness, disease and even death has sparked a need for a united effort to address these critical issues.

Activists, educators, religious institutions, non-profit organizations and ordinary citizens are tackling what has been deemed America’s “urban food and health crisis” head-on by planting community gardens block by block in backyards, vacant lots, parks, front stoops, rooftops, windowsills or any available patch of open space.

Seeing children with bags of potato chips and hot Cheetos for breakfast as opposed to an apple or banana is one of the reasons Mr. Covington supports community gardening. “And then we’re constantly worried about our cost of living but it would take us maybe $2 to plant a year’s worth of charred spinach or squash.”

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2007, 36.2 million U.S. households were considered food insecure, that number increased to 49.1 million in 2008. The USDA defines food insecurity as limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways. The national average of food insecure households in 2008 was 14.6 percent and the numbers vary by household type with Black and Latino households at 25.7 and 26.9 percent respectively.

Growing tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers and fresh herbs in the midst of bricks and concrete of a bustling metropolis, is not only feasible, but according to urban agriculturalists, this sustainable agriculture movement is the only way to combat a growing food and health crisis in this country.

Poor communities not only lack access to healthy food but in many cases there is little to no food available.

“There has never been a greater social and environmental need for community gardening,” shared Vicki Garrett, an organic gardener and projects coordinator of the American Community Gardening Association, based in Columbus, Ohio. The economic situation is leading to more hungry people. Food pantries and homeless shelters are struggling to keep up, said Ms. Garrett in an e-mail to The Final Call.

Poor diet, inferior foods equal sickness, increased care costs

People living in neighborhoods crowded with fast food and convenience stores but relatively few grocery or produce outlets are at significantly higher risk of suffering from obesity and diabetes, says the UCLA Center For Health Policy Research.

For Blacks in America, it is cause for greater alarm as statistics reflect that although making up only 13 percent of the population, Black adults are twice as likely to be diagnosed and suffer from heart disease, stroke, diabetes and obesity, all of which can be reduced dramatically by healthier eating and lifestyle change.

In 2008 obesity-related healthcare costs were approximately $147 billion. According to some estimates, that number could potentially escalate to $344 billion per year by 2018, or roughly 21 percent of total U.S. health costs. Data released by the Centers for Disease Control suggests that in adults, Blacks have a 51 percent higher prevalence of obesity than Whites. For youth, the prevalence for obesity among Blacks ages 12 to 19 increased from 38.7 percent in 2001-2002 to 49 percent in 2008-2009.

Let’s Move, the national campaign to combat childhood obesity, spearheaded by First Lady Michelle Obama has become her personal crusade to address this issue. “Most folks don’t grow their own food the way many of our parents and grandparents did.A lot of folks also just don’t have the time to cook at home on a regular basis.So instead, they wind up grabbing fast food or something from the corner store or the mini-mart—places that have few, if any, healthy options,” said Mrs. Obama to the NAACP National Convention in Kansas City, Mo., earlier this year.

Among the several recommendations the Let’s Move task force endorses is the planting of community gardens. Mrs. Obama, leading by example, helped plant a vegetable garden with D.C. area youth on the

grounds of the White House in 2009.

Back to nature and better health

“I look at gardening as a way to help save our people, point blank,” notes Nathan Muhammad, a self-described agricultural engineer whose company specializes in the design and installation of gardens for corporate and residential clients.

Urban gardening or sustainable agriculture is becoming increasingly important because our reliance on outside interests and conglomerate retailers put a very vital need in jeopardy, he explained.

“There is a need for environmentally-conscious community members to become involved in sustainable gardening or agriculture projects in their neighborhoods,” Mr. Muhammad told The Final Call. The interest and popularity of gardening is also on the rise observe some.

According to Vicki Garrett, new membership in the American Community Gardening Association, has almost doubled over the last year and e-mails and phone calls have increased around 20 percent. “Web hits in 2008 were listed as 17,000 per month and they’ve been around 350,000 per month recently,” said Ms. Garrett.

Fifteen percent of the world’s food is now grown in urban areas, said the United States Department of Agriculture. According to one source, there are as many as 18,000 community gardens in the U.S. and Canada alone, which can yield $500 to $1,200 worth of produce per year for a single family.

A personal or community garden is a way for people, especially the poor, to become more self-sufficient said Mr. Muhammad and though it takes work, the benefits are well worth it. People can begin with a small container garden or planting herbs and even vegetables in small pots. Neither option takes up much space and “it’s no harder than maintaining a flower bed,” Mr. Muhammad explained.

Those who grow their own food have an added sense of security about what is going into their body for optimum health, say community garden advocates.

“Even before the economy became so bad, poor quality food from anonymous producers led to consumer concern about the sources of their food,” noted Ms. Garret

Food, Urban Farms and Our Survival

Confused about your immigration status? Concerned about immigration delays?

The Council on American Islamic Relations – Arizona Chapter (CAIR‐AZ)

In cooperation with

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Cordially invites you to attend the following event

AN IMMIGRATION TOWNHALL MEETING @

The Islamic Center of N. E. Valley – 12125 E. Via Linda – Scottsdale, AZ 85260

SATURDAY–January08,2011

3:00PM–5:00PM

FeaturingPhoenix District Office Director John Kramar

Immigration 101 presentation by USCIS officers Hands-on workshops on how to schedule and conduct interviews

Q&A and more

Due to limited capacity…RESERVEASEATTODAY

To reserve a seat, please send your name and phone number to: [email protected] you need help in translation, please state your language of preference (e.g. Arabic, Urdu, Farsi, etc.)

This event is free and open to the public Please invite your family and friends

CONTACT: Event Organizer Dr Mohammed Abu Hannoud, E-Mail [email protected]; CAIR-

AZ Chairman Anas Hlayhel, E-Mail: [email protected]; CAIR-AZ Office Director Tayyibah Amatullah, 602-262-2247, or 602-312-2223, E-Mail: [email protected]

Call: Design Express602-258-7770

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480-945-2558New Office Location By Nov.19th Airport Business Center 441 South 48th St. Suite 102 Tempe, AZ 85281

Green Beans Salad with Crushed Wheat

Food RecipesShrimps with Tomato Sauce

and Tamarinda

By Chef Osama

Ingredients

1 Hard crushed wheat

1 ½ Cup hot chicken stock

4 Cup green bean

1 Minced onion

1 red, green and yellow pepper cubes

4 minced and peeled potato

1 Tablespoon minced basil

1 Tablespoon minced mint

½ Cup minced parsley

½ Cup minced and grilled red pepper

1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1/2 Cup olive oil

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Method

- Wash crushed wheat and filtered. Add up to the boiled stock and then covered. Keep it aside for 20-30 min.

- Boil the green bean or steam then add to chilled water then filter it.

- Heat oil in a pan. Add onion until change color, add pepper and stir.

- Add tomato and stir. Get the mixture away from heat.

- Mix basil, mint, parsley, grilled pepper, vinegar, oil, lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.

- Mix up all the ingredients and covered. Serve cold

By Chef Osama

Ingredients

1 teaspoon ground mustard

1 teaspoon ground carnation

1 teaspoon ground dry coriander

1 teaspoon cumin powder

Salt and Pepper

½ teaspoon chili powder

1 kilo skinned shrimps with tails

2 Table spoon coco-nut oil (optional)

For the Sauce

1 chopped onion

1 chopped fresh ginger

1 teaspoon hot green pepper (optional)

2 tablespoon concentrated tamarind

2 tablespoon tomato sauce

1 cup tomato juice

1 cup coco-nut milk

1 cup shrimps or fish stock

Method

• Mix ground mustard with carnation, coriander, cumin, turmeric, salt, pepper and chili powder. Mix and season shrimps with it. Fry a little in oil and bring to half cooked.

• To make the sauce mix onion with ginger in a bowl. Add green pepper, tamarind, tomato sauce, tomato juice, mix well.

• Add tomato sauce, tamarind to the shrimps and mix.

• Add coco-nut milk and stock. Mix well and simmer on low heat until shrimps are cooked.

• Remove shrimps from sauce, and simmer the sauce on low heat to stand.

• Serve shrimps with tomato sauce and tamarind and cooked white rice.

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ذين في قال تعالى )والذين هم على صالتهم دائمون والعلوم للسال والمحروم( وسيجزي اهلل المحسنين اموالهم حق م

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What was the first Mosque built in Arizona?

The Aquila Ocotillo3195 S. Price Rd., Unit # 150 • Chandler, AZ 85248

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PHONE:480-722-0239

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M.B. Khan, M.D.Chandler Neurology & Sleep Disorders Associates P.C

The Aquila Ocotillo3195 S. Price Rd., Unit # 150 • Chandler, AZ 85248

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JANUARY 2011www.AZMuslimVoice.com 19CALENDAR / ANNOUNCEMENTS

Phoenix Prayer TimesJanuary2011•Muharram / Safar 1432 H

ISLAMIC CENTERS IN ARIZONAISLAMIC CENTERS IN ARIZONACOLORING CONTEST FOR KIDS

Hint: If the paper is too thin to color, make a Xerox copy then color it.Ages 3-12, please send a picture of yourself.

COLORING CONTEST

Name: Age: Phone: # January 2011

Send your coloring to the Muslim Voice to enter the drawing for the best picture.

December Winner

Tucson Prayer TimesJanuary2011•Muharram / Safar 1432 H

ISLAMIC WEEKEND SCHOOLSIslamic Community Center of Phoenix: Sunday at 9:45 am-1:20 pm.Islamic Cultural Center: Sunday at 10:00 amMuslim Community Mosque: Sunday at 10:00 am until 2:30 pm.Masjid Omar Saturday & Sunday from 10:00 am until 1:00 pm.ICNEV Weekend Islamic School Tel: (480) 346-2081Classes held on Sunday K thru’ grade 12 from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.ACA Weekend School Sunday 10:00 am-1:15 pm. www.azacademy.org/weekend

Sultan Education in Chandler Saturdays & Sundays - children/adults 480-593-7066Greenway Islamic Academy Tajweed, Islamic Studies, & Arabic Language 602-565-0500

DIRECTIONS TO THE ISLAMIC CULTURALCENTER CEMETERY

IN CASE OF DEATH• Call Sandy at Angel’s Burial, at 480-962-6435

• Total cost is $1,800.00

FROM THE ISLAMIC CULTURAL CENTER (ICC):

1) Go South on Forest to University Drive. Turn right.2) Go West on University to the I-10 highway. Take I-10 East.3) Proceed on I-10 East (~12 Miles). Exit at Queen Creek Rd. (EXIT #164).4) Turn right on route 347 South. Proceed for about 14 miles.5) Turn right on route 238 West. Proceed for about 8.7 miles.6) Turn right on unnamed/unpaved street after you see the street sign which reads “36 miles” and proceed to the cemetery.

Check our website for up to date information

www.tempemasjid.com

PHOENIXArizona Cultural Academy 7810 S. 42nd Pl. • Phoenix602-454-1222

Islamic Center of Arizona9032 N. 9th St. • Phoenix

Islamic Center of N. Phoenix13246 N. 23rd Ave. 85029602-371-3440

Islamic Comnty Ctr of Phx7516 N. Black Canyon Hwy. Phoenix • 602-249-0496

Muslim Community Mosque1818 N. 32nd St. • Phoenix602-306-4959

Masjid Al-Rahmah2645 E. McDowell Rd. • Phoenix602-275-5493

Masjid Muhammad Ibn Abdullah5648 N. 15th ave.Phoenix, AZ 85015602-413-5279

Al Rasoul Mosque5302 N. 35th Ave. • Phoenix602-864-1817

PEORIAGreenway Islamic Center6724 West Greenway • Peoria, AZ www.greenwaymasjid.com

TEMPEIslamic Comnty Ctr of Tempe131 E. 6th Street • Tempe480-894-6070

Masjid Al Mahdi1016 S. River Dr. • Tempe480-557-9699

Masjid Omar Bin Al-Khattab6225 S.McClintock • Tempe 480-775-6627

MESAMasjid-el-Noor 55 N. Matlock • Mesa 480-644-0074

SCOTTSDALEIslamic Center of N.E. Valley 12125 E. Via Linda • Scottsdale480-612-4044

CHANDLERMasjid AsSalam1071 N. Alma School Rd.• Chandler 480-250-7522

Islamic Center of East Valley425 N. Alma School Dr. • Chandler602-388-9900

LAVEENIslamic Center of Laveen P.O. Box 1107 • Laveen602-361-4401

MARICOPAMasjid Bilal Ibn Rabah44240 W. Maricopa/Casa-Granda Hwy Maricopa Arizona 85139 con-tact# (602)312-7913

CASA GRANDEMasjid Sajda is located c/o:The Legacy Suites540 North Cacheris CourtCasa Grande`, Arizona 85122480.332.8618

Faisel Ahmad

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Muslim Voice Jan. 2011

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