Daily Star: Muslim group urges togetherness at forum 7/2/07
link to article
By Amy L. Ashbridge
Staff Writer
ONEONTA _ The world is much like the altar cloth used at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Oneonta, a representative from a Muslim center in Sidney said Srunday.
“They are all interwoven,” said member Lokman Hoca. “It is very easy to destroy, but it is very difficult (to put back together).”
He continued, “Our intent is to bring people together.”
Several people from the Osmanli Hakkani Nakshibendi Sufi Center of Sidney Center came to the society Sunday. The Oneonta Interfaith Committee sponsored the presentation.
“We have been created differently so we can seek education and learn from each other,” Hoca said.
Hoca spoke about the center and about the Sufi order. Hoca is a vekil, which he said means representative.
The Sufi order is “a higher level of (traditionalism),” Hoca said.
He added the group is not combative.
“What we have to combat is ourselves,” Hoca said. “Our jihad is against ourselves.”
Seven people from the center came for the presentation, which also included sacred music.
About 20 people from the community attended the free presentation at 3 p.m.
Ric Chrislip of the interfaith committee said he invited the group because of the members spirit and because he thought they would have much to offer the community. He and his wife, Tina, visited the center last fall.
“They are wonderful people,” Chrislip said at the start of the presentation.
Many people don?t know much about Muslims, Hoca said. He said that happens because people only know what they are taught by others, and those doing the teaching may have limited knowledge.
“The whole world is preparing for war,” Hoca said. “We are believers, and we are preparing the world for the everlasting peace.”
Christianity and Islam have much in common, Hoca said.
“The traditions that we have in Islam are very, very similar in Christianity,” he said.
Hoca said the center is about half men and half women. Some center residents work in the area, he said, and most of the children attend public schools.
“We are not secluding ourselves from the community,” Hoca said. “We have to participate fully in the community.”
Hoca said that participation can come about in many ways, but the members wish “to serve the community.” People at the center have come from a variety of countries, Hoca said. He is from Singapore; others are from Germany, Russia, Turkey and the United States. The community has about 50 members.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/20/arts/20yusuf.html?_r=1&ref=arts&oref=login
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During his onstage interview with KCRWs music director, Nic Harcourt to be broadcast and webcast at 2:15 p.m. Thursday at www.kcrw.org Mr. Islam revealed that his return to pop might have happened sooner. In 2004, he was turned away when he tried to enter the United States because his name was on the no-fly list created to fight terrorism. With that London-to-Washington trip, Mr. Islam said on Tuesday, he was headed for Nashville, where he had booked recording sessions and musicians. The deportation led to official protests from the foreign office of Great Britain, where Mr. Islam is a citizen and has spoken repeatedly against terrorism. He was allowed into the United States this time without incident. Visiting the United States now, he said onstage, was, One small step for a man, one giant step for common sense. One of his new songs, Maybe Theres a World, envisions, an open world, borderless and wide/Where the people move from place to place and nobodys taking sides.
Mr. Stevens didnt touch a guitar for more than 20 years, he said onstage, to stay out of trouble more than anything. But when he picked one up a little over two years ago, he said, My fingers just felt at home. The 2004 tsunami inspired him to write a song, Indian Ocean, for a charity album; its a long, detailed narrative about an English family on an island holiday that takes in an orphan after the tsunami. He performed it on Tuesday night, along with another recent topical song, Little Ones, set to an old Celtic melody, with lyrics that mourn children killed in war and promise theyll go to heaven.
After nearly three decades, Mr. Islam has stepped back into a sound that Cat Stevenss old fans will find familiar. His voice is still gentle and kindly, and his stage presence is unassuming, almost humble. He still builds songs around syncopated guitar and piano vamps, like the near-calypso of Midday (Avoid City After Dark), and uses eccentric structures that give his songs a subtle lift.
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*Profanity, Violence – Viewer Discretion advised
From HAhmed, MujahadeenRyder
A News report:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emEK7t2m35Q&NR
The actual video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emEK7t2m35Q&NR
I was on this line 2-2:30AM, picking up some lunch for the next day after going home from Zikr. SubhanAllah!
An argument between two men standing in line at a street food vendor early yesterday morning turned deadly 30 minutes later when one stabbed the other to death, police said.
Police said the victim, 19, whose name could not be confirmed, and the unidentified suspect, 23, argued after one accused the other of cutting the line as they waited to buy food from a cart at the corner of 53rd Street and Sixth Avenue just before 4 a.m. A short time later, the victim and his friends encountered the suspect a few blocks away at 53rd Street and Seventh Avenue, where they once again exchanged words.
The dispute turned deadly the third time the two crossed paths near the corner of 52nd Street and Seventh Avenue, when the victim was stabbed in the chest at about 4:17 a.m., according to police.
The suspect jumped into a white Lexus and fled.
Police responding to the scene put out a description of the car, and officers on patrol were able to pick up the suspect for questioning at 26th Street and First Avenue. No arrests have been made.
EMS workers took the victim to St. Vincent’s Hospital Manhattan, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
You may access and bookmark SunniSearch here: http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=016938821703299
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I don’t like that the homepage mentions my name, but oh well.
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