Time Square Bomber: Theological Confusion & Hypocrisy in Action
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yursil-kidwai/time-square-bomber-theolo_b_752582.html
The media sensation around the Muslim cemetery in Upstate New York has been missing an important focus. The personal one.
While Bob McCartney’s been quoted as saying, “You can’t bury Grandma under the picnic table in the backyard…”, this national issue isn’t about elderly grandmas who lived full lives, but two individuals and families who experienced tragic loss of their young sons. These were young men who died at age 28 and 30.
In this article, I want to highlight a little information about Amir Celoski, who was the first to be buried at the Osmanli Naksibendi Dergahi.
Amir Celoski lived in Haledon, NJ running the family masonry business. He was a great talker, and he was so likable that people would trust his ability to do a job on sight.
I first met him at an event hosted by students of Sheikh Abdul Kerim at Columbia University, Amir attended because he was looking to learn about Islam. He was always looking to learn but never looking to teach, such people are by their very natures, the best teachers in life.
When he met Sheikh Abdul Kerim al-Kibrisi, he fell in love immediately. He dedicated his life from that point on to serving the community. The following is a video of his initiation into the Osmanli Naksibendi Sufi Way:
He went to the Dergah and to the Sheikh for spiritual satisfaction. And even in his New Jersey home, he put pictures and reminders all over to allow him to remember the place that he considered home, the Osmanli Naksibendi Dergahi in Sidney Center, NY.
At the Dergah, he was always light-hearted and knew how to keep everyone’s spirits up.
He loved weddings, breaking out into the traditional dances and even some not-so-traditional ones.
At the same time, he knew how to work hard. Not only the ultimate salesman, he was great at masonry itself, and he would volunteer hours upon hours upstate at the Dergah in Sidney Center to build stone walls, steps, stone floors, and make beautiful stream paths. We walk on his hard work every day.
At least once a week he would drive three hours to reach Sidney Center. His vehicle was often his heavy masonry truck which he used for his business. Every trip cost him a pretty penny just in gas.
He would focus, as the Sheikh taught, on his own mortality, and he worked hard to ensure that he considered every day his potential last. This focus helped him to remove evil characteristics such as pride, jealousy and anger. The topic of death, which some might find so odd for a healthy, energetic 28 year-old to discuss, was something he often brought up. This is also why he spoke often about his desire to be buried at the Osmanli Dergahi to his family and friends.
No matter his personal financial situation, he would never let anyone dining with him pick up the tab. Every time you sat with him, he shared his food.
And, although he had a very temperamental stomach, he ate whatever he was given at the dergah. He hated onions, but when Sheikh shared a few pieces of onion, his phobia fleeted away and he became an onion fan (at least, for that moment!).
Amir was the most generous with his time and his possessions. If someone saw something he was wearing and liked it, he literally took it off and gave it to you. Our brothers still wear his vests and shirts today.
He bought a 1997 Acura Integra a few weeks before he passed. He was very excited about being mobile without his work truck.
He died tragically at a stop light, when he was rear-ended by an out-of-control driver. He was on his way, as usual, to help someone in Sidney Center build a new masonry business.
When we saw him in the hospital he was tested for brain activity and soon pronounced brain dead. Investigations are still underway in that accident as to the state of mind of the driver and whether they were under the influence.
We will defend you Amir.
Last week, the national media discovered the town of Sidney. Officials of the Delaware County community recently told Osmanli Naksibendi Hakkani Dergahi — an Islamic spiritual center — to dig up two graves and stop future burials in a cemetery on its 50-acre property.
The issue quickly became a flashpoint, tethered to public debate over the so-called “Ground Zero mosque” in Manhattan. Within hours, a Huffington Post article generated 1,700 comments. MSNBC commentator Keith Olbermann named Sidney Town Supervisor Robert McCarthy “the Worst Person in the World.” Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert joked about sleeper-cell terror coffins.
By mid-week, the Islamic center had released a 2005 letter from the Sidney town zoning officer, approving the site for a cemetery, plus a copy of the zoning law that also seems to indicate compliance. The town is mulling its options. Hart Seely spoke with two key players in the dispute, McCarthy and Islamic center spokesman Hans Hass:
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2010/10/tiny_cemetery_in_sidney_ny_is.html
Some people may be receiving a response from Bob McCarthy which includes an attachment to a document by a lawyer. Here is my personal response, the lawyer quotes a resolution:
“At a Sidney Town Board Meeting held on August 12, 2010, the following issue was discussed:
Wheat Hill Road: The Town Board was informed that a second burial of a body was performed on private property located on Wheat Hill Road. On a motion by Mr. Schaeffer, seconded by Mr. McCarthy, and carried, Town Attorney Joseph A. Ermeti, Esq., was authorized to investigate, research and potentially commence a legal proceeding seeking an injunction prohibiting the burying of bodies on private property in violation of New York State Town Law. It was the Town Attorney’s preliminary opinion that the cemetery is being operated in violation of §1506(b) of the Public Cemetery Corporations Law which states in pertinent part that no cemetery shall be located in any town without the consent of the town board of such town. AYES: C.P. Cordes, P. Hamilton, E. Wilson. NOES: none.”
The article he is quoting from has an applicability section here:
http://www.dos.state.ny.us/cmty/cemlaw.html
§ 1503. Application
(a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (c) of section fifteen hundred seven and subdivision (m) of section fifteen hundred ten this article does not apply to (1) a religious corporation, (2) a municipal corporation, (3) a cemetery corporation owning a cemetery operated, supervised or controlled by or in connection with a religious corporation or (4) a cemetery belonging to a religious or a municipal corporation, or operated, supervised or controlled by or in connection with a religious corporation unless any officer, member or employee of any such corporation shall receive or may be lawfully entitled to receive any pecuniary profit from the operations thereof, other than reasonable compensation for services in effecting one or more of the purposes of such corporation or as proper beneficiaries of its strictly charitable purposes or unless the organization of any such corporation for any of its avowed purposes be a guise or pretense for directly or indirectly making any other pecuniary profit for such corporation, or for any of its officers, members or employees, and unless any such corporation is not, in good faith, organized or conducted exclusively for one or more of its stated purposes.
In other words, the entire document that he is considering in his ‘preliminary investigation’ doesn’t apply to us. Much less a particular line.
Further, they state on their FAQ:
Q: Are all cemeteries regulated by the State of New York?
A: No, the Division of Cemeteries and the New York State Cemetery Board regulate only those cemeteries that are incorporated under the Not-for-Profit Corporation Law.
Cemeteries that do not fall under our jurisdiction include religious, municipal, private,national and family cemeteries.
link: http://www.dos.state.ny.us/cmty/cemfaqs.html
Besides, we approached the town officials and got town zoning approval:
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/55628534/Sidney-Grave-Site.
To date, no one has shown me a single form that would need to be filed that wasn’t filed, nor has anyone told me who signs off on this imaginary permit form.
Next he states:
“The resolution does not mention disinterment of bodies…”
The resolution may not state it, but the first interview on the matter (on record) by The Daily Star quotes him here:
http://thedailystar.com/localnews/x600170893/Sidney-Town-Board-objects-to-cemetery
“McCarthy said the second lawsuit is against the owner of a property that allowed two Muslim burials on the property, one last November and one recently.
“These burials were done illegally, without notifying local authorities or obtaining proper permits,” he said.
“We will be seeking to have these bodies disinterred and stop future burials,” he said.
link:
http://thedailystar.com/localnews/x600170893/Sidney-Town-Board-objects-to-cemetery
Bob McCarthy states clearly, he has already come to a conclusion on what was done legally and illegally, in advance of any conclusion by the lawyer. He also concluded what he was going to do, which was to dig up Muslim bodies.
This, my friends, is the very definition of the behavior of a bigot, not a qualified elected official.
Hi,
My name is Hans Hass. I’m a member of the Sufi Muslim community center in Sidney Center that has been in the news lately. Most likely some of you have seen some things in the news or on T.V. If you haven’t, you can click on the links below. Unfortunately, Sidney has gotten a lot of negative publicity nationally from this, and it seems to be going international. None of us wanted this to become such a big deal. I am writing to you as businesspeople in Sidney to ask for your help in laying this matter to rest.
I was at the last Sidney Town meeting three weeks ago asking Town Supervisor McCarthy and the other Supervisors why they were doing this. I was shocked to find out that not one of the Supervisors had any real knowledge of the basic facts of the cemetery, the legal steps that we had gone through or even of the Town’s own zoning law specifically permitting a cemetery on at least 15 acres (we have 50). No one had talked to Dale Downin, the Town Code Enforcement with whom we consulted when we first set up the cemetery in 2005 and who gave us written approval. I ran into Dale the other day and he told me the first he ever heard of their actions was when the Oneonta Daily Star article came out. I’ve also been told that Mr. McCarthy and the Town Clerk are not even on speaking terms. I was kept being told to speak to the Town Attorney Joseph Ermeti who won’t respond to anyone for the last few weeks, including our attorneys. One Supervisor at the meeting, Eric Wilson, took my phone number and assured me that he would contact the Town Attorney and get back to me as to what was really going on. He called the next day to say Ermeti was out of the office that day and then never called back. Obviously our town government is not working.
Mr. McCarthy, despite having been shown the documents and the law by myself and several reporters, continues to maintain that we are “illegally burying bodies” and seems intent on pursuing the matter legally. He has been sending out mass emails accusing us of all kinds of bogus things and spreading rumors about us. Several prominent attorneys and civil rights groups have contacted us offering their services for free and suggested we have an excellent civil rights case against the town.
All we want is for Mr. McCarthy and the Town Board to admit that they made a mistake and leave this behind us. If Mr. McCarthy cannot do this, he must resign or be forced to resign for the good of the town. I was hoping one of you could talk to him.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/ns/msnbc_tv-countdown_with_keith_olbermann/#39390631
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-muslim-graves,0,7141681.story
http://www.yursil.com/blog/2010/09/colbert-report-muslim-cemetery-attack/
http://www.wbng.com/news/video/Town-Wants-Islamic-Cemetery-Removed-103954864.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-reinbach/tiny-upstate-new-york-tow_b_739832.html
http://binghamton.ynn.com/content/518995/muslim-group-fights-to-keep-cemetery/?ap=1&MP4
the truth on 
m.a.kidwai,CME/IND.RLY.(retd.) on 
