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.
I’ve been dealing with hundreds of comments, using the most vilest and dirtiest words, which are unsuitable for publication. Although there are three or four people going back and forth from the other side, there are a lot more I am not publishing. They are unsuitable for publication because of dirty language and also because of the lies and slander that are being propped up on Seyh Abdul Kerim and now myself, my family, my wife, my children. If my tone is harsh towards you, keep in mind with what I am handling here. I have had to take the blog into moderate all-comments-mode. I am collecting all these evil comments and inshaAllah will present them to Seyh Maulana. So take your warnings now.
American Family Association: Deport All Muslims | Media Matters Action Network
American Family Association: Deport All Muslims
April 09, 2010 12:49 pm ET by Walid ZafarThe American Family Association’s Director of Issues Analysis, the detestable Bryan Fischer, has penned another one of his intolerable policy recommendations. Fischer suggests that the US deport all Muslims. If we fail in our efforts, he writes, “it may soon be too late to save what is left of American culture.”
Spiked hair or long hair, dramatic camera stares, lots of spinning around, pointing, music videos, lip synching, concerts and ticketmaster assimilation. Suburban Capitalist Islam brought us the Muslim boy bands and pop stars.
SEVEN8SIX (786) – The group performed as SEVEN8SIX for the first time at the 2002 ISNA convention in Washington, DC. Most of the group’s subsequent public appearances have been at large concert events organized by Muslim groups, including major events co-sponsored in part by the Islamic Society of North America and other community organizations around the United States… This group is working far and wide to please Allah (SWT). As Shahaab says, “We are using SEVEN8SIX as a tool for propagating Allah’s message. (from their website)
Native Deen – Native Deen came about through M.Y.N.A. or Muslim Youth of North America. The project was a gathering of amateur recording artists who’ve written their own work and MYNA featured these artists on the MYNA RAPs’ album.
Dawud Wharnsby – From his FAQ “What Is Dawud’s Reigion? Islam? Christianity? Buddhism? Bahai? Sufism?…. In 1993 Dawud was impacted by the words of Al Qur’an (The Recitation) and has made the best effort, since that time, to privately study and act upon their teachings. Dawud does not however, accept all of what has become connected to Al Qur’an through cultural and traditional interpretations of it. Though Dawud respects the efforts, lives and opinions of religious scholars (those who have studied the Torah, Talmud, Bible, Qur’an, Hadith, etc) he is not devoted to any specific institution of learning, religious school of thought, group, religious movement, teacher, guru, sheikh or saint — nor does Dawud accept a universal system of man-governed religious law derived from any one scripture.”
Outlandish – Outlandish did their first U.S. tour in Summer 2008 with the “Voices for Change” tour hosted by the Muslim American Society – Youth
Sami Yusuf
Girls can get into it also, heartbreak song – Liza Garza and Gritz & JellyButter “Swift’s Song”, featured at the IMAN concert at the Apollo (ISNA’s Mattson and Imam Zaid Shakir’s family were in attendance):
I said here:
“The principles of Islam, when applied in a thorough fashion, led people to a thriving, principally independent, culture from the west. We see in history, when Islam was applied and Islamic societies emerged, that Islamic art was not just ghetto art used now for Arabic calligraphy. Islamic music was not harmonizing boy-bands singing about the Prophet (S). Islamic family lifestyle was not the American dream. Islamic governance was not democracy. Muslim children weren’t raised with a Muslim muppet on TV.”
Then I saw a new muppet kids show…
Examine the character, the personae, the behavior towards sacred words and concepts and draw your own conclusions. Consider the change of secular American children’s programming over the past 30 years (and the rise of ADD). Adam’s baby toilet humor, potentially obscene for its time, is starting to look old fashioned and nostalgic.
the truth on 
m.a.kidwai,CME/IND.RLY.(retd.) on 
