Turkey: Islamic Feminist Author Defends Headscarvez

From Earth Times - October 25, 2008

Frankfurt - Turkey's ban on wearing headscarves in public institutions such as universities is a form of oppression over women, according to an Islamic feminist novelist Cihan Aktas, 48. An intellectual who is both a feminist and a devout Muslim is a combination so startling in Turkey that Aktas said reviewers and the media had initially refused to take her seriously.

In an interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, Aktas set out the views she has developed in a 25-year career writing about the difficulties of being an observant Muslim woman today.

Aktas wore a loose scarf draped over her head and a colourful ankle-length dress to the interview at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

"My father was a teacher and I grew up in a house full of books and had already decided as a girl to become a writer," she said.

"I have written about 25 books," she said, adding, "Maybe it is more like 30, but there are a few I wish now that I had not published, because I was very young at the time, very rash, and they don't have enough discipline to them."

Her oeuvre includes two novels and eight books of short stories, collecting three prizes during her literary career. A ninth book of short stories is being published this month, she said.

Her latest work is entitled The Close Stranger and is about Iran, a country where she and her husband often live for short spells. He comes from Iran, where his family is part of the ethnic Turkish community. She has also written a book about Iranian cinema.

None of her books has been translated into any other language in its entirety, but extracts have appeared in Italian, German and Persian.

She has antagonized Turkey's secularist elite, writing books with titles that include Covering Up and Society, and Oppression of Women Students, attacking the notion that the scarf is a sign of women's backwardness or subjection to men.

"I adopted the scarf at the age of 20, after I completed my university degree," she said. "I wanted to be a good Muslim."

Aktas, also defends the scarf as a cultural tradition in Turkish society, saying, "Turkey is not a Western society."

She said Turkey's rulers had allowed neither philosophical debate nor the principle of majority rule when trying to abolish scarves.

"They ignored women's rights, pluralism and participation by society," she said feistily.

This year, there was heated debate in Turkey on the issue. The government passed legislation in February opening the universities to women wearing scarves. But the secularists appealed, and in June, the Constitutional Court ruled the law out of order.

Aktas still insists the scarf is a woman's right to choose, adding that some women in Judaism and Christianity cover their heads too.

"No man ever insisted that I had to wear a scarf," she said. Aktas argues that large numbers of intelligent, educated women want to wear the scarf as their own expression of their religious commitment.

"There is a wave in Muslim society of young people wanting to learn about their religion."

"I believe that when the state decides over women's bodies in this way, it is a system of oppression over women," she said. Aktas added that she did not want to make the scarf compulsory.

"I argue that every Muslim should decide for herself whether or not to wear a scarf," she said.

Her stance has brought her hate messages from radical secularists but also from religious hard-liners.

"I have had nasty e-mails from both sides," she said. "Regrettably, the internet creates opportunities for uneducated and cowardly people."

Aktas spoke with humour of her long fight to prove herself: "For a long time the media and critics who are mostly leftist ignored me, because they could not imagine that a woman in a scarf could possibly be a writer."

She said her twice-weekly columns in the daily newspaper Taraf and her books had established her, but going against the current meant she still had to work harder than other writers.

"I have had to struggle against hostile criticism, but it has not made me pessimistic. I believe in my responsibility as a writer. I believe in my work. A writer is always writing for the future, and time will sift the best work," she said with a smile.

Europe's First Woman Imam (in Belgium)

From IslamOnline.net - October 25, 2008

Europe's First Woman Imam

By  Hadi Yahmid, IOL Correspondent

Fattah will supervise the preaching activities for women at the mosque. (IOL photo)

PARIS — A mosque in southern Belgium has named a female Muslim professor to the post of imam, the first such a move in the northwestern European country.

"Hawaria Fattah has been granted the rank of imam," Abdel-Jalel Al-Hajaji, the curator of Al-Sahaba Mosque in the southern city of Verviers, told IslamOnline.net on Saturday, October 25.

"It is the first move of its kind in Belgium and Europe."

Chosen along with two male imams, Fattah, a mother of three, will supervise the preaching activities for women at the mosque.

"But she will not deliver the sermon of the Friday prayers or lead the prayers," stressed Hajaji.

"Her role will focus on supervising the preaching and guidance activities for women at the mosque."

Fattah's selection was approved by the Belgian Justice Ministry, which is responsible for the country's religious affairs.

Born to an Algerian father and a Belgian mother, Fatah, 35, is a professor of social and Islamic studies.

She has worked as a preacher for Muslim women at a mosque in Verviers.

Pioneering

Muslim leaders said Fattah's appointment shows that Islam is treating men and women on equal footing.

"Her selection stems from our conviction that men and women are equal in Islam," said Hajaji.

The Muslim leader said that the move will help Muslim women gain a foothold at mosques.

"This pioneering move will help enable women gain a foothold in preaching activities, while abiding by religious teachings."

Fattah's selection won plaudits from Belgian Muslims.

"We welcome and praise this smart move," Karim Chemlal, leader of the Muslim League of Belgium, told IOL.

"It will show the bright image of our Islamic faith."

Belgian Muslims are estimated at 450,000 — out of a 10-million population. Most of Belgian Muslims are of Moroccan and Turkish origins.

Belgium was the first European country in 1974 to recognize Islam among other state religions in the country.

India: This Qazi is a Woman

From the Times of IndiaIndi - October 12, 2008

This Qazi is a woman

12 Oct 2008, 0239 hrs IST, Mohammed Wajihuddin, TNN

Yojana Bhavan, at leafy Parliament Street in Lutyen's Delhi, is known more for planning the nation's destiny than housing a person whose heart
beats for poetry. But enter Room Number 111 at the Planning Commission's headquarters, and a poetic aura engulfs you. On a wall, complementing photographs of a woman captured in many moods are Urdu couplets by poet Kamla Bhasin. A couplet ponders: 'Desh mein aurat agar beaabru nashaad hai/Dil par rakh kar haath kahiye desh kya azaad hai? (If the country's women feel belittled and disheartened/ Put your hand on your heart and tell me if the country is free).'

It is in this room that Planning Commission member and activist Syeda Hameed spends most of her waking hours; that is, when she is not touring the backwaters of Muzaffarnagar in UP and Mewat in Haryana, chronicling the horror of 'honour' killings or scouring the villages of Orissa to fight the communal fires stoked by Hindutva's hate brigade. And it was in this room that she got a call from a Lucknow-based fellow activist, Naish, a couple of months ago. "She sounded desperate," Syeda recalls. "She told me that if I didn't agree to solemnise her nikaah with Imraan, also an activist, she would opt for a civil marriage."

What followed next was a historic and path-breaking step in the annals of Islam in India. On August 12 this year, after solemnising Naish's nikaah with Imraan, Syeda officially became India's first woman Qazi. The nikaah was also unusual because it had four women as witnesses instead of the traditional two male witnesses. A male witness was added at the last moment lest orthodox clerics declared the nikaah null and void.

Controversy trailed the event from word go. As the cameras rolled and flashbulbs popped, a frenzy gripped the lanes of Lucknow. Uninvited guests, including an intrusive media, showed up, sensationalising what was supposed to be a private affair. Someone approached an orthodox maulvi. "A nikaah solemnised by a woman Qazi is impractical and therefore not advisable," declared Maulana Khalid Rashid from Lucknow's Firangi Mahal, a religious organisation. Despite the severe criticism from orthodox clerics, Syeda remains steadfast: "It sent across a message that the time for change has come. Women can no longer be subjugated."

When the clergy couldn't find a convincing alibi because neither the Quran nor the Hadith (Prophet Mohammed's traditions) enjoins that only a male can officiate as a Qazi, a maulvi protested that some of the women at the ceremony had not covered their heads. "That is also an insinuation because the photographs and the videos of the marriage ceremony
prove that all the women had their heads well covered," says Syeda. Another maulvi declared that the nikaah was not legitimate because the Qazi was a Shia while the couple were Sunni Muslims. Syeda's reply is that in her family Shia-Sunni marriages were common. "My illustrious ancestor Maulana Altaf Hussain Hali was a Sunni. My mother was Shia while my father belonged to the Sunni sect. My sister is married to a Sunni. For the first time, I was made to realise that I am a Shia," explains Syeda who ensured that her three children, while growing up, imbibed Islam's eclectic spirit, not the divisive dogma propagated by some clerics.

Syeda says nothing inspires her more than the works of Maulana Altaf Hussain Hali, the 19th-century Urdu poet. Musaddas-e-Hali (also called Ebb And Tide In Islam as it chronicles Islam's history in poetry) and Munaajat-e-Bewa (Lament Of The Widow) are some of his better known works. Hali's Munaajat, says Syeda, lambasts patriarchy and upholds the rights of women. "He was undeniably India's first feminist poet," she declares. And as we prepare to leave, hums another couplet on the wall: 'Chup hain lekin yeh na samjho hum sada ke haare hain/Raakh ke neeche abhi jal rahe angare hain (If I am silent, don't mistake it for my defeat/The embers beneath the ashes are burning).

Growing Asian-American Vote Sheds Passive Past

From the Associated Press

Growing Asian-American vote sheds passive past

By JESSE WASHINGTON
AP National Writer

LORTON, Va. -- For a long time, says Loc Pfeiffer, his fellow
Asian-Americans were passive participants in American politics. But
things are changing.

"Asians don't like confrontation or being adversarial, but that's
politics," says Pfeiffer, a 41-year-old lawyer who was 6 when his
parents brought him to America from Vietnam.

"The more we're raised and bred here, the less likely we are to be
passive. So much of our culture, it's a very, very obedient culture.
... You don't argue with the government. You don't argue with Big
Brother. There's the assumption that you give up all your individual
rights for the whole. Which is astounding to me, because I'm American
now."

An assertive Asian America matters, especially in places like Virginia
and Nevada, swing states where Asians have been growing in numbers and
influence.

With a booming population of highly educated, increasingly
Americanized voters, this former "silent minority" is entering the
most engaged and visible era of its political history.

The number of Asians in the United States has grown 25 percent in the
last seven years, to 15 million, said Jane Junn, an associate
professor of political science at Rutgers University. Educated people
are more likely to vote, and 50 percent of the Asian population has a
college degree, compared with 25 percent of the U.S. population, Junn
said.

"There comes a point where there's a critical mass," said Junn, whose
parents were born in Korea. "When you're only one person out of 100,
you're very self-conscious about (becoming politically active). But
there is power in numbers."

Asian attitudes toward the two presidential candidates are as varied
as the nations stretching from India to Malaysia to Japan, lumped into
one racial category by the U.S. Census.

Yet some say Barrack Obama's rise from humble origins resonates with
many Asians who value education and hard work as the keys to success
and have been forced to fit their heritage into an American framework.

In a recent column for the San Francisco Chronicle, writer Jeff Yang
was even inspired to riff on President Clinton's honorary black
membership and ask if Obama's background - parental academic pressure,
struggle for identity, guilt-wielding mother, Harvard education -
would make him the first Asian-American president.

"So much of what we deal with is the notion of being outsiders,
foreigners, of being outside the social dialogue of the United
States," Yang said in an interview. "You look at Obama and those are
some of the same aspersions and slanders being cast at him. He's kind
of the closest thing we can have legally to an immigrant in the White
House. He's somebody who understands this journey that Asian-Americans
and other immigrants have made."

Yang added that his Taiwan-born parents, who had never voted for a
Democratic presidential candidate, were seriously considering Obama.

News of Yang's Obama proclamation inspired hearty laughter at the
gathering of a half-dozen lawyers at the home of 65-year-old Paul
Nguyen in Lorton. Although many had voted Republican in the past, all
but one planned to vote for Obama.

When Nguyen said Asians had to learn the American political system and
form a bloc to demand something in return for their votes, the
conversation bubbled over:

"We never ask for anything. We always work for what we get."

"We're too diverse. You can't bring the Filipinos, the Koreans, the
Japanese, everybody all together."

"We're still in the infancy of our presence here."

"Now we're more active, more aware. Over the last 10 or 20 years it's
happened very slowly."

In the past, Asians were largely overlooked during past presidential
campaigns because of their widely varied nationalities and
concentration in the reliably Democratic states of California and New
York.

Now, both campaigns have national Asian outreach efforts. In Virginia,
Obama's campaign is focusing on sending language-specific volunteers
to register voters from particular countries. The McCain campaign's
priority is securing the support of community leaders from the Korean,
Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian and Filipino communities.

Although no Democratic presidential candidate has won Virginia since
Lyndon Johnson in 1964, polls show Obama edging ahead. Meanwhile, the
state's Asian population has grown from 3.7 percent in 2000 to 4.8
percent in 2006, above the national average of 4.4 percent.

Virginia's Asians are concentrated in the D.C. suburbs, where the
Asian population reaches as high as 16 percent in Fairfax County, as
well as the Norfolk area, where the naval operations have attracted
Filipinos.

There are roughly 300,000 voting-age Asians in Virginia, and about
100,000 registered Asian voters, according to estimates from the Obama
and McCain campaigns.

In 2006, after incumbent Republican Sen. George Allen was caught on
tape using the slur "macaca" to describe an Indian from the opposing
campaign, he lost to Democrat Jim Webb by 7,231 votes out of 2.37
million ballots cast. Seventy-six percent of the Asian vote went
against Allen.

In the past, many Asians nationally have leaned Republican because of
the party's record of fighting Communism, support for small business
owners, and emphasis on personal responsibility and family values.

A Vietnamese group from northern Virginia recently endorsed McCain at
a rally attended by about 200 people. Some Asian supporters point to
McCain's military service, Vietnam imprisonment, an adopted daughter
from Bangladesh, plus his support in the Senate for issues such as
free trade and visa waivers.

Tuyet Duong, who has been canvassing undecided Vietnamese voters for
the Obama campaign, said many people she talks to are voting based on
the candidates' life stories rather than the issues, and the fact that
McCain fought in Vietnam strikes a powerful chord.

Yet Asian voters nationwide appear to be favoring Obama, the Democrat,
in greater numbers than the 54 percent who voted for Democrat John
Kerry in 2004.

This could be explained by President Bush's unpopularity, Obama's
recent rise in the polls amid the economic implosion, or the fact that
Obama's Senate chief of staff and legislative director are Asian. But
it also has something to do with a new generation of Asian-Americans.

Two-thirds of U.S. Asians are foreign-born. Their American-born
children are now thriving, many in professions like medicine, law and
high-tech industries. English is the first language of this second
generation. And they have landed squarely in the Obama sweet spot of
young and educated supporters.

"I've lived my life trying to be kind of race-neutral," said Michael
Chang, 34, who was born in Washington, D.C. to Korean parents. After
his father died when he was 10, Chang's mother sent him to law school
and his sister to two doctoral degrees, all on a legal secretary's
salary.

Chang, who is married to an Italian immigrant, plans to vote for Obama
because he likes his stance on the issues and because he's younger. He
also believes that Obama's background, coupled with his rejection of
racial rhetoric, makes him more relatable for younger, mainstream
Asians.

"I'm proud of my heritage, said Chang, "but I think of myself as American."

Muslim Watershed: Germany's Biggest Mosque Opens

Muslim watershed Germany's biggest mosque opens

* Kate Connolly in Berlin
* The Guardian,
* Saturday October 25 2008

It has a 34-metre minaret and a dome-shaped ceiling handpainted with
floral patterns and verses from the Qur'an. Its crowning glory is a
golden chandelier engraved with 99 epithets for Allah, and there is
seating for 2,000 worshippers.

Germany's biggest mosque opens tomorrow in the Ruhr valley city of
Duisburg in what leaders of Germany's 3 million Muslims have described
as a watershed moment, bringing mosques out of the backyards and
alleys and into the middle of urban life.

The multimillion-euro Merkez mosque in the working-class district of
Marxloh, which was financed by private and public money, will
transform the lives of the city's Muslims. Their previous meeting
place was the rundown canteen of a former mining company.

For some, its consecration is a sign that the country has finally
integrated its Muslims, too long considered guest workers who would
one day go home, while for others it shows that Islam is taking over
the religious landscape.

"How many mosques can a country cope with?" the conservative newspaper
Die Welt asked in a recent commentary.

For their part, Germany's Muslims, of whom 70% are ethnic Turks, say
they want their rightful place in a society they have been a part of
for 50 years or more.

"The fact that we've been allowed to build a mosque is a sign for us
that the community is telling us 'you're accepted'," said Mustafa
Kücük, a spokesman for the Merkez mosque.

However, there have been protests in Berlin, a citizens' initiative
was formed in Munich to prevent a mosque being built, and in Cologne
rightwing populists used opposition to the building of a mosque to
stoke Islamophobia.

Germany has 206 mosques, and more than 120 are under construction or
in the planning stage.

Presidential Candidates Should Reach out to American Muslims

Harvard University student Nafees Syed says both candidates should reach out to Muslims in the U.S.

By Nafees A. Syed
Special to CNN

Editor's note: Nafees A. Syed, a junior at Harvard University majoring in government, is an editorial editor at The Harvard Crimson as well as a senior editor and columnist for the Harvard-MIT journal on Islam and society, Ascent. She is chairwoman of the Harvard Institute of Politics Policy Group on Racial Profiling. She grew up in Atlanta, Georgia.
Harvard University student Nafees Syed says both candidates should reach out to Muslims in the U.S.

Harvard University student Nafees Syed says both candidates should reach out to Muslims in the U.S.

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (CNN) -- During this election, we have seen the spectacle of two presidential candidates fighting over one voter while snubbing an entire segment of the American population worthy of their attention.

We in the Muslim-American community look wistfully at people like Joe the Plumber, wishing that we too could be courted for our vote by the presidential candidates.

At the same time, we look gratefully at figures like former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who reassure us that there is hope for greater acceptance of Muslim-Americans.

Over time, we grew to expect standoffish treatment from the Republican Party. Almost a decade ago, many Muslims, my parents included, supported President Bush for his humble foreign policy stances, strong family values and reaching out to the Muslim-American community.

Things have obviously changed since September 11, 2001, and we have grown used to anti-Muslim rhetoric from Republican candidates. We have run like refugees to the Democratic Party, only to find reluctant tolerance and hope that we will go somewhere else.

American civil rights activist and intellectual W.E.B. Du Bois wrote, "[The American Negro] simply wishes it possible to be both a Negro and an American, without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of Opportunity closed roughly on his face."

Over a century later, I and many other Muslim-Americans feel the same, hoping that we can be accepted in America as both Muslims and Americans.

As a college student voting in my first presidential election, I have been inspired by Barack Obama's call for change. My campus is full of Obama posters, and several of my classmates have taken time off to work for his campaign.

There is no doubt Obama has the Harvard vote, but my vote will not be cast as enthusiastically as others.

This campaign means to me what it means for my classmates. In the next few years, the economy and American foreign policy will affect my generation unlike any other, and those concerns are the primary influences on my vote.

However, as a Muslim-American, I see some issues as more personal. I don't blame Obama for clarifying that he isn't a Muslim; if someone misidentified my religion, I would likewise point out the facts, especially if it was part of a larger smear campaign. However, as the first Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison stated, "A lot of us are waiting for him to say that there's nothing wrong with being a Muslim, by the way."

Indeed, Obama's responses to accusations that he is Muslim should be more than just denial; they should be a condemnation of the prejudices that lace such accusations.

When I discuss this issue with fellow Muslim-Americans, especially ones who have dedicated significant time to his campaign, I immediately hear that he's just doing what he needs to do to win.

I respond skeptically to these arguments. Is it really politically necessary for Obama to avoid visiting mosques -- something that President Bush has dared to do -- while rallying support from churches and synagogues? Doesn't his careful distance from the Muslim-American community contradict his message of unity?

Still, others, my parents included, advise that it is best that we as Muslim-Americans avoid marring his campaign with our visible support at a time when any connection with Muslims would jeopardize his chances of winning. They reason that we have to politically isolate ourselves for the better candidate to win, a sacrifice we should make for our country.

I am unwilling to feign political apathy. All I want is for one of the candidates to assure me and the American public that "Muslim" and "American" are not mutually exclusive terms.

Colin Powell's recent interview with Tom Brokaw has left me with some hope. He highlights the flaw in the question of Obama's religion with the answer, "he is not a Muslim; he's a Christian. ... But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America."

To prove his point, Gen. Powell recounted the story of Purple Heart- and Bronze Star-winning Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, an American soldier in Iraq who sacrificed his life for his country. He represents a Muslim-American community that is dedicated to its country and worthy of the presidential candidates' attention and respect.

It is a tribute to Gen. Powell's own dedication to his country that he would take note of the treatment of Muslim-Americans during the elections.

Thanks, Gen. Powell. You said the words that Muslim-Americans around the country were waiting to hear.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Nafees Syed.

Muslim-American Voices Heard in Presidential Race

From CNN - October 21, 2008

 

Fatema Biviji, in white by sign, poses with members of the grassroots organization she founded in Texas.

State senate candidate Mohammad Ali Hasan with GOP strategist Karl Rove at a barbeque in Crawford, Texas.

A man cheers during day one of the Democratic National Convention in August in Denver, Colorado.

By Ashley Fantz
CNN

(CNN) -- Muslim-Americans say they are more interested than ever before in the political process, in part because their religion has been reduced to a talking point in the presidential campaign.

Like many other Americans, the estimated 2.3 million Muslims living in the U.S. have been hurt by a limping economy, a problematic healthcare system and an unclear immigration policy. And the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have also hit close to home.

Fatema Biviji, 32, had never given much thought to politics until she received an e-mail earlier this year that said -- falsely -- that Sen. Barack Obama is a Muslim. The Internet hoax, its origin unknown, was apparently intended to tie Obama to terrorism and swing support to his opponent, Republican Sen. John McCain.

"I was so mad," Biviji said. "The premise of that e-mail is that a person's religion should decide a person's character.

"We're America, the melting pot, the land of diversity, and that Americans would be buying into that psychology [of the e-mails] was upsetting," said the New Jersey-born Muslim, whose parents are from India. "The e-mail offended my American ideals."

Obama has stated repeatedly that he is a Christian and emphatically pledged his patriotism.

Biviji began to research Obama and could relate to his international background, his years in Indonesia as a young man, and his father's Kenyan roots. And his views on the issues aligned with hers.

So she began chatting with members of her community in Irving, Texas, encouraging people to register to vote and become more active. She began blogging about the presidential election and formed a grass-roots organization with about 100 members who have helped register dozens of people to vote, she said. Her blog is featured on Obama's campaign Web site.

But Biviji said it hasn't always been easy for Muslim-Americans to support candidates who don't usually seem to support them.

"Neither candidate has visited a mosque," said Ahmed Rehab, the executive director of the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a civil liberties and advocacy group. "It might not be a gesture that's the politically right thing to do, but it's the morally right thing," Rehab said. CAIR has registered thousands of Muslim voters across the country.

He said he was approached by one of the major parties to run for office this year. But he decided against it.

"If you have one guy [Obama] who has a Muslim father that he really never knew and who isn't a Muslim being hounded, then imagine a guy like me who works so publicly in support of rights for Muslims," said Rehab. "I'm not sure I want to go through that."

But Asma Hasan, a 34-year-old from Colorado who writes the blog "Glamocracy" for Glamour magazine, said she thinks Muslims are more likely to jump into the political fray. "I think people tend to be more open to different points of view now than they were before," she said. "It's not a perfect environment, but it's getting better."

Her brother Mohammad Ali Hasan, 28, is Muslim and Republican.

He is running for a Colorado state Senate seat.

"If I don't win, it's not because I'm a Muslim," he said, laughing. "It will likely be because I'm a Republican."

Asma Hasan said it can be a challenge sometimes to reconcile being a Republican and being a Muslim.

"A lot of this election is about the Iraq war, the GOP's support for the war and ultimately how we handle that war now," she said. Several younger voters have e-mailed her about her blog items filed from the campaign trail with thoughtful, substantive political comments and questions. They are excited about the election and they plan to vote, she said.

"But that's the beauty of politics because it doesn't matter what your religion is or your cultural background or who your family is," she said. "You make decisions on who to vote for based on a lot of different factors -- not just one. And I think people are interested this year. There are definitely a lot of younger people, and a lot of younger Muslims, who are going to vote."

Asma Hasan echoed Rehab's frustration about the occasional fumbles of the candidates toward the Muslim community. She pointed to a June incident at an Obama rally.

Two women were told not to sit behind Obama because they were wearing head scarves. Campaign volunteers thought it would would look bad if the women were seen behind the candidate in a photo or on television.

The Obama campaign quickly apologized, and a campaign spokeswoman said that the incident was not reflective of Obama's message, according to the New York Times.

More recently, a woman at a McCain rally in Minnesota stood up and faced the candidate. She said she doesn't support Obama because "He is an Arab." McCain shook his head and replied, "No ma'am, no ma'am."

Former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, a Republican, endorsed Obama for president on Sunday, praising Obama as a candidate who is "inclusive." Powell said he had heard members of his own party suggest that Obama is a Muslim.

"What if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country?" Powell said. "No, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some 7-year-old Muslim kid believing that he or she can be president?"

Powell made the endorsement on NBC's "Meet the Press" and went on to say that he was disturbed by recent attacks the McCain camp had lobbed at Obama.

"It troubled me. We have two wars. We have economic problems. We have health problems. We have education problems. We have infrastructure problems. We have problems around the world with our allies. So those are the problems the American people wanted to hear about, not about [1960s radical William] Ayers, not about who is a Muslim or who's not a Muslim," Powell told reporters after the endorsement.

"Those kinds of images going out on Al-Jazeera are killing us around the world," Powell continued. "And we have got to say to the world, it doesn't make any difference who you are or what you are. If you're an American, you're an American."

"That was over the top. It was beyond just good political fighting back and forth," he said. "And to sort of throw in this little Muslim connection, you know, 'He's a Muslim and, my goodness, he's a terrorist' -- it was taking root. And we can't judge our people and we can't hold our elections on that kind of basis."

After Powell's announcement, McCain told Fox News he considered Powell and himself "longtime friends" and that he respected him.

Powell also referred to a photo essay from a magazine featuring a photo of a mother resting her head on the tombstone of her son at Arlington National Cemetery. The tombstone lists the soldier's awards, including a Purple Heart, that were earned in Iraq. The solider was Kareem Khan, a 20-year-old Muslim from New Jersey.

The soldier's father, Feroze Khan, said he wants to personally thank Powell for his statement.

"All my son wanted to do was serve his country," he told CNN. "Since he was a boy, he wanted to be in the Army. That was his dream. That's the only thing he ever wanted."

"It was not about how he was Muslim, it was about who he was and what he stood for," Feroze Khan said. "He told me, 'I am going to fight for my faith, not against it.'"

Feroze Khan doesn't want to talk about politics. What the candidates say about his religion is of little importance to him. His son defined what he believes in.

Islam and Homosexuality Panel Discussion in Washington DC - 10/26/08 - 7:00 pm

For folks in the Washington DC area:

You are invited to join a diverse all-Muslim panel for a unique dialogue on the topic of Islam and homosexuality.

Sunday, October 26th - 7 PM

Marvin Center Continental Ballroom (3rd Floor)
800 21st Street NW (at the corner of 21st and H)
Washington DC 20052

For more information, visit islamandhomosexuality.com.

Iranian Actress Heads Into a Storm

'Body of Lies' Co-Star Appears Scarf-Free on Red Carpet, Igniting Debate at Home

Golshifteh Farahani attended the "Body of Lies" premiere in New York on Oct. 5 without the head scarf that women in Iran are required to wear in public. (By Astrid Stawiarz -- Getty Images)

Full article from the Washington Post

Commentary: So What if Obama were a Muslim or an Arab

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/13/campbell.brown.obama/index.html