View this amazing video in full here.
Go Brother Hamza (Jason Perez) and Sister Rafiah!
I love love love this video... I saw it on PBS last night and had to blog it.
Zia & Israel
1 hour ago
Monday, June 29, 2009
New Muslim Cool
Posted by Hajar Zamzam Ismail at 12:40 PM
Labels: new muslims
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3 comments:
salaamu alaykum... i watched the film last night, and it was great! i really enjoyed it!
I watched this on-line and found it rather interesting.
I'm not exactly sure what to make out of the whole FBI thing though? It seems Hamza's run in with the feds was a combination of his anti-government statements made in his rap interview combined with mistrust of his Majid on account of the fugitive that had spent a night there.
Those two elemets combined with 2 things he said to others while he was out in the streets talking to people raised some issues with me too. He said he wouldn't do what Martin Luther King did and "turn the other cheek". He said he'd "fight back" and what ever it is he'd determined that should mean, or who and for what reason he was fighting against? - was unclear to me as I was watching this video.
So yes, I can see where that would raise red flags for the FBI. I interpreted that as threatening language and I have no preconcieved opionion of him personally, since this article was the first time I'd ever heard of him.
As for his statements about King "turning the other cheek" - I think Hamza failed to see that much of power of the civil rights movement of the 60's came in the fact that the protesters "came in peace". The prejudice and brutality of the police in the south became very apparent on the television screen and that to me sent a much clearer picture of the minority struggle for civil rights than the Rodny King riots in LA did!
I'm sure elements of the mistrust of Muslims caused by the 9/11 terrorist attacks come into play here. I agree with the CLU that conducting a raid in the middle of religious services is not right; yet it rather annoys me for people who may be potentially involved in criminal activity to try and "ride the tide of prejudice against Muslims" to cover for their own crimes. I'm not necessiarly saying that Hamza was commiting crimes (at least at that point), but certainly he'd done and said some unwise things! So, I don't buy the arguement that the root of his difficulties with the feds are on account of his being Muslim.
The reason I say this is because there's a Mosque in my area that had recieved quiet a bit of attention from the feds and the police post 9/11. This was not on account of any suspected criminal or terrorist activities of it's members, but on account of threats levied against the Mosque.
For almost two weeks following 9/11; a police patrol car sat in the parking lot of this Mosque 24/7. When I later asked the Iman about it - he said the police were there because they'd gotten several bomb threats.
As for Hamza - I'm glad his studies about Mohammad brought him to a more peacable place with his community and knowing and realizing there are things he needed to change. I'm glad he came to that revelation!
I think this video serves as a good caution to all of us. Muslims may be more under a microscope lately than other elements of society; yet I think it serves us all well to be careful how we come across in what we say. There's no denying people are more suspicious now and pay more attention to what others utter that may be precieved as threats. Even if such things never raised eyebrows before 9/11(maybe they should have) they certainly do now!
It's a scary world we live in! (It always has been - it's just maybe the "scary" is a little more visible!)
I understand what you're saying. I just hate to see people lose their freedom of speech though. I don't really know how PBS gets their videos, but apparently they thought his story was compelling enough to host it on the PBS cable television channel and on their website.
The question that perplexes me is, "would the FBI have raided a church, if a white Christian had made the same questionable remarks Hamza made?" That is the other side of this coin. If the answer to that is "No," then Hamza was definitely profiled because he is a Muslim.
I love the video because it shows Hamza's progress on the path towards the truth, "The Way of Peace." I like that it shows his 'self-recognizance' regarding his past mistakes and his efforts to change himself for the better. That is the thread throughout the movie that, in my opinion, makes him admirable.
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