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Oprah Winfrey Show tonight!
taueeya
10/05/01 at 16:45:24
Assalamu Alaikum,         Copying a forwarded message! Hello everyone, Many of my friends and I will be appearing on the Oprah Winfrey Show (Friday, 10/5).  This show is entitled "Islam 101" and is a direct attempt to provide information about American Muslims to counter some of the misinformation which is presently running rampant. I urge you to take this opportunity to learn something about Muslims as I know them; to see us as we believe ourselves to be.  Please make an effort to watch the Oprah Winfrey Show this Friday.  Please forward this message to as many people as you can.  In helping to dispel the climate of hate, you can take a direct step in preventing further tragedy upon other innocent people. Thank you for considering this request.  If you have any additional questions or comments, please contact me directly at aammar68@hotmail.com . Sincerely, Alia Ammar Wassalam.

Re: Oprah Winfrey Show tonight!
Fatimah
10/05/01 at 19:30:48
Assalamu Alaykum! If someone missed the show, you can go to http://www.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/tows_past_20011005.jhtml for a page dedicated on "Islam 101" I didn't watch it myself (don't have a TV) but anyone who did watch, would you care to tell us your thoughts on the show? This url also has a message board and the questions people are asking are honest and quite interesting. Wasalam

Re: Oprah Winfrey Show tonight!
Denise
10/05/01 at 20:30:18
Alhamdu Lillah!!  I thought it was great!!  The Princess of Jordan felt a littel uneasy trying to explain why she does not cover, when Oprah was only asking out of curiosity...  I fast forward what the Princess had to say after a while, I hate to watch people feel embarrassed...  :( For the first in a long time, I felt so good after watching a show on Islam... Islam 101 she called it, and it was... It was Da'wa!!  I feel this happening is a step for more people to know Islam, embraced it or not...  I am going to keep this tape, I usually watch Oprah anyway, but never really keep her shows...  I will share this with the other sisters tomorrow.. I am so happy and proud of my fellow sisters on the show!!!  I could just cry!!!  Jazak Allahu Khairan for being there and showing how beautiful Islam and we are...   Allahu Akbar!!!! Denise... ;)

Re: Oprah Winfrey Show tonight!
Anonymous
10/06/01 at 01:58:17
AsSalamUAlikum, I was just flipping channels and came to an Oprah show on Islam.   SubhanAllah, only on this show would you find such sad and embaressing "Muslim Scholars."   They showed one "Muslim professor" whom i didn't realize was even Muslim until they showed his name, after which he shook her hand and thanked her for having her.  They also interviwed Jordan's Queen who said that Hijab is a personal decision, along with the Pakistani ambassador who i didn't even feel like listening to.  It sort of reminds me of the famous verse in surah Ar-Raad,That Allah will not change the condition of a nation, until they change themselves.  Sadly, the "Muslims" they interviwed make up such a large percentage of us, that nobody even knows what true Islam is anymore.  We all want Allah's help without following the true deen.  Anyways, please make dua for me and everybody else. Wasalaam

Re: Oprah Winfrey Show tonight!
Arsalan
10/06/01 at 02:09:25
[slm] I have to hand it to Oprah, the show was a lot better than I was expecting it to be.  I didn't really notice any negative portrayal of Islam throughout the program.  Oprah addressed the issue which was raised by a lot of Muslims after her last show (when she asked one sister from the audience whether she had considered taking her hijaab off after the sep. 11 attacks) very calmly, and had the sister there in the audience again (who made several comments).  She is the first person that I have seen who seems to be sincerely trying to pronounce the word M-u-s-l-i-m right!  She said Muhammad Ali had pointed out the correct pronounciation to her :) Queen Raania was her usual self.  She did a pretty good job dealing with the honor killings issue, I thought.  She was too apologetic on certain principles of Islam (hijab, etc), which is expected from her.  But she did present Islam in a very positive light, which was good I thought. I recognized the sister who works with the Chicago Tribune.  She spoke at one of the sessions at ISNA last year (about media, with CAIR's Ibrahim Hooper).  Her clip was decent.  Again, presented Islam and Muslims in a very positive light (although I do have some issues with sisters getting into a swimming pool in front of a camera, even if they're covered). The Pakistani ambassador spoke like a true politician!  I thought she chose her words very carefully. The sister from the audience, who was also there in the previous program, was really impressive - may Allah reward her.  She seemed to be the only person who wasn't afraid to speak the truth *clearly* about hijaab.  And there was a pretty big round of applause from the audience when she said that Muslim women should be given the freedom to cover themselves if they want to follow the injunctions of their religion, without being looked down upon as oppressed and weak! The issue of not mixing cultural malpractices with the teachings of Islam was also discussed, and Oprah pointed out on more than one occasion that that was the key theme of the whole program.

Re: Oprah Winfrey Show tonight!
se7en
10/06/01 at 03:01:15
as salaamu alaykum wa rahmatAllah, I saw most of the program but missed the first ten minutes or so. I thought the show was overall fairly beneficial for the average American viewer of Oprah -- who's understanding of Islam is limited to Oprah's previous shows on arranged marriages, honor killings and the nonsense Sasson preaches. Queen Rania's statements on hijab were obviously quite alarming and well.. wrong.  They also have some serious implications.  But you have to admit, she *rocked* all the other questions she was asked. Right after her interview, I got a phone call from a friend, who basically said "what is this garbage?  it would have been better if they didn't have a show on islam at all!"     I don't agree with that.  Yes, there were some incorrect things mentioned on the program.  Some incorrect things that give people a skewed understanding of Islam (not just in terms of hijab - but in terms of how we practice this deen.  The Qur'an is open to interpretation?  All of it?  By anyone?  Then Osama bin Laadin's supposed interpretation is legitimate? etc) The Pakistani ambassador.. I liked when she clarified that the people protesting in the streets were not in support of terrorist activity, but just against an alliance between Pakistan and the United States that will target innocent people. It's interesting that the only hijabi's on the program were American Muslim women :-) So yeah, there were some messed up elements of the program.  But did the benefit of the show outweight the harm?  I think so. Anonymous: Your post *really* got me heated when I first read it.  (just to be completely honest, and a bit of an excuse if the following words are harsh :-/ )   Just because someone commits an action that you feel is wrong or inappropriate does *not* give you the right to question someone's Islam.  A person can do something wrong and still be Muslim, if they don't distort or deny a part of Islam to justify their views. Perhaps I'm reading too much into your use of quotation marks, but from what I understand they are usually used to imply irony or reservation when it comes to the meaning of something.  And in this case, it's almost as if you are questioning if these people are truly Muslim or not, because of some action they committed (like, for example, shaking Oprah's hand.) Please, just be very careful about this.  I'd suggest you read the posts by Brother Hanif, Sister Barr and Brother Meraj at the end of [url=http://www.jannah.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl/YaBB.pl?board=general&action=display&num=4937]this[/url] thread, they are some excellent words of advice. wAllahu a'lam. wasalaamu alaykum.

Re: Oprah Winfrey Show tonight!
eleanor
10/06/01 at 04:52:47
slm is there anywhere online to watch the show? I followed the link above but it was only a preview of the show. I'd love to see it. wasalaam eleanor ps I agree that you shouldn't start judging other Muslims until you are 100% sure that your own deen is perfect. And since no one can ever be 100% sure...

Re: Oprah Winfrey Show tonight!
flyboy_nz
10/06/01 at 07:25:58
Asalaamu alaikum, i'm glad that there was a show done by Oprah trying to portray Islam in a positive light.  Dispelling ignorance is the hardest thing to do and it is the ignorance that is the barrier which prevents people from seeking the truth, Allahu Alam. Sister se7en, no need to get heated about the anonymous post.  the person was just giving their opinion...telling it like they saw it. This is a discussion board after all and people's opinions on matters are what is sought.   perhaps if we believe someone is wrong in their opinion we should advise them in a *nice* way, rather than let our emotions do the talking.  I was *yelled* at by our imam on friday for trying to organise a video night for our MSA where we were going to show an islamic video.  This left me with a really bitter and hurt feeling and had I been a weaker person I would have been disuaded from organising anything else for the club. we need to help build each other up as better muslims, so lets try to keep the emotions positive:) wasalaam, Ahmed

Re: Oprah Winfrey Show tonight!
bhaloo
10/06/01 at 09:25:48
slm Visit this link: http://www.oprah.com/tows/after/tows_after_landing.jhtml It has some video of interviews after the show with the audience.  A sister from Cananda was telling me she recognized a lot of people that spoke, and that one sister was a room mate of hers even. There were some very troubling things I did find in the discussions. This idea that hijab is cultural and something optional is completely wrong as is this notion that Hoor Al Een is something allegorical ( see my thread here: http://www.jannah.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl/YaBB.pl?board=madrasa&action=display&num=4968 )  I don't really know why someone would say these things.  We have to speak the truth about Islam and not make any excuses and if we don't know what the answer is then we have to remain silent. In fact the khutbah I attended yesterday went into this issue and said that when someone is saying that its permissible to do something or its not permissible to do something then what that person is really saying is that Allah (SWT) is saying do that or don't do that, and that is not something we want to say unless we know for sure. There are definitely positives about the show.  Islam is being discussed more and more (weather good or bad) and that sales of the Quran have quintipuled.  Now is the time when we must educate others about Islam.  People are asking about Islam and they want to know more about the Muslims and common misconceptions such as "why do we hate them".  We just have to make sure that we speak the truth about Islam and correct understanding, because we will be questioned about what we say.  If you don't know, say you will get back to them and then ask someone knowledgable.

Re: Oprah Winfrey Show tonight!
Arsalan
10/06/01 at 14:08:22
[slm] The link that bhaloo has put up contains the "after the show" part of the program.  It's only available online, and wasn't shown on tv.  It's really awesome, and I would suggest everyone to watch it!  It mainly discusses the issue of hijaab, and the Muslims from the audience did a really good job I thought, may Allah reward them.

Re: Oprah Winfrey Show tonight!
BroHanif
10/06/01 at 18:24:22
I havent seen the clip but I think if we muslims are gonna go on air shows, talk radios and even here then we need a little change in our dawah. There's this kitab(Islamic book) called Inviting to the way of Allah. It's a classic. I think some themes of the book should be posted up here or made available for people to read. I might post some chapters up. Islam is a 24 hour life, and our daily actions also mean Dawah. So nx time we r invited on a show(Oprah) or even post here, lets make sure that we do things with himah and understanding. Otherwise, theres really no point in us muslims bashing our heads against each other. [quote]perhaps if we believe someone is wrong in their opinion we should advise them in a *nice* way, rather than let our emotions do the talking.  [/quote] Couldn't agree more bro. And I hope u'r ok now after the imam had a word with yah. We are all one family and we need to sort the mess in our house first before we go to the neighbours. Hanif

Re: Oprah Winfrey Show tonight!
Denise
10/06/01 at 21:48:53
In regards to hijab, I wished someone would have brought the Qur'an and quoted Sura 24:ayat 30 and 31.. But, the after discussion was very good to... :) Denise... As Salaamu Alaikum

Re: Oprah Winfrey Show tonight!
Arsalan
10/06/01 at 22:39:52
[slm] Those two ayaat were quoted by the brother in the audience with the long beard.  Well, they were quoted partially anyway.

Re: Oprah Winfrey Show tonight!
se7en
10/06/01 at 23:04:24
[quote]perhaps if we believe someone is wrong in their opinion we should advise them in a *nice* way, rather than let our emotions do the talking.[/quote] *wince* sorry!  I do apologize if my words were harsh.

Re: Oprah Winfrey Show tonight!
Barr
10/07/01 at 11:18:17
Assalamu'alaikum :-) Thanx for posting the "after show" video clip. Cool discussion, though it's a lot more on hijab... hmmm, I wish it would have gone longer... it seems that there are A LOT of things that need to be understood... Islam 102 and more is a need indeed! Just a side issue... do most American sisters wear those kind of hijabs? (the flip to one side, covering only the neck, and leave the other long style? I hope my description make sense, inshaAllah) Just wondering... wassalam :) :::Barr:::

Re: Oprah Winfrey Show tonight!
Denise
10/07/01 at 16:36:00
[quote]Assalamu'alaikum :-) Thanx for posting the "after show" video clip. Cool discussion, though it's a lot more on hijab... hmmm, I wish it would have gone longer... it seems that there are A LOT of things that need to be understood... Islam 102 and more is a need indeed! Just a side issue... do most American sisters wear those kind of hijabs? (the flip to one side, covering only the neck, and leave the other long style? I hope my description make sense, inshaAllah) Just wondering... wassalam :) :::Barr::: [/quote] I have one black clothe tied around my head, then, wrap the real long rectanguler scarf around my head,covering my neck, then down covering my chest, what length is left over goes over my shoulder... It like to wear light weight outfits, so it may sound heavy but it's not... ;)  I plan on buying some where I wont need the extra clothe around my head...  I need some sort of cap or something...

Re: Oprah Winfrey Show tonight!
amatullah
10/08/01 at 21:20:55
Bismillah and salam That show among all the other things going on have put me in a really bad state. Please ask Allah to lift this heaviness off my heart. I have the cable tv at the moment. And I am surprised muslims are not totally maftooneen by it and its lies. That show...that show was sickening to me. The degree to which we are astray and it seems so ok. Why on earth first of all they would pick people who are not scholars of islam to explain islam 101 i don't understand. She has experts for every other topic she can think of but not this! Well there was one only and alhemdulilah for his presence. The rest upset me more than anything the way people are humiliating themselves for these kuffar. Hijab is liberating we don't need to beat around the bush, pretend it is not obligatory. Rania is ignorant, the journalist has a ton of make up and says it is ok to show your zeena and she puts perfume on before she went out! It was trying to make islam so much like christianity and judiasim. like we have to appologize for the difference, and try to minimize the. I know people who converted because they saw that islam offered them something in fact different. We shouldn't be going or liking to go to rock concerts. Yes some are doing this. but this does not mean you are explaining Islam. There is only ONE quran, it is not open to personal interpretations, over the ages. there is a hadeeth which says if you do that to the qruan even if you are right, you have erred. There were things said by operah in her own explanation of Islam that were annoying as well...from the site: "Allah" in Arabic means "God," the same God that Christians and Jews worship. I see what they are trying to do but it really hurts me that a show about islam fails to emphasize the oneness, the monothiesm of Allah. IT was the main message sent to our prophest saws. Yes it is mentioned later in the show as one of the pillars, but there was no emphasis on it. And why do they say Allah spoke to the prophet???? He alwasy sent jibreel right? I think Mousa was kaleemu Allah only. I am too mad to go on really. It bothers me so much. they throw us a bone and most of us are so thankful.

Re: Oprah Winfrey Show tonight!
flyboy_nz
10/09/01 at 06:24:11
salaam, whoa! one of the things that so many Muslims do is complain...they should have said this...or they should have said that.  These people were doing their best, as best as they knew how and yet you would prefer to tear them down? [quote]"Can you imagine the silence if everyone said only what he knows?" [/quote] none of us are perfect, instead of just seeing the bad in things we should take a balanced view and see the good in it as well?   just my thoughts.... oh and I liked this: [quote]"...Try to pass your mornings and evenings in a state where your heart is free from all ill feelings, jealousy and hatred for everyone, and remember that this is my sunnah [way], and he who loves my sunnah will be with me in paradise." - Muhammad, peace be upon him [/quote] Free yourself from emotions, but keep hold of the positive ones:) wasalaam, Ahmed oh and I believe the above quotes were by Shaikh Abdullah Adhami.  I spotted them [url=http://www.jannah.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl/YaBB.pl?board=bookstore&action=display&num=3860] here [/url]

Re: Oprah Winfrey Show tonight!
se7en
10/09/01 at 06:34:12
as salaamu alaykum, [quote]oh and I believe the above quotes were by Shaikh Abdullah Adhami[/quote] The last quote in that post you cited, (the one about the moon and sun) is by Sh Adhami.  The rest of 'em though, I think are from all over the place. :)

Re: Oprah Winfrey Show tonight!
amatullah
10/09/01 at 07:55:10
Bismillha and salam, Brother Ahmed, You are entitiled to your own opinions of course. I just wanted to remind you that the only time we have the right to be angry is for the sake of Allah. In fact, we should be for His sake and not anything else. I am not complaining pointlessly here. When people are complaining about b.L. I didn't agree because he is calling on muslims to unite for a change. But you cannot not forbid what is evil by any means (tongue, hand, heart)That is part of the reason our ummah is so weak. We have become hyppocrites to each other instead of each others mirrors. I wouldn't be "complaining" if it wasn't clear cut in Islam about makeup or about hijab etc. Those are things we have clear ayas, ahadeeth, fatwas, explanations readily available on. "wala tatakhitho deenukum lahwan" But in this show we have a kafira who didn't even bother to put knowledgable people. And it does anger me for Allah's sake that some average and not so average muslims had a chance to explain islam, and they did it according to their own whims. I hope this clarifies where I am coming from. May Allah forgive me if I have made a mistake as I do see I am not in the best shape the past few days. May Allah give us and them hidaya.

Re: Oprah Winfrey Show tonight!
Arsalan
10/09/01 at 23:33:51
[slm] [quote]But in this show we have a kafira who didn't even bother to put knowledgable people.[/quote]I agree with you that the people on the show were not experts on Islam.  But I am curious, if Oprah asked you who to put on her show, who would you name?

Re: Oprah Winfrey Show tonight!
Kathy
10/10/01 at 08:23:52
slm Many of the sisters on this message board!

Re: Oprah Winfrey Show tonight!
bhaloo
10/10/01 at 09:29:26
slm Here are the 10 people I would send to the show.  Have fun. ;) Representing the sisters: 1). Jannah 2). Se7en 3). Princess 4). Kathy 5). Saleema 6). Amatullah 7). Barr 8). Eleanor Representing the brothers: 9). Arsalan 10). Kashif

Re: Oprah Winfrey Show tonight!
Kashif
10/10/01 at 11:43:45
assalaamu alaikum I'm in complete agreement with amatullah. Living here has changed our minds to how we see deviated presentations of Islam. It brought to mind a fatwa by a scholar of the middle ages named al-Wanshareesee which i'll transcribe tonight insha'Allah. btw. count me out of Oprahs! *smile* Kashif Wa Salaam

Re: Oprah Winfrey Show tonight!
amal
10/10/01 at 10:53:30
I would add brothers AbuKhalid and AbdulBasir to go to the show.

Re: Oprah Winfrey Show tonight!
bhaloo
10/10/01 at 11:36:11
slm Yes, of course i forgot about them and sister Nazia also.

Re: Oprah Winfrey Show tonight!
Arsalan
10/10/01 at 12:23:19
[slm] I'm still waiting for amatullah's reply, but to respond to the rest of you ... Come on!  For one thing, how can you expect Oprah to contact us?  How will she find out about us?  And then, what credentials do we have over the guy that was sitting next to her?  That guy has some degrees in Islamic studies and some background as ambassador, etc.  What credibility do we have to speak as authorities in Islam for a person like Oprah?

Re: Oprah Winfrey Show tonight!
amal
10/10/01 at 13:12:25
The Squeaky wheel gets the grease...if you nag enough you just might get a shot at it :)

Re: Oprah Winfrey Show tonight!
Saleema
10/10/01 at 14:43:45
[slm] I think Oprah did a good job! And so did everyone else. It was the first time for such a thing. All of us need to write a thank you note to Oprah. :) [wlm]

Re: Oprah Winfrey Show tonight!
amatullah
10/10/01 at 15:08:16
Bismillah and salam, I am sorry I didn't reply earlier, I just noticed it now. Wow I can't believe someone who would recommend me. May Allah forgive me and those people, but I am far from someone who is scholar.Basically I would try to aim for knowledgable people who follow ahl assuna and jama3a. Real scholar, who are studying Islam for life and trying their best for to living it. Not average people, with their own interpretations that can mislead the people. It is only fair if you are trying to teach someone to provide good teachers. I would like to see different backgrounds. I would ask for 1 black american convert shaikh (there are many good ones alhemdulilah), 1 immigrant scholar (maghrawi is born here or no?), white or north american born scholar, a niqabi sister I know in toronto who is a sholar and da3eya she is a better than any reference book in fiqh masha'Allah, one another woman who is in proper hijab and not embaressed who is a strong activist for women's rights (jannah?). I really don't know. Just pepole who are truely a wealth of information about islam by real standards, not necisarly degrees, but that are known and respected imams/leaders.

Re: Oprah Winfrey Show tonight!
Saleema
10/10/01 at 15:27:28
[slm] Action alert! Be POlITE!!!******************************************************************** Islam According to Oprah Is Oprah Winfrey a threat to national security? By Rod Dreher, columnist for the New York Post October 8, 2001 11:45 a.m.   s Oprah Winfrey a threat to national security? No, but now that the war has begun, I worry about her, and here's why. The nation cannot afford the naive illusions that have given many Americans comfort in peacetime. Chief among them is the notion, repeated ad nauseam by our leaders and the media, that Islam is a religion of peace. This may not be an outright lie, but it is so far from the full truth as to approach falsehood. Americans have been told that they shouldn't attack the Muslims among us, and only the lowest of the low would disagree. The American people, with very few exceptions, have risen to the challenge to be humane, decent, and loving toward Muslims in this country. Well and good. Americans by nature want to think the best of those from other cultures. But we run the risk of blinding ourselves to the nature of the threat facing our country and our civilization. In his 1996 book The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, Harvard's Samuel P. Huntington warned us of deluding ourselves about the true nature of the Islamic threat. "Some Westerners, including President Bill Clinton, have argued that the West does not have problems with Islam but only with violent Islamist extremists," Huntington wrote. "Fourteen hundred years of history demonstrate otherwise." We can sit around making diversity quilts and thinking happy thoughts, or we can, with charity, commit ourselves to soberly assessing the historical and present-day reality of "peaceful" Islam, and its relations with non-Muslims. http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-dreher100801.shtml

Re: Oprah Winfrey Show tonight!
Kashif
10/10/01 at 18:38:17
assalaamu alaikum Sorry i couldn't find the tape with the fatwa on it. Does anyone else have it? Kashif Wa Salaam
NS

Re: Oprah Winfrey Show tonight!
eleanor
10/11/01 at 13:53:12
slm you definitely don't want me going onto Oprah! Although mind you, if she paid my flight over and hotel for the few days... ;) Just joking. Although it might be worth it to start wearing hijab live on Oprah. I mean like whip it out of a bag and put it on and proudly state "I'm never taking it off again!". Joking aside, I think having a show like this is far better than not having anything at all. If it causes one person to convert to Islam then it has been worth it. Please see my footnote "Actions are by intentions.." This is the ground rule in Islam and everything is judged according to it. If those Muslims on the Oprah Show believed that what they were doing was right, and had no concealed ulterior motive in their heart, other than spreading the wonderful message of Islam, then surely Allah could be pleased? I don't know, since I could never claim to know this much about Allah. All I know that awareness of Islam has increased like 400% since the Sept. 11th attacks and surely that can only be good? I can't understand how anyone can let the negative aspects outweigh the positive. wasalaam eleanor ps: I still have to see this show, but I have a  wonderful imagination and can "see" it all clearly in my mind from your descriptions..
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