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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Speak UP or Forever Hold your Peace! |
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| Maliha |
| 03/21/03 at 08:01:54 |
| [slm] [i]I wrote this in preparation for one of the speeches I am giving at the Anti war conference this weekend. This is aimed to encourage peace activists not to give up hope. Please read and let me know if I need to make any changes...Jazakumu Allahu Khayran Katheeran![/i] Speak Up or Forever Hold your Peace: The world is paralyzed by the gross violation of human dignity and self determination. History pages are being re written as we watch in horror, new chapters of colonization and occupation steeped in the blood of the innocent churned despite the masses protests and disgust. While America stages its unjust war to shock and awe the universe into submission, we are left wondering if there is anything we can do to undo the flimsy plots of the greedy elite from their despicable mission to plunder the resources of a dying nation. We celebrated on February 15th, when the earth heaved and sighed the multitudes into the streets demanding justice and peace for the troops at home and the innocent lives abroad. The peace train is growing, picking up passengers from all corners of the world. The peace train is no more a marginal voice, but rising in thunderous proportions and taking on a global face. We are the Peace train and despite the fact that all our efforts seem in vain, we have to keep the voices of sanity alive. We have to continue our mission to educate and sensitize our people to the brutalities of war. Many of us have been blessed to live in the laps of comfort and luxury. To many of us, suffering is but a distant concept. We have no idea what it means to lose not just one loved one, but many, in a single blast of time. We have no idea what it means to live in the shadow of constant terror and insecurity. We have no idea what it means to be an orphan, a widow, an ailing old man, and a dying young one in a nation that has no resources or medicine or even enough food to go around. The common people that support the war, have their hearts in the right place but priorities mismatched. To them, this is about being patriotic, about following leadership, and unquestioning the propaganda that is constantly churned in the media. Let no one call you unpatriotic for standing up to what is Just. We are an integral part of this nation, and it is our patriotic responsibility to voice the truth especially when our nation does not live up to its true ideals. The beauty of living in a democracy is knowing that we can voice our opinions, and even if the leadership fails to take them into account. Never think for once that your voice does not matter. Never lose hope. If you change one mind, if you open one heart, if you save one life, you have done your part in upholding the very best of what humanity stands for. I take comfort in the promise of God as stated in the Holy Quran “Verily with difficulty comes ease”. Times may seem treacherous now as we navigate streams of untruth, hypocrisy, and structured illusions. We have to embody the light of truth and shine the way for the world to see. Under billows of darkness, I know that all it takes is the shining rays of the sun for the gray overcast clouds to dissipate. The sun will continue to rise. The earth will continue to rotate, and as the dictates of time tell us, evil rises but for a moment before it finally crumbles under the weight of its own delusions. Stand firm and know that this temporary madness will pass, and what will remain etched in the eternal scrolls of time is our voices, our hopes, our love. What will remain is the burning truth that will never be extinguished by the fleeting shadows of deceit. I take comfort in looking around the many faces here today. Young, old, white, Black, Jewish, Muslim, Christian, the list goes on. We come from many different backgrounds firm in the conviction that war is not the way! We may hold different beliefs and ideologies, but there is the thin thread of humanity that runs in all of us, the knowledge that oppression being inflicted thousands of miles away will come knocking on our doors. This is the small global village of the world, representing the beauty of uniting for a cause, a voice, a stance. It’s a simple word that embodies everything we have committed to bring us out here today. It’s standing up for the sake of Peace. Its standing up for the sake of humanity! -Maliha Balala [wlm] |
| Re: Speak UP or Forever Hold your Peace! |
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| AyeshaZ |
| 03/21/03 at 11:53:27 |
[wlm] JazakumAllahu Khair sis Maliha!!! subhan'Allah very profound..plz update us with how the protest went, how many people attended etc... |
| Re: Speak UP or Forever Hold your Peace! |
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| se7en |
| 03/21/03 at 12:59:18 |
| as salaamu alaykum, maliha you rock my world 8) awesome speech masha'Allah |
| 03/21/03 at 12:59:43 |
| se7en |
| Re: Speak UP or Forever Hold your Peace! |
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| BroHanif |
| 03/21/03 at 15:22:00 |
| salaams, I think that is the best post I have ever read by you. Absolute brill I must say. Its so good I'm going to distribute it to my Newsletter buddies. And its okay to copy it since its saving lives. I give it 11 out of 10. salaams Hanif |
| Re: Speak UP or Forever Hold your Peace! |
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| a_Silver_Rose |
| 03/21/03 at 21:14:49 |
| [slm] Subhan'Allah! very inspirational. Jazak Allahu Kayron |
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