Highlights of Islam Awareness Quarter – Winter Quarter 2010
“Timeless Religion” and “Does God Exist?” – Hamza Tzortzis
Hamza Tzortzis, an internationally known debater and orator who speaks about the existence of God, proved that God truly does exist with 4 basic arguments. 1) The origins of the universe were divine. 2) The presence of objective morals which are prevalent in society can only come from God, the only objective source. 3) The miracle of the Holy Quran is an act of impossibility that breaks from the nature the Arabic language. And 4) God permits intelligent life. After he made his points, the floor was open to a debate-like question and answer session in which a few individuals challenged his points.
“Wake Up Call” – Amir Muhaddith
Amir Junaid Muhaddith, the rapper formerly known as “Loon” of Bad Boy Records, paid UCI a visit to share his story of how he came to Islam. His journey started in Harlem, continued into the music industry, and eventually led him to Abu Dhabi in the UAE where he converted to Islam. Since then, he’s completely separated himself from the music industry, and has been seeking knowledge, calling people to Islam, and helping remind the youth what it means to be a Muslim. His fame drew out a diverse crowd of students who attended his talk, and the question and answer session ranged from topics about how his family reacted to his conversion to Islam, to his views on music in American and Muslim societies, and issues which young Muslims face in America today.
“The Real Malcom X: Faith Over Fear” – Amin Abdul Latif
Malcolm X was one of the most influential and well-known activists in American history, but something relatively unknown about him was his spiritual side — his connection to Islam. As part of the Islam Awareness Quarter series of events for 2010, Brother Amin Abdul Latif addressed the faith of Malcolm X after he converted to Islam, and the impact it had on his activism. He spoke of the history of racism in America, and shared some personal experiences of his own, too. His message was that Islam is a faith which breaks all racist barriers. “If white Americans could accept the oneness of God, maybe they could accept the oneness of mankind.” –Malcolm X
“Pursuit of Happiness” – Imam Mustafa Umar
What is happiness? And how can a person attain it? Imam Mustafa Umar tackled these questions in his discussion, mentioning the 4 ways one can pursue happiness through: 1. material possessions, 2. social status and reputation, 3. fulfilling “animal” desires and 4. service. He also explored the Western concept of the “pursuit of happiness,” and its appearance in the American Constitution. He concluded that Islam promises happiness — absolute happiness — only in the Afterlife, and our happiness in this world can be attained through the fourth path alone; personal submission to the service of Allah.
In January 2009, the Dignity boat sailed the seas in efforts to deliver aid and support to the Palestinians in the wake of the war and destruction brought on by Israel. During the voyage, the Dignity was suddenly rammed by Israeli naval warships, and although the passengers could have died as a result, Cynthia McKinney survived to tell the tale. McKinney, a former Congresswoman and the Green Party nominee for President in 2008, shared her inspiring story of humanitarianism in the wake of volatile circumstances when she visited UC Irvine on May 13. Her message to the audience was one of heroism, one that emphasized education and activism among all citizens in the struggle for justice.
In explaining where her passion for justice began, McKinney shared her past experiences with the Malaysia peace efforts, where she learned that global dignity and harmony are possible if one sincerely works towards it. When detailing her career in the politial realm, she discussed the ups and downs she faced, as her opposition to the ardent support of Israel and it’s policies by the Democratic and Republican parties are what she believes ultimately cost her reelection to Congress. She was the only Democratic Congresswoman to lose reelection to the second term. Having had enough with the politics of both the Democratic and Republican parties, McKinney affiliated herself with the Green Party, which she felt aligned more with her personal beliefs and ideology.
McKinney’s diverted voyage on the Dignity boat wasn’t solely the fault of Israel, as she highlighted how the United States government directly funds the Israeli military through both foreign aid as well as through citizen tax dollars. Ultimately, the devastation and suffering of the Palestinians during this past War on Gaza is on the conscience of American citizens too, as our tax dollars support and sustain the Israeli war machine.
As disheartening as it may be for us to realize that Palestinian blood is on our hands as tax-paying citizens, McKinney stressed that this is no time to despair. If anything, this is the moment when we as Americans, people of privilege and opportunity, should educate ourselves and become active in the pursuit of global justice. If we truly love our country and what its ideals of life, liberty, and prosperity stand for, it is our obligation to engage in this America so it can be more reflective of our values.
Through dialogue, education, and the mobilization of fellow citizens in the pursuit of a better country and a better world, we can shape politics, which as McKinney defined, is “the exercise of power and the relation of power to one’s values.” National dignity is possible, McKinney asserted. “There is dignity in resistance.”
A modest crowd attended the award-winning documentary screening of Occupation 101: Voices of the Silenced Majority on Monday evening, May 11, 2009. The documentary explored the root of the conflict, exposing Zionism Afterwards, there was a surprise Q & A session with Anna Baltzer, a Jewish American Journalist and Fulbright Scholar. Baltzer raised the point that while the documentary was extremely shocking in nature, the actions of Israel were based off a logic that must be understood. This logic was the need for a Jewish state, which by its very nature requires a majority Jewish population, in a homeland that was not and is not a majority Jewish. Israelies are thus left to contend with wanting a Jewish state on the one hand and instituting an occupation to maintain one on the other. Baltzer also opened up the floor to ask the audience what they thought could be done to alleviate the suffering in this conflict. Audience responses included engaging officials, divestment, and aid to the Palestinian people. One student discussed the Viva Palestina USA aid convoy to Gaza organized by George Galloway (more information can be found at www.vivapalestina.org). Another student suggested starting a divestment campaign from Israel beginning with the UC system. Baltzer cited a successful endeavor in this regard by Hampshire College which was also the first college to divest from apartheid South Africa. Community members also gave their suggestions. One member stated he was going to approach his congressperson about the situation, and another suggested that the U.S. ought to be providing citizenship to the Gazans after fueling so much atrocity.
130 students at UC Irvine “dropped dead” on Ring Road between 12:45pm and 1pm on Monday, May 11, 2009 at the sound of sirens symbolizing an Israeli attack on the Palestinian people. Each student represented 10 of the 1300 that died in Gaza during the Israeli offensive this past December, 450 of which were children, and another 450 which were women. The offensive lasted many weeks and destroyed most of the infrastructure in place, including mosques, schools, UN facilities, roads, hospitals.
The student die-in took place after a speech by Jim Lafferty, founding member of the Los Angeles Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. Lafferty spoke out against some of the difficulties which the university administration dealt the student organizers of the events, such as removing the main title of the event from the school marquees, censoring the event information from the Anteater Weekly, and asking them to remove an Israeli flag from one of their displays based on an uncited violation.
