Book on American Islam - American Muslim Agenda

If you are a conservative, then grudgingly you'll see the value in what this book offers, and if you are on the left, you want more of it, and if you are moderate, you will dance with joy.

HOSTING A BOOK TALK

The book is about building a cohesive America where each one of us feels secure about our faith, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual and political orientation. Who does not want to live a tension free life at home, workplace, and in the public space? 

The "American Muslim Agenda” serves a two-fold purpose. On the one hand, it separates the chaff from the grain for fellow Americans to see Muslims for who they are and not how the media projects them. On the other hand, it challenges Muslims to restore Islam to its original purpose; that is to create cohesive societies, in our case, a coherent America, where each one of the 323 Million Americans feels proud of his or her uniqueness. 

The book presents many success stories to keep the reader bemused. I am pleased to submit three versions of the blurbs on the book talk. The format can be 10 minutes or 20 minutes presentation with room for Q&A. We want our esteemed guests to go home fully satisfied with all the questions they have had about Islam and Muslims. 

Our conservative friends would grudgingly acknowledge the pathway laid out in the book, while the moderates will dance with joy. If your vision of America is in tune with the book, together as Americans, we can contribute towards the greatness of our nation.

Would this book bring a change? 

Would this bring a change among Muslims towards others and others towards Muslims? Indeed, this book lays out a clear agenda to foster harmony among fellow Americans. It is akin to planting a seed and nurturing to give the beneficence to the next generation.

Some of the reservations we have about Muslims is based on what we have heard from our parents, friends, teachers, pastors, and TV. It is time for us to learn first-hand about them and remove the misunderstandings and live freely. 

It is one of the bold books written about Muslims, and it highlights the sources of extremism and how to cure it.

Unfortunately, some of the Muslim scholars from the past have reduced Islam to a religion of rituals and obedience. This book brings clarity to Muslims and fellow humans and separates the chaff from the wheat for you.

What is the overall theme of your book?

The overall theme of the book is to open people's hearts and minds towards each other. I believe that the ultimate ‘unexpressed’ purpose of humans is to live freely and be comfortable with one's culture, race, religion, ethnicity, sexuality, and individuality.

Why do you think that this book will appeal to readers?

It will appeal to Muslims and Non-Muslims alike, as they have never seen the pristine, pluralistic Islam. Moreover, for the first time in Islamic history, the essence of Islam is explained. Also, for the first time, the book explains twelve values directly from the Quran that contributes towards building cohesive societies with no privileges to one over the other. It is human nature to get along with fellow beings, and this book will resonate with them and pave the path for them to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

TEN TAKE AWAY POINTS FROM THE BOOK

1. The American Muslim Agenda challenges Muslims to think and restore Islam to its original purpose – i.e., to create a cohesive America, where each one of the 323 Million Americans feels secure with his or her faith, race, ethnicity culture, sexual and political orientation. 

2. The American Muslim Agenda paves the way for Muslims to own their mistakes, and remedy them. It corrects how fellow Americans perceive Muslims.

3. Islam is not about imposing (Sharia) your ideas or governing others. Islam is about living your life and letting others live theirs with freedom. That is the original Islam. Islam is about freedom and firmly stands for free will.

4. The essence and purpose of Islam from a humanity’s (Aalameen) perspective for the first time.

5. Never before in Islamic history, twelve values of Islam that contribute to creating secure, orderly and cohesive societies have been articulated. Verses from the Quran fully back each value. Thus, the book becomes a reference manual to teach and learn about Islam.

6. The best way to combat Islamophobia is through education, engagement, and dialogue. There are many success stories narrated including dealing with Fox News, Sean Hannity, Stuart Varney and the supposedly most of the Islamaphobes.

7. This book is the product of twenty years of research and interviews with the right, left, and the moderate fellow humans from many faiths including 150 interviews at Fox News and its many right-leaning guests.

8. Can a Muslim become President of the United States? What does it take, there is a full chapter on the topic?

9. In the end, it is learning to respect the otherness of the other and accepting the God given the uniqueness of each one of the 323 million Americans.

10. There is a whole lot more, and it is all in the book.

Talk Version 1.0

Title of the talk: Muslims making America the Greatest nation on earth.

Americans Muslims are committed to building a cohesive America, an inclusive America where each one of the 323 Million Americans feel secure about his/her faith, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual and political orientation.

When you are free from apprehensions, and connect with fellow workers, the workplace becomes a joy to be. You will give 100% of your heart and mind to your work, and your family benefits from having a whole of you, thus creating a little heaven for yourselves.

Dr. Mike Ghouse, author, public speaker, pluralist, interfaith wedding officiant, and the president of the Center for Pluralism in Washington, DC., will discuss how Muslim efforts in building a cohesive America are working.

He points out that we are Americans, we are free and brave people and must jettison our apprehensions about each other to live freely. Mike advises that if you are a conservative, then grudgingly you'll see a value in what this book offers, and if you are on the left, you want more of it, and the moderates will dance with joy.

He points out that we are Americans, we are free, and the brave people, and must jettison our apprehensions about each other to live freely. How do we accomplish that? It is by knowing each other.

America has always led the world in science, medicine, math, agriculture, automation, information technology, exploration and all the advancements of the human race, and it is time for us to lead the world in building a cohesive nation. The book offers concrete solutions to Americans to make America a great and powerful model nation of inclusion for Americans to enjoy living their lives productively and purposefully, and the world to look up to us to emulate.

We have to assure each other and every American without exception that we are committed to each other's security, prosperity, and peace. Our goal is to reach out to every American who has not been reached before, particularly those who do not understand us. As American Muslims, we uphold, protect, defend and celebrate the values enshrined in our constitution.

Mike will share a few incredible success stories of dealing with our friends on the right and answer questions about Muslim efforts.

The book “American Muslim Agenda” will become a reference manual to knowledge seekers and teachers of Islam, and those who want to see one nation, one people and one America. For Muslims, it is backed up with verses from the Quran. You can order this book from Amazon, Kindle, Barnes & Noble, Google, and other book stores. See the talking points at http://www.AmericanMuslimAgenda.com and Mike’s profile appended at https://www.linkedin.com/inmikeghouse.

Talk Version 2:0

Title of the talk: Muslims making America the Greatest nation on earth

Americans Muslims are committed to building a cohesive America, an inclusive America where each one of the 323 Million Americans feel secure about his/her faith, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual and political orientation.

When you are free from apprehensions, and connect with fellow workers, the workplace becomes a joy to be. You will give 100% of your heart and mind to your work, and your family benefits from having a whole of you with them creating a little heaven for yourselves.

Dr. Mike Ghouse, author, public speaker, pluralist, interfaith wedding officiant, and the President of the Center for Pluralism in Washington, DC., will discuss how Muslim effort is ongoing in building a cohesive America, where each one of the 323 Million Americans feel secure about his/her faith, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual and political orientations.

He points out that we are Americans, we are free and brave people and must jettison our apprehensions about each other to live freely. Mike advises that if you are a conservative, then grudgingly you'll see a value in what this book offers, and if you are on the left, you want more of it, and the moderates will dance with joy.

The book paves the way for Muslims to own their mistakes, remedy them, and correct how fellow Americans perceive Muslims. Mike argues that Islam is not about imposing your ideas or governing others. Instead, Islam is about living your life and letting others live theirs with freedom. It is a bold challenge to Muslims. He shows a narration from humanity's (Aalameen) perspective of the essence and purpose of Islam for the first time in history.

Mike articulates, for the first time in Islamic history, twelve values of Islam that contribute to creating secure, orderly and cohesive societies. He concludes that the best way to combat Islamophobia (and other phobias) is through education, engagement, and dialogue. Mike lays out a clear agenda to foster harmony among fellow Americans. It is akin to planting a seed and nurturing to give the beneficence to the next generation.

Mike believes when Muslims become one with all and defend American values with their souls, they will become part of the American story, and everyone’s language will automatically shift from us vs. them to us, the one nation under God with liberty and justice for all. As American Muslims, we uphold, protect, defend and celebrate the values enshrined in our constitution.

This book will become a reference manual to teachers of Islam and knowledge seekers about Islam, as it is backed up verses from the Quran. You can order his book from Amazon, Kindle, Barnes & Noble, Google, and other book stores. See the talking points at http://www.AmericanMuslimAgenda.com and Mike’s profile appended at https://www.linkedin.com/inmikeghouse.

BOOK - Version 3.0

The American Muslim Agenda is a primer, a blueprint, and a road map for Americans in general and Muslims in particular.

A Muslim is someone who is a conflict mitigater and a goodwill nurturer, following the formula for peaceful societies practiced by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and guided by the Quran.

As a community, American Muslims have not developed any concrete plans to extricate themselves out of the chaotic situations, hostility and incessant Islamophobic rhetoric we face. Each time a terrorist acts out, we start praying and wishing that the terrorist not be a Muslim. We are Americans, and we can do better than that.

There is only one America, and all of us are fully integrated parts of that nation. We need to learn to engage with those who are opposed to us, and reassure them that we are all in this together. Mike will share some success stories.

When we start defending America and the American values we are in! We become an integral part of American Fabric. That is the clear objective articulated in this book.

The book is available at Amazon, Kindle, Google, Xlibris, Barnes & Nobles, and other book stores. The softcover is priced at $19.99, and the hardcover is $29.99. It is also available as an eBook.

The American Muslim Agenda will be in the hands of lawmakers, presidential candidates, media persons, lobbyists, think tanks, educators, interfaith activists, CEO, and fellow Americans. The book is about building a cohesive America where each one of us can live securely with our faith, race, ethnicity, and culture.

As American Muslims, we uphold, protect, defend and celebrate the values enshrined in our constitution.

Mike is a public speaker, author, interfaith wedding officiant, a newsmaker and the executive director of the Center for Pluralism in Washington, DC. More about him at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeghouse/

Email to: SpeakerMikeGhouse@gmail.com or text (214) 325-1916

American Muslim Agenda - What is it?

What is that Americans Muslims want? How close are they to what you want? What can they do about it? What are your issues with each other? If you are a conservative, grudgingly, you'll see the value in this book, and if you are a moderate, you'll dance and sing along with joy.

You and I have a responsibility to create a world where, you, me, and our grandchildren can live without apprehensions. No matter we go, we should feel secure about faith, race, ethnicity, culture and our political and sexual orientation.

Would the book American Muslim Agenda bring attitudinal change among Muslims?  Yes, it will, it’s akin to planting seeds and nurturing it to give the beneficence to the next generation. I know most American Muslims will wholeheartedly subscribe to the refreshed understanding of Islam, we need to expand it to more Americans.

Some of the reservations we have about Muslims and Islam are based on what we have heard from our parents, teachers, clergy, favorite media people and others.  We need to find the truth on our own and find freedom from misunderstandings. It is a blessing to be free.

Muslims have shied away from confronting difficult issues about their faith, and most of them don't even have a clue about the essence of Islam, it was never articulated before in the history of Islam. 

A few medieval scholars have reduced Islam to rituals, five pillars, dhimmi, jizya, sharia, externalities, and enforcement of your rules on to others. That is not Islam, and most Muslims can recite verses that Islam is about free will. God uploaded free will into Adam’s DNA, and emphasized it in the Quran, the prophet practiced ‘freewill’ and established examples for it. Sadly, Muslims know the truth but were bullied into silence with fatwa bombs. All I have done is articulated what Muslims believe, but dared not say it. The book is the voice of the majority of ‘American’ Muslims.

This book is a product of twenty years of research and thousands of discussions in which Muslims, non-Muslims, and “Islamophobes” have participated in it, including debates on Fox News with Sean Hannity, Stuart Varney, Pamela Geller, Brigitte Gabrielle, Robert Spencer, Jamie Glazov, Raymond Ibrahim, Walid Shoebat, Wafa Sultan, and several others.  

Islam is about living your life and letting others live theirs. Islam is about building cohesive societies where all of God's creation lives with dignity and freedom. In God’s universe, we are merely a speck, and no one is more privileged than the other. If you are a moderate individual of any faith, you will find the book in tune with you.

It is time to go beyond the five pillars of Islam, and I hope the Imams and Muslim scholars who are free thinkers would appreciate the contents of the book. This book may indeed become a reference manual for teaching Islamic values that contribute to creating a better world for all humanity.

The American Muslim Agenda offers guidance to Muslims to be one with all, and it voices what Muslims believe and live with and empowers them to live their lives and let others live with free will.  The book opens the door to people of other faiths to shed their biases and join hands in creating a world of safety, security, and harmony for all humanity.

Islam is a public religion, and Muslims don't own it exclusively. You are invited to participate in discussions, including your faith.  The book is expected to initiate conversations about the nature of Islam and fellow humans. I welcome your criticism (after reading the book).

You can get the book by calling 1-888-795-4274 x 4528 or get it from Amazon online or a book store. You can find the talking points at www.AmericanMuslimAgenda.com.

Dr. Mike Ghouse is committed to building a cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. His new book, the “American Muslim Agenda” is about everything you wanted to know about Muslims. The book is available at Xlibris and Amazon. Mike is a public speaker, author, interfaith wedding officiant, and the executive director of the Center for Pluralism in Washington, DC. More about him at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeghouse/

July 4th Celebrations, Muslims and Ramadan. American Muslim Agenda, a new beginning for Muslim Americans

Let this 4th day of July 2014 be a historic beginning for Muslim Americans.

Many of you may not know this, but upon Declaration of our Independence on July 4, 1776, two of the first three heads of states who recognized the sovereignty of the United States were Muslim.

Despite a few, who have painted Muslims in a negative light for their own gains; Muslims have always been well wishers of America and will continue to do that. The Journey began with the birth of our nation, and I am pleased to make a recommendation to my fellow Muslims to take this relationship further deeper.

What will I do on July 4th? 2nd of 3 articles on American Muslim Agenda
( to be published at  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/ )

Continued:

Let this 4th day of July 2014 be a historic beginning for Muslim Americans

It is time for Muslims to set their agenda, and develop short and long term plans. We have to debate, discuss and work on developing a final agenda that is good for the Muslims and good for fellow Americans. Here is a 3 part series of initiating such agenda. 
In the first part of the series at Huffington Post, we shared;

1. What does it take to be the Amins “trust keepers” of our society?
2. Why should we stand up for the rights of others? 
3. No American should live in apprehension or fear of the other.

It is at - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/american-muslim-agenda-a-_b_5528706.html 
Now, we will address the need for engagement with the society, July 4th, and the others celebrations and commemorations.

July 4th and Muslims

Many of you may not know this, but upon Declaration of our Independence on July 4, 1776, two of the first three heads of states who recognized the sovereignty of the United States were Muslim. 
Morocco was the first state and signed the Moroccan-American Treaty of Friendship; first of its kind. Friesland, one of the seven United Provinces of the Dutch Republic was the next, and Tippu Sultan, the King of Mysore State (India) was the third. According to Dr. Range Gowda, Tippu Sultan’s historiographer, the congratulatory letter to America is preserved in a French Library.

Despite a few, who have painted Muslims in a negative light for their own gains; Muslims have always been well wishers of America and will continue to do that. The Journey began with the birth of our nation, and I am pleased to make a recommendation to my fellow Muslims to take this relationship further deeper.

Muslim Americans reaching out to every American.

Let’s take a conservative number of 3, 150,000 Muslims in America, even though a 6-7 millions figure is thrown without any substantiation. This number is roughly 1% of the American Population – one out of 100 Americans is a Muslim.

If each Muslim sends 100 invitations to fellow Americans to join him or her for a grilled Hot Dog, Hamburger or Barbeque at the backyard, public park or a Mosque parking lot with appropriate permissions, about five to seven neighbors may show up, and it may not cost more than $25.00 to serve them. If this is done consistently, in about 10 years, most of Americans would know each other as fellow celebrators of the festivity together. This is not the responsibility of Muslims alone; all of us have to learn about each other to be good neighbors.

Do you know what Quran says about it? In 49:13 God says, he has created mankind into many tribes, communities, nations and people, and he fully understands that conflicts are bound to happen with such diversity, and then he says, the best ones among you are the ones who get to know each other. Indeed, knowledge leads to understanding, and understanding to acceptance and appreciation of the other and when that happens, conflicts fade and solutions emerge. This is how we create safe societies for our children.

Caution: No matter how tempting it is to flaunt your religiosity, religion is your personal belief. Please do not discuss religion and politics with your guests. it will ruin the relationship – get to know your neighbors as folks with common interests. No matter how smart you are, the moment you suggest your religion is superior in any form shape or innuendos; you will be causing conflict off the bat, and that is not friendship. You don’t tell your friend that your wife is more beautiful than his or your husband is more handsome than her husband.

Be a caring neighbor and be there for them in their celebrations, birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, funerals and other commemorations, after all they are your neighbors. 
This is the month of Ramadan, and celebration of July 4th should be a joy while fasting, indeed your personal faith becomes stronger when you let your will power gain control over temptations, fasting is not about being hungry, it is about the sacrifice you make for the sake of God and the common Good. More about it at www.RamadanExclusive.com

This Ramadan, you do not have the time to send the invitations, but have the time knock on ten doors on your street and invite people to hot dogs at your place. Do the invitations next year.

Happy July 4th – if you are driving, carry a lot of water bottles and stop and share some with the stranded ones on the road. What Muslims need most is a lot of Goodwill.

What does engagement mean to Muslims?

It simply means you are invited to your neighbor’s birthday party, Mayor’s inauguration, a political rally of the party you belong to, an interfaith prayer, neighborhood watch meeting, a town hall meeting, celebration of Independence Day, veterans’ day parade, Christmas party, Passover gathering, Diwali, Chinese New year, (Iftar parties) and other community based activities.

If you are not invited, it is not because you are a Hindu, Muslim, Chinese, African American, Arab, Latino, or the other, but precisely because no one knows about you. You have never been a part of any group, other than your own.

Over the years, I have watched with admiration the efforts made by the City and community service organizations to reach out and include all minorities, but sadly, a handful of us respond to it, it’s not only Muslims, the story is same with all minorities.

A few will make an effort and serve on a committee, but drop out quickly because they did not see the fruit on the very same day they planted the seed. Everything takes time, nurturing and development of relationships. The sense of belonging it generates is priceless. You feel confident of your being and your place in the society.

Each one of us rises from the basic level of taking care of the needs of our families to self-fulfillment. We want to give it back to the community and we want to volunteer. Indeed we can contribute towards the overall betterment of the community we live in by engaging with the people.

The power of engagement.

On the individual level, I have been able to diffuse many possible conflicts simply by engaging with people. One such example happened in 2007, there was a rumor that Muslims in France have pushed the Government to ban Holocaust Studies, this rumor was designed to humiliate Muslims. Thanks to Maria Arita at Fox News, she called me up to find out my take. What did I do? I asked her to give me three hours and called my friend late Elliot Dlin, director of Dallas Holocaust Museum, he verified that to be untrue and thanks to Maria, the rumor stopped right there.

On a national level, engaging with Sean Hannity at Fox News has produced significant results for the common good of America, and Muslims. If someone knows you, and you have earned his or her respect over a period of time, going through the full cycle of humiliation, acceptance and appreciation, then he accommodates you.

Thanks to Sean Hannity, he has clarified his position time and again with me that he is not against Muslims or Islam, but against the radical elements. That he will consciously use the term ‘Radicals among Muslim’ instead of ‘Radical Muslims’ was a significant rational improvement and I am glad to be an instrument in that development. I was advised against engaging with Hannity and have been screamed at and ridiculed as well, it would have been easy for me to run from the double edged sword, but I chose to stick with it, as I believe in engagement has its own miracles of mitigating conflicts and nurturing goodwill. Mahatma Gandhi had suggested if you want to see good beneficial changes in the society, be a part of it. More about Hannity at: http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2014/06/youre-dangerous-sparks-fly-between.html

On the flip side of the engagement, Huffington Post stands out as a great example of active engagement. No other newspaper had bothered to deal with the minorities, as the coverage was not profitable for them. Huffpost paved the way; they believed that engagement with different Americans was necessary in moving the nation forward. What is good for America eventually became good for them. Today, I am glad to be a part of Huffington Post’s guest writers, and I am glad it is a profitable business.

Engagement works both ways.

There are innumerable situations where getting engaged with the “other” causes the “other” to join and become “together’, and together as Americans we can achieve a lot, one among them is freedom from tensions about each other.

In the next installment, we will be talking about Engagement, Pluralism, Volunteerism and participation. 
--
Mike Ghouse is a Muslim speaker, thinker and a writer, and presides over the World Muslim congress, a think tank, and a forum with the express goals of nurturing pluralistic values embedded in Islam to build cohesive societies.

American Muslim Agenda, a new beginning for Muslim Americans on this 4th day of July

American Muslim Agenda, a new beginning for Muslim Americans on this 4th day of July - 1 of 3

Let this 4th day of July 2014 be a historic beginning for American Muslims, where they will put together a clear agenda to participate and contribute towards the well being of America.

God created an integrated and interconnected world in harmony and balance, and all he wants from us is to maintain that balance. That is simply the God’s will.

The World Muslim Congress, a twelve year old think tank, has worked on presenting an “initial agenda” for Muslims in America based on Quran and Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) guidance. We hope this will spur debates, followed by discussions and emergence of a Muslim agenda within the framework of American Agenda.

Due to the length of the plan, it is presented in 3 installments.

Continued at Huffington Post - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/american-muslim-agenda-a-_b_5528706.html