Naatia Mushaera on Friday, February 21, 2014 in Richardson

NAATIA MUSHAERA – REQUEST TO POETS

Friday 8-12 PM on 2/21/14 at Richardson Civic Center

Naats** will be recited (poetry) to highlight Prophet Muhammad's work of building cohesive societies where people of different faiths and races lived their own lives. The program will start on time and end on time. If you are going to be late, please do not RSVP, let others enjoy. Seating is limited to 150.

The event is for people of all faiths. Prophet Muhammad's message like all the great prophets of the world is for the whole humanity and not just Muslims.

Muslims of all hues are requested to participate in the event and each community representative (s) to recite a Naat. Seating is limited to 150, so we request a firm RSVP.

At this time, the program will be in Urdu/Hindi language, we hope to make it in English in the coming years.

Throughout the program, we will be highlighting the inclusive teachings of the Prophet. Wisdom from the Madinah constitution will be shared, where the prophet signed a declaration with Jews, Christians and others, each one with freedom to practice his or her faith freely. In his last sermon, he declared that all men are created equal, and respecting each human is the right thing to do. Like the people of all faiths, we need revival to go back to the inclusive values taught by the prophet.

We are requesting our poets to make their poetry purposeful and meaningful and reflect those inclusive values in their poetry.

** Naat is poetry in praise of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in the likes of Christmas Carols, Shabad in Sikhism or Chalisa in Hindu tradition.

Refreshments include tea, paani, chaat and Laddu!

Master of Ceremonies: Shazia Khan
Host: Mike Ghouse 

Richardson Civic Center

Friday, February 21, 2014 |  8-12 PM
REFERENCES:

1. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/how-i-connect-with-prophet-muhammad_b_2547782.html

 

2. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/festivals-of-the-world-mi_b_4579452.html

   
 Mike Ghouse
(214) 325-1916

Naat Program with Dr. Satya Pal Anand

POETRY SESSION IN PRAISE OF PROPHET MUHAMMAD (PBUH)
www.UrduHindi.net

Thanks to Noor Amrohavi for organizing the 10th Annual Naatia Mushaira.  Naat is songs sung in praise of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), and it’s fairly similar to Christmas Carols for Christians, Hanuman Chalisa for Hindus or Shabad in praise of Guru Nanak. Its human desire to praise and appreciate someone they admire and it is in every religious tradition. I am making references to these traditions solely with the intention of giving an idea what Naat is all about. Although celebration of Prophet’s birthday is not an Islamic religious tradition, it is very much a big part of Indian and Pakistani culture.  It has reached out to Philippines on the east and Guyana on the west and now the entire world. They all do sing in Urdu language. There are men and women (yes!) who specialize in singing Naats and they go around the world to sing – and it’s mesmerizing!

What was different this time was the presence of Dr. Satya Pal Anand. A teacher in English, Urdu and Hindu languages and has remarkable command in Arabic and Farsi. He shared the origins of Ghazal (poetry format) in pre Islamic Arabia – the style of poetry that is written with a near perfect balance and sung with a certain style, eventually it has filtered down to the Ghazal format in the Subcontinent.  I was thrilled to hear him talk about the Prophet as a Non-Muslim, and I loved that view. It’s devoid of sentimentalism and the traditional recycled language, and full of new expressions and new perspectives.

Dr. Anand made my day, when he talked about Naat in Nazm style – meaning it does not have strictures of the traditional Naat format (balance, length etc), as I wrote a Naat in that style. I did not complete it, due to the expectations of compliance to the format. But glad to hear the master talk about it. It will now open up the avenues for people of Dallas to express in prose-poetry format as he called it.  It was a good learning experience. If any of you hear his name, please do attend it, it’s worth your while.

It was also a joy to me personally, when Dr. Anand said he has been to every place of worship, and I must proudly say, that I have been to every religious places of worship including Pagan, Native Americans, Wicca and other traditions. It’s so beautiful to see the devotion in each individual towards his or her creator.

I am proud of Dallas/ Fort Worth; we have some of the nation’s best poets. It’s a joy to hear them out. Since, I do not have the entire list of poets; I will just mention a few, hoping to add all the names later. Syed Yunus Ijaz who was also the master of ceremonies,  Tariq Hashmi, Dr. Qaisar Abbas, Saeed Qureshi, Masood Quazi, Noor Amrohvi, Shah Asar Alam, Zohra Chisti, Shamsa Qureshi, and a lady from Houston……. The event was presided by Mr. Khanzada, who headed the Karachi Press Association.

Raja Zahid Khanzada will be sharing this event on Geo TV and many a News papers; he is a reporter for many news outlets.  We will also get to see some great pictures from Zia Khan who has been taking pictures of community events in Dallas for the last 20 years.

The other good part of this event that appealed to me was Mr. Javed Samuell and Irum Gill who are part sponsors of this event – this is the kind of thing we need to see, serving and supporting without barriers. My hats off to Javed and Irum, this is the culture we need to nourish. It increases the sensitivities of people to be more caring of each other.

Thanks to Noor Amrohavi, this was a great program and he has a great team of volunteers that managed the event well. God willing, we will have another small event on Friday, February 21, 2014 – Naat to be recited and sung by men and women. Please look up at www.UrduHindi.net.

Please don’t forget Saturday, March 29, 2014 – Pluralism Poetry Session in Urdu and Hindi.  If you are interested in literary event, all you have to do is, submit your email address at the top right box “UPDATES BY EMAIL” and you’ll get automatic updates.

Please note – I have avoided using the titles and words like Saheb, Bhai, Bahen etc, as I am writing this for general public.  I am sure I have missed a lot of names – but that is not my job, as a community Activist and a Pluralist, when I get a chance, I share things, particularly when I see pluralism and pluralistic attitudes in place or to encourage it. You are welcome to write your comments at the bottom of this note to complete what is missing.

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Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in Standing up for others and a book with the same title is coming up. Mike has a strong presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly at Huffington post; and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes all his work through many links.

Texas Faith – Why music is central to Christmas or any religious story?

Music is one big part of the harmony that binds people; it is a reflection of one's moods. When we are joyous, we have to give expression to that sentiment to bring a sense of fullness to the feeling. 

http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/12/texas-faith-why-music-is-central-to.html

Every week a dozen of us respond to the question at Dallas Morning News and here is my response:

MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism, Dallas

Humans are programmed to seek harmony and the spiritual masters of every religious tradition have crafted unique rituals to bring a balance in our lives and put us in sync with the people and environment that surround us.

Music is one big part of the harmony that binds people; it is a reflection of one's moods. When we are joyous, we have to give expression to that sentiment to bring a sense of fullness to the feeling.

However, the puritanical among us have opposed music and even singing, although music has been a major part of the tradition among many of us. In the early Judaic history, halakhic prohibitions on music on Sabbath observances prevailed. During Cromwell's government in England, the practice of singing Christmas carols was banned as a pagan ritual and thus sinful.

Thank God we are growing out of those attitudes now. Indeed, celebration of Christmas was legally abolished in 1645 and declared as an offense by the Parliament in 1647. It was restored in 1660. Muslims are no exception to the pie, God said, bad music is bad and the puritans among Muslims call all music is sinful.

Music will continue to be a major part of our cultural and religious traditions. Ganesh festivities among Hindus are celebrated with weeklong musical evenings; Prophet Muhammad's birth is celebrated by many Muslims by singing the Milaad Naats to appreciate the prophet. And today, December 13th, festivities begin by singing Khushali Mubarak, the birth celebration of HH Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims. A month ago, the Sikhs celebrated Gurpurab, singing Kirtans honoring Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism. Music makes one happy and it is a part of most celebrations.

The essence of Christmas is hope; it is a celebration of the birth of Jesus and a sense of completeness is achieved by sharing that joy with loved ones and the ones in need. Christmas carols are a big part of the festivities. Without them, Christmas is not complete. We look forward to the big day by counting each day. Christmas without carols is like driving without a seat belt (discomfort and guilt).

I have spent a few Christmas evenings with Mrs. Swaran Latha and Mr. Roberts while growing up, and one of my fond memories was falling off a stool while tinkering with a Christmas LP. It was Jim Reeves and I was barely five years old. I have enjoyed participating in Christmas celebrations with the Blauvelt family and my own family for many years after I came to the United States and continue to celebrate it with my family as a cultural celebration now.

Way back in the late nineties, when we organized the Foundation for Pluralism, one of our goals was to celebrate the birthdays of spiritual masters of every religious and non-religious tradition with music and learning about the good they have brought to the world. I have not been able to do that, but have always found time to write a tribute about them. Jesus is indeed my mentor, and as a Muslim I accept him as one of my guides and will talk and write about his significance to the world. And in my own tradition I will recite his virgin birth story dedicated to Maryam, Mother Mary in Chapter 19 of Qur'an and pray on his birthday.

Merry Christmas y'all.

To read all the responses, go to Dallas Morning News at
http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/12/texas-faith-why-is-music-centr.html

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Mike is committed to building a cohesive America, where no American has to live in anxieties, discomfort of fear stemming from a fellow American. He will be happy to share the mission and goals of the organization in the making. Mike’s work is fully indexed at  www.mikeghouse.net and all his articles are at www.Theghousediary.com