Pakistani Muslim actress defies the right wingers.

Ms. Veena Malik.

May Allah bless you and give you more strength.

Thanks for speaking up for so many women! Women have put up with this non-sense far too long. Whether they are Muslim, Christian, Hindu or others they continue to be oppressed. May Allah give you strenght to speak up for all those women who are pushed around.

Keep going, you have the guts and we admire you. Although the Maulana on debate with you was respectful and not condemning, he was merely looking out from his point of view and his culture (not all Pakistani, but his ilk) he is not on the extreme like the Talibans or the Saudis. I’m glad he listened to you. 

A few right wing Muslims may disagree with you, so what? They don't support your family and you, you do. They are responsible for their actions and you are for yours. Thank you again for speaking boldly and standing up for many, many and many women who are routinely derided and made to shut up, of course that is not a Muslim thing at all, nor is that a Pakistani thing, a few men in all societies behave the same whether they wear pants shirt or kurta pajama, clean shaven or bearded, Americans or Arabs, Pakistanis or Indians, Lamas or cowboys, some men behave the same. 

Although all religions in general and Islam in Particular makes men and women to be fully participating and contributing members to the well being their family. No one was to take advantage of the other, that is the religious thing to do,  doing otherwise is the men thing they do.

Pakistani Actress Defies Mullah Accusing Her of Immoral Behavior on an Indian Reality TV Show - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMnAmRa4NYw&feature=player_embedded

Mike Ghouse

http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Moon songs in Urdu-Hindi languages

The sight of full moon was amazing tonite, I was just wondering about the way the universe has been arranged and organized, it looks like a precision machine where every things runs smoothly. The sun shows up and the Jupiter orbits and the moon’s elastic distance and the tides… it’s all incredible. However, the creator wanted to make sure that we understand that there is no perfection, there are anomalies like Tsunamis and earthquakes are built-in or happens randomly. The lesson for us is to strive for the best but know that there is no perfection and we have to learn to be content.

With Prayers for the ones suffering in Japan, Libya, Bahrain and every where, we have to live as normal a life as we can. Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama have demonstrated that it is necessary to live a normal life to make other aspect of life go on as smoothly as they can. One cannot uplift others when we sink; we have to rise to do more good to those who are down.

From this sentence forward, the topic is mainly for the Urdu/Hindi speaking friends, my regrets to the English speaking friends.

20 SONGS ON MOON

Moon has been associated with beauty and the poets usually compare the beauty of the beloved with that of Moon. I have no idea what it is in other languages, but Urdu/Hindi language is studded with moon in the poetry.

The words are Chand, Chanda, Chaand, Chandra…

Here is a list of some 20+ Songs on the theme of Moon in Urdu/Hindi language, most of the songs are pre-77 when I left India, I don’t know a whole lot of songs after that with an exception of a few, a few simply don’t sound romantic as the singer screams in the songs…   

There are over 50 songs that I know with Chaand in its theme, missing in the list are songs by KL Saigal, Noor Jehan and Gita Dutt.  May be on next full moon I will have the rest of them.  Those who are familiar with the songs and movies might see a lot of connections between songs, actors… there is a continuous chain… years ago I did a radio show on Sundays called Golden Oldies and Golden Melodies, besides my talk shows on religion and topics of the day… and I used to weave the songs in a story.. a lot of people from South India, Bangladesh and Caribbean enjoyed the English narration and essence of the songs, rather than the translations.

Just got nostalgic… the moon is simply glowing and I dedicate these songs to my wife Yasmeen.

If you wish to go auto pilot… just click and go,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ud2rsMT5ng&playnext=1&list=PL0956336FAE9C3831

If auto does not work, here is the list.

1. Chaudhvin Ka chaand ho

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ud2rsMT5ng

2. kaisi haseen aaj baharon ki raat hai

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVWODTAxLOs

3. Gali may aaj chaand nikla

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwi-QXBcGJk

# #

4. Khoya khoya chaand

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oT9kqNvaUoQ

5. ai sanam jis nay tujhe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TKD5jZ7pO8

6. A hawa a raat a chandni

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n75WcYDuxM&feature=related

7. A raat a chandni phi kahan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBw_JSiNF9c&feature=fvwrel

8. Wo chaand Khila

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxiGz4xhVs4

9. Chaand nay kuch kaha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAxq2srQBOM

10. Tu mere chaand my teri chaandni

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoVd7GT_p-I

11. Chand sifarish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XZDuN2OOtA

12. Ai chaand zara chup ja

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjcjQPUWpxI

13. Raat ko chandani jab khile (Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fttKM47qsc

14. Chaand chupa badal may

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2n_Zw3Mi05A

15. Chaand phir nikla

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii8D7gNn318&feature=relmfu

16. my nay poocha chand say

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzuCHSpQaPQ

17. mera chaand  mujhe aaya hai nazar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0p-N6KXO3bM

18. Chaand mere aaja

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IADXevIqmY

19. Chanda o chanda

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXX464l95VE&feature=fvsr

20. Chanda mama door ke

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgwBMmY7H9g

21. Dekha hai sobhi nay chaand ko

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgRRjEtshpk

22. Chaand ko kya maloom

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VE4mAexCjaY&feature=related

The link for this note: http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/03/moon-songs-in-urdu-hindi-languages.html

Best Wishes.

50 PICTURES OF MOON -

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/beautiful-pictures-of-the-supermoon-from-around-th

Mike Ghouse

http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Dallas Aids Walk

Good things in the world commence with individuals, it is their drive to make life better for every one that makes a difference in how we function as a society.

Anthony Chisom is one such individual who has committed to bring about a change for those affected by HIV, himself being one. It was so good to see his parents participate and give him the support and acceptance that every HIV infected person deserves. Anthony is blessed and is working to create that blessing for those who are not. The least we can do is giving encouragement and support to his efforts.

His initiative, the first annual South Dallas Aid’s walk will make a difference.  I am thankful to Mary Ann Thompson-Frenk for reminding me about the walk and, it was good to see her, Joshua, Vicki, Coke, Ken and Todd and other friends who joined the march. It was quite a feat to see so many people join in; it was over half a mile long and about 3 miles walk.

AIDS is not the issue of those affected by it, it is an American issue and together we must find solutions.

Personally I am frustrated with my iphone, I took over 30 pictures and two videos, after downloading on my computer and deleting at the source which I should not have done, I was left with one video and a few pictures. I tried everything to recover in vain. I am sure enough pictures will be posted to mark this event.

God bless America and Anthony Chisolm

Mike Ghouse, Americans together building cohesive societies.

Pictures - http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeghouse/sets/72157626302099596/show/

Happy Holi, my personal story.

HAPPY HOLI, My personal story
Several years ago, my son, daughter and I were drenched in Holi colors at the Hindu Temple festivities and were driving home. At the stop light, the people in cars on either side stared at us and looked scared and took off screeching on the green light... then it dawned on us that we looked bloody, green, yellow and mellow.......

Wow, Happy Holi!

This festival breaks the barriers between people, between adults and children, family members and friends, and opens up to each other. My kids thoroughly enjoyed throwing the colors in liquid and dust forms on me, they loved it. I would also call it friendship festival as it removes inhibitions. The picture below reflects that sentiments - all colors coming together to create oneness, thus the phrase Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam; the whole world is one family. Similar expressions are a staple in every faith.

Holi is celebrated at the end of the winter season on the last full moon day of the lunar month Phalguna which usually falls in the later part of February or March.

Legend has it that inn Vrindavan and Mathura, where Lord Krishna grew up, the festival is celebrated for 16 days. Krishna is believed to have complained to his mother about the contrast between his dark skin complexion and Radha's lighter skin complexion. Krishna's mother decided to apply color to Radha's face. The celebrations officially usher in spring, the celebrated season of love.

Holi is a festival of radiance in the universe. During this festival, different waves of radiance traverse the universe, thereby creating various colors that nourish and complement the function of respective elements in the atmosphere.

For the last 15 years, I have been writing about every festival on the earth, have done a weekly Radio program called "Festivals of the world" and shared about each festival. Make it simple enough that most people can get the essence of it. For Hindus there is lot more depth and meaning to it, but for the non-Hindus, this gives them an idea about the festival. It is a part of the Pluralism education, so we all can know each other and appreciate our own uniqueness. Each one of is a model of our own.

Mike Ghouse is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. His work is reflected in 4 websites and 27 Blogs at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Americans condemn the attacks on Rabbi Lerner.

March 16, 2010, Dallas, Texas
Americans condemn the attacks on Rabbi Lerner.

The  entire humanity must condemn the attack on Rabbi Lerner, a man who is committed to building bridges and doing what his religion Judaism teaches him; to stand up for truth and justice.

Evil exists not because of evil people, but because good people do nothing about it. It is however changing now; the good people are indeed speaking up and hope the bullies learn that they cannot bully any more.

A part of the human equation is to have a range of people in its collection; the right wingers, the lefties and the silent majority of moderates.  The right wingers operate out of the imaginary fears that the world is out to get them and they pre-empt to silence the opposition. Some of them have figured out making money out of this racket.

The Goldstone report was conducted by a Jewish judge about the excesses of Israel in Gaza. The right wing Jewish group is in denial, and not only is intolerant but un-democratic to use violence to silence the truth.

I pray that the right winger Jews understand that criticizing the policies of Israel is not a criticism of Israel, Jews or Judaism. If they can get this in their thick heads, peace is imminent and I pray that they do but also pray that we all speak up.

We still have a few gutsy Journalists will write and talk about it, but a majority of them and particularly Fox gang will perhaps present it as though the rape victim asked for it. This may be the sign of decline of Right wing Media, their shying away from the truth will take the media business out of their hands and put in the hands of the public.

Rabbi Lerner continues to work on nurturing goodwill and we stand by you and hope every American does.

Mike Ghouse is president of Americans Together and Muslims Together Foundations and is committed to building cohesive societies offering pluralistic solution on issues of the day. He will speak at your work place, place of worship or seminars and conferences on the subjects of pluralism, cohesive societies, Islam, interfaith, India and Peace; he is a speaker thinker and a writer on the topics. His work is indexed in 4 websites and 27 Blogs at http://www.mikeghouse.net/# # #
# # #

Zionist Extremist Hate Crime Against Rabbi Lerner: 3rd Attack on His Home and the limits of "freedom of the press"
3/17/2011, Berkeley, California

Only one day after Rabbi Lerner presented the Tikkun Award to South African Justice Richard Goldstone, at a celebration of Tikkun's 25th Anniversary attended by over 600 people at the University of California, Berkeley, Rabbi Lerner's home was again assaulted by extremist Zionist haters who plastered posters over his home once again. This is the 3rd assault on his home since Lerner announced the award to Justice Goldstone whose report on Israel's human rights violations during the Israeli assault on Gaza in Dec. 2008 and Jan.2009 was denounced by the State of Israel and by the AIPAC-dominated House of Representatives last year. You would not have known about the 2nd attack, which was reported to the police but not to the media because Lerner had been advised that not giving the attackers attention might make future attacks less likely. That strategy failed.

Each time the posters have sought to display Lerner as either a tool of an evil Goldstone trying to hurt Israel. The current posters were done more professionally than the previous ones, and present a picture of Nazi officers carrying away a Jew. Lerner's name is put on one of the Nazis and "Islamic extremists" is written on the other Nazi, and the innocent Jew is identified as the State of Israel. The perspective of the attackers is clear: "Rabbi Lerner is a Nazi assaulting Israel." That is why the police have labeled this a "hate crime."

What "freedom of the press" is there if an editor is subject to this kind of personal harrassment for expressing his views in his editorials and in the gatherings sponsored by the magazine? Anyone concerned about civil liberties should be concerned about this pattern of attacks on the private home of a magazine editor.  And for those who believe that there is a new tone of civility in the Jewish world, well....it obviously has not impacted on right wing Zionist extremists. Please note, however, that we do not want to imply in any way that all Zionists are responsible directly or indirectly for this attack. The Zionist community in the U.S., while often demeaning Rabbi Lerner, has not shown any tendency toward violence or physical assaults on his person or property, and in our view would not likely do so. These have been the acts of a small group of extremists, and while the demeaning of Rabbi Lerner and Tikkun may have contributed to the climate in which these extremists believed they could get away with these assaults, there is no reason to believe, and we do not believe, that American Zionists as a whole either intended or approve of this kind of activity. And the Board of Rabbis of Northern California publicly critiqued the last attack on Rabbi Lerner's home as did other Jewish leaders.

Assaults on free speech are best met by encouraging more speech. The obvious goal of these attacks is to intimidate and  silence Tikkun, and since Tikkun is the largest circulation liberal/progressive Jewish magazine on-line and in print in the entire world, silencing Tikkun would be a huge victory for these extremists. People can assure that Tikkun stays alive by subscribing to Tikkun at www.tikkun.org, joining Tikkun's interfaith education and social action organization The Network of Spiritual Progressives at www.spiritualprogressives.org, making a tax-deductible contribution to Tikkun (checks can be sent to Tikkun, 2342 Shattuck Ave #1200, Berkeley, Ca. 94704--our mailbox, not the actual address of the magazine's office), and/or creating a local study group to read and discuss Tikkun articles every week, every two weeks, or once a month. You can also read Tikkun-on-line by going to our new web magazine each week to read the latest articles. You can also support us by joining other organizations that seek peace and reconciliation between Israel and Palestine, including J. Street, Jewish Voices for Peace,  Americans for Peace Now, The New Israel Fund and B'tselem.

Thank you for your support.
Tikkun Magazine 

Texas Faith: What to make of Rep. Peter King's hearings

Texas Faith - What to make of Rep. Peter King's hearings into Muslim American radicalization?
Sam Hodges, Dallas Morning News

Rep. Peter King, R-New York, last week held the first of a series of hearings into what he describes as Muslim American radicalization. He says he wants to do everything he can to prevent a recurrence of the 9-11 attacks. He has faced criticism from Muslims and others for singling out Islam. But at least one Muslim commentator welcomed the hearings as a chance for educating about the faith and addressing head on the fears many Americans have about it.

We asked our Texas Faith panelists for their reaction to the whole idea of King's hearings. Then we asked: Whether or not you support them, what advice would you give to make such hearings as responsible and constructive as possible?

Here's what they said
Ten panelists have shared their opinion, here is mine and all of them are at:

http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/03/texas-faith-what-to-make-of-re.html#

MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism, Dallas

We should be concerned about the hearings and pray that Mr. King would be honest, sincere and fair. We hope he will not destroy the fabric of our nation and pit one American against the other.

King's hearings are reflective of sheer political desperation. The right-wing Republicans rode in with a thumping majority in mid-term elections, and now their goal is to win the Senate and the White House. These hearing are to augment that process.

They do not have an honest reason to win in 2012, so they manufacture "Sharia", "Caliphate" and other devils. They frighten the crap out of constipated men and women and guarantee them that they will defend their rights and keep the bogeymen out. In reality nothing really will change; no one gets hired or sees the prosperity. We hope that Americans will not be duped into believing there has been a win against the imaginary enemy.

I trust our systems and the moral goodness of our nation. If Mr. King takes the wrong step, the American people will not put up with it. They have turned around Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq wars; supported Roe V. Wade, civil rights, gender equality and laws against discrimination, including anti-Semitism. We will continue to guard America from anyone tearing its fabric.

Acknowledging that "some of our own" are a security threat to our nation is the right thing to do. Muslims have nothing to fear and nothing to worry about; let the man fall flat on his face if he resorts to untruths. What if he turns out to be honest and finds guys like Shehzad? Then we owe him gratitude - not just Muslims, but the whole nation.

Rightfully, Muslims do not want to legitimize this kind of singling out; neither should anyone. But given the ride the right wingers are cherishing in Oklahoma, Tennessee and elsewhere, Muslim must welcome this and take this as a God-sent opportunity for America in general and Muslims in particular to clear the mine fields.

It is our duty to keep law and order and faithfully guard the safety of every citizen. Hate is one of the many sources of disrupting peace in a society, and it is our responsibility to seek the source of such hate and work to mitigate and find lasting solutions.

If nothing else comes from the hearings, one thing is for sure. Muslims are not a monolithic lot. Four Muslims in America have welcomed the hearings: Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, Dr. Akbar Ahmed, Ms. Asra Nomani and me. It is not an easy thing, but thank God Muslims have made it easy for us. The American values of democracy flow through their veins; they appreciate the freedom and value the differences, and have learned to respect the otherness of others. We thank God for this opportunity to put the doubts and nagging behind for good so we can continue to participate in and contribute towards the well-being of America, our homeland.

# # #

Mike Ghouse is president of Americans Together and Muslims Together Foundations and is committed to building cohesive societies offering pluralistic solution on issues of the day. He will speak at your work place, place of worship or seminars and conferences on the subjects of pluralism, cohesive societies, Islam, interfaith, India and Peace; he is a speaker thinker and a writer on the topics.  His work is indexed in 4 websites and 27 Blogs at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Muslims condemn the Murders of Fogel Family in Israel

In behalf of Muslims and the World Muslim Congress, I condemn the malicious rejoice by some Palestinians over the cold blooded murder of the Fogel family in Israel.

A few exchanges on the net prompted me to add the following;

Bad people are among all of us without exception, acknowledging bad Muslims, bad Indians,  bad Israelis, bad Palestinians, bad Jews or bad Americans is the right thing to do, denying takes away the credibility of information.

The shameless score keeping must be understood to break they cycle of violence.  The shameless rejoice by a few Palestinians is not acceptable, and I sincerely hope, Netanyahu will not bomb the entire Gaza strip to avenge this and then they will fire the rockets... it is to the advantage of the powerful to break the cycle of revenge.   

A friend wrote, "Jewish Israelis do not do that too Muslims" and I wish that were the case. I asked him to look up Jerusalem post, Haaretz and the writings of Jewish humanitarians to find a different story.

I humbly request the right wing Jewish Americans and the right wing Muslim Americans not to start a campaign of hate and counter hate, but instead break this cycle.  Both sides can dig up trash and throw at each other, for what? So they can do more of it?

I ask the shameless Media vultures not to feed on these hateful incidents and talk for a whole week until they find another corpse; their food.  

Mike Ghouse is the founder of America Together foundation and Islam Together Foundation and is committed to building cohesive societies offering pluralistic solution on the issues of the day.  His work is indexed in 4 websites and 21 Blogs at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Happy Monday, March 14, 2011

Last week was a diffucult week. The Earth Quake and Tsunami in Japan devastated so many families , members lost and they still cannot find about 100,000 people.  I am at loss for words, I just wrote about human race was the first one of the species to have manages the furies of nature and survive, and today I see this devastation, there is nothing one could do, it is beyond human control. The 30' waves were swallowing buildings, homes, cars, ships and just about everything.

I just bow to that superior power whatever one wants to call or not call and submit to the higher power, which is beyond human control.

May God protect the survivors and bring their families back together.

Gaddaffi continues to rein in against his people in Libya, I hope we the Americans stay out of it, we do not have a good overall record in interventions, we have messed it up, better stay home and take care of our own, they have been around longer than us and they know how to make it work.

Peter King continues with his hearings and hope he shows integrity and honesty... as a Muslim I welcome the hearings as it has the potential to lay to rest, the hype the right wing republicans create. It is all political and hope the truth emerges sooner.

It was a shame that some Gazans were celebrating the massacre of a Jewish family, as an individual and on behalf of Muslims around the world, I condemn that behavior, there is no justification for such behavior.

 On a personal level, we all have endured difficulties and tragedies and we need to honor that.

Despite all that, a new week has begun, as it has been happening since we knew what Monday was. Let's focus on this week, smile a little and have an as complete a life as we can. We need to live with full range of emotions. Have a great week!

Legitimizing Islamic Radicalization

Legitimizing Islamic Radicalization

Prompted by Marylou’s search for the truth.

As a civil society, we must resist the temptations to blame one's family, nation or religion for his or her individual acts,  and we must not give them the cover to hide under a religious label for their evil acts either.

Indeed, when they quote the scripture for their acts, instead of eagerly accepting their excuse, we must open the scriptures and find the truth. There is a successful experiment on the subject and it was a neglected story in the media.

In 2008, a judge in Yemen challenged the Al-Qaida inmates to find the verses in Quraan that propel them to kill the infidels,  he gave them three months to find and said  I'll join you in your movement if you find the verses,  if not, would you reject it ? Not only they rejected, but were outraged for being duped and have become hunters for the Al-Qaida men.

Pastor Robert Jeffress of Dallas called Quraan an evil book written by a false prophet, instead of getting angry I visite him in his church and then on the public platform of TV and Dallas Morning News,  I asked him to find three verses in Quraan that were evil and if he did, I will give up my faith and join him. He chickened out. We then produced the Quraan conference in Dallas with non-Muslim clergy on the panel to evaporate the lies the right wingers have fabricated about Quraan.  Full story, interviews and videos at: www.Quraanconference.com

Finding the truth is a responsibility, the society would be better off by freeing themselves from suspicion and anxieties from our hearts and finding peace within.

Mike Ghouse is the founder of America Together foundation, committed to building cohesive societies offering pluralistic solution on the issues of the day.  His work is indexed in 4 websites and 21 Blogs at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

 # # #

Mike, you say :  Phrases such as "Islamic radicalism" are oxymoron and must be avoided to uphold our civility.    What would be a your term?  I think the term "Islam" is used because they quote scripture to justify.  Perhaps you could give some clarity on this.  Thanks. Blessings, M.

Re: http://peterkinghearings.blogspot.com/2011/03/muslims-welcome-hearings-by-congressman.html

Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

Its devastaing earth quake, its 8.9 on Richter Scale.
It's was so difficult to witness the destruction of life and families.
Let's take a minute to pray for restoration of normalcy to the survivors, Amen

I am at loss for words, I just wrote about Ashraful Mukhlookhat, the superior being and today I see this devastation, there is nothing one could do, it is beyond human control.

The 30' waves were swallowing buildings, homes, cars, ships and just about everything.

I just bow to that superior power whatever one wants to call or not call and submitt to the higher power, which is beyond human control.

May God protect the surviors and bring their familes back together.