Hello Mami and Papi,

I don’t know how else to approach you in order to explain my reasoning behind my life changing decision and have you listen and understand at the same time.

Since I can long remember I have not be a strong believer of Christianity, there was a lot that did not make sense to me, for example, why I have to beg for forgiveness to a priest? Why I have to pray to saints and not straight to God, why is Jesus the SON of God, why are their SOO many versions of the bible?

The religion became a fascination to me, and I truly wanted to know more. I purchased a few books in the UK and read some pamphlets on the religion. I did not make any decisions but I continued to read and become more familiar to Islam.

Islam began making sense to me, the idea that we pray only to Allah, that we ask Allah for help and for forgive us, how a book (the Quran) that was written thousands of years ago remains unchanged as of today (there are different translations but no different versions) . Also how a book that was written years ago managed to explain scientific situations that was only discovered by man kind only a couple of year ago. Or how the Quran has managed to explains how babies develop in the womb? How would anyone thousands of years ago know this and in such detail? Especially since scientist discovered the explanation of these situations less that 100 years ago?? How can we explain those wonders of the book?

Also how can I deny the holy book when it has been so clear in explaining advanced technology, how the day turns into the night, the creation of human beings by water (as we know scientifically to be known that we came from cells) layers of heaven (which we describe now in scientific terms as the atmospheric levels?). Furthermore, the beginning of the universe and the movement of tectonic plates (there are numerous other examples of the science behind the Quran).

What also has touched me is that Islam believes in ALL THE PROPHETS – JESUS MOSES DAVID ABRAHAM AND MOHAMMAD (pbuh) they all coexist in he Quran, the Quran also tells us that we must respect ALL religions. Mami and Papi, I can not explain how many times I have made my self clear to you of what I believed in, I could not have given myself away anymore! Every time I spoke hours and hours on end about Islam, and how I knew so much.

Also I began of interacting more with Muslim friends; I felt that they would be able to give me a clear explanation of Islam. Also Islam played a major part in self respect, and it helped my appreciate my self more, and realize that I should stay away from harmful situation such as drinking, smoking, going out with people that only meant trouble. I told you what my friends were like, they were heading the wrong direction, and I did not want to be in that direction and believing in Islam made it easier for me to walk away from the powers of shaytaan and do better.

Also Islam was and has been the reason for my success in school. I have placed my mind in my studies instead of going out all the time as my old friends did, and trust me you would not like me to be like them, because if I had been than you would have every single reason to think I was a bad person, that I was irresponsible and that I was a disgrace to the family.

After almost one year of studying Islam I had no doubt in my mind that it was not the right religion.

I was prepared to become a Sunni Muslim. In early June 2006 I attended the mosque in Westbury NY to ask further questions about Islam and after speaking to a sister and the imam of the mosque I knew that it was time to make the right decision. I did shahada around 2 weeks later which is the Islamic creed; it means to testify or to bear witness in Arabic, the declaration of the belief. I stated in front of 80- 100 Muslims “ash hadu anla ilaha illallah, wa ash hadu anla Mohammad roosul Allah” which translates to “I believe in one and only God and Mohammad is his messenger” It was such a beautiful experience.

I had been accepted into the Islam. I was welcomed by every single Muslim at the mosque with open arms, I felt too special, it felt so right, I knew I had made the best decision in my life, and it was something that was going to bring positive sides of me. It is so hard to explain the rush, and the emotional and faith satisfaction that I had at that moment, but I knew there was something wrong, that I was not able to celebrate my happiness with the people in my life that I loved the most, the meant to most to me, and that was you and papi. The moment was wonderful but not complete. I really wish you could have been as proud of me as I was for myself.

It hurt so much to think and feel that my biggest challenge would be to openly tell you about me and Islam, about me and my faith, about me and my happiness. I know that you both want the best for me, you want me to be happy and you want me to be responsible, and you want me to be independent and make the RIGHT decisions. I have done the right decision, and I made it all by myself, and I read about Islam all by myself, I discovered Islam in me all by myself, IT WAS ME who made every decision from the point were I began in the Islamic interest to the point where I am now.

I can’t lie to you and tell you I had no influences because how else would I have been influenced by wanting to know more about Islam? Well from observing other people. How do we know as humans whether eating a chocolate cake taste good or not? We taste it, we try others to compare and then we make a final decision and if we like it we continue to eat if we don’t then we disregard it.

Mami and Papi, I know I might seem weak sometimes in certain situations, and I know I display signs of vulnerability , but converting into Islam was decided by me, its hard and it hurts to think that all this studying, research of Islam and me converting has been credited to someone else, but at the end of the day the only one that knows the truth is God and it is to him that I will be standing in front of on the day of Judgment, and it is him that knows everything.

It is stated in the Quran that all the prophets were messengers of God, they all came to spread the news and religion of God, but that they all came in their own time, and that Mohammad (pbuh) was the last messenger of God.

I know my word is hard to believe after the incidents these past two days, but there is nothing more that I can do to prove to both of you when it comes to the decisions that I made about Islam.

And most importantly I want you both to understand that it is virtually impossible to explain ALL of my reasoning behind my belief in Islam, this email is not even 1/100th of it all, I have spent hours and hours and hours speaking to others about my feeling towards Islam, and I wish and pray to Allah that one day I will be able to express everything I feel about Islam with both of you.

I still remain to be the daughter that you had almost 21 years ago, it has not changed the way I feel about you, you still are the most important people in my life, I love you both more than anything, I just have a different belief and its one which will bring you no shame, it will not physically hurt you, and I will not patronize our relationship.

I love you both very much and I only pray for the best, Carolina Amirah DeFonseca

Source: http://www.islamhouse.com/pg/9661/videos/1

DEAR VISITORS,

FIRST OF ALL, WE ARE DEEPLY SORRY FOR OUR PROLONGED SILENT PERIOD!

WE WOULD LIKE TO INFORM YOU THAT ETHIOPOT IS BACK! INSHALLAH (WITH ALLAH’S WILL)

THANK YOU FOR YOUR VISIT AND USEFUL COMMENTS!

ETHIOPOT.WORDPRESS.COM

ጎተቦርግ-ስዊድን፦ በአውሮፓ የሚኖሩ ኢትዮጵያውያን ሙስሊሞች ቀድሞ የነበራችውን አደረጃጀት በአዲስ መልኩ እንዳጠናከሩ ተገለጸ። ከአፕሪል 10-12 2009 በተካሄደው የNEME (በአውሮፓ የኢትዮጵያውያን ሙስሊሞች ኔትወርክ) አመታዊ ጉባኤ በስዊድን ጎተቦርግ ሲካሄድ የኔትወርኩ አባላት፡ ደጋፊዎች፡ እንዲሁም ጥሪ የተደረገላቸው እንግዶች ከመላው ዓለም እንደተሳተፉበት በስፍራው የተገኙ የመረጃ ምንጮች ዘግበዋል። ጉባኤው የኔትወርኩን የስራ ክንውን ካደመጠና በጥልቀት ከተወያየበት ቡሃላ በቀጣይ ሊሰሩ የሚገባችውን የአጭርና የረጅም ጊዜ እቅዶችን እንዲሁም ኔትዎርኩን በቀጣይ የሚመሩ የአመራር አካላትን ተወያይቶ በሙሉ ድምፅ አፅድቋል።

በጉባኤው ትኩረትን ከሳቡ አበይት ክንውኖች መካከል በዋነኛነት የሚጠቀሰው በተለያዩ የአውሮፓ ከተሞች የነበሩ የኢትዮጵያውያን ሙስሊሞች ጀማዓዎች በኔትዎርኩ ጥላ ስር መሰባሰባችው ሲሆን ይህንኑም በጉባኤው ላይ የተገኙ የጀማዓዎቹ ተወካዮች አረጋግጠዋል። ይህም ኔትዎርኩን አንድ ደረጃ ከፍ በማድረግ የማህበሮች (ጀማዓዎች) ህብረት አድርጎታል። ኔትዎርኩ በስዊድን ህጋዊ ሰውነትን ያገኘና በመላው አውሮፓ የሚንቀሳቀስ ድርጅት መሆኑ የሚታወቅ ነው።

በዚሁ ጉባኤ ከ240 000 የስዊድን ክሮነር በላይ ገንዘብ ከተሳታፊዎች እንዲሁም በመላው ዓለም ጉባኤውን በፓልቶክ ሲከታተሉ ከነበሩ ኢትዮጵያውያን ሙስሊሞች ለመሰብሰብ መቻሉን በስፍራው የተገኙ ምንጮች ገልፀዋል። በአሜሪካ ዋሽንግተን ዲሲ የሚገኘው የኢትዮጵያውያን ሙስሊሞች ህብረት (ፈርስት ሂጅራ) ለዚሁ ጉባኤ ያለውን ድጋፍ የሚገልጽ የገንዘብና የሞራል ድጋፍ ማድረጉን የጉባኤው አዘጋጆች ጨምረው ገልፀዋል።

የጉባኤው ተሳታፊዎች እንዳስታወቁት ኢስላማዊ ወንድማማችነታችው በምንም የማይቀየርና ፍጹም ለድርድር የማይቀርብ ሀይማኖታዊ ግዴታቸው መሆኑን ገልጸው በእምነታቸው በእስልምና ላይ የሚቃጣ ማንኛውም አይነት ትንኮሳ በእያንዳንዱ ሙስሊም ህልውና ላይ ያነጣጠረ መሆኑን አስገንዝበዋል። ይህንንም ትንኮሳ የሚፈጽሙ በሀገር ውስጥም ሆነ በውጭ የሚገኙ ሀይሎች ከዚህ አድራጎታቸው እንዲታቀቡ አበክረው አስገንዝበዋል።

ኢትዮጵያውያን ሙስሊሞች ዘር፡ ቀለም፡ ቋንቋ፡ ብሄር፡ እንዲሁም ርቀት ሳያግዳቸው ከምንም በላይ አንድነታቸውን ማጠናከርና ከፊታችው የተጋረጡ ችግሮችን በጋራ መፍታት ከመቸውም ጊዜ በላይ አስፈላጊ የሆነበት ጊዜ ላይ መሆናችው ግልጽ ነው ያሉት ተሳታፊዎች ጨምረውም፤ በውስጣቸው ያሉ ልዩነቶች (Diversity) የጥንካሬአቸው ምንጭ እንደሆኑም አስታውቀዋል። በመሆኑም ይህ በጎ ጅምር በየትኛውም አቅጣጫ መጠናከርና መፋጠን ያለበት መሆኑን ሳያስገነዝቡ አላለፉም።

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……From Negus Ashama to Muhammad, the Messenger of Allâh. Peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allâh! and mercy and blessing from Allâh beside Whom there is no god. I have received your letter in which you have mentioned about Jesus and by the Lord of heaven and earth, Jesus is not more than what you say……….

Negus, king of Abyssinia (Ethiopia), his name was Ashama bin Al-Abjar, received the Prophet’s message, dispatched by Amr bin Omaiyah Ad-Damari, which At-Tabari referred to, either late in the sixth year or early in the seventh year A.H. Deep scrutiny into the letter shows that it was not the one sent after Al-Hudaibiyah event. Wording of the letter rather indicates that it was sent to that king when Ja‘far and his companions emigrated to Abyssinia (Ethiopia) during the Makkan period. One of its sentences read

“I have despatched my cousin, Ja‘far (may Allâh be pleased wth him) with a group of Muslims, to you. Do be generous towards them and give up haughtiness.”

Al-Baihaqi, on the authority of Ibn Ishaq, gave the following narration of the Prophet’s letter sent to Negus:

“This letter is sent from Muhammad, the Prophet to Negus Al-Ashama, the king of Abyssinia (Ethiopia).

Peace be upon him who follows true guidance and believes in Allâh and His Messenger. I bear witness that there is no god but Allâh Alone with no associate, He has taken neither a wife nor a son, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. I call you unto the fold of Islam; if you embrace Islam, you will find safety,

“Say (O Muhammad ): ‘O people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians), come to a word that is just between us and you, that we worship none but Allâh, and that we associate no partners with Him, and that none of us shall take others as lords besides Allâh.’ Then, if they turn away, say: ‘Bear witness that we are Muslims.’ ” [The Noble Qur'an 3:64]
Should you reject this invitation, then you will be held responsible for all the evils of the Christians of your people.”

Dr. Hameedullah (Paris), a reliable verifier, has adduced a version of the above letter disclosed only a short time ago and identical to Ibn Al-Qaiyim’s narration. Dr. Hameedullah exerted painstaking effort and used all means of modern technology to verify the text of the letter, which reads as follows:

“In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

From Muhammad the Messenger of Allâh to Negus, king of Abyssinia (Ethiopia). Peace be upon him who follows true guidance. Salutations, I entertain Allâh’s praise, there is no god but He, the Sovereign, the Holy, the Source of peace, the Giver of peace, the Guardian of faith, the Preserver of safety. I bear witness that Jesus, the son of Mary, is the spirit of Allâh and His Word which He cast into Mary, the virgin, the good, the pure, so that she conceived Jesus. Allâh created him from His spirit and His breathing as He created Adam by His Hand. I call you to Allâh Alone with no associate and to His obedience and to follow me and to believe in that which came to me, for I am the Messenger of Allâh. I invite you and your men to Allâh, the Glorious, the All-Mighty. I hereby bear witness that I have communicated my message and advice. I invite you to listen and accept my advice. Peace be upon him who follows true guidance.”[Za'd Al-Ma'ad 3/60]

When ‘Amr bin Omaiyah Ad-Damari communicated the Apostolic letter to Negus, the latter took the parchment and placed it on his eye, descended to the floor, confessed his faith in Islam and wrote the following reply to the Prophet :

“In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

From Negus Ashama to Muhammad, the Messenger of Allâh. Peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allâh! and mercy and blessing from Allâh beside Whom there is no god. I have received your letter in which you have mentioned about Jesus and by the Lord of heaven and earth, Jesus is not more than what you say. We fully acknowledge that with which you have been sent to us and we have entertained your cousin and his companions. I bear witness that you are the Messenger of Allâh, true and confirming (those who have gone before you), I pledge to you through your cousin and surrender myself through him to the Lord of the worlds.”[Za'd Al-Ma'ad 3/61

When ‘Amr bin Omaiyah Ad-Damari communicated the Apostolic letter to Negus, the latter took the parchment and placed it on his eye, descended to the floor, confessed his faith in Islam and wrote the following reply to the Prophet :

"In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.
From Negus Ashama to Muhammad, the Messenger of Allâh. Peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allâh! and mercy and blessing from Allâh beside Whom there is no god. I have received your letter in which you have mentioned about Jesus and by the Lord of heaven and earth, Jesus is not more than what you say. We fully acknowledge that with which you have been sent to us and we have entertained your cousin and his companions. I bear witness that you are the Messenger of Allâh, true and confirming (those who have gone before you), I pledge to you through your cousin and surrender myself through him to the Lord of the worlds."[Za'd Al-Ma'ad 3/61]

The Prophet [pbuh] had asked Negus to send Ja‘far and his companions, the emigrants to Abyssinia (Ethiopia), back home. They came back to see the Prophet [pbuh] in Khaibar. Negus later died in Rajab 9 A.H. shortly after Tabuk Ghazwa. The Prophet announced his death and observed prayer in absentia for him. Another king succeeded Negus to the throne and another letter was sent to him by the Prophet but whether or not he embraced Islam is still a question not answered yet. [Sahih Muslim 2/99]

በዋሽንግተንና አካባቢዋ የሚኖሩ ኢትዮጵያውያን ሙስሊሞች በኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ያለውን የሀይማኖት ጭቆና በመቃወም ሰላማዊ ሰልፍ አደረጉ። በሰላማዊ ሰልፉ አንድ ሽህ የሚጠጉ ሙስሊሞች የተሳተፉ ሲሆን ሴቶች እህቶችም የሰልፉ ተሳታፊ እንደነበሩ በስፍራው የተገኙ ሚድያዎች ዘግበዋል። በዚሁ በአሜሪካ የኢትዮጵያ ኢምባሲ ፊት ለፊት በተደረገው ሰልፍ ላይ ለፍትህና እኩልነት የቆሙ ክርስቲያን ኢትዮጵያውያን ግለሰቦችም እንደተሳተፉ የአይን እማኞች ጠቁመዋል። ሰልፈኞቹ ከያዟቸው መፈክሮች መካከል፡-

በኢትዮጵያ እየደረሰ የለው የሙስሊሞች ጭቆና ይቁም!

በህገ-መንግስቱ ላይ የተቀመጠው የሀይማኖት እኩልነት በተግባር ይተርጎም!

ነብዩ መሀመድን (ሰ ዓ ወ) በአደባባይ የዘለፈው ግለሰብ ለፍርድ ይቅረብ!

የሙስሊሞችን ቁጥር በግማሽ የቀነሰውን የተዛባ የቆጠራ ውጤት እንቃወማለን፤ መንግስት በአስቸኳይ ስህተቱን እንዲያርም እንጠይቃለን!

የአክሱም ሙስሊሞች መብት ይከበር!

ኢትዮጵያ የሁሉም ኢትዮጵያዊ ሀገር ናት!

ሙስሊም ተማሪዎች እምነታቸውን በነጻነት የመተግበር መብታቸው ይከበር!

ኢስላም የሰላም ሐይማኖት ነው!

እና ሌሎችም መፈክሮችን ይዘው የፍትህ ጥያቄአቸውን አቅርበዋል።

በአጠቃላይ ሰልፈኞቹ በወቅቱ ያለው የኢትዮጵያ ሁኔታ ያሳሰባቸው መሆኑን ገልፀው መንግስት አስቸኳይ እርምጃ እንዲዎስድ ጠይቀዋል። በአሜሪካ የኢትዮጵያ አምባሳደር ሳሙኤል አሰፋ የሰልፈኞቹን ጥያቄ በመቀበል ከሰልፈኞቹ የተወሰኑትን ፊት ለፊት በማነጋገር መንግስት ለጉዳዩ ትኩረት በመስጠት እየሰራ እንደሆነና በቅርቡም አፋጣኝ ምላሽ እንደሚሰጥ አስታውቀዋል። ለጠቅላይ ሚንስትሩ በደብዳቤ የተዘጋጀውንም የሰልፈኞቹን ጥያቄ በመቀበል ለተገቢው አካል እንደሚያቀርቡም ቃል ገብተውላቸዋል።

በሰልፉ ስነ-ስርዓት ላይ የተለያዩ ሚዲያዎች የተገኙ ሲሆን ከነዚህም ውስጥ ራድዮ ቢላል፤ ራድዮ ነጃሽ፤ እንዲሁም ቮይስ ኦፍ አሜሪካ (VOA) ይገኙበታል። በስፍራው የተገኘው የ ቪ ኦ ኤ ጋዜጠኛ ያነጋገራቸው ተሳታፊዎች እንደገለጹት ኢትዮያውያን ሙስሊሞች በታሪካቸው ብዙ ግፍና መከራ ያሳለፉ እንደነበር አስታውሰው አሁን ግን ይህ ጭቆና ማብቃት እንዳለበት አሳስበዋል። አቶ ወንድሙ አሳምነው በአሜሪካ የኢትዮጵያ ኢምባሲ የውጭ ግንኙነት ሃላፊ በበኩላቸው የሰልፉን ሁኔታ አስመልክተው በሰጡት አስተያየት ሰልፈኞቹ ጥያቄአቸውን በሰላማዊ መልኩ ማቅረባቸው ለሌሎች ምሳሌ እንደሚሆን በመግለጽ ለሰልፉ ፍጹም ሰላማዊነት ምስክርነታቸውን ሰጥተዋል። የሰልፈኞቹም ጥያቄ ለሚመለከተው አካል እንደሚቀርብ በድጋሜ አስታውቀዋል።

ለተጨማሪ መረጃ እዚህ ይጫኑ።

Islamophobia in Ethiopia:

After collapse of ADAL, Kingdom of Abyssinia put pressure to Muslim and forced many of them to return to Christianity. The kingdom did not allow the Muslims to practice their religion in public, where prayers were performed in-house only. Muslims were not allowed officially to travel to Makka to perform Hajj until 1974, after military coup led by Migusto Haile Mariam. Mariam ordered freedom of religion and allowed Muslims to perform Hajj. Muslims in Eritrea were under similar condition.
Today, more than half of Ethiopians are devout Muslims, mainly in the outlying regions, and in the Eastern Lowlands.
Traditionally, the status of Islam has been far from equal with that of Christianity. However, the emperor Haile Selassie gave audiences to Muslim leaders and made overtures in response to their concerns, and under the Derg even more was done to give at least symbolic parity to the two faiths. Nevertheless, the perception of Ethiopia as “an island of Christianity in a sea of Islam” has continued to prevail among both highland Ethiopians and foreigners.
In 1964, Ethiopian Christian leaders attacked Somalia in a plan to end the Islamic presence in the region. At that time, Somalia was only four years old without proper military and government institutions. But overall this, Somalis defend their country very bravely and forced Ethiopia to retrieve. This was the first religious war between Ethiopia and Somalia.
In 1977, Somalis retaliates and occupied 60% of Ethiopian land and even gone close to Addis Ababa in 18 kilometers. The objective of Somalis was to return the Reserve Area illegally sold by British to Ethiopia. Ethiopia was unable to stop the Somalis. And as usually, Ethiopia pleaded to international support, and received military support of Russia and Cuba. Russia-Cuba Alliance forced the Somali military to go back into Somalia border.

In 2006, Ethiopian invaded Somalia on the bases of similar background. Ethiopia always considers the Somali Islamist as #1 enemy. Ethiopia saw the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), as the new threat to their national unity; Ethiopian Prime Minister Melese Zanawi follows the old procedure of the church, who considers the Muslims as major enemy of Ethiopia. Zanawi is man of principle but the unfortunate is those supporting Zanawi and Church Plan in Somalia like Transitional Government of Somalia (TGS) leader Abdullah Yusuf.
In similar manner Oromo is facing insult and pressure from Ethiopian government, where they don´t get proper share in the government and even their children are not allowed to attend the universities in Addis Ababa.
Melese Sanawi selected Christian man from Oromo to be Ethiopian President. He overlooked the Muslim majority of Oromo, because, simply, he does not want Muslim. This shows that Ethiopian government is not killing all Oromo but only the Muslims because of their believe in the Greater Islam.
Oromo is the largest community in Ethiopia in middle of lowlands, 90% of Oromo practice Islam as fundamental religion, Islam was introduced to Oromo in 16th century with neighboring Somali Community. Oromo has anti-Ethiopian armed movements and recently accused receiving military support and training from Eritrea. Current President of Ethiopia is from Christian Minority of Oromo, where Muslims has little access to government due to their armed struggle.

Islam vs. Ethiopian Emperors:
The battle between the Muslim leaders and Ethiopian emperors is active until today, because the Ethiopian invasion in Somalia has strong roots into the centuries old conflict between the Muslims and Ethiopian Christian emperor.
Ahmed Guray freed many parts of Ethiopia from the emperors who restricted the freedom of the people; the parties that ADAL army captured include Shewa, Gonder, Wollo and parts of Tigray. Some historians say the struggle between the Christian Emperors in Ethiopia and Somalis started from 1528 until today.

Emporer Lebna Dengel, who was ruling Abyssinia during the war with ADAL, plead for support from Portugal after his army failed to stop ADAL army. In the same manner, United States of America (USA) is helping Meleze Sanawi to stop the Islamist growing in the region. Ethiopia knows, if Muslim government comes to power in Somalia then it will come to ethiopia to free the thousands of the Muslim ethiopians trapped under Melese regime.
The government don´t allow construction of new mosques in the capital, Addis Ababa. In other hand, the European Christian missionaries builds new church every one month. Church bells are famous in Addis Ababa more than the Mosques.
The present mosques in Addis Ababa are centuries old; it is remainings of Othman Emporers. The Muslims don´t take part in the central government, and if any Muslim gets chance in the central government, he/she should be lapdog for Ethiopian Christian Emporer Meleze Sanawi. Muslims in Addis Ababa feel overtaken and always seek help from the Muslim world, but the failure of Somalia has led them into endless problems.

By Abdulaziz Al-Mutairi

A muslimah in hijab is…

Respected-not laughed at,

Purified-not sullied,

Protected-not exposed,

Obedient-not a sinner,

Noble-not degraded,

Liberated-not subjugated,

Independent-not a slave,

Dignified-not dishonored,

Confident-not insecure,

A guarded pearl-not a prostitute.

Assalamualikum Warahmatullah, dear readers, brothers and sisters:

A man once went to the Prophet with a grievance against his relatives. ‘O Messenger of God,’ he said, ‘I have some relatives whom I treat with kindness. Yet they show me no kindness. I treat them well and they treat me badly. I show them forbearance and they treat me with brutality.’ The Prophet (SAW) replied, ‘If you are as you say you are, then it is as if you have smeared their faces with dust. And you will always have God’s help against them so long as you continue to be well behaved towards them.’ (Muslim, on the authority of Abu Hurairah).

The Prophet (SAW) once exclaimed, ‘By God, he is not a believer! By God, he is not a believer! By God, he is not a believer!’ The people asked, ‘O Messenger of God, who?’ ‘The man whose excesses prevent his neighbor from living in peace,’ replied the noble Prophet (SAW) (Al-Bukhari and on the authority of Abu Hurairah).

On the Day of Judgment, what will weigh most heavily in favor of the believer will be his good morals. God abhors those who indulge in shameless talk and use indecent language. (At-Tirmidhi, on the authority of Abu’d Darda).

Save yourself from envy, For envy eats up virtue as fire eats up wood. (Abu Dawud, on the authority of Abu Hurairah).

Prophet of Peace, Allah says, (And you (stand) on an exalted standard of character.) (Al-Qalam 68: 4) (Ye have indeed in the Messenger of Allah a beautiful pattern (of conduct) for any one whose hope is in Allah and the Final Day, and who engages much in the praise of Allah.) (Al-Ahzab 33: 21)

(Say: ‘O people! I am sent unto you all, as the Messenger of Allah, to Whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth: there is no god but He: it is He that gives both life and death. So believe in Allah and His Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, who believed in Allah and His Words: follow him that (so) you may be guided.) Al-A`raf 7: 158

Behold, the youths betook themselves to the Cave: they said, ‘Our Lord! bestow on us Mercy from Thyself, and dispose of our affairs for us in the right way!’” (Ayah 10)

]]> http://ethiopot.wordpress.com/2009/01/18/the-people-of-the-cave/feed/ 0 sekeenah http://ethiopot.wordpress.com/2009/01/18/ethiopian-muslims-are-finally-free-of-ato-elias-rediman/ http://ethiopot.wordpress.com/2009/01/18/ethiopian-muslims-are-finally-free-of-ato-elias-rediman/#comments Sun, 18 Jan 2009 01:53:45 +0000 ethiopot http://ethiopot.wordpress.com/?p=195 ]]>

Information that reached NEGASHI OJ indicated that Ato Elias Rediman and all his Co’s are discharged from their position in the Federal Majlis. In this major development, all the current members of the Federal and Addis Ababa Majlis are to be replaced by new ones. Meeting of Woreda representative is planned for January 24, 2009 and it is hoped that this assembly will elect the new leadership for the Addis Ababa Majlis. Reconstitution of the Federal Majlis leadership will then follow.

Mufti Omer Idris, the current chair of the Addis Ababa Majlis and a proponent of Muslim unity, also chair of Addis Ababa Ulema Unity Forum, will join the new leadership at Federal level. It is to be recalled that Ato Elias removed him from his position as vice-chairman of the Federal Ulema Council following his willingness to work for the unity of the umma.

It is not clear yet how this major develpment came about at this moment. Sources indicates that the change is sunctioned by the countries political leadership. The same source added that though the new development can be seen as a step in the positive direction, given the anti-Islam, anti-Muslim stance of Ato ELias and his co., the problem of the Muslim community will not be fully addressed until it gets the chance to freely elect its leaders and manage its affairs independent of the political will, as the Ethiopian Constitution stipulates.

The news that the grand Mufti will be a member in the new Federal leadership ignites hope in the Muslim community given that he has been at the forefront of bringing Muslims together and his determination to resolve differences with discussion. It is further suggested that Muslims both at home and in the Diaspora should then positively engage the new leadership so that it can leave upto its responsibilities.