All posts by jebrahim2@gmail.com

Modern Living, Politics

State of the Nation- Lies, Damn Lies And Statistics

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Another author expert on MSNBC citing the bogus statistic that 90% of the drugs in America come through legal ports of entry! There is no way on Earth that they could know that with any degree of certitude! He then goes on to say that the trial of El Chapo confirms that- which is not at all what I read about the trial. El Chapo was talking about tunnels and private airplanes and boats and even catapults! None of that sounds like “ legal ports of entry”!So Trump is not the only liar-by no means! No wonder so many people distrust the media and voted for Trump. The media are just as biased as the right and left extremes in promoting their agendas! Anyone having direct experience with an event covered by the media knows that just as anyone having direct experience with our so-called justice system knows how unjust it is. Our society is based on a whole tissue of lies. Now admittedly the lies are not as bad as those of North Korea or Iran or China. But that is a very low bar for acceptance!

Modern Living, Psychology

Democratic Illusions-Always Respecting Other Peoples’ Wishes

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( A piece of copyrighted material from my upcoming book called: Understanding Life)

 I had an experience with a similar-themed experience in Mecca when I made my hajj(pilgrimage) in 1984. Fortunately that one turned out well,but not because of me.Let us continue and you will see why.As I was preparing to do my tawaf(circumambulation of the Kaaba)I noticed a man in the second balcony a few hundetred meters away struggling to breathe.Fresh out of my latest residency medical training,I rushed up,Dr. Wellby-style, to see what I could do.Not having even a stethoscope with me I began by examining the man for dehydration which sure enough was complicating his problem.There was a wiry Bedouin man standing 50 meters away with a full container of Zemzem water(holy water from the well of Zemzem).It should be noted here that, at the time, the well was open to all visitors so it would have been no problem for him to refill his jug if we emptied it.

Instead, he refused to give us any.I tried through several translators to convince him-to no avail .Finally a Saudi soldier who I had not even noticed but had surely noticed us, was watching the event unfold.At one point, out of the blue,he entered the scene,took the back side of his bayonet and gave the Bedouin man a shove that sent him flying for a short distance.He then took the jug, gave it to me and said”Dr. Give your patient what he needs”(I feel moved recounting this story more than 30 years later).

The story ended well! An ambulance arrived,we went to the local emergency room,and he was seen by some well-trained(I believe in America,actually) Saudi doctors.They diagnosed asthma(his first episode I believe) ,gave him the necessary meds and he left the emergrency room feeling fine! This was truly the best-case scenario as I had been suspecting a heart-attack or pulmonary embolus which would have been much more problematic.

For a long time I reflected on this incident doing some serious self-reflection and serious self-reproaching”You’re the fool,Ibrahim,I told myself.You always believe you can talk people into the truth.(Still do lol)The Saudi soldier was the clever one” A dose of humility and Reality once again. Alhumdulillah.

Islam, Politics, Psychology

Ilhan Omar and the problem of anti-Semitism in the Muslim community

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The Ilhan Omar case.(A young Muslim Democrat in the U.S. House of representative spouting hateful stereotypes of Jews in a public forum).I am not usually a big fan of Fareed Zakariah who is another example of elite Ivy League American University education but this time he is right on.I quote him:“But I believe that Muslims should be particularly thoughtful when speaking about these issues because anti-Semitism has spread through the Islamic world like a cancer.Antisemitism”, he added, “is now routine discourse in Muslim populations in the Middle East and also far beyond.”Yes! As a Muslim convert I have seen it over and over again! And it is pathological- a paranoid conspiratorial mind-set that is definitely not to our advantage.So this is NOT an individual problem of Ilhan Omar who seems nice enough(I like her presence actually.A cut above most politicians I would say). it is a collective problem of the Muslim Ummat.And i dare say this is a major factor in Muslims not playing their rightful part in American politics and, in fact,being outplayed regularly by the Zionist supporters.
Zachariah goes on to say(again I couldn’t agree more)” Israel was guilty of bigoted policies towards Palestinians and that AIPAC exerts considerable political influence over elected officials.These are legitimate issues to vigorously debate and discuss in the United States, just as in Israel,” he wrote. “Unfortunately, by phrasing the issue as the two new representatives sometimes have, they have squandered an opportunity to further that important debate.”
So,to his credit,Zachariah is NOT a black and white thinker.And nor should we,as Muslims, be so.What always astonishes me about the Muslims on this question is that they don’t realize that WE HAVE WON!There are 1.4 billion Muslims and the Jewish population is less than 25 million.Why do Muslims feel so victimized?! The vast majority of our problems are self-inflicted ,if you analyze the situations properly.

P.S. I think this subject is finally being opened up for discussion.During the back and forth dialogue on my Facebook page I brought up the fact that I have NEVER heard an Imam at jumaa praying for peace in the Middle East! That is a problem and an anachronism.It is a carry-over from the vulnerable state of the Muslims at the very beginnings of our tradition when they were surrounded and vastly outnumbered by their enemies.We are now 1,4 billion strong.But it’s as if the Muslim ummat has not caught up with the times and still wants to blame others(Israel,U.S.A.,C.I.A., Freemasons etc.) for its failures.Sad,really!