GO YUSUF

[faithfullight]

Aisha said:

I totally agree with this statement.

And in religion it isn't supposed to be 'them or us' but we. We are all on this Earth together and should realize that we aren't so different. Once I told a Muslim that I had some Jewish and Christian friends and I got raked over the coals. Why? I don't see anything that different in these three religions--they basically teach us how to live. I think that the formula that they possess is the key to world peace. It is pretty amazing that Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad (May Allah's peace be upon them all) taught an identical message. And terrorism was not included in any of these prophets' teachings. I think that the main word is love.

Love,
A'isha

I also want to know why? Yes, "we" is coming together and "us vs. them" are dividing into divisions of polararity of conflicts. Why can't people see that we are each a member of mankind? We all came from God! What is so difficult to see!!! Why do we have to fight about religion! To fight for dominance is a show of arrogance and aggression for power!!! Wasn't that what kicked Lucifer out of Heaven? Wasn't he so vain that he viewed himself better than all others? Why can't people see that we are not supposed to fight for superiority!!!!!

(A'isha, I'm not directing this to you, I think you realize, don't ya?) I am so disgusted with fighting about religion. Why can't we get past this!!! It's ridiculous and unnecessary if we follow the correct guidance of peace!

A'isha, you are so right! Terrorism was NOT taught by Moses, Jesus, or Mohammad (peace upon them all). So why can't people see that these wars over religion are wrong?

Faithfullight

[Vivian]

I refuse to get into a discussion about Kama, here, Turan! That's why I refused to mention him or his site by name! All I will say, I have seen more hatred by him towards Yusuf, than anyone I've ever seen! And following A'isha and me to a classic rock site and calling us "MANSON'S GIRLS", proves how hateful is!!

[MissKitty]

Without getting in to the middle of any argument I would like to say one thing. All people have opinions about things. There is nothing to fear about another's opinion. I am not talking about insults or that kind of thing. I mean just a thought or opinion, even if it disagrees with the majority. I also like to see all sides of something before I begin to discuss it publicly with anyone, even my 3d friends. I make it a personal habit not to discuss politics or religion, because I do not like to argue and I don't feel the need to defend myself to others. I keep my voting decision to myself, because it is mine. And I do not ask others how they voted, or even if they voted. After all the reading and investigating at many places. I have made my decision about Yusuf and all the "questions, if you will" The fact that I am still a member of several sites is evidence of how I feel about the man. I don't need anyone to tell me he is wonderful. Nor do Ineed anyone to tell me he is "less than perfect". Everyone has to come to their own conclusions and beating them over the head in either direction will accomplish nothing. I agree with Turan that there is a lot to be said for an open forum and when I want that I go to places th at allow it. But I do not fault sites that have closed forums and rules of conduct. I follow the rules set fourth and I am grateful to be allowed to be a guest and member. And I further believe that bashing one site at another is not fair either. I don't post a lot at any site but I love to read all of the forums. I value the opinions of others and hope that mine will be valued also.

Well enough of that. Christine, I love this site and I thank you for all of the hard work you put into it. And I wish Yusuf well and success if he decides to pursue any action he thinks is best.

~~cheers
MK

[Turan]

Vivian, please reread your, my and Lady D's posts. I have not dissed you or Yusuf. Not stating names while talking about some one does not change that you are talking about them. Admittably I don't consider Kama or your opinions on Yusuf as worth seriously listening too, you are too extreme.

You insinuated that Kama took down that forum in fear of being sued by Yusuf. Seeing as Kama deleted them approximatily 6 days before Yusuf announced the possibility of lawsuits I seriously doubt that had anything to do with it. If there is any truth to your insinuation then Yusuf just lost a huge amount of my respect. One thing we do for Yusuf is give him a view of how he is percieved among those who care. In order for that to be valid he needs to see the spectrum. Kama may not be positive but he cared very, very much, (way to much, I think).

I wish Kama finds peace partially because that is the first step to re-evaluate some of his conclusions. Isn't that something we admire in Yusuf? He may have taken what seem extreme positions to some of us but he does re-evaluate himself, he is not stagnate in either his 24 yo self or 44 yo self.

I have been trying to point out something about dissent and inquery and reaching conclusions, while defending Faithbridge . Possibly Miss Kitty says it better than I.

I am afraid I am stretching Christines patience. For that I apologize.

At anyrate, for a variety of reasons I hope this business goes well for Yusuf. He answered to his fans alot with the article in the Mirror. Frustrating that the back ground information was often plain wrong, sloppy journalism that throws the whole article into doubt. Now he addresses a larger audience.

Turan

[Aisha]

Faithfullight said:

I also want to know why? Yes, "we" is coming together and "us vs. them" are dividing into divisions of polararity of conflicts. Why can't people see that we are each a member of mankind? We all came from God! What is so difficult to see!!! Why do we have to fight about religion! To fight for dominance is a show of arrogance and aggression for power!!! Wasn't that what kicked Lucifer out of Heaven? Wasn't he so vain that he viewed himself better than all others? Why can't people see that we are not supposed to fight for superiority!!!!!

(A'isha, I'm not directing this to you, I think you realize, don't ya?) I am so disgusted with fighting about religion. Why can't we get past this!!! It's ridiculous and unnecessary if we follow the correct guidance of peace!

A'isha, you are so right! Terrorism was NOT taught by Moses, Jesus, or Mohammad (peace upon them all). So why can't people see that these wars over religion are wrong?

Faithfullight

Faithful, I hate fighting about religion, most of what is fought about is the most trivial aspects of religion and not what it is all about.

And folks, let's not argue about Faithbridge or Kamakiriad. People are aware of how I feel about both of them but I feel that just as it is wrong to discuss Yusuf's faults without him here to defend himself, I feel the same way when dealing with Kama. He isn't here to defend himself either. Let's keep Majicat peaceful and not bring our personal problems here. I think Christine has the same opinion (I can't speak for her) but I know that she wants none of the squabbles of other forums brought here. If you want to discuss this the site has a great private message function...please, purty please

Love,
A'isha

[faithfullight]

A'isha

Faithful, I hate fighting about religion, most of what is fought about is the most trivial aspects of religion and not what it is all about.

That's for sure! We're supposed to find ways to bring peace among us -- ALL OF US! Love is the answer. Love will find a way.

I don't visit Faithbridge, so I have nothing to say about it other than, if you don't like what that site does, then why visit it?

Faithfullight

[kareema113]

Salaam alaykom and greetings,

I am just going to speak for myself now, since that is what I was doing when I mentioned that a forum has been deleted without mentioning the site name.

I broached the subject in the oblique way that I considered was the most tactful and respectful of Christine's site.

Please note again that I am referring to myself. I am not saying that anyone here is disrespectful, etc, etc, ad nauseum.

I am not insinuating that anyone suspects Br Y of terrorist leaning at this site. I am not insinuating that any religion is 'better' than any other.

I am only stating what I believe for myself.

There was some serious thought-provoking information in that GQ article. I am sure that I am not the only one who wants to make sense of it and discuss it with my online friends. I intend to listen to that Angelsea radio interview in order to gather as much input as possible before coming to a conclusion about this issue.

If we were all together over coffee or whatever, it would be much easier to mull this thing over. Part of being friends is the ability to accept feedback and dish it out. Since we cannot see each other's faces, the process of brainstorming, banter and opinion-stating becomes much more difficult. An emoticon is a ridiculously poor substitute for an impish grin or raised eyebrows.

Turan has taken it upon herself to educate herself and others as to the allegations made regarding Br Y's involvement with 'parties deemed undesirable'. I have profited from the extensive research she has done. I sincerely hope that she was able to save the posts regarding her work. She looked into questions that certainly deserve an answer.

I agree that there is a place for forums both open and closed. It is up to each of us to determine what we are comfortable with.

She makes the point that this is a 'closed' forum. We all agreed to Christine's terms in order to post here.

While I also sometimes tend to strain against the tether here, I believe that we can discuss this alleged terrorist ties issue as well as other topics within Christine's guidelines.

If we are truly unable to do so, then I think we should refrain from this subject altogether.

Peace,
kareema

[Vivian]

Aisha said:

Faithful, I hate fighting about religion, most of what is fought about is the most trivial aspects of religion and not what it is all about.

And folks, let's not argue about Faithbridge or Kamakiriad. People are aware of how I feel about both of them but I feel that just as it is wrong to discuss Yusuf's faults without him here to defend himself, I feel the same way when dealing with Kama. He isn't here to defend himself either. Let's keep Majicat peaceful and not bring our personal problems here. I think Christine has the same opinion (I can't speak for her) but I know that she wants none of the squabbles of other forums brought here. If you want to discuss this the site has a great private message function...please, purty please

Love,
A'isha

I am with you, here, SIS!! I already said too much!

Love ya,Vivian

[Vivian]

By the way, Turan, please don't put words in my mouth! I never insinuated any such thing! I am not a mind reader, you know!

[Turan]

Ok, Vivian. My misunderstanding. That was my interpretation.

Turan

[Aisha]

On a lighter note, who do you think would be the best judge for the job of Yusuf's battle?

Judge Mablean Ephraim "Divorce Court"
Judge Judy (Hey, she is a tough one and an animal lover so she might love CATS )
Judge Mathis
Or any other court show judge you can think of. There are a bunch of them. And to our European members please feel free to throw in someone from across the waters.

I am for Judge Mablean...she is so cool, fair, and has a great sense-of-humor. Hey, she'll even get on Yusuf's butt if he steps over the line.

Love,
A'isha

[Chris]

Good try Aisha, Can we have the girl who takes the part of Judge Amy, even though she is fictional?

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok, I would like to say, I definately would like to keep the web-bashing of Faithbridge/Kama off of Majicat. Even though some websites permitted this, I personally do not agree with that sort of reteric. As Aisha mentioned, if you wish to discuss the differences of opinions concerning another site or person, please take it to private messages. So, I thank most of you who discussed this subject in a calm manner.

Kareema, nothing you have said or discussed on this thread has gone against any terms. Please feel free to continue to discuss the issue of terrorist and/or GQ. It's been interesting reading, please, don't feel you have to do anything different.

Christine

[Vivian]

Judges!!! Judge Joe Brown?? Judge Judy?? Hey, She is a riot! I can picture her looking at Mr. Tapper, square in the eye, pointing to her forehead and saying, very firmly, "DO I HAVE STUPID WRITTEN HERE??"!! That is a CLASSIC Judge Judy line!! She might seem sarcastic, but I do think she is fair! Heck, she presented an award the other night on the DAYTIME EMMIES!!

Peace,Vivian

[faithfullight]

Turan has taken it upon herself to educate herself and others as to the allegations made regarding Br Y's involvement with 'parties deemed undesirable'. I have profited from the extensive research she has done. I sincerely hope that she was able to save the posts regarding her work. She looked into questions that certainly deserve an answer.

Kareema,
Where are these allegations posted? Where is the research that Turan researched? I would like to see her work.

Thanks,
Faithfullight

[Vivian]

You know, I have tried and tried, over and over to find ANYTHING the least bit positive about that GQ article! From my perspective, I just can't see it!! it just seems to me, that Mr. Tapper is going after Yusuf with some kind of personal vandetta! And I am saying this, because I am picturing myself in Yusuf's shoes, and everytime I think of some of the hurtful statements in that article, I am on the verge of tears!

Now, regarding that Angelsea interview, I listened to it a few days ago, and was shocked that at least two people insisted on discussing Rushdie, even AFTER Yusuf pleaded with them not to! He wanted to discuss all the POSITIVE things, like SMALL KINDNESS, or building new schools, that he is involved with! So, if it seems that I go to "extremes" in defending him, well, this is what I MUST do!

Peace,Vivian

[Aisha]

Vivian, In school did you read the poem, "The Rhyme Of The Ancient Mariner?" The dude had an albatross around his neck, a burden. The 'Rushdie' thing is Yusuf's albatross. People will never let that blasted crap rest. It is their excuse to put someone down and take the light off of themselves.

And about Yusuf's associations with known terrorists, if he goes to a mosque and says "Assalamu 'alaikum" to most of the members of the mosque he is liable to have spoken to a terrorist or two throughout time. Being that the Hadiths say that Muslims are to great each other with the salutations of peace or a better greeting, all Muslims have spoken to a terrorist or two without knowing it. In the larger mosques there is bound to be at least one who believes in what the terrorists do since you have so many varieties of Muslims frequenting one mosque.

Love,
A'isha

[Whisper]

Well, I’m not leaving til Thursday so I have some time to pop in here after all .
You are so right Kareema. It’s really very very easy to be misunderstood on these forums. Intentions are often misunderstood as well. And often we do not know how to discuss things without seeming offensive to others. We may not mean to come across so strong, but others may read what we have written and take our words very differently than they were intended.
Recently I began to notice ways in which I communicate that might make me seem overbearing to others without meaning to. For instance I was talking to my friend on the phone and I said “ You should..blah blah.” Then I caught myself. I realized it SOUNDED like I was telling her what to do. That really wasn’t my intention at all, but I choose the wrong words quite often that make me sound like I am handing out orders. I don’t want my friends to think I am trying to tell them what to do and how to do it, so I’m working on being more conscious of the words I choose. I want my input to my friends to sound like input- not commands. I certainly don’t want to make my friends uncomfortable with me by making them feel I am trying to control them, yet I have probably done this many times without having those intentions. Sometimes it’s as simple as a bad choice of words. But usually my friends can HEAR the tone of my voice or see my expressions while talking to them. Here on the internet we can do none of that, so we find we feel we don’t like someone & more than likely much of it is due to poor word choices and poor abilities to communicate our thoughts to one another. Most of us aren’t professional writers so this is bound to happen.
Vivian likes to end her sentences with exclamation points. To me an exclamation point means screaming, a command, shouting & so on. The first time I sent Vivian a private message I thought I had made her angry because she pm’d me back ending her sentences with exclamation points. I now realize that’s just the way she writes. I always pictured her as someone having a high squeaky excited voice ( due to those exclamation points). When I talked to her over the telephone I was amazed to discover her voice is low and calm. That really surprised me.
People are always thinking I’m trying to intimidate/control them for some reason. It must mean I have poor communicative skills over the internet. I must come across to some people in a way I completely do not intend to. I used to make a point of telling people that I’m not formally educated. This made people think I had a complex/low self esteem. But I mentioned it often because I so many times feel completely inadequate expressing myself with the written word on the net.
Plus, since these forums leave a RECORD of what we write on any given day they also catch us on bad days. Some of us have our PMS days & may not realize that until we have griped somebody out for nothing on one of these forums. Or someone may have ingested a little too much libation before getting online to share with everyone. Or maybe it’s just a bad week for someone else. We evolve and change. But, someone may go back and read something negative we wrote at any given time and think to themselves many negative things about us that may in fact not really paint a very accurate picture of what we are like at all.
NOW, I’ve just read what I just now wrote & think I sound condescending (sp?) . I really would not like to sound condescending, but I guess what I wrote may come across that way. See not all of us are blessed with good writing skills & that’s my whole long windy point.
This gives me great empathy for Yusuf ( or anyone in the public spotlight) who is expected to talk about sensitive issues publically.
I used to get angry and upset on the net a lot. Now I just try and give the other person the benefit of the doubt and assume they did not want to come across as a jackass just as much as I didn’t . ;D
whisper

[Aisha]

Whisper, it is funny that you mention this because I offered a good friend some advice in an e-mail and was afraid I offended her too. (She wrote me yesterday and was not offended) I am an advice-giver too. I don't mean to come off as a know-it-all but some take it that way. I just see someone doing something I did in the past and don't want them to go through the same things I went through.

Whisper, when I first read some of your posts you scared me, then we talked on the phone and I found you to be quite delightful and funny, not condenscending at all. The thing is that 99% of the time you know what you are talking about, especially in religious stuff and if you are a nitwit like I can be at times you can feel intimidated because of the ego factor. God forbid if anyone knows more about something than I do...LOLOLOL

Now, there is a record of my insanity online. When I first came online I was getting off of anti-depressants and was as nutty as a fruitcake. I re-read some of the stuff I wrote and almost fell out of my chair....LOL Of course, I am an honest person so I leave my past insanity online for others to read. Hey, I am perfect...NOT.

Now I have an online journal and if someone irks me, or I have PMS I can just unleash the wrath in the journal and then come here. I also avoid sites which push my buttons.

About Vivian, people always say she is screaming. Honestly I don't think Vivian knows how to scream being such a soft-spoken person, but she does use her all-caps often, but that is more of an enthusiasm thing not a scolding or yelling thing. Hey, even when she says, "Ooooh, Cat is a hunkasaurus rex, hubba-hubba" she always says it like a cultured Southern lady. (She is from Brooklyn.)

Love,
A'isha

[Turan]

I did not feel I needed to save those posts. However it has a little to do with this topic though.

Yusuf was said to be a member of Tablighi Jamaat by a few newspapers and magazines. (Newsweek and LATimes are the two I saw) A few other sources said he was part of Jamaat-i-Islami. There are allegations that both these organizations have ties with the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Naturally as they are not words we are familiar with, the sources and us had them all mixed up. The word jamaat means organization, league, group. These are organizations based in Pakistan. J-i-I is a political party, they have a philosophical connection to early Muslim Brotherhood. They are trying to work with in the political system instead of fermenting revolt (they split over that a decade or more ago and I wonder sometimes how real the split always is). Reading their website news articles I can see they supported the Taliban in many ways and this support goes back to the Afghan resistance aganst the Russians. This does not make them terrorist though. www.jamaat.org/overview/index.html
Tablighi Jamaat is very non political and rather amorphious. They are lay missionaries going around trying to renew the basic spiritual faith of Islam. I have not heard of them proselytizing outside of Islam. They do have a presence in America.

As far as we can figure the base source for all linking Yusuf with all this (both TJ and JiI because of confusion) is a paper Kama found by a gentleman in India. It also stated Yusuf and ISNA as being part of Tablighi Jamaat. Everything else in the paper talking of Yusuf was wrong (except him being Muslim) or I could not prove else where (was Yusuf at the ISNA conference in '95, it seems plausible, he had recently put out Life of the Last Prophet, I just could not find any reference anywhere and found an article putting him in London in Sept '95 and Kuala lampour in Nov.). I conclude that I have no idea if Yusuf is linked with Tablighi Jamaat or not. I also do not think that it matters. Even if some members of Tablighi were smuggling jihadist into Afghanistan the organization itself is not about that at all. And any connection that Yusuf may or may not have with the organization has nothing seeable to do with those who may have terrorist sympathies. The paper from India in this regard seems to be stretching into the realm of the paranoid wacko. That web site is an interesting read if you care about the Subcontinent. www.saag.org/aim.html Paper #80- Dagestan. sadly it is in deep archives now and you have to special request to see it.

My other quest is in regards IBERR. On another website some one quoted from a school book freeily distibuted by the Saudi gov. in English. What was quoted was extremily anti-Smetic and well, vile. It was followed by the usual. It gave me enormous pleasure to quote from the IBERR site and link him there (got a thank you too for renewing his hope ). However I would love to know more about how IBERR is teaching interaction and veiw of others? I mentioned this in the GQ thread. IBERR may be Yusuf's most important work in fighting terrorism that is flowing from Muslims.

Turan

[kareema113]

Salaam alaykom and greetings,

I still haven't made time to listen to that interview, since Saturday/Sunday early AM are the busiest hours of the paper carrier's week.

However, I did broach the subject of Br Y's attendance at Taliban meetings in the past with my former Middle Eastern journalist spouse.

My husband said not to worry about this at all. In his opinion, attendance at a few meetings is nothing in comparison with the extensive amount of support given to the Taliban by the US Government... pre 9/11, of course.

According to him, it is obvious that the US government certainly 'approved' of the Taliban.

He has a way of putting things bluntly in perspective.

Peace,
kareema

[Turan]

Kareema,
Have you read anything by Ahmed Rashid? He is a journalist out of Pakistan and incredibly knowladgable especially about Central Asia. I read his book Taliban and yes USA certainly had an interesting relationship with the Taliban. He was in Missoula in April, very good lecturer.

Turan

[hummingbird]

Turan said:

I did not feel I needed to save those posts. However it has a little to do with this topic though.

Yusuf was said to be a member of Tablighi Jamaat by a few newspapers and magazines. (Newsweek and LATimes are the two I saw) A few other sources said he was part of Jamaat-i-Islami. There are allegations that both these organizations have ties with the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Naturally as they are not words we are familiar with, the sources and us had them all mixed up. The word jamaat means organization, league, group. These are organizations based in Pakistan. J-i-I is a political party, they have a philosophical connection to early Muslim Brotherhood. They are trying to work with in the political system instead of fermenting revolt (they split over that a decade or more ago and I wonder sometimes how real the split always is). Reading their website news articles I can see they supported the Taliban in many ways and this support goes back to the Afghan resistance aganst the Russians. This does not make them terrorist though. www.jamaat.org/overview/index.html
Tablighi Jamaat is very non political and rather amorphious. They are lay missionaries going around trying to renew the basic spiritual faith of Islam. I have not heard of them proselytizing outside of Islam. They do have a presence in America.

As far as we can figure the base source for all linking Yusuf with all this (both TJ and JiI because of confusion) is a paper Kama found by a gentleman in India. It also stated Yusuf and ISNA as being part of Tablighi Jamaat. Everything else in the paper talking of Yusuf was wrong (except him being Muslim) or I could not prove else where (was Yusuf at the ISNA conference in '95, it seems plausible, he had recently put out Life of the Last Prophet, I just could not find any reference anywhere and found an article putting him in London in Sept '95 and Kuala lampour in Nov.). I conclude that I have no idea if Yusuf is linked with Tablighi Jamaat or not. I also do not think that it matters. Even if some members of Tablighi were smuggling jihadist into Afghanistan the organization itself is not about that at all. And any connection that Yusuf may or may not have with the organization has nothing seeable to do with those who may have terrorist sympathies. The paper from India in this regard seems to be stretching into the realm of the paranoid wacko. That web site is an interesting read if you care about the Subcontinent. www.saag.org/aim.html Paper #80- Dagestan. sadly it is in deep archives now and you have to special request to see it.

My other quest is in regards IBERR. On another website some one quoted from a school book freeily distibuted by the Saudi gov. in English. What was quoted was extremily anti-Smetic and well, vile. It was followed by the usual. It gave me enormous pleasure to quote from the IBERR site and link him there (got a thank you too for renewing his hope ). However I would love to know more about how IBERR is teaching interaction and veiw of others? I mentioned this in the GQ thread. IBERR may be Yusuf's most important work in fighting terrorism that is flowing from Muslims.

Turan

Turan, I commend you for your objective research, but with all due respect, you were not able to conclude anything 100% definite...still alot of gray. Rightly so.

IMHO, this underscores how these on-line harder hitting discussions usually go. By all means, folks can ask their questions or raise their issues. But who are they asking them to ? A bunch of people who really (and most often) don't know anything more than they themselves know. Although it seems a little futile to me, even so I don't have a problem with it at all. But so often it seems that those that raise the less than 'peachy keen' questions or issues have difficulty accepting opposing (in this case positive) viewpoints. This I really don't understand. Why bother to raise the issues at all then if folks can't comment and offer their personal perspective? I know I'm generalising here, but after participating on the Cat sites for close to 3 years, one can see patterns. So I wonder if these questions and issues are raised not so much for response from the CS community, but in the hopes of illiciting some type of response from Yusuf. Or maybe "steering him towards some soort of action" is a better way of putting it. Personally, I feel Yusuf will be Yusuf will be Yusuf. Clearly he's his own man. I think at least that much is obvious about him. Maybe I'm wrong, but what seems to me an attempt by some to force some sort of change (or something) is (hmmm...not sure what word to use here) unnecessary, silly, something like that. I'm not really sure if I'm explaining this well. Bottom line, there are lots of people out there to admire or to draw inspiration from...if Yusuf doesn't do it for someone (anyone)...than that person should just look elsewhere for inspiration. Stay tuned in...but why get so frustrated about averything?

Perhaps I'm dead wrong about all this and I really don't mean to offend. In general, I'm interested in all the discussions... glowing or not-so-glowing.

-jen.

[Turan]

Jen,

"I conclude that I have no idea if Yusuf is linked with Tablighi Jamaat or not. I also do not think that it matters." Of coarse I agree with you.

I like your comment on trying to herd Yusuf through our comments. I was thinking something similar the other day. It was really brought home when I listened to the interview at CScom. A caller says something along the lines of Yusuf speaking out on reform. Yusuf says something about always trying to back causes he agrees with and of his own choosing. I had to laugh and say, "Go, Yusuf!" There is personal inquiry, desicion and action.

Out to weed some more.
Turan

[Whisper]

Turan said:

Jen,

"I conclude that I have no idea if Yusuf is linked with Tablighi Jamaat or not. I also do not think that it matters." Turan

It seems so very unlikely that he would link himself with the Tablighi's. Very unlikely. I've listened to quite a few of his lectures & I know a couple of people he remains in close contact with & the idea strikes me as being way off base.
During the time period Yusuf visited Afghanistan it would have been virtually impossible not to have sat down with someone who was Jamaat-i-Islami. Any news reporters visiting the area during that time period would have as well perhaps had meals with someone who was. It would just have been impossible to spend any time at all in the area without bumping into someone who was.
Lots of rumors about Yusuf Islam's affiliations get started all the time & sometimes they even get started by Muslims. I was in a mosque once & a woman was vehemently claiming Yusuf Islam to be a Sufi. Her reasoning?- She went to London to the mosque he generally attended & there were some Sufi's there. Therefore she deducts Yusuf is a Sufi. That woman is busy spreading that rumor far & wide. But the fact of the matter is he does not claim to be a Sufi. I guess if she has seen Shia in that mosque he would have been Shia ( according to her). Aisha is right. Here in America & also in Europe many different groups may be found within one central mosque & often it is even done out of confusion. New place...new language...& so on.
Yusuf Islam does not strike me as a man who is ashamed of his beliefs or stances. I think he is simply as he states he is- a Muslim.
Yusuf

[faithfullight]

Thank you Turan for displaying your research. It was nice to read about Yusuf's connections and a little history of his work without any arguing going on from other posters. I just want to know the truth about him and I am not looking to criticize him. I don't know enough about IBERR, but if it may be Yusuf's most important work in fighting terrorism, then I am all for that! That makes me very happy! I'm not familiar with the organizations that you had listed, and it gives me something to look into.

And about communication, I have also stated that I am not an expert in communication skills. I hope that I have not offended anyone as my intentions were not to harm anyone.

Again, thank you for sharing your work.

Peace,
Faithfullight

[Whisper]

ha ha ha ha OMG I have become such a confused person spending too much time at these Cat sites. Look how I signed my name above ;D I swear I'm not Yusuf ha ha ;D Who am I?? Where am I ??
whisper

[hummingbird]

hummingbird said:

Turan, I commend you for your objective research, but with all due respect, you were not able to conclude anything 100% definite...still alot of gray. Rightly so.

jen.

Just reread my post and realised the above statement may be misleading. When I referred to "a lot of gray," I meant that it's difficult to research some of these subjects and come to real conclusions. So often we just don't have access to all the facts.

I'm quite comfortable with my own view Yusuf...no gray for me

Happy weeding Turan

-jen.

[Vivian]

One thing that proves Mr. Tapper to be a big liar is the comment that Yusuf's site, UKIEU, sponcers terrorist activities!! According to Mr. Tapper that even at the time this article came out, he found terrorist activities listed on that site!! How strange is that!! Several times in the last several months, I've clicked on that site, both at home and on many terminals at the library, only to find it down and under construction!! So, how is it possible that Mr. Tapper found this alledged information at the time the article was written?? Oh, let me guess!! It came up just so he can dig up some dirt, and they closed it down again!! YEAH, RIGHT!!!!!

And just because Yusuf at some point in his past, crossed paths with people who turned out to be terrorists, making them aquaintances, Mr. Tapper assumes that Yusuf is guilty!! Why is that!! Certainly doesn't sound fair to me!! At least the Mirror, while admitting that Yusuf made some mistakes, treated those mistakes with RESPECT!! So, you can't even bring up those two articles in the same sentence, because there is NO COMPARISON AT ALL!!

Peace,Vivian

Peace,Vivian

Peace,Vivian

[Aisha]

whisper said:

ha ha ha ha OMG I have become such a confused person spending too much time at these Cat sites. Look how I signed my name above ;D I swear I'm not Yusuf ha ha ;D Who am I?? Where am I ??
whisper

OH DEAR YUSUF, HOW DO YOU DISGUISE YOUR VOICE TO SOUND LIKE A TEXAN WOMAN SO WELL? I WOULD HAVE NEVER GUESSED THAT ALL THIS TIME YOU AND I HAVE BEEN CHATTING AWAY...NOW YOU KNOW WAY TOO MUCH ABOUT ME.

Here is something we all have to consider, right now almost any Islamic organization is under scrutiny, and many Muslims. The fear of terrorism is so vast right now that many organizations become suspected of terrorism. The suspicion is reported on the news and then you hear nothing else about the outcome, thus the seed of doubt is planted. Many of the organizations and people accused have no connection with terrorism except that they are Islamic organizations. Here in Columbus some Arab men's business was seized and accused for money laundering for Al Qaeda. The Arab community here was outraged that two men lost their business over suspicion. This could also be the case with some of the organizations Yusuf is affiliated with.

I think it is okay to discuss some aspects on the websites about Yusuf's life. He is a fascinating person, but when stuff is posted in forums that is absolutely defamatory then it is over the line. No one in these sites can really be 100% sure about what Yusuf does since none of us are in the man's head. I am sure that if some of Yusuf's staff were here they could correct any errors but some of the stuff I have read about Yusuf in some of these websites stepped way over the line and some of the things I read could have, very well, endangered Yusuf's life. We can talk and discuss but we have to remember that this is another person's life we are talking about and we must attempt to be careful of what kinds of things our words can bring about. There are some nuts out there in cyberland (besides me) and some of these psychos take the internet as absolute truth.

Love,
A'isha

[hummingbird]

Okay okay, peace to you too Vivian. Damn it!

hehehe...did you know you typed that 3 times...LOL.