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Go Seawolves!

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Ahmad Wais Afzali had for years been a popular imam in Queens. First at one mosque, and then at others, he had become known for his moving sermons. He also ran a funeral home, and won praise for helping families deal with their grief.

…

The imam’s lawyer said he was merely trying to help the authorities. But on Saturday night, federal officials arrested Mr. Afzali, 37, effectively claiming that their onetime source of assistance had betrayed them by tipping off Mr. Zazi, and then lying to them about it.

Source: NY Times

I think pretty much everyone in the Muslim community knew Shaykh Ahmad and his funeral home and the services he offered to Muslim families to take care of their deceased relatives. I had a first hand experience with this with the burial of my grandfather.

May Allah make it easy for them and their families. It sounds like Shaykh Ahmad was talking to the wrong person at the wrong time.

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They should also do 30 taraweeh’s. Split it up evenely, half 20s and half 8s.

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Spurred by a broad coalition of religious, labor and immigrant groups, the City Council overwhelmingly passed a resolution on Tuesday to add two of the most important Muslim holy days to the public schools’ holiday calendar.

…

Imam Talib Abdur-Rashid, a leader of the campaign to add the holidays, said that if the mayor continued to oppose the move, the results for him at the voting booth could be “catastrophic” among the city’s roughly 600,000 Muslims.

…

The resolution’s advocates said that since about 12 percent, or more than 100,000, of the city’s public school students are Muslim, they deserved recognition. The two holidays have already been adopted by school districts including Dearborn, Mich., and several municipalities in New Jersey.

Source

I wonder if the NYC public schools will follow the global moon sighting view or the local moon sighting view.

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He did a good thing here, but selling pipes that are only used to smoke haram substances is wrong.

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. (WPIX) – After the word got out of his act of compassion and kindness, deli owner Mohammad Sohail became an instant star.

That unusual confrontation caught by surveillance cameras shows the shop owner being held up by a masked man armed with a baseball bat. Sohail pulled a rifle on the robber, who then begged for forgiveness, claiming to be hungry and down on his luck.

Sohail gave him $40, and even offered him bread and milk.

However on Thursday, the kind-hearted store owner is facing up to $30,000 in fines.

“I respect the fact that he did something courageous on one occasion, nonetheless I’m convinced he was violating general business law,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota.

The District attorney and a host of elected officials boasting the results of an undercover sting that snagged 7 shops for drug paraphernalia. Sohail’s store was one them.

“Everybody sells these things.” said Sohail.

Some of the items seized like gravity knives that were on display are illegal, but the weapons didn’t come from Sohail’s store, these hookah’s and pipes did. When it comes to smoking pipes, the law gets a little cloudy.

“It’s not illegal to sell it, but it’s illegal to sell it when you know what you’re selling it for,” said Legislator Kate Browning.

That includes selling to teens, or to someone whose intentions are clearly not for tobacco use, but to get high.

Sohail doesn’t face any criminal charges, just hefty civil charges for business law violations. The shop owner is not as concerned about the money as he is about his reputation.

“They try to make me a hero, I don’t want to be a zero,” he told PIX News.

Copyright © 2009, WPIX-TV

Source

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Merciful storekeeper changes robber’s mind, religion

NEW YORK (CNN) — A potential victim became a compassionate counselor during a recent robbery attempt, changing the would-be criminal’s mind — and apparently his religion.

Storekeeper Mohammad Sohail was closing up his Long Island convenience store just after midnight on May 21 when — as shown on the store’s surveillance video — a man came in wielding a baseball bat and demanding money.

“He said, ‘Hurry up and give me the money, give me the money!’ and I said, ‘Hold on’,” Sohail recalled in a phone interview with CNN on Tuesday, after the store video and his story was carried on local TV.

Sohail said he reached under the counter, grabbed his shotgun and told the robber to drop the bat and get down on his knees.

“He’s crying like a baby,” Sohail said. “He says, ‘Don’t call police, don’t shoot me, I have no money, I have no food in my house.’ ”

Amidst the man’s apologies and pleas, Sohail said he felt a surge of compassion.

He made the man promise never to rob anyone again and when he agreed, Sohail gave him $40 and a loaf of bread.

“When he gets $40, he’s very impressed, he says, ‘I want to be a Muslim just like you,’ ” Sohail said, adding he had the would-be criminal recite an Islamic oath.

“I said ‘Congratulations. You are now a Muslim and your name is Nawaz Sharif Zardari.’”

When asked why he chose the hybrid of two Pakistani presidents’ names, the Pakistani immigrant laughed and said he had been watching a South Asian news channel moments before the confrontation.

Sohail said the man fled the store when he turned away to get the man some free milk.

He said police might still be looking for the suspect but he doesn’t intend to press charges.

“The guy, you know, everybody has a hard time right now, it’s too bad for everybody right now in this economy,” said the storekeeper.

Source: CNN (via Hahmed.com)

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May Allah (swt) grant them jannah-tul-firdaus. Ameen.

Source: New York Times

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Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

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May Allah continue to guide and bless bro. Amir.

Update: Here is an audio of Loon discussing his story to Islam:
Download audio file (loon.mp3)

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