|
|
Military Muslim Servicemen and Service Women When British news reporter Yvonne Ridley converted to Islam after her capture by Taleban soldiers in Afghanistan (2001) psychologists argued that she did so because she had suffered from "Stockholm Syndrome. This debilitating syndrome affects the minds of people who are captured and held hostage whereby they take on the cause of their captors." Wilkpedia even put her side by side with Symbonese Liberation activist Patty Hurst as a prime example of the illness. However, there is a counter point to all this. They are the many men and women in uniform who take on the religion of those whose country they occupy. One day very soon I feel that these same psychoanalysts will eventually explain away this as a mental disease as well. Then our stories will begin to lose their appeal in the eyes of the public and we will be looked upon as maniacs. But until that time we must recognize an eerie sort of miracle; that the more Muslims are killed, the more Allah seems to replace them. Conversions like these are nothing new, beautiful. People like Khalid ibn Waleed or the Children of Gengis Khan who ransacked the Muslims only later to join their faith and embrace their former enemies. In the 1989 George Gallup Book: "100 Questions" asked "Which nationwide organizations do you (the American) people trust most?" The Answers were astounding. Number 1 were Religious organizations, and number 2 the Military. Political leaders ranked near the bottom of the top ten. When you consider the definition of the word "service", you can see a correlation between military and religion. Ideally, when one goes to a worship service she or he is in a state of servitude to the beloved. Many of us were typical gung-ho soldiers who enjoyed the military life but could not live within the confines of the war against Islam along with constant McCarthy era FBI investigations. Some of us just did our time and got out well before all this mess happened. We left the service of men and entered into the servitude Jesus spoke of when he said, "You cannot serve both God and Mammon. No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." [Luke 16:13]de(Ôibada) of Allah (God Almighty)
Sheikh Abdul Qadi of Dhahran, Saudi Arabia reported 13,000 Shihadahs (New Muslims) on file in his area alone. He speculates that most embraced Islam when there was still a large Western military presence in Eastern Arabia and Kuwait between the years 1990-98 C.E. In the year 2000 CE the Department of the Army reported 12000 Muslims on active duty and many countless others in the reserve. They are at varying degrees of iman(faith) and most are poor to lower middle class as soldiers usually are everywhere. I don't have every one's story but I went with the few I knew personally. I decided to make this page as a sign to the Muslims here in America to be patient and hopeful that even people who are fighting our family now might one day join us in this world and be united with us in Paradise. May Allah forgive the wrong we have done and help us to repair the damage to a point better than it was before. Ameen |
|
Their Stories
|
Sgt. Randy Mitchell
|
Imam Zaid Shakir is amongst the most respected and influential Muslim scholars in the West. Born in Berkeley, California, the second of seven children he accepted Islam in 1977 while serving in the United States Air Force (in Turkey). He then obtained a BA with honors in International Relations at American University in Washington D.C. and later earned his MA in Political Science at Rutgers University, where he emerged as an active leader in campus activities, helping to revive the Muslim Student Association, co-leading a successful South African divestment campaign, and co-founding a local Islamic center, Masjid al-Huda. After a year in Cairo, Egypt, studying Arabic, he settled in New Haven, Connecticut and continued his tireless community activism, co-founding Masjid al-Islam, the Tri-State Muslim Education Initiative, and the Connecticut Muslim Coordinating Committee. As Imam of Masjid al-Islam from 1988 to 1994 he speared-headed a community renewal and grassroots anti-drug effort in the local neighborhood, and taught as an Adjunct Professor of Political Science and Arabic at Southern Connecticut State University until his departure for Syria to further his studies in the traditional Islamic Sciences. For seven years in Syria and briefly in Morocco he immersed himself in an intense study of Arabic, Islamic law, Quranic studies, and Islamic spirituality with some of the top Muslim scholars of our age. In 2001, he graduated from Syria's prestigious Abu Noor University and returned to Connecticut to continue his work with the Muslim community in America. Teaching regularly as the Imam of Masjid al-Islam, writing numerous articles for various magazines, journals, and newspapers, and lecturing frequently at many of AmericaÕs largest Muslim conferences and conventions, he soon emerged as one of the most popular and sought after American Muslim leaders. Amongst several works that he has translated from Arabic into English, his translation of "The Heirs of the Prophets" was published by Starlatch Press in 2001. In 2003, he moved to Hayward, California with his family to serve as a scholar-in-residence and lecturer at Zaytuna Institute where he now teaches regular courses on Arabic, Islamic Law, History, and Islamic Spirituality. He has since lectured at many of the Bay Area's top universities, including Stanford and U.C. Berkeley, and is a frequent speaker at local Muslim events. He is widely regarded as an articulate voice on Islam and African-American issues and as a visionary leader in the emergence of an Islamic community and tradition and that is indigenous to America. |
 |
Captain Ysuf |
Yusuf (James) Yee needs no introduction. As one of the first Muslim military Chaplains, Yee was wrongly seen as a threat to the U.S. military mission at Guintanimo Bay detention center, Cuba where he was assigned. He was jailed for 76 days and accused of everything from adultry and espionage, to dowloding kiddy-porn on his government. Through the grace of Allah, he was later released, cleared of all charges and eventually resigned his commision as a Captian in the U.S. Army. Yusuf Yee's path to Islam started shortly after his graduation from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He was assinged as a Patriot anti air missile systems officer and sent to Saudi Arabia dyring the '91 Gulf crisis. The tour there strengthened his newfound faith and he eventually went to study Arabic and Islam overseas. Yee now speaks about Islam and his experiences. For a video interview: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week906/profile.html
|
 |
|
Staff Sergeant |
A recent convert Matt Fernandez had already
served 2 tours of duty in Gulf War (Episode II) when he converted
to Islam with the hand of his father Abdul Haleem (Jerry) Fernandez
who also recently converted. Mike was in the thick of things as a
Staff Sergeant in the elite 82nd Airborne, eventually falling in
love with the country he fought in. He and his father are both veterens
and have a great story to tell, and I don't want to ruin it.
|
 |
|
1st Liuetenant Erich(Tariq) Scherfen |
1st Lieutenant Tariq (Erich) Scherfen served in the U.S. Army as an infantryman during the Persian Gulf War. When hostilities ceased Erich was embedded in the urban culture of Eastern Saudi Arabia. He spent several weeks in Al Kobar Towers where he entered a Mosque for the first time. He immediately fell in love with the idea of one unseen god and eventually embraced Islam . He left the Army and went to Kean University at night, where he received his Bachelor's in Fine Art. At the same time Scherfen worked days as a fixed-wing flight instructor and tour pilot in the busy airspace around New York City. Later, Tariq rejoined the Army and received his commission as a Lieutenant. He went on to peruse his love for flying in the U.S. Army's flight school where he gained qualifications on various helicopters including AH-64 Apache and AH-1 Cobra. Tariq is now out of the Army and is giving short interfaith lectures entitled "Bridging the Gap". The goals of this program is to show, in a non-confrontational way, how Islam differs very little from the "original teachings" of Great Prophets like Moses, and Jesus Christ (peace on Them all.) and that it is part of what he would call a greater "Truth" with a capital "T". |
 |
|
Senior Airman |
Yusuf (Joe) Schade served in the Airforce for several years as a sheet metal repair man and machinist on most of the big jets. He remebers being called to alert while in England when President Ronald Reagan ordred F-111 air strikes on Lybia in the 1980's. Though not a Muslim at the time, Yusuf felt regret in attacking a nation that had not attacked America in any manner. Joe Schade continued his trade after leaving the Air Force. He obtained employment as a contractor working for the Saudi Airforce's Northrop F-5 fighter program near the city of Tabuk. It was there that Yusuf learned about Islam and eventually took Shihadah. He is well known in the local community for his genorosity and kind demeanor.
|
N/A
|
|
Staff SergeantAyah Hiriri |
Ayah Hiriri "Desert Storm" by Ayah Hariri [289-293] Sergeant Ayah Hariri was one of the soldiers stationed in Saudi during the Gulf War. She was curious about the Quran and asked a shopkeeper there to tell her a story that was in the Quran. He told her the story of Joseph and she was surprised to find how similar it was to the Bible. So she asked him for an english Quran and later decided she wanted to convert and take Shahada (bearing witness to the declaration of faith in Islam). She slowly learned more about Islam and started to wear a head covering. When she came back to America she went about to see what her religious rights were now concerning diet and apparel. There was nothing saying she could not do so so her superior allowed it. People stared and made comments but as soon as they found out her rank people kept quiet. Hariri feels most people did not bother her as much because of her rank. She was able to get her rights and help to educate other people about Islam. |
 |
