posted January 03, 2007 06:55 PM              

By FREDERIC J. FROMMER

AP

WASHINGTON (Jan. 3) - Rep.-elect Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, will use a Quran once owned by Thomas Jefferson during his ceremonial swearing-in Thursday.

Keith Ellison
Chuck Kennedy, MCT
Keith Ellison approached the Library of Congress about using a historic copy of the Koran.

From the Blog:
· Jefferson Koran Brilliant Idea
· Dems Ready for Power?

Talk About It: Post Thoughts
The chief of the Library of Congress' rare book and special collections division, Mark Dimunation, will walk the Quran across the street to the Capitol and then walk it back after the ceremony.

Ellison, D-Minn., contacted the library about the book last month, Dimunation said.

Some critics have argued that only a Bible should be used for the swearing-in. Last month, Virginia Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Va., warned that unless immigration is tightened, "many more Muslims" will be elected and follow Ellison's lead. Ellison was born in Detroit and converted to Islam in college.

Ellison spokesman Rick Jauert said the new congressman "wants this to be a special day, and using Thomas Jefferson's Quran makes it even more special."

Most Popular - Last 24 Hours

* Trailer Park Residents Face Dilemma
* Rare Robert E. Lee Portrait on Display
* Commuter Saves Man on Subway Tracks
* Official Held in Saddam Hanging Video
* Military Nurse Recalls Softer Saddam

"Jefferson's Quran dates religious tolerance to the founders of our country," he added.

An English translation of the Arabic, it was published in 1764 in London, a later printing of one originally published in 1734.

"This is considered the text that shaped Europe's understanding of the Quran," Dimunation said.

It was acquired in 1815 as part of a 6,400-volume collection that Jefferson sold for $24,000, to replace the congressional library that had been burned by British troops the year before, in the War of 1812.

"It was a real bargain," Dimunation said.

Jefferson, the third president of the United States, collected books in all topics and languages, said Dimunation. The Quran survived an 1851 fire in the Capitol building. Dimunation described it as a two-volume work, bound in leather with marble boards.

"As a rare book librarian," he said, "there is something special about the idea that Thomas Jefferson's books are being walked across the street to the Capitol building, to bring in yet another session of governmental structure that he helped create."

posted January 03, 2007 07:34 PM            

Though its just a symbolic gesture, its has great meaning. Lets not go crazy and try to omit anything of personal importance from congress.

posted January 03, 2007 08:16 PM            

quote:

---

Otherwise, you guys may end up being too caught up on political correctness and end up calling Christmas trees "Holiday Trees," as it was done in a ruling in Toronto .

---

posted January 03, 2007 10:48 PM            

Anyways, back to the topic. I wonder why everyone is making a big deal out of it in the first place? You're supposed to swear on something you "believe" in....and it doesn't even have to be a Holy Book. But I heard, that some guy was wondering why he couldn't swear on the bible like everyone else.

posted January 04, 2007 02:46 PM            

Yes, the Muslim community of the region saw it a very intollerent view actually. Well the Judge saw the fact that since it was a courthouse, you wouldn't want religios based objects in there.

posted January 04, 2007 02:53 PM              

quote:

---

But a Chritmas Tree has NOTHING to do with the actual celebration of the Birth of Jesus Christ (Actually, for those who don't know, it takes its origin from a Pagan ritual.)

---

posted January 04, 2007 03:10 PM            

quote:

---

But a Chritmas Tree has NOTHING to do with the actual celebration of the Birth of Jesus Christ (Actually, for those who don't know, it takes its origin from a Pagan ritual.

---

I said that exact thing yesterday hehe . We were discussing the Roman God Mithras whose birth was celebrated on Dec 25, actually i think Jesus was a Pisces there was a thread on it in astrology. So i disagree with overkilling on political correctness.

quote:

---

The Christmas tree is associated with Jesus's birth and the Christian religion and some ppl feel the holiday is being imposed on them

---

posted January 04, 2007 08:06 PM            

Today, Keith Ellison will be sworn in as United States Congressman from Minnesota’s 5th District, a prestigious title indeed. But prior to him getting to this position, he has carried much radical Islamist baggage – the kind of baggage that could make him (or anyone else) unworthy of such a title. Considering his actions with America’s live-in enemies, whilst running for office and even after being elected, we can most probably expect these dangerous associations of Ellison to continue well into his term.

During Ellison’s campaign for U.S. Congress, the issue of his relationship with the Nation of Islam (NOI) was brought up repeatedly. NOI, under the leadership of Louis Farrakhan, for decades, has been the perpetrator of countless verbal and written attacks against the Jewish community.

On May 26, 2006, Ellison sent a letter to the Executive Director of the local Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) acknowledging his participation in the hate group. [Full documentation of his involvement with NOI can be found at the blog Power Line.] In the letter, Ellison wrote, “I have long since distanced myself from and rejected the Nation of Islam due to its propagation of bigoted and anti-Semitic ideas and statements, as well as other issues…Like most people, I look back at my mistakes with regret. That said, my mistakes have not been futile because I have learned from them.”

However apologetic Ellison appeared to be, his words ring false, as he proceeded to cavort with those that not only exhibit the same kind of hatred as the NOI, but that have longstanding ties to terrorist groups as well. And he continues to do so.

Much of the money that was funneled into the coffers of Ellison’s campaign can be traced to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an organization that has ties to Hamas. In June of 1994, three leaders of the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), a group that was the brainchild of Hamas deputy Mousa Abu Marzook (Marzouk), incorporated CAIR. One of the leaders was CAIR’s Executive Director and, himself, a Hamas supporter, Nihad Awad.

Awad – who stated at a September 2000 rally, “[The Jews] have been saying ‘Next year in Jerusalem’; we say ‘Next year to all Palestine’” – personally gave thousands of dollars to Ellison’s campaign. The other head of CAIR, the group’s National Chairman, Parvez Ahmed, also gave large sums to Ellison. In addition, CAIR sponsored numerous fundraisers for Ellison – including secret fundraisers held outside the candidate’s state – where the group raised tens of thousands of dollars for him.

In October of 2000, then-candidate for U.S. Senate Hillary Clinton announced that she was returning $50,000 in campaign donations raised by the American Muslim Alliance (AMA), due to the group’s support for terrorism against the state of Israel. Not only did Ellison not give back CAIR’s money, but following his election, he spoke at the group’s November banquet (via video).

At the same time the CAIR banquet was taking place, Ellison found himself speaking at another organization’s event in Minnesota. That organization was the North American Imams Federation (NAIF). This was discovered shortly after six imams coming from the conference were removed from a U.S. Airways flight headed to Arizona. One of the imams, Omar Shahin, was formerly a representative for KindHearts, a “charity” that was shut down in February for raising millions of dollars for Hamas.

On the program for the conference, Ellison’s picture is found alongside two other individuals. One is Siraj Wahhaj, who is currently the imam of the At-Taqwa Mosque in Brooklyn, New York. Wahhaj's name was placed on the U.S. Attorney's list of potential co-conspirators to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. Wahhaj, soon after, served as a witness for Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, the spiritual leader of the attack, during the bombing trial.

The other individual in question is Mazen Mokhtar, currently the Youth Director for the New Jersey chapter of the Muslim American Society (MAS-New Jersey). Mokhtar, prior to 9/11, created a mirror website for one of the main sites raising funds and recruiting fighters for Al-Qaeda and the Taliban – “Jihad in Chechnya.” The site was also a portal to the official website of Hamas. In addition, Mokhtar has posted numerous statements on the web in support of Hamas and suicide bombings.

On Sunday, December 24, 2006, Ellison was the keynote speaker at yet another Islamist venue, the national convention of MAS and the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), held in Dearborn, Michigan. Both MAS and ICNA have their roots in the violent Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt and Pakistan, respectively. Mokhtar was also featured at this event, along with a former official from the IAP, Raeed Tayeh. Tayeh, in November of 2001, was fired from his job as a speechwriter for then-United States Representative Cynthia McKinney for referring to the United States Congress as “Israeli-occupied territory.”

One cannot help but question Keith Ellison’s motives for participating in events such as these. In front of crowds, he speaks of tolerance and justice. On his website, he discusses bringing peace to the masses. Yet his actions say something entirely different.

posted January 06, 2007 08:47 PM              

I thoroughly enjoyed and enjoy ICNA and ICNA related events...without them life would have definitely been tougher for the few Muslims that were and are here in North America. ICNA is a wonderful organization

posted January 10, 2007 12:01 PM            

Keith Ellison

A Special Forces veteran and commentator says new Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison (Hakim-Mohammad) of Minnesota was absolutely right when he said Thomas Jefferson gleaned knowledge from the Quran – only it was knowledge about his enemies that Jefferson likely gleaned.

A report in the FreePress reported Ellison said the fact that Jefferson owned the book confirmed that it was "definitely an important historical document in our national history" and he said it "demonstrates that Jefferson was a broad visionary thinker who not only possessed a Quran, but read it."

"It would have been something that contributed to his own thinking," Ellison was quoted as saying.

In an interview with USINFO, Ellison spokesman Rick Jauert went further, saying the choice of Jefferson's Quran was significant because it "dates religious tolerance back to the time of our founding fathers."

"Jefferson was ... one of the more profound thinkers of the time, who recognized even then that there was nothing to fear, and in fact there was strength in recognizing religious tolerance," he said.

Ted Sampley, the publisher of U.S. Veteran Dispatch, agreed with Ellison, who used the Library of Congress Quran that Jefferson once owned for his ceremonial swearing-in to Congress, that Jefferson used the Quran for his own thinking, but not with the same result.

"There is no doubt Ellison was right about Jefferson believing wisdom could be 'gleaned' from the Muslim Quran," Sampley writes. "At the time Jefferson owned the book, he needed to know everything possible about Muslims because he was about to advocate war against the Islamic 'Barbary' states of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Tripoli."

He noted that over 10 centuries, Muslim pirates had cruised the African and Mediterranean coastline, pillaging villages and abducting slaves, mostly by making pre-dawn raids that left high casualty rates.

"It was typical of Muslim raiders to kill off as many of the 'non-Muslim' older men and women as possible so the preferred 'booty' of only young women could be collected," he said. The women were sought for their value as concubines in Islamic markets.

"Boys, as young as 9 or 10 years old, were often mutilated to create eunuchs who would bring higher prices in the slave markets of the Middle East," Sampley wrote.

When American colonists rebelled against the English in 1776, merchant ships from what later would be the United States lost British navy protection, and they were attacked "and their Christian crews enslaved by Muslim pirates operating under the control of the 'Dey of Algiers' – an Islamist warlord ruling Algeria."

The Continental Congress then met in 1784 to talk about treaties with leaders of the region, and John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were appointed to oversee the work.

"Tribute" and "ransoms" first were paid to the Muslim slavers, and Adams argued that was the cheapest way to get commerce moving, Sampley wrote. But Jefferson was opposed, proposing a settlement of the issue "through the medium of war."

Sampley writes that two years later, when Jefferson was ambassador to France, and Adams was ambassador to Britain, they met in London with Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja, the ambassador to Britain from the "Dey of Algiers."

Seeking a peace treaty, based on Congress' vote to pay tribute, the two Americans asked Dey's ambassador why Muslims had so much hostility towards America. They later reported to Congress the ambassador told them Islam "was founded on the Laws of their Prophet, that it was written in their Quran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as Prisoners, and that every Musselman (Muslim) who should be slain in Battle was sure to go to Paradise."

Sampley notes that for years the American government paid Muslims millions of dollars for the safe passage of American ships or the return of American hostages, but not long after Jefferson's inauguration in 1801, he dispatched the USS Constitution, USS Constellation, USS Philadelphia, USS Chesapeake, USS Argus, USS Syren and USS Intrepid to the Mediterranean.

Jefferson's first presidency coincided with what generally is called the Barbary Wars running from approximately 1801-1805. That year the Marines marched from Egypt into Tripolitania, freeing Americans held there as slaves, he wrote.

Gary DeMar, president of AmericanVision.org, added his endorsement of Sampley's interpretation of history.

DeMar cites Joseph Wheelan's book, "Jefferson's War: America's First War on Terror," in noting Jefferson said, "Too long, for the honor of nations, have those Barbarians been [permitted] to trample on the sacred faith of treaties, on the rights and laws of human nature!"

DeMar notes that research treatise concludes that, "Jefferson's war pitted a modern republic with a free-trade, entrepreneurial creed against a medieval autocracy whose credo was piracy and terror. It matched an ostensibly Christian nation against an avowed Islamic one that professed to despise Christians."

"Wheelan's historical assessment of the time is on target," DeMar noted. "'Except for its Native American population and a small percentage of Jews, the United States was solidly Christian, while the North African regencies were just as solidly Muslim – openly hostile toward Christians.'"

"So what did Jefferson learn from the Quran? …Unless a nation submitted to Islam, whether it was the aggressor or not, that nation was by definition at war with Islam. It's no wonder that Jefferson studied the Quran. He realized that if Americans ever capitulated, the Muslims would be singing 'From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of A-mer-i-ca,'" DeMar concluded.

As WND has reported Ellison has allowed his supporters to shout, "Allahu Akbar!," the same phrase allegedly used by the 9/11 suicide pilots, he's spoken to various Islamic groups, he's used that Quran to be sworn into office, but he hasn't responded to WND requests to confirm he will base his decisions on the laws of the U.S. on the Constitution, not the Quran.

He has confirmed that "in terms of political agenda items, my faith informs these things."

Jauert confirmed to WND that the congressman does not believe there will be a conflict between his religious beliefs and his duty under the U.S. Constitution.

But when asked which would take priority if there is a conflict, or to describe how the congressman will resolve the differing philosophies provided by the U.S. Constitution and the Quran, which calls for beheading "infidels," he said he could not answer immediately.

One blogger was a little concerned over the situation:

"During the victory celebration for the nation's first Muslim congressman (not that there's anything wrong with that... in principle), Congressman Keith Ellison's supporters scream 'Allahu Akbar!', the same phrase that the 9/11 hijackers screamed, the same phrase suicide bombers scream, the same phrase head choppers scream before slicing off the heads of hapless and bound victims. May God protect this country," the blogger wrote.

WND also has reported Ellison has been linked to a radical Islamic school of thought that requires loyalty to the Quran over the U.S. Constitution.

A black convert to orthodox Sunni Islam, Ellison spoke to the North American Imams Federation, or NAIF, at the group's Nov. 19 conference in Minneapolis.

His talk flowed into a breakout session listed on the agenda simply as "American Open University," according to the conference program. It turns out the university is a "distance-learning" center based in Alexandria, Va., and known to local law enforcement as "Wahhabi Online."

Later that day, Ellison met with NAIF's president, Omar Ahmad Shahin, who lectures at the same American Open University. (He also met at the time with New York imam Siraj Wahhaj, an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.) The radical Islamic school trains many of NAIF's more than 150 members, who control mosques across America.

American Open University supports Sharia, or Islamic law. And its founder and chairman, Jaafar Sheikh Idris, has denounced the U.S system of democracy as "the antithesis of Islam" and argued no man has the right to make laws outside Allah's laws expressed in the Quran.

Ellison's campaign also was backed by the Washington-based lobby group Council on American-Islamic Relations, a partner organization to American Open University-affiliated NAIF. CAIR held fundraisers for Ellison, a civil-rights lawyer and one-time acolyte of Louis Farrakhan who admits to making anti-Semitic remarks in the past (under various alias including Keith Hakim, Keith Ellison-Muhammad and Keith X Ellison).

posted January 10, 2007 02:29 PM              

Some parts were okay.

posted January 10, 2007 10:38 PM            

quote:

---

Congressman Keith Ellison's supporters scream 'Allahu Akbar!', the same phrase that the 9/11 hijackers screamed, the same phrase suicide bombers scream, the same phrase head choppers scream before slicing off the heads of hapless and bound victims.

---

Ummm as I once learned from people back @ home,World Religions,etc.; 'Allahu Akbar!' actually means "God is great". Since when is it a crime to praise God?