Pineapple Thief
10-11-04, 12:10 AM
I just got this email today, because I signed that petition:
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Re: Status of "Stop Hatred & Misinformation about the Best of Creation (peace be upon him)" Petition
Dear Friends,
Assalaam Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakaatuhu,
I would like to thank each one of you for signing the important petition initiated by the Islamic Educational and Cultural Research Center against the malicious book by Mr. Winn. May Allah reward you for speaking out against the defamation and hatred portrayed by this author against the Beloved of Allah and our Beloved (peace and blessings be upon him).
A number of you have asked about the next steps in our attempt to remove this book from bookstore shelves. Others have inquired about the wisdom and usefulness of a petition to remove a book. There were also some concerns about this book becoming another Satanic Verses blown out of proportion because we chose not to simply ignore it. Others have indicated that "censorship" is not the answer to hatred and is antithetical to America’s freedom of speech as expressed by the 1st Amendment to its Constitution. Yet many of you have appreciated this effort because it is a written condemnation of hatred and is an alternative to remaining silent or impartial.
I will try to address some of these concerns here. This effort started out when we received a few concerns from various people and a Muslim organization’s email, which was sent to its mailing list that one of us happened to be on. In response, we approached some well-known Muslim PR organizations, sadly with no response or acknowledgement. Quite clearly, this book is a compiled version of what people like Pat Robertson, and Jerry Falwell have been blurting out from time to time over the years. As such, we decided that the best way to approach this book is a rebuttal of the common thread found in such material and as uttered by such people. However, due to time and resource constraints (IECRC is an organization with very meager financial and volunteer resources and although our volunteers are few, Allah has blessed them with great dedication and enthusiasm) we felt that a petition will be the fastest way to show public discontent. Whether or not it is successful in removing books from all bookstores, our intention was to show that we, as Muslims will not sit quiet when Allah and the Best of His Creation (peace and blessing be upon him and his family) are slandered in absolute ignorance, and so openly. As for "censorship," IECRC is not forcing any bookstore to remove the book, and neither are we asking for any governmental enforcement for that purpose. Bookstores can simply choose to remove the book or not. We feel that if a bookstore is sensitive to the feelings of a vast group of humanity that they will responsibly opt to remove the book, since Mr. Winn has failed to express such responsibility in his writings.
As for the book becoming another Satanic Verses, there is always the danger of this happening if left unchecked. It is for this reason that we have to watch and regulate the activity of what we as Muslims are saying. A petition is one of the best ways to do so (Petitiononline.com has a problem with removing bad signatures in a timely manner, but it is not impossible). It also shows that we are using a legal and acceptable process to voice our opinions. The petition is free from emotional outcries and slogans. It is NOT asking for Muslims to demonstrate in the streets, nor to start burning books, nor to harm the author, nor is it asking for any political intervention. It is a very straightforward appeal to all conscientious bookstores to take some responsibility of what they sell by not hurting the sensibilities of millions of people. Additionally, the petition is promoted to Muslim lists supporting the petition and is unlikely to promote sales of the book unless it is heavily marketed on the Internet to all other religious and secular groups. On the contrary, it is a word of condemnation against the book that had already been promoted heavily on the Web.
Amazon.com has made it clear that they do not support removal of books (Amazon.com’s letter and that of other bookstores will be posted to the Web site when created). Please note that this letter went out to Amazon.com being unaware of the petition. This does not mean that other bookstores will react in the same way. Borders books had decided to remove the few books that they had stocked (Stay tuned for Web Site details). This, in my opinion, is encouraging.
Next Steps
Creation of a sample letter to send to your family, friends and organizations
Creation of a centralized simple Web site (http://www.iecrcna.org/iecrcnaftp/petition/) for communications and discussion forums
Drive to collect signatures at Masajid and other Muslim public events (A printable version of the petition is in the making and will be available on the Web site)
Final push to gather more signatures
When we reach a critical mass, start approaching major bookstores
Please stay tuned for updates on these milestones as they are created. In the meantime, we ask you bear with us in patience and make dua for success in this endeavor. We also ask you to resist writing directly to the author or visiting his site. His writings are EXTREMELY malicious. Our goal with this petition is to voice strong disapproval against the book. The author does make the book available on his site, however we strongly urge you to NOT visit it as that will only increase hits to his site, thereby making it more searchable on the internet search engines. If you plan to circulate the petition widely, please use our sample letter as it will have some guidelines that requests petitioners to use correct names, and avoid repulsive language against the author (which defeats the purpose of this petition). If you find this book in any of your local bookstores, PLEASE contact the bookstore and politely request them to have it be removed by writing directly to the CEO.
To learn more about IECRC as an organization along with its other services, we encourage you to subscribe to our e-mail list (no need to send a subject or body message). Visit www.iecrcna.org/donation.html if you would like to make a tax deductible online donation to IECRC. Your support helps us continue work like this one and other essential services.
Thank you.
Sharaaz Khan Qadri
Director IECRC (Sacramento Branch)
---------------------------------------------
Re: Status of "Stop Hatred & Misinformation about the Best of Creation (peace be upon him)" Petition
Dear Friends,
Assalaam Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakaatuhu,
I would like to thank each one of you for signing the important petition initiated by the Islamic Educational and Cultural Research Center against the malicious book by Mr. Winn. May Allah reward you for speaking out against the defamation and hatred portrayed by this author against the Beloved of Allah and our Beloved (peace and blessings be upon him).
A number of you have asked about the next steps in our attempt to remove this book from bookstore shelves. Others have inquired about the wisdom and usefulness of a petition to remove a book. There were also some concerns about this book becoming another Satanic Verses blown out of proportion because we chose not to simply ignore it. Others have indicated that "censorship" is not the answer to hatred and is antithetical to America’s freedom of speech as expressed by the 1st Amendment to its Constitution. Yet many of you have appreciated this effort because it is a written condemnation of hatred and is an alternative to remaining silent or impartial.
I will try to address some of these concerns here. This effort started out when we received a few concerns from various people and a Muslim organization’s email, which was sent to its mailing list that one of us happened to be on. In response, we approached some well-known Muslim PR organizations, sadly with no response or acknowledgement. Quite clearly, this book is a compiled version of what people like Pat Robertson, and Jerry Falwell have been blurting out from time to time over the years. As such, we decided that the best way to approach this book is a rebuttal of the common thread found in such material and as uttered by such people. However, due to time and resource constraints (IECRC is an organization with very meager financial and volunteer resources and although our volunteers are few, Allah has blessed them with great dedication and enthusiasm) we felt that a petition will be the fastest way to show public discontent. Whether or not it is successful in removing books from all bookstores, our intention was to show that we, as Muslims will not sit quiet when Allah and the Best of His Creation (peace and blessing be upon him and his family) are slandered in absolute ignorance, and so openly. As for "censorship," IECRC is not forcing any bookstore to remove the book, and neither are we asking for any governmental enforcement for that purpose. Bookstores can simply choose to remove the book or not. We feel that if a bookstore is sensitive to the feelings of a vast group of humanity that they will responsibly opt to remove the book, since Mr. Winn has failed to express such responsibility in his writings.
As for the book becoming another Satanic Verses, there is always the danger of this happening if left unchecked. It is for this reason that we have to watch and regulate the activity of what we as Muslims are saying. A petition is one of the best ways to do so (Petitiononline.com has a problem with removing bad signatures in a timely manner, but it is not impossible). It also shows that we are using a legal and acceptable process to voice our opinions. The petition is free from emotional outcries and slogans. It is NOT asking for Muslims to demonstrate in the streets, nor to start burning books, nor to harm the author, nor is it asking for any political intervention. It is a very straightforward appeal to all conscientious bookstores to take some responsibility of what they sell by not hurting the sensibilities of millions of people. Additionally, the petition is promoted to Muslim lists supporting the petition and is unlikely to promote sales of the book unless it is heavily marketed on the Internet to all other religious and secular groups. On the contrary, it is a word of condemnation against the book that had already been promoted heavily on the Web.
Amazon.com has made it clear that they do not support removal of books (Amazon.com’s letter and that of other bookstores will be posted to the Web site when created). Please note that this letter went out to Amazon.com being unaware of the petition. This does not mean that other bookstores will react in the same way. Borders books had decided to remove the few books that they had stocked (Stay tuned for Web Site details). This, in my opinion, is encouraging.
Next Steps
Creation of a sample letter to send to your family, friends and organizations
Creation of a centralized simple Web site (http://www.iecrcna.org/iecrcnaftp/petition/) for communications and discussion forums
Drive to collect signatures at Masajid and other Muslim public events (A printable version of the petition is in the making and will be available on the Web site)
Final push to gather more signatures
When we reach a critical mass, start approaching major bookstores
Please stay tuned for updates on these milestones as they are created. In the meantime, we ask you bear with us in patience and make dua for success in this endeavor. We also ask you to resist writing directly to the author or visiting his site. His writings are EXTREMELY malicious. Our goal with this petition is to voice strong disapproval against the book. The author does make the book available on his site, however we strongly urge you to NOT visit it as that will only increase hits to his site, thereby making it more searchable on the internet search engines. If you plan to circulate the petition widely, please use our sample letter as it will have some guidelines that requests petitioners to use correct names, and avoid repulsive language against the author (which defeats the purpose of this petition). If you find this book in any of your local bookstores, PLEASE contact the bookstore and politely request them to have it be removed by writing directly to the CEO.
To learn more about IECRC as an organization along with its other services, we encourage you to subscribe to our e-mail list (no need to send a subject or body message). Visit www.iecrcna.org/donation.html if you would like to make a tax deductible online donation to IECRC. Your support helps us continue work like this one and other essential services.
Thank you.
Sharaaz Khan Qadri
Director IECRC (Sacramento Branch)