The United States is a powerful country, and has good economic resources and development methodologies. The Muslim world has been completely affected by the outcome of the United States elections of 2009 and 2012.  When Obama took hold of the US government in 2009, he started to regain and re-establish the whole governmental infrastructure and related policies. He tried to overcome all of the economic issues, as well as other issues to various extents. However, his diplomatic policies have not been productive and they produce various effects on the Muslim lifestyle.  In 2009, many Muslims supported Obama in the presidential election and played a major role in his winning the election. This happened because the Muslim people of America and other countries believed that Obama would provide relief and support for the Muslim people and follow rules and policies that would be better for Muslim people. But that didn’t happen. He also followed unrealistic and old diplomatic rules which were set by the previous president, George Bush.  Due to his policies, Obama has ignited more terrorism, and he has tried to damage the economy in Muslim countries in various ways.  Because of this, many problems on the world stage were exaggerated, features of development within Muslim regions changed drastically, and many other damaging effects occurred, which created various problems.

It seems that every US presidential election is not fair for Muslims.  Strict diplomatic policies really affect Muslim countries to some extent. Many people consider Obama to be a very religious person, and therefore they believe that he must respect the Muslim’s and other religious people’s feelings. Therefore, they believe that he may provide more realistic policies that will ultimately be helpful for Muslims. Although he is somewhat better than previous presidents, and contributes slightly to the development of the Muslim people, there are still many reports that describe the bad effects that the US has had on the Muslim economy.

Due to strict rules regarding terrorism, violence prevails in almost in every Muslim country.  People are already oppressed, and therefore they hesitate to protest unfair policies developed by the US government under Obama. The US government attempted to occupy Iran’s nuclear atomic sources, but they did not succeed in their mission. This is because Iran is a strong, developed, and famous Muslim country that has advanced missiles, nuclear systems, and the best defense forces. These defense forces hold the border, and control and monitor all activities in order to attempt to save all of their economic and developmental resources.

The latest 2012 US presidential election, however, proceeded in a better way. Obama received more support from various communities and also from the Muslims who are residents of America. Due to stronger support, he won the latest Presidential Election. This election has totally changed the entire world economy, various important development structures, etc. The Muslim people’s lives have also been impacted due to the latest Election Campaign.

The latest election also produced a few positive impacts for the Muslim community’s people.  Some diplomatic policies of the United States are there for the betterment of the Muslim people. Obama delegated team members to visit Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries such as Palestine, etc. Those people are trying to overcome the crises and violent conditions that have been started in Gaza, Iraq etc., and they have tried to manage many of the harmful situations happening and condemn all anti-terrorist activities. The US government wants peace everywhere in the world, but their policies take time to implement and chances are that the Muslim people’s lives will totally change due to relaxing of diplomatic strategies.

About the author

Jawad Ahmad

Passionate about writing, Muslim academy is perfect platform to get knowledge and Experience. Looking Forward for your feedback on my work.

View the Original article

In the United States of America, the Muslims historically have proved themselves as a family oriented, highly educated and a diverse fraction of voters. Over the past few years, especially after the wake of 9/11, the US Muslims have become even more politically aware and organized. Muslims have got to know that they share a very due and effective role in the American society along with other communities, therefore, they are more motivated and intend to proceed with a more zeal and object to the upcoming US elections.

The United States of America is undoubtedly the world leader and holds a hegemonic and decisive power in the present era. On account of being the leading role played in the today’s world politics, the elections in the United States of America bear a huge significance not only for the Americans but for the whole world communities as well. American has a presidential form of government, where after every four years  presidential elections are held. Likewise, the United States of America, mainly has a bi-party system, where two parties namely the Republican Party and the Democratic Party rule the country on their respective turn. At present, the democratic party is ruling the country with the President, Barack H. Obama.

The America consists of  a land of multiple races, communities, ethnical groups, colors, hence it has a very diverse society. By virtue of making an integral part of the American society, all these various communities and ethnic groups etc, make endeavors to protect their interests. Having got such purposes, these different communities use multiple kind of tools and ways to make sure that their desires and objectives are accomplished. Such tools may include, acquiring the party tickets, lobbying, voting in the elections, propagandas, etc.

Among the many communities residing in the United States of America, Muslims community makes up the only 1 percent of the total US population. Though Muslims are found to be in each part of the United States of American. However, in terms of numbers, Muslims are mainly concentrated and residing in the states including Florida, Ohio and Michigan. Historically, Muslims have been very active and so often found to be voting like a bloc.

Somewhat unlike the past, Muslims are feeling uninspired due to the choices made for the upcoming US presidential elections. Similarly, as candidates are being narrow downed by the Republicans, a lot of Muslim Republicans sense marginalized by them. Republicans such initiatives may be on the account of Muslim extremism, and over the debate about the future Muslims’ uncertain services in the administration.  Meanwhile, most of the Muslims who in the last US presidential elections voted for Barack Obama feel dissatisfied by the unkept promises.

Nevertheless, in the past Muslims vote proved to be very instrumental. As it helped the ex-President George W. Bush to win the contentious elections in 2000. Even now, apart from a few concerns of the Muslims, by and large, they are committed and well organized to play their productive role in the next US Presidential elections.

 

About the author

Jawad Ahmad

I am 24 years old and i have done Masters in Business Administration (Finance) from a recognized university.
Right now i am doing freelancing and writing articles on different projects.

View the Original article

While more than nine in 10 Americans would vote for a presidential candidate who is black, a woman, Catholic, Hispanic, or Jewish, significantly smaller percentages would vote for one who is an atheist (54%) or Muslim (58%). Americans' willingness to vote for a Mormon (80%) or gay or lesbian (68%) candidate falls between these two extremes.

The results are based on a June 7-10 Gallup poll, updating a question Gallup first asked in 1937 in reference to a female, Jewish, or Catholic candidate and has asked periodically since then, with additional candidate characteristics added to the list.

Gallup poll report, 21 June 2012

View the Original article

Emotions run high in this podcast as Chris talks with Walaa and Ehab about the presidential elections, and how they both feel lost in the choice of candidates, a situation where the choice is to choose the lesser of two evils.

View the Original article

Hello everyone, I apologize for my absence, but as I mentioned in my last post, Egypt is having its first Presidential elections, everything was hectic and following the news and the numbers. So I had no time to write. This is why this blog post will be about the results of the elections any my humble analysis of these numbers.

Although there has been no official and confirmed count, but the primary numbers indicate that Round 2 of the elections will be between Mohamed Morsy (Muslim Brotherhood) and Ahmed Shafiq (ex-Prime Minister). My prediction about the top 5 people was almost right; I got four out of five. As instead of Khaled Ali, it was Ahmed Shafiq. The competition was between 5 candidates, then it became between three candidates until we arrived to the final two. The 5 candidates were Mohamed Morsy, Hamden Sabahy, Ahmed Shafiq, AmrMoussa and Abo El Fetouh.

Before I start to analyze, I’d like to say again that this is my own political opinion and mine only, I do not represent the website or other writers, some may agree and some may not agree, but this is my opinion and I’m entitled to say it loud.

These five had the most votes, but the real competition was between the top 3 candidates, Hamden Sabahy, Mohamed Morsy and Ahmed Shafiq. The numbers kept jumping and the places kept switching, and as I mentioned, there is not confirmed or official announcement, but the numbers say that the first two who will undergo the second round are Ahmed Shafiq and Mohamed Morsy. But I am still hoping that last minute changes would push Hamden Sabahy in the top two (my candidate).

The numbers are pretty close, the difference between Ahmed Shafiq and Mohamed Morsy and not more than 200k, and between them and Hamden Sabahy is about 500k. In percentages, about 1-2% difference between them. If the numbers stay the same, the people will have to choose between two candidates, the ex-prime minister of the ex-president and the candidate of the Islamic Political Party who proved their failure in the parliament.

We are really facing one of the most difficult choices. Either we choose Ahmed Shafiq, the ex-prime minister, which is basically bringing back the old regime back, after the thousands that died. Or, we can pick the Muslim Brotherhood candidate, after they failed miserably in the parliament, plus the fact that they are a majority in the parliament, or a near majority, so they got the parliament, the president and nearly all the unions, so by doing that, we are basically building a dictator regime with no opposition, how will the parliament correct the president if they both belong to the same political party. They will be judge and jury, and me as a Christian, I really don’t know what to do or who to choose, I’m still thinking about it, or I’ll boycott the second round.

As a friend of mine said “One killed me and the other will”.

View the Original article

Official results in Egypt’s presidential election indicate the following results as of 10:00 am EST on Monday, May 28: Mohamed Morsi: 5,764,952 votes – 24.7% Ahmed Shafiq: 5,505,327 votes – 23.6% Hamdeen Sabahi: 4,820,273 votes – 20.7% Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh: 4,065,239 votes – 17.4% Amr Moussa: 2,588,850 votes – 11.1% Mohamed Selim al-Awa: 235,374 Which means a second round between Morsi and Shafiq on 19 June 2012

The upcoming Egyptian elections have the potential to not only change Egypt, but the entire Middle East. There’s a strong possibility that decades of American policy in the region can be overturned.  The elections have huge implications for the United States and even bigger ones for Israel.  War and peace may be in the balance.

Here in our Cairo bureau as I listen to the boats float by on the Nile blasting music as revelers enjoy the city before it’s clogged by voting with checkpoints, there’s talk that this could be a moment like 1979 in Iran, a possible 180-degree shift for the country and the Middle East.  I’ll start at what’s immediately coming up.

On Wednesday and Thursday, Egyptians go to polls to elect a new president.  First off, that’s big statement in itself.  Egypt hasn’t elected a truly democratic leader in its 5,000 years of recorded history.  This is the land of the pharaohs, the undisputed and often tyrannical God-kings.  Then it was the land of the Romans, sultans, Mamluks, Khedives, kings, European-dominated governments and finally military rulers.

There are five main candidates who have a chance of winning the election.  Egypt has a presidential system.  The president runs the state.  Who the president is matters profoundly.  In order, the candidates are:

Mohammed Mursi:

is the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party. He was the party’s back-up candidate, until the original contender Khairat al-Shater lost his appeal against disqualification in mid-April.

Mohammad Mursi was originally the reserve candidate for the Muslim Brotherhood

The Muslim Brotherhood had long feared that the ruling military council would use Egypt’s election committee to disqualify Islamist presidential hopefuls in order to make room for former regime officials to win.

According to some estimates, the Brotherhood has a million activists in Egypt.  Mursi is the official brotherhood candidate, but would likely end up as the group’s “face man.”  Mursi is not charismatic.  He’s not a dynamic speaker.  He wasn’t the Brotherhood’s first choice.  The group initially wanted its powerful money man Khairat al-Shater, a business tycoon who manages the group’s wealth, to be its candidate, but he was disqualified on account of his prison record.  Egypt’s military-backed presidents, including Hosni Mubarak, imprisoned many Brotherhood members, seeing the group as its biggest existential threat.  Analysts say Shater, the Brotherhood’s supreme guide, and its leadership committee would end up being the real force behind Mursi, pulling the strings. Right after the revolution that toppled Mubarak, the Brotherhood said it would not present a candidate for president, but then broke its promise.  A Brotherhood victory would be a total about-face for Egypt.  Since the late president Anwar Sadat, Egypt has pursued a largely pro-American, Western-leaning policy.  Egypt has maintained a peace treaty with Israel since March 1979, following the Camp David accords. The Brotherhood has already threatened to cancel the peace treaty if the United States stops providing the $2.1 billion of military and development aid Egypt has received annually since 1982.  The Brotherhood now talks publicly about maintaining good relations with the United States, but at its core the group is not pro-American.  The Brotherhood is actively anti-Israel.  Egypt’s long-term relations with United States and short-term relations with Israel could be at risk if Mursi becomes president.  Egypt is the biggest country in the Middle East.  So goes Egypt, so goes the region.  A dramatic shift in Egypt’s alignment would have global implications.

Ahmed Shafiq 

Mr Shafiq was Egypt’s last prime minister under Mubarak. He served for just over a month, until he resigned on 3 March 2011. His candidacy sparked angry reactions from those who saw him as a Mubarak loyalist. He was initially barred from standing, but reinstated recently after an appeal. Shafiq insists that he was always a voice of the opposition within Mr Mubarak’s regime.

His campaign flyers call him “the only civilian-administrative presidential candidate who has real and successful administrative experience”, referring to his nine-year term as minister of civil aviation.

Campaign material says that “Shafiq is the candidate of revolutionary decisions”, because he asked regional governors to name streets after dead revolutionary activists, and also froze the assets of key figures in the former regime.

Shafiq is the ultimate “fulool” candidate.  He was the last prime minister appointed by Mubarak.  Shafiq was, like Mubarak, an air force commander.  Shafiq still defends Mubarak.  Shafiq is presenting himself as “Mr. Security.”  After the revolution Egyptian police were discredited.  They were seen as the henchmen of the Mubarak regime.  For the past year, the police have largely been absent from the streets.  With the police gone, murder, rape, kidnappings, car-jackings and antiquities’ theft have all risen dramatically.  Shafiq says he’ll restore order in 24 hours.  He’s the strongman candidate.  His message appeals to some Egyptians fed up with the deteriorating security situation.  Critics say the revolution replaced one dictator in Mubarak and that electing Shafiq would simply be bringing in another one.

Abd Elmoneim Abo-ElFotoh                                                                                                                                                                                    

Dr Abo-ElFotoh, a respected moderate, is running for office as an independent candidate

A long-time Muslim Brotherhood member known for his liberal views,was suspended from the group after he announced in May 2011 that he intended to run for president.

He lists four main aspirations behind his candidacy – to promote freedom in Egypt, to promote the value of justice, to strengthen education and scientific research, and to open the doors to investment in Egypt from Arab countries and beyond.

Al-Fotouh, like Mursi, speaks about maintaining good relations with world powers, including the United States. During his campaign, however, Al-Fotouh called Israel “an enemy state.”.Al-Fotouh likes to say Turkey is example Egypt could follow with an Islamist leader, but without Islamic fundamentalists deciding how people should live their daily lives.

sources : 

Wikipedia, Al-Ahram , AFP, BBC Arabic , CBC Egypt , ON TV

View the Original article

It is a great day today, you will feel that I have averted away from the usual kind of topics and articles I do, but today there is a great event taking place in Egypt that can’t be ignored, and I felt that I have to share it with everyone. Today, after thirty long years, we are having the first presidential elections.

Before I start talking about the elections and the candidates, i will share with you a fun fact that you probably didn’t know, did you know that for all of these past years, under the regime of the ex-president Mohammed Hosny Mubarak, there was no elections? Meaning, we didn’t have multiple candidates that we choose from. We go, we choose between “YES” or “NO” to the president, and needless to say, the president because he was so loved, he always won by a great percentage of 99.99% (I hope you realized the sarcasm)only one year before the revolution that we had an election, and of course, he won with the same percentage after putting his nearest competitive in prison.

Enough with the past, it’s time to talk about now, today I have stood on a long long line, which I call the line of freedom, I stood in the burning sun for over 4 hours, and I was enjoying every bit of it, because finally I will have a voice and an opinion in my own country.

So, to break it down, here are some details about some of the presidential candidates that I think have the most chance of winning (MY OPINION), I do not represent the opinion of the website or any fellow writers, and these are my opinions and mine only. They are as followed:

- Hamden Sabahy: His ideology is  , he was always against the regime of Mubarak, he was in the parliament. He is expected to gain the votes of the poor since he has always cared for their needs and defend their rights.Highly popular among the youth.

-Khalid Ali: Although his chances is very low, according to a lot of people, but I see otherwise, he has always been a fighter for the poor, he was the one behind the minimum wage laws, and he got a court order regarding the law, but the govt. never implemented it.  He belongs to the Liberal party.Highly popular among the youth.

-Amr Moussa: The former minister of foreign affairs of Egypt and the ex- president of the . Some say he belongs to the old regime, some say he always opposed it and this is why he was kicked out of his position as minister in the govt. of Mubarak. He is expected to obtain the voices of the age group of 45-60.

Abo el Fetouh: He had a great position within the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt, he was kicked out after the revolution when he announced he will run for president, and at that time the Muslim Brotherhood refused the idea of having any representative in the presidential run, although that changed a few months later. He recently acquired the blessing of el “Salafis” through their biggest political party “Hezb el noor”. He is supposed to be a liberal, but after the blessings of el Salafis, people started to doubt it.Highly popular among the youth.

Mohamed Morsy: the Presidential candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood, as mentioned, they said they will not palpitate in the elections, but they did afterwards. They first backed “Islam el Shatter” but due to legal issues, he was eliminated so they pushed Mohamed Morsy instead. He is expected to obtain the voices of many Muslims who belong to the Muslim Brotherhood and their political party “Horeya we Adala” which means Freedom and Justice.

So, in a few days, I’ll certainly write and tell you about the winner and more about him in details.

View the Original article

Al Jazeera (via Islam in Europe) has an interesting interview by Yasmine Ryan with M'hammed Henniche, general secretary of the Union of Muslim Associations of Seine-Saint-Denis (UAM93).

M'hammed Henniche states: "We did a survey on our website, which Le Parisien wrote about, that showed Muslims prefer Mélenchon. Each time the far right sets the agenda, its ideas then gets picked up by the UMP, which turns the ideas into laws. The Socialists say next to nothing against this. The only ones to strongly condemn against these ideas are Mélenchon and the Green Party."

To which Yasmine Ryan responds: "Mélenchon comes from a political family that, after all, advocates strict secularism. Isn't it contradictory for Muslim voters to support him?"

Henniche replies: "Melenchon is one of the most secular of all the candidates. We didn't anticipate that we would end up supporting him, and he didn't anticipate reaching out to us. The Socialists expect Muslims to vote for them, without doing anything to win them over. It wasn't necessarily his [Mélenchon's] aim to win the Muslim vote, in the beginning, but he soon realised it was an electorate that could support him.

"Melenchon is someone who is fierce. And when the right has been fierce, he's the only one who was able to respond. After Toulouse, when the right reacted by pointing the finger at all Muslims, the Socialists said nothing. Melenchon, meanwhile, came out and said: 'Stop hassling Muslims!' You can't be nuanced when someone is attacking you.

"Recently, L'Humanité [a French daily newspaper linked to the French Communist Party] invited Muslim representatives to visit them. Never before would we even have considered going to the organ of the Communist Party. But we went, because we have the same interests. The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

View the Original article