Sikander Hayat's America

Home - That's what Hamza Warsame's friends and family in Seattle's Somali American community come back to again and again: Hamza , just 16, was only one sura, or chapter, away from finishing Islam's central text. He was a great studier. The American-born son of two refugees from Somalia, Hamza dreamed of studying computer science at MIT. He was already taking classes at Seattle Central College, which is where he said he was headed the last time his family saw him, on Dec. 5. Even for someone as diligent as Hamza, his plans that day were unusual. He never left home on a Saturday to study at school, his sister Ikram Warsame recalled. As he left around 2:40 p.m., his family — doing what families do with children everywhere — reminded Hamza to come home safe. Read the full story here. 

Home - The last real conversation Gasser Shehata had with Syed Rizwan Farook at the Dar-al-Uloom al-Islamiya mosque was about ISIS. After Islamic State extremists claimed responsibility for downing a Russian airliner above Egypt’s Sinai desert, Shehata voiced his indignation to Farook and Shehata’s friend Abdurrahmaan Ali in the parking lot following afternoon prayers. If they hate Russia, then they should fight its army rather than kill innocent people, including 17 children, Shehata recalled telling them. Farook, a man of few words, just stood there and said nothing. In fact, they said they never heard Farook, who had been coming to the mosque two to three times a week on his lunch break for two years, make any comments about politics or violence at all. About a month later, Farook, a San Bernardino County environmental health specialist, and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, opened fire at a social service center in San Bernardino, killing 14 people — including many of his co-worker

Home   - The United States’ government may claim liberty and justice for all; however, in practice, towards Muslims, it exhibits all four major characteristics of a totalitarian state: a war on terror that targets Muslims abroad, a totalitarian police state at home, public executions by drones and gulags outside the rule of law, and a strong reliance on propaganda and political demagoguery. The hallmark of fascism was state oppression of certain targeted non-privileged groups. Today, Muslims are bearing the brunt of America’s totalitarian police state. Read the full story here.  Home