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Spike's & Jamie's 911 Memorial Page |
Important Announcement
So many wonderful people sent items to be shared on this site - many of them having no web site of their own - and wanting a way to show their grief, love and support, that we outgrew our server capacity.
We had to divide the site into three parts. So, If you can't find your favorite page - it's been moved to a new server.
This is the Navigation Bar for THIS web site:
Below is a Listing of All Three Sites
The New
911
Tribute Site
Tribute to The World's Victims
The Fight Against Terrorism
911 The World
Fights
Back Against Terrorism
The Original
911
Memorial Site
All the 911 pages are on
this server
but, they have been divided into
5 parts for easier handling
Part 1
911-01.html through 911-09.html
Part 2
911-10.html through 911-22.html
911-23.html through 911-32.html
Part 4
911-33.html through 911-37c.html
Part 5
911-38.html through 911-44a.html
The VERY Popular "NOT For Everyone Graphics with Attitude" have been
divided into 2 parts:
Part 1
Part 2
And we have one page of Web Rings
Web Rings
Chapter 5 verse 35 of the Koran states that killing one innocent person is the same
as killing all of mankind.
Those who support the pacifist ideal, inevitably support efforts to conquer the world to it's fullest.
~Adolf Hitler ~
Adolf Hitler loved pacifists -
they are the reason he was able to murder over 6 million people.
Thank you, Vicki, for this Memorial
The cowardly attack on an innocent American population Tuesday, September 11, 2001 left me sickened, numb, in shock. I cried all day Tuesday. By Wednesday I was too numb even to feel any more. Thursday I was angry and wanted blood and revenge. I spent the day building a web site memorial of the tragic events - that's the way we who design web sites deal with our feelings - we turn them into web pages.
There have been reports on the news of American citizens attacking people (many of them also American citizens) living in this country, who appear to be of Muslim/Arabic ethnicity. This news sickened me as much as did the reports of the attack on the WTC and the Pentagon.
We don't know at this point just who is responsible for this horrible act against humanity. There is much speculation and sword rattling - but, no real proof.
Even if it should be determined that the people responsible are Arabic, that would not condemn an entire ethnic group. Senseless acts of revenge against innocent people will only deepen the tragedy. Now is not the time for unreasoning anger or prejudice against an ethnic people for the acts of a bunch of cowardly thugs who are determined to force their own particular brand of hatred down the throats of the entire world.
It is only one faction of Muslin/Arabic people who hold these perverted views of their religion. My grand-father was a Christian minister. He had several translations of the bible as well as the Koran and the Torah.
The hatred, and violence preached by one faction of the Muslim people has no place in their Holy book any more than the hatred and violence preached by Tim McVeigh had any place in the Christian Bible. True the word Jihad is in the Koran. But, it has nothing to do with war against anyone else. The Jihad preached by Mohammed was holy war against the evil that lurks within the heart of each individual who followed him. It was a war with your own inclinations to do wrong.
I have studied the Muslim religion. From what I have read I can feel comfortable saying that Mohammed would be shocked and outraged by the acts perpetrated in his name. The religion he preached was far advanced for it's time in that he felt that women were equal to men and his wife and daughters were given opportunities that women of that day could only dream of. He would be saddened to see what men have made of the tenets that he preached.
Terrorism is not limited to Muslims. Hatred and prejudice are rife in the world. Whether it be Protestants and Catholics in Ireland or the Basques in Spain the willingness of one group to murder another for holding differing views is wide-spread and crosses all cultural and religious boundaries.
Though they are dissimilar, at the heart they all have one thing in common: these are people who DEMAND that everyone should believe or behave EXACTLY the way they themselves do. They are not willing that anyone anywhere in the world should hold beliefs that differ from their own narrow view of the world.
This is not a new phenomenon. It has existed as long as there have been more that a handful of humans on this earth. Their names are legend Hitler, Stalin, Chairman Mao, Pol Pot, Idi Amin. . . . . Their victims number in the millions.
The only difference between those listed above and the terrorists of today is the amount of power they possess. They are petty dictator-wannabes who don't have the might of a Stalin or a Hitler and so they can't murder millions of innocents. They have to be satisfied with the dozens, hundreds and now thousands that they can dupe their mind-washed followers into killing. Notice that it's not the terrorist leaders who strap plastic explosives to their bodies or fly airplanes into the sides of buildings - it's the poor deluded schmucks who follow them.
The United States of America is a prime target for those who would mold all of us into their likeness. Unlike any other nation in the world, the US is a country that prides itself on the differences of it's citizens. People from every corner of the globe have settled here and have each added to the diverse, rich, ethnic culture that makes this country unique in the world.
Of course this makes for stress as prejudiced citizens take out their frustrations and hatreds on those who are different from them. But, the country as a whole embraces the different-ness of it's citizens.
And this would be an affront and an outrage to those petty tyrants in the world who believe that they “…have the only truth - and, if your beliefs differ from theirs, then you should die - for the sake of your soul….”
I truly hope that the monsters responsible for this horrible outrage against all thinking and feeling peoples of this world are tracked down, tried and executed for this crime.
I also hope that the rest of us will leave revenge to the government and embrace our neighbors, regardless of their color, creed or ethnicity.
Jamie Swafford September 13, 2001
Oregon, USA
http://911.swafford-family.com
News Articles of NOTE
To the brave men, women, and children of our country who died in the Pentagon, World Trade Center, and airplane flights. This is for you. We will never forget you.
To the rescue workers - police officers, fire fighters, or volunteers - we love you. Thanks for your dedication.
To everyone who has helped out by donating money or giving blood - your heart is generous and kind - thank you.
To the men and women in uniform- we pray for you. Thank you for valuing our country and our way of life.
We owe our peace to you.
Guestbook
from muslimresource.com
"Whosoever kills an innocent human being, it shall be as if he has killed all mankind, and who so ever saves the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind" (Qur'an 5:32)
IN THE NAME OF GOD, MOST BENEFICIENT, MOST MERCIFUL Wednesday, October 31, 2001
Muslim scholar: Terrorists are mass murderers, not martyrs
by Richard Schienen, September 15, 2001
San Jose Mercury News
Tuesday's terrorist attacks have saddened and maddened millions -- and raised questions for many about Islam. Speculation abounds that the hijackers were inspired by terrorists like Osama bin Laden, who teach that violent acts can pave the way to paradise. But what does Islam really say about such matters? About jihad and martyrdom?
We asked Hamza Yusuf, an Islamic scholar in the East Bay, who said the attackers were ``enemies of Islam.'' Not martyrs, but ``mass murderers, pure and simple.''
Yusuf, whose articles about Islam are published internationally, talked about the attacks, the hysteria that he fears could grip the United States, and the role that Muslims and others must play in opposing violence. ``We've got to get to some deeper core values that are commonly shared,'' he said.
Why would anyone do what the hijackers did?
Religious zealots of any creed are defeated people who lash out in desperation, and they often do horrific things. And if these people indeed are Arabs, Muslims, they're obviously very sick people and I can't even look at it in religious terms. It's politics, tragic politics. There's no Islamic justification for any of it. It's like some misguided Irish using Catholicism as an excuse for blowing up English people.
They're not martyrs, it's as simple as that.
Because?
You can't kill innocent people. There's no Islamic declaration of war against the United States. I think every Muslim country except Afghanistan has an embassy in this country. And in Islam, a country where you have embassies is not considered a belligerent country.
In Islam, the only wars that are permitted are between armies and they should engage on battlefields and engage nobly. The Prophet Muhammad said, ``Do not kill women or children or non-combatants and do not kill old people or religious people,'' and he mentioned priests, nuns and rabbis. And he said, ``Do not cut down fruit-bearing trees and do not poison the wells of your enemies.'' The Hadith, the sayings of the Prophet, say that no one can punish with fire except the lord of fire. It's prohibited to burn anyone in Islam as a punishment. No one can grant these attackers any legitimacy. It was evil.
What role should American Muslims have in opposing this brand of violent Islam?
I think that the Muslims -- and I really feel this strongly -- have to reject the discourse of anger. Because there is a lot of anger in the Muslim communities around the world about the oppressive conditions that many Muslims find themselves in. But we have to reject the discourse of anger and we have to move to a higher moral ground, recognizing that the desire to blame others leads to anger and eventually to wrath, neither of which are rungs on a spiritual ladder to God. It's times like these that we really need to become introspective.
The fact that there are any Muslims -- no matter how statistically insignificant their numbers -- who consider these acts to be religious acts is in and of itself shocking. And therefore we as Muslims have to ask the question, ``How is it that our religious leadership has failed to reach these people with the true message of Islam?'' Because the acts of these criminals have indicted an entire religion in the hearts and minds of millions. Ultimately, this is a result of the bankruptcy of these type of people who claim to be adherents to the Islamic religion. These people are so bankrupt that all they have to offer is destruction.
Why do some people regard the hijackers as martyrs?
That's an abomination. These are mass murderers, pure and simple. It's like Christians in this country who blow up abortion clinics or kill abortion doctors. I don't think anyone in the Christian community, except a very extreme fringe, would condone that as an acceptable Christian response. In the same way, there's no Muslim who understands his religion at all who would condone this. One of the worst crimes in Islam is brigandry -- highway robbery, or today we'd say armed robbery -- because it disrupts the sense of well-being and security among civilians.
Suicide bombers have cited a Koranic verse that says, ``Think not of those who are slain in Allah's way as dead. Nay, they live, finding their sustenance in the presence of their Lord.''
That is meant for people who are legitimately defending the lands of Islam or fighting under legitimate state authority against a tyrannical leader. There is no vigilantism in Islam. Muslims believe in the authority of government.
Imam Malik, an early Islamic legal authority, said that 60 years of oppression under an unjust ruler is better than one hour of anarchy.
Then why is there such strong support in parts of the world for the attacks?
Because we're dealing in an age of ignorance and an age of anomie, the loss of social order. And people are very confused and they're impoverished. What Americans are feeling now, this has been business as usual for Lebanese people, Palestinian people, Bosnian people.
What about Israeli people?
Certainly the fear element is there for Israeli people -- that's true, and the terror that they've felt. And there are still a lot of Jewish people alive who remember the fear and terror of what happened in Europe, so that's not far from people's memories.
It seems at some point, the cycles of violence have to stop. It's a type of insanity, especially when we're dealing with nuclear power. People are saying that this was an attack on civilization -- and that is exactly the point. And I think the question we all have to ask is whether indiscriminate retaliation is going to help preserve civilization.
The perpetrators of this and, really, all acts of terror are people who hate too much. There's a verse in the Koran that says do not let the hatred of a people prevent you from being just. Being just is closer to piety. The evil of wrath is that justice and mercy are lost.
How do you explain Palestinians and others celebrating the attacks in the streets?
When you see ignorant people in the streets, rejoicing -- the Prophet condemned it. It's rejoicing at the calamities of your enemies, and Islam prohibits that. They do have a lot of anger toward America, because America produces much of Israel's military hardware and so many American tax dollars go to support Israel. You have a lot of animosity in the Arab world. But the vast majority of Arabs are horrified by what's happened. There's animosity in the Muslim world toward American foreign policy. This is the unfortunate price of power and its exercise in the world, that you incur the resentment and animosity of a lot of people. But the majority of Muslims who I know don't have anger toward individuals or the American people.
The concept of jihad has been widely used to justify violence.
Jihad means struggle. The Prophet said the greatest jihad is the struggle of a man against his own evil influences. It also refers to what Christians call a ``just war,'' which is fought against tyranny or oppression -- but under a legitimate state authority.
What is the Arabic word for martyr?
Shaheed. It means witness. The martyr is the one who witnesses the truth and gives his life for it. There are people in this country like Martin Luther King who would be considered a martyr for his cause. Also, if your home, your family, your property or your land or religion is threatened, then you may defend it with your life. That person is a martyr. But so is anybody who dies of terminal illness; it's a martyr's death. Because it's such a purification that whatever wrongs they once did, they're now in a state of purity.
And the greatest martyr in the eyes of God is the one who stands in the presence of a tyrant and speaks the truth and is killed for it. He is martyred for his tongue.
What does Islam say about suicide?
Suicide is haram in Islam. It's prohibited, like a mortal sin. And murder is haram. And to kill civilians is murder.
What is a martyr's reward?
The Prophet said that a martyr who dies doesn't have a reckoning on the Day of Judgment. It's an act through which he is forgiven. But the Prophet also said that there are people who kill in the name of Islam and go to hell. And when he was asked why, he said, ``Because they weren't fighting truly for the sake of God.''
If there are any martyrs in this affair it would certainly be those brave firefighters and police that went in there to save human lives and in that process lost their own.
Richard Scheinin can be contacted at (408) 920-5069 or by e-mail at rscheinin@sjmercury.com
Thank you to all who have sent graphics to share with us. If yours is on this page - and I don't have it linked to you or listed as being from you - please let me know!
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