{"id":14701,"date":"2016-04-22T12:09:28","date_gmt":"2016-04-22T17:09:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hcstx.org\/?p=14701"},"modified":"2016-04-22T12:09:28","modified_gmt":"2016-04-22T17:09:28","slug":"texas-news-this-is-what-political-correctness-and-fear-of-being-labeled-an-islamophobe-equals-in-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/2016\/04\/22\/texas-news-this-is-what-political-correctness-and-fear-of-being-labeled-an-islamophobe-equals-in-america\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas News: This is What Political Correctness and Fear of Being Labeled an “Islamophobe” Equals in America"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lavish $2.5 Million Dollar Libraries Honoring “Islamic Knowledge” are Built and Islam Continues to BREED in this Country One Library and Mosque at a Time<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Islamic_Dawah_Center_Houston-640x480\"<\/p>\n

The Library of Islamic Knowledge<\/a> officially opened last\u00a0weekend in downtown Houston. Mayor Sylvester Turner, joined\u00a0by former\u00a0Houston Rockets\u00a0Hall of Famer\u00a0Hakeem Olajuwon, cut the ribbon of the lavish\u00a0$2.5 million dollar library housed within the\u00a0Islamic Da\u2019wah Center<\/a>.<\/h2>\n

At the ribbon cutting ceremony, Turner said: \u201cThis place is not just for Muslims, but everyone,\u201d noting it opens the door for people of all faiths to learn about a different part of the highly diverse city of Houston, according to<\/a> the Houston Chronicle<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n

Humbled to join fellow @UHouston<\/a> alum @DR34M<\/a> at a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Library of Islamic Knowledge pic.twitter.com\/ticTgjFP6D<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Sylvester Turner (@SylvesterTurner) April 17, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Houston newspaper\u00a0described the venue as \u201cwhite marble floors of the opulent library contrast with its mahogany brown tables and bookshelves \u2013 some of which remain empty.\u201d There\u2019s no shortage of gold in sight. The library\u2019s executive director, Ameer Abuhalimeh, said it cost around $2.5\u00a0million.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe center is dedicated to the history, culture and public education of Islam,\u201d said Abuhalimeh. \u201cOur goal isn\u2019t just to promote a balanced perspective of Islam, but also to serve downtown Houston and the community at-large,\u201d he added. The library is\u00a0open to the public and is part of\u00a0a larger goal to offer a comprehensive educational resource to Houston residents.<\/p>\n

The Islamic Da\u2019wah Center opened in 2002 on the site of the\u00a0former Houston National Bank. Olajuwon, who converted<\/a> to Islam early on in his NBA career, bought the property in 1994, converting<\/a> it into the three-story mosque\u00a0that\u00a0houses a\u00a0main prayer hall, meeting rooms, classrooms, offices, and a kitchen.\u00a0It was the first mosque in downtown Houston,according to<\/a> the center\u2019s website, and the first in the city\u00a0\u201cdedicated for Da\u2019wah\u201d (also spelled Dawa or Dawah).<\/p>\n

\u201cBroadly defined, Dawah means preaching, proselytizing or calling non-believers to Islam. Dawah is viewed in classic Islamic law as a communal obligation, meaning it is the general responsibility of the Muslim community,\u201d says Kyle Shideler with the Center for Security Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Islamic Da\u2019wah Center website states\u00a0its mission is to \u201cpromote Islamic principles, teaching, and culture;\u201d and its vision, to \u201cbecome a destination for seekers of the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new third floor library touts programs that host worldwide lecturers and scholars with knowledge about Islam, Islamic history, cultures, literature and the Arabic language,\u00a0according to<\/a>\u00a0the Islamic Da\u2019wah Center. Offerings \u201cwill range from classical Islamic knowledge to contemporary issues that affect global Muslim communities\u201d and \u201c\u2026will give participants opportunities to examine the historical and cultural aspects of Islam, review historical and current events, and study global and local challenges facing Muslims, as well as acquire academic knowledge that will enrich learning about Islamic culture and life as a Muslim.\u201d The library will offer\u00a0Arabic classes.<\/p>\n

By year\u2019s end, Abuhalimeh anticipates<\/a> having 25,000 books in the library and a digital collection of approximately\u00a0100,000 titles. He hopes the center\u2019s Museum of Islamic Art,<\/a>\u00a0\u201cdedicated<\/a> to the accurate presentation of Islamic art,\u201d will be completed by then. The museum lists among its key objectives celebrating 1,400 years of Islamic culture, the impact Muslims have had on humanity and \u201cto propel the desire to further study and discover the mysteries of the Muslim world.\u201d<\/p>\n

During\u00a0the ribbon cutting ceremony, Turner also said he was happy the center will continue to serve as an educational resource for middle schools, high schools, and colleges in the area, something it has done since its soft opening two months ago, as reported by the\u00a0Houston newspaper.<\/em><\/p>\n

In 2015, the Houston Independent School District opened<\/a> its Arabic immersion magnet public school, which the Qatar Foundation International (QFI) granted<\/a> the district\u2019s\u00a0Board of Education $75,000 for \u201cArabic language activities and Arab cultural events for students, teacher professional development, educational resources, the promotion of the Arabic language, community outreach, and curriculum development\u201d as part of the school\u2019s educational mission. Similarly,\u00a0Olajuwon described a demand for the library to help the museum \u201ccomplete the educational mission of the institution,\u201d in the\u00a0Chronicle <\/em>article.<\/em><\/p>\n

Houston has the\u00a0state\u2019s largest Muslim population,<\/strong> which, by some estimates, accounts<\/a> for 1.2 percent of the city\u2019s population.\u00a0The U.S. Census Bureau\u2019s most\u00a0current 2014 available\u00a0statistics\u00a0estimate<\/a> 2,239,558 people reside in the city of Houston.\u00a0The\u00a02014\u00a0Social, Economic and Demographic Characteristics of Metro Houston<\/a>\u00a0identified Arab as an ancestry for 0.7% or 41,653 people as part of the current Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown Metro area (based on the 2013 American Community Survey) of a\u00a06,313,158 total population. In the Houston newspaper article, Abuhalimeh claimed 200,000 Muslims live\u00a0in Houston.<\/p>\n

In 2015, the San Antonio Express-News<\/em>\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0there were about 80 mosques and, at least, 10 Muslim schools in Houston.\u00a0According to<\/a>\u00a0a 2007 Pew Research Center survey, 65 percent of adult Muslims in the U.S. are\u00a0foreign born. Pew\u2019s 2011 survey of Muslim Americans\u00a0noted<\/a>\u00a0 more\u00a0Muslims came to the U.S.\u00a0in recent years: 12 percent came before 1980; 16 percent, during the 1980s; 31 percent, in\u00a0the 1990s; and 40 percent since 2000.<\/p>\n

In January 2016, Pew reported<\/a>\u00a0just over half of the projected growth of the U.S. Muslim population from 2010 to 2015 was because of immigration. They estimate 3.3 million Muslims of all ages live in the U.S., comprising around 1 percent of the nation\u2019s population. Based on\u00a0age, fertility, mortality, migration, and religious switching drawn from multiple sources, including the 2011 survey, Pew projects the U.S. Muslim\u00a0population to double\u00a0by\u00a02050.<\/p>\n

Read the Original Article at Breitbart Texas<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lavish $2.5 Million Dollar Libraries Honoring “Islamic Knowledge” are Built and Islam Continues to BREED in this Country One Library and Mosque at a Time The Library of Islamic Knowledge officially opened last\u00a0weekend in downtown Houston. Mayor Sylvester Turner, joined\u00a0by former\u00a0Houston Rockets\u00a0Hall of Famer\u00a0Hakeem Olajuwon, cut the ribbon of the lavish\u00a0$2.5 million dollar library housed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[2574,74,2726,2990,3727],"tags":[2615,11351,11352,11353],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14701"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14701\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}