Umar Lee Speaks

These are all the words I will speak for now. It is all peace and love. I am busy working with my mentor writing on my 21 years as a Muslim and the good and bad. I am finding it very therapeutic and I am still in 1999. In the spirit of the late Imam W.D. Mohammed we are called to be North American Spokesman for Human Salvation. Imam in the Streets. God bless America. God bless the poor. God bless those in the gutter. People not the powerful. Speak truth to power. The mainstream of America aint where it’s at ya Muslims. Grassroots indigenous Islam. Stop the infighting. Arguing over shit that don’t matter. Concentrate on family ( I speak to myself first). Stop the infighting. Akil told me “it may be true you don’t always have to say it”. Impulse control. Respect our elders. Screw the FSA and all that foreign jihad “GI Joe” fantasy bullshit. Feds need to stop harassing Muslims. Obama aint shit but a devil. Same as GOP.  Spread love. End the sexual hypocrisies. Urban sustainable pedestrian neighborhoods. Stop believing in conspiracy theories. Your’e not a scholar you just have Internet access. Obey the law and stay out of jail. Join the NRA. Bitter ex wives stop preventing fathers from seeing their children and include them in their lives. Fathers step up to the plate.

I was encouraged by the scholar Yasir Qadhi to make a video of recantation. I have been invited to go to Medinah by some beautiful brothers there. However, I cannot get my passport until I pay off some money owed to the government. I would very much like to go and study in the City of the Prophet. If anyone has deep pockets and can assist in that matter let me know. Do not put any money in my hands. There is a brother in DC handling this matter.

Two additional videos on Muslim issues on my youtube page regarding Muslims issues and Ismail Royer.

Umar Lee: the St. Louis Stranger, He That Walks Against the Wind, the Halal Honky, a North American Spokesman For Human Salvation, speaks about his last controversial video, Sending love to Muslims and non-Muslims alike and responding to friends and foes alike. Props to Muhammadabdullah al-Maliki in Chi-town, Abdul-Rahim Mathon in STL, and so many other brothers and those I talk about in the video who been by my side.

Peace and greetings to Anas Cannon, Abdur-Rahman Muhammad, and the others. Oh yeah shout out to the Kansas City Kingpin Tarik Liwarau the “money makin madkahli” and Big Dirty D Dawud Adib and baby girl Tasneem.

Poem: St. Louis Summer, Window Units

STL all swell
Droppin science
Dawah Stick
La ilaha ilullah
Muhammadur Rasululah
Pass the ammunition
God bless America
Lips and hips
Pistols and hot sauce
frozen custard and donuts

gettin high down low
My city on that “ron”
Jinn
dogfood they call it Ghadafi
American-cheered lynch mob

On the deen
Hoes in hijab
frauds in Holy Clothes
Father’s Day Child Support Day
Careerist Imams
Holsitic transforming crackers in kufis
Celebrity Imams
Islam as a Business
Post-011 Sellouts
Goofy White Liberals
Muhammad “first feminist” you must be high
“Green” Muslims in Loudon Co SUV’s and McMansions
Black “The white kafir in my cereal” conspiracy lunatics
Prison Shahdah’s
Homeless taabliqees
Sufi dirty underwear buyers
Your thobe aint high enough akh
Saudi dick ridin crowd
Hipster Islam Chomsky tafseer
Interfaith in nut hugger jeans
Gay atheist “Muslims” lookin for Paki daddy attention
Trim that beard
Hijab and tight jeans
She give oral but won’t fuck
Maybe let you go in the backdoor
Abeed not marrying my punjabi princess
Somali clit cutters
Masjid parking

white Muslim must be a fed
white Muslim don’t know shit make him mosque spokesman
White Muslim Girl: Khaleesi “white savior complex”
Piss off white daddy fuck an Arab
After green card he dump you for his cousin

FSA and govenment baby killers
lost whitegirl from Michigan dies
Don’t nobody in Syria give a fuck about you
“Die for Kashmir?” I asked Ismail
Mad love to Sheikh Ali al-Timimi
Good men in prison
Criminals roam free
drunk drivers and payday lenders
bloodsucking rent to own

Holy Hawaiian in office
Whiteboy came to Chicago
Bobby Rush kicked his ass
Loves him some drones
Jay-Z glorifies dopegame Barry lockin up dealers and users
Prison Industrial-complex
Barry never gonna do shit for no nigga
Just collect votes
W you knew what he was
GOP dreams of those lynchin trees
Choose between evils
corporate bloodsuckers
abortion clinic babybrain suckers
We livin in Latter Day Rome
Empire on it’s knees
Learn to speak Chinese

Love a big butt and a smile
Boricua, Cubana, Dominicana, Colombiana
Newstead and Natural Bridge or 57 Mable
Remember The Animal House
R.I.P Pac and Biggie

Wanted to fuck Left Eye
Arab girl Twerk Team
I know I aint right
These sisters be hoes for real
hijabis on Skype
Salat in the EBT line
more babies for the welfare
collect them “daddy” checks
Bitch fall in love with kafir dick

Crazy black folks seeing UFO’s
Ulama say the Earth is flat
San Francisco hippies
Rather recite Short Dawg than Rumi
Self-hating Men
Where is your Mark Twain
Jihad created Andalus they forget
Fatimah and Umar
Ayesha and Ali
Blood of Karbala
Rich brown kids get pimped by their white professors

St. Louis inferiority complex
Fuck Chicago cold-ass city
More Dixie than Diddy
Self-hating Hoosiers
Love thyself
No kisses on the cheeks
Country grammar and STL Swag
Up South
St. Pauls and Vess
Old Vienna and Goody Goody
West County Orange Girls with Yellow Tops-Candy Corn
Pork steak eatin Jews
A-rab store cats named Bobby and Dick
Old revolvers
Two-lane turners
Cherokee Street rebellions
South Side white settlers
Warm summer nights
sweat of the gym
taste of the Gin
overcome by jinn
Old North vacant lots
no place for tots
parks for dogs
stayin off that hog
Bus be slow as hell
South Grand and Delmar Loop walkin
Walnut Park stalkin
Ghosts of Kinloch
Robertson used to be
St. Chuck white flight
Missourah meth labs
Cummin like droves to the Grove
Place to feel normal
Cards games voice of Jack Buck
Music fills the summer air
Alderman needs money for tuition
Fund a cause and watch dogooders in Escalades
800 to 300 watch us slide
slow it down to a glide

Need money upfront
35 to the 42
bloody St. Louis summers
clothes come off those skeezers
gunshots soundtrack to the night
Sonny Liston’s home
Spinks Jinks
Ike Turner
Need a New Burner
Redd Foxx
Ced the Entertainer

Ice cream trucks and NSA
Children cant play

More STL Photos and Umar

Tea Party Twelver and The Muslim Brothers

you can purchase my novel Tea Party Twelver and the Muslim Brothers in the book form here for $10 . The e-book for Kindle is for sale for $6.00 here . Readers in the UK can go here

John Sharp is an angry white Iraq War veteran, returning home to find to his dismay that a black man, Barack Hussein Obama, is elected president. Unable to find work, isolated, and watching his suburban white St. Louis neighborhood turning black, John turns to The Tea Party Twelvers for the solutions to America’s problems. Idris and Jihad are two African-American Muslim brothers, family men, who supplement their livelihoods by committing robberies, justifying them as acts of jihad. Muhammad Khan is a Rohingya Muslim from Burma. Facing unending persecution in his home country, he escaped with his family to find asylum in America, starting over in a grimy urban St. Louis neighborhood. The paths of these men cross with tumultuous, life changing consequences.

St Louis Photos of Me and Things I See

Umar Lee and Talal Abdullah on Muslims Working to End North St. Louis Food Desert

Interview With Imam Siraj Wahhaj Part One

In an interview with Umar Lee Imam Siraj Wahhaj discusses the history of Brooklyn Muslims, gentrification, the changing demographics of Masjid at-Taqwa and more.

There is Forgiveness in Islam

I have not been writing because as I stated before I have just moved into a house and decided that I would not write until after my wife gives birth inshaAllah. However, there is one topic that I would like to briefly address.

All of us as humans have our complexities and we all repeatedly sin and make mistakes (some of us more than others). I have made a lot of mistakes in my life and have had up’s and downs and seek the mercy of Allah. Whenever I go astray I always know that there is guidance in the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (s.a.s.) to guide me to the right path and that in the example of the sahabah and the early generations of Muslims we are given a clear example of how to live our lives as a Muslim community.

Sometimes I get the feeling that there are those who believe that Islam is a private club that they can bar entrance to or kick people out of. Many Muslims such as myself have sinned and made mistakes in the past; but should the masjid be closed to us? Should we be pulled from the ranks of the lines of salat? We are Muslims not a private sect or the Gambino Crime Family, Khawaraj or some kind of mafia and we should have love and forgiveness towards our brothers and sisters.

I know of brothers who right now, today, sell drugs and are womanizers; but when I see them at the masjid I smile because I am happy to see them. Because I know that as long as they keep praying to Allah they will be guided one day. I know of sisters who are currently involved in sexual relationships with non-Muslims and when I see them wearing hijab and going to the masjid I also smile; because I know they are still Muslim even though they are commiting a major sin and as long as they believe in tauheed there is hope for them.  I know all of this because all of the mistakes that I have made and that as long as belief was not erased from my heart I was able to return to the right path and that today I feel stronger in my deen than ever.

In my life I have made a lot of mistakes and as I am not a Catholic and do not need to go to confession I will keep them to myself and pray that Allah forgives me. In my writing, which is public, I have also made mistakes.

There have been those who I have spoken ill of I should not have and those who I offended who I wish I would not have. In particular, there are a few people I offended whose forgiveness I seek and those people are Haroon Moghul, Margari Hill and Marc Manley. I disagreed with them, and on many issues still do, but I did not observe the adhab of a Muslim while doing so.

There are others I angered by writing certain things; but for much of this I have to stand firm and say that I believe what I was doing was right, I have got the support of many Muslims, and I feel that I had the best interest of the Muslim community at heart in exposing those people and movements I feel are a danger to our community and who others fear while they disagree with so they remain silent. It may not be popular with all; but I believe it was right and I am willing to stand on yam ul-qayam.

There has been a recent controversy regarding Imam Mahdi bray and an expose on his criminal past by Steve Emerson who is a professional anti-Muslim working for pro-Israel interests for the most part. Some Muslims have taken the Emerson info and ran with it because they have personal issues with Mahdi and that is unfortunate.

Before I say what I am going to say let me first state that about a year ago I had an online feud with Abdurahman Muhammad of the Singular Voice blog. He has been one of those most prominently attacking Mahdi and mentions me, although not by name, in his piece.

The feud of a year ago was foolish on both of our parts as it accomplished very little. I was not told to write anything by Mahdi and he was not even aware it was written until after it had been posted (although it is true I worked for Mahdi at MAS at the time).  What I found upsetting was what I saw as Abdurrahman’s neo-con like rhetoric and his apparent ideological affinity with Islamophobes and his wholesale attack on the leadership of the Muslim community. The argument got personal and for this I apologize to the brother; but on substance I have to still disagree with him.

I worked side by side with Mahdi and saw him everyday. He worked 16 to 20 hours a day everyday and traveled to several cities a week the whole time. He never had enough sleep and was always a little short on cash. He woke up in the morning and went to bed at night serving the Muslim community to the point of physical exhaustion often falling asleep at his desk.

There would be times when Mahdi would come from speaking to groups in 2 or 3 different cities and then come to the office directly from the airport to work on an issue of anti-Muslim discrimination that never hit the media.

When I was short on money Mahdi was always there for me and when any Muslim I knew needed someone to talk to they could always talk to Mahdi. When he would find out I was doing something questionable he would lecture me good. He has been a good brother to me and as I have witnessed with my own eyes a good father to his children.

When I got out of prison in 2001 Mahdi was one of the first people I saw in New York City and he took me to a restaurant and gave me a lecture. He told me life is short and that I needed to get on the right path and he told me that he had been in prison, made many mistakes, been without a home, but through the grace of Allah had worked to get where he was.  That night I slept in a subway car in Brooklyn but I thought of what Mahdi had said and never forgot it.

This brother has sinned, sinned while a Muslim as I have, but he has turned his life around and lives a life of service to the Muslim community. No one is perfect and Allah is the Master of the Day of Judgment so what is the benefit in exposing all of these things from his past?

Similarly, with regards to the other leaders. Yes, Khalid Yasin has made some misstakes; but how many people has he guided to Islam? How many people have taken shahadah after hearing him speak? How many good deeds is that brother earning every hour from these new Muslims? And then I ask how many people took a shahadah after hearing us speak? And, if you bring Khaild down who will replace him? Does this mean I will make him a treasurer? No way; but will I invite him to give a dawah lecture? You bet I will.

Dawud Adib is someone I assume does not like me and I have had my disagreements with things he has done. However, can anyone deny that he has taught knowledge to generations of Muslims? That he has dedicated his life to the deen? I will agree that his serial-marriages and those of many other Salafis is deplorable, and he is just one of many brothers who I know have good hearts who I would nonetheless shoot before I let them marry my daughter, let us just pray that Allah guides Dawud and other Salafis on the issue of women and allows him to continue to teach Islam (particularly aqeedah) for many more years.

The others he speaks of I have no knowledge of so I cannot comment; but let us be brothers to one another. I love Abdurrahman for the sake of Allah and because of this I make duah that he stops attacking Muslims and doing things that do not benefit the community and feed into the plans of the enemies of Islam. And, even if he feels that he has to, as sometimes I feel that I have to, that he does it in the best of manners.

Let us make duah that all of the Muslumeem from Mahdi Bray to Umar Lee to Abdurahman Muhammad to Khalid Yasin to Dawud Adib to Marc Manley to all of our leaders, Muslim sinners, and struggling Muslims are blessed and guided to the right path- Ameen.

Umar Lee Talk at MICDS High School Part 1 ( Turn Volume Up)

Part 2 and 3 to come later including the Q and A session which is the best part. The audio is poor so turn the volume up all the way. MICDS is an elite private school in suburban St. Louis.

My Status

After recently getting married and moving back to St. Louis I just do not have the time to dedicate to this blog that I need. This blog has been very dear to me and I have met a lot of great people through it. This blog, along with a handful of others (most notably that of my dear friend Tariq Nelson) have made a real impact upon the American-Muslim community. Through our writings we have spurred conversations on matters that previously had only been mentioned in private. The Rise and Fall of the Salafi Dawah in America became one of the most, if not the most widely read, blog pieces ever written by an American-Muslim and found its way onto dozens of other sites and tens of thousands of emails addresses. Others posts on topics such as the role of white Muslims in the American-Muslim community, the status of white Muslims in white America, race relations in the ummah, class, sexual issues and the like were discussed here in a way that many found informative and refreshing. Some accused me of being a “tabloid” blogger while they did not have the courage to discuss the pressing needs we as a community have and others used the fallback argument of “airing dirty laundry” which is an argument for the dysfunctional. The popularity of this blog grew and it has been cited in numerous media outlets such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Washington Times, CNN, talk-radio and others. In addition to that it won the Brass Crescent Award for Muslim bloggers last year for the Rise and Fall series and was runner-up for the best blog.

There have been times before when I said I would stop blogging and I would always come back to it because there would be some issue that worked on me so much I just had to share my thoughts with my readers. This time I am going to be completely honest in telling you that I am not going to stop blogging much to the chagrin of the right-wingers, Islamphobes, Muslim extremists, and latte sippin laptop Muslims yearning to be down with the West by any means. No, I am going to continue blogging, I am just taking things into a different direction.

I am working on my memoirs with my wife and insha’Allah they will be published. America needs a better understanding of the lives of everyday Muslims and I would like to help in providing that. That is taking a lot of time along with my continued documentary work. On top of that I have to make a living and driving a cab is a very time consuming profession. So, just as a matter of fact, I simply do no have the time o dedicate to this blog that it needs. I would like to continue writing on Muslim topics and I am looking for an appropriate Muslim print-publication in which to do that. Sadly, there are few Muslim magazines or newspapers worth the ink on the paper so this may be a difficult task. If I cannot find such a print publication I will look at writing for a group Muslim blog so that I can just contribute from time to time on major-issues.

Until such a time I am going to take the advice of those activists who coined the phrase “think globally and act locally” and start a blog on issues in St. Louis. My Muslim readers should feel free to read although there will be very little in the way of Muslim topics.

Umar Takes Questions From Readers

Before you comment yes I know the video quality is low.

Response to Joe Kauffman Claims of “Islamist Child Abuse” from Umar and Khalilah Sabra

It seems that Joe Kauffman does not respond well to being legally prohibited from harassing Muslims mothers and children at Six Flags in Texas. His anger at having a restraining order put on him in Texas seems to have gotten to his head as he has now accused the Muslim American Society and Islamic Circle of North America of engaging in child abuse.

In his most recent ranting Kauffman has accused MAS and ICNA of engaging in child abuse due to the fact that, of all things, they are having a children’s program at the upcoming convention. This is such a bizarre and baseless allegation that I would not even think it has to be responded to; but in this climate we live in today when baseless allegations against Muslims often carry weight with many this cannot be ignored.

In responding I will first say that Kauffman during his rant does not provide any evidence to support his argument that ICNA and MAS are abusing children. Not one example does eh provide of a child actually being abused and he does not detail how in fact children will be abused at the convention.

He begins his argument by rehashing the old allegations that ICNA and MAS are a front for the Muslim Brotherhood (without getting into any specifics of what this would actually mean) and alleging that the mere fact that the two organizations want to work with one another and not against each other represents some kind of intrinsic threat to the public.

He then presents as an example of the buzz word “terrorist” connections of the two organizations incidents surrounding a handful of people, some of whom with no connection to either MAS or ICNA and others with minimal or brief connections, as somehow being evidence that children will be abused.

Next Kauffman “nut picks” from ICNA-related message boards, cites hadith sued on the MAS Minnesota site, and takes things out of context such as when he takes Amir Sahib, a well-known moderate brother, out of context and uses his words to make it looks like he is supporting violence.

Interview of Joel Richardson: Editor of Why We Left Islam

Joel, 

Thanks for the interview. The questions are below following my opening statement.  
 

I have not read your book so I am not going to make any judgments on it. It has created some interest and in your blog you seem to be dedicated to hyping the threat that Islam and Muslims pose. Of course, as an American-Muslim, this is disturbing to me. The average everyday Muslim has to carry the weight of these sorts of anti-Muslim campaigns on their shoulders in their daily lives. The Muslim child in school has to sit in a classroom being shunned by fellow students and maybe even treated poorly by their teachers, the Muslim job-seeker gets passed over for a job, the Muslim business-owner loses business because of their religion, etc. . You may say that this is not your intention, and that you would not encourage such ill-treatment of Muslims, but the practical effect of what you and others like you do creates a climate that leads to discrimination against Muslims.  

Below are a few questions I would like to ask you.  
 
 

Question 1:

UL: You point to 23 who have left the “horrors” of growing up Muslim. Yet, right here in America, there are many hundreds of thousands including me who grew-up in the church and have left for Islam (Praise be to God). I for one grew-up in the Baptist Church and was baptized at the age of 11 after being “born again”.  However, I left the church due to my inability to accept the trinity, the divinity of a man, and other teachings along with the social realities of Christianity in America particularly as it related to race, war, and poverty.  People like me openly left Christianity and were blessed to be guided to Islam; but many millions more have not converted they have simply left the church and we see today that Christianity is far from the dominant culture in American life and is little more than a sub-culture with little effect on the popular culture. So, my question for you is, why have the hundreds of thousands like me left Christianity for Islam, and why have millions more left Christianity for secularism?   

JR: First of all, thank you Umar very much for the opportunity to do this interview.  I hope that through discussing Why We Left Islam: Former Muslims Speak Out, that many Muslims will join the fight for human rights and human freedoms even if it means talking the very difficult position of challenging many of the tenants of their own religion.  

You’ve certainly begun with quite a loaded and accusatory intro.  Certainly such a beginning will do nothing to build bridges of understanding or promote your cause. For now, I will do my best to ignore any overly assumptive or accusatory questions.   

I do need to clarify one issue before beginning however.  Criticism of Islam is certainly not “Muslim-Hatred” anymore than criticizing Communism is Russian Hatred or criticizing American foreign policy would equal American hatred ( UL: I agree 100%, but I hear hate in the voices and tone of many towards Muslims and if you do not accept this go to the message boards of Little Green Footballs or Jihadwatch and tell me how much Christian “love” you see).  And I’m not sure how you could make such a roundly illogical leap. To criticize Islam and its various evil practices and teachings most certainly should not be misinterpreted to mean that I in any way hate Muslims.  A Proverb of Solomon teaches us that, “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.” (Proverbs 27:6) In other words, because I genuinely care about and love Muslims, I am obligated to speak the truth to you about that which is destroying your soul and your community.  It is those who only speak flattery that you should be leery of. 

Peace…Before This

I am taking the advice of my brothers and elders in Islam Imam Mahdi Bray and Sheikh Abu Usamah and offering an olive branch to Abdur-Rahman ( may Allah guide us all) while standing by the essential truth of my argument and my defense of Sami al-Arian, the mainstream Muslim organizations, and our brothers in Islam and standing by the fact that these were my words alone and I meant what I said, but it has been said and there is no point in bringing  further anonymity amongst Muslims and as Abu Usamah pointed out the same people cheering you on today will be your detractors tomorrow so kalas let us love all of our brothers and pray for their success and freedom while praying for the defeat of the enemies of Islam and give them no aid and comfort. 

Besides, we should stop before it comes to this

That is what old school NWA wrestling looked like not this sissy stuff you see now and that was Chief Wahoo McDaniel ( a real Native American) and the “Mad Man from Sudan” Abdullah the Butcher ( not from as -Sudan)

Philly Muslim Thoughts: Alarms Going Off, Young Muslim Love, and Event This Saturday

Over the last several weeks I have had to go to Philly a number of times. As I have written a number of times before, Philly is a city that I love and have a lot of personal history with.

Last week while in Philly I had a chance to visit the MAS Youth Center. This is an excellent addition to the already vibrant Muslim community of the area. The center will go a long way to address some of the problems our youth are facing. It deserves the support from those of us who are interested in preserving Islam for the future generations in this country.

Muslims have a strong presence in Philly. As I’ve mentioned before, the “Muslim look” is both common and well-known here. No one mistakes the brother with a big beard and his pants above his ankles for a vagrant or a brother with ill-fitting clothing. People know what they are looking at. This is refreshing given the fact that we have many Muslims who themselves shy away from a “Muslim look” (albeit there is no agreement on what this look is). The clothing and beard are symbolic of the fact that Muslims are comfortable in their skin in Philly whether they be on the bus, working on the assembly line, or grabbing a bite at Halal Bilals.

With the advancements of Muslims in Philly there have been setbacks. Philly is a tough city with a tough culture. It is not a city of metrosexuals and girlish men (outside of a few pockets of yuppies mostly not from Philly); but rather it is a city of hard-working men who are often in your face. It is the city of Joe Frazier, Bernard Hopkins, and many other prizefighters in history, and home to sports fans who regularly boo their own teams. The city is diverse, vibrant, and home to some of the best architecture, parks and cultural institutions in America. But at the same time, it is home to some of the most depressed ghettos and mean streets in the world.

The enormous African-American Muslim population of the city is now in it’s third-generation. Its roots are in the mean streets of Philly, even while a large percentage of that community is no longer in poverty or in the ghettos. As the community has its roots in those areas mostly of North and West Philly. The problems that affect those communities affect the Muslim community. There is high crime in these areas thus we have a lot of Muslim criminals. The family has been destroyed and out of wedlock birth the norm thus we have Muslims marrying 20 and 30 times. Violence is a common language on the streets, thus disagreements between Muslims often are resolved in a language that all parties in Philly understand. This is the community as it as, as it exists. It is not the upper-class Muslim community that some writers have recently created out of their imagination while looking down their noses at the masses of Muslims. They lack any real cultural connection to the community, which cannot be purchased in credits from say, Howard University.

Walking the streets of Philly, even Germantown, where I am supposed to be hated, I get nothing but love from the Muslims. Muslims in Philly are quick with the greeting and don’t look around and see who is listening before they return yours. The good by far outweighs the bad. Yet, having said that, the bad is out there and it should not be ignored.

Umar in Wilkes-Barre, PA