Crosstalk: May 3, 2016

​Islam continues its attempts to become viewed as 'mainstream' across the U.S. No matter how great the public relations campaign, no matter how many sessions are held in public libraries to 'come know your Muslim neighbor', Islam is still Islam. Its core beliefs are the same as is its goal of a world caliphate. Joining Jim to discuss this was Usama Dakdok. Usama is the founder and director of the Straightway of Grace Ministry, equipping Christians to be effective witnesses of Jesus Christ to their Muslim neighbors, as well as ministering to Muslims directly. Usama is Egyptian born. He studied Islam and Islamic law since a young age. Usama has translated the Qur'an into English. He is the speaker on the program, 'Revealing the Truth about Islam' which airs daily on VCY America. Jim began by referring to an editorial in the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel by Samantha Issam. According to Issam, true Islam teaches gender equity and empowerment of women and that only extremist Islam and those who misinterpret Islam speak against such gender equity. Usama responded by noting that Mohammed said men are in charge of women and how in the Qur'an, Allah prefers men over women. We see this in Islamic law when it comes to criminal witnesses and also when dealing with the receiving of an inheritance. In essence, women are literally disgraced and humiliated in Islam from birth to burial. As Jim continued with quotes from the article, Issam seemed to communicate as though the hijab (a Muslim covering for the head and chest) actually represents a very feminine aspect of Islam. Usama wondered whether the writer was talking about a hijab just to cover the woman's hair or one to cover her entire head? Include the covering from the shoulders to the feet and at that point you can see nothing about the woman. That, according to Usama, is the true Islamic hijab which is to imprison her for the rest of her life. As this program continued, Jim had Usama comment on the following: --Nearly 2 dozen fired Muslim Somali/Americans are filing discrimination charges with the EEOC against a Minneapolis/St. Paul area hardware manufacturer because they allege they were denied a place to pray. --How will the face of a community change if a large manufacturer comes in with many Somali/Muslim employees? --A new concern is that of Islamic cemeteries. Communities are concerned about contaminated ground water because Muslims traditionally don't embalm bodies and they bury their dead without the use of coffins. --A bombing terrorist connected to the USS Cole attack who was being held at Guantanamo Bay has been released by President Obama. --Federal agents arrested a man who sources say was planning to throw an explosive device into a South Florida synagogue. --Court documents reveal that a Minnesota Muslim who was allegedly plotting with others to join the Islamic State discussed routing potential terrorists through Mexico to carry out attacks in the U.S.