AUDIO-VIDEO LINKS + GHAFFAR'S BLOG POSTS

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    Jonathan M.A.Ghaffar   -   Email: JonathanMAG@Gmail.com

    Cell: 1-909-525-5299    -   Work Ph. (Chino Mosque): 909-627-2252

    Mailing Address: 11941 Ramona Ave. – Chino, CA 91710-1661 USA

    1-866-WHY-ISLAM (rings at Baitul Hameed Mosque in Chino, CA)

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Link to my online 8-Gig folder of Tabligh & Da'een Education Materials (includes 5-vol. Eng. + 1-vol. Eng. commentary Qurans + Sher Ali Quran + many books by PM & others in PDF form):

    https://www.dropbox.com/sh/c74m7q6azy6yi66/S_ycUXwDp7

   

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How I became an Ahmadi Muslim (20-min. version)
YouTube LINK: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iVhlzmJrGY&t=990s

Salat -- the Muslim 5x daily prayer audio files in English and Arabic + Surah Fatiha (ch.1) + Surah Baqara (ch.2) v1-8 + Surahs 87-114 [WAV & MP3s] 

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qb7ommvv9du3vnj/asUHT_Uiob

Link to MP3 of KCAA 1050-AM radio show interview on The Kathleen Wells Show 29-min. excerpt with Imam Zafarullah and Jonathan M.A.Ghaffar from Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Chino, California. Interview Wed. Oct. 22^nd, 2014. Topics: response to Bill Maher's anti-Islam comments, ISIS, true teachings of Islam and Ahmadiyyat. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4M4FcOAjmd6TTlndDlwdVl3SkU/view?usp=sharing

Jonathan M.A.Ghaffar’s Oct. 11th 2012 1-hour radio interview: 
“How I became Ahmadi Muslim”

https://www.dropbox.com/pri/get/Jonathan%20Ghaffar%201-hr%20interview%20-%20How%20I%20became%20Ahmadi.mp3?_subject_uid=19398995&w=AABOVjvoLIzKCrGbbvM2vkiSUMN8gqyu3csy7XdeeRz7CA

“Ground Zero Mosque” radio interview with Jonathan M.A.Ghaffar Aug.2010

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4M4FcOAjmd6RDExRGR0NHU1clk/view?usp=sharing

“Introduction to the Holy Quran” audio CD files [originally recorded by M.A.Ghaffar in 2011 at the Baitul Hameed Mosque; sound quality re-engineered in 2014 for 2^nd pressing of CD with new disc & jacket design.]

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/yohh9gzy3b7vp51/AADPDGEnb0Atr7zEy7hyiPx-a?dl=0

Prof. Bart Ehrman vs. Evangelical Craig Evans debate on NT reliability:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/anb67h9lq5qzwr0/AADYRzZZU2gyY7BGrpMXzIlva

“Understanding Islam” KCAA 1050-AM Radio Show 32-kbs MP3 audio files (Sept.2009-Feb.2012: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/cbgcj3oz8ud9i74/kFzeftqJoh

“Understanding Islam” KCAA 1050-AM radio show scripts

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/15jmzt2lwxirwnx/a8jTYCTLqv

Introduction to Ahmadiyyat (Video link)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/r21js93yslmtl9o/Vid%20-%20Intro%20to%20Ahmadiyyat.wmv

“Voice of Islam” radio shows (1-15 from 2002)

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/py6s96homiluwx3/AABp9AyjxYkwFmZ2Cl-lJK-za

Holy Quran Arabic recitation by M. Rashid Alafasy

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9j1aqwej2n6m0if/d5x93wbLil

Quran CD in English and Arabic (AMC Portland Jama’at production)

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/yvsnbpy92niu1yf/P_9RSsMugD

Abdur Raheem Hubbs’ short video on “Muhammad in the Bible”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdQ3mSxsDjg

GHAFFAR’S BLOG POSTS. . .

06-03-17:   SEEING THE FOREST FOR THE TREES                                                                  IN THE FIGHT AGAINST ISIS                        
BLOG LINK:
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2017/06/seeing-forest-for-trees-in-fight.html 

12-02-16:   LOVE IS WHAT GIVES US POWER OVER EVIL             
BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2016/12/rebuilding-our-way-to-better-america.html 

10-15-16:   MY ANSWER TO "A GERMAN'S VIEW ON ISLAM"                           
BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2016/10/my-answer-to-germans-view-on-islam.html 

08-17-16:   MY COMMENTS ON AN ANTI-MUHAMMAD VIDEO             
BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2016/08/my-comments-on-anti-muhammad-video_17.html 

06-09-16:   MUFTI MUHAMMAD SADIQ AWARD COMMENTS: How I became an Ahmadi Muslim                                          
YouTube LINK: 
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iVhlzmJrGY&t=990s

12-01-15:   POLICE IN THE BLACK AND WHITE SPOTLIGHT

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2015/12/police-in-black-and-white-spotlight.html

05-04-15:   5,000 WORDS OF THANKS TO MR. BRADBURY

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2015/05/5000-words-of-thanks-to-mr-bradbury.html

04-22-15:   21st ANNIVERSARY OF MY 2nd CONVERSION

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2015/04/21st-anniversary-of-my-2nd-conversion.html

12-15-14:   THE NATURE OF GOD, HIS PROPHETS,                                                         AND THE PROMISED REFORMATION OF ISLAM

BLOG LINK: http://jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-nature-of-god-his-prophets-and.html

07-10-14:   SOLVING THE ISRAEL-PALESTINE "TROUBLES"

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2014/07/solving-israel-palestine-troubles.html

07-09-14:   A GEM FROM THE MASTER, RAY BRADBURY. . .

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2014/07/a-gem-from-master-ray-bradbury.html

05-15-14:   10 WAYS TO BE CLOSER TO GOD

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2014/05/10-ways-to-be-closer-to-god.html

04-19-14:   ONLY LOVE CAN HEAL HATE

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2014/04/only-love-can-heal-hate.html

04-08-14:   STILL SHINY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS                                                         [My first attempt at "Firefly"-inspired lyrics]

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2014/04/still-shiny-after-all-these-years.html

04-03-14:   SAYING “NO” TO THE CANCER OF WAR

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2014/04/saying-no-to-cancer-of-war.html

03-27-14:   SECOND COMING OF JESUS ALREADY HAPPENED

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2014/03/second-coming-of-jesus-pbuh-already.html

03-27-14:   JESUS' SECOND COMING HAS ALREADY HAPPENED (MAG's original 2K word ver.)

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2014/03/second-coming-already-happened-original.html

02-10-14:   THANK YOU, IMAM SHAMSHAD, FOR ASKING THE TOUGH QUESTIONS ABOUT CHRISTIANITY

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2014/02/thank-you-imam-shamshad-for-asking.html

12-11-13:   GOD IS ONE, NOT THREE-IN-ONE

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2013/12/god-is-one-not-three-in-one.html

11-08-13:   PAKISTAN’S DEADLY BLASPHEMY LAWS (footnoted)

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2013/11/there-should-be-no-compulsion-in.html

10-19-13:   LIVING THE LESSONS OF ABRAHAM

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2013/10/living-lessons-of-abraham.html

10-04-13:   THE HEALING PROPERTIES OF MYRRH wrt: JESUS

BLOG LINK: http://jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-healing-properties-of-myrrh-and-why.html

09-21-13:   MUHAMMAD: THE BEST MESSENGER OF ISLAM

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2013/09/muhammad-best-messenger-of-islam.html

08-18-13:   PAKISTAN’S BLASPHEMY LAWS (OP-ED VERSION)

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2013/08/pakistans-blasphemy-laws-real-blasphemy.html

08-17-13:   ARE MOSQUES HOTBEDS OF TERRORISM?

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2013/08/are-mosques-hotbeds-of-terrorism-or.html

08-08-13:   BLASPHEMY LAWS ARE THE REAL BLASPHEMY

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2013/08/pakistans-blasphemy-laws-are-real.html

07-20-13:   RAMADHAN A TIME FOR RE-DEDICATION TO GOD

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2013/07/ramadan-time-for-re-dedication-to-god.html

04-17-13:   TERRORISM WILL NEVER SUCCEED

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2013/04/ltr-to-editor-terrorism-will-never.html

03-16-13:   PEACE AND SALVATION THROUGH THE MESSIAH

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2013/03/peace-and-salvation-through-messiah.html

03-15-13:   PEACE STARTS WITH JUSTICE AND RESPECT

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2013/03/peace-starts-with-justice-and-respect.html

03-14-13:   WHO ARE THE REAL BLASPHEMERS IN PAKISTAN?

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2013/03/who-are-real-blasphemers-in-pakistan.html

01-26-13:   GOD’S LAWS ARE A BLESSING NOT A CURSE

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2013/02/gods-laws-are-blessing-not-curse.html

01-05-13:   CHAI WITH IMAM SHAMSHAD

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2013/01/chai-eith-imam-shamshad.html

12-15-12:   CHRISTMAS – A REMINDER TO FOLLOW CHRIST

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2013/01/can-you-follow-teachings-of-jesus.html

12-15-12:   WHY JESUS DID NOT DIE ON THE CROSS

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2012/12/why-jesus-did-not-die-on-cross.html

12-6-12:      SAVING MALALA TO SAVE ISLAM

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2012/12/saving-malala-to-save-islam.html

8-22-12:      RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR INFO ON AHMADIYYAT

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2012/08/response-to-request-for-info-on.html

7-2-12:        DEFENDING THE QUR'AN [Reply to 2003 Newsweek article]

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2012/07/defending-quran-response-to-2003.html

7-2-12:        FREEDOM WITHOUT JUSTICE ISN'T FREEDOM

BLOG LINK: http://jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2012/07/freedom-without-justice-isnt-freedom.html

7-2-12:        9-11: AFFECTS AND EFFECTS 10 YEARS LATER

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2012/07/9-11-affects-and-effects.html

7-2-12:        WHY THE MURDER OF AHMADIS IN PAKISTAN

SHOULD CONCERN AMERICANS

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2012/07/murder-of-ahmadis-in-pakistan-should.html

7-2-12:        WHEN THE POLICE ARE THE CRIMINALS

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2012/07/when-police-are-criminals.html

6-30-12:      WE ARE HERE TO LOVE GOD AND EACH OTHER

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2012/06/we-are-here-to-love-god-and-each-other.html

6-30-12:      SAUDI GRAND MUFTI'S EDICT GOES AGAINST ISLAM

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2012/06/saudi-grand-muftis-edict-goes-against.html

6-30-12:      OSAMA BIN LADEN -- AN ICON NO MORE

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2012/06/osama-bin-laden-icon-no-more.html

6-30-12:      NOAH'S ARK FOR THE MUSLIMS

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2012/06/noahs-ark-for-muslims.html

6-30-12:      KILLING MUSLIMS IN THE NAME OF ALLAH

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2012/06/killing-muslims-in-name-of-allah.html

6-30-12:      IF JESUS VISITED PAKISTAN

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2012/06/if-jesus-visited-pakistan.html

6-30-12:      FEAR IS THE STONEMASON

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2012/06/fear-is-stonemason.html

6-26-12:      REFLECTIONS OF THE PROPHET (saw)

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2012/06/reflections-of-prophet-saw.html

6-23-12:      WHY PEOPLE DON'T ACCEPT ISLAM

EVEN WHEN THEY BELIEVE IT'S TRUE

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2012/06/why-people-reject-islam-even-when-they.html

5-16-12:      A HEART ALIGHT ON THE WINGS OF JOY

SUNG FORTH IN THE CALL TO PRAYER

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2012/05/heart-alight-on-wings-of-joy-sung-forth.html

      

5-16-12:      IS WAR THE ONLY WAY TO PEACE?

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2012/05/is-war-only-way-to-peace.html

4-4-12:        THE ABRAHAMIC FAITHS: GOD'S TIMELINE TO ISLAM

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2012/04/abrahamic-faiths-gods-timeline-to-islam.html

4-4-12:        DEFINING ISLAM WITH LOVE OR HATE

BLOG LINK: 
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2012/04/defining-islam-with-love-or-hate.html

SEEING THE FOREST FOR THE TREES IN THE FIGHT AGAINST ISIS

Pres. Trump has returned home from his first tour of the Middle-East and Europe, evoking praise and vitriol here and abroad, depending on whether you view the world and its myriad, interconnected complexities through Trump's myopic green-colored glasses or not. What is painfully obvious is that Trump is woefully ignorant of, and thus completely unprepared to handle, the realities of statecraft on today's world stage with its many volatile players.

Just look at his visit with the Saudis. With one hand he gestures for peace across the Middle-East while calling for a crackdown on Sunni Jihadist extremism, yet with his other hand, he shields his eyes from five decades of Saudi-funded and exported Sunni Jihadist extremism while selling the Saudis $110-billion in US-made weapons. (This is like hiring a known pedophile to run your daycare center!) And these weapons will inevitably be used against Shia (read: Iran-friendly) factions in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen -- which means some of that $110-billion in bombs and bullets will end up in the hands of ISIS.

This will result in even more death and destruction and even more refugees seeking escape to anywhere safe. So it understandably angers and amazes me how some people can raise the alarm over an influx of Muslim refugees -- created by the instability of their war-torn countries -- and signal the doom and downfall of their own countries while doing nothing to help prevent the death and destruction in Muslim countries which produce these unwanted refugees in the first place.

Go back a decade or so before Syria, Tunisia, Egypt, Iraq, Libya, and Yemen were embroiled in their political and military upheavals and you'll see tens of millions of Muslims living relatively peacefully in relatively stable societies. True, most were ruled by iron-fisted dictators, but the reality is that America and other Western nations, as well as Russia, were often instrumental in putting those dictators in power and were more than happy to turn a blind eye to these dictators' evils and repression of their respective populations.

So it's hardly a surprise when these same populations rise up and demand their freedoms the first chance they get. Sadly, power vacuums are rarely, if ever, filled by altruistic, kind-hearted, benevolent statesmen who love their countries, but usually by murderous tyrants and despots who only crave self-enrichment and power.

The answer to this whole debacle is simple: the US and all those who seek to end the problem of radical Islam need to empower the reformist and moderate forms of Islam such as the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (visit Alislam.org, MuslimsForPeace.org, KhalifaofIslam.com) and also work to re-educate the Muslim world that, for the past half-century, has been fed a steady diet of hate and ignorance from the Saudi-funded madrasas (Islamic schools) teaching their radical Wahhabi-Salafi doctrines and intolerant, violent Jihadist version of Islam. (I know, easier said than done, but that’s the real solution in a nutshell.)

Then, at the same time, the US and her allies must stop supporting -- with their dollars, guns, and silence -- the root sponsors of this self-destructive interpretation of Islam. Then, after a generation of Muslims has been raised without this Saudi-financed Wahhabi-Salafi doctrinal cancer in Islam, you will see the Islam that existed for at least a millennia after the birth of Islam in the 7th century AD.

History is the best barometer of what is actually true -- be it in a culture, a philosophy, a religion or a civilization. Barbarism never produces civilization. Even a cursory review of Islamic history demonstrates a worldview and reality where education, literacy, science, freedom of religion and interfaith tolerance, freedom to dissent, and technological advancements were all in evidence for well over a thousand years. This was not the result of the absence of true Islamic thinking and government in the world, but the presence of true Islamic thinking and government in the world.

Of course, Islamic history is not pristine, let alone perfect. As I often remark, “Religion would be great if there were no people in it.” But because people are often driven by fear, greed, insecurity and hate, it is no surprise that you have in a religion’s Holy Book all the good things it commands its followers to do and live by, and then you have the lives they often choose to live according to their own lower, animalistic natures instead of their own higher, moral and spiritual selves. It’s a wonder God puts up with us at all, given our frequent disobedience, arrogance, and outright disbelief in Him and His prophets and His Teachings. But all that is on us, not God.

All Holy Scriptures give the same core of ethical and moral tenets so we can freely choose to strive to better ourselves instead of butcher each other. Thank God I believe in a God Who is Patient and Forgiving or we would all be doomed and in deep spiritual trouble. The liability and responsibility, of course, are still firmly and entirely laid upon our shoulders. And this goes for the believers in any Faith, or for atheists who believe in no god but subscribe nonetheless to an ethical code and the sense of having an innate moral compass to be adhered to and not ignored.

For those who do believe in a Higher Power, God never forces us to do or be good. If He did, we would be little more than meat puppets. God gives us the freedom of choice and also the responsibility for the consequences of our choices. It is the key moral and spiritual arrangement between God and mankind that validates our purpose in this life.

The downside of this is that it does not remove evil from the world. But that, in fact, is also the upside as well and the main point of our existence. In whatever form evil takes and in whatever religious garb evil people seek to cloak themselves in, combating and defeating evil is our job, not God’s. That is why Islam clearly states that it is a Muslim’s duty to stand up to and fight against tyranny and evil – especially when it hides behind the name of Islam.

It would be nice to believe that Muslims can and will do this by and for themselves, but the reality, like the reality of Hitler and Nazi Germany, forebodes otherwise. When someone is dying from cancer – one they may vociferously deny is afflicting them in the first place – it becomes incumbent on others to do whatever they can to help affect a cure. The silent majority on every side of the issue needs to step up and speak out and be proactive and not just reactive. As the famous adage goes, “All that is required for the triumph of evil is for the good to do nothing.”

So decrying a “problem” is good in that you call attention to it, but unless you understand the problem and how it came to be and what you can actually do about it, you will find yourself woefully ill-equipped to solve it. This is the case with almost all the articles and essays and blogs and videos out there calling Islam a “terrorist religion” out to destroy the West.

The “solutions” presented are usually knee-jerk, reactionary, emotionally or religiously biased, and they invariably suffer from faulty and misinformed perspectives mired in fear and ignorance that only exacerbate the situation, making real, substantive and effective responses nearly impossible to achieve. The danger of this is obvious and often lost in the din of alarm bell rhetoric and the stampede of the frightened herd.

And it is this danger of rushing headlong into a hasty and flawed reaction to the very real problem of ”Islamist” terrorism that will doom the fight against it from the very start. As in any battle with an unpredictable opponent, the secret to winning depends on understanding your adversary, knowing the geography and pitfalls of the battlefield, and having the knowledge and resources to thoroughly defeat your enemy.

In this battle, the weaponry is overwhelmingly ideological and not military. The physical fight is always the “Lesser Jihad” – while the “Greater Jihad” is the much more difficult challenge to heal the hearts and minds of those infected with the deadly myopia of extremist, radical Islam. But that battle can be won. It must be won. The consequences are too dire to contemplate if we – Muslims and our religious and secular allies – fail to act. There is no room anymore for a “silent majority” on either side. It is high time for Muslims especially to step up and deal with this cancer of deadly extremism in the body of Islam.

[ This essay is an excerpt from my post titled: My Answer to 'A German's View on Islam' at: http://jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2016/10/my-answer-to-germans-view-on-islam.html ]