A Muslim's View of the Bill of Rights Day

[SassyLady]

This man understands that change in the Muslim world has to be initiated by the Muslims giving up their radicalism.

Bill of Rights Day -- A Muslim's View
By Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser
Published December 15, 2010

As we celebrate the 219th anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights today on December 15, it is imperative that we take a moment to reflect upon and embrace the forethought of our Founding Fathers and apply their wisdom to the context that we live in today. This collection of ten amendments to the United States Constitution are what guarantee the sanctity of our individual rights and freedoms and what in the end sets America apart from any nation before or since.
The Founding Fathers understood that when left to its own devices, government will eagerly trample the individual God given rights of the people and that it was their duty as enlightened leaders to protect at all cost the humanity of law and the freedom of the individual. They declared for people everywhere that a government by the people must not infringe on the basic human rights of man to speak, worship, and assemble with whom they choose, and that ultimate power and authority rests in the hands of the governed not those that would govern.
When we look at the world landscape 219 years later we can see that the Bill of Rights has allowed America to live true to its design and serve as the best laboratory for freedom and liberty the world has ever seen.
Having suffered the tyranny of Syria’s Hafez Assad, it was this promise that brought my family to America in the mid-1960’s. My grandfather and father fought from inside and outside of Syria for a greater Middle East that recognized universal human rights, freedom, and democracy. But the secular fascism of today’s Bashar Assad, Hosni Mubarak, and Mouamar Qaddafi, is not the only despotism from that area of the world. More and more we are seeing the rise of political Islam (Islamism) as a growing force of oppression within the Muslim consciousness.
My fight today against Islamist radicalism and its supporting Islamist organizations is born from this struggle and will only be won when American Muslims fully embrace the central principles of religious freedom, individual rights, freedom of speech and assembly, and most importantly the Establishment clause, all of which are embodied within the Bill of Rights.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/...#ixzz18EQWAdoY

[revelarts]

that's excellent.

1. Freedom of Speech, Press, Religion and Petition
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.


2. Right to keep and bear arms
A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

3. Conditions for quarters of soldiers
No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.


4. Right of search and seizure regulated
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.


5. Provisons concerning prosecution
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.


6. Right to a speedy trial, witnesses, etc.
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.


7. Right to a trial by jury
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.


8. Excessive bail, cruel punishment
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.



9. Rule of construction of Constitution
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.



10. Rights of the States under Constitution
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.