The Muslim Observer
Encyclopedia
The Muslim Observer is a weekly newspaper concentrating on issues relevant to Muslim
s and Islam
. It is operating from Farmington
, Michigan
but with branches across the United States
. It reaches all 50 United States and its website, muslimobserver.com, is visited by thousands of people every day. The paper claims to have a circulation of 20,000, mostly distributed free to mosques and cultural centers. They show 987 paid subscribers.
It has national and international correspondents, and publishes a wide variety of departments for its readers, including a children's section, a health and nutrition section, and various regional pages, including ones for Houston, southeast Michigan
, and south Florida
.
In addition, the paper has other editorial
advocacy positions that have remained consistent over the years. Criticism of Israel for abuses is one such area. Another is 9-11 Conspiracy theory. The paper consistently reprints views that undermine the official story of 9-11.
The paper less consistently advocates the somewhat ill-considered but generally accepted American Muslim views on national and international issues, for instance attacking from early on the attempts to intervene in Darfur
on the grounds that the people advocating intervention had ulterior motives (namely Sudan
ese oil reserves and splitting the Muslim community on the basis of ethnicity).
MMN was started primarily as a vehicle for an unsuccessful initial public offering (IPO) that the company tried to go through with in 2005, but that failed to receive enough contributions to succeed. MMN was conceived by TMO publisher Dr. AS Nakadar as the umbrella organization for a family of Muslim advocacy organizations whose flagship would have been The Muslim Observer. The IPO fell through in the face of the tremendous fees associated with mandatory state and federal filing fees and huge accounting fees associated with Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. In the wake of the failed IPO, MMN has become primarily a shell organization, the logo that accompanies TMO and MMNS.
is the editor-in-chief of The Muslim Observer. He is also the director of the Islamic Society of Nevada, as well as the director of the Muslim Electorates Council of America. It has endorsed Ron Paul
for the Michigan primary in Jan 2008, http://muslimmedianetwork.com/mmn/?p=1692 citing his views on the war in Iraq and the Patriot Act. However, in the same article, it states that Democractic government will be "less tretcherous" than a Republican one. The article calls on the Muslim community to recognize the importance of primaries.
The paper relies largely on reprinted articles that are relevant to Muslims—with some bright spots like Sumayyah Meehan, a columnist who reports from Kuwait; another bright spot is Nilofar Suhrawardy, an Indian reporter who consistently reports on serious issues in India. Some good articles have been written by Adil James, in Michigan, especially one on the war in Lebanon, [Escape from Bint Jebail]. The paper reprints many Reuters articles and some AP and AFP articles. Generally mainstream, but some of the views advocated by some articles in the paper are at the fringe.
The publisher of the newspaper is a retired Indian-American cardiologist, Dr. Abdul Raheman S. Nakadar. The newspaper faces an uncertain future, in the weak market for printed media.
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s and Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. It is operating from Farmington
Farmington, Michigan
Farmington is a city in Oakland County of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a northern suburb of Detroit and is part of the Metro Detroit area. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 10,372. It is fully surrounded by Farmington Hills, except for a small portion bordered by Livonia to the...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
but with branches across the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It reaches all 50 United States and its website, muslimobserver.com, is visited by thousands of people every day. The paper claims to have a circulation of 20,000, mostly distributed free to mosques and cultural centers. They show 987 paid subscribers.
It has national and international correspondents, and publishes a wide variety of departments for its readers, including a children's section, a health and nutrition section, and various regional pages, including ones for Houston, southeast Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, and south Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
.
Point of view
The paper prides itself on printing news that cannot be found in mainstream papers. Thus without endorsing their views it will reprint the speeches of people under fire from and vilified by the mainstream media like Hasan Nasrallah or Moqtada Sadr — this despite the newspaper's definite disagreement with the views advocated by those people.In addition, the paper has other editorial
Editorial
An opinion piece is an article, published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about the subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals.-Editorials:...
advocacy positions that have remained consistent over the years. Criticism of Israel for abuses is one such area. Another is 9-11 Conspiracy theory. The paper consistently reprints views that undermine the official story of 9-11.
The paper less consistently advocates the somewhat ill-considered but generally accepted American Muslim views on national and international issues, for instance attacking from early on the attempts to intervene in Darfur
Darfur
Darfur is a region in western Sudan. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur...
on the grounds that the people advocating intervention had ulterior motives (namely Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
ese oil reserves and splitting the Muslim community on the basis of ethnicity).
History
The Muslim Observer is the oldest of the branches of Muslim Media Network, Inc., (MMN) which came into existence and subsumed it in 2005. MMN also contains the Muslim Media News Service, a subscription news service with national and international reporters. So far, TMO and Muslim Media News Service are the only branches of MMN.MMN was started primarily as a vehicle for an unsuccessful initial public offering (IPO) that the company tried to go through with in 2005, but that failed to receive enough contributions to succeed. MMN was conceived by TMO publisher Dr. AS Nakadar as the umbrella organization for a family of Muslim advocacy organizations whose flagship would have been The Muslim Observer. The IPO fell through in the face of the tremendous fees associated with mandatory state and federal filing fees and huge accounting fees associated with Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. In the wake of the failed IPO, MMN has become primarily a shell organization, the logo that accompanies TMO and MMNS.
Officers
Dr. Aslam AbdullahAslam Abdullah
Dr. Aslam Abdullah is the director of the Islamic Society of Nevada, the editor of the Muslim Observer and the director of the Muslim Electorates Council of America....
is the editor-in-chief of The Muslim Observer. He is also the director of the Islamic Society of Nevada, as well as the director of the Muslim Electorates Council of America. It has endorsed Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
for the Michigan primary in Jan 2008, http://muslimmedianetwork.com/mmn/?p=1692 citing his views on the war in Iraq and the Patriot Act. However, in the same article, it states that Democractic government will be "less tretcherous" than a Republican one. The article calls on the Muslim community to recognize the importance of primaries.
The paper relies largely on reprinted articles that are relevant to Muslims—with some bright spots like Sumayyah Meehan, a columnist who reports from Kuwait; another bright spot is Nilofar Suhrawardy, an Indian reporter who consistently reports on serious issues in India. Some good articles have been written by Adil James, in Michigan, especially one on the war in Lebanon, [Escape from Bint Jebail]. The paper reprints many Reuters articles and some AP and AFP articles. Generally mainstream, but some of the views advocated by some articles in the paper are at the fringe.
The publisher of the newspaper is a retired Indian-American cardiologist, Dr. Abdul Raheman S. Nakadar. The newspaper faces an uncertain future, in the weak market for printed media.