life is good

Saturday, 16 August 2008 
Mountain Meadows redux     
Cody Clark - Daily Herald    
The new book "Massacre at Mountain Meadows," published Thursday by Oxford University Press, brgins with these words:

"On September 11, 1857, Mormon settlers in southern Utah used a false flag of truce to lull a group of California-bound emigrants from their circled wagons and then slaughter them. When the killing was over, more than one hundred butchered bodies lay strewn across a half-mile stretch of upland meadow. Most of the victims were women and children."  Those stark, unsparing lines might not be the very first thing that many would expect to read in an account written by Mormons, or members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of perhaps the most infamous occurrence in the 160-year history of Utah as a U.S. possession, territory and state.  "Massacre at Mountain Meadows" is a collaboration between historians Ronald W. Walker, Richard E. Turley Jr. and Glen M. Leonard. All three men are Latter-day Saints. Walker, 68, is an independent historian; Leonard, 69, is the former director of the LDS Church’s Museum of Church History and Art; and Turley, 52, is Assistant Church Historian under LDS general authority Elder Marlin K. Jensen. That means that the new book, while not published by the LDS Church, has an authoritative LDS voice.   All three men have for years had a private interest in the event known to history as the Mountain Meadows Massacre. The tragedy unfolded several miles south and west of Cedar City on a site where a wagon train led by Alexander Fancher and John T. Baker had encamped in an open meadow.  In the weeks prior to the massacre, the settlers, most of them from Arkansas, had become the object of enmity and suspicion among Utah’s Mormon population, which had spent much of 1857 in fearful anticipation of the arrival of federal troops sent by President James Buchanan to defuse what Washington, D.C., perceived to be a Mormon uprising.  Fancher and Baker’s party was attacked on Sept. 7 by Mormon militia and Paiute Indian tribesmen, kept pinned down over the next four days, and eventually lured to their deaths. At least 120 were murdered, according to most counts, while 17 of the youngest children were spared.  The tragic story has been examined before. The groundbreaking volume "Mountain Meadows Massacre," written by Latter-day Saint and respected historian Juanita Brooks, was published in 1950.  In recent years, historian and Utah native Will Bagley gave another history of the massacre in "Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows" (2002), while mountaineer and essayist Jon Krakauer explored the bloody events in his book "Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith" (2003) about the 1984 murders committed by brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty.  In 2004, University of Utah film professor Brian Patrick attracted praise for crafting a sober, thoughtful retelling of Mountain Meadows in his documentary film "Burying the Past: Legacy of the Mountain Meadows Massacre," while Hollywood filmmaker Christopher Cain was widely ridiculed in 2006 for his lurid, fictionalized account "September Dawn." (Some people, apparently, are still laughing — the performance of actor Jon Voight in Cain’s film is the butt of a lightning-fast visual joke in the new movie "Tropic Thunder.")  The collaboration by Walker, Turley and Leonard is unique in the breadth of the research that supports it. Nearly half of the book’s 430 pages are taken up by its notes and appendices. An eight-page "Acknowledgements" section credits dozens of collaborators spread across the country with helping to research and refine the manuscript at some point in the nearly seven years since it was conceived.  "This book rests on the most thorough research on the Mountain Meadows Massacre that’s ever been conducted," Turley said. "We’ve done research from the northeast to southern California, from the Pacific Northwest to the southeast."  Jan Shipps, professor emeritus of religious studies and history at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and a widely respected authority on Mormonism, agreed with Turley’s assessment. "There is documentation on top of documentation on top of documentation, and that we haven’t had before," Shipps said. "It’s probably the most documented work of any in Utah history."  The authors worked with descendants of the massacre survivors, inviting some to read their manuscript and provide feedback prior to publication. There are three principal groups that advocate on behalf of survivor descendants: the Mountain Meadows Monument Foundation, Mountain Meadows Descendants and the Mountain Meadows Association. (The Mountain Meadows Association also includes descendants of the massacre’s perpetrators.)  Some descendants have actively petitioned LDS officials to turn control of the massacre site, which the church owns, over to the federal government. Others have collaborated with LDS officials in efforts to memorialize the massacre and its victims.  In March, Jensen, the incumbent LDS Church historian, met with representatives of the three major descendant groups to announce that church officials will seek to have the massacre site designated a National Historic Landmark. The church has also purchased 600 acres of land surrounding the site to preserve it as open space. Jensen told descendant groups that, "The land will be left undeveloped to preserve the sanctity of that hallowed area and out of respect for those who died there."  Terry Fancher, president of the Mountain Meadows Association and a descendant of Alexander Fancher, said that he’s just begun to read "Massacre at Mountain Meadows," but that he, too, is impressed by the level of research.  "I always look for the footnotes and the endnotes to see what the sources of information are," Fancher said.  Fancher said that he’s pleased to see that many documents from the period of the massacre, such as journals and court transcripts, were consulted. He said that he hasn’t read anything else written by Walker or Leonard, but that he has a good opinion of Turley based on Turley’s book "Victims: The LDS Church and the Mark Hoffman Case." Turley, Fancher said, "did a bang-up job on ["Victims"] getting the facts right."  Fancher’s hope is that, as more documents from the period emerge, there may eventually be a complete list of the names of those who were killed. Appendix A to "Massacre at Mountain Meadows" lists the names of nearly 90 persons "known or strongly believed to have perished" in the massacre.

Who submits to the will of God, regardless of their race, nationality or ethnic background. Becoming a Muslim is a simple and easy process that requires no pre-requisites. One may convert alone in privacy, or he/she may do so in the presence of others. If anyone has a real desire to be a Muslim and has full conviction and strong belief that Islam is the true religion of God, then, all one needs to do is pronounce the “Shahada”, the testimony of faith, without further delay. The “Shahada” is the first and most important of the five pillars of Islam. With the pronunciation of this testimony, or “Shahada”, with sincere belief and conviction, one enters the fold of Islam. Upon entering the fold of Islam purely for the Pleasure of God, all of one’s previous sins are forgiven, and one starts a new life of piety and righteousness. The Prophet said to a person who had placed the condition upon the Prophet in accepting Islam that God would forgive his sins: “Do you not know that accepting Islam destroys all sins which come before it?” (Saheeh Muslim) When one accepts Islam, they in essence repent from the ways and beliefs of their previous life. One need not be overburdened by sins committed before their acceptance. The person’s record is clean, and it is as if he was just born from his mother’s womb. One should try as much as possible to keep his records clean and strive to do as many good deeds as possible. The Holy Quran and Hadeeth (prophetic sayings) both stress the importance of following Islam. God states:  “…The only religion in the sight of God is Islam…” (Quran 3:19)

In another verse of the Holy Quran, God states:

“If anyone desires a religion other than Islam, never will it be accepted of him; and in the Hereafter, he will be in the ranks of those who have lost (their selves in the Hellfire).” (Quran 3:85)

In another saying, Muhammad, the Prophet of God, said:

“Whoever testifies that there in none worthy of being worshipped but God, Who has no partner, and that Muhammad is His slave and Prophet, and that Jesus is the Slave of God, His Prophet, and His word[1] which He bestowed in Mary and a spirit created from Him; and that Paradise (Heaven) is true, and that the Hellfire is true, God will eventually admit him into Paradise, according to his deeds.” (Saheeh Al-Bukhari)

The Prophet of God, may the blessing and mercy of God be upon him, also reported:

“Indeed God has forbidden to reside eternally in Hell the person who says: “I testify that none has the right to worship except Allah (God),’ seeking thereby the Face of God.” (Saheeh Al-Bukhari)

The Declaration of the Testimony (Shahada)
To convert to Islam and become a Muslim a person needs to pronounce the below testimony with conviction and understanding its meaning:

I testify “La ilah illa Allah, Muhammad rasoolu Allah.”

The translation of which is:

“I testify that there is no true god (deity) but God (Allah), and that Muhammad is a Messenger (Prophet) of God.”

To hear it click here or click on “Live Help” above for assistance by chat.

When someone pronounces the testimony with conviction, then he/she has become a Muslim.  It can be done alone, but it is much better to be done with an adviser through the “Live Help” at top, so we may help you in pronouncing it right and to provide you with important resources for new Muslims.

The first part of the testimony consists of the most important truth that God revealed to mankind: that there is nothing divine or worthy of being worshipped except for Almighty God. God states in the Holy Quran:

“We did not send the Messenger before you without revealing to him: ‘none has the right to be worshipped except I, therefore worship Me.’” (Quran 21:25)

This conveys that all forms of worship, whether it be praying, fasting, invoking, seeking refuge in, and offering an animal as sacrifice, must be directed to God and to God alone. Directing any form of worship to other than God (whether it be an angel, a messenger, Jesus, Muhammad, a saint, an idol, the sun, the moon, a tree) is seen as a contradiction to the fundamental message of Islam, and it is an unforgivable sin unless it is repented from before one dies. All forms of worship must be directed to God only.

Worship means the performance of deeds and sayings that please God, things which He commanded or encouraged to be performed, either by direct textual proof or by analogy. Thus, worship is not restricted to the implementation of the five pillars of Islam, but also includes every aspect of life. Providing food for one’s family, and saying something pleasant to cheer a person up are also considered acts of worship, if such is done with the intention of pleasing God. This means that, to be accepted, all acts of worship must be carried out sincerely for the Sake of God alone.

The second part of the testimony means that Prophet Muhammad is the servant and chosen messenger of God. This implies that one obeys and follows the commands of the Prophet. One must believe in what he has said, practice his teachings and avoid what he has forbidden. One must therefore worship God only according to his teaching alone, for all the teachings of the Prophet were in fact revelations and inspirations conveyed to him by God.

One must try to mold their lives and character and emulate the Prophet, as he was a living example for humans to follow. God says:

“And indeed you are upon a high standard of moral character.” (Quran 68:4)

God also said:

“And in deed you have a good and upright example in the Messenger of God, for those who hope in the meeting of God and the Hereafter, and mentions God much.” (Quran 33:21)

He was sent in order to practically implement the Quran, in his saying, deeds, legislation as well as all other facets of life. Aisha, the wife of the Prophet, when asked about the character of the Prophet, replied:

“His character was that of the Quran.” (As-Suyooti)

To truly adhere to the second part of the Shahada is to follow his example in all walks of life. God says:

“Say (O Muhammad to mankind): ‘If you (really) love God, then follow me.’” (Quran 3:31)

It also means that Muhammad is the Final Prophet and Messenger of God, and that no (true) Prophet can come after him.

“Muhammad is not the father of any man among you but he is the Messenger of God and the last (end) of the Prophets and God is Ever All-Aware of everything.” (Quran 33:40)

All who claim to be prophets or receive revelation after Muhammad are imposters, and to acknowledge them would be tantamount to disbelief. We welcome you to Islam, congratulate you for your decision, and will try to help you in any way we can.

SPTEMBER 1,2008 is the first day where ramadan started,that all the muslims should fast because that is one of the five pillars in ISLAM and the holy momth as well…Since that i was converted into Islam its my responsibility also to fast as a muslim.Fsting not just because i am a muslim but at the same time fasting is good for the health and spiritually as well…so, to all the muslims in the world i incourage you to fast this holy momth of ramadan,GO BLESS US ALL!