news has never been more available but the message is simplistic and misinformation is rife listening post provides a critical counterpoint challenging main stream of the do narrative at this time on al-jazeera. i know i'm in london here's a look at the day's top stories we've been following the developments at the united nations where we are expecting a vote very shortly on a thirty day cease fire in syria the vote was set to take place at six hundred g.m.t. that's a couple of hours ago but there's been a great deal of wrongly wrangling behind the scenes by diplomats in order to reach

an agreement on a text that can then be voted on a diplomatic editor james baker is following all of this at u.n. headquarters in new york what is happening with this resolution james. four hours ago was the original time for the vote we've had to postpone moments we were told it was then going to go ahead half an hour ago two thirty in new york time still a delay most of the ambassadors huddled in the corals around the security council the delay is negotiations with russia they are coming back with amendments to this resolution most of them concern the timing of this ceasefire they've already offered the swedes and the kuwaitis who are drafting this resolution to change some things for example the resolution was supposed to start its work very quickly within seventy two hours of the security council meeting that now has been taken

out of the new version the resolution but still the negotiations continue as we speak all the ambassadors of waiting to take their seats in the chamber but still not a draft resolution a text that they're ready to vote on yet now and talks continue that united nations in order to break that deadlock james bays stay across everything there as we see if a vote on a cease fire in syria will take place i want to move on to our other top stories the u.s. president donald trump has actually has been speaking about syria during a media briefing with the australian prime minister malcolm turnbull he criticized the role played by allies of the syrian government i will say what russia and what iran and what syria have done recently is a humanitarian disgrace i will tell you that we're there for one reason we're there to get isis and get rid of isis and go home we're not there for any other reason

and we've largely accomplished our goal but what those three countries have done to people over the last short period of time is a disgrace. meanwhile on the ground in eastern syria residents a saying they have they are losing hope. in seven news two of my sons have gone and one of their wives and my daughter everything is gone murphy lives there for you have is that we've been to many shelters but there was nobody to look after us north droops nothing we are taking care of four children and one of my daughters gave birth four months ago no one helped us they didn't even offer milk for the baby. who had been made as if we only have our clothes in the show says we are staying in the dark have a look at these stood look at the trash and water what can we do this doesn't make

any sense this is life under shelling. officials in northeast nigeria have apologized for telling the parents of dozens of missing schoolgirls that their daughters had been rescued the false announcement sparked outrage among concerned families in the town of bay state a girls were taken from their school in by boko haram fighters on monday night and at least one hundred one girls are still missing. the united states has confirmed it will open its new embassy to israel in jerusalem in may the opening will coincide with the seventieth anniversary of israel's founding but its much earlier than expected as vice president mike pence had suggested the move would not take place until two thousand and nineteen. and the united nations refugee agency is in the international community to help with humanitarian efforts in the central african republic the agency says half of the population requires assistance fighting between various armed groups plunge the country into

a civil conflict in two thousand and thirteen will have more news in about twenty five minutes time say without. hello and welcome to rewind i'm richelle carey and the decade since we launched al-jazeera english back in two thousand and six we have built a library of moving and powerful documentaries here army wine revisiting some of

the best of them and looking at how the story has new dawn today we are rewinding ten years to two thousand and eight and rug omar set out on a unique journey across the united states to get to the heart of what it meant to be muslim in america and that was back in the decade of nine eleven and the iraq war that followed since then of course the world has turned with the rise of isis the political upheavals that followed the arab spring the chaos of us and gulf first libya then syria and of course the election of donald trump and his travel ban so today it's more important than ever to understand the history of a vibrant diverse and still growing muslim community and what it means to be both muslim and a patriot here's islam in america from two thousand and eight. oh say. cecil i want to take your brother this way because that.

would. be his. hand. you. mention america and islam and most people think of irreconcilable conflict but i suspect that's not the whole story in this two part series i hope to discover the truth relationship that's evolving between the two. there is said to be eight million muslims in the united states and the faith is said to be the fastest growing religion in this country and the roots and history of islam a longer than most people are aware of i want to travel across this huge country to find out the stories of what it's like to be an american. in this program

all the searching for the origins of islam in america talking to african-americans who had just discovering that own islamic history and exploring is being american fits comfortably with being muslim. my journey begins with a trip to minneapolis in the midwest it may seem an old destination for a program on islam because its citizens are mostly jewish and christian but in two thousand and seven voters here elected america's first muslim congressman keith ellison. keith back on the campaign trail on a most significant anniversary today is juneteenth it commemorates june nineteenth eight hundred sixty fine. the abolition of slavery these are local political activists and they're coming on the parade to get people in this community fired up about voting about the holts of their efforts

a young muslims playing their part trying to get congressman keith ellison the first muslim in congress reelected. oh good spirit nice to see you keith ellison is a charismatic politician who's keen to get young muslim started in politics well you know we're just have a going out here you know keith introduces me to his intent. would you say just sort of young muslims living in other parts of the world would think being a muslim in america is a very tough thing and such are i mean there's advantages there's disadvantages we definitely have a lot more opportunity is that it's kind of difficult going up any different especially where i'm from it's a stance and the only muslim in my school dealing with some of my high school so that's definitely a challenge but once you get past that you know you can there's so many different avenues so many different opportunities for you to connect with and what it's like to be able to come into the united states get challenging and rewarding on the same time but i think the most important thing to remember is that you don't you know

what we can make you know if we want and i encourage all muslims around the world to actually do the same you know please get to know your elected officials will it all that's the only way you can make a difference. well that's going to get. you guys who are happy to see you know this is when the slaves got free right this is a great example of the american author of glad handing it's the way to the electoral heart of the nation how candidates meet their votes is and has paid off for keith here in minneapolis and it's worked elsewhere now americans have elected to muslims to congress. all these historically been on the margins of american society now come in you know when there's enough. everybody right now. for those muslims around the world in western countries who have no idea about the community here how would you say life is for muslims in america at the

moment all yes american like you don't hear about people getting cassel in the airport you know there's a long way to go obsolete because impression i mean come from britain in terms of sure muslims is a base level is hiding under their beds. that's broadly speaking that muslim living is really the beast not only did i not only did i just get elected by an overwhelmingly jewish christian community so did andre carson who's a muslim here in indiana so people need to not look for excuses to just again you have to get involved you have to run the risk that you're going to encounter bumps in a long way but you still have to seen him yeah. and certainly keith needed the votes of christians and jews to get elected but there's a community of forty four thousand somali muslims here the biggest in america they even have their own t.v. network and they got behind chief. the somali t.v. of minnesota and we're so glad to have you today. ok ready let's focus to.

him you know. i think muslims in european countries. believe that you know they joy the greatest freedoms in the muslim communities in the west are thriving most of all in europe and when they think about the position of muslims in america to be honest with you i think they think that the numbers are tiny before i caught the plane here actually i was with my mom and i said who are you as we say in somalia. how many muslims you think they're on in the whole of the united states and she said hundred thousand hundred fifty thousand you know the whole you know in the whole united states but i mean as i understand there is anywhere between five and eight men. i mean when you think about america as a land of opportunity and sort of seizing things with both maybe the sort of you know the next rock humas if i could be so arrogant as to say that will come from

him because you. think so. i have distant relatives in the somali community here they were among the first to escape the civil war that's been raging in my homeland off and on for decades twenty years on and the new wave of refugees has arrived from somalia some of just graduated college and throwing a party to celebrate their achievements we came here to take advantage of the opportunities here at the same time to keep our identity as muslims we're all going through the same experiences let's not forget our identity and let's give back to the community. i'm a very blessed person because. excuse me i get a little bit emotional. we've been given so much you know we've gone through so much but you read the news it's happening at home i have nothing to complain about . after that we need some laughs so i went to

welcome i am doing. thank you very much but the problem is that is beginning to be so money i get better than me. but he's a big shot making me about it you know who knows that is that i you know among. the you know was at the height. of the. my adopted home england has a bigger somali community the minneapolis and it's been settled for longer but they do tend to think of england as home my parents a typical their mental bags are still packed to return to somalia but that's not true here. these somalis no less god all traumatized by their experiences have planted roots deeper and faster than any somali community i've seen in the world they don't talk of returning home they are growing up and i said. i don't want to.

tell you stuff and it's a message that came across loud and clear and i was still hearing it in the taxi to the airport with a cell of the list of the states two years thirteen years you know and you came from my list somalia. and mother disha yeah i was born there having been there for a long time a lot of problems last fifteen seventeen years. in england and we somalis you know we're not that organized you know here in america you don't organize if you don't vote if you don't but disobey the american way of living you last saw you know but that's the way to be visible that's the word to get heard yes can you be muslim and american up to yes you have to sacrifice one to be the all you have to be american first and you have to do what the other americans decent fison alive to defending america because this is our country this is feel that you know when you

don't think about going back. to my life defending this country. i get the welcoming i get. that's a powerful statement compared to where i come from how we were how i was you know slaughter a friend of mine who died the war where we come where i come from coming here. you know having what i have. is home. minnesota is a liberal state in the democratic heartland of the midwest a welcoming place for the somalis the latest black immigrants to establish themselves in america but in the early years of its history america was the very opposite of welcoming for the first africans to reach these shores. for three hundred years africans were brought here in chains

a slave labor i'm heading to jackson mississippi in the deep south to meet some of the descendants of those first african-americans because it seems that their history minds of the hearts of the story of islam in america. this impressive looking building is actually the state capital of mississippi and i'll be honest i've come with my own really strong preconceptions about the south for me it's about being in the hearts of the bible belt it's about prejudice and the history of segregation but actually being told that the story of islam in america begins of all places here centuries before muhammad ali or malcolm x. and it's a story that begins with slavery. it starts here because most of the slave ship from africa came to work the plantations of the south among them were muslims. forbidding from practicing their faith they found secret ways to

keep islam alive calling the faithful to prayer here in mississippi is abdul rashid he believes that one way they achieve this was through. the africans that leaves it here as slaves people lose came from mississippi i don't think so i've been hearing about the link between the call to prayer and the songs the slaves used to sing in the fields are they similar the call to prayer . are if you ever went to a baptist church and you can hear this in a baptist church all of the. this is a specialism but this is an. archipelago.

singing the whole congregation to sing you know. love. the crown. is the be called the entire koran which basically chanted yesus you know and i was that chanted basically in that minor scale you see that connection to you and your singing things that had deeply embedded within the sort of african-american experience in the blues not only that but that was one of the things that. guided me to islam really yes the music when you started reading when i was introduced to the koran and that was founded there as well founded this well. so i think from my opinion this is just why opinion and with my opinion about her and something you go to the coffee maker but this is my opinion that this entire movement is a spiritual and is geared toward islam. like abdul

more and more people of all ethnicities are finding their way to islam a third of all muslims in america about two million a converts the people at the mosque in jackson convinced that this is having a positive impact on the entire nation o'connor was she is one of the founding members here today have you heard so much about it yet. and we're just happy to have a caller who is involved in a new research project with twenty five other historians they believe their discoveries will not only rewrite the history of islam in america but transform our understanding of african cultures i think we're leading the way actually. as part of this initiative a co-founded the international museum of muslim cultures the first in america researches suggests the number of muslim slaves was much greater than previously sold one third of all the things slave to africans that were brought to america

actually were muslims nobody knows this is new cutting edge information because when we read our history books we don't see that we have one of the great stories here in mississippi in a place called natchez mississippi we have the story of our prince abdul-rahman ybor he he was an african muslim prince and scholar came out of the area around gambia and he was actually slave to matches for over forty years and we have that story but but you're a combination of all these things that's unique here to the to the deep south on she i mean africa american and muslim and why. why is it important to stress i mean in this example in your work this missing link of islam in this in this week's the most important reason is that it's going to help the african-american to become a first class citizen an opposed to

a second class citizen and this whole standing up for rights fight for freedom leading the whole effort in america for reforming america and bringing america to respect its own constitution all blending is really was that's what makes me optimistic about the future. this corner of the exhibition is really interesting because you've goals real evidence of this link between islam and slavery in mississippi and it him of the man who was known as the prince among slaves who was sold into slavery for forty years before winning his freedom and going to live as a free man in liberia and i understand that there are his descendants still living in the united states and i'm going to try and find them.

i now see that what's up the heart of the story of islam in america is the story of slavery and on this issue america was divided as early as the seven hundred seventy s. some americans were calling for the abolition of slavery one of these thomas jefferson proposed forming a colony in africa to take freed slaves but it wasn't until eight hundred sixty three after the civil war that slavery was finally abolished with it came the economic collapse of the southern states which depended on slaves the big plantations fell to ruin and two million freed slaves headed for the northern cities. for those who stayed behind life remained brutal well into the twentieth century lynching and murder where every day facts of life african-americans across the south. african-americans have been telling me that here in mississippi a place and i've always associated with prejudice they can now be muslim without prejudice and that this is an essential part of being

a muslim in america the fight against prejudice and the struggle to be free and it was in pursuit of this struggle that in the early part of the twentieth century millions of african-americans abandoned the south and they headed north which is where i'm going next. i'm catching the night train to chicago following in the footsteps of millions of freed slaves to the city by the promise of jobs in the factories and stockyards. with the hope of living a life free from prejudice but they did have another option to sail from liberia the colony america established for free to slaves in africa. it was a stark choice scratchie living in america's ghettos will build

a nation from scratch the muslim prince ibrahim of mississippi better color told me about was among the first to sail from liberia where he dreamt of establishing islam but the early settlers encountered little bit disease and hardship and prince ibrahim barely saw the completion of the first settlement before he died. martin liberia has suffered a succession of civil wars and feeling the last of these was abraham's great great great great grandson who's turned this story on its head he fled war to liberia to find freedom in america his name is optimist game. that i want to civil war started in liberia i came to this country and it was just a shift as an honest and in my own country's history that i spent hours in the library just trying to find. the history of the mississippi to liberia and in a defined oh yes there were ships there was a ship manifesto and along the ship's name all of great ground by this name his

name was. he was one of the sons of. remodel who was and was a prince but also clearly by his name a muslim a muslim was very important to realize that your own astute son's. medicine and that for me was like winning the lottery on the rare amazing. reverse to come from africa. have the come from africa. refuge enough for chicago as a place into lead to a place for me is spiritual home for me in above all it has one of the largest collection of books in africa way in africa it's right here in chicago how important was that up to your relative was a muslim this country has to understand its roots especially when it comes to african-american is an islamic groups african-american should not see that as just a religion it is a heritage and

a good thing about it people respect each other here you know in the midst of all of this is diversity so that's something that you've got what has that we will say shills what it means when people in. all merge. artemus has a good point chicago is culturally very diverse and it has an large muslim community big enough to justify this celebration of arab culture it's the second year running the city is celebrating its links with the middle east for those for whom the slaves who fled the south a little over one hundred years ago the transformation of this city would be unbelievable. african-americans came to chicago as parts of one of the largest human migrations of the twenty. centry they were leaving the segregated and racist south in search of a new life in what many hoped would be a promised land and it was out of this experience that was born the first american

muslim movements and it was known as a nation of islam. in the one nine hundred thirty s. a radical idea began to spread through the cities of america the idea that white people were irredeemably evil form the coolness stone of the nation of islam used the ology combined islam and black nationalism the nation's message appeal to african-americans who'd fled the bigotry of the south by the one nine hundred fifty s. the nation had around one hundred thousand members led by in large. part . in. the wood gave the nation some credibility were high profile members including the boxer caches clay who took the name. and the radical charismatic activist malcolm x. in the present situation don't know the political power. that they can put the man

in the white house so they can take the man out of the white house but in one thousand nine hundred sixty five off the leaving the movement malcolm x. was assassinated defection sooden off to a larger mama died most of the membership converted to mainstream islam. i'm on a bit of a pilgrimage south of chicago to meet a man who's had a profound effect on the story of islam in america he's the son of john muhammad but he led the largest single conversion to mainstream islam that america has ever seen. i would have. the most little. clues. on the nineteenth of december twenty sixth mahmoud hussein was detained by the egyptian authorities he remains behind bars without a trial al-jazeera world investigates his case and media repression in egypt

journalism is not a crime this time on al-jazeera. jussi or. where ever you. know i maryam namazie in london here's a quick roundup of the top stories on al-jazeera united nations security council is due to vote on a resolution demanding a thirty day truce in syria to allow for agent of reason medical evacuations the vote has repeatedly been delayed though because of a flurry of last minute talks with russia seeking guarantees that rebel fighters

will not shoot into residential parts of the capital damascus meanwhile inside syria a new wave of bomb to strike a rebel held enclave near the capital for six straight days syrian government and allied warplanes have pound at the densely populated area of eastern ghouta or than four hundred forty three people have died in the offensive since sunday. well u.s. president donald trump has been speaking about syria in a media briefing with the australian prime minister malcolm turnbull he criticized the role played by allies of the syrian government i will say what russia and what iran and what syria have done recently is a humanitarian disgrace i will tell you that we're there for one reason we're there to get isis and get rid of isis and go home we're not there for any other reason and we've largely accomplished our goal but what those three countries have done to people over the last short period of time is a disgrace and our other headlines officials in northeast nigeria have apologized

for telling the parents of dozens of missing schoolgirls that that daughters had been rescued the false announcement sparked outrage among concerned families in the town of chain yo bay state the girls were taken from their school by boko haram fighters on monday night at least one hundred one girls are still missing. the united states has confirmed it will open its new embassy to israel in jerusalem in may the opening will coincide with the seventieth anniversary of israel's founding but it is much uglier than expected as vice president mike pence that suggested the move wouldn't take place until two thousand and nineteen the united nations refugee agency is the international community to help with humanitarian efforts in the central african republic the agency says half of the population require as urgent assistance fighting between various armed groups plunge the country into a civil conflict in two thousand and thirteen but as the headlines we'll have more

on everything we're covering in the news hour in twenty five minutes time to join me then rewind now continues. imaam wallerstein mohammed lives modestly here in chicago he became the head of the nation of islam when his father in larger mohamad died in one thousand nine hundred seventy five wallerstein persuaded most of the nation to adopt mainstream islam and he changed the nation's name to the world community of islam in the west there were some very startling ideas. has yet to tell us about some of the it was a myth to destroy we had a myth of the origins of the white race as grafted there were the black men you know as man and the black and black people were gods and the whites were devils as an exactly exactly but what made you break with the nation of islam that it

didn't it didn't take nothing but a child's brain for me to do that out about eleven or twelve when i was there was wrong then you became a sunni muslim well i don't make a big deal about sony you know when i lay my mainstream us you became a mainstream muslim yes and really the importance of it how it would affect not only muslims but christians too. was not realize ballasts in one thousand nine hundred five in what way was it important turning that means a lack of nationalists movement as extreme as ours believing what we believe in the race if you could make a one hundred eighty degree turn and join the muslims of the world good christians and of the good people of this earth is amazing but when you look from the middle east to europe thinking of america as a bad place to be a muslim it's like living in the belly of the beast now heard that how would you

say that life is like for people well we know things that happened to make america peer ugly in the eyes of citizens of this country and that is the world that if we can see america the beautiful that has advanced against america the ugly successfully. then i'm sure that we would recognize that america is the most fertile soul we have for x. davening our religion and our future for our children grandchildren and children to come and then my journey across america i want to find america the beautiful. where will i find that kind of things should i look for the concept of citizenry how citizenry it is that race. in the constitution the united states based upon the equality of man and i feel very strongly that the founding fathers indeed and. a world that would welcome muslims and others from across the waters not only

christians. seems to be an incredible transformation in only thirty years ago chicago was the most racially divided city in america it had a white supremacist movement and a black separatist movement it saw some of the worst racial violence in the entire country i'm amazed what i'm hearing from people like optimists and wallerstein and it seems chicago is becoming much more at ease with its own diverse population its a rich city where life is improving on many fronts better public education karma race relations and overall the crime statistics show a big improvement. but there is still a dark side to the city because even though the city has cracked down and arrested gang leaders gang violence is getting worse i've been here for three days and nine

people have been killed in gang warfare. islam has made huge gains in chicago which is home to the largest number of african-american muslims in the u.s. thirty years ago they had only one mosque today they have more than forty to choose from now islam has a new battle to win trying to loosen the hold the gangs have on chicago's south side this news and i'm heading to the south side to visit the city's first halfway house for muslim x. prisoners its aim is to provide an alternative to life in the gangs the man who runs this project has served twelve years for murder like many x. offenders he converted to islam in prison his name is. rafi peterson. we used to go

in the cook county jail division eleven which is in the like maximum security and then. we thing so many brothers we did there for like six years and then we seen so many brothers coming home and going right back right we realized that we needed so its mission to fall back and most be in must have been very hard for a lot of you've known as if you come back and you've got to make money you got to make ends meet not only that even with a lot of brothers that convert to islam and institutions. they would rather than the institutions so we know that you have to have an environment for the brothers to get a foothold when they get out and so we want to national housing service said look my. gosh and how is this. can we get one right and he said i'm no good you can have what we have in a lot of problems with you know we can do a little bad way when you first saw this was goofy everywhere and here this is

again the gang house it was boarded up you know and the neighbors and stuff with afraid to say and thinking what are you to call the police on these guys the neighborhood is feeling the benefits of this project but that's no rule it's having a positive impact on new still in prison. and you know to sing more more i mean african americans coming to islam i mean especially in in prison. they already have it in the south they need somebody to bring it out. so fast they see it. like this you know. this whole free house is a calm sensor in a neighborhood torn up by gun violence and rafi is not content to let murder and mayhem thrive on his doorstep. right here in this. right. you're going to drop a brother right here and they shot him in the. this is a very you have the. book in fast and they're. up this street here.

they say it's eighty eight thousand young people between the ages of eight to twenty five in this general area that we live in west a lot of. it's not teasing them down the street don't want to go down especially with a camera in the car this morning his own sound if you look down the street to street look like a ghost see all the. same thing down this way. having you drop in fast and also. sixty third i want to take you up six meters i mean you're living right now also so you know a lot of people. you know they know a lot of the brothers and even a lot of the brothers and. they don't like what i'm doing but they know that i got to do weeks ago they killed a brother that i get the best the store that they broke in on the corner they shot that place up the one thing that they did when they locked up all the real gang

chiefs in chicago they destabilize all of the gangs now there's no one individual who can come to me like you used to back in the day as a man they got control of the whole you know there's a madness of i mean they got to do what they got to do this the bottom. now you know could i understand why. you want to turn people away you got to turn into a song. and of course what rafi is trying to turn this neighborhood towards is islam. what do you think rushdie here in chicago would do you think islam is place in america i mean is it a growing one to go to a healthy future or not i think that islam can be the cure to america ills of openly aseptic. down barriers because we as muslim we spoke to be the best for humanity and i think islam in america has opportunity to really teach and show that that's what we are and that we can be. i have to admit i've come to america

with my own prejudices and misconceptions i thought that being muslim in america was a story of widespread fear discrimination and stereotyping but in the short time i've been here what i'm hearing from muslims is about opportunity constitutional rights and due process about having a stake in this country and being made to feel that they belong and as i travel across america what i want to find out is whether these ideas define not only what it means to be a muslim in america what it actually means to be an american muslim. and i'm getting the message that a great deal of what it means to be an american muslim is understanding your constitutional rights and how you go about being a good citizen and it's in washington the nation's capital where i'm hoping to

learn about citizenship the law of the land and the influence of islam in fact in something that would come as a huge surprise to most of us amongst the founding fathers one of the greatest thomas jefferson had his own koran in full of knowledge and. of islam's contribution to world civilization and one of the most famous monuments in the american capital over that is dedicated to him. a big part of the legacy of thomas jefferson in the founding fathers is freedom of expression it means a lot to americans including american muslims one of the most radical ways you can indulge this freedom is on stage through comedy. i mean washington d.c. about to get a lesson in free speech at a comedy club show you the rule nicholas berg's generation pakistani muslim woman she just won an ignite one is in america ruby nicholas won a national talent competition and became an overnight star my parents like when

they came to this country they told everyone they were pakistani muslim immigrants so that i wouldn't have to grow up with the stigma being known as hawaiian and that . this is my mom that when nation of easter to me and my sisters to story. good. east the jesus christ will come back from the dead. and he will give all of the good days in the night. but you know i mean. i make stitch. on the east the jesus christ will come out of the gate. and if he does not see his shadow. i.

will be six more weeks of chile i. think if you go to the ridiculous excuses in the. end there's always a mixed bag of reaction i mean there are some that really feel as though it is imminent you know there are though you know and there are others who just sort of take it in stride and what do you think i mean when you when you say you but you know your heritage in some ways quality is a way to disown people abound absolutely a little easier for people to handle some of the muslim terrorist takes a joke when you're me and you like i need to see you know i get totally different then you know a guy with a big beard and appears to look at a woman is it made sort of all the comics suddenly jump in there as well one thing to sort of talk about iraq you know yeah right they were mixed as

a whole tend to be a little more political and. and you have jumped into the mix in terms of taking liberties with making fun of muslims and islam a religion a little bit more than in the past opening up the conversation putting a stereotype on the table was a mess and so way to break it down for you. i mean i do sort of the battle area type area tell a cab driver job like that and and my mom called me in the head you should get people about the contribution that american muslims have made going to me we have the most educated we had the bless the boat we were. part of ruby's act is offending people and she's very good is it if she wants to say that jesus gives chocolate to children she can but the principles that underpin this freedom go way beyond providing material for comedians they provide the basis for the nur of this land and guarantee freedoms than

a carved in stone. 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 all the rights of people to peaceably assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances when people talk about the fundamental freedoms in shrines in the american constitution this is what they're talking about the first amendment and it's the reason why so many american muslims have been talking to me about the american constitution because it is they are free to practice their religion as muslims and they are free to speak their minds unlike so many muslims in muslim countries around the world and if anybody tries to oppress them in this country they can seek justice from the american government the fundamental freedoms guaranteed under islamic law not far from these american ideals and that's amazing when you realize the koran predates the constitution by a thousand years and there is evidence in washington that suggests america knows

it's indebted to islam for its own citizens inalienable rights to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. this is the supreme court in washington now we can't get into film because they're actually in session but what i wanted to show you is a free means which. in the room where the chief justice is actually sits and dispense justice. this frees pays homage to the ideas and principles that have inspired the american legal system and one of the foundation documents represented in this freeze is the koran. and in the nation's capital there are a few other references to islam largely unknown rarely seen the thomas jefferson building contains the library of congress the oldest cultural institution in washington which was completed in the nineteenth century around the dome of the reading room is a mural meant to represent the nations and ideas that contributed most to american civilization and it might come as

a surprise to historians that amongst the ideas represented here is islam. beneath this great meeting congressman keith ellison who i came across at the start of my journey in minneapolis so he tell me about when you took your oath of office because it was a copy of the koran not just any copy that was on this qur'an that we have right here before us and you know in fact this on which is a two volumes it has the initials t.j. it's grabbed right here thomas jefferson and so you know we said this was your reaction when you find the one of the founding fathers had his own copy of the koran i was gobsmacked. as a. huge head it was international. i didn't have much appreciation for why it would be a big deal that a muslim of the elect of the united states congress i thought the issue was going to be color. and i thought wow we've really made some great strides in terms of

racial justice when people don't care that i'm black anymore they just they just suggested zot duck about religion but do you think keith that for all the grassroots activism in the muslim community that at a national level the fact is that most americans are still afraid of islam americans i think are subject to fear just like any people in the world but i think this is deeply rooted tolerance in people and we've been through a moment to civil rights movement we've been through all kinds of social change movements all marching the country toward a greater level of equality and i think people are just not ready to try to cut anybody out of the deal but the fact is in the european context it's what it means to be a brit or a norwegians fairly tightly defined they would look like in what it means to be. yours you're certain colors certain cultures certain faith yes but in america cultures all colors our face even the most conservative american does not question my authenticity as an american you know we oppose social orthodox i mean

hierarchies and economic iraqis we're not saying we have social justice have been here we don't but but the fact is we don't question our authenticity as americans. on this journey i've met muslims who've made me rethink my prejudices about america muslims here realize something the rest of the world and possibly other americans have forgotten this country was born out of a revolutionary moment settlers first came here feeling religious persecution they overthrew a colonial monarchy they based their constitution on the ideals of the french revolution and radical thinkers like tom paine. and yes the prophet mohammed. but there's a much more recent moment in american history that has come to define america's relationship with islam.

you. are caught up with her. thinking about america's relationship with islam like everybody else i'm drawn immediately to one city and one moment and the events of september the eleventh two thousand and one in new york city changed that relationship between america and islam forever. and it must also have had an impact on american muslims for mohamed was with the new york city fire department on nine eleven will muslims like me then you know who died and some that died definitely muslims died there you know trying to help out. james

e was the army's muslim chaplain at guantanamo prison. i was being accused of espionage spying and aiding the enemy now these are capital crimes for in which military prosecutors even threaten me with the death penalty. they were distinctly american from of islam is emerging in the off to mouth of nine eleven our backs going to believe something unique is happening here the voice of the muslim woman has not been heard throughout the fourteen hundred years of islamic history now we need to hear from the women and it's only when you live in america that you are empowered to go forward with your idea of. islam and america from two thousand and eight as we know a lot has happened says globally with the rise of by. and in america itself where

terrorism has returned to american soil and president trump has introduced a travel ban which seems to many to target muslims so ten years on what is the position of islam in america realises a political analyst who lives and works in the united states and she joins us now rula thank you very much so you moved to the u.s. in two thousand and nine during that time what as a muslim what have you seen that has changed for muslims in america and i realize it's a broad question that what are the things that stick out to you well a lot of things changed we see major shifts in islamophobia and attacks against muslims in two thousand and fifteen and two thousand and sixteen and it's not a coincidence that the f.b.i. report about hate crimes islam a full big hate crimes in america skyrocketed in those years by far much more than in two thousand and one after nine eleven i just want to remind you that immediately after the election president trump banned six countries six muslim

countries and it looked like a persecution religious based persecution of one group based on the actions of individuals that are carried in pakistan maybe afghanistan iraq and elsewhere he went on attacking the first muslim mayor subject on immediately in the aftermath of a terrorist attack in london singling him out he did in fact act the mayor of barcelona after the attack or the mayor for any other city but he single out said the con because it is muslim and his brown this is the platform. on which he campaigned and his governing now so where are the voices of people that would traditionally be allies to push back against this type of dangerous rhetoric that sometimes also crosses over into violence where are those voices. i mean there are breyer voices we have some. muslim voices in america whether they

are intellectuals like razor. and others but three day we are in minority we are underrepresented in the political arena and in the media i mean i am the only one that gets invited invited to c.n.n. and i'm b.c.m. to others to explain why this rhetoric is so dangerous and it was it was used before remember europe in the thirty's when you go through the holocaust museum it's clear if thousand and it's written in the wall the holocaust did not start with a killing it started with words with violent words it started with politicians dividing people with them versus us it started with them and ising an entire group of people and criminalizing them and then that pave the way for the killing and for the gas gas chambers remember president bush after nine eleven pushed this narrative of

them versus us either you are with us or them that means if you challenge his views or his policies and decision then you are a terrorist and your label as a terrorist and many liberals jumped on that vaga. just want to remind you that president obama and he was elected the first accusation the berger movement that led and paved the way for trump to win the election what was he accused off of being a secret muslim that he is a crypto muslim and america is fighting a monster today that is called the country off white supremacy is basically the pure race and in the name of the pure race every minority is an enemy and that will be the final word rula jebreal thank you so much for joining us thank you for having me. that is it from us join us again next week and do check the rewind page it's al jazeera dot com for more films from this series and richelle carey thank you for joining us you can't sing.

how i would say some massive down poles into piles of queensland australia was a crowd showing up on the satellite pitch a while ago cosa sunshine coast pushing up towards cape york peninsula and in they'd across the gulf of carpentaria breastbone has seen sixty three millimeters the fright and twenty four as little further north they would have a hundred eighteen millimeters of rain in twenty four hours loss of thunderheads haven more thundering down poles as we go on through the next few days right up

through kansas pushing a little further north was more very wet weather coming through for the southeast slushy dry not a bad little humid them into melbourne twenty six celsius we'll see that change as we go on into the part of next week twenty four past should be a lousy dry chance of want to see showers as we go on into sunday the shallows they continue across the top and more the possible straight in sequence that into the southeastern corner that we got in melbourne now will move them around twenty degrees celsius it will fill a good deal fresher the cloud and rain moving out of victoria will slide its way across the tasman sea and yes he's heading towards new zealand so we will see the west the weather eventually pushing towards the south of the sas day sunday that's that rain really will set in here further north should be lossy fondant dry out in oakland at twenty four degrees.

on counting the cost how corrupt is your country transparency international has the latest global rankings venezuela makes history by launching a crypto currency can south africa plug a hole in its finances as cape town faces a water shortage counting the cost at this time. this is zero. hello i'm maryanne demasi this is the news hour live from london coming up in the next sixty minutes. incendiary bombs rain down.