Strange story
I found this to be a nice, funny story from Iraq and an example of how Americans and Arabs can work together for the better good.
This picture is too good not to post:
(caption)U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Dale Horn, right, of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., speaks with a villager and Mohammed Ismail Ahmed, left, a local sheik. Horn's assistance to locals prompted them to make him a sheik.
U.S. soldier's aid to Iraqis earns him title of sheik
By Antonio Castaneda
The Associated Press
Salt Lake Tribune
QAYYARAH, Iraq - Sheik Horn floats around the room in white robe and headdress, exchanging pleasantries with dozens of village leaders.
But he is the only sheik with blonde streaks in his mustache - and the only one who attended country music star Toby Keith's recent concert in Baghdad with fellow U.S. soldiers.
Officially, he is Army Staff Sgt. Dale L. Horn, but to residents of the 37 villages and towns that he patrols he is known as the American sheik.
Sheiks, or village elders, are known as the real power in rural Iraq. And the 5-foot-6-inch Floridian's ascension to the esteemed position came through humor and the military's need to clamp down on rocket attacks.
Late last year a full-blown battle between insurgents and U.S. and Iraqi forces had erupted, and U.S. commanders assigned a unit to stop rocket and mortar attacks that regularly hit their base. Horn, who had been trained to operate radar for a field artillery unit, was now thrust into a job that largely hinged on coaxing locals into divulging information about insurgents.
Horn, 25, a native of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., acknowledges he had little interest in the region before coming here. But a local sheik friendly to U.S. forces, Mohammed Ismail Ahmed, explained the inner workings of rural Iraqi society on one of Horn's first Humvee patrols.
Horn says he was intrigued, and started making a point of stopping by all the villages, all but one dominated by Sunni Arabs, to talk to people about their life and security problems.
Moreover, he pressed for development projects in the area: he now boasts that he helped funnel $136,000 worth of aid into the area. Part of that paid for delivery of clean water to 30 villages during the broiling summer months.
Mohammed, Horn's mentor, eventually suggested during a meeting of village leaders that Horn be named a sheik.
Some sheiks later gave him five sheep and a postage stamp of land, fulfilling some of the requirements for sheikdom. Others encouraged him to start looking for a second wife, which Horn's spouse back in Florida immediately vetoed.
Strange story
story as in news
Is there some rule that Sheiks have to be Muslims?format_quote Originally Posted by Hashim
Yes we know what kind of local sheikh this is, who deals with the kuffaar, tell him to grow a beard before he thinks he is a sheik and before he calls kufaar who are waging war on islaam sheikh.
Obviously there are some Muslims who do not agree with your opinions.
yes.format_quote Originally Posted by imaad_udeen
format_quote Originally Posted by Ansar Al-'Adl
yes.
okay. according to whom? Does it apply to Iraqi villages?
I have yet to find anything which says a Sheik has to be a Muslim.
Most say they are "older men, wise men, religious leaders, tribal or village leaders, man of respect, etc."
It's good to see some happyness once in a while
format_quote Originally Posted by imaad_udeenokay. according to whom? Does it apply to Iraqi villages?
I have yet to find anything which says a Sheik has to be a Muslim.
Most say they are "older men, wise men, religious leaders, tribal or village leaders, man of respect, etc."
Okay, I assumed you were using 'Sheik' to refer to an Islamic scholar of certain qualifications, the first being that he is a Muslim. However, if you meant a tribal leader, wise man, older man, etc. as the word 'sheik' can be used for such meanings as well, then it is obvious that they need not be Muslim to be considered such.
format_quote Originally Posted by Ansar Al-'Adl
Okay, I assumed you were using 'Sheik' to refer to an Islamic scholar of certain qualifications, the first being that he is a Muslim. However, if you meant a tribal leader, wise man, older man, etc. as the word 'sheik' can be used for such meanings as well, then it is obvious that they need not be Muslim to be considered such.
No, I using the term as it refers to this article. Obviously this American soldiers is not a Muslim. But the title was conferred on him by some tribal and village leaders/elders for all the hard work he did to help the area become more stable.
It appears sheik has many meanings and since the title is older than Islam and the Prophet(pbuh) himself, I would assume it has more meaning than just a Muslim Holy man.
Im a sheikh, youre a sheikh, hes a sheikh, everyones a sheikh...
*bobs head up and down*
ahem, astaghfirullah, how can you make a non muslim a sheikh???
I don't know, but there were Sheik's before there were Muslims....format_quote Originally Posted by TEHIm a sheikh, youre a sheikh, hes a sheikh, everyones a sheikh...
*bobs head up and down*
ahem, astaghfirullah, how can you make a non muslim a sheikh???
It's an Arabic word which is not only a Muslim term. 99.9% of Sheiks probably are Muslims, but I have yet to hear anyone say that only Muslims can be Sheiks,
Also, different regions and cultures have different traditions.
Obviously this area of Iraq can give out honorary Sheikdom's to those who are worthy and they obviously found this man worthy.
Just because he is American does not make him evil. He is obviously a good man no matter his nationality, skin color or religion and that is all that matters.
As I mentioned before, its clear that the article is using the term as an honorary title, which is, within the scope of Islam, essentially meaningless. If they wish to consider him a respected leader, so be it.
Either way I hope insha'Allah he is killed by a road side bomb.
I can't decide if that's the funniest or the scariest thing I've read today.format_quote Originally Posted by sonofadam
Also, can we lay off the knee-jerk America-bashing please? As Ansar clarified, 'sheikh' can mean things other than the Islamic definition. I personally found this story kind of amusing.
Me too.format_quote Originally Posted by Muezzin
format_quote Originally Posted by sonofadam
That would be a shame since the man is obviously committed to helping Muslims.
Same to youEither way I hope insha'Allah he is killed by a road side bomb
format_quote Originally Posted by HashimIf this was true then he will get out of the country immeditly and speak against the illegal occupation of islamic land.
I don't think so. An American withdrawal will do nothing but spark civil war and death on a scale far greater than what has happened thus far.
It is also a completely legal 'occupation' since the current Iraqi government has requested the continued presence of allied forces.
Allow me to preempt your rebuttal, the current Iraqi government is democratic and represented in the United Nations.
If the invasion was illegal, then how come the government formed on the invasion is viewed as being legal by the worlds governing body?
lol i'm looking forward to Hashim's answer
UN Security Council Resolution 1441 was all that the US needed to justify it's invasion.format_quote Originally Posted by Hashim
The answer is simple my brothers. The war was illegal, was it not? The invasion is ilegal and they went against UN, it was of course illegal. This government point, they do not reprresent iraqi's. they are US imposed puppet regime, and its no wonder they are being gunned down every day in Iraq.
Besides, the US never surrendered it's right to self-defense to the UN. Hence, whenever the US feels its security is threatened it is free to act in defense of itself.
I thought Saddam's government was also a 'US imposed puppet regime.' How come they were not being gunned down every day?
The invasion was perfectly legal.
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