“What is your real name?”
Mike Ghouse, that is my real name.
Since I stepped onto this soil, there is not a week that has passed without being asked, “What is your real name” and I say, “It is Ghouse; Mike Mohamed Ghouse” and I have been uttering this sentence for the last 40 years.
There are three funny and serious stories about the name.
First of all, the name “Mike” is not copyrighted or patented; it is a name like any other name for anyone to have. Secondly, the names are cultural, you choose a name because someone in your family relates to that name or likes it because that person is in your folklore. Thirdly, the names or not religious, neither the Quran, Bible, Torah, Gita or any book for that matter provides names for the parents to select from a list. Lastly for my fellow Americans, for the purpose of clarification, the name “Mike” or “Michael” has been in India much before it was adopted in Europe. And those few Muslims who ask, I have the answers for them in this essay.
Added: 5/24/15: A handful of Muslims and Hindus who hate the idea of
Pluralism, and cook up stories about me without knowing a thing – all they have to do is ask or Google. There was one who questioned the Aligarh Muslim University for listing me as a high profile speaker, and I shared this article with him but he did not get it, he still called me names for choosing “Mike.”
Another Muslim wrote extensively about me decrying that I chose the name to kiss-ass the white people. A right-wing Hindus wrote that I am deceiving the Americans with the name by pretending to be a Christian. None of them had visited my website, I am from Bangalore but they were quoting Mumbai or Hyderabad and one even wrote I was from Cochin. It amazes me how little these men are. I am glad to hear that, I belong to the whole nation.
Why Mike?
My birth name is Mohamed Ghouse and Sardar is my alias name, the name which my family, a few close friends and my townspeople call me, and it is a tradition in Bangalore for my generation to have an alias name. My chosen legal name is Mike Mohamed Ghouse.
I was in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia from 1977-1980 with Fluor Corporation, and at
When i was about 6-7 years old
one time, I was the Deputy Controller of Finance and worked directly for Pat Waugh, the big man. I was the Chief for Banking and Cash Operations and managed the operations of 5 sites – Ras Tanura, Shedgum, Uthmaniya, Jubail and Dhahran North. Mr. Everett Blauvelt managed the Uthmaniya site and I was in touch with him every day. In December 1977, my father Abdul Rahman passed away in India. It was a big thing for me, I wanted to take care of him with my income, he had always said, he will earn his livelihood till his last breath, son of a gun, he did. He did not receive my paycheck that was to go for his personal use as he had agreed. I have not been able to fulfill that desire to serve my father.
Here comes Everett Blauvelt, more or less filling a need for my father figure. He was there for me and regularly inquired about my Mother and my family. We became friends, and on holidays we went shopping and eating in different restaurants etc.
Mr. Blauvelt started calling me “Mike” way back in Saudi Arabia much before I came to the states. Since then, “Mike” has become a part of my name to honor our friendship. He is a father figure to me, and he is the one who sponsored and goaded me to come to the United States.
61 Years
(Earlier note: Thank God, he will be 96 in January 2012.)
He passed away at the age of 97 on April 13, 2013. I had promised him that on his 100
th birthday, I will ask Sean Hannity to give him a call; he was a fan of Hannity. I may do something in 2016 on his birthday when he would have been 100.
That’s how I got the name “Mike” and it is a part of my legal name now. “Mike Mohamed Ghouse”.
I wouldn’t want to be called anything but Mike. My mother wrote me letters with that name and that is all I wanted and that’s my authorization, and I don’t care what anyone says. That’s how my name will be inscribed on my headstone with a phrase – “Died with Prejudice towards none.” It will be in Urdu, Hindi, Kannada and English languages. Every day, I make an effort to live without bias.
Name Bias!
In December 2009, I gave a presentation on a scriptural reading of Quran in Melbourne, Australia at the Parliaments of World’s Religions. The room was packed and there were two full rows of clergy from Iran and Saudi Arabia. What inspired them to attend? They were curious to see what a “Christian” was going to teach about the Quran. I am glad they came and appreciated learning about the deliberate mistranslations and misinterpretations of the Quran and the solutions.
25 years old in SanDiego
Steve Blow of
Dallas Morning News, writes, “In the Middle Ages, European leaders commissioned a hostile Quran translation to foster warfare against Muslim invaders. Later, Muslim leaders produced another translation to inflame Muslims against Christians and Jews.” I reached my pinnacle of understanding Islam, when I organized, conducted and successfully managed the
www.QuraanConference.com
In August 2010, I was in Jerusalem with the Middle East Peace Initiative, and it was a delight to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque which fulfilled my desire to pray in all the three holy sanctuaries of Islam and I have prayed in the mosque of every Muslim denomination as well.
The entrance to the Al-Aqsa mosque was guarded heavily and Israel had banned the entry for non-Muslims, as a nut case fanatic Jew had opened the fire on praying Muslims on a Friday, and had killed over two dozen worshippers. So the inquisition began and I went thru the grill of proving the Israeli soldier that I was a Muslim…finally he asked me to recite the Shahadah (Muslim Pledge) and told me to move over, and on that very precise moment, I head a loud gunshot and reflexively balked, “What was that?”
40 years old
OMG, he pulled me over again, and asked with piercing eyes, are you really a Muslim? I said, hell yes. He asked why did you ask about the Gunshot, and I said, I wanted to know what that was? He repeated, are you a Muslim? He pulls over the Palestinian Guard who asks me to repeat the process and additionally asks me to recite another small chapter, Sura Ikhlas and proceeds to ask more questions while the Israeli guard looks on.
At that moment I was frustrated enough and entertained the thought of pulling my pants down to show him that I was a Muslim… thank God for the interruption from the Dutch Imam ahead of me, who said let’s go, that held my funny thoughts back. I realize that the Jewish and Muslim Men have the same thing in their pants and I recall that this method was shamelessly used to identify Jews and Muslim alike during massacres.
Any way I recited the Sura and was let go. But I did not want to go without finding what that sound was, upon which they did not even bat an eye… they laughed and told me that it was to mark the end of Sahri/ Suhoor time (early dawn meal in Ramadan) that I was not familiar with. We did not do that in India.
57 Years old
This is for Muslims: The Name Muhammad (PBUH)
I would like to remind my Muslim friends that the name Muhammad was given to the Prophet when he was born into a Pagan family (Pagan is not, and should not be a derogatory term- it is an identity). However, at the age of 40, after pondering about life, religion, God, human suffering and the poverty, just as the Buddha did, Muhammad (PBUH) received revelations about the oneness of God, and commonness of humanity despite the differences.
So, the Prophet announced the message about accountability of one’s action, the law of karma, and one world and one humanity. The word Muslim simply means a good citizen who takes his responsiblity seriously and works on preserving and restoring harmony and balance among fellow humans and the environment.
He did not change his name, it remained Muhammad. There was no need for it, the name is your identity. There was no need to change any one’s name. The big names in Islam like Khadija (prophet’s wife), Siddique (caliph), Umar (caliph), Uthman (caliph), Ali (cousin and the final righteous caliph), Fatima (daughter), and others were their given names at birth as pagans, and when they became Muslims. They were not required to change their names, and neither the name of the prophet was changed.
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Indeed, there never was a requirement to change any one’s given name. Not only that when the Arabs moved to the east in Iran or west into Egypt, but the people of those lands were also asked to consider the new value of oneness of God and its benefits that came to them, Islam never asked anyone to change their names or culture, as the faith was distinct from culture.
Prophet Muhammad believed in freedom of faith and revealed God’s words – that there is no compulsion in faith (Quran 2:256) and he lived by his words. His Uncle Abu Talib remained a Pagan till his death, Muhammad with all the power he had, did not compel him to change his belief, it was an example to set to the world, that was the same with Jesus and others – but a small percentage of their followers become fanatics and compelled others to change their faith, and now Hindus are doing the same nonsense. I continue to condemn conversion by force, it is wrong to force anyone to believe against his or her will. The Prophet was clear on that.
60 Years Old – Short-time beard to do a few video clips
The idea of a Hindu name, Muslim name, Christian name, Buddhist name or a Jewish name is a myth but has become a part of our culture and it works for ALL of us. I would rather call it a cultural name; names that you are familiar with than a religious name. You read the stories of great men and women who went out of their way to save the world, and as a part of the admiration, you name your kids with your favorite hero or heroine.
America is a genuine melting pot, God’s own country, where people have no qualms in naming their children, and they are not hung up with names. Within the next two generations, it will be difficult to identify a person’s religion by his or her name.
So my name is Mike Mohamed Ghouse.
When God offered a choice to Adam and explained the consequence of eating the fruit and not eating, Adam chose to eat, and he had to be expelled as agreed. The angels argued with God that it was not fair, he could have slapped Adam and stopped him from eating and the expulsion would not have happened. God said, look, I am the God and did offer choice to Adam, and he chose what worked for him. I am the God if I don’t honor my word, who will? Then he ordered the angels to upload “free will” into the DNA of all humans. When you hear that freedom and liberty are the inalienable rights, that is what it meant in the Quran and our constitution.
By the way, Islam is not a new religion; Prophet Muhammad never claimed it to be a new religion either. Each religious head had a similar experience of taking one step further from the practices of the past. However, a small percentage of their followers become fanatics and compel others to change their faith, and now Hindus are doing the same thing forcing people to alter or preventing them from choosing a faith of their choice. I continue to condemn conversion by force; it is wrong to force anyone to believe against his or her will.
Muhammad is my mentor
Muhammad (PBUH) received revelations about the oneness of God, and commonness of humanity despite the differences. He understood that very well when he recited God’s words (Quran 49:13) that we were born to a single couple and made into different tribes, communities, nations, and faiths, and with that uniqueness conflicts are bound to happen and the way to move ahead is to know each other, when we know each other myths disappear, conflicts fade and solutions emerge.
It was a time period when an individual’s greed and his drive to control the resources, wealth and women turned him into pitting his version of God against the other’s.
The idea of oneness was the first step towards building a cohesive society and subscribing to the idea in one ultimate God that was common to all. What a relief it was, it freed them from the blame games and mitigated the mundane conflicts. The wisdom was a panacea to the conflicts among people.
At Veterans Day – Grand Praire, TX to honor Dadski Everett Blauvelt
Each merchant in Mecca, a trading center then had his own Icon representing “his” values, and when the conflicts arose between two merchants, it was their “personal God-Icon” who rescued or won them their battle in business. The conflicts remained a daily routine, sort of the Wild West in America about 200 years ago.
Subscribing to one common God, with all the non-conflicting attributes packed into one, an abstract idea of God which everyone could relate with was the need of the day. The idea of the oneness of God and oneness of humanity was a source of healing and bringing unity with the given diversity. In his last sermon, he delivered one of the best equality statements – that no human is superior or inferior to the other, the words are almost identical to our immortal Declaration of Independence, that all men are created equal.
Muhammad revealed this to his family and friends, and they started seeing the value in the conflictlessness of “Your God” versus “My God” and moving on to “our God” – a common denominator God. Thus the word subscribing to the idea of one supreme* God came into being, the Arabic word for submission for peace was “Islam” and the one who submits to the idea of oneness, and conflictlessness was a Muslim, a submitter to harmony.
Islam suited me well, I did not want a religion, but needed one. Islam teaches about building cohesive societies, respecting the otherness of others, freedom of speech and faith, justice, mercy, humility and treating, feeling and believe all as equals. I chose to become a Muslim in the late ’90s. More about it in my journey into Islam below.
Hold it, my friends, you will not go to the same church, synagogue, mosque or a temple, if you don’t like the environment or the sermons, you go where you are comfortable, and you choose what suits you. Islam suits me well, I fit right into it. Not the Islam you hear on Fox, but the pristine Islam that was created by Muhammad and not visible to you, which the majority of Muslims silently practice. It is here live and active, please go to
www.WorldMuslimCongress.com and you see that Pristine Islam.
A special note:
Most people have misunderstood Hinduism, they all believe in one ultimate creator who created the universe, but they see God in different avatars or forms, or Icons that they can relate with. My Atheist friends also see a singular source for all creation, but they don’t call it God. The bottom line of all religions is to create cohesive societies through a myriad of systems to restore harmony within an individual and with the society, in such a society each individual is responsible for his or her actions, there is always a reward and punishment for such actions (peace and anguish in my language). Each one is to be treated with dignity as each one wants to be treated were invincible or vulnerable. The purpose of religions was to create civil societies, in my books all religions serve the purpose for which they were created.
Everything you wanted to know about Muslim is in this book, and it is available at Amazon, Barnes & Nobles, Kindle, and other avenues. The talking points of the book are at www.AmericanMuslimAgenda.com
My Journey to Islam
I was born and raised as a Muslim, but around the late sixties, witnessing the hatred and the riots in India among people of different faiths, I blamed the religions for it and had become an Atheist and remained one till the late 90’s, but not a belligerent Atheist who hates God and religions, but a pluralist who respected all religions but did not choose one for himself. Indeed, I went to the Hindu Temple across my home in Yelahanka on Saturday Nights to chant Bhajans, on Fridays, I went to different Mosques and on Thursdays, I went to Mahabodhi society. Learned about Sikhism through my customers at the Flour Mill and Christianity and Jainism through my neighbors. Dr. Abraham Kovoor was who I followed, he is the father of modern Atheism.
In the mid-1990s, when Islam was attacked by everyone on TV and Radio, as usual, I was randomly flipping pages in different holy books to see what I get to read. I flipped a page in Bhagavad Gita, and understood the words to mean, “finding the truth is one’s own responsibility”. That turned my life around, and I went about seeking the truth and realized the false translations of the Quran as enumerated above… and started digging and searching for truth – almost everything in the market about Islam was false. I deliberated about it and researched if Islam suited me, and fits my pluralistic inclinations… to respect all of God’s religions and creation. And Islam did that for me, and I chose to become a Muslim, several of my friends called me crazy that I chose to call myself a Muslim around 9/11, so be it. Truth stands on its own.
By the way, if you want to learn about Islam, reject every bloody book in the market and just read and understand the Quran. That is the only authentic book about Islam, all other books including the Hadiths, and tafseers are made up and include fabricated, misogynistic, homophobic and anti-semitic anti-idolatry statements. None of it outside the Quran is Islam and check at least 5 translations to weed out the false ones and review three verses before and after the difficult verse to get the full meaning and context of the verse. You may find it convenient to read the book “American Muslim Agenda.”
What about One God?
It does not matter to me if you believe in one God, two Gods, many Gods or no God. You live your life, and I live mine. The following note is about understanding the idea of one God.
The purpose of oneness was the first step towards building a cohesive society and subscribing to the notion of one ultimate universal God was the need of the day. Hinduism calls it Vasudhaiva Kutumbukum – the whole world is one. What a relief it was, it freed the men from the blame games and mitigated the mundane conflicts. The wisdom was a panacea to the conflicts among people.
Each merchant in Mecca, a trading center then had his Icon representing “his” values, and when the conflicts arose between two merchants, it was their “personal God-Icon” who rescued or won them their battle in business. The conflicts remained a daily routine, sort of the gun-slinging Wild West in America.
It was a period when an individual’s greed and his drive to control the resources, wealth and women turned him into pitting his version of God against the others. That was not only in Mecca, but that was the case all around the world then and it is the same now.
Subscribing to one universal God, with all the non-conflicting attributes packed into one, an abstract idea of God which everyone could relate to was the need of the day. The concept of the oneness of God and oneness of humanity was a source of healing and bringing unity to the given diversity.
Muhammad (PBUH) received revelations about the oneness of God, and commonness of humanity despite the differences. He understood that when he recited God’s words (Quran 49:13) that we were born to a single couple and made into different tribes, communities, nations, and faiths. And with that uniqueness conflicts are bound to happen, and the way to move ahead is to know each other when we know each other conflicts fade and solutions emerge.
In his last sermon, he delivered one of the best ‘equality’ statements – that no human is superior or inferior to the other; the words are almost identical to our immortal Declaration of Independence, that all men are created equal.
Muhammad revealed this to his family and friends, and they started seeing the value in the conflictlessness of “Your God” versus “My God” and moving on to “our God” – a common denominator God. Thus the word subscribing to the idea of one supreme* God came into being, the Arabic word for submission for peace was “Islam” and the one who submits to the idea of oneness, and conflictlessness was a Muslim, a submitter to harmony.
Hold it, my friends, you will not go to the same church, synagogue, mosque or a temple, if you don’t like the environment or the sermons, you go where you are comfortable, and you choose what suits you. Islam suits me well; I fit right into it. Not the Islam you hear on Fox, but the pristine Islam that was created by Muhammad and not visible to you, which the majority of Muslims silently practice. It is here live and active, please go to www.WorldMuslimCongress.com, and you see that Pristine Islam.
List of my mentors; Jesus Christ, Prophet Muhammad, Buddha, Krishna, Mahatma Gandhi, Maimonides, Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, my father Abdul Rahman and mother Khairun Nisa. And among the living mentors; Pope Frances, Barack Obama, and Aga Khan.
What about Other Religions?
Let me assert this very clearly – a statement that I made upon receiving the “Religious communicator of the year” award by Religious writers association. My religion works for me as other’s beliefs work for others and I will never claim my faith to be superior or inferior to any. Claiming superiority of your religion is arrogance which destroys relationships between individuals, families, communities, and nations. Every religion is designed to bring humility to the individuals who build relationships. As a Muslim, I have challenged fellow Muslims, and as a religious person, I will test other religious followers to show where they can claim superiority, other than the circular logic. Quran is clear – God loves people who forgive and who are humble and does not favor those who are arrogant.
I could have chosen any faith as all faiths are equally dear to me. None is superior or inferior; it is what you know and what suits you. Islam suits me as I align with it. Islam is about free will, justice, humility and dignity to all of God’s creation – life and environment.
I define religion as a system that guides one to live in balance with himself or herself and how to live with others in harmony. Dr. Shaykh Rashid Ghannouchi emphasizes, “The role of religion is to answer the big questions for us, those relating to our existence, origins, destiny, and the purpose for which we were created. It is to provide us with a system of values and principles that would guide our thinking, behavior, and the regulations to which we aspire.” He adds, “Islam is a religion of civilization” which he suggests elsewhere is the essence and purpose of every world religion.
Islam suited me well, I did not want a religion, but needed one. Islam teaches about building cohesive societies, respecting the otherness of others, freedom of speech and faith, justice, mercy, humility and treating, feeling and believing all as equals. I chose to become a Muslim in the late ’90s.
By the way, I was a Republican (Update – as of October 30, 2014, I chose to become independent –
http://centerforamericanpolitics.blogspot.com/2014/10/republican-no-more-i-have-gone.html ) and am not
embarrassed about being one, even though none of the current Republican Party leaders are Republicans in its truest sense, some of its leaders are hate mongers and warmongers. The majority of Republicans are like the majority of Muslims, honest good people but have allowed the radicals to dictate what the party stands for; hate malice, falsities, and division.
A FEW OF MY PROFILES
Conflict mitigation and goodwill nurturance run in Mike’s veins, it is the formula of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
Mike Ghouse is on Google page 1 or 2 for Pluralism Speaker, Interfaith Speaker, and Muslim speaker
Plug in “Mike Ghouse _______ “(name of Religion, any religion for entries) in Google, there is a substantial amount of work done in every area of humanity.mike
Personal sites:
www.TheGhousediary.com
www.MikeGhouse.net
www.Interfaithspeaker.com
www.MuslimSpeaker.com
www.MotivationalSpeakerMikeGhouse.com
Social Media:
Linked in – https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeghouse/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/Dr.MikeGhouse
Twitter – https://twitter.com/MikeGhouse
My Services
www.CenterforPluralism.com
www.WorldMuslimCongress.org
www.InterfaithMarriages.org
My Blogs
- http://theghousediary.blogspot.com
- https://mikeghouseforamerica.blogspot.com/
- https://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/
- http://centerforamericanpolitics.blogspot.com/
- https://americatogetherfoundation.blogspot.com
- https://gujaratjustice.blogspot.com/
- https://israel-palestine-dialogue.blogspot.com/
- https://peaceforisrael.blogspot.com/
- https://redeemingpakistan.blogspot.com/
- https://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/
- https://sharialaws.blogspot.com/
- https://blasphemylaws.blogspot.com/
- https://dallasmuslimcenter.blogspot.com/
- https://groundzeromosque.blogspot.com/
- https://hadithsandislam.blogspot.com/
- https://peterkinghearings.blogspot.com/
- https://quraanconference.blogspot.com/
- https://quranburningpastorterryjones.blogspot.com/
- https://ramadanexclusive.blogspot.com/
- https://quraan-today.blogspot.com/
- https://centerforpluralism.blogspot.com/
- https://genderpluralismcenter.blogspot.com/
- https://dallasinterfaithcenter.blogspot.com/
- https://hatesermons.blogspot.com/
- https://holocaustandgenocides.blogspot.com/
- https://thanksgivingcelebrations.blogspot.com/
- https://pluralismcenter.blogspot.com/
- https://911unitydayusa.blogspot.com/
- https://standingupforothers.blogspot.com/
- https://urduhindinet.blogspot.com/
- https://terrorismcounter.blogspot.com/
- https://interfaithmarriages.blogspot.com/
- https://interfaithspeaker.blogspot.com/
- https://mikeghousequotes.blogspot.com/
- https://motivationalspeakermikeghouse.blogspot.com/
- https://muslimspeakermikeghouse.blogspot.com/
- https://muslimspeakers.blogspot.com/
- https://pluralismspeaker.blogspot.com/
- https://speakermikeghouse.blogspot.com/
Dr. Mike Ghouse is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. His new book, the “American Muslim Agenda” is about everything you wanted to know about Muslims. The book is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Kindle. Mike is a public speaker, author, interfaith wedding officiant, a newsmaker and the executive director of the Center for Pluralism in Washington, DC. More about him in three formats at
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeghouse/
