ON CRAFTING AN AGENDA OF PRIORITIES FOR MUSLIMS IN AMERICA

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PREAMBLE

IN 1992 I HAD THE HONOR OF PARTICIPATING IN A “RETREAT” HOSTED BY ISNA TO WHICH MUSLIM ACTIVISTS FROM VARIOUS PARTS OF THE UNITED STATES WERE INVITED TO PARTICIPATE. IT WAS A BRAINSTORMING SESSION DESIGNED TO COME UP WITH THE MOST EFFICIENT STATEGIES THAT WOULD HELP ISNA, THEN SLUMPED IN THE DOLDRUMS, TO REVITALIZE ITSELF.

DURING A VERY PRODUCTIVE DISCOURSE I WAS ABLE TO PRESENT A VIEWPOINT ON DEVELOPING WHAT I TERMED “AN AGENDA OF PRIORITIES” FOR THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY IN THE UNITED STATES THAT WOULD HELP TO SHAPE ITS FUTURE IN THE SHORT TERM AND IN THE LONG RANGE.

BY THE GRACE OF GOD THE ‘RETREAT’ WAS AN EMINENT SUCCESS AS EVIDENCED BY THE CURRENT LEADERSHIP POSITION ISNA OCCUPIES IN THIS COUNTRY THROUGH ITS EXEMPLARY FUSION OF ISLAMIC AND DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES. WHILE ALL ITS DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED LEADERS PLAYED A KEY ROLE IN ISNA’S SUCCESS, IT WOULD BE REMISS NOT TO MENTION THE STEWARDSHIP OF ITS DILIGENT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR DR SAYYID SAYEED FOR THE PROMINENCE THAT ISNA HAS ACHIEVED IN EXECUTING ITS CURRENT GOALS: ’ OF IMAM LEADERSHIP, YOUTH INVOLVEMENT, SECURING A SOUND FINANCIAL BASIS, PROMOTING ISLAM’S IMAGE, COALITION BUILDING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT’.

OVER THIS PERIOD WE HAVE ALSO WITNESSED THE ALMOST EXPLOSIVE EVOLUTION OF CAIR ( COUNCIL ON AMERICAN ISLAMIC RELATIONS) AS THE LEADING CIVIL RIGHTS ORGANISATION FOR MUSLIMS THAT HAS OVER THE MOST TRYING PAST 3 YEARS SHOWN NOT ONLY AN INSPIRATIONAL GROWTH IN ITS STRENGTH, AN UNINTERRUPTED COMMITMENT IN DEFENDING AND PROMOTING THE RIGHTS OF MUSLIMS, BUT HAS UNDERSCORED THE CRITICAL ROLE OF OUTREACH TO THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE, OF CHALLENGING THE UNFETTERED MEDIA BIGOTRY THAT HAS ATTEMPTED TO POISON THIS COUNTRY WITH ANTI-MUSLIM HATE, AND OF ACTIVE MUSLIM POLITICAL INVOLVEMENT IN THIS, THEIR COUNTRY.

UP UNTIL RECENTLY MOST CREDIT FOR THE PIONEER WORK IN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF ISLAMIC EDUCATION AND OF COMMUNITY OUTREACH SERVICES TO THE INNER CITY NEIGHBORHOODS MUST GO TO THE VISION AND LEADERSHIP SKILLS OF IMAM WARITH DEEN MUHAMMAD AND HIS MINISTRY. NOW THE MUSLIM AMERICAN SOCIETY (MAS) HAS EMERGED AS A VITAL NEW FORCE PROMOTING A NATIONWIDE GRASSROOTS INFRASTRUCTURE DIRECTED TOWARD SELF-IMPROVEMENT WITH A SHARP FOCUS ON ESTABLISHING FULLTIME ISLAMIC SCHOOLS OF THE HIGHEST CALIBER, REACHING OUT TO THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE BY WORDS AND DEEDS, AND URGING POLITICAL ACTIVISM AS A MEANS OF PROTECTING THAT WHICH BEST EMBODIES THE IDEALS OF THE CONSTITUTION AND OF ISLAM.

WHILE THESE EXAMPLES REPRESENT SOME OF THE SUCCESS STORIES OF THE PAST DECADE, THERE WERE MANY NOTABLE DISAPPOINTMENTS. IT IS SAD THAT ESTABLISHED INSTITUTIONS SUCH AS THE AMA (AMERICAN MUSLIM ALLIANCE), AMC, (AMERICAN MUSLIM COUNCIL), ICNA (ISLAMIC CIRCLE OF NORTH AMERICA) AND ISCA ( ISLAMIC SUPREME COUNCIL OF AMERICA) THAT HAD THE POTENTIAL TO LEAD THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY FORWARD, SELF-DESTRUCT. POISED BETWEEN SUCCESS AND NONENTITY ARE SELF-SUPPORTING MUSLIM ‘THINK TANKS’ AS FOR EXAMPLE THOSE CREATED BY ROBERT CRANE, IMAD AHMED AND THE LATE MARGHOOB QURAISHI.  FOUNDED BY DEDICATED MUSLIMS WITH A VISION OF THE NEEDS OF MUSLIMS AS WELL AS THOSE OF THE SOCIETY AT LARGE, THESE ORGANISATIONS ARE OVERWHELMINGLY IGNORED THROUGH DENIAL OF MORAL AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT.

IN AN OVERVIEW SUCH AS THIS IT IS EASY TO OVERLOOK THE OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION OF MANY INDIVIDUALS AND INSTITUTIONS, AND WITHOUT MEANING TO DEMEAN THE EFFORTS OF THESE I WOULD LIKE TO SINGLE OUT THE INFLUENCE OF THREE MUSLIM AMERICANS -  SHEILA MUSAJI WHO FOUNDED ‘THE AMERICAM MUSLIM’ MAGAZINE AND SINGLE HANDED COMPILED THE FIRST COMPREHENSIVE ‘MUSLIM DIRECTORY’. TO THIS DAY SHE CONTINUES HER WORK WITH LITTLE SUPPORT OR RECOGNITION; ASLAM ABDULLAH EDITOR OF BOTH THE MINARET AND MUSLIM OBSERVER FOR HIS UNCOMPROMISING STAND AGAINST INJUSTICE , ESPECIALLY IF PERPETRATED BY MUSLIMS OR DONE SO IN THE NAME OF ISLAM; AND FINALLY IBRAHIM HOOPER WHO HAS PROVEN TO BE INDEFATIGABLE IN DEALING WITH THE REMORSELESS ANTI-ISLAMISM IN THE POST-911 ERA.

THESE WERE SOME OF THE LANDMARK ACHIEVEMENTS THAT WERE DESIGNED TO BE A SPRINGBOARD TO LAUNCH THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY INTO THE 21ST CENTURY. THE EVENTS OF 911 CHANGED EVERYTHING AND THE EXISTING PARADIGM HAS TO UNDERGO A RADICAL SHIFT AS THE LEGACY OF 911 CONTINUES TO UNFOLD WITH MORE DIRE CONSEQUENCES IN THE OFFING FOR MUSLIMS HERE AND ABROAD.

AT THE THIRD ANNIVERSARY OF 911 THERE APPEARS TO BE A DEEPER CHASM THAT SEPARATES HOW MUSLIM AMERICANS VIEW THEMSELVES AND HOW THEY APPEAR TO BE PERCEIVED BY THE AMERICAN SOCIETY AT LARGE. THIS RIFT IS HIGHLIGHTED BY THE RELEASE OF A RECENT POLL COMMISSIONED BY CAIR IN WHICH FULLY 25% OF RESPONDENTS BELIEVED THAT"MUSLIMS TEACH THEIR CHILDREN TO HATE” AND THAT"MUSLIMS VALUE LIFE LESS THAN OTHER PEOPLE”, AND THAT “50% OF AMERICANS BELIEVED THAT MUSLIMS ARE NOT ACTIVELY CONDEMNING TERRORIST ACTS” . WHILE SUCH NEGATIVE STEREOTYPES ARE READILY BUILT ON THE RELENTLESS ONSLAUGHTS BY MEDIA OUTLETS WITH AN ANTI-ISLAMIC AGENDA, REGETTABLY FOR MUSLIMS THE ABOMINABLE ACTS OF TERROR CONDUCTED IN THE NAME OF ISLAM BY MUSLIM DEVIANTS HAVE DONE LITTLE TO IMPROVE THEIR IMAGE. AND IN A COUNTRY WHERE INNOCENCE UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY HAS BEEN THE LAW OF THE LAND, SUCH JUSTICE CAN NO LONGER BE TAKEN FOR GRANTED BY MUSLIM INDIVIDUALS REGARDLESS OF THEIR STATURE IN THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY, EITHER AS A VOICE OF MUSLIM MODERATION IN ACADEMIA, AS EXEMPLIFIED BY DENIAL OF A VISA TO TARIQ RAMADAN, OR IN SOCIAL ACTIVISM AS DEPICTED BY THE PUBLIC HUMILIATION OF YUSUF ISLAM AKA ‘CAT STEVENS’.

SUCH DISDAIN FOR MUSLIM CELEBRITIES PERHAPS SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN UNANTICIPATED GIVEN THE BACKDROP OF THE RAND CORPORATION’S COMMISSIONED REPORT BY CHERYL BENARD, ENTITLED,” CIVIL DEMOCRATIC ISLAM: PARTNERS, RESOURCES AND STRATEGIES”, 2003. ITS BASIC PREMISE IS THE THESIS THAT ISLAM EXISTS IN TODAY’S WORLD AS AN UNPALATABLE BUT INESCAPABLE REALITY, AND THE SOLUTION THE REPORT OFFERS HOW BEST TO CONTAIN IT IS BY FRAGMENTING ISLAM INTO ARTIFICIAL RIVAL COMPARTMENTS AND PLAYING THE ONE OFF AGAINST THE OTHER. SUCH A PREAMBLE SET THE STAGE FOR THE MYOPIC OBSCURANTISM OF THE MUCH VAUNTED 911 COMMISSION’S REPORT, WHICH DESPITE OTHER IMPORTANT AND SWEEPING RECOMMENDATIONS, LABELLED ‘TERRORISM’ AS ‘ISLAMIST’, AS THOUGH OTHER FORMS OF TERROR HAD SOME INTRINSICALLY REDEEMING QUALITY. THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN “ISLAMIST” AND “ISLAMIC” IS EVEN LESS CLEAR TO MOST AMERICANS THAN THE ROLE OF BIN LADEN AS OPPOSED SADDAM HUSSAIN IN PERPETRATING THE CARNAGE ON 911. SUCH DUPLICITY IN THE USE OF A TERM THAT IS DESIGNED TO GENERATE UNFOUNDED HATRED AGAINST AN ENTIRE RELIGION REPRESENTS THE MOST EGREGIOUS EXAMPLE OF GUILT BY ASSOCIATION. AND IT STANDS AS A PERMANENT INDICTMENT AGAINST THE MUSLIM LEADERSHIP OF THIS COUNTRY THAT IT DID NOT IMMEDIATELY DENOUNCE SUCH DEPICTION AS AN ACT OF BLATANT RACISM..

IT IS THUS HARDLY SURPRISING THAT IN A CLIMATE THAT CONDONES SUCH ISLAMOPHOBIA, THAT WITHIN THE HITHERTO ENLIGHTENED BOSTON COMMUNITY A RADIO TALKSHOW HOST WAS SO EMBOLDENED AS TO VIRTUALLY LEGITIMIZE THE KILLING OF INNOCENT MUSLIMS, AND WITHIN THE SAME CITY, THE ISLAMIC SOCIETY OF BOSTON CULTURAL CENTER WHICH IS BUILDING A LANDMARK STRUCTURE HAS BEEN SUBJECTED TO AN UNRELENTING AND BASELESS WITCH-HUNT TO TIE ITS EFFORTS IN SOME WAY TO HISTORICAL’TERRORIST CONNECTIONS’ IN ORDER TO TORPEDO THE PROJECT.

ON A MUCH MORE SINISTER NOTE, FRANK GAFFNEY, WHO HAS BEEN DESCRIBED AS ‘SITTING AT THE CENTER OF A NETWORK OF INTERLOCKING THINK-TANKS, FOUNDATIONS, LOBBY GROUPS, ARMS MANUFACTURERS, COALITION OF NEOCONSERVATIVES AND CHRISTIAN RIGHT ACTIVISTS’ (JIM LOBE,11/6/04), DEFINED THE AGENDA FOR THE NEW ADMINISTRATION. FOREMOST ON HIS LIST WAS TO WAGE WORLD WAR 4 AGAINST THE SO-CALLED ‘ISLAMO-FASCISTS’. THIS BEGINS WITH THE ‘SANITATION’ OF IRAQ OF ALL ‘INSURGENTS’ (WITH OR WITHOUT THE ESTABLISHHMENT OF DEMOCRACY), AND THEN MOVES ON TO IRAN THE NEXT IN THE ‘AXIS OF EVIL’.  IN EXTENDING THE MANTLE OF THE ‘WAR ON TERROR’ TO WHAT WAS ORIGINALLY BILLED AS A ‘SHOWDOWN WITH SADDAM’, THE NEOCONS BET ON THE PREDICTABLE ‘JIHADI’ RESPONSE FROM AL-QAEDA TO JOIN BATTLE AGAINST THE ‘WESTERN CRUSADERS’.  THUS THE NEOCON CONTRIVED AND PREMEDITATED PROVOCATION IN IRAQ HAS GENERATED REACTIONS FROM MOTLEY GROUPS RANGING FROM “GENERIC INSURGENTS” TO RADICAL MUSLIM FANATICS (THE SO-CALLED “ISLAMO-FASCISTS”) WITH LITTLE IN COMMON IN THEIR AGENDA OTHER THAN THE UNIFYING GOAL TO EXPEL WHAT THEY VIEW AS A FORCE OF OCCUPATION. WITH EACH PASSING DAY THE LINE OF DEMARCATION BETWEEN THE ‘INSURGENTS’ AND THE ‘ISLAMOFASCISTS’ BECOMES LESS DISTINCT. THUS REGARDLESS OF THE OUTCOME OF THE ELECTIONS IN IRAQ THAT AT FIRST SIGHT SEEM PROMISING, THE END TO THE VIOLENCE IS NOT LIKELY TO BE IMMINENT. IF GOD-WILLING PEACE ORDER AND DEMOCRACY ARE RESTORED IN IRAQ, THE PREDATORY DESIGNS OF THE NEOCONS TO INVADE THE NEIGHBOURING “ISLAMO-FASCIST ” INFESTED COUNTRIES MAY BE HALTED. ON THE CONTRARY IF ATTEMPTS AT FULL DEMOCRATIZATION IN IRAQ ARE CONSTANTLY THWARTED BY “INSURGENTS” THIS WILL REINFORCE THEIR PRETEXT OF ERADICATING “THE ISLAMOFASCISTS” WHEREVER THEY EXIST IN A MORE SINISTER GOAL DESIGNED TO EMASCULATE ISLAM AND WREAK MAYHEM ON ALL SO-CALLED MUSLIM COUNTRIES THAT HARBOR THEM. THUS IF THE NEOCON CABAL HAS ITS WAY THE NEXT 4 YEARS MAY SEE A DESTABILSATION, DEVASTATION, ANARCHY AND REGIME CHANGE IN MORE THAN JUST IRAQ BUT,POSSIBLY IRAN, SYRIA, SUDAN AND SAUDI ARABIA, AND EVEN OUR CURRENT INDOMITABLE ALLY, PAKISTAN, WHICH LIKE SAUDI ARABIA A LONG TIME ALLY WILL SOON LOSE ITS USEFULNESS. THE AMERICAN PUBLIC NEEDS TO KNOW THAT THE NEOCON AGENDA IS TOTALLY AGAINST THIS COUNTRY’S NATIONAL INTERESTS AND SECURITY, AND ENDANGERS THE FUTURE OF GENERATIONS TO COME. IT WAS IN THIS SPIRIT, RECOGNIZING THAT WE WOULD BE DAMNED IF WE REMAINED SILENT AND DAMNED IF WE SOUNDED “ANTI-WAR”, THAT AS MUSLIM AMERICANS WE EXPRESSED OUR CONSTERNATION AT THE PROPOSED INVASION OF IRAQ IN THESE WORDS, “IT WOULD THUS BE AN ACT NOT ONLY OF DISOBEDIENCE TO GOD, BUT TREASON AGAINST OUR OWN COUNTRY WHEN WE FAIL TO EXPRESS OUR CONCERNS IN WHAT WE BELIEVE TO BE IN THE BEST INTEREST OF OUR COUNTRY AND THE WORLD AT LARGE” (AND AVOID A NEEDLESS WAR), BOSTON GLOBE, 3/03. NOW MORE SO THAN EVER BEFORE, IN THE FACE OF THE UNABASHEDLY ANTI-AMERICAN SELF-SERVING AGENDA OF THE NEOCON CARTEL MUSLIM AMERICANS CAN REMAIN SILENT NO MORE.

CONFRONTED BY INTOLERABLE MEDIA PREJUDICE, POSSESSING LIMITED RESOURCES,  FACING COMPETING NEEDS, AND OVERWHELMED BY VIRTUALLY INSURMOUNTABLE ODDS, THE MUSLIM LEADERSHIP IN THIS COUNTRY HAS TO DEVELOP A VISION FOR THE FUTURE, SET UP AN AGENDA OF PRIORITIES AND UNVEIL A STRATEGY TO SEE IT REALIZED. THE IMPERATIVE FOR SUCH ACTION HAS NEVER BEEN GREATER. MUSLIMS IN THE UNITED STATES MAY NOT BE ABLE TO CHART THE COURSE OF ISLAM GLOBALLY, AND NEITHER ARE THEY EXPECTED TO. BUT MUSLIMS IN THIS COUNTRY DO HAVE AN OBLIGATION TO BECOME MORE PROACTIVE IN THEIR OWN AFFAIRS AS FULL-FLEDGED CITIZENS OF THIS, THEIR COUNTRY - AN OBLIGATION IN WHICH THEY ARE PROVIDED THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO EXPRESS THEIR VIEWS IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THEIR COUNTRY.

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN DRAFTED AS A SOUNDING BOARD FOR MUSLIM LEADERS, ACTIVISTS AND EXPERTS TO PRIORITIZE SOME OF THE MANY DIFFERENT AGENDA ITEMS IN WHICH THE MUSLIM AMERICAN COMMUNITY IS CURRENTLY INVOLVED. THE 21 OR SO ITEMS LISTED BELOW DO NOT REPRESENT A COMPREHENSIVE AGENDA, AND HAVE BEEN DELIBERATELY PLACED IN RANDOM ORDER SO THAT OTHERS MAY RANK THEM IN TERMS OF THE PRIORITIES THEY DEEM MOST IMPORTANT. THE FACT THAT SOME HAVE BEEN INCLUDED IN THE LIST THAT ARE ALREADY BEING ADDRESSED WITH SUPERB PROFESSIONALISM IS IN NO WAY MEANT TO GLOSS OVER THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS. WHAT IT IS DESIGNED TO SERVE IS AS A TEMPLATE THAT PRIORITIZES THE NEEDS ( NOT THE “WANTS”) WITH THE AVAILABLE RESOURCES, INTO TWO ACTION PLANS:

SHORT TERM :TO DEAL WITH THE MOST PRESSING NEEDS FOR THE VERY SURVIVAL OF THE COMMUNITY. I HAVE CHOSEN TO PRESENT THIS TOPIC UNDER THE RUBRIC -
              “WHY DO THEY HATE US?”

LONG RANGE : TO PROMOTE THE UNIVERSAL VALUES OF ISLAMIC EGALITARIANISM AND SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE
THIS COULD ALSO BE APPROACHED UNDER THE HEADING,

        “GOD WILL NOT CHANGE THE CONDITION OF A PEOPLE UNTIL THEY CHANGE THEMSELVES”

WHILE IT MAY APPEAR PRESUMPTUOUS TO SOME AND AN ACT OF TEMERITY TO OTHERS FOR AN INDIVIDUAL UNKNOWN ON THE NATIONAL SCENE TO PROPOSE SUCH AN AMBITIOUS TEMPLATE, IT IS SUBMITTED IN THE SPIRIT THAT PERSONS AND GROUPS WITH GREATER EXPERTIZE AND SUPERIOR CREDENTIALS MIGHT SEE SOME MERIT IN PRIORITIZING OUR COMPETING NEEDS, POOLING OUR LIMITED RESOURCES, AND COORDINATING OUT EFFORTS. IN THE VERY LEAST IT WILL SERVE AS A FRAMEWORK FOR CONSTRUCTIVE ENGAGEMENT FOR A “MUSLIM LEADERSHIP’ THAT AT TIMES SEEMS TO PUSH AND PULL IN RANDOM DIRECTIONS, OR SQUANDERS TOO MUCH ENERGY IN REDUPLICATING EACH OTHERS WORK, AS EXEMPLIFIED BY SOME OF THE SHARED OBJECTIVES OF ISNA, CAIR AND MAS THAT COULD MORE EFFECTIVELY BE COORDINATED BY JOINT TASK FORCES..

                    SUGGESTED AGENDA ITEMS ( RANDOMLY LISTED)

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1.      PROTECTION OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS OF MUSLIMS IN AMERICA

2.      POLITICAL ACTIVISM TOWARD EMPOWERMENT

3.      DEVELOPMENT OF A COMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE TO FRAME A MUSLIM   PERSPECTIVE

4.      THE CREATION OF MORE FULL-TIME ISLAMIC SCHOOLS AS A BULWALK AGAINST THE EROSION OF ISLAMIC MORALS AND VALUES

5.      THE BUILDING OF BIGGER AND MORE ‘ISLAMIC-LOOKING’ MOSQUES TO MAKE A STATEMENT OF THE MUSLIM PRESENCE

6.      ENGAGEMENT IN INTERFAITH DIALOGUE WITH OTHER RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES

7.      THE PROMOTION OF ‘SOCIAL OUTREACH’ WITH THE SOCIETY AT LARGE THEREBY ENSURING AN ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE ON ISSUES OF POVERTY, JOBLESSNESS, HOMELESSNESS, DRUGS, DISCRIMINATION, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND OTHER IMPORTANT PROBLEMS

8.      ENSURING THE AVAILABILITY OF ‘SOCIAL SERVICES’ FOR THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY ITSELF WITH RESPECT TO PROBLEMS OF INDIGENCE, ISOLATION, BEREAVEMENT,  DIVORCE, CARE OF THE SICK, THE OLD, THE ABUSED

9.      THE PROVISION OF GENUINE ALTERNATIVES FOR THE MUSLIM YOUTH FACING ENORMOUS PEER PRESSURES TO CONFORM WITH VALUES THAT UNDERCUT THEIR OWN PRINCIPLES.

10.    ESTABLISHMENT OF A SYSTEM OF ISLAMIC BANKING

11.    THE FORMATION OF AN ‘ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY’

12.    INVESTMENT IN AN ‘ISLAMIC HOSPITAL’

13.    THE BUILDING OF MUSLIM’OLD PEOPLES’ HOMES’ AND NURSING HOMES

14.    ENGAGEMENT IN FORMAL’DAWAH WORK’ IN A STYLE THAT RESONATES WITH THE TARGETTED AUDIENCE

15.    SUPPORTING THE PLIGHT OF MUSLIMS GLOBALLY - FROM INTERNAL REPRESSION AND EXTERNAL OPPRESSION - TOWARD DEMOCRATIZATION IN THE BEST SENSE OF THE WORD WITH SOCIAL JUSTICE AND ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCE

16.    SEEKING COMMON GROUND AND BUILDING COALITIONS WITH LIKE MINDED PEOPLES OF GOODWILL - WHILE AT THE SAME TIME BEING MORE CIRCUMSPECT ABOUT MAKING ENEMIES WHERE NONE EXIST.

17.    INVESTMENT IN PUBLIC RELATIONS CAMPAIGNS TO IMPROVE THE IMAGE OF ISLAM DISTORTED BY THOSE WITH AN ANTI-ISLAMIC AGENDA

18.    COORDINATING AND STREAMLINING THE EFFORTS OF VARIOUS CHARITABLE RELIEF ORGANIZATIONS SO THAT FUNDS ARE NOT WASTED ON DUPLICATIVE DRIVES ( THE RECENT TSUNAMI CALAMITY UNDERLINED BOTH THE WILLINGNESS OF MUSLIM GROUPS TO SOLICIT FUNDS BUT ALSO THEIR ABJECT LACK OF AN INFRASTRUCTURE TO DELIVER AT THE POINT OF DISASTER)

19.    FOCUSING MORE TIME ENERGY AND INTENT ON REBUILDING MUSLIM COMMUNITIES FRACTURED BY APATHY, ETHNOCENTRICITY AND IDEOLOGIC HANG-UPS - BY PROMOTING ‘INTRA-MUSLIM DIALOGUE.’

20.    STRIVING FOR INDIVIDUAL SELF-IMPROVEMENT THROUGH CURRICULAR REFORM SO THAT MUSLIMS DEFINE THEMSELVES RATHER THAN BE DEFINED BY OTHERS.  THE EMBODIMENT OF THIS CONCEPT IS CONTAINED IN MAULANA MAUDUDI’S INJUNCTION,’ BAD MANNERS, ILL-BEHAVIOUR, OPPRESSION, AGGRESSION, AND NARROW-MINDEDNESS ARE AGAINST THE VERY SPIRIT OF ISLAM. A MUSLIM IS BORN IN THIS WORLD TO BECOME A LIVING SYMBOL OF GOODNESS, NOBILITY AND HUMANITY. HE SHOULD WIN THE HEARTS OF PEOPLE BY HIS CHARACTER AND HIS EXAMPLE. THEN ALONE CAN HE BECOME THE TRUE AMBASSADOR OF ISLAM ‘.

21.    INVESTMENT IN MUSLIM THINK-TANKS TO HELP DESIGN OUR FUTURE AND TASK FORCES TO IMPLEMENT OUR IMMEDIATE NEEDS.

SHORT TERM - ” WHY DO THEY HATE US?”
 
THE QUESTION THAT HAS BEEN RAISED MORE OFTEN THAN ANY OTHER AFTER 911 HAS BEEN - ‘WHY DO THEY HATE US?’. OFF COURSE THE ANSWER GIVEN DEPENDS ON WHETHER YOU SEE YOURSELF AS “FOR US” OR “AGAINST US”. MUSLIMS IN THIS COUNTRY WEAR TWO HATS, NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH DIVIDED LOYALTIES.MANY MUSLIMS CAME TO THE UNITED STATES TO ESCAPE OPPRESSION AND SOCIAL INEQUITIES BECAUSE THEY ADMIRE THE DEMOCRACY, THE FREEDOM, THE EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES AND THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP IT OFFERS, AND MUSLIMS IN MANY OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD WOULD HAVE YEARNED FOR NOTHING MORE THAN TO BE A PART OF THE ‘AMERICAN DREAM’. THUS THE NOTION THAT ‘THEY’ - ‘THE MUSLIMS’ - HATE ‘US’ THE ‘AMERICANS’ IS A NOTION EMBEDDED IN ABSURDITY.

THE DYNAMICS AFTER 911 HAVE CERTAINLY CHANGED AMERICA’S FAVORABLE IMAGE IN MOST OF THE MUSLIM WORLD BUT THIS HAS MORE TO DO WITH THE SO-CALLED ‘WAR ON TERROR’ WHICH HAS BECOME VIRTUALLY SYNONYMOUS WITH A WAR AGAINST ISLAM, AND MAGNIFIED BY OUR DOUBLE STANDARDS IN FOREIGN POLICY, OF OUR SUPPORT OF TYRANNICAL REGIMES ABROAD AND OF OUR UNFETTERED EXPLOITATION OF THE WORLD’S RESOURCES IN THE NAME OF PROMOTING DEMOCRACY AND A FREE MARKET.

TURNING TO THE QUESTIONS WHY DO ‘AMERICANS’ HATE ‘MUSLIMS’, MUSLIM AMERICANS ARE INCREDULOUS THAT ORDINARY AMERICANS SHOULD HOLD VIEWS THAT THE RECENT CAIR SURVEY REPORTED I.E. MUSLIMS HAD NOT DONE ENOUGH TO CONDEMN TERRORISM, THAT THEIR RELIGION PROMOTES TERROR AND THAT LIFE MEANS LESS TO MUSLIMS THAN TO OTHERS.. THEIR APPARENT SILENCE IN NOT ‘SUPPORTING ’ THE TROOPS IS VIEWED AS A SIGN OF UNPATRIOTISM, WHEREAS MUSLIM AMERICANS SEE THE BEST SUPPORT FOR THE TROOPS IS THE SUPPORT THAT BRINGS THEM BACK SAFELY TO THEIR FAMILIES. SO WHAT AMERICANS SEE IS THE MUSLIM PROTESTATIONS AT THE KILLING OF INNOCENT IRAQI CIVILIANS IN A NEBULOUS WAR WHERE THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN THOSE WHO WE MEAN TO PROTECT FROM THOSE WHO WE MEAN TO EXTERMINATE BECOMES LESS CLEAR WITH EACH PASSING DAY. LET US HOPE THAT PRESIDENT BUSH’S REMARK IN THE STATE OF UNION ADDRESS ‘OF HOW THE IRAQIS HAVE EARNED THE RESPECT OF ALL BY GOING TO THE POLLS’, BECOMES MORE THAN A POLITICAL SLOGAN.BY THE SAME TOKEN IT IS THE DUTY OF MUSLIMS TO MAKE THEIR FELLOW AMERICANS AWARE THAT IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF EVERY RIGHTEOUS MUSLIM TO EXPOSE EVEN THE POTENTIAL OF AN ACT OF AGGRESSION AGAINST ANY NON-COMBATANT CIVILIAN. THE QURAN IS COMPLETELY EXPLICIT ON THIS POINT,  ” STAND STEADFAST BEFORE GOD AS WITNESSES FOR JUSTICE EVEN IF IT IS AGAINST YOURSELVES”, 4.135.

THUS IN THE SHORT TERM THE MOST PRESSING IMPERATIVE FOR MUSLIMS IS TO DE-LINK ISLAM FROM TERRORISM. HOW THIS IS DONE IS THE CRUCIAL QUESTION. WITH GOD-CONSCIOUSNESS AS THE ALL PERVASIVE PRINCIPLE , FROM THE AGENDA OF PRIORITIES THE FOLLOWING 5 ITEMS MAY FORMULATE AN EFFECTIVE STRATEGY.

        1.FIRST AND FOREMOST IN DE-LINKING ISLAM FROM TERRORISM MUSLIMS MUST RISE TO THE CHALLENGE OF DEFINING THEMSELVES, AND NOT BE HELD HOSTAGE TO THE DEFINITIONS IMPOSED UPON THEM BY DEVIANTS FROM WITHIN OR XENOPHOBES FROM WITHOUT. THIS CANNOT TAKE PLACE WITHOUT STRIVING FOR SELF-IMPROVEMENT ( 20). SUCH CHANGES CANNOT TAKE PLACE OVERNIGHT, BUT ULTIMATELY THEY MUST BE THE GOAL OF ALL MUSLIMS TO RESTORES ISLAM’S ROLE OF SPIRITUALHARMONY IN THE WORLD. “WINDOW-DRESSING” WILL NOT DO. AND WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE CURRENT DISTRUST AND EVEN HATRED OF ISLAM NO OTHER VERSE IN ANY RELIGIOUS TEXT PLACES SUCH A STRICT IMPOSITION ON ITS ADHERENTS AS THE ONE QUOTED ABOVE AND BEARS REPEATEING, “STAND STEADFAST BEFORE GOD AS WITNESSES FOR JUSTICE EVEN IF IT IS AGAINST YOURSELVES”., 4,135. JUSTICE IS THE QUINTESSENTIAL DEFINING PRINCIPLE OF ISLAM AND CANNOT BE BARTERED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. NO END CAN JUSTIFY THE MEANS. MUSLIMS NEED TO UNDERSTAND THIS SO THAT OTHERS CAN RECOGNIZE IT AS THE LYNCHPIN FOR THE UNIVERSAL PEACE AND HARMONY THAT ISLAM STANDS FOR.

  2.COMMENSURATE WITH THIS GOAL THE ESTABLISHED MUSLIM ORGANIZATIONS MUST INVEST IN CREATING MUSLIM THINK-TANKS( 21) AND PROBLEM-ORIENTED TASK FORCES WHERE THE BEST AND BRIGTEST IN OUR COMMUNITY ARE PAID TO PROMOTE AN ISLAM THAT UPHOLDS THE FINEST TRADITIONS OF A GREAT RELIGION, AND WHICH STRONGLY REPUDIATE THE INTOLERANCE, HATE AND VIOLENCE PROMULGATED IN ITS NAME. NATIONAL TASK FORCES CAN BE FORMED IMMEDIATELY FROM THE POOLED RESOURCES OF ISNA, CAIR, MAS AND FROM OTHER RECOGNIZED ACTIVISTS AND ACADEMICIANS TO ADDRESS SPECIFIC NEEDS SUCH AS EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH, POLITICAL ACTIVISM, AND COALITION BUILDING, AS WELL AS TO BECOME RESOURCES THAT EVALUATE THE NEED FOR AND THE FEASIBILITY OF ESTABLISHING NEW MOSQUES AND ISLAMIC SCHOOLS IN A STRUCTURED AND ORGANIZED MASTER PLAN, RATHER THAN BASED ON INDIVIDUAL WHIMS. SADLY EVEN DURING OUR SHORT SOJOURN IN THIS COUNTRY MUSLIMS HAVE WITNESSED THE FORECLOSURE OF MOSQUES BUILT WITHOUT PRIOR ADEQUATE NEEDS ASSESSMENT. CAN MUSLIMS AFFORD TO REMAIN FIXATED ON CAJOLING LARGE SUMS OF MONEY FOR THE PURPOSES OF ‘BUILDING A HOUSE FOR ALLAH’, WHILE WE IGNORE THE MORE SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES THAT ARE VERY MUCH AT THE HEART OF OUR SURVIVAL? IN OTHER WORDS CAN WE SURVIVE WITHOUT RAPID ACTION PROBLEM FOCUSSED TASK FORCES, AND SUCCEEED WITHOUT STRATEGIC PLANNING, RECOGNIZING THAT ALLAH OFF COURSE IS THE BEST OF PLANNERS?

      3. A MASSIVE INVESTMENT IN PUBLIC RELATIONS CONSULTATION (17). THIS

AT FIRST SIGHT IS TOTALLY AND INTUITIVELY AGAINST THE MUSLIM MINDSET THAT VIEWS ISLAM AS THE PERFECT RELIGION THAT REQUIRES NO MARKETING. IF DE-LINKING ISLAM FROM TERROR IS TO BE THE IMMEDIATE SHORT TERM GOAL, THIS IS GOING TO DEMAND MORE THAN THE CONVENTIONAL REACTIVE APPROACH BASED ON A TRICKLE OR STREAM OF LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, OP-ED PIECES, CALLS IN TO TALKSHOWS, AND THE ORCHESTRATED SET-UP TV APPEARENCES. IT REQUIRES A PROACTIVE APPROACH WITH A HIGHLY ORGANIZED PROFESSINALLY DIRECTED MEDIA AND POLITICAL BLITZES THAT CAN ONLY BE UNDERTAKEN WITH SIGNIFICANT FINANCIAL COMMITMENT AND EXPERTIZE. ARE MUSLIMS WILLING TO MAKE SUCH A COMMITMENT OR ARE THEY DEAD SET IN THEIR TRADITIONAL WAYS OF REACTING TO EVERY DISTRACTION THAT THOSE WITH AN ANTI-ISLAMIC AGENDA DEPLOY AGAINST THEM?

      4. ARE MUSLIMS DOING ENOUGH TO ENGAGE IN SOCIAL INTEGRATION? BOTH ISOLATIONISM AND ASSIMILATION ARE SELF-DEFEATING. BUT DO MUSLIMS REALIZE THAT INTEGRATING INTO THE SOCIETY IN WHICH THEY LIVE IS THEIR BEST DEFENSE AGAINST CIVIL RIGHTS INFRACTIONS? IF SALUTING THE FLAG, RECITING THE NATIONAL ANTHEM, TAKING THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE AND PARTICIPATING IN NATIONAL NON-RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS IS CONSIDERED AS ANYTHING OTHER THAN AN ACT OF INTEGRATION THEN A MUSLIM WHO LIVES IN THIS COUNTRY NEEDS TO ASK THE QUESTION WHO IS FORCING HIM OR HER TO STAY HERE.BUILDING COALITIONS (16) IS PART OF INTEGRATION AND IF MOTIVATED BY ANY OTHER AGENDA THAN SINCERITY AND GOODWILL IS HYPOCRITICAL, ISLAMICALLY UNACCEPTABLE, AND BOUND TO BACKFIRE. FINDING COMMON GROUND IN BUILDING COALITIONS WITH LIKE-MINDED PEOPLES IS THE STRONGEST WEAPON THAT MUSLIMS CAN UNLEASH AGAINST BIGOTS. THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT ALTHOUGH A LARGE PROPORTION OF OUR FELLOW AMERICANS HAVE BEEN CHOKING ON A DIET OF ANTI-ISLAMISM DISHED OUT BY MANY MEDIA OUTLETS THAT ARE SYSTEMATICALLY EXPLOITING THE CARNAGE OF 911 AND THE ONGOING SO-CALLED ‘WAR ON TERROR’ TO IMPUGN ISLAM, THEY ARE FUNDAMENTALLY FAIR AND DECENT PEOPLE WHO NEED TO HEAR FROM MUSLIMS IN THE FIRST PERSON. ARE MUSLIMS WILLING TO MAKE SUCH A COMMITMENT TO REACH OUT AND BUILD COALITIONS, OR ARE THEY SET IN THE WAYS OF THEIR COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN WHERE NARROW-MINDEDNESS AND CHAUVINISM OFTEN DICTATE SOCIAL INTERACTIONS?

          5. RECOGNIZING THAT THEIR MESSAGE OF PEACE AND RAPPROCHEMENT IS OFTEN DELIBERATELY IGNORED OR DISTORTED BY THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA, MUSLIMS NEED TO PRIORITIZE THEIR AGENDA TO ESTABLISH A VIBRANT COMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE ( 3) THAT IS DESIGNED TO PRESENT THE SPECTRUM OF MUSLIM VIEWS THAT ARE CONSONANT WITH THE DIVERSITY WITHIN ISLAM ITSELF AND A HALLMARK OF DEMOCRACY. ARE MUSLIMS WILLING TO INVEST IN SUCH AN INFRASTRUCTURE AS ‘SOUND VISION’ HAS JUST STARTED OR ARE THEY STILL GOING TO DEBATE THE PRIORITY OF ISLAMIC BANKING?

IF MUSLIMS INTEND TO DE-LINK ISLAM FROM TERRORISM THEY NEED TO DEFINE THEMSELVES. IN SO DOING THEY NEED TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST THE DOUBLE STANDARDS USED AGAINST THEM. MUSLIMS IN AMERICA DO NOT SPEAK FOR THIS COUNTRY, NOR DO THEY SPEAK FOR MUSLIMS IN THE REST OF THE WORLD. AS CITIZENS OF THIS COUNTRY THEY SHOULD NOT HAVE TO BEAR THE COLLECTIVE GUILT FOR THE MINDLESS ACTS OF RADICAL CULTISH FIGURES ELSEWHERE, AND BE EXPECTED TO DEFEND OR EXPLAIN SUCH CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY EVERYTIME THEY OCCUR. THE LINGERING QUESTION IS, IS THE SILENT MAJORITY OF MUSLIMS NOT ONLY HERE BUT WORLDWIDE, READY AND ABLE TO TAKE ON THE HATE-FILLED DEVIANTS WITHIN THEIR MIDST AND BRING THEM TO JUSTICE?  THE ANSWER BEFORE THE CATASTROPHIC SHOWDOWN WITH SADDAM, NOW MASQUERADING AS ‘THE WAR ON TERROR’, AND VIEWED BY MANY MUSLIMS AS A ‘CRUSADE AGAINST ISLAM’ WAS AN UNEQUIVOCAL’YES’. NOTWITHSTANDING, GIVEN ISLAM’S STAND ON JUSTICE, THE ANSWER MUST STILL BE ‘YES’ AS TERRORISM CAN NEVER BE ALLOWED TO PREVAIL.

AS A CAVEAT, AS NO OTHER RELIGION IS JUDGED BY ITS EXTREMISTS, NEITHER SHOULD ISLAM!

THE ANALYSIS I HAVE OFFERED IS PERSONAL AND THEREFORE HIGHLY LIKELY TO BE FLAWED IN MANY RESPECTS. IT IS NOT PRESENTED AS SOME BLUEPRINT FOR ACTION BUT RATHER AS A TEMPLATE DESIGNED TO STIMULATE DEBATE (INTRA-MUSLIM DIALOGUE # 17) AND HOPEFULLY BUILD SOME CONSENSUS IN A COMMUNITY HELD HOSTAGE BY ITS OWN EXTREMISTS AND HIGHLY ORGANIZED ISLAMOPHOBES WITH A WELL-ORCHESTRATED ANTI-ISLAMIC AGENDA. THE CURRENT CRISIS IN ISLAM AND THE MUSLIM WORLD CANNOT BE RESOLVED WITH A BANDAID APPROACH. IT IS A SYSTEMIC PROBLEM THAT DEMANDS A RADICAL PARADIGM SHIFT. WE IN AMERICA ARE FORTUNATE IN BEING ABLE TO TAKE THE LEAD. IN HIS SPEECH THE PRESIDENT HAD DECLARED THAT’ THE ADVANCE OF FREEDOM WILL LEAD TO PEACE”. LET US JOIN HIM IN HIS ENDEAVOUR WITH OUR CORE BELIEF THAT JUSTICE FOR ALL IS AT THE HEART OF PEACE.

LONG TERM SOLUTIONS -
WHAT ARE THE MOST SIGNIFICANT STEPS WE NEED TO PLAN FOR FROM NOW FOR ISLAM TO TAKE ITS RIGHTFUL PLACE FOR THE UNIVERSAL GOOD OF HUMANITY?

I LEAVE THIS TO THE READERS TO ANSWER!


POSTSCRIPT

1.      HOW WOULD YOU RANK THESE AGENDA ITEMS IN ORDER OF IMPORTANCE BOTH FOR THE SHORT TERM AND FOR THE LONG RANGE.

  (i)                                                                       

  (ii)                                                                           

  (iii)                                                                       

  (iv)                                                                     

(v)                       

2.      BASED ON A ‘GUESSTIMATE’, WHAT % OF THE TOTAL INCOME AND ASSETS OF YOUR CENTER ARE DEVOTED TO THE 5 PRIORITY ITEMS YOU HAVE SELECTED.

(I)                                                               

(II)                                                             

(III) 

(1V)

(V)                                                                                                                     

THIS ANALYSIS MIGHT HELP US TO DETECT ANY DISCONNECT BETWEEN WHAT WE THINK IS OF IMPORTANCE FOR THE SURVIVAL AND PROSPERITY OF OUR COMMUNITY AND HOW WE ARE EXPENDING OUR RESOURCES. IF AS MUSLIMS WE FAIL TO WREST THE INITIATIVE TO DEFINE OURSELVES AND CHART OUR OWN COURSE WE FACE THE PROSPECT OF BEING FOSSILIZED INTO CURIOSITY PIECES RELEGATED TO THE MANTELPIECE OF TIME..

ABDUL CADER ASMAL MD,PhD, FRCP     INITIAL PRESENTATION 4/03; REVISED 2/3/05

{FORMER PRESIDENT AND COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR,

ISLAMIC COUNCIL OF NEW ENGLAND

FORMER PRESIDENT , ISLAMIC CENTER OF BOSTON

ASS PROF MED HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL}