A Memo to American Muslims
M. A. Muqtedar Khan
In the name of Allah, the most Benevolent and the Most Merciful. May this
memo find you in the shade of Islam enjoying the mercy, the protection and
the grace of Allah.
I am writing this memo to you all with the explicit purpose of inviting you
to lead the American Muslim community in soul searching, reflection and
reassessment.
What happened on September 11th in New York and Washington DC will forever
remain a horrible scar on the history of Islam and humanity. No matter how
much we condemn it, and point to the Quran and the Sunnah to argue that Islam
forbids the killing of innocent people, the fact remains that the
perpetrators of this crime against humanity have indicated that their
actions are sanctioned by Islamic values. The fact that even now several
Muslim scholars and thousands of Muslims defend the accused is indicative
that not all Muslims believe that the attacks are unIslamic. This is truly
sad. Even if it were true that Israel and the US are enemies of the Muslim
World, wonder what is preventing them from unleashing their nuclear arsenal
against Muslims, a response that mercilessly murders thousands of innocent
people, including hundreds of Muslims is absolutely indefensible. If anywhere
in your hearts there is any sympathy or understanding with those who
committed this act, I invite you to ask yourself this question, would
Muhammad (pbuh) sanction such an act? While encouraging Muslims to struggle
against njustice (Al Quran 4:135), Allah also imposes strict rules of
engagement. He says in unequivocal terms that to kill an innocent being is
like killing entire humanity (Al Quran 5:32). He also encourages Muslims to
forgive Jews and Christians if they have committed injustices against us (Al
Quran 2:109, 3:159, 5:85). Muslims, including American Muslims have been
practicing hypocrisy on a grand scale. They protest against the
discriminatory practices of Israel but are silent against the discriminatory
practices in Muslim states. In the Gulf one can see how laws and even
salaries are based on ethnic origin. This is racism, but we never hear of
Muslims protesting against them at International fora.
The Israeli occupation of Palestine is perhaps central to Muslim grievance
against the West. While acknowledging that, I must remind you that Israel
treats its one million Arab citizens with greater respect and dignity than
most Arab nations treat their citizens. Today Palestinian refugees can settle
and become citizens of the United States but in spite of all the tall
rhetoric of the Arab world and Quranic injunctions (24:22) no Muslim country
except Jordan extends this support to them. While we loudly and consistently
condemn Israel for its ill treatment of Palestinians we are silent when
Muslim regimes abuse the rights of Muslims and slaughter thousands of them.
Remember Saddam and his use of chemical weapons against Muslims (Kurds)?.
Remember Pakistani army's excesses against Muslims (Bengalis)?. Remember the
Mujahideen of Afghanistan and their mutual slaughter? Have we ever
condemned them for their excesses? Have we demanded international
intervention or
retribution against them? Do you know how the Saudis treat their minority
Shiis? Have we protested the violation of their rights? But we all are eager
to condemn Israel; not because we care for rights and lives of the
Palestinians, we don't. We condemn Israel because we hate "them".
Muslims love to live in the US but also love to hate it. Many openly claim
that the US is a terrorist state but they continue to live in it.
Their decision to live here is testimony that they would rather live here
than anywhere else. As an Indian Muslim, I know for sure that nowhere on
earth, including India, will I get the same sense of dignity and respect that
I have received in the US. No Muslim country will treat me as well as the US
has. If what happened on september 11th had happened in India, the
biggest democracy, thousands of Muslims would have been slaughterred in riots
on mere suspicion and there would be another slaughter after confirmation.
But in the US, bigotry and xenophobia has been kept in check by media and
leaders. In many places hundreds of Americans have gathered around Islamic
centers in symbolic gestures of protection and embrace of American Muslims.
In many cities Christian congregations have started wearing hijab to identify
with fellow Muslim women. In patience and in tolerance ordinary Americans
have demonstrated their extraordinary virtues.
It is time that we acknowledge that the freedoms we enjoy in the US are more
desirable to us than superficial solidarity with the Muslim World.
If you disagree than prove it by packing your bags and going to whichever
Muslim country you identify with. If you do not leave and do not acknowledge
that you would rather live here than anywhere else, know that you are being
hypocritical.
It is time that we faced these hypocritical practices and struggled to
transcend them. It is time that American Muslim leaders fought to purify
their own lot. For over a decade we have watched as Muslims in the name of
Islam have committed violence against other Muslims and other peoples. We
have always found a way to reconcile the vast distance between Islamic
values and Muslim practices by pointing out to the injustices committed upon
Muslims
by others. The point however is this our belief in Islam and commitment to
Islamic values is
not contingent on the moral conduct of the US or Israel. And as Muslims can
we condone such inhuman and senseless waste of life in the name of Islam? The
biggest victims of hate filled politics as embodied in the actions of several
Muslim militias all over the world are Muslims
themselves.
Hate is the extreme form of intolerance and when individuals and groups
succumb to it they can do nothing constructive. Militias like the Taliban
have allowed their hate for the West to override their obligation to mpursue
the welfare of their people and as a result of their actions not only have
thousands of innocent people died in America, but thousands of people
will die in the Muslim World.
Already, half a million Afghans have had to leave their homes and their
country. The war has not yet begun. It will only get worst. Hamas and Islamic
Jihad may kill a few Jews, women and children included, with their suicide
bombs and temporarily satisfy their lust for Jewish blood, but thousands of
Palestinians then pay the price for their actions. The culture of hate and
killing is tearing away at the moral fabric of the Muslim society. We are
more focused on "the other" and have completely forgotten our duty to Allah.
In pursuit of the inferior jihad we have sacrificed the superior jihad.
Islamic resurgence, the cherished ideals of which pursued the ultimate goal
of a universally just and moral society has been hijacked by hate and call
for murder and mayhem. If Binladen were an individual then we would have no
problem. But unfortunately Binladen has become a phenomenon - a cancer eating
away at the morality of our youth, and undermining the spiritual health of
our future. Today the century old Islamic revival is in jeopardy because we
have allowed insanity to prevail over our better judgment. Yes, the US has
played a hand in the creation of Binladen and the Taliban, but it is we who
have allowed them to grow and gain such a foothold. It is our duty to police
our world. It is our responsibility to prevent people from abusing Islam. It
is our job to ensure that Islam is not misrepresented. We should have
made sure that what happened on Sept.11th should never have happened. It is
time the
leaders of the American Muslim community woke up and realized that there is
more to life than competing with the American Jewish lobby for power over US
foreign policy.
Islam is not about defeating Jews or conquering Jerusalem. It is about mercy,
about virtue, about sacrifice and about duty. Above all it is the pursuit of
moral perfection. Nothing can be further away from moral perfection than the
wanton slaughter of thousands of unsuspecting innocent people.
I hope that we will now rededicate our lives and our institutions to the
search for harmony, peace and tolerance. Let us be prepared to suffer
injustice rather than commit injustices. After all it is we who carry the
divine burden of Islam and not others. We have to be morally better,
more forgiving, more sacrificing than others, if we wish to convince the
world about the truth of our message. We cannot even be equal to others in
virtue, we must excel. It is time for soul searching. How can the message of
Muhammad (pbuh) who was sent as mercy to mankind become a source of horror
and fear? How can Islam inspire thousands of youth to dedicate their lives
to killing others? We are supposed to invite people to Islam not murder them.
The worst exhibition of Islam happened on our turf. We must take first
responsibility to undo the evil it has manifest. This is our mandate, our
burden and also our opportunity.