By Muqtedar Khan, Ph.D.
Director of International Studies, Adrian College, MI
Association of Muslim Social Scientists
Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy
 

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 un-Islamic. 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 injustice  (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  slaughtered 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 pursue 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.