Category: American Muslims
Here we go again….
A Charlotte, NC credit union wants to discriminate against its customers who wear scarves, hats, sunglasses, et.al. Of course the move is aimed against Muslim women who wear the hijab as a part of their wardrobe when out in public; all the other folks mentioned in the news report can easily doff their offending clothes item.
The credit union says it’s their way of protecting their employees from bank robbers. (I really wonder how many banks have been held up by women wearing hijab?) but Rose Hamid has it right…it’s simply the bank’s way of taking an offensive jab at Muslims in America and humiliate those Muslim women who are its patrons. No one should pay anyone else to subjugate them to second class citizen status, so, here’s a shout out to the Muslims in the Charlotte area…psssst. Take your business elsewhere.
American Muslims carving their own niche
Islam has always been in America; it’s almost as American as apple pie, just like its sister religions, Judaism and Christianity. However, with it has come the historical baggage of these three great monotheistic religions, each taking its turn on the sacrificial altar of distrust and dislike against the other two. Since Islam in America is a homegrown phenomenon, its adherents have had the luxury of defining themselves and what they think their mission is, yet that definition has sometimes been at odds with what other Muslims not native to America have had in mind, and the result is the two groups have butt heads a time or two. I ran across this letter that speaks to that confrontation and the resulting frustration that has arisen as a result. Hat tip to Muslim Matters!
So Very Tired
Dear brothers and sisters in Islam, and specifically you in North America who will understand this best.
I have a problem.
I know where I came from, I know who I am, and I have a pretty good idea of where I want to go.
But I am tired.
Tired of the Muslim Identity Crisis Conferences. Tired of Muslims in America conferences. You’re a human being that was created for the sole purpose of worshipping the One who created you. Get over it and move on.
Tired of confused pseudo-intellectuals who keep trying to legitimize their deepest, darkest insecurities under the cover of academic acceptance. Women can’t lead men in prayer, and homosexuality will never be acceptable.
Tired of the explicit condemnation of Muslim terrorists that comes without the explicit condemnation of all terrorism, particularly against Muslims. Can the Ummah of Muhammad please unite, the Ummah of the likes of Umar ibn al Khatab, Khalid ibn Waleed, Sad ibn abi Waqqas, and Hamza please find the necessary pieces of spine required to call George Bush et al what they are?
Speaking of which, I’m tired of the games Muslim politicians and political organizations play to put a position forward that deludes no one except yourselves for believing they’d believe you.
Tired of victim-culture fatwas that turn every situation into a necessity, and that coddles our ummah into weakness for the sake of ease and some overarching goal of dawah that never seems to be properly articulated in simple, coherent language.
Tired of Islamic teachers of any calibre who complain about the adab and khuluq of people and are badly in need of it themselves, in all forms of communication.
Tired of all the acronymed organizations and their leadership, and their inability to establish an agreed upon method for moonsighting. Really. All the opinions are correct, so please, just put them all in a hat, draw one out, and if you all unite on it, we’ll follow it. Even me. I promise.
Tired of the word Islamophobia. Who came up with this ridiculous word? Whoever it was, they need to be shot…with a super soaker. I want to curl myself up in the fetal position every time I hear that word.
Tired of you telling me we need fiqh of minorities, and that we should combine prayers in the work place. This isn’t Muslim Spain, we have rights that can be exercised – please stop cowering in the corner, or at least stop trying to get us to join you there.
Tired at your exasperation over Barack Obama not wanting to talk to you during the election. Who would want to talk to a pack of sniveling lackeys who have no respect for themselves and act as though they are embarassed at the religion they profess to follow?
And I’m tired of you acting like Obama’s theMahdi incarnate. We only rooted for him because we wanted to stick it to GWB, not because we like his politics of homosexuality, late term abortions, and worst of all, restarting the war in afghanistan.
I’m so, so very tired of it all. And if you looked at the list above, you may be tired of it as well. But you know what? I’m tired of you too.
Tired of you sitting behind your computer, writing in a style that makes you sound like ranting and raving lunatic.
Tired of you complaining about everything and doing absolutely nothing.
Tired of the online chickenhawk hate brigade who hates everything about America and happily pay their taxes after clicking “Submit” on their latest online rant against it.
Tired of people who call for Hijrah and never go, citing the reasons of the people who are against hijrah – “But dude, there are no ANSAR on the other end, otherwise, like, I’m sooo there!” It’s called planning, genius, see lessons of the Prophet’s (SAW) escape from Makkah for a primer on how to plan AHEAD.
Tired of your open hatred of all nonMuslims / kafirs in the name of al wala w’al bara. Yes, I said kafirs. Does that make you feel better? Then I’m also tired of your pettiness.
Tired of your delusions of mind and intention reading. Don’t you see the potential aqida problems here?
Tired of your PDF refutations. I have absolutely no idea who the author of the document is, or his credentials to say and interpret as he has. Please tell me what you understand, or don’t bother.
Tired of you taking every fiqh issue and making it an aqeedah issue such that if it’s not in accordance with what the scholar du jour spoonfed you yesterday, that person must most certainly either be off the manhaj, a sell-out, or both.
And I’m tired of you not knowing anything about the fundamentals of Islam, like, for example, the Seerah!
Tired, tired, tired.
Did you like the list above? Really? I’m tired of you too.
Tired of you expecting everyone to follow you blindly and stupidly.
Tired of you looking down your nose at people who are far more qualified to deal with logic, analogy, and argumentation and telling them, “But you don’t know Arabic.” Yeah, I don’t know latin either, but if I have a medical condition, my doctor will still explain it to me, and if he’s any good, he’ll tell me to get a second opinion if I have doubts.
Tired of your partisanship, and tired of you calling it a mercy. Really? Coulda fooled me. Visit my community on the first and last day of Ramadan, I’ll show you mercy.
Tired of you expecting me to disconnect my mind on fiqh, believe the most ridiculously esoteric ideas about God, and then strive for spiritual ecstacy. Are you kidding me?
But I’m not done yet, oh no – I’m tired of you too.
Tired of you prioritizing your career, your family, and all your weaknesses over the worship of Allah.
Tired of you complaining to scholars about what a victim you are.
Tired of you saying you need to live in a house. You liar. You can rent a house – you just don’t want to lose money. Admit it.
Tired of you looking for easy fatwas rather than picking yourselves up by the bootstraps and working at being a Muslim, and struggling with the challenges.
Tired of your back home mentality that keeps the child you think is fair from marrying an African American. The only thing black here is your heart.
Tired of you believing your donations entitle you to run the masjid.
Tired of the way you run the masjid. It stinks, figuratively and literally.
Tired of you complaining about the poor ethics of Muslim governments, while you have the same ethics, the only thing separating you and them is the scale of the violation.
Tired, tired, tired, so very tired.
The ironic thing of all this is that despite all that, I still love you for the sake of Allah. As I said to begin this letter, you are my dear brothers and sisters in Islam. I have my flaws, I have my weaknesses, and I am by no means perfect. At any point in my life, I could have fit into multiple categories in that complaint list.
But do you know why I’m tired? I’m tired because we have so many issues, and I feel obligated to do something about all of it. I want to fix it. I want to make it right. You probably do too.
In the end, we are here to worship Allah. I don’t know a lot, but I know that much. All I can do is ask Allah to guide us all to come together, to be the people whom He Loves, to be people whom He will be pleased with.
Goodness shows
even when you’re wearing a black abaya, or at least that’s what one one young lady found out while traversing the streets of Arab, Alabama. The deep south is my home and even I’m amazed at the changes that have gone on there during my lifetime. The people are generally good, and kind, although easily misled at times. The main stream media realized that a long time ago and joined with the Bush Administration to demonize a segment of the American population so that the rest would never want anything to do with them.
Hailey Woldt found out their plan hasn’t quite worked. You can read about her story here. It echoes the stories of countless others who are different have been maligned by demagogues in our not too distant past, but who are still accorded their rights of citizenship and respect by other law abiding Americans. We’re trying to fight our way through the haze of fear and suspicion of the last eight years and at the moment we seem to be winning the fight. Take a look at the video below to see what I mean.
Stay tuned!!
The REAL Dirty Bomb Plot
I really don’t know where to go with this, the story has such potential. There was a plot to explode a dirty bomb, bomb making material was found along with literature that explained how to assemble it and the person responsible was a member of a known subversive group. His name was James G. Cummings, of Belfast, Maine and the group he belonged to was the National Socialist Movement. Before the plot could go anywhere, Mr. Cummings was shot and killed, by of all people……….his wife, who just got fed up with the domestic abuse she endured during their married life.
Jose Padilla should now be released from jail and every member of the National Socialist Movement should be rounded up and herded to some remote island prison camp, shackled, put under sensory deprivation and forced to listen toMarvin Gaye, James Brown or the Average White Band blaring through loudspeakers continuously for months at a time because they constitute a threat to the United States and one of their own was caught red handed in an act of terrorism. And for that matter, too, perhaps we should round up every white male who looks like Mr. Cummings because they hate the president of the United States and his values and therefore by extension, us.
This would be the rhetoric applied to Muslims, yet the story of Cummings hasn’t spiked the front pages of most newspapers, let alone the muliti-colored Homeland Security fear index whose needle pegged whenever terror and Islam were mentioned in the main stream media. Just as with most of what’s “good” about America, self expunging took place with regards to Cummings and there wasn’t the need for another level of government bureaucracy to protect us from him. All it took was a law abiding citizen who had the nerve, or strength and steady hand, to shoot him and rid us of the evil he intended for the “homeland”. In fact, his wife did more to combat terrorism than George Bush did in all the 8 years of his presidency.
We know that will not be the approach of people in government. Their goal is to make us more dependent on them and fearful of them as well, even if it means pitting one group of people against another. Don’t fall for it. The laws we have absent those enacted during the Bush administration, are enough to protect us, as long as we have the courage and strength of Cummings’ wife keep a steady hand and act. Are you feeling me, President Obama?
Memory hole material on Islam
I was cruising through my daily reading material and found another very good link that contains hundreds of examples where Muslims have condemned acts of terrorism in very explicit language, since 911. Too many times the hue and cry has gone out that the Muslim community is silent and that their silence equals approval of acts of terror done in the name of Islam. Well, the Muslim community hasn’t been silent and if Miscellany101 can find these examples of condemnation so can a media which is paid lavish sums of money to report the news. The silence has been on the part of a corporate media in reporting the words of these organizations and individuals who had nothing to gain in making their statements against terrorism, so the next time someone says or you the reader ask where are the voices of reason in the Muslim world, take a look here and see for yourself. They are loud and vociferous, like a tree crashing in the forest…..the problem is no one wants you to hear them. Your question should be why is that?
American Muslims to Al-Qaida-Get the f*ck outta’ here!
There is no Islamic terrorist threat from American Muslims. Inspite of every effort on the part of the American government to find one it simply doesn’t exist. Oh sure, there are the occasional kooks and weirdos that garner a lot of media attention but there is no concerted, organized effort on the part of Muslims living in America to subvert the way of life of America. In fact, Muslims generally have tried to incorporate themselves into the American way of life only to find their efforts maligned, misdirected and denied by the very people who claim to believe in the American system.
So along comes al-Qaida, that nefarious group of individuals in the ethernet, on the heels of the Obama victory to call him and those who support him out and what happens? Zawahiri gets the smack down from Muslims in America.
I am offended that this group consistently portrays Islam as a murderous and irrational religion practiced by racists and sexists. Just as I would not portray the Ku Klux Klan as “Christian” or Hitler as “Catholic”, I can’t call the streaming absurdities of these kinds of people – “Islam”! Racism and murder are not part of Islam – Al-Zawahiri’s comments were (as usual) racist and divisive.
I was also offended at the hijacking of Malcolm X’s legacy in which Mr. Al-Zawahiri implied that Malcolm would approve of their un-Islamic murderous methods. Malcolm X has said that he believed in the sanctity of life and the rule of law. The Al-Qaeda gang of lawless murderers is looking to cover their bloody tracks by dragging Brother Malcolm X into their dark and musty cave of division.
And again……
SO LET US MAKE IT CLEAR THAT AMERICA IS, AS THE AUTHOR AND RESEARCHER SYLVIANNE DIOUF POINTS OUT, THE ONLY WESTERN COUNTRY WITH AN INDIGENOUS MUSLIM POPULATION OF AFRICAN DESCENT. NO ONE AT HOME OR ABROAD SPEAKS FOR MUSLIM AFRICAN AMERICANS BUT THEIR OWN LEADERS.
FURTHER, OVERWHELMINGLY, AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSLIM LEADERS REJECT CALLS TO BOTH RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL EXTREMISM , PARTICULARLY WHEN SUCH CALLS ARE BASED UPON APPEALS TO EMOTION AND A PROJECTED INTERNATIONAL AGENDA DECLARED BY OTHERS, INSTEAD OF A DOMESTIC AGENDA DECLARED BY OURSELVES.
Miscellany101 to al-Qaida, it ain’t working with American Muslims so you’d better try another tactic! It’s clear Muslims in America have made their own path on the world’s stage, are able to think for themselves, set their priorities as citizens of America and won’t be led (misled) by people with agendas that are not in their interests as Muslim Americans. For all the commentators who use terms like Islamofascists, Islamoterrorists, etc, slinging such terms so glibly this message is directed towards you too!!!
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