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Patterns of Discrimination between Muslims in the United States (1991-1999)

While some Islamic organizations see themselves as the champion of Muslim civil rights in the US by defending Muslims in discrimination cases versus the larger non-Muslim public, it is ironic that these same organizations do not defend fellow Muslims who are discriminated against by other Muslims. What is even more revealing is that these "civil rights" organizations actually participate in the discrimination of other Muslim groups and individuals based on their own biases.

The following is a series of incident reports compiled by the Islamic Supreme Council of America, an educational organization based in Washington, DC. While many incidents concern the chairman of the organization, Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, the incidents are representative of discrimination to all who espouse the traditional teachings of Islam which he represents and who comprise the silent majority of Muslims in America.

The basic definition of discrimination is to show favor or disfavor unjustly. The general trend in discrimination of Muslims by Muslims is to trigger hostility towards a particular individual or organization based on differences in school of thought in Islamic doctrine or political perspective. This is usually followed by the boycotting of their events, as well as preventing or substantially obstructing their attendance at other Islamic events.

The most recent public example of this took place in Santa Clara, CA, where a few area organizations hosted the local media in an attempt to "dispel the stereotypes" associated with Islam and Muslims. Ironically, these organizations illustrated the greatest example of discrimination themselves, by specifically not allowing certain Muslim individuals to participate or even attend. They allowed those whom they favored, and unjustly kept away those whom they disfavored. This is discrimination. Moreover, it is censorship and a clear example of hijacking the Muslim microphone to impose themselves as the "leading authority" on a particular issue.

The following examples illustrate the vast amount of discrimination between Muslims. In NONE of these cases did the self-proclaimed "Muslim civil rights" organizations intercede to stop the discrimination or facilitate dialogue between groups to come to some sort of equitable close. In fact, the opposite ensued.

[For the protection of individual identities, initials have been used instead of full names in some cases.]

1991

In general, from this year until the present, the nationwide Muslim Student's Association, an affiliate of ISNA, has repeatedly boycotted traditional scholars from lecturing at campuses across the country, including Georgetown University, Howard University, University of Illinois, Berkeley and others. Often times, another campus organization ends up sponsoring events that should be sponsored by Muslims. Generally, some students will request traditional scholarly viewpoints to be represented, and other organizations pressure the MSA to cancel the event. Often times, the organization behind these last minute cancellations is MSA-National, presided by Mohamed Salem.

1992

§ The As-Sunnah Foundation of America (ASFA), a scholarly publishing company which reproduces classical Islamic works in English as well as contemporary traditional writings, has been assaulted in written form on the internet since it's inception in 1992. What began as debates regarding the traditional teachings of tasawwuf, or Islamic spirituality, turned into mass-emailed vicious slandering attacks declaring that the spiritual branch of Islam is outside of the realm of the religion, which makes those who practice apostates to the faith. This conflict originated with the debate of Shaykh Muhammad Adly, a Salafi scholar who challenged the principles of the science of spirituality and was unable to reply when his challenge was refuted.

1993

§ According to MK, a woman who wore the traditional Islamic headdress, the hijab, was terminated from her position as a secretary at the American Muslim Alliance (AMA), a political organization in Berkeley, CA. Agha Saeed, the president of the organization, issued her termination without a valid reason. The woman was working to support her 3 children.

1994

§ Supporters of traditional Islamic doctrine approached the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), requesting that mainstream Islamic scholars be represented at their annual conventions, as opposed to restricting the convention to one ideology primarily representing only a sect of Islam. The request was ignored, thus, one of the oldest and largest Muslim organizations discriminated against traditional scholarship in Islam, to present only one ideology - theirs - when there are many different schools of thought in Islam.

§ ASFA opened a booth in the ISNA convention, determined to have differing viewpoints in Islam represented by scholarly literature, if not by the scholars themselves. From the moment the booth was opened, the ISNA security officials demanded that the booth be closed and that distribution of the literature cease, as it was deemed "un-Islamic." This is a direct violation of freedom of press, and freedom of religion, both founded in the constitution of this country. After a thorough investigation of the material being distributed, not one item proved to be objectionable. The case was merely discrimination against an organization ISNA disfavored. [note: The former president of ISNA, Abdalla Idris Ali, recently made a public statement regarding this particular incident, stating that ISNA, during his tenure, wronged ASFA regarding this issue.]

§ The Shura Committee of the Muslim Community Center in Chicago, IL successfully prevented Shaykh Yusuf Rifai, a well-known Kuwaiti scholar who adheres to traditional Islamic beliefs, from delivering a Friday sermon at the mosque after he had officially been invited to do so. No valid reason was given.

§ The Shura Committee of the Muslim Community Center in Chicago, IL, unsuccessfully attempted to bar Shaykh Hisham Kabbani from delivering a Friday sermon at the mosque in which he was invited to lead prayers. His invitation was from the board of directors, specifically Imam Niconiso Abdullah. They gave no valid reason for this discrimination and complicated matters by involving the local police.

1995

· The Advisory Shura Committee of the National Muslim Student Association's Internet Email Discussion list officially banned any discussions of topics involved in any way with "Sufism" or Islamic spirituality. In doing so, they officially and permanently removed from their list any persons deemed to be "instigating" discussions of these topics. This extremist bias by the Advisory Committee represents a very small percentage of the Muslim community, that of the Wahabi ideology.

· Dr. Hedieh Mirahmadi was dismissed from the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) board of directors based on her affiliation with another Islamic organization with a differing ideology.

1996

§ A massive campaign to subvert the 1st International Unity Conference in Los Angeles, CA was conducted by many mosques and Islamic organizations in Southern California. This resulted in death threats to the organizers and in two bomb threats by Muslims the opening day of the conference.

§ The 1st International Unity Conference in Los Angeles, CA, featured distinguished guests from around the world, including a significant number of national activists and scholars. Many of the domestic "leaders" who were invited who had differing viewpoints than the conference organizers stood on the podium and denounced the conference organizers and their beliefs. Rather than come in the spirit of unity despite differences of opinion, these leaders disgraced themselves, their hosts, the audience and the image of the religion. One leader, Sayyid M. Saeed, approached one of the chief financiers of the conference, urging him not to support the host organization, slandering them and their beliefs.

§ A delegation of Muslims who wanted to attend the ISNA conference this particular year reserved rooms in the local hotels and found that just prior to their travel, all of the hotel bookings had been cancelled by an unidentified person. This was evidently done to keep the delegation from attending the conference that year.

§ In September, one Northern California activist tried to organize an event with the San Ramon mosque, the San Francisco Mosque and the San Jose Mosque, to be held in space rented from the Muslim Community Association (MCA). Irfan Sa'ada, a committee member for MCA events requested a detailed outline of the proposed event. When the activist sent him an outline for the event, he approved of the speakers and events. Shortly thereafter, the activist added and confirmed the acceptance of Shaykh Hisham Kabbani, and Mr. Sa'ada replied saying that the committee was not happy and did not want the program to take place anymore. He did not give any specific reason for the refusal and cancellation.

1997

§ After a small conference held in Chicago, members of a traditional Islamic organization finally began to speak out and question why they were being discriminated against by ISNA and other large, national organizations. They tried to work with the then president of American Muslim Council (AMC), Mohammed Cheema, who pledged to try and facilitate dialogue between different organizations. What resulted weeks later was a phone call from ISNA president, Muzammil Siddiqi, who tried to ban distribution of traditional literature, rather than try to work towards resolution. After listening to the requests of the traditional organization, Mr. Siddiqi said he would consider the issue in detail but to this day has not responded, resulting in further misunderstandings and divisions within the Muslim community.

§ During this year's ISNA conference, a group of individuals who began to recite salutations and prayers for the Prophet (s) of Islam were ordered to be silent for no reason. They were not disturbing anyone, and it was custom for them to do so after the obligatory prayer. Furthermore, several individuals once again questioned the ISNA president on how mainstream Muslim scholars may be represented at their conferences and once again, no action was taken regarding this request. This illustrates the long-term goal of this organization to restrict and censor the dissemination of Islamic information and authentic scholarship to the masses of Muslims in this country.

§ The chairwoman of the American Federation of Muslims from India (AFMI) advised the conference board to feature Shaykh Hisham Kabbani as a main speaker for the AFMI conference. Board members from AFMI were happy to invite him but faced opposition from the Indian Muslim Relief Committee (IMRC), an ISNA affiliate. With much intervention from several key figures, he was invited to open the conference by reciting for five minutes from the Quran, but was not allowed to speak. Afterwards, Mr. Manzoor Ghori of the IMRC, wrote a letter to all organizers of the event condemning the invitation of Shaykh Kabbani, and subsequently held a meeting specifically to reiterate his condemnation. Not one other person had an objection to Shaykh Kabbani, and in fact, he proved to be a very popular guest with everyone, especially the ex-Prime Minister of India and the Civil Aviation Minister.

1998

· Shaykh Kabbani was invited to speak at the American Muslim Council (AMC) conference in June. Shortly before the conference, extensive pressure was put on the organizers to prevent him from appearing as a speaker. The organizers did not acquiesce to this pressure and Shaykh Kabbani addressed the conference.

· Character misrepresentation: During the AMC conference in June, one participant, AA, shared her unfortunate experience several years prior, when a person came to her home in New Mexico posing as Shaykh Kabbani. This impostor engaged in reprehensible behavior, intentionally defaming the character of the shaykh whom he was posing as. This resulted in years of character defamation which still carries negative repercussions for the Shaykh today.

· In an attempt to boycott the 2nd International Islamic Unity Conference in Washington, DC, the following incidents took place:

a. Two months prior to the conference, student members of various Muslim Student Associations (MSA's) in the US and Canada alleged that they had received an informal directive asking them to begin a slander campaign against the Unity Conference organizers. Campaigns on the internet by Muslims went as far as accusing the chairman of the conference, Shaykh Hisham Kabbani, of being associated and financed by Israeli intelligence sources.

b. Simultaneously, a wide-scale disinformation campaign was launched in many mosques across the country. Individuals at the mosques were told by the mosque leadership that the conference was something outside of the realm of Islam, and that the renowned international scholars who were attending were all anti-Islamic government agents.

c. Just prior to the conference, many invited international speakers were sent letters describing how the conference was an effort to promote unbelief and innovation, and if they attended they would be supporting something against Islam. Interestingly, only those speakers who received visas were sent the letters. Meanwhile, speakers from the US received calls from the embassy of one Muslim country, who told the speakers that if they attended the Unity conference, their stipends from that nation's Islamic organization would be cut. Based on this, some speakers canceled their appearance.

d. Muzammil Siddiqui, president of ISNA, spoke to a reporter with the Dallas Morning News, allegedly slandering the conference and its organizers, undermining the legitimacy of the Islamic Supreme Council of America (ISCA) and its chairman. The reporter was confused as to whether or not he should attend the conference based on this assessment, and later shared with ISCA that he was fascinated by the differences in opinion with Islam, as he had only been exposed to the sect that ISNA and Muzammil Siddiqui represented, "a very narrow approach," as he put it.

e. At Dulles International Airport, a Muslim INS agent by the name of Shane Phelan used his government post to aid in his part of facilitating the mass boycott of the conference. In one reported incident, as the passport agent questioned travelers on their intent on visiting the US, he told one visitor who came for the conference that he should not attend. He proceeded to give out names and numbers of individuals this attendee could contact to hear more slander about the conference and its organizers. One of the names he provided was Idrees Palmer. Mr. Phelan used his position with the government to misinform individuals entering the country about the conference.

f. While the Mufti of Kosova was present at the Unity Conference, not one member of the Kosova Task Force, USA, attended the conference to greet the Mufti of the country whom they claim to offer humanitarian aid, clearly showing discrimination against the conference organizers who hosted the Mufti, the highest religious authority of a country. Although the American Muslim Assistance's Kosova Crisis Center had the full authority to collect funds on behalf of the Mufti of the country, one of the few people who could guarantee its distribution, the Kosova Task Force specifically secluded the AMA from becoming part of the task force, while nearly every other Muslim organization was asked to join efforts.

g. At the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Falls Church, VA, the imam agreed to host the numerous Muftis from Islamic republics who were coming to address the conference. At one of the Friday congregational prayers services, just prior to the conference, board members of the mosque began harassing individuals who were distributing conference promotional material, quelling the distribution and going even further and fighting publicly with these individuals. The police were called to the mosque and confirmed that distribution of literature on the property was allowed.

§ Nov. 7th, an event sponsored by the Berkeley MSA was boycotted by the majority of its constituency after a slander campaign was made to prevent people from attending.

§ At the Muslim Arab Youth of America (MAYA) conference in Los Angeles, a booth owner who was distributing Islamic literature was told to close his booth and leave the conference claiming falsely that his material was "un-Islamic." The gentleman, NM, replied that he paid for his booth and he would stay until the conference finished. At this, the conference organizers called the police and issued a civil arrest against the gentleman. When a handicapped Muslim woman tried to speak in defense of the gentleman, MAYA staff members pushed her aside nearly making her fall. It was visibly apparent that the woman was handicapped, yet none of the organizers appeared concerned that they might harm her.

· Two members of the new governing body in the Shura Council of Southern California (of which MPAC is a member) were voted out and dismissed. Both of these members happened to be Shi'a Muslims.

1999

· One particular voting member of the Shura Council of Southern California was specifically kept out of a meeting (comprised of other voting members and others) to discuss how funds raised at a fundraiser would be distributed. The Shura Council collected $300,000 and without the consent and consultation of all members, decided to give the money to the Islamic Relief Organization.

· Members from many Muslim organizations were present at the First Lady's White House Eid celebration, yet only one person, Shaykh Kabbani, chairman of the traditionalist Islamic Supreme Council of America, was repeatedly slandered for attending and for showing support for the administration via his presence.

· Seven "leading" national Muslim organizations issued a very misleading statement against ISCA chairman Shaykh Hisham Kabbani, after he spoke at the State Department's request on the topic of Islamic Extremism. Instead of following the Islamic etiquette of disagreement and speaking directly with Shaykh Kabbani about their concerns, they immediately sought a broad-based dissemination of their defamatory claims without regard to the truth. By cutting and pasting his statements, taking them out of context and distributing them to the masses, they incited nationwide hysteria amongst the Muslim community, not to mention endangering the lives of Shaykh Kabbani, his family and his associates. They sought to obtain signatures from many national Muslim organizations, saying that they too supported the condemnation of the shaykh, even though most of the organizations didn't see the transcript of the forum or see the videotape. Many leaders, such as the respected Imam WD Muhammad, spoke to Shaykh Kabbani directly and said they signed without knowing what they were signing, only because they were pressured to do so.

The real irony in this case is that the distributing organization, CAIR, claims to defend Muslims from negative stereotyping in the Western media, however, they sent emails all over the world stereotyping other Muslims. Not one Western media outlet came forth with negative images of Islam in response to Shaykh Kabbani's forum, however, CAIR incited their own worldwide negative stereotyping campaign in Muslim media.

To further add to this, Dr. Robert Crane, a well-known former diplomat and convert to Islam was approached by AMC director Aly Abuzakouk and others, summoning him to write an article condemning the shaykh for his comments. Rather than complying with this absurd request, Dr. Crane wrote an interesting article not only agreeing with the statements made at the State Department, but giving further evidence of the rising tide of extremism within Islamic organizations and outside funding.

§ In response to the above, one individual, Hisham Abdullah, went well beyond his limit in issuing a formal declaration of boycotting Shaykh Hisham Kabbani, his staff and his supporters within the Muslim community at large. In his widely disseminated statement, Mr. Abdallah issues the following as his guidelines for an effective boycott: 1. Do not greet or talk to anyone who has made a statement of support, or is known to be a close follower of Shaykh Kabbani but has not denounced his accusations. 2. Completely boycott any activities, programs, publications or forums sponsored by the organization and 3. Not dealing with the above individuals and organization in any business transaction. Dr. Hamid Algar, a professor at UC Berkeley also wrote supporting this boycott.

How is this level of thinking possible in the United States of America, where one is born with the freedom of speech? For speaking his thoughts, Shaykh Kabbani and his followers deserve to be physically, socially, religiously and economically boycotted? In issuing such a ruinous proclamation, Mr. Abdallah and Dr. Algar have made a number of Muslims suffer psychological damage from these self-imposed "sanctions", not to mention the economic and physical repercussions of not being able to shop in designated Muslim grocery stores and to eat in Muslim restaurants. Where were the "defenders" of Muslim civil rights when this boycott was announced? This was sent worldwide, via the internet, yet not one Muslim organization came to declare the civil injustice and inappropriateness of the action. This was the first time in the history of Muslims in America such a boycott was implemented, infringing upon American citizen's constitutional rights, and clearly an act of domestic religious persecution.

This original boycott has escalated into a massive boycott by 100 organizations nationwide sponsored by the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), who has committed to continue calling on other groups and individuals to join them in their campaign against Shaykh Kabbani and his followers.

§ The following is another incident of how the original condemnation by CAIR has had adverse effects, and even life threatening ones, to Shaykh Kabbani. This is one of many similar scenarios across the nation: "This incident took place in my house in Indiana," writes SK. "I met with some people from my area and we were having a very general and peaceful conversation about the American Muslim community. Somehow, the name of Shaykh Hisham was mentioned and the people said that he was not even Muslim. They said he was a disbeliever, and that he was destroying the Muslims in America. I asked people why they felt this way, and they said because they had been reading the CAIR reports. I told them I had met him and admired his character as a Muslim. After some further discussion, they realized that they could not base an opinion on CAIR reports only and that they must meet him in person to discuss the issues at hand before condemning him." CAIR's slander and character assassination of another Muslim has spread from major media outlets to numerous organizations, and even to the individual home, all without CAIR ever approaching the individual before issuing their condemnation.

§ Maher Hathout, Director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) met with several Jewish leaders in Southern California urging them to sign an agreement which would make MPAC the sole representative of Muslims in America to the US Government. This exclusionary tactic was implemented without the knowledge of the average Muslim citizen, most of whom do not agree with Mr. Hathout and his staff's liberal, modernist ideology, which most certainly is not representative of traditional Islam. Again an overt example of one group trying to assert themselves as the voice of Islam in America at the expense of the silent Muslim majority.

§ Executive Director of CAIR, Nihad Awad, was interviewed by a widely read Arab newsmagazine in response to the condemnation that CAIR had issued against Shaykh Hisham Kabbani. During the interview he stated he was the "owner of a consultant seat for Muslim civil rights in the White House." Upon calling the White House directly, it was found that there was no such seat awarded to this individual. Also, the Department of Justice noted that they too did not have verifiable information to this effect. Misinformation such as this leads those in the Arab world to believe organizations like CAIR have authority and legitimacy in the US, which helps these types of organizations gain more funding and worldwide support, when in fact they do not carry such authority.

· Feb. 20, An unsuccessful attempt to stop an event with Shaykh Hisham Kabbani as the main speaker which had been planned by the Rutger's University MSA was instigated by the National MSA leaders. The event went on as planned, despite attempts to sanction the local MSA by the national organization. It turned out to be one of the most successful events ever conducted by the Rutgers MSA.

§ CAIR defended a Muslim taxi driver who refused to service a blind woman because her seeing-eye dog accompanied her. They claim that the driver rightfully denied her service due to an "Islamic ruling on dogs." According to traditional Islamic scholarship, in the Maliki school of thought, one may keep dogs for seeing, as in this case, hunting or security reasons. Rather than look into this matter on a deeper level, CAIR actually denied the human and civil rights of the woman, citing an "Islamic" justification. This is a clear example of CAIR infringing upon the civil rights of the non-Muslim public as well. [note: In this case, it is interesting to note that the editor-in-chief of The Minaret Magazine, Aslam Abdullah, is quoted extensively denouncing CAIR's behavior in this issue, deeming it completely un-Islamic and firmly stating that it was a "good thing that this organization [CAIR] does not represent the majority of Muslims in America.]

§ In reference to the media event [see introduction] in Santa Clara, CA, when organizer Maha El-Genaidi was approached for an invitation for a leading Islamic figure in the community, her verbal reply was a direct refusal and later in writing she stated: "I am writing to ask you to please ask him [Shaykh Kabbani] not to attend." So, in "preserving" the non-Muslims already distorted view of Islam and Muslims, Ms. El-Genaidi finds it more appropriate to discriminate against her fellow Muslim rather than present a view of Islam which is valid, yet not of her own liking or understanding.

§ A landmark discrimination case implicating a regional CAIR representative and his alleged intimidation of an African-American convert to Islam in Southern California. This case illustrates the direct abuse of power on the part of Hussam Ayloush, Southern California CAIR representative, and also manifests the alleged hidden agenda behind this organization's funding and political interests. The woman involved alleges that Mr. Ayloush recently accosted her, verbally humiliating and attacking her in the Garden Grove Mosque in Orange County, CA. This was all in relation to a very intricate case surrounding the high-profile murder of a young, Afghani youth in Southern California. A detailed case study is being researched and cross-checked at this time and will be made available when all information has been verified.

§ May 31, ISNA convened a meeting of all Imams of mosques in the San Francisco Bay Area to promote Islamic unity. When the representatives of Masjid al-Tawheed, founded by Shaykh Kabbani, arrived they were asked to leave, despite the fact they had received a letter inviting their attendance. Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi stated to the gathered leaders "we are sorry to have to bring up this matter… but the community has instituted a boycott on Shaykh Kabbani and his organizations and therefore we are asking the representative of his organizations to leave." The representatives left in order to avoid further embarrassment. Four members of another mosque affiliated with Shaykh Kabbani, arrived only a short while later. They participated in the entire meeting, and only after it was over were told, "You should not have attended as you are under a boycott." When they stated they had received a written invitation to attend, the matter was dropped.

§ June 5, Muhammad Akram Qureshi, distraught over legal battles, embarrassing arrests and a restraining court order preventing him from attending his local mosque, the Islamic Society of Orange County (ISOC), doused himself with gasoline on the steps of Westminster Justice Center and set himself ablaze. Qureshi, 50, died a short time later at UCI Medical Center, after suffering burns over 80% of his body. ISOC members, outraged at the incident, formed an Action Committee to investigate the mosque's alleged responsibility for the tragedy. The committee expressed that the blame lay with the mosque's administration and director, Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi, who is also president of the largest national Islamic organization ISNA, for pushing the depressed Qureshi to suicide by their preventing him from attending the mosque, harassment, multiple incidents of having him arrested, and finally enforcing a court-ordered ban on his attending the mosque.

§ June 8, Southern California. Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), hosts Ambassador Seiple of the State Department to speak at the Islamic Center of Southern California. When Ambassador Seiple objected publicly to the "de facto" boycott against Shaykh Kabbani and his organizations, mosque director Dr. Maher Hathout appeared extremely upset and stated his affront at the matter being addressed at an MPAC-sponsored event. When admonished by a number of members of the audience supportive of Shaykh Kabbani, the mosque's administration nearly responded by sending in security personnel to silence them.

In summation, a recurring theme of Shaykh Hisham Kabbani's endless, tireless mission for the Muslim community in America is to raise awareness of the traditional teachings of mainstream Islam, which include the science of spirituality, and to repeatedly stress the fact that DIFFERENCES OF OPINION IN ISLAM ARE NOT ONLY ACCEPTED, BUT A MERCY, as stated in a prophetic saying. In doing this, he has been vehemently attacked by fellow Muslims and "major" Muslim organizations, who oppose this fundamental Islamic principle.

It is universally known that it was the teachings of Islamic Spirituality that were responsible for the spread of the religion throughout the Indian Subcontinent, the Far East, North Africa and Central Asia. Until Shaykh Kabbani's arrival in the U.S., most Muslims had not been exposed to these spiritual teaching in this country. As Professor Suleyman Nyang of Howard noted, "It was not until Shaykh Hisham brought the teachings of the Naqshbandi tariqa [a particular Sufi order] to America that people began speaking of and studying openly the science of spirituality."

As a scholar of Islam, Shaykh Kabbani comes from a family with a long tradition of leading religious affairs in his native Lebanon. Shaykh Kabbani has seen the great freedoms of this country afford him the greatest opportunity to educate individuals and groups in the true message of Islam. It is a message of love, peace, moderation and tolerance, and counterpoises the rulings of the religion with its spiritual dimension, resulting in a balanced state of religious practice. His efforts were met by persecution, condemnation and public humiliation by the same "Islamic" groups who claim to uphold the civil rights of Muslims. Muslims must be able to tolerate one another and differences of opinion before affording any hope of truly building ecumenical bridges with the larger community.

One must note that the majority of discriminatory incidents against Shaykh Hisham Kabbani preceded the lecture he gave at the State Department in January, 1999. Why, then, were his rights not defended, as so many other Muslims' have been? Given that his "crime" of speaking out publicly is his constitutional right, who has the right to condemn him, especially in regard to his freedom of speech?

Just as the answer to stereotyping and discrimination in the larger Western context requires tolerance and understanding, so too must Muslims themselves accept the wide latitude for differences in opinion afforded within Islam, truly heralding it as a religion of mercy, tolerance, moderation and peace.

© 1997-2003, Islamic Supreme Council of America
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