Posted on 11/17/2001 6:35:43 PM PST by rebdov
![]() Adrees Latif, Reuters
Muslim pilgrims worship in Mecca. Some radical U.S. clerics are echoing Osama bin Laden's claims that the religion is under attack worldwide, including in the United States. Islam is America's fastest growing faith.
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![]() Mike Derer, The Associated Press
The Masjid Al-Salam mosque in Jersey City; non-Muslims are forbidden to enter. The mosque gave a platform to a cleric now serving a life sentence for conspiring to blow up the UN building.
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JERSEY CITY - The Masjid Al-Salam, an unadorned storefront mosque on top of a Chinese takeout and a jewellery store, has a note tacked up inside with a stern warning: Those who do not belong to this Muslim community will be prosecuted for trespassing.
Leaving behind the gritty rows of Dollar Stores and pizzerias on Kennedy Boulevard, a main thoroughfare in this gateway to New Jersey, I nervously approach the entrance, a scarf pulled firmly over my head. I climb the mosque's stairs, passing by a U.S. flag taped to the second-storey window. It is Friday, the Muslim day of worship, and I am curious to hear the sermon of the imam, unedited for public sensibilities.
This mosque, after all, gave a platform to Omar Abdel-Rahman, the blind cleric believed to be the spiritual leader of the 1993 World Trade Center bombers, who is serving a life sentence for conspiring to blow up the United Nations building.
Two of the more than 1,000 people arrested in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks lived in an apartment building around the corner from the Mosque of Peace, and are said to have worshipped here.
Behind the closed door of the "sisters" room, the women, many of whom are from Egypt and Morocco, stand on prayer mats in a diagonal line facing Mecca. All but the youngest wear long cloaks and veils.
Over a loud-speaker, we hear Sheikh Mohammed, the mosque's Egyptian-born imam, call for a show of loyalty -- but not to the United States. He asks all those in the mosque to come to the aid of their brothers and sisters, oppressed Muslims around the world.
"What will happen to you on Judgment Day if you have not been a good Muslim?" the invisible presence thunders in Arabic. "What excuse will you give? The faces of liars will darken.
"Muslims are under attack in Chechnya, Palestine and Afghanistan," he continues, echoing the message of Osama bin Laden, who recently extended his list of Muslim conflicts to include those in such non-Arab regions as southern Sudan, Somalia and the Philippines. "The Nation of Islam is like a body and if one part of the body is under attack, then the whole body doesn't work properly."
This message -- that Muslims are under global attack by the West -- is a common one, repeated in mosques around the world, according to Farid Esack, a professor of Islamic Studies and visiting scholar at Auburn Theological Seminary at Columbia University. "The people know that the imam's message is to come to the aid of the Taliban, and that the imam believes the religion is under attack," he says.
As Afghanistan falls to opposition forces, and ordinary people celebrate the end of the Taliban and their rigid brand of Islam, radical imams in Pakistan, North America and elsewhere continue to define the war on terrorism in religious terms: Christendom versus Islam.
The Taliban may be driven out of Kandahar, but their fundamentalist ideology appears certain to live on. Bin Laden may be captured, but there are many more bearded Islamists who will continue his violent cause.
Although most U.S. Muslims, who endorsed George W. Bush for President, were quick to condemn the attacks, and the President was just as quick to declare "Islam is peace," there are signs that, in a faith that has increased significantly in size, social standing and political influence in the United States in the past decade, the public and private discourse are sometimes quite different.
Hamza Yusuf, an influential American Muslim scholar who was invited to the White House to pray with Mr. Bush after the attacks, later came under criticism for having said, in a speech two days before the terrorist hijackings, that the United States "stands condemned" and faced a "terrible fate" because of its treatment of minorities.
A Cleveland television station recently aired a 10-year-old videotape of Imam Fawaz Damra, a mainstream cleric, saying Muslims should direct "all the rifles at the first and last enemy of the Islam nation, and that is the sons of monkeys and pigs, the Jews." (He has since apologized.)
Sheik Muhammad Gemeaha, a former imam with Manhattan's Islamic Cultural Center who is now back in Cairo at al-Azhar University, told an Arabic-language newspaper the "Jews were behind these ugly acts [of Sept. 11], while we, the Arabs, were innocent."
To mainstream Muslims, who complain that fundamentalist leaders have co-opted the voice of the faith, this virulent anti-Semitism is anathema.
Some have begun to describe the internal debate reflected in the double-edged messages coming from some of Islam's leaders as the "Islamic Reformation."
The war has presented Muslims with a major crisis, says Dr. Esack. While radical clerics call for a jihad, or holy war against the American infidels who have retaliated against the Taliban, other Muslims condemn this theology.
"Jihad is self-struggle, but it also means a physical combat involving violence," says Dr. Esack. "You can't deny it. And that is incompatible with the fundamentals for peaceful co-existence."
He believes Islam needs to rethink its paradigms and develop a model of peaceful co-existence.
Yet inside the Al-Salam mosque, there is another kind of message for congregants.
"Know Your Rights," says a sign in English and Arabic pinned to a bulletin board. It goes on to remind Muslims who worship here that they are not required to reveal their immigration status to authorities, or speak to the Immigration and Naturalization service or the police. If the FBI threatens to get a Grand Jury subpoena to compel a witness to speak, do not submit, the sign advises. If people feel they are under surveillance, prudence is the best course.
The Muslim community in North America is relatively new and therefore full of insecurities. While Islam is the fastest growing religion in the United States, with 7 million adherents, 60% of the country's 1,200 mosques have been established in the past two decades, according to a 2001 survey by the Hartford Seminary made in conjunction with the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Nearly 30% of all congregants are converts and the majority of those are African-American males.
There is also a strong influence in the United States of Wahabism, a puritanical Islamic sect that originated in Saudi Arabia and is said to have inspired the violent extremism of Bin Laden and the Taliban.
Estimates of the percentage of American Muslims who worship in mosques that adhere to Wahhabist fundamentalism vary widely. Sheik Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, a Muslim leader who follows the mystical Sufi order, suggested in 1998 that 80% of American Muslim mosques have been taken over by Islamic extremists. He also notes the majority of followers do not necessarily agree with their leaders' views.
Others take issue with this characterization, noting Sufism has traditionally been suppressed by Wahabism and there is a history of personal rivalry between Sheik Kabbani and conservative Muslims.
The Hartford Seminary survey found that one-third of U.S. mosques preach a literal interpretation of the foundational texts of Islam, and two-thirds of mosque leaders believe America is immoral.
Daniel Pipes, of the Middle Eastern Forum, thinks many American Muslim institutions and mosques are influenced by radicals because they were funded by the Saudis when they were established during the 1980s. Many African-American imams were also sent to study in Saudi Arabia.
Of course, all religions struggle with their extremist fringes. The difference with Islam, however, is that the fringe exerts a disproportionate influence. Rashied Omar, an imam and scholar at the University of Notre Dame's Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, attributes this disproportion in part to the media, for giving them a platform, and to U.S. support both for Israel and for authoritarian regimes in the Middle East, which he says gives them a cause.
Dr. Esack believes there is another force at play: envy. "The Muslim problem with U.S. hegemony is not that there's a single power in control of the world," he explains. "It's that Muslims are not in charge. Many Muslims have a deep yearning for the whole world to be Muslim."
A middle-aged man of Arab descent who worships at the Al-Salam mosque in Jersey City, harbours just such a goal. The pizzeria owner would like to see the establishment of an Islamic Nation that would implement the law of Sharia. Literally translated as "the way," the religious law of Sharia calls for punishment of crimes to be imposed according to the Koran, with amputation of a hand for theft and beheading for capital offences. "Sharia is tough but it would bring good results," says the man, who did not want his name printed.
Imam Omar Abu Namous, who replaced the controversial Imam Gemeaha at Manhattan's Islamic Cultural Center, believes the creation of an Islamic state is at the heart of the religion.
"A unified Muslim state would be the ideal instrument to convince the world that Islam is the last version of God's word. God meant his word to be obeyed," he explains patiently.
He sees an Islamic nation as no different from the European Economic Community, which is unified by "Christianity, democracy and secularism."
The imam also believes Muslim militants were not responsible for the massacre of 17 Christians last month in Pakistan, hinting darkly that the "enemies of Islamic unity" could be behind the murders. When pressed to name these enemies, he replied: "Russia, India, Israel."
Mr. Pipes, a critic of the Islamists, who subordinate spiritual concerns to political ones, sees the vision of Islamic unity as dangerous. "I'd rather have the U.S. constitution than Islamic law at its most extreme," he says.
To illustrate what he means, Mr. Pipes quotes Siraj Wahaj, an influential African-American convert to Islam, who expresses the vision this way: "Muslims owning property all over, Muslim businesses, factories, halal meat, supermarkets ... Newark International Airport having Muslims flying fleets of planes, Muslim pilots ... can you see the vision of an area of no crime, controlled by the Muslims?"
This utopia may always remain a fantasy -- at least in North America, where just 2% of the population is Muslim. In any case, the inflexibility of fundamentalist Islam makes it highly unlikely it could ever dominate North American life, with its emphasis on free speech and individual rights.
Already, there are signs of rebellion in the Muslim ranks. At a round-table discussion of clerics, held recently at the Islamic Cultural Center, a row of veiled women sitting at the back of the mosque, did the unthinkable: They challenged the authority of the imams.
"You asked us to vote for George W. and we did and he hasn't moved on the issue of Palestine," a woman with an American accent in a black hijab said loudly, addressing a crowd of several hundred. "We're waiting. We're not asking to fight but we are waiting to be told what to do.... You want to blame someone for what is happening to Muslims? Look in the mirror."
Several women cheered and hollered and clapped.
Such a scene would be unthinkable in Muslim nations such as Pakistan, where women often cannot even enter the mosque, let alone question a cleric.
On this fall afternoon, as the sun created geometric shapes on the mosque's mint-coloured walls, the imams looked momentarily shocked.
"Be disciplined," one finally answered. "Follow the leadership here in this country."
Perhaps in the end, it is not U.S. forces in the Middle East, but the dynamics of the North American melting pot at home that will undermine the Islamist jihad, and help bring about its ultimate defeat.
One American Muslim's view of how forces of hatred find a home in otherwise beneficent mosques and Islamic centers
by Mustafa Saied
special to MSNBC.com
Oct. 3 Ever since America was attacked Sept. 11 by suspected Muslim extremists, there has been a remarkable emphasis on displaying tolerance and understanding towards Muslims living and practicing their faith in the United States. As Americans are called to show respect towards Arabs and Muslims in their midst, it is only fair that the American Muslim community take an introspective look at their own action.
THOUGH THERE ARE many sincere and observant Muslims in America, it is also a fact that in mosques, Islamic centers and Muslim student associations in this country that are funded by extremist factions in Saudi Arabia, anti-American sentiments are commonly intertwined with religious teaching.
As a longtime member of the American Muslim community, I have a unique perspective on this. Born in India, I came to the United States on a student visa. Though the adjustment was easy because it had always been my dream to live here, during my college years I became involved with some extremist Muslim groups. I must admit that some of my conversations on campus were quite insensitive and hateful towards the United States and western civilization as a whole.
I left those ideas behind years ago, when I was fortunately convinced by some friends that these extremist teachings are alien to Islam. Now, as an American resident, I feel it is time to call attention to what goes on inside some Islamic organizations in the United States that function as enclaves of extremism.
RIDICULE AND SUSPICION
Anti-Americanism takes many forms, from a general suspicion of all things non-Muslim to the ridicule of American values and culture, to, in the most extreme cases, outright statements of hatred couched in the language of religion.
In some Muslim communities, it is not unusual for non-Islamic religious or cultural observances to be ridiculed. I have attended Friday congregational prayers in the week before Christmas, Halloween or Thanksgiving in which the sermons are marked with sarcastic references to American religious and cultural practices. This strikes me as hypocritical, especially considering that greetings on the Muslim Eid holidays from non-Muslims are received with pride, but members of most mosques are forbidden to acknowledge their neighbors celebration of Christmas or return a holiday greeting.
Parents are increasingly encouraged to send their children to Islamic schools because of a rising sentiment in the American Muslim community that the nations public schools are not safe, that they teach anti-Islamic subject matter and that their children are better off surrounded by Muslims rather than non-Muslims. I have not known any of these Islamic schools to encourage or practice the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance, so I still fail to see how patriotism is in any way condoned, inculcated or preserved in the minds of our children.
The most extreme manifestation of anti-American sentiment is in the handful of mosques, Islamic centers and student groups that are controlled by forces that display a particularly venomous hatred towards the Western society. The teachings of religious experts ancient ones, like Ibn Taymiyyah, a Saudi scholar of the 13th and 14th centuries or recent leaders like Saudi Sheikh Albany or Abdul Wahhab are notable for their harsh rulings and strong words against non-Muslims.
SPORTS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Much of this anti-American sentiment takes place out of sight, cloaked in language most Americans cannot understand and in communal religious activities that take place outside the mainstream. But sometimes it comes to the surface. A few years ago, for instance, when the media focused on basketball star Mahmoud Abdul Raufs refusal to stand during the singing of the national anthem, Rauf, then a player on the Denver Nuggets, received a great deal of public support from the American Muslim community.
Its hard to say exactly why Raufs co-religionists rallied to his cause: was it because a Muslim sports hero caught in a controversy deserved unconditional Muslim support? Or was it that these Muslims many of whom carry American passports felt the American national anthem did not deserve respect? In the end, Rauf came to terms with the issue by agreeing to stand, but silently pray, during the playing of the national anthem. In the aftermath of Sept. 11, I wonder how many American Muslims now regret their involvement in this cause.
FLAGS AND PASSPORTS
A prevailing argument among some Muslim critics is that the American flag stands for the various oppressions and injustices of American foreign policy. But if the American flag is problematic for some American Muslims, what does holding an American passport represent? If they feel so strongly about it, shouldnt these critics be turning in their passports?
Muslims living in this country and enjoying its freedoms should stop tolerating hate-filled speeches against the West in its centers and houses of worship. Now is the time to discourage anti-social elements within the Islamic centers and mosques. It is not enough for people to simply say that they do not agree with extremist rhetoric. Individuals have a responsibility to voice their concerns and put the pressure on the community to stop tolerating it.
And, if it comes to this, Muslims of good will should be ready to report extremists in their midst to the proper authorities, if they do not tone down their rhetoric no matter how pious these extremists may claim to be. We cannot let the brotherhood of religion outweigh the security of our country and the responsibilities we have as American citizens.
Introspection is never really painless. The time has come to step up.
Mustafa Saied wrote this commentary for MSNBC.com
The immediate question is if Free Republic can survive the diatribes of the ISLAMIC apologists on Free Republic: Damian5 apologist for Islamicism
And this is in the US? Americans getting arrested for being on Muslim territory?
I think he spent time in Africa and saw first hand what Muslims are doing there and he knows they'll bring it here too. I used to know a Nigerian guy who said pretty much the same thing or worse because of what the Muslims were doing to his country, and now it's worse because they've imposed Islamic law on everyone and are burning the churches and killing Christians and other non-Muslims.
Yep, you can thank Harry Browne for that. He's the biggest antiwar activist right now. Many of my Austin Libertarian friends are out there marching with the AntiWar Socialists these day. They're an embarrassment.
They're reasoning is that WAR tends to take liberties away from citizens.
Over a loud-speaker, we hear Sheikh Mohammed, the mosque's Egyptian-born imam, call for a show of loyalty -- but not to the United States.
What we have in America is a cesspool of evil contamination. A nest of would be terrorists to attack us within our country. This article is terribly disturbing. If measures aren't taken to stop this hatred, chances are we'll be having more terrorist attacks. The ultimate goal of the Islamics is power and total control of America and the world.
The naturalized citizens should have undergone a detailed background check, to identify sleepers and moles.
Until this is done, we are in mortal danger.
--Boris
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