Moderate Muslims Under Siege

[StarGazer]

*An article I can definitely relate to*

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/01/opinion/01FADL.html

 

Moderate Muslims Under Siege

By KHALED ABOU EL FADL

 

LOS ANGELES

I am terrified of you and all people who look like you," the elderly woman said. "What can you do to reassure me against people like you?" I was in New York City and had just concluded my hourlong lecture on human rights and Islam at a law school conference where the subject was tolerance. She informed me that she has nightmares about Muslim and Arab-looking people like me. The pain of hearing comments like this cannot be described.

 

For more than 20 years now, moderate Muslim intellectuals living in the West have been fighting a thankless battle, often in the shadows, for the very soul of their religion. This battle has only intensified since Sept. 11, sometimes reaching tragic proportions. It is particularly demoralizing when criminal elements purporting to speak for all Muslims are given a platform to confirm all the worst fears about adherents of Islam, threatening to undo all the efforts of Muslim moderates since Sept. 11.

 

Ten days ago, Suleiman Abu Gheith, a high-ranking operative of the Qaeda terrorist organization, popped up on Al Jazeera, the cable news channel in the Persian Gulf, to reinforce all the fears of Americans about impending terrorist attacks against the United States. In a confident and comfortable tone of voice, Mr. Abu Gheith assured the world that Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawhiri and Mullah Muhammad Omar are alive and well. On behalf of Al Qaeda, he happily claimed responsibility for the Sept. 11 attacks and the attack in April on a Jewish synagogue in Djerba, Tunisia. He added that the war against the United States was in just its beginning phases and that more attacks were to come.

 

Of course Mr. Abu Gheith's statement is part of the psychological warfare of terrorism, and so it must be taken with a degree of cautious skepticism. Terrorists can spread fear either by actually attacking or by merely threatening to. But what struck me most about Mr. Abu Gheith was how eager he seemed to influence the ongoing debates within the United States about terrorism. Recently, American Muslim organizations have been struggling to improve the image of Islam and Muslims and to respond constructively to the rather draconian measures the Justice Department has taken against many Muslims in the United States. Mr. Abu Gheith explicitly referred to this situation, and surprisingly, clearly asserted that "the Republican Party has every reason to be worried." He even had a message to the people detained in Guantánamo: Rejoice, because further attacks would be coming.

 

Frankly, I do not know if Mr. Abu Gheith expects to be taken seriously by the American government. But it is important to understand that the intended audience of this message is Muslim moderates more than anyone else. In the Muslim world, there is a widespread belief that Osama bin Laden has not been killed and Al Qaeda has not been crippled. Consequently, the ideological battle between the proponents and opponents of Al Qaeda rages on. It is important to Mr. Abu Gheith and his camp to instill in moderate Muslims living in the West a sense of the futility and hopelessness of their efforts.

 

Since Sept. 11, moderate American Muslims have been fighting an exceedingly difficult battle on many fronts. They have been struggling to deal with the proponents of a clash of civilizations, who seem intent on transforming Islam into the enemy of the West after Communism; with the fanaticism of some supporters of Israel, who seem to deal with every manifestation of Islamic activism as a direct threat to Israel's existence; with fanatic religious leaders who have unabashedly maligned Islam, even going as far as calling the Prophet Muhammad a pedophile; with fellow Muslims who believe there is a worldwide conspiracy against Islam and even insist the Sept. 11 attacks were part of an effort to frame Muslims by the Central Intelligence Agency and the Mossad; with other Muslims who accuse moderates of being sellouts to the West and traitors to the Islamic tradition for not adhering to Islamic "authenticities."

 

They also contend with threats to their physical safety from Islam haters and from Muslim fanatics. Moderate Muslim intellectuals have been combating the renewed and well-funded efforts of Saudi Arabia to regain ground for its brand of puritan Islam — Wahhabism — that had been lost after Sept. 11.

 

In this country, moderate Muslims have had to deal with a presidential administration that is systematically undermining their civil liberties. Most of all, they have been struggling with an ineffective and self-serving American Muslim leadership, which has little interest in serving its constituency — a largely apathetic and politically inactive community that is frequently not engaged on the major issues confronting Muslims today.

 

Amid this mess, Mr. Abu Gheith steps in to co-opt the image of Islam by claiming that every "true and faithful" Muslim will rejoice with the spread of terror in this world. What he wants is for all the intellectual abstractions and ethical debates to become muted as the world panics at the prospect of more suffering and bloodshed.

 

Friends often ask me if, considering all the problems that moderate Muslims confront today, I can be hopeful that an ethical and humane Islam can prevail. I don't know how to respond. For Muslims like me, an ethical and humane Islam is the only legitimate Islam, and there is no choice other than to stubbornly insist that we, not the likes of Suleiman Abu Gheith, authentically speak for the Islamic tradition. There is no choice but to remind the world that while he rejoices in the death of innocent human beings, Muslims like me are grieving and in utter misery.

 

***Khaled Abou El Fadl teaches terrorism law and Islamic law at the University of California at Los Angeles

[petite]

that "moderate muslim" phrase disgusts me. moderate muslim..moderate muslim..blah blah blah.

[StarGazer]

why?

[petite]

Because it seems like a phrase made up to please the west. Moderate?..I mean come on, either you're muslim or you're not. How come we muslims have to define ourselves by THOSE terms?..it's phrases like that that separate us.

[StarGazer]

I understand where you're coming from. I don't agree with labelling muslims as extremist, moderates, sunni or shia.etc. But different ideologies do exist in the muslim world. Some muslims, unfortunately, do practice extreme forms of Islam sometimes to suit their best interest. N' this article was just coming from the side of the muslims living here in the west, struggling to maintain in the middle road. All am trying to say is muslims collectively have a long way to go, wherever they happen to reside (west n' east).

...to be continued...

[DraGon]

petite

Couldn't agree with u more, sis.

 

First thing comes first....America declared war against Muslims, its not the other way around FYI.

Muslims in most cases do not declare war unless Islam is challenged. During the colonial period when the British and French were physically controlling Muslim countries no one declared a religious war aginst them....the reason being they respected the religion of Islam and as such arabs/somalis/pakistanis were each fighting for there Independence from a foreign invader. When Britain/Italy colonized Somalia they respected our faith and culture unlike places such as Kenya where they forced Christianity down there throat.

Now on the other hand the American imperealist whats to impose there ways of lives on other people all in the name of the Almighty dollar. They want u to wear there clothings, shoes, watch there movies wether you like it or not. And Islam is challenging the idea of capitalist for life...this is where the confrotation lies not civilization clash.

Now for American to win this war they are using there millitary might,and propaganda. The propaganda is that Islam has been hijacked by extremist. What they want here is to cause a division among the Muslims by accusing non active (moderates) Muslims for being quite when Islam is politicized. They want us to participate in there war against the only idealogy that is challenging western exploitation.

They ask where r the Muslim moderates??? I ask where are the American Moderates when there state is killing and destroy lives around the world????

[Kowneyn]

Petite:

 

I agree that these definitions dont do real justice, but put aside your aversion to term "moderate muslims" for minute and understand the real message of the brother. I think what he is saying is that islam is being attacked by two fronts who seem on the surface at odds but in their purpose are one. The Kuffaar and the Munaafiqs(hypocrite). The Munaafiqs want to deform islam and de-spirit the muslim while claiming to be purifying it. Then the kuffars use that deformed image to spoil islam for the masses in the west and elsewhere. Because they know and realize islam in its pure form is an overwhelming spiritual force that will not only transform the state of muslims but will also spread like wild fire in kuffaar lands.

 

Remember that the current kaafir is a potential muslim and current muslim is a potential mumin. Both are being short changed by the efforts of the leading kuffaars and the Hypocrites among muslims.

 

Kowneyn

[StarGazer]

Dragon,

During the colonial period, they didn't respect Islaam. They were looking for ways they can indirectly rule the masses n' seek their co-operation. Islam was well established for many hundreds of years, and if they even tried to convert muslims that would've caused an upset n' the Europeans weren't prepared to deal with that. Am running out of time....more on that later.

 

Kowneyn,

Sis, I couldn't have said it better.

[DraGon]

Tamina Said:

During the colonial period, they didn't respect Islaam. They were looking for ways they can indirectly rule the masses n' seek their co-operation. Islam was well established for many hundreds of years, and if they even tried to convert muslims that would've caused an upset n' the Europeans weren't prepared to deal with that.

 

Exactly what am saying....the Europeans understood the civilazation of Islam and were willing to work around Islam to win the masses. But the Americans are actually challenging Islamic way of lives...and thats where the difference lies. During the cold war Americans were helping and working with Muslims to defeat communism....why have things changed since then???Go figure.

BTW you were right when u said the europeans were not prepared to upset Islamic ways of live because they knew very well as far as they stay away from Islam they will be save...unfortunately the Americans wants to change the Islamic way of life for a few bucks.

Mind u they dont want "moderates" like you to take over Islam BUT also to REFORM ISLAM to conform to there interest....believe me.

[Kowneyn]

Tamina:

 

Alxamdulillaah we agree sis.

 

BTW, I am a man.

 

Kowneyn.

[bilan]

western people(non_muslims) are over reacting, three building and thousand people died, they made it big deal and expect every muslim to feel sorry for them and opologize, but what about what they are doing to muslims?islam encourages to be moderate, but to be moderate in terms of western definition it means to be muslim by name only for that reason i do not like that term.

[petite]

Kowayn, I understand what you're saying. But I find it humiliating as a muslim to have to come up with words like "moderate" to make ourselves socially acceptable by the west. Islam is a great relegion, and EVERYTHING comes UNDER it, not the other way around. I understand the above man't article, but his constant use of the word moderate seems to me like he's looking for acceptance.True, these "terrorist muslims" idea has scared away alot of the west, but at the same time do we really have to be like NOOOOOOOOOOO, THOSE ARE THE EXTREMISTS, WE ARE THE MODERATES..thus seperating ourselves from what maybe people who are better than us. And again, who knows if these allegations against "muslim fundamentalists" are true?. We get our sources from the media right?..but do the masses react to the media or does the media react to the masses?. Can the media, who is backed by HUMANS be prejudiced?..ofcourse right?. So how do we know the news we are getting is even 50% un biased?. So the whole information being iffy iffy we would look like a couple of idiots screaming at the top of our lungs that we are moderates, the good muslims, and THOSE are the BAD extremist muslims..and thus seperating ourselves by what maybe MUMINS and alligning ourselves with the west, bending our heads and murmuring YES SUH..NO SUH..I'M A MODERATE SUH.

I hope I make sense.

[petite]

oh yeah..there are ayats in the quran that say that they would never accept us until we disbelieve. Knowing this, why don't we go out with dignity, instead of bickering and finger pointing.

[Medley of extemporanea]

All these names are a great fitnaah and the best way to protect your Islam is to keep out of there debates and practice your religion as it is made clear to you from the Quran and the Sunna and just say you’re a Muslim be upright.

[StarGazer]

Kowneyn, oppppzzz!!!!! sowwwyyyy!!!!!

 

Petite:

Thank you for your input sister. You had me thinking there. We shouldn't separate ourselves from the general muslim body by coming up with new terms each time a group of muslims have something different to bring to the table. What we need to realize is that there will always be different perspectives present in the muslim community and this very fact shouldn't cause us to separate. That's all folkz.