Finally, from a friend in Seattle, an answer to my question: "Where is the outrage?" I assume this is legitimate. Its long, but well worth reading, and should be REQUIRED reading for American Muslims. So now we know that there's at least one Muslim that regrets 911. Now, where are the rest?
Regards,
Knip
Today I received a copy of this letter by Professor Muqtedar Khan, a Muslim
who is Director of International Studies at Adrian College in Adrian,
Michigan. Even though it is addressed to American Muslims, it carries a
powerful, positive message for all Americans, and indeed for the world. I
hope this article will be distributed widely.
A Memo to American Muslims
M. A. Muqtedar Khan
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 unIslamic. This is truly
sad. Even if it were true that Israel and the US are enemies of the
MuslimWorld, 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 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.
Muqtedar Khan, Ph.D.
Director of International Studies, Adrian College, MI Association of Muslim
Social Scientists Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy |
