Editors: This is a self syndicated column. If you wish to publish this column in your newspaper, magazine, journal or on your websites please click here: Syndicate
Dr. Muqtedar
Khan is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Adrian College in Michigan. He
is on the board of the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy, Center for Balanced
Development and the Association of Muslim Social Scientists. For a comprehensive resume
click here: Resume
|
Muslims
Must Develop an M. A. Muqtedar Khan We made you a
nation of moderation and justice (Quran; 2:143) In the aftermath
of Sept. 11th, ordinary Americans displayed an extraordinary resolve to preempt
any backlash against American Muslims. President Bush described those who commit acts of
bigotry as those who are from among the worst of people. American leaders at all levels
took special measures to ensure that the lives, the mosques and the properties of Muslims
were safe. Under extremely testing circumstances, the American people displayed a
remarkable commitment to tolerance and intolerance for bigotry. In this display of respect
for diversity, Muslims need to catch up with the Americans. As moderate
Muslims struggle with extremists like bin Laden and the Taliban to interpret and represent
Islam, they must adopt a policy of containment towards anyone and everyone who seeks to
advocate hatred towards any community. Moderate Muslims must not hesitate to confront
those who make bigoted comments. One of the
biggest challenges that American Muslims face is the demonization of Islam. American
Muslims often accuse American media and Hollywood of taking isolated cases of Muslim
extremism as a pretext to label all Muslims as extremists. We demand that American media
and policy makers stop painting with a wide brush and treat individual Muslims, each
Muslim group, and every Muslim country on its merit. In the past few weeks, Americans have
demonstrated that they have become sensitive to this and one can clearly discern a new
sensitivity in the way Islam is treated and how Muslims are portrayed. Muslims too must
reciprocate. While many Muslims acknowledge the support and sensitivity of most Americans,
some Muslims continue to embarrass everyone with the narrowness of their vision and the
crudeness of their sentiments. Sheik Muhammad
Al-Gamei'a, the former Imam of the Islamic Cultural Center of New York, in one sentence
called all Muslims stupid and all Jews as best equipped for terror. He said, “Muslims
just aren't smart enough to carry something like that off [Sept. 11 attacks], only the
Jews are capable of planning such an incident.” Another Imam is
said to have made disparaging remarks about Jews a few years ago; a videotape of which was
recently played on local TV. He has since apologized and expressed horror at his own
words. And for that he deserves to be applauded. But statements
such as these make Muslims look irrational, hateful and purveyors of conspiracy theories.
When such statements are made by Islamic scholars, who hold or have held important
religious positions, it not only gives Islam a bad name but also raises the question, what
have these scholars been teaching their congregations? In pluralist
societies, where different ethnic, racial and religious communities live in close embrace,
such bigots must not be allowed to hold influential positions. Bigotry is a sign
of ignorance and lack of ethical sensitivity. It is extremely disturbing that some Muslim
scholars and Imams are displaying this anti-social trait.
It is time moderate Muslims rebelled against the tyranny of intolerance in
some Muslim pockets. Wasn’t there anybody in the congregations of these two mosques
who would dare to stand up and tell these Imams that such sentiments have no place in the
Muslim as well as the American milieu? Sept. 11 will
have a devastating impact on the future of the Islamic community. While most Americans are
being extremely tolerant towards Muslims, they are also becoming more vigilant. There will
be closer scrutiny of individual Muslim leaders, Muslim organizations and Muslim
activities in America. The near future will be a very testing period for the American
Muslim community. They will not only have to prove their loyalty to America but also their
innocence. American Muslims
are in a unique position today. They know and understand the Muslim world and they know
and understand the US as well. They can constitute a bridge of understanding, dialogue and
peace between America and the Muslim world. The Muslim world is their origin and America
is their destiny. If they do not serve as harbingers of harmony and the promoters of peace
between the two, they will be betraying their past as well as their future. To play this
central role, American Muslims must not allow themselves to be marginalized either in
American politics or in the Muslim world’s public sphere. If American Muslims wish
their voices to be heard in America, and their advice respected and followed, the first
thing they have to develop asap, is an extreme intolerance for intolerance and extremists.
We cannot ask the
nuts to bolt their traps; censorship is neither Islamic nor the American way. But when
bigots speak up, moderate and responsible voices in the American Muslim community must
immediately condemn them. Let them know that those who espouse intolerance will never be
our heroes. American Muslims
must avoid the impulse to blame the US (or Jews or Hindus) for all Muslim miseries. We
must develop a balanced attitude towards the US. We must be critical of the US but also
self-critical. We must be always willing to express our disagreements with US policies but
we must also not be stingy in expressing our solidarity with the US. We must condemn all
efforts, in the media or by the government that seek to profile Muslims. But
simultaneously we must also be ready to condemn those who defile the old glory.
|
