These are the United States of America, and I admire the proper of every American, Muslim and non-Muslim to speak candidly to have his or her very own opinion, and to speak their thoughts. However, I do no longer like when humans tell one tale to a few humans, and inform a exclusive tale to others. It is suggested in prophetic tradition that the Prophet Muhammad (May peace and blessing be upon Him) stated: “Amongst the ones receiving the most intense punishment on the Day of Judgment, is the two-confronted individual. The one who goes to at least one organization bearing a face, and to every other group bearing any other face”.
Speaking of having your very own opinion, I in my view do no longer like it when human beings immigrate to America, benefit immensely from what our country has to offer, make some greenbacks, buy a house in the suburbs, after which starts trashing our usa pronouncing that America does not stay up to their expectations. I’m no longer knocking all and sundry for expressing their views or criticisms. I’m speakme about the daftar haji plus one who completely trashes everything approximately our us of a and insinuates that there’s no appropriate here and that this is simply an lousy evil region. That’s just my personal opinion, and some of you may have your own evaluations approximately my opinion and that’s your proper. There’s no need for anyone to be indignant, to be in a tizzy, or to unleash upon me a tirade of indignation. However, you can if you need to, simply strive now not to make it personal. If you have got a problem with my preceding assertion, then you may in all likelihood experience a few type of way approximately what I’m about to mention subsequent. Especially those to whom it applies.
New American Muslims have to forestall complaining a lot approximately their new united states and perhaps use the freedom and liberty afforded to them as American residents to ask the difficult questions about how we practice Islam out of doors the din of polemical debate, political rhetoric, and public family members issues. Immigrant dominated countrywide Islamic political and advocacy businesses in addition to the brand new elegance of Muslim activists – while advancing the argument that American Muslims are as American as apple pie – demonstrate in many approaches, in particular inside the way they confront islamophobia, that they do no longer quite recognize America.
While affirming that the precept purpose of islamophobia (a time period that I do now not believe) is that Americans do not recognize Muslims and Islam, there wishes to be a parallel acknowledgment via American Muslim immigrants, and absolutely everyone else who supports such an oversimplified, nonsensical belief, that there are masses of factors they need to apprehend about America, and Americans whose reputation they crave.
There is rarely every other personal liberty more expensive to us than the right of each man or woman to speak his or her thoughts and to have our personal personal views or critiques. To put it really, we do no longer like being instructed what to suppose, or who we will like or dislike, or which religious group we will or can’t communicate about. In America, if a person talks negatively approximately Christians, the complete of Christian America does not come down on them. It doesn’t elicit a nationwide, multi-denominational Christian rebuke, nor does it catapult the matter onto the American Christian agenda because the suggested subject matter for subsequent Sunday’s sermon. That’s simply now not the way we do things in this u . S . A .. Jews are criticized simply as an awful lot as Muslims and are possibly the maximum parodied non secular organization in America. The entire Jewish state does not come down on each alleged anti-Semite, or scour the information hunting down people’s marketing campaign worthy biases. Even if some Jews cope with it or some groups say something (and that is a big if), it would not turn out to be a national rabbinical marketing campaign.
However, if a person, specially a prominent person or flesh presser says something about Muslims, or God forbid articulates what Muslims activists consider to be an islamophobic sentiment, Muslim advocacy organizations capitalize on it and feeds it to the Muslim network as a campaign worthy problem, and from there it wafts into our nations mosques. That’s not cool. Not cool in any respect. If a person talks about Muslims, the entire Muslim network have to no longer come down on them. That’s so freakin un-American.
When some human beings in our usa demonized Muhammad Ali, he withstood it with dignity, now he is loved through a number of the ones same parents. We excoriated al-Hajj Malik Shabazz (Malcolm X), he withstood our grievance and we ended up creating a movie approximately him. We said bad things approximately the Mormons. They withstood it and got their own kingdom. I may want to pass on and on but the point is, no person inside the history of the United States has succeeded in silencing their critics truly through complaining and calling them bigots, racists, islamophobes, nigger-enthusiasts, or another verbal counter-punch.
With all of the degreed and develop degreed professionals we’ve got inside the American Muslim advocacy branch, it must be properly understood that American Muslims will never reach shutting down all grievance of Islam and Muslims in America. We love that freedom of speech clause in the constitution and we’re no longer going to offer it up. Even though a few humans may also keep their tongue simply to keep away from the drama, Americans will retain to suppose and trust as we please, and there may be not anything that everyone can do about it. For each so-called islamophobe who cowers, or is silenced though bribery, expert censure or public strain, any other one pops up below the radar; in element due to the censure of the previous. Some Muslims are nonetheless responding to statements made with the aid of Donald Trump greater than three weeks ago.
During his Farwell Sermon, the Prophet (SAWS) re-emphasised Islam’s ethical stance against racial and ethnic prejudice, and in no way as soon as mentioned that we should difficulty ourselves with public picture, chasing after peoples’ terrible statements, or seeking attractiveness of the people. What a pathetic irony, that more than 1400 years after the Prophet’s final sermon, some American Muslims locate themselves captivated with the picture of Islam, having to challenge each act of bigotry, and getting approval of the people, whilst almost completely ignoring our own debilitating racial, and ethnic prejudices that violate the moral code of our faith, and gasoline the terrible images of Islam and Muslims, that we discover ourselves so enthusiastic about.
Epilogue: So what do you advocate we do Imam? Answer: I advocate that we shift from responding to matters politically to responding in line with the dictates of our scriptures (Quran and Sunna). Simply placed, we want to shift from political Islam to the religion of Islam and remember that they may be not entirely the identical. Yes, politics is a part of our religion, but, politics must be subordinate to religion, now not the alternative manner round. As Muslims we want to be extra concerned with obeying Allah, and following the Prophet than we’re with obeying our egos, and following our political movement handbooks. It’s that simple. More on this later. In the meantime, God bless america of America.
American born Luqman Ahmad is a life long Sunni Muslim, the son of converts to Islam. He is a creator, representative, patriot, and has been the Imam of a Northern California mosque for two decades. He is a former executive committee member of the North America Imams Federation, a founding member of COSVIO, (the Council of Sacramento Valley Islamic Organizations), and the author of the ebook “The Devils Deception of the Modern day Salafiyyah Sect”, a detailed observe salafiyyism the ideology which forms the attitude of ISIS. He has written blog posts