Readers React to Ethnic Muslim Groups On NYC Masjid Conflict

Wednesday, 22 September 2010 14:08

Assalamu’alykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,

I’m rather surprised and disappointed at the posture taken by the Indian Muslim Association towards the so-called “Ground Zero” mosque. I have been a big supporter of their good work on behalf of the Indian Muslims. We are Americans and Muslims. We have also paid our dues in terms of lives lost in the 9/11 outrage by terrorists. Please see the article published in NY Times on September 10, 2010, acknowledging the existence of not only a Mosque but many Musallas in and around the WTC which were destroyed. Don’t they deserve to have their loss memorialized? It is about time that we cast off our timid immigrant self image and stand for what is right and just. This also includes speaking up against the bad things done by the Muslims waving banners of Islam for their own twisted ends. I believe that the Cordoba Institute should be lauded and supported in their stand. Assalamu’alykum.

Arshad Qureshi
Silver Spring, MD
------------------------------------------------

Assalamu’alykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,

So it seems that despite stark disparities in understanding what Islam is, this group of African-Americans is taking a united stand based on ethnicity and put those religious differences aside to make a greater point. This alone is worth a lot of contemplation. However, that is another topic.

Certainly a people with a history of being discriminated against and who have seen this same stuff many times in the past - just with a different face - are not hesitant to call a spade a spade. The fight for civil rights was won through defiance and standing up, not sitting back. African-Americans with deep roots in this nation will no doubt be less likely to accept second class citizenship when their ancestors fought and died for their right to be viewed as equal human beings with the choice to be whatever they aspired to. African-American Muslims will be damned if the same tactics used then will be allowed to deter them now after accepting Islam!

Whenever Muslims are referred to in the media, it is almost always in reference to the Indo-Pak community and then Arabs and they are easily cast as strangers or ‘the other’. Neither of those groups have the roots in the US that African-American Muslims do and certainly not their political history. It is appalling when people talk about Muslims as though they did not exist before 9/11! They ignored Muslims as a fringe. You will notice a distinct difference in the reaction of African-Americans in general to Muslims as opposed to others, although they have been viewed as the ‘odd ones in the family’.

This coalition also highlights what some Muslims see as differences in treatment of one ANOTHER due to their varying ethnicity or cultural backgrounds and many African-American Muslims complain of feeling marginalized and not an integral part of those communities due a lack of regard for their contributions, talents and even credentials as Muslims. Again this is another discussion, but there is a legitimate concern that issues pertinent to them are not fully addressed by Muslim communities whose majority members are of other cultural backgrounds. you rarely see the boards of those masaajid or community organizations occupied by African-Americans and thus they form the types of groups that do have their ‘peculiarities’ and that sometimes disregard all other differences.

Personally, it is sad that we cannot unite as a whole upon the Qur’an and authentic Sunnah and that we cannot even agree that to do so is even necessary when it is precisely that which is the source of our strength and true unity.

Abu Abdillah
Gaithursburg, MD