Subject: The voice of moderate Islam MEMO TO AMERICAN MUSLIMS By MUQTEDAR KHAN October 19, 2001 -- 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 write with the explicit purpose of inviting you to lead the American Muslim community in soul searching, reflection and reassessment. What happened on Sept. 11 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. 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. While acknowledging Israeli ill treatment of Palestinians, I must remind you that Israel treats its 1 million Arab citizens with greater respect and dignity than most Arab nations treat their own 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. Have we ever demanded international intervention or retribution against Saddam [Hussein] for gassing Kurds, against Pakistan for slaughtering Bengalis, against Saudis for abusing the Shiis, against Syria for the massacre at Hama? We 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 United States, but also love to hate it. Many openly claim that the United States is a terrorist state. Yet their presence 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 United States. It is time that we acknowledge that the freedoms we enjoy in America are more desirable to us than superficial solidarity with the Muslim World. If you disagree, then prove it - by migrating to whichever Muslim country you identify with. We have always found a way to reconcile the vast distance between Islamic values and Muslim practices by pointing to injustices done by others. But the point is this - our commitment to Islamic values is not contingent on the moral conduct of the United States or Israel. The culture of hate and killing is tearing away at the moral fabric of Muslim society. In pursuit of the inferior jihad, we have sacrificed the superior jihad. 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. 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 all 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). Islam has been hijacked by hate and calls for murder and mayhem. If bin Laden were an individual, then we would have no problem. But bin Laden has become a phenomenon - a cancer eating away at our moral foundations. Yes, the United States has played a hand in the creation of bin Laden, 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. We should have made sure the Sept. 11 attacks had never happened. Islam is not about defeating Jews or conquering Jerusalem or competing with the American Jewish lobby for power over U.S. foreign policy. It is about mercy, about virtue, about sacrifice and about duty. Above all, it is the pursuit of moral perfection. The worst exhibition of Islam happened on our turf. We must take first responsibility to undo the evil it has manifested. This is our mandate, our burden and also our opportunity. 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. 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, and we must be more forgiving, more sacrificing. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Muqtedar Khan, Ph.D., is director of International Studies Program at Adrian College in Michigan. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Khan was one of the speakers on To the Point with Warren Olney on Oct 2. Having listened to the tape of that show a few times, it seems that he has taken to heart some of the discussions and has written this honest and courageous piece. If American Muslims act on his recommendations we would all benefit. Peter Coyote