Updated (11.48pm October 13th.) I have received two comments on this post, one critical and the other critical, except in a different way. Apparently the brother(s) in question do not represent ITS but were from Revolution Muslim. I don't see a meaningful difference (both groups are basically Hegelians claiming to be Muslim scholars), but there you have it (what kind of group would want to correct negative coverage of itself? You need a P.R. guy, except that and he are haram).
In the "story" below, replace ITS with Revolution Muslim. Figures. Two organizations with very similar rhetoric, who are nonetheless two, and somehow still think they will establish a unitary Islamic state in which they will probably be the first group to be knocked off.
Note to Revolution Muslim/ITS: You don't speak for us. Stop pretending to and claiming to (and the proof is in the pictures; Revolution Muslim had a "handfull" [sic] of supporters; the parade got hundreds, if not over a thousand, and probably so.) You can stand for your harmful, simplistic and completely unsourced, unreferenced and unscholarly take on Islam, but that's all.
Two stories to drop your way. The first comes from the front page of the New York Times, reporting on a sharp uptick in violence between Hindu and Christian communities in eastern India. The second concerns a report released by Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), titled Smearcasting [pdf], detailing how Islamophobes attack Muslims, insult Islam, and use their inaccurate rhetoric in order to advance a social and political agenda of ugly and unfair consequence. The point is to marginalize, and often in favor of an agenda that is ultimately economic -- how race cum religion becomes a tool for exploitation needs to be considered far more deeply by our media. (Here's hoping!)
Yesterday, I was at the Muslim Day Parade which takes place annually and sees a small group of Muslims travel from Madison Ave. and 41st St down to 23rd St, the Madison Avenue Park, where a small street fair is set up. Personally, I don't like the idea of the parade although I still attended, in part because I wanted to see it and to see other people there; still, I think it's strategically not very helpful and actually possibly hurts more than helps (the image and reality of Muslims marching -- how does that really benefit the community, or correct unfair stereotypes?). The idea of the street fair at the conclusion, however, was a wonderful concept, especially since a large crowd of Muslims and non-Muslims mingled inside the fair for some time, from hippies to professionals to munaqqabas, together sampling the different types of food available (candies, South Asian and Indonesian cuisine) and shopping around, very respectfully and warmly, for books, incense and "ethnic" clothes and knick-knacks. Could be a great chance for outreach and for a positive image; our holiday becomes a chance for the city to celebrate, learn and engage with its huge Muslim population...
Anyway, here's my point. All this Islamophobia is mistaken, of course, exaggerated and dangerous. But it capitalizes on the Ummah's knuckleheads, the enraged alienated and uninformed fringe that can do little more than hypocritically froth at the injustice of the West while living in the West. I call out racism and prejudice "outside" the Muslim American population, particularly with respect to McCain's recent and unacceptable campaign themes and topics; what about prejudice and ignorance "inside" our community? That too needs to be addressed.
My anecdote concerns a member of the Revolution Muslim -- and not the ITS, which is very amusingly named since it is simultaneously 1) not remotely Islamic; 2) the last thing its members do is think (I'd love to see who can possibly describe an adherent of the movement as a "thinker"); and 3) these people are the last people on earth who would have any clue how to set up a society. They are something like a radical version of entropy acting upon sectarian politics; about all they accomplish is burned themselves out, alienate people around themselves and damage the good-faith efforts of others around them.
This "Thinker" began to yell and scream and make a general fool out of himself because he was told to leave the grounds of the street fair, which is only fair, because he was not part of the organizing committees' invited guests (as I should have told him, "set up your own fair. You can yell from your own stalls all day long.") Basically this bearded "thinker" made a ridiculous scene and, in so doing, insulted and embarrassed the entire Muslim community, both present and not present, since predictably the media and public attention quickly flocked to the angry bearded man screaming about "Muslim revolution" and the evils of "capitalism and democracy!"
At the moment this "Thinker" was being evicted, I remarked to my wife that it was unfortunate that the man had shot in the foot the efforts of so many people to put together a parade -- regardless of whether or not I agree with the idea of it, I am not such a child that I would go around and ruin the parade for everyone else in order to draw attention to my pathetic little pseudo-Islamic but actually Marxist-Hegelian ideology. I remarked also, predictably, that all the media would converge on this man and that was the fate of so many Muslim efforts. A man who was standing next to me -- most likely he was not a Muslim -- jumped in: "Good!" In other words, he was happy that the entirety of the parade had been reduced to this image of an angry Muslim and that that was all the media would pick up on. I turned to him and said, "Actually, it's not a good thing. But I thank you for your opinion."
Not surprisingly, he was too taken aback by this to respond to me.
It shocked me -- though of course it should not -- that people can be so petty. We all have disagreements, some of them political, some of them cultural. And while we are worried by and threatened by certain groups, never have I allowed disagreements over policy or over the agendas of specific groups mutate into a general desire to see the embarrassment and humiliation of an entire population. Many hundreds of Muslims, many of them just school children, came together for a parade, and this man was just happy that they all ended up looking like a bunch of crazy, radical, unstable hotheads. I do wonder what kind of humanity so many ideologies preach that they empty us of any sympathy for "the other," as much as the term itself is inappropriate. How is another human being an "other," and why are we so glad to see each other put down? It is a moral failure; and, predictably, a group like ITS, which offers only angry, inaccurate politics, can produce nothing but anger and inaccuracy.
The brother you are referring is a member of our organization Revolution Muslim and we had rented a spot in the fair and given a permit to sell Sheikh Faisal cds which is what we did. Because of the ICNA is a coward org. they through the brother out and then pretended as i he didn't even have a permit. Please see the video on our front page. The brother you are mocking is a Masters student in a Ivy League University and will be willing to debate on the phone anytime you wish. Your Amazan books and links on your page are testimony of your nafs. Anyway nice to know your name Haroon and we really hope to see you.
Posted by: Yousef al-Khattab | 13 October 2008 at 06:59 PM
You can go to ivy league and still be stupid ... I don't think I need to elaborate on that.
Akhmad
Posted by: Akhmad | 13 October 2008 at 09:06 PM
Brother, can't speak to the veracity of the other commenters claim, but it sounds very much in-line with some interaction I had with ITS at a pan-Muslim conference where they basically said all non-Muslims are going to hell and called me kafir for pointing out the Qur'an says something quite different from what they want it to say. Glad I was out of town for the weekend, otherwise it would have raised my stress levels.
Posted by: Hussein Rashid | 13 October 2008 at 09:29 PM
Hey Haroon, you were not talking to ITS at all. You were talking to the representative of Revolution Muslim. They are TWO different org. Please get that through you arrogant head. If you choose to be arrogant, you'd still believe that you were speaking to I.T.S. Regardless, you have no basis, based on my observation of your blog, and the articles you refer to, quote, and everything surrounding it, that you do not refer to Qur'an, sunnah, or the ijma' of noble companions as your reference point. You almost are not different than a non-Muslim secular who conjures up right and wrong based upon his/her own surrounding to come to conclusions. But to be fair, do both of us a favor, please refrain from saying that you spoke to someone from the Islamic Thinkers Society. Because you did not. Had you actually spoken, I would be there because the brothers at I.T.S. were only at one spot. They did not leave their spot. Just accept the fact that you did not speak to I.T.S. seriously.
- Abu Mujaddid
Islamic Thinkers Society
The Voice, The Eyes, The Ears of Muslims
Posted by: Abu Mujaddid | 13 October 2008 at 11:33 PM
Wow. You have declared yourself to be everything except the heart and brain of the Muslims. Regardless, although I see no difference in any meaningful way between your two organizations, I will issue a correction.
Posted by: Haroon | 13 October 2008 at 11:47 PM
You have love for these filthy kufaar if you want. The noble brothers at Revolution Muslim are simply trying to educate these animals who bomb our women and children for no reason about the way of Islam. Why do you turn your disdain to the people who are standing up to the evil ones? This "American Islam" is becoming a sect in itself.
Posted by: Abu Muawiyah | 14 October 2008 at 10:44 AM
Assalamuliakum:
Let me start by informing you that I am the idiot you spoke with at the parade. Let me also tell you that if you think corporate democracy, modeled on the U.S., is what we believe to be the basis for a functioning society, you are indeed correct, we hate it. In fact, many scholars have used the same proofs I attempted to use with you that day in conversation, but these scholars are from ahlus sunnah and you apparently have adopted a madhab similar to that of the Hamza Yusef led, Post-modernist paradigm that we find to be from our biggest enemies. We accept that the shariah is the only possible form of governance and had you stayed and talked to us, we could have told you why. However, you and your sense of priveleage as though you are an intellectual, prevents you from actually remembering that your dispute started by looking for holes off topic anyway and so when you say I don’t speak Arabic you are correct, when you insinuate that this means I cannot understand my religion or speak what little of it I know then you are incorrect as the Prophet (SAWS) commanded us to convey for him even if it were one ayah, and there are other proofs for commanding the good and forbidding the evil as well. In regard to my ignorance of the stages of Islam, my statement was a response to yours about the Prophet seeking the protection of his uncle. I replied that he sought the protection of Allah and not his uncle and that this was an early Meccan proof, which your brand of Islam so adamantly calls too while neglecting the completed terms of the religion now. By the way, it is permissible to speak of stages in Islam as either Early Meccan, Medinan or Late Meccan (as you point out) or one can simply describe the revelation before heijra and after heijra. Regardless, this issue had nothing to do with the topic of democracy and voting in the West and was your attempt to prove to all how ignorant I was without ever speaking to me as though I formulated my opinions without ever surfoing through the works of scholars that devoted their entire lives to this deen. You used this to prove my ignorance but gave nothing of substance to refute my claim that Islam is complete and now we are not permitted to take for auliya (intimate friends or protectors) those outside of our ranks, therefore we must govern our own societies. In regard to our numbers, we were kicked out of your parade that is why we were few. We receive great support from the Muslims when we are allowed to speak, who mostly love the mujahideen but are afraid to say it, who are returning to Islam in droves and who recognize that change in this ummah never comes from consensus and the majority but always from a fringe minority adhering to the truth in the face of criticism and never fearing the blame of the blamers. Anyway, I would like to talk with you in person, with all your knowledge and perhaps you can belittle me by speaking Arabic to show how superior you are. Please watch how you threw us out of your Parade and violated your so-called adherence to free speech in the process and know that you came up on us and blamed us for making a problem. We only wanted a voice amongst our brothers and sisters and had a permit. I am very close to you on a day to day basis and feel like we should talk one on one. I would also appreciate it if you were to post evidence for your voting so we can refute it and I would like to remind your viewers that Barak Obama supports a Zionist controlled Jerusalem, no two-state solution, will attack with a surge over Afghanistan that will kill countless thousands of our brothers and sisters, will continue to fund the authoritarian non-democratic regimes on our lands, and will remain in Iraq with permanent military bases indefinitely. He wants to disregard Pakistan’s sovereignty and attack the NWFP in Pak. where there is no choice but to massacre civilians in the process. If you can vote for him that is fine, you have to live with it. But please do not proclaim your self an intellectual that being the case. Even a third grader can figure out what that is. Call me an idiot that is fine. By the way we are not Marxist at all, and I would like to call your attention to the inevitable fall of capitalism like Marx, but let them know that Islam is the only solution that gives individuals their rights without the consequences of the fractional reserve model. Perhaps you like to eat ribaa. I am sure you have taken many loans. My points are scattered here but there is ample opportunity for us to talk like civilized men herefter. To be honest, I didn’t see your great composure and peace. Your actions and comments were that of a baby. You should have stayed and spoken with us. Main theme is this. Justify what you say. Sit with me and show me evidence from Quran and Sunnah or post it on your site. We will refute it. As Allah has commanded to strive hard against the hypocrites…
Posted by: Younus Abdullah Muhammad | 14 October 2008 at 12:35 PM
watch the clip of us being removed at revolutonmuslim.com Does this look like a free society to you? Let me know wat we did wrong and remember most of the literature we were handing ou was written by a man with 8 years education in Saudi Arabia and then other years traveling about in the land. You could show how ignorant we are by debating him. I bet you would end up looking like the idiot if you were to do so. Perhaps we can find out?
Posted by: Younus Abdullah Muhammad | 14 October 2008 at 12:43 PM
Haroon,
Why don't you debate Br. Younus on the topic of whether or not a Muslim is allowed to take the kufaar as friends based upon the statements of the Qur'an and Sunnah and the evidence of the Sahaabah after the death of the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa salam).
Why don't you all debate on whether or not you - as Muslims living in this country - SHOULD be working to establish Allah's law in this land and not be satisfied with living under the taghoot laws. I can **guarantee** that the evidence is on the side of our brother Younus and not on yours. I see no evidence to support this watered down "American Islam" that you and your ilk are trying to promote in which you are promoting interfaith instead of calling the people to accept Islam or live in peace under the laws of Islam
Posted by: Abu Muawiyah | 14 October 2008 at 02:06 PM
to abu mu'awiyah:
what do you mean by 'seeking protection' and seeking help from the kuffar?
by you living in the US as you currently are, you are living under an 'aqd, or a covenant of security - i.e. you are agreeing not to lie, cheat, harm etc as long as the kuffar government gives you 'amana' - hmmm... i'm seeing little contradiction in your words now. unless of course you believe you have no aqd - in which case what are doing in the US? eating MacDs? smiling at your neighbours? going to parades?
and what has stopped you from making hijra? most muslims i know have a hard time practising their deen in the US and have made hijra. perhaps you should read this:
http://www.anwar-alawlaki.com/2008/10/06/is-the-franklin-morphing-into-the-washington/
.. read this and learn instead of being armchair critics and armchair wannabee jihadis.
you and your ilk are just all talk, all shouting and no action. same with your brethren in the UK who follow omar bakri - a bunch of losers.
Posted by: knower | 20 October 2008 at 05:18 PM
The U.S. Constitution trumps your religion, anyone's religion. The Constitution allows you to rant and rave, but at the end of the day Allah, Yahweh, Muhammed, Jesus, Moses all disintegrate under the power of theis country's unification. Some of you radicals are willing to die to market your religion, to mkae it the basis of this country. Remember, the kin of our Founding Fathers are still here, watching, waiting. We are stronger than you. We will fight. We will win. Remember that...this is our country, the rest of you are just visiting.
Posted by: Fggoh Htgdh | 16 May 2010 at 09:33 PM