Speaking out

12 arrested for disrupting Israeli ambassador

After watching the video, a discussion started on whether this was the best possible way to address the problem. I gave my opinion:

I think regardless of why they were speaking out, which might be correct in principle, they should do it in the right manner. We wouldn’t like it if a Muslim speaker came to an MSA event and some protesters kept interrupting him or shouting things and their crew applauds them. It isn’t the right way to get any message across. I couldn’t keep watching the video because it was immature and upsetting.

Why not ask him intelligent questions to prove your point?
Why not go about it in a more civil way?

Someone responded in their defense that they had deliberated and thought about this in a meaningful way and came to the conclusion that they wanted to carry out their protest in this manner. Then continued to give his opinion that Muslims are too critical of each other, which I agree with, and reminded me of a very important lesson. The reminder was from the  story of Prophet Dawud PBUH,  when he was reprimanded by Allah (swt) for  judging between two parties without hearing both sides of the story. Excellent reminder, although I don’t think it is relevant in this case, since I am not a judge in a case against the student or for them, and in no position to give or deny them any rights.

My analysis of the situation was from looking at what results came from it, the students were arrested, and they got some media attention, but unfortunately, the wrong type. In addition he made another good point that if someone that promoted genocide was invited by the school Muslims would protest just the same. I agree in principle, but in action the active Muslims I have seen tend to (there are exceptions) focus on causes they feel are related to them and not so much general causes, like human rights outside of Muslim lands.

Lastly, another contributor explained that the way Muslims are so harsh on each other is a result of introspection and continued to explain that we have to make sure that when it comes to political issues, namely Palestine, Muslims have to follow the rules and not make exceptions for themselves (with respect to protesting or reacting to events).

There’s this notion that being politically correct shows weakness or silence. On the contrary, who got the better of that exchange? The ambassador stood silently and waited for them to finish and continued his talk. The students took turns interrupting him and being disrespectful. One brother has added that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) never acted in that way when dealing with Quraish. He didn’t interrupt them in mid-sentence and scream out objections.

It has nothing to do with worrying about what others think of us, what do I as a Muslim see when my brothers and sisters act this way? I have been president and VP of MSA and I know a lot goes into events and there is an organized way of coming to these conclusions as to how events are run. Sometimes we get a little emotional about our local MSA’s and respective schools and their efforts, and that is understandable, but Muslims won’t get anywhere acting up in public.

How would you address the issue of so-called “Radical Islam”?

I was just reading John Burns Q. and A. on Islamic Radicalization on NYT and couldn’t help but wonder about the topic.

I think this is a very real issue, not just because the media is giving it all the attention it is, but because as Muslims we should be concerned with what is causing and driving this behavior in people.

Killing innocent people isn’t something Islam teaches and yet people try to twist the religion and give their own interpretations. The problem is that some Muslims can’t distinguish between the need for our community to deal with the issue, and the fact that some are making it about attacking Islam as a religion. To their credit there are those that blame violence on the religion and claim that it is inherent in the religion’s teachings, which is completely false.

We only know of what we hear and read on the news, and only God knows how much of that is the truth and what parts have been fabricated, or omitted. I wouldn’t be as keen on giving this a thought if it weren’t for what’s happening in Somalia, there is a case (unfortunately, like many others in the world) where Muslims are killing innocent Muslims. That is the extreme of contradiction, so all the fuss about infidels and disbelievers doesn’t even apply. Their thinking doesn’t make sense, it boggles my mind to be honest.

I’m no history buff or political analyst or any of the funny titles people give to themselves, lets not forget experts on Islam, Muslims and Middle East that can barely speak Arabic. The point is that if you (a Muslim) were made the head of national security in an imaginary country that has lost victims to attacks by so-called “Radicals”, then how would you deal with them?

What would your strategy be?

Also be sure to check out “Muslim Youth Radicalization Town Hall” its a Webinar taking place on Saturday Feb 20th at 7 pm PST.

Suhaibwebb.com tries to stay at the forefront on the issues that face American Muslims. In recent months, due to sad events that have happened in our homeland and internationally, Muslim organizations have taken a lead in combating what has been termed “the radicalization process” amongst Western Muslims. We have invited leaders from a spectrum of Muslim organizations to talk about this issue; perspectives range from organizations taking the stance that dealing with “Muslim youth radicalization” is part of serving our country and protecting her citizens, to other voices who do not agree with what they have seen as a blanket accusation of an entire community.

What Confidentiality?

A serious issue I have been wanting to cover was confidentiality in our community, or the lack thereof. It has been happenning repeatedly, that if someone comes and speaks to an Imam about an issue they were having, he would do the Friday khutbah about it the following week. I have nothing against him wanting to teach the public, however, it is embarrassing for the person that came to him. They feel as though they are being exposed and due to the level of detail the Imam describes their situation in, sometimes others can figure out who it was.

To the extent that it has become a sort of guessing game, where everyone is in the other’s business. I have seen it with my own eyes several times, that someone will come to the Imam about an issue and it would be all over the masjid in a matter of days. The reason this happens is because he may allow mosque staff to remain in the office during his talks with people from the community, when these meetings should be private. So, that person tells his wife about what happened and she would tell others and so on and so forth.

Confidentiality isn’t as simple as removing the names and telling the story, because if you aren’t careful, people can put one and one together and figure out who you are talking about. I personally would never tell my issues to the Imam of my local mosque. The trust isn’t there, I am confident that my business would be everyone’s conversation by the end of the same day. Then to top it off some sisters would come and randomly advise me about my weak Iman. Patience is a huge part of dealing with any affliction or test, but just because people are going through a tough time doesn’t mean they have weak faith.

This is a very real problem, it makes people insecure about their issues, because they never know what others know about them. This is one of the things that alienate people from the masjid. One young lady in the community was having difficulties with her family and wanted counseling, but she emphasized that she wasn’t ever going to talk to any Muslims about her issue. She would feel more comfortable speaking with someone external to the Muslim community. There is a huge danger in that the youth will look towards non-Islamic sources for their guidance and advice. Why wouldn’t they? All the local mosque has to offer is criticism and exposing your secret.

Imam Ahmad, at-Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, and others recorded the hadith of Jaabir, that the Prophet ( صلى الله عليه وسلم ) said: “When a man narrates (hadatha) something, and he (iltafat) turns around, then it is a trust (amaanah).”

Then what if he tells you it is a secret? What if he makes you promise not to tell?

The problem lies in poor manners and people not having the basic knowledge of Islam. Backbiting, spying and slander are among the sins that we are clearly warned against in the Quran. We are too quick to tear down our brothers and sisters when we are sometimes doing worse things than they are. We can be arrogant and want one over on our sister or brother and take joy in bashing them every chance we get.

Grow your beards, roll up your pants, wear niqab, wear hijab read Quran, quote hadith, talk about your jahileyya days, sprinkle your words with Islamic terms, and trash talk other Muslims.

Doesn’t add up does it?
Looking Muslim on the outside isn’t all there is to it.

We need to act like it too.