Limits to Tolerance: What the ‘Ground Zero’ Mosque Controversy Really Proves
What the ‘Ground Zero’ Mosque controversy really proves is America is turning against its Muslim citizens. From discussions about ‘terror babies’ to burning of Qurans, and with CNN and FOX News polls both showing a majority of Americans against building a Mosque in New York City, the message to Muslim Americans is clear.
Even though their reasonings may be entirely different, America is joining in on the “Islam is not welcome” bandwagon of Europe and secularist states.
The reasons are also largely irrelevant. Whether it is miscommunication on the part of Muslims and their organizations, or the problems of American society, the rise of Evangelicals, or the loss of jobs, the fact of the matter is we’ve entered a new Mccarthyism, quite literally (link).
Five years ago I was interviewed by the Daily Record, and I was quoted as saying: “We’re on a very slippery slope in terms of how much diversification we accept in our communities and how tolerant we are. It doesn’t take much to make a tolerant person very intolerant.”
At the time I was discussing the tolerance in the event of another attack, but America hasn’t even been attacked in those 5 years, yet America has already reached the limits of diversification.
What will be the situation of Muslims in America if there is another attack?
Muslim American organizations such as ISNA, ICNA, and all the rest founded by immigrants with inferiority complexes have been constructed from the beginning to integrate Muslims into American society in a complete manner.
You have conferences? We have Islamic conferences.
You have mega churches? We’ll have mega mosques.
You have cartoons? We have Muslim cartoons.
You have music videos? We have Muslim music videos.
You have colleges? We have colleges.
You have rice krispie treats and chicken nuggets? We have HALAAL rice krispie treats and chicken nuggets.
But even with all this ‘Americanization’, Muslims are failing miserably to appease their American overlords.
Every one of us has given up some part of our Islamic identity at the alter of Americanization, whether its your beard or your jummah schedule and guess what, they still DON’T LIKE YOU.
What do you think the next steps are for Muslims in the West? Your most liberal ‘Imam’ is being bombarded for trying to build a Muslim ‘YMCA’ in an abandoned Burlington Coat Factory.
We are in panic mode, we’re even making a major campaign to thank CNN when they don’t totally attack us.
Why is this? Because we want our cars and our suits and our fancy phones, and most overarchingly, to live the upper-middle class American lifestyle, we’ve lost sight of the fact that Muslims are a different community.
We do have our own core values. Even though we are trying, we can’t just make our religion church on Sundays (or less than that).
Now it seems we will apparently lose our ‘right’ to these values in this country, before we even lose them to our own selves.
Then, where will we turn to?
This controversy proves American Muslims need to have a real leader and a real community. This controversy proves the integration efforts are for naught. Lectures in Universities don’t make things better. Speeches to the State Department don’t make things better.
Decades of supposed ‘progress’ in the hearts of minds of the majority of Americans can be swept away overnight.
We need a leader and a community that is not focused on compromising every Muslim principle in order to be accepted while living next-door to the mall, but one which represents our values and allows us to practice our faith. A group which makes this the ultimate goal will realize who the friends are of the Muslims, but while that will be appreciated and respected, we wouldn’t be forced to rely on their Daily Shows and Olbermanns to defend our right to practice our religion, because such an Islamic community would be able to stand on its own.
The right wing Republican noise machine is great for creating wedge issues during an election year, but we should not fall for their goading. Muslims should lead by example, showing tolerance, non-violence, and forgiveness for their racist, xenophobic, politically motivated views. Yes, show love and forgiveness even to the worst of them, the Glenn Beck’s the Newt Gingrich’s of the world, no matter what poison they spout. That is the only way to overcome their hatred and fear of terrorist murderers who pretend to be Muslims.
BismillahirRahmanirRahim
I am not so hopeful that the good behavior of Muslims is going to overcome hatred and fear. It hasn’t yet after all these years of Muslim presence in the US (e.g., first masjid founded in Iowa in the mid 1800s). As Yursil said, they still don’t like you. As an American-born Muslim from a non-Muslim background, it saddens me a great deal that members of my extended birth family are showing more and more prejudice toward Muslims. It goes against their faith and their intelligence; yet they persist. For at least some non-Muslim Americans, Jon Stewart and Keith Olberman may wake them up. (Unfortunately, these two may be associated with ‘liberals’, another class of people who are abhorred.) We should thank and make dua for anyone who has a voice and who speaks up. They are speaking up for us against a growing mob mentality. That is not something to be taken for granted, even as we are ‘aiming to stand on our own’. The likes of Olberman and Stewart have the intellectual and cultural tools to make their people understand the wrong they are doing, not only to Muslims, but to their own system itself. Muslims simply living as Muslims within the greater society is not going to make people – who have fallen into heedlessness about their own values – think about the shameful path they are on.
Bismillahir Rahmaanir Rahiim
Asalaamu alaikum.
Never will the Jews or the Christians be satisfied with thee unless thou follow their form of religion. Say: “The Guidance of Allah,-that is the (only) Guidance.” Wert thou to follow their desires after the knowledge which hath reached thee, then wouldst thou find neither Protector nor helper against Allah. ~ Qur’an 2:120
AlhamdulAllah, i have been very pleasantly surprised at the number of non-Muslims speaking up about this matter. A good example is here: http://www.jackandjillpolitics.com/2010/08/a-semi-satirical-rant-about-the-mosque-at-ground-zero/
That said, it is too simplistic to blame it all on Republicans and the right wing, as i have certainly heard/seen plenty of “liberals” and “progressives” who say just as many ridiculous things as the right wing.
And as much as i believe in revolutionary love, and certainly think that Muslims should be an example of the highest character, i do not think that the way to answer to attempts to disenfranchise American Muslims is to continue kissing up to those who harm us. There is a middle way – one that does not involve trying to “be more American than the Americans” nor an extremist terrorist who can say nothing good about the country in which we live. i believe that Yursil’s post points us in the direction of that middle way.
As Salaamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatu:
“What will be the situation of Muslims in America if there is another attack?”
I think we all know the answer to that one and your post image is it. There was talk of it after 9/11 and think what you may about Bush, at least he provided some leadership and spoke up for us (before declaring war on the Muslims overseas), thus calming down fearful Americans. He went to mosques and there was a huge interfaith affair in Yankee Stadium. It was the first and last time the Adhan was ever sounded in a major sports arena. All was all good for a minute.
Look what the same radical right wants to do to the undocumented! Someone always has to be “it,” the target. Now, they’re not talking much about the undocumented in the media because the airwaves are full of hate for the Muslims.
It’s not “what if” but “when” for American Muslims because the extremeists will manage to pull something off at some point.
Me? I keep my passport current. Insha Allaah I’m making hijrah (to Istanbul) soon anyhow. If I die, at least it will be among the Muslims.
plus 1
I disagree on many counts with you, especialy how you believe Muslims are compromising on their beliefs.
This statement is false: “Muslim American organizations such as ISNA, ICNA, and all the rest founded by immigrants with inferiority complexes have been constructed from the beginning to integrate Muslims into American society in a complete manner.”
Yes, some people had complexes, but do you think they are behind all the halal alternatives that Muslim companies (not just in the USA) are coming up with? Clearly there is demand from Muslims who live in western societies who also want halal alternatives to products to they desire. Are you saying that we are so different that we shouldn’t even want halal versions of cereals or cartoons?
What sort of Muslim community do you have in mind living in the west? Some sort of Amish lifestyle or a special compound in the middle of the desert?
Muslims are not trying to appease the non-Muslim hosts, they are eager to find clean and halal alternatives to many lifestyle wants and needs. In fact, we haven’t done anything different to that of the Jewish community in the US, UK or Europe.
I am not saying we need to integrate or assimilate, rather I believe we should yearn and have our own alternatives and this should not be knocked as if it is some form of ‘copying the kuffar’.
I like your overall point in your post, but I find that you have tried to claim somehow that Muslims in the west are pandering or living moderate lives to appease the west.
No place in the west is right for Muslims, they won’t let us live in our own compounds or towns (or ghettos) and they will only accept us if we assimilate.
BTW – I heard of a town in up-state New York that is completely Jewish, they have their own Jewish services, laws, homes, schools and police. Would the American people allow Muslims to do that? I think not.
If you can’t do either, then leave and move to a Muslim country…
BRR,
@Ahmad,
You raise some issues that are beyond the scope of the ground zero mosque controversy.
1) “Yes, some people had complexes, but do you think they are behind all the halal alternatives that Muslim companies (not just in the USA) are coming up with? Clearly there is demand from Muslims who live in western societies who also want halal alternatives to products to they desire. Are you saying that we are so different that we shouldn’t even want halal versions of cereals or cartoons?”
Take a look at these ‘halal alternatives’ you speak of. I’m sure you know that Muslims themselves are in dispute as to whether they are genuinely halal! Some well-marketed alternatives are so dubious that pork has been found in them.
Muslim families are confused, and even fight with each other over which companies are less doubtful, to the point where dietary obsessions become its own religion. So how successful are they?
I’m not sure why you raise this strawman of the Amish. Have you noticed the demand for Amish products in the groceries nowadays?
Perhaps we should ponder why the demand exists, given the abundance of “alternatives” for our eggs, dairy products, etc.
2) “I am not saying we need to integrate or assimilate, rather I believe we should yearn and have our own alternatives and this should not be knocked as if it is some form of ‘copying the kuffar’.”
Yes we should have “our own” alternatives. But in order to have “our own,” we need to know what it is we have in the first place, rather than putting a Muslim label on what are essentially not “our” contributions. And that requires being rooted in your history and traditions. How many Muslim-Americans of our generation can sincerely claim such a treasure?
If anything Ahmed, doesn’t all of this suggest that we Muslims ARE different?
At no point do I think it is fine to just slap on a ‘halal’ label on an existing product. It doesn’t make it halal.
We have halal principles, so if cartoons are being made with good stories and halal messages, then that is good and tayyib and we should encourage.
I am not debating weather meat from one supplier is halal or not, that’s another issue that is obviously questionable. Same can go for the so-called Islamic finance alternatives – a lot can be questioned.
Many Muslims in the west don’t have cultural ties, many converts or even 2nd generation ‘white’ Muslims only know their local culture. So it is not copying or imitating, but rather adapting or modifying as has happened throughout Islamic history. Go to China, the mosques look Chinese, go to Russia, the mosques look Russian. We grow, develop, adapt and innovate and that’s a natural and healthy progression.
I am not denying that we’re different – I am saying exactly that! I am saying we are different and we should be proud and encourage our own alternatives. But it doesn’t mean we should reject all that is non-Muslim, nor should we disconnect ourselves from the wider community. I believe we can learn a lot from the Sirah and how the Prophet (pbuh) commanded himself with the wider society (at times when they were the hostile majority).
By the way this is the Jewish community: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiryas_Joel,_New_York
Should Muslims live like this?
Muslims won’t need to be on foodstamps since we’re growing our own food, shukr alhamdulillah for no sabbath laws. Muslims aren’t Jews.
BismillahirRahmanirRahim
Salamu’alaykum,
Yes, in one way or another many of the ‘successful’ halal alternatives are pimped up by the national organizations. Even if it is only in making the demand.
They won’t let us? Who said? And who cares if we are ‘accepted’?
I’m part of a community being built in the vein of Medinah, the idea of having a Muslim community is an important ideal completely lost on American Muslim organizations. And you as well. The power of having such a community, even if it is only a weekend sanctuary, is one which brings respect, safety, authority, independence and stability.
Still I believe that over-generalising comment does not stand on its feet. Maybe these organisations represent a modernist or progressive (not in the anti-traditionalist sense) image, but they have also gained much positive PR and have not encouraged assimilation. They just seem to be more accepting of people, of all levels of faith and practice.
Regards to acceptance of Muslims:
If you look at housing programmes in France or UK cities like Bradford and Birmingham you will realise how governments and local housing ghetto-ise Muslims. At the same time any sense that there is a Muslim community developing, they call it “Muslim no-go areas”, such as Tower Hamlets in London. A false claim clearly. This is why I meant they won’t allow people to group together and their past efforts to ghettoise Muslims have led to stronger Muslim communities – exactly what they don’t want.
With the strong climate of change in Europe, where mainly far-right groups now reign supreme in the media and politics, it is that first rung on the ladder towards Europe’s bloody slaughter of another well know minority faith group.
Anyway, they are two different topics, one about halal alternatives and another about how Muslims should live in the west.
BismillahirRahmanirRahim,
Assalamu Alaikum,
Islam is rising Masha’Allah so they are so scared and they don’t like us. Check out a related news at: http://wtop.com/?nid=25&sid=2030328
Are you not committing the same mistake by lumping all of “us” together? Do you not know any born and raised Americans that empathize with your position?
How many Americans do you know personally that would want to put you in an internment camp?
I’m disappointed, this language doesn’t wear well on you.
But I can’t fully walk in your shoes since I’m not Muslim, I can only imagine what it must feel like to see idiots like the ones mentioned talk that way about your brothers and sisters. I’m much more hot headed than you, so I don’t know if my post would be half as polite as yours. But you’re not me, but that’s exactly why “I LIKE YOU”.
But if it does comes to that, you know I will be on the front lines busting you out
Of course, thats why I mentioned that Muslims would know who their friends are… but the reality of the situation is 60% of Americans are against building a Muslim YMCA. Wow. Wow. This is really not something that should even enter into the equation. While I’m distinguishing friend vs foe, Muslims are being lumped here. But the Newts and Palins of the world won’t like me, no matter what, and unfortunately.. they are running the show.
Fortunately they aren’t running the show, and hopefully we can keep it that way.
A large portion of that 60% are ignorant of the true facts and take what Rush and Beck tell them at face value. They believe they are against some extremist Muslim organization trying to build a Mosque right on ground zero deliberately as a big FU to Americans. If that were the case I would be against it too, as I suspect so would you.
It’s unfortunate that many Americans are so gullible
they’re controlling a lot of the ‘conversation’ … and one day they just might control the rest of it too, we had eight years of bush and people are still freaked out about Baracks middle name. what I am saying here is Muslims need to be part of Muslim communities that they can rely on when the going gets tough… because its not that far from getting REAL tough… rather than being part individuals in a sea of the general middle class like we are.
Hey Aaron, look what’s on the Politico blog today
“31% of Republicans believe Barack Obama is Muslim”
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41248.html
Bismillahir Rahmaanir Rahiim
i think it is impossible for a non-Muslim, no matter how good their intentions, to fully fathom how dangerous it is to be a Muslim in this country and how this sort of media-manufactured hysteria contributes to making it more and more dangerous. There are privileges that are simply taken for granted by the majority of Americans, and they seem to think that because horrible things don’t happen to themselves and their families, and because it would never occur to them to do horrible things, that others must all be living a similar existance to them. The fact is that we are in grave danger of discrimination, disenfranchisement, and yes, even attack. i personally experience at least one verbal attack in a public place – with no one standing up against it on my behalf in any way – every week (often more than weekly… sometimes daily, occassionally more than once in one day!). i am routinely harrassed and threatened. i am spat at, have things thrown out of moving cars at me, called vile names, told to “go back” even though i can guarantee you that my ancestors were here long before the ancestors of any of the good Americans who do this to me, etc. i have to be extra careful of traffic because people have tried to run me down. i have to be extra careful in grocery stores because people have run right into me with their carts. i fear every time my son leaves the house alone, so much so that he won’t even run to the corner store alone anymore but has asked me to go with him. All this just because i wear a headscarf.
It’s rather easy for certain people to sit back and say “not all Americans feel that way or believe this garbage”. Of course not all Americans do. Afterall, we are Americans too. But enough Americans do to present a very real danger to us. Between the anti-immigrant sentiment and the anti-Muslim sentiment, the fact is that A LOT of Americans are ready and anxious to disenfranchise a whole lot of people. Laws are being created and vetted to do just that. This mosque controversy isn’t occurring in a vaccuum. It is occurring in a big picture of anti-immigrant/anti-non-white panic. And the truth is, yes, those people do control things in this country because they are the government, the media, the big business.
Well sidi Yursil, they call it “American Islam” for a reason!
The intolerance is getting worse, day by day, across the country:
“Student Arraigned in Anti-Muslim Stabbing of Cabdriver”
MSNBC coverage of this incident by Keith Olbermann =
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/38857723#38857723
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/cabbie-attacked/
http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/?ArID=124338
“Anti-Islam Ads Removed from Chicago Taxis”
http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-beat/Taxi-Ads-Against-Islamization-Taken-Down-101461694.html
“Man Shouting Anti-Muslim Slurs Desecrates NY Mosque”
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/queens/drunk_desecration_at_mosque_fA7FZKYh59hx3Bjika6UGN#ixzz0xixRJR9J
“Pastor Terry Jones plans to burn multiple copies of the Koran on the anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/26/us/26gainesville.html?_r=1
BismillahirRahmanirRahim,
Here is some news related to this, Towba Astaghfirullah..
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/cabbie-attacked/
If this kind of action was done by a Muslim it would have been all over the news and the internet.. Actions speak for themselves..
May Allah protect us all from the Zalimin!
Mashallah, my planned reply to this was deleted when my computer ran out of batteries.
My main point is that by Allah’s idhn and grace, this can be combated. Dawa is invitation and it is direct heart to heart, reach out to people in individuals and groups, invite them to share their fears and concerns, and address them as best as you can.
Organzie, use flyers, invite people to open and unfettered discussions of Islam and Muslims over coffee, reserve a room once a month at Panera bread, show up with a few interested sisters and brothers each time and welcome whoever, non Muslim or Muslim, comes. If inflamatory comments come up, keep your cool, realize you are dealing with someone who is frightened and ignorant and who has been taught that you are a devil their entire life.
This is all a set-up to genocide, but for these few incidents here and there – lets be honest, being a Muslim in America is no where near as dangerous as being a Muslim in France or Russia, and even there – take 6 million Muslims and factor in the small handful of incidents, the whole point is simply an atmosphere of fear and paranoia.
But it can and will get worse, Allah has given us a window of opportunity, before things get much worse. Reach as many hearts as possible, do not be preachy, realize you are dealing with people raised from childhood with a much different moral code, have empathy, realize they are suffering and in their suffering Shaitan and the dajjal areusing them as tools and weapons.
Do the work or stop complaining. And may Allah help us all.
Meet people, discuss, address their fears, counsel them to good in their lives, organize, speak up – and do not be cowed.
Stay independent, the minute you join groups you ability to work will be compromised, our way is the jamaa and Sohbet with each other.
Heart to heart, tongue to heart.
Keep it simple.
For we have little time remaining. The time for action and prayer is now.