Muslim Observer

Volume 16, Issue 34; Aug 15 - 21, 2014
continuations
The Muslim Observer
23
ISNA
from pg 1
members of the Muslim community
to hold leadership accountable
and to ask tough questions
and it is the responsibility of the
leadership to respond. This is
why I will try to participate in this
dialogue, to answer some of the
issues and concerns what were
raised.
However, before I go further
in addressing the current issues,
I would like to establish general
guidelines for constructive dialogue.
Imam Shaafi’ said, “My
opinion is correct with the possibility
of being wrong and the
opinion of those that disagree
with me is wrong with the possibility
of being correct.” He also
stated, “There is no time that I engage
in debate with others without
praying that Allah will show
me the truth that comes from the
person in order that I may increase
in knowledge and benefit
from him.” Secondly a person
must learn from his or her own
mistakes, from his friends, brothers,
sisters, and even those who
have animosity toward him. All
of us must believe in these principles
of engaging in dialogue, that
dialogue and debate are for seeking
truth, not proving oneself to
be right. It is also very important
that if we see something we think
is wrong in one of our brothers
or sisters that we know, then we
should try our best, by whatever
means we have, to talk to them
privately before we critique them
publicly. Otherwise, the well
intended advice might be interpreted
as creating friction and
disunity among the Muslims. We
must deal with people for what
they do and what they say and try
to understand their context. Their
intentions are for Allah alone to
judge.
Living in the American context
it is also essential for us to
understand how to address the diversity
of opinions and approaches
of individuals and communities.
I would like to stress there
Oil
from pg 6
facilities appear unlikely. Luay
al-Khatteeb, visiting fellow at
the Brookings Doha Center, said
it would be hard for Sunni insurgents
to infiltrate the Shi’ite
south.
“They can send suicide
bombers with a one-way ticket,
but they do not have the hosts
compared to territories they control
in the west of Iraq,” he said.
Jabar al-Saadi, head of the
Basra provincial council’s security
committee, told Reuters Iraq
has tightened security and deployed
extra troops around southern
oil infrastructure.
LONG TERM INVEST-
MENT
There is the risk too that new
projects to boost Iraq’s oil production,
export and refining capacities
may be delayed for months
or years or canceled entirely, as
is a distinction between unity and
uniformity. We can and should
work towards unity without requiring
uniformity. Unity that
is established on respecting the
general principles and values that
come from our faith, and in those
tenets of the United States law
and Constitution that compliment
the principles and values of our
faith. This can make us stronger
in ouriman and more effective in
our civic responsibilities. Ensuring
that we do not force uniformity
allows us to combine the two
in ways most feasible for each individual.
Those that choose to exercise
their religious and civic responsibilities
may do so through
public peaceful protests and even
civil disobedience, while others
use means of constructive and sincere
engagement to dialogue with
elected officials, holding those
whose salaries come from our tax
dollars accountable for how they
serve our country. These two approaches
should be respected and
equally embraced in the Muslim
American community. In my
early years in the United States,
I studied the history of the Civil
Rights Movement and the various
approaches people used to move
the cause forward. All of these efforts
became a part of American
history. To understand the fruits
of engaging our government, and
to understand the interfaith effort
of ISNA, please refer to the links
included at the end of the article.
They will help clarify how ISNA
explains the concerns of the
Muslim American community to
elected officials. There are some
Americans that have Islamaphobic
mentalities - including some
members of Congress and other
powerful public figures; through
them millions of dollars are spent
isolating Muslims from the public
discourse, painting them as
disloyal citizens of the land that
is their home.
The absence of American
Muslims from the table of dialogue
only creates a vacuum that
would be filled by others, possibly
by these very individuals. Its not
foreign companies balk at taking
on further investment risks.
ExxonMobil has carried out
a “major evacuation” of staff
from Iraq while BP evacuated
20 percent of its staff, the head
of state-run South Oil Co said in
June.
Islamist militants have
launched a Twitter campaign
naming companies working in
Iraq such as ExxonMobil and
Royal Dutch Shell as “a legitimate
target for every Muslim.”
In May, the U.S. Embassy
and British officials warned their
citizens, particularly oil workers,
in Basra may be at risk of kidnapping
by militant groups.
“Oil production and exports
from Basra were not affected,
they are far away in the south.
But the question now is what will
happen next?” said a senior oil
executive still working in Iraq.
Baghdad had planned to
only about whom you dialogue
with but what you say when you
are with them. An individual who
understands the Seerah of Prophet
(peace be upon him) will see
that he (peace be upon him) dialogued
with many people including
those like Walid ibn Mughira,
who attacked him personally and
showed tremendous disrespect
to him (peace be upon him). The
Prophet (peace be upon him) let
him finish his speech, despite the
offensive content of it, and then
responded to him with calmness
and kindness. Dialogue does not
mean that you compromise your
principles in promoting justice
and fairness, it does means that
you try to understand where the
other side is coming from and try
to reach a common understanding
based on shared values. Our example
in dealing with others, as
in all things, is the Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him).
You will find more about this in
a book written by Professor Tariq
Ramadan, Footsteps of the Prophet.
In regards to ISNA’s position,
ISNA is one of the founders
of the organization of National
Religious Campaign Against Torture
(NRCAT), an organization
that calls for ending torture by law
enforcement. Dr. Ingrid Mattson,
former President of ISNA, was
among the first Muslim leaders to
bring this issue to the forefront of
the minds of Muslim communities
in the US. Raising this issue
in the interfaith platform led to
President Obama issuing an executive
order to end torture by the
government. NRCAT is one of the
largest interfaith organizations
in America dealing with ending
torture. It is an alliance of good,
fighting for justice similar to the
alliance that the Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him) was a
part of even prior to his prophethood.
ISNA is a member of National
Interreligious Leadership
Initiative for Peace in the Middle
East (NILI), an interfaith organization
that deals with the Israel-
Palestine conflict. Their objective
build a strategic pipeline from its
Basra fields through Turkey and
Syria, and another one to Jordan.
Such projects are unlikely to materialize
any time soon.
“It would be difficult to convince
companies to take on new
projects and new engagements in
the south - I think most companies
are going to want to wait and
see, and probably for some time,”
said Gala Riani of security firm
Control Risks.
The International Energy
Agency (IEA) said last month
that prolonged sectarian bloodshed
may shake investor confidence
and set back longer-term
growth in Iraq.
Iraq’s actual output by 2020
also depends on global oil demand
and possible OPEC quota
restrictions - which Baghdad is
currently exempt from. (Editing
by William Hardy and Andrew
Torchia)
is to convey to the United States
leadership the strong concern of
the faith communities regarding
the ongoing conflict, to push for
a more active role on the national
level, and to establish a just and
lasting peace arrangement. Leaders
of NILI, have met many times
with secretaries of state and other
high officials to further this
cause. ISNA is also a founding
member of one of the largest interfaith
civil rights organizations
created to defend Muslim rights,
Shoulder to Shoulder, created
to protect rights of Muslim in
America and standing firmly with
partners of other faiths to speak
against bigotry in all of its forms.
In addition to these partnerships,
ISNA has issued many press releases
regarding the loss of civilian
lives in various parts of the
world. In recent months, much
emphasis has been put on addressing
the loss of life in Gaza,
Syria, and Iraq. ISNA leaders
have also taken many opportunities
in recent months to speak directly
with high level officials on
behalf of the American Muslim
community. Each time, whether
at the White House iftar or at
any other gathering, leaders take
great care to consider the interest
of the American Muslim community
and the context in which
they live. I participate in many
dialogues with the President of
the United States and many other
officials regarding healthcare,
combating gun violence and domestic
violence in America, as
well as bringing the perspective
and concerns of Muslims regarding
the many issues in the Middle
East and around the globe.
My Brothers and Sisters,
let me be open with you, I often
find many Muslim communities
are more concerned about international
issues than American
domestic issues. We have to connect
the international issues of
concern to the country in which
we live so that our fellow Americans
can see the impact of these
international issues on America
itself. If we desire for our point of
view to truly be heard, nationally
and internationally, we have to
engage our fellow American citizens
in general dialogue, and we
have to engage elected officials
from local representatives to the
President of the United States. I
have visited communities in Europe
and was shocked to see that
in some areas the Muslim community
has isolated themselves
from the larger community and
disconnected themselves from
the country which they are citizens
of. We cannot choose to isolate
ourselves; we cannot choose
to be silent. Wherever we live in
the world, those are the places we
call home, the places where our
children are raised and the places
where they will raise their own
families. Yet I have met many
people, even in the US, who follow
the political situations of their
countries of origin, but are oblivious
to the politics of the country
in which they live and work. Individuals
have great concerns
for the situations “back home”
but are not investing themselves
in the greater community here
athome where they are physically
present and where their children
are educated.
Similarly, I see many masajid
that are deeply engaged with
our public officials and work with
partners in the interfaith community.
However, there is still a gap
between what the community
feels and what the community
does. Many Muslims will pick up
the phone to call a friend and express
their displeasure with policies
they see, be that domestic
or foreign, but they do not pick
up the phone to call their local
representatives to express that
concern. They may email their
imams and Masajid Board members
preaching endlessly about
the importance of speaking up
against the injustices, but they do
not email the officials who made
the decisions. They may read articles
that upset them about issues
concerning the community but
they will not write a letter to the
editor. They may listen to a talk
radio show that disgraces Muslims
but they will not call in. My
Brothers and Sisters, we should
be grateful that we live in a world
where we are able to engage in
dialogue, vote, and lobby our
government. To be silent, to disengage,
would be to discard one
of the most powerful tools God
has given us with which we can
do good. I would like to say that
ISNA would like to be that platform
where we can agree to disagree
and to represent different
points of view, unity but not uniformity.
Many times I had heard
speakers at ISNA conventions
and conferences whose opinions
I disagreed with but who I had
encouraged to be invited back to
address the community because
we had to understand each others’
different points of view. At
the same time, we must be wise
in how we address these and how
we prioritize the issues being addressed.
We need to think about
what will impact our children and
the generations that follow.
Finally I would like to say,
ISNA is your organization. IS-
NA’s doors are wide open. You
can become a member today and
earn the right to vote people in or
out of the leadership. We hope
that you will join us to hear various
speakers, with a tremendous
wealth of knowledge and experience,
who have agreed to honor
us with their presence this year
and share with us the diversity of
opinion and practice in so many
aspects of our lives. I started this
article with a verse of the Qur’an
and I would like to end it with
this one,
“O ye who believe! Stand
out firmly for Allah, as witness to
fair dealing, and let not the hatred
of others to you make you swerve
to wrong and depart from justice.
Be just: that is next to piety: and
fear Allah. For Allah is well acquainted
with all that ye do.” 5:8