By Khalid Hasan
While Muslim community leaders, most of them self-styled with questionable, if any, followings of late have been making statements distancing themselves from jihadist interpretations of Islam, the average Muslim is not so persuaded.
| We haven't thought they were since we saw the jubilation after 9-11... |
Every conversation on the subject produces the standard observation of the West being at war with Islam. There is openly-expressed admiration for those who are seen to be committing daring acts of sacrifice for the âgreater gloryâ of the cause. When pressed, the response remains nebulous. The average sermon in the average mosque is either utterly unrelated to the problems of today or full of pious and simplistic solutions for the challenges facing Muslims today. The most common explanation offered is that since Muslims have âturned their back on Islamâ and moved away from the âcorrect path,â they are being punished for their transgressions. Little attempt is made to offer practical advice on how to face the present challenges and what to do. Instead of stepping out, Muslims are tending to withdraw into themselves, which can only increase their isolation and stand between them and a realistic understanding of the problems that they face.
| Hmmm... Not a lot of substance to that paragraph. I'm not even sure it applies to "all Muslims" or only to the author's circle of friends and acquaintances. I kinda sorta get the idea that if they were real leaders they wouldn't be distancing themselves from jihad... |
However, according to a report run by the Washington Post on Monday, âalarmed by the London subway bombings, US Muslim activists are taking a series of steps aimed at preventing young people here from embracing extremist ideas.â
| Not wanting to get dumped might provide an incentive... |
The article speaks of âsoul-searching in mosques and in Muslim groups since the London attacks. The writer claims that Muslims in America are better educated and more assimilated than their European counterparts. The report quotes Mahdi Bray, a âsenior figure in the Washington-based Muslim American Societyâ, as saying, âWe donât want to give the opportunity to extremists to get a hold of our kids.â Brayâs group, according to the report, has started working with psychologists to design a pamphlet on how to identify young people who could be susceptible to violent extremism.
| Try this simple test. If the child posses at least three of the following, he's susceptible to violent extremism: 1. a turban 2. curly-toed slippers 3. an automatic weapon 4. a scraggly-assed beard 5. bomb making materials 6. a burnoose |
The pamphlet will be distributed to Muslim parents, mosque leaders and others. What good that will do, only Bray can tell. He told the Post that the Muslim American Society will encourage mosques to sponsor more Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops. The report goes on to quote one Bano Makhdoom, âa Muslim activist in Montgomery County,â who considers the idea that Muslim youngsters could become Islamic extremists âremote.â
| Either Bano doesn't read the papers or he's part of the problem... |
The report recalls that one group from the Washington suburbs was convicted of attending a training camp run by Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan. Last week, a 30-year-old D.C. taxi driver living near Baltimore, Mahmud Faruq Brent, was charged in a similar case. In an even more dramatic case, a 24-year-old who grew up in Falls Church, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, has been accused in an Al Qaeda plot to assassinate President Bush. He has pleaded not guilty. The Muslim American Society has vigorously defended Abu Ali.
"Frisk 'em for automatic weapons, Danno!"
"Just the guys with the burnooses, McGarrett?" |
Asked by the Post correspondent whether that contradicted his groupâs new campaign against extremism, Bray replied in the negative.
| "We're Muslims. We're not long on logical consistency..." |
His group he said, was concerned that Abu Aliâs rights had been violated since he had been held in a Saudi prison for more than a year without charges.
| "He's really lucky he didn't get incinerated!" |
Several area Muslim leaders told the newspaper that since the London bombings, they are warning youngsters âeven more explicitlyâ about any ideologies that glorify violence or portray non-Muslims as âinfidels.â A Ghanian Muslim, the Post reported, had recently lectured to a small group gathered for a Quranic lesson at the Dulles Islamic Centre that hating people âis not part of our religion.â
| Then his lips fell off, of course... |
According to the report, âOne major group, the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), is planning a special session on fighting terrorism and extremism at its annual convention in Chicago next month. The issue is also a central theme at a parallel youth conference, expected to draw thousands of people.â ISNA and its affiliated organisations, which are well financed and well organised with large memberships are also conservative in their views. It is rare to see a woman at their conferences who is not wearing a hijab. |