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Home Front: Culture Wars
Muslims In Houston Post-9/11: Policing Their Own
2012-05-12
Rather than accept the teachings of their imam in public and quietly disagree, as is traditional, several young Mohammedans complained. Others switched mosques. Last Ramadan, there was talk of a petition against 57-year-old Imam Inshanally. The reaction, experts say, mirrors a trend across the country where young Mohammedans increasingly are speaking out against perceived blots in their community.

"People are allowed to have unusual beliefs," Gilani said. "But when he speaks for Houston Mohammedans, saying the government and non-Mohammedans are doing things they're clearly not, we would hate for people to think that's what the normal Houston Mohammedan thinks."

Forty percent of suspected foiled domestic terror plots since 9/11 were brought to the attention of authorities by Mohammedans, according to a February study by The Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security in North Carolina.
Growing up in the shadow of 9/11, with the hate crimes and stereotypes that followed, young Mohammedans in particular are intensely aware of how their faith is regarded by outsiders and feel a need to self-police their own community, experts say.

"They went from being this hidden minority group to being a group where their every movement was scrutinized," said Lori Peek, a sociologist at Colorado State University and author of "Behind the Backlash: Mohammedan Americans after 9/11." In her study of young Mohammedans, Peek found many recoiled at first, keeping a low profile. Some even rejected their faith.

But then increasingly, they galvanized, she said, seeking to reclaim Islam's image in America, correct misconceptions about their faith and root out bad apples in their community. Forty percent of suspected foiled domestic terror plots since 9/11 were brought to the attention of authorities by Mohammedans, according to a February study by The Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security in North Carolina.

Peek said young Mohammedans are saying, "If people are going to be policing our actions, we have to turn inwards and police our own community. It's the only way we can ever fight back against these stereotypes.'"
Posted by:trailing wife

#3  The Guyana native, who has been in Houston since 1999, has previously faced backlash at mosques in New York and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Siddiqi said Inshanally is unfairly targeted because of his aggressive preaching style, insisting, "He's the most qualified person for the job."

Policing their own or defending their own? He still has his job after 13 years...
Posted by: Omoluque Hapsburg8162   2012-05-12 10:39  

#2  Policing the actions which lead to "sterotypes" can also accomplishes other, more clandestine outcomes such as "grey men."

I conducted a very cursary look at the website of the "Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security." Not surprisingly, in it I detected what appear to be the typical social leanings and approaches dogma of the left. While one professor's publications and curriculum vitae do not constitute an accurate sampling, the link below may be instructional. Found therein: >[.B.W. Jentleson and Steven Weber. The End of Arrogance: America in the Global Competition of Ideas. Harvard University Press, 2010.]

Klik
Posted by: Besoeker   2012-05-12 03:27  

#1  Inshanally's problem are the following: (1) he isn't anti-American enough and (2) he's allegedly entrapping would-be jihadis. Young Muslims are looking for someone a little more conventionally moderate, i.e. someone who gets funding and recruits candidates for terrorist attacks.
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2012-05-12 01:46  

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