muslim american charlotte edition december 2015

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From The Editor’s Desk – December 2015Salaamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh,

“Do not abandon hope in the mercy of Allah.” - Qur’an 39:53This year of 2015 has been a series of hard lessons for the Muslim community. We have already been living under the pressure of accusations, Anti-Muslim sentiment, racism, Islamophobia and other forms of oppression that have increased since 9/11. We were forced to apologize for the actions of others again when Charlie Hebdo offices were attacked. Once again when Paris was rocked by six separate attacks in a single day.No apologies would come to the Muslims for three university students murdered by a Muslim-hating Anti-Theist in Raleigh. No apologies for armed protest rallies, armed men stalking Hijabis or for the wholesale massacre of Muslims by Christian radicals in the Central African Republic or by Radical Buddhists in Myanmar.This year we Muslims have turned to Allah’s mercy frequently. How has Allah responded? We have seen a massive outpouring of support from non-Muslims. From the Christians who come to our Masjids to make sure we’re okay to the Liberty activists who formed a human shield to block bigots from attacking Muslim speakers at the Oklahoma capitol. From the Interfaith groups that formed counter-protests against hate to the politicians who declared that islamophobia would not prevent them from providing for refugees in a time of crisis.Allah’s Mercy is here. Do not despair, O Muslims, Allah is with us.

May Allah’s peace, mercy and blessings be upon you all, Duston Barto

Editor, Muslim American magazine

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Evolving Beyond Apologies .................................. 08,09,10Legacy of Righteousness ............................................ 06,07We Are All Refugees ........................................................ 13

December -2015, Volume 1, Issue 12ISSN 2377 - 9624Publisher & Editor-in-Chief: Mohamed Haroon SaitEditor: Duston BartoDesign & Layout: Mubin M.K.

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Mohamed AbuTaleb only arrived in NC a few short months ago,

to succeed Imam Baianonie as the Imam of The Islamic Association of Raleigh (IAR). A native of the Washington, DC area; Mohamed was motivated to become an Imam because, as a child, his own community mosque did not have a permanent imam. “Later on,” Imam AbuTaleb explains, “I was exposed to other DC mosques, and when I was living in Boston doing graduate studies there were many Imams who had an impact on me. This allowed me to realize how important it was to have local, accessible religious leadership. As I travelled more and visited other communities, I saw the dynamic that I had missed as a child.”

This motivated him to pursue the course of becoming an alim even though he was already an electrical engineer. “Growing up, I was always promised a fork in the road; basically that no one can be interested in both sciences and religion.” says Imam AbuTaleb, “I have enjoyed doing both and have seen both of them impact one another greatly.” When asked how his secular knowledge benefits his religious knowledge, Mohamed says, “Any beneficial knowledge is a worship of Allah. In my case, I look at engineers as problem solvers so I try to bring whatever part of my background that is relevant to help solve the problems of our community.” He further explained that his work in engineering put him into contact with the corporate world and academic world in ways that his religious studies alone would not have done. This allows him to have greater empathy for members of the community who need help

with spiritual matters in these environments.

Imam Abu Taleb discussed how many people in our community often get shut out of a masjid because of struggles in their personal lives. He expressed a serious need for people to come together and to not judge people for their struggles. He says, “We all have struggles, some are apparent and some are hidden but we must all help one another and not hinder one another as we are on this path to come back to Allah (SWT).”

As for those who perceive themselves to be righteous? Imam AbuTaleb explains, “Scholars say that the worst deception is the deception of a saint. The idea being that the worst thing we can do is to believe that we are saints, that we are perfect as Muslims. We are all actually imperfect and riddled with sin and we all have issues to face in our path back to Allah. This is why the Mosque must both be a shrine to the saintly and a place for the sick. It should be a place to celebrate those who enter our family and to mourn those who return back to Allah.” To provide a stark example

of understanding, he shared, “We do recognize that substance abuse is haram, but we must embrace those who are suffering from substance abuse and provide that person with the support, knowledge and tools to overcome that addiction.”

This philosophy guides Imam Mohamed AbuTaleb as he works to build the community, “We don’t want people to come because people are guilted into coming, we want people to come because they are seeing things that they are excited to be a part of and to invite others to come and participate in.” He then went on to explain the strength that IAR has in having multiple schools operating in the center and how important cultivation of the youth is in building the long-term goals of the community.

“Seven out of ten people do not know a Muslim personally and the hateful narrative [from some media sources] becomes believable to those who don’t know Muslims personally. This is why we have to reclaim the narrative by reaching out.” says Imam AbuTaleb. He then took a moment to praise his local community for taking initiative, “Some of our community members have started mymuslimneighbor.com which is a simple pledge to invite non-Muslim neighbors over for a meal with no pretense so that they can become familiar with Muslims as a part of the community rather than some foreign entity that is exotic or strange.”

We turned to the more serious, recent topic of the threat of Islamophobia and the constant barrage of negativity from the media regarding groups like

Interview with Mohamed AbuTalebCreating a Legacy of Righteousness

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Daesh (ISIS). The Imam’s words were very straight to the point as he said, “There is no doubt that these times are trying and challenging for our communities. In fact, the rhetoric is damaging to our society at large.” He shared how IAR is dealing with the difficulties, “I remind our community that it is important to acknowledge the challenges that happen and especially to consider our young people as it is hard for many of them to process these events. We want to make sure that people do not feel isolated or confused, and we offer mental health services and other forms of counseling to help people get through these issues.”

Imam AbuTaleb continues, “It is ironic that the extremists and the islamophobes have the same goal: To marginalize and diminish Muslims. This is why our reaction has to be rooted in truth, we have an undying principle of upholding truth and

righteousness as Allah commands us in the Qur’an 5:8 ‘O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm for Allah , witnesses in justice, and do not let the hatred of a people prevent you from being just. Be just; that is nearer to righteousness. And fear Allah; indeed, Allah is acquainted with what you do.’ Therefore we must act with poise, posture and perseverance.”

Finally, we asked Imam Mohamed AbuTaleb about his favorite part of the Qur’an, after thinking it over briefly, he said that Surah Furqan, verse 74 guides him as a husband, a father, and an Imam. Allah gives us the verse, which contains a du’a “And these are the people who submit (before the presence of Allah): ‘O our Lord, grant us coolness of eyes in our wives and our children, and make us leaders of the God-fearing people.” Imam AbuTaleb explains “This reminds me of the importance of family in

Islam. In spite of all the importance of our other responsibilities, we must focus efforts on the bedrock of our community in the establishment of family and we must be excellent in all these things. We must be entrusted to drive one another to higher points of Jannah.”

Imam AbuTalib concluded his explanation of the verse, and our interview by saying, “Our lives are not just about what we do, but they are about what we encourage others to do. We are leading a legacy of righteous offspring and we are sowing the seeds of those who will be righteous for Allah (SWT).”

Please visit the Islamic Association of Raleigh online at raleighmasjid.org to read more about what they are doing and to watch or listen to Imam Mohamed AbuTaleb’s khutbahs.


The attacks in Paris on Friday the 13th of November, 2015

triggered a global shock wave of reactions. From politicians driven by fear to shut out refugees to hate-mongers whipping up a frenzy of Islamophobia among right-wing radicals to Muslims rushing to media outlets to condemn terrorism. All of these things we have seen before, but for some reason the series of six attacks in France hit at the “perfect” moment in time to create a stir of hate and fear that we have not seen since just after 9/11.

We reached out to four Muslim-American leaders to get a fresh perspective on the issue beyond what the major media outlets can tell.

The Iqra Imperative

Dr. Achmat Salie (founder of Islamic studies at the University of Detroit, Mercy) started the conversation with “We have to move beyond apology, the current atmosphere is such that people will not accept apologies; instead we have to look for opportunities.” Dr. Salie elaborated that instead of apologizing, we should embrace the opportunity to have dialog. However, we first must be educated Muslims. “Iqra, the first command, is imperative. To read, research, and gain deeper insights is more important now than ever before!”

“There are so many books out there on so many different topics,” lamented Dr. Salie, “however, if Muslims are not readers then they are missing the advantage of this knowledge! So many people suffer from religious illiteracy. Muslims must put more effort into reading. I call this the Iqra Imperative.”

How does this apply to responding to terror and Islamophobia? Dr. Salie explains, “Learn more about the people around you, their history, community, what do THEY want, need and love. Learn these things so that you can speak directly to the individual and communicate as a fellow human being.”

Dr. Salie also believes in focusing on a positive response rather than a negative reaction. “Groups like CAIR and others always catch people doing wrong. Instead, let’s find people doing right and illuminate them; bring that to the people!” By evolving our dialog into expressing what is great about Muslims, we can clearly dissolve the focus on the small group creating negative attention today.

A Time For Jihad?

Sheikh Mohammed Shafayat (Director of Al-Hikmat) agrees with Dr. Salie’s assertion that apologies are dead. Sheikh Shafayat says “Condemning terrorist acts is a normal thing, the statement has no effect! People get up and say ‘We condemn… blah blah blah’ it’s too much of a norm and has no effect at all. Why are we apologizing for something we are not even doing?”

He is more direct to the solution of Daesh “Based on what all the scholars are saying worldwide, ISIS is not acting Islamically, they are not practicing Islamic principles and their actions do not represent the Qur’an and Sunnah. So the course seems very clear. I think it is time for the Muslims, leaders and organizations and nations, to call for a jihad against ISIS.”

We pressed the Sheikh for more defense of this position and he

Evolving Beyond ApologiesConfronting Terrorism and Islamophobia

With armed protests at Mosques becoming more common, there is little difference between the Islamophobic bigots and the terrorists they claim to hate.

“We have to move beyond apology, ... instead we have to look for opportunities.”

- Dr. Achmat Salie

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continued, “They are punishing Muslims and misrepresenting Islam completely. If they were only talking then I would say ‘yes, fight them with talk’ but they are militarized and they are killing innocent people. So in this case we must stop the evil with our hands and make jihad! This is fully in line with Shariah.”

How does this make us different from Daesh? Sheikh Shafayat says “What they are doing is not jihad, they are committing murder and we cannot allow them to continue killing people wildly.” Then he broke down the details of the true Islamic Jihad, “When I called for a true Islamic Jihad it is intellectual, spiritual and even physical. Do it in the halal way and make sure it is correct and pure. We have to correct this fitna.”

What is the halal way? According to Sheikh Shafayat, “Use the pen, use spiritual teaching, use intellectualism. When the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) would fight, he would tell some people to stay behind and teach. Therefore everyone must use their own ability in every way of life to fight the enemy of Islam; right now that is ISIS/Daesh.”

Own Your Responsibility

Imam Ismaeel Chartier (Clifton Mosque, Cincinnati, OH) had an interesting stance for where the blame lies for Islamophobia, “In a way, Muslims are responsible because we are like the people of Saleh. There are people who want to create chaos

and we are allowing them to do it by keeping silent.”

Imam Chartier explains, “Far too often we have a binary discussion within Muslim circles where it becomes an US verses THEM paradigm and that sets people up for polarization and extremism. We end up creating these little spaces for our own cultural understanding away from mainstream society and this is exactly how we see recruitment from extremists.”

Imam Chartier explains how to teach against extreme thought, “When you read the Qur’an you should be filled with love of Allah and love of Islam and be filled with the beauty of Islam. By reclaiming this love and beauty of Islam, we have youth who want to be involved in the community and who look forward to lectures. When we make the religion dogmatic and all about rules and regulations, we steal the beauty and love from Islam.”

The Masjid should radiate this beauty and love outward into the community, according to Imam Chartier, “We have to be engaged and involved in the society which we live by serving on committees, by getting elected to positions and by serving the public. We must have our own homeless shelters, hospitals, etc and be fully engaged in our society to address the needs of the people.”

What are the consequences? “If we don’t do that, then all we have is the media lie about what Islam is,” expressed Ismaeel, “we say that Islam is the solution and they respond, ‘to what?!’ because we aren’t doing anything!” Imam Chartier further punctuated, “We have got to think far into the future. We don’t want to have a situation where 500 years from now, archaeologists dig up our history and find out that the only thing Muslims contributed to the society is kebab and falafel.”

De-Legitimize the Extremists

Will Coley, from Muslims 4 Liberty, agrees that we have serious problems with focusing energy in the wrong places, “Our community is very slacktivist; we do open houses every once in a while and send money to big organizations to let them do all the work.” Why is this a bad strategy? Will says “... they laid the ground work, but in many ways they have gotten lazy in addressing the issues of terrorism and Islamophobia head-on. In fact, many organizations refuse to directly engage Pamela Gellar or other major Islamophobes.”

While Will continued expressing the flaws in our methodology (such as inviting the same groups of people over and over to open house events) he punctuated strong points to change. “We are allowing the fear of persecution to cloud our judgment and prevent us from addressing the problem in a direct and meaningful way. In my personal opinion, it is a form of idolatry.”

How could Brother Coley defend such a statement? He explains, “Allah wants us to change something that is wrong with our hands or our tongues or to pray about it and the latter is the lowest form of faith. We have decided to take the least approach and ...

(Continued on Page 11)

“We say that Islam is the solution and they respond, ‘to what?,’ because we aren’t doing anything!”

- Imam Ismaeel Chartier

“We are allowing the fear of persecution to cloud our judgment and prevent us from addressing the problem in a direct and meaningful way. In my personal opinion, it is a form of idolatry.”

- Will Coley

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we are therefore allowing this thing (fear) to come between us and Allah’s pleasure. We should be Mujahid ul-Aql and fight with knowledge.”

Will explains further, “The main goal should be to de-legitimize ISIS as an entity. We have to stop using terms like Islamist, Islamic Extremism, Radical Muslim, etc. We have to remove terms that can be used to connect them to us because they are NOT us, they do not represent us and we should abhor any connection to us. Call them Daesh or kharajites, najdi; etc. Reinforce these negative connections because we know who they are, we were warned by Muhammad (SAWS) and Allah that they were coming.”

Will explains that this is not a new idea, “Tahir Al Qadri tried to express this with his 600 page fatwa against ISIS but the media glossed over it to minimize its impact. We need to be out there repeating this information.”

Dawah Cures All

One of the underlying themes that came up over and over again in our conversations is that dawah has to evolve and that we have to be more pro-active as a community to solve both the problems of Islamophobia and of terrorism.

Dr. Achmat Salie reminds us that there is no textbook dawah, “Dawah should be information sharing so it is always going to be contextual and relevant to the individual that you are talking to. Using a one size fits all form of dawah is not effective.”

Sheikh Shafayat says that we become softer ourselves. “Nowadays you look

at some Muslims and you’re scared to approach them!” Sheikh Shafayat exclaimed, “The look on their faces is so stern and harsh! They start talking and it is scary to hear them speak!”

Imam Ismaeel Chartier agrees with the harshness, “Muslims ourselves can be xenophobic bigots, there are so many times that people tell me I cannot be an Imam because I’m white. They have told me that I cannot understand Arabic properly because I’m white. We have to get rid of our own Islamophobia and racism from the Muslim community. We have to stop bringing in foreign ideas and calling it Islam.”

How then, should we proceed? “I don’t care where you are from, if you understand the culture and you understand the American people, THAT is who should be leading the charge.” Imam Chartier explains. “I do not believe that organizations like ICNA, MAS, ISNA and CAIR should be leading this dialog because they STILL come to the table with a foreign mindset.” He continues “You have to understand [as an example] what it means to go to McDonald’s as a child and the joy that we have from getting a cheeseburger there.” Imam Ismaeel closes by saying, “Condemning and being armchair activists isn’t going to do anything. We have to get out and get into the grassroots to get things done and be fully present in our society.”

Will Coley agrees, “Until we get out there and become part of the communities, nothing will get better. We have to create seminars that engage the community directly and make a difference.” Will also agrees with Imam Chartier about the American experience, “The convert community has a completely different connection to the American community. We ARE American culture, we WERE a part of the community that we must relate

to, so converts are the ideal people to lead the charge.”

Brother Will suggests that we work with intellectual arguments, “Maximize the free speech areas of college campuses, and bring out local Imams and other good speakers from the community. Talk about eschatology of this, the theological ramifications of that. Talk about Islam on an intellectual level.”

Muslims 4 Liberty uses talking points which connect to the core of American values as Will explains, “Presumption of innocence in a court of law, jurisprudence, the natural rights of man; these are all concepts that Muslims brought to the world. We need to reclaim these, own these and promote the historic connection with these.”

According to these four Muslim American leaders, we have a lot of work to do within our own communities. We need to be more proactive in promoting the love, warmth and mercy that Islam teaches to other Muslims so that our message to the non-Muslim community is unified in the Qur’an and Sunnah instead of some other cultural trapping. We must be integrated in society and provide Americans the physical, economic and spiritual healing that is desperately needed.

In short, it’s time to stop merely performing the rituals and fully embrace all the principles of Islam.

To learn more about Dr. Salie’s Islamic studies program, visit www.udmercy.edu/islamFor Sheikh Mohammed Shafayat’s Al-Hikmat organization, visit www.alhikmat.comTo hear Ismaeel Chartier’s khutbah’s visit Clifton Mosque channel on YouTubeTo learn more about Will Coley and Muslims 4 Liberty visit www.Muslims4Liberty.org

“Condemning and being armchair activists isn’t going to do anything.”

- Imam Ismaeel Chartier

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Since the terrorists’ attacks in Paris, many US citizens, including some Muslims, have exploded into a fierce campaign against bringing the Syrian refugees into the United States. They fear that terrorists may hide within the wave of immigrants. According to a recent report, 750,000 refugees have found new lives in the United States since 9/11, and not a single one of them has been arrested on domestic terrorism charges (The Economist, Oct 21, 2015). [The Tsarnaev brothers (the Boston bombers) were not refugees.] Further, the vetting process is so incredibly difficult that there is almost a certain assurance that a terrorist would not pass. David Bier, director of Immigration Policy, explained, “For terrorists, the U.S. refugee process is the worst possible avenue in which to travel to the United States. The background checks involved are the most rigorous and the most extensive of those undertaken on foreign nationals coming here. This is likely why every 9/11 hijacker and all other foreign persons who’ve committed acts of terrorism were non-refugees –they were mainly student or tourist visa holders” (“The Boston Bombers Were Not Refugees –Neither Was the Paris Attacker,” The Blog, Nov 18, 2015).

Our Islamic history is one that includes our being refugees. The first migration of Muslims took place in 615 CE. Prophet Muhammed (peace upon him) was burdened with grief over the persecution the

new Muslims were facing from the Quraysh tribe. He suggested that his followers leave Meccah and seek sanctuary in Abyssinia (Ethiopia), which was ruled by a Christian king. A group of eleven men and four women chose to make the journey. The king of Abyssinia welcomed the Muslim refugees, and they enjoyed peace, security, and freedom under his protection. About a year later, they returned to Meccah only to find that things were no different. They returned to Abyssinia along with others; altogether there were eighty-three men and eighteen women. This was the second migration of Muslim refugees.

Moses (peace upon him) and his people were refugees. Mary (peace upon her) was a refugee who was turned away because there was no room at the inn. She gave birth to Jesus (peace upon him) in a cave used as a stable. The refugees are all Moses, Mary, and Jesus (peace upon them). We are all refugees in this world of turmoil where we must struggle until we enter our real home in Heaven.

In at least eight passages, the Qur’an commands us to serve travelers in need of our assistance. Just one example: “Do they not see that Allah enlarges or restricts the provision to whomever He pleases? Truly, in that are signs for those who believe. Give what is due to relatives, the needy, and the traveler. That is best for those who seek the countenance of

Allah. It is they who will prosper” (Surah 30: 37-38). Everything we have, everything we are, everything we achieve are by the grace of God. We must return the glory to Him by sharing those things with which He has blessed us. We have no right to any of them except by His grace. We must proclaim the blessings of our Lord by sharing what he has loaned us on this earth.

Except for the Native American Indians, we are a nation of immigrants. We cannot claim this territory without first acknowledging that we are all here by God’s grace and that it is truly His land, not ours.

“The Statue of Liberty cannot have a stiff arm. Her arm must continue to keep the torch burning brightly. If we use our passions, anger, and fear to snuff out her flame by xenophobic and knee-jerk policy, the enemy wins. We have played into their hands, period” [Congress member Steve Russell, (Oklahoma), former US Army officer].

“With silent lips,” the Statue of Liberty cries, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” (The words on the Statue of Liberty are from a poem by Emma Lazarus, “New Colossus.”)

We Are All RefugeesLinda “iLham” Barto

“Did He not find you as an orphan and give you shelter? He found you wandering, and He provided guidance. He found you destitute, and He made you independent. Therefore, do not treat the orphans harshly. Do not turn away the petitioner. Proclaim the blessings of your Lord” (Surah 93: 6-11).

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muslim american charlotte edition december 2015

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