Many people don’t know that ISNA was formed as a liberal front by Ikhwan while they were working underground in the US. The Ikhwan leadership in the US later launched MAS and asked ISNA to merge with it but some ISNA leaders refused
Dr. Shaik Ubaid siyasat.net
United States Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO), the umbrella alliance of American Muslims, had been warning the Islamic Society of North America ( ISNA ) recently not to work with the American Zionists.
When ISNA refused to budge the leaders of USCMO have openly denounced it, something which has never been done by mainstream immigrant Muslim organizations
This step was taken as the Department of Homeland Security and the State department have decided to launch a counter narrative that the fight in the Middle East is between Israel and HAMAS and the Arab governments and the Arab street are not supporting HAMAS
This is being done so because of pressure from the Israeli lobby including the American Jewish Committee (AJC ) and the Anti Demafation League (AD) who are nervous that at the grassroots, Americans are turning against Israel. The FBI had started visiting pro Palestine activists because of this policy .
That is why Muslims Public Affairs Council ( MPAC) and ISNA have been put on notice about AJC, JDL, etc by the USCMO
I have been privy to some of these discussions with some of the USCMO leaders
Finally, the Muslim leadership is speaking bluntly. I used to be called crazy and trouble maker for speaking bluntly by the pro establishment groups and “emotional” by my friends in the antiestablishment camp.
Cheikh Ahmad Mbareck, the former Executive Director of the Majlis ash Shura of New York ( the regional Muslim umbrella) and I had to fight with some mosques and leaders in New York, Long Island and Westchester to stop them to work with AJC and the Muslim Leadership Initiative. MLI was launched to create a pro Israeli leadership among the American Muslims
AJC had hired a very high ranking retired State Department official to lead a campaign to liason with the masjids and ethnic Muslim organizations, bypassing the national muslim organisations because the national organisations were supporting Palestine steadfastly
In the meantime Sayed Saeed Sahib of ISNA reportedly gave a khutba saying that Ikhwan was like RSS! He was trying to show that he is a “ moderate interfaither” ( a term coined by me)
Many of us suspected ISNA is now working with Arab dictators.
Before it was trying just to show the State Dept, the White House and the Congress that it has “reformed “ and no longer have links with the Ikhwan ( Muslim Brotherhood – the mother of HAMAS)
Many people don’t know that ISNA was formed as a liberal front by Ikhwan while they were working underground in the US. The Ikhwan leadership in the US later launched MAS and asked ISNA to merge with it but some ISNA leaders refused
That was fine but then ISNA leaders who did not merge with MAS were scared of the US govt and started softening their stand on Afghan war etc
They gradually stopped inviting speakers to its convention who would criticize US foreign policy vigorously ( except some big names like Imam Siraj who were still invited to draw crowds) and relied more on speakers like Hamza Yusuf ISNA also refused to join the national Muslim alliance USCMO because of the Council on American Islamic Relations ( CAIR) and Muslim American Society (MAS ) being among its founders
CAIR, even American Muslims for Palestine AMP , who were once linked with Ikhwan still were scared to criticize ISNA and the Muslim lobbying groups EMGAGE etc. Even though the later had many Muslim zionists from the MLI in them
Many westernized leaders of immigrant masajid were also scared to criticize US wars and got closer to ISNA and EMGAGE and not USCMO
After the rise of Sisi and MBS some in ISNA now seem to be trying to work with them, along with MBZ of the UAE and Abdullah of Jordan
During all this internal struggles, I kept advising American born Muslims and Muslims from India living in the US, not to join Ikhwan related groups but to form independent organisations so that they do not have to go through this dilemma which ISNA, MPAC et cetera are going through They can very defiantly criticise the US and work with the anti-war groups and human rights groups against the US war party
I was also very critical of ISNA , Hamza Yusuf, etc who were offering the US State Department and UAE govt fig leaves
I also kept requesting African American Muslim leaders to put their houses and masajid in order and to step up to lead the Muslims in the US. Unfortunately they failed to reorganize and to become more transparent to attract their youth, and to become financially viable Muslim Alliance of North America MANA , tried but did not succeed
Now the cats are finally out of the bags and the mess is hitting the fan
My appeal to the Muslim youth : Learn from Erdogan, Gull etc. who broke with their guru Arabakan and launched a new party
Form new American organizations then they will not be scared of getting banned and can openly criticize Israel and the US as they won’t be linked with foreign groups
That is why I joined the Muslim Peace Coalition when Br Malik Mujahid launched it to struggle against the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and to fight Islamophobia here. I differed with Br Mujahid who wanted to keep it low key and from 2009 to 2014 made it highly visible MuslimPeaceCoalition.org
It is about time that just as Quran deals with the shortcomings such as the battle of Uhad, Muslim organizations start openly debating and analyzing their short comings and differences and start taking bold stand against the US war party , Israel and the RSS
Muslim youth born in America should be like Malcolm X and form American organizations but work through global human rights alliances on global issues. They must neither join the appeasers like ISNA nor join Ikhwan and Jamate Islami Pakistan linked organizations . In the foreign policy realm they must condemn the US war mongering along with denouncing Israel and the Hindutva ultranationalist RSS, and denounce domestic racism They must also condemn the Israeli proxies attacking Ikhwan and Jamate Islami
As long as the American Muslims learn from AKP of Turkey and Ikhwan and Jamate Islami just as they learn from Malcolm X but remain purely American, they will have great flexibility to resist warmongering and Islamophobia
They must also learn pragmatism from the seerah of the Prophet and try to win the hearts of the White majority, and not try to scare them. Instead of mentioning apartheid and eco terrorism, when our youths in the rallies, shout intifada intifada they fail to win the hearts of their American fellow citizens and walk into the trap set by the Israeli lobby. Our goal should not be to vent our frustration or show off our courage but to win the battle of public opinion.
In short, work with vision, courage, integrity, compassion and be transparent and accountable .America is ready for a course correction and waiting for us to lead this particular leg of its journey.
(The writer is a neurologist based in New York. He is a human tights activist and community organiser. He heads the Alliance to Save and Protect America from Infiltration by Religious Extremists ASPAIRE.org. views are personal)
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