A Salute To Those Uniting Muslims Despite Backlash

A women I met on our Ziyarat Group trip last month told me this true story: Her family was nestled in their seats, ready to embark on their much-anticipated pilgrimage to Iraq when her husband called a relative to say good-bye.

"So you're going to Iraq to get a mutah (temporary marriage)?" came the reply on the other end from the chuckling professional, who like her husband is Sunni as are most of their family and friends.

"Um, no. That's not part of my school of thought," her husband replied, clearly shook up and spirits dampened. That's not the response he was expecting from a loved one who knew he was going to visit the sacred lands and resting places of important people connected to our beloved Prophet Muhammad (S).

That was a lower blow than usual but she said her spouse is used to everything from snarky remarks to personal attacks to shouting matches with family and friends because of his willingness to understand  and communicate other Islamic perspectives for the sake of unity among Muslims.

What a growing number of brave souls like her hubby realize is that unity is essential for Muslim survival, sticks and stones notwithstanding. Scholars, political leaders, and journalists in the Muslim world--though still a drop in the ocean--are slowly but surely making moves to unite the hearts of Muslims, a precursor to any type of alliance in fighting enemies and developing progress, With 27 million Muslims killed so far in the American War on Terror, isn't it time all Muslims follow the Quranic injunction: "And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided"? (3:103)

Unity is more important now that a Muslim leader, Iran's Supreme Leader Imam Sayyid Ali Khamanei, has publicly picked up the gauntlet in response to the American assassination of Irani General Qassim Suleimani and comrades and vowed to lead the region in expelling U.S. military forces. But Imam Khamanei also warned that "this ideal [unity] has dangerous enemies" because "Islam rejects oppression, domination, and arrogance." Opponents of Islam know better than Muslims themselves that differences are surmountable and all Muslims "would accept Iran as the leader of a new caliphate" to rid the region of "Israel and the West," as Zionist Eric Stakelbeck predicted in a 2011 article for Christian Broadcasting News.

Unfortunately, some of the most toxic enemies of unity come from within: Muslim friends, family, colleagues, and followers who mock and abuse those who encourage love, tolerance, and cooperation among Muslims for the sake of God. Imam Khamanei himself has faced hate from fellow Shias who claim he's appeasing Sunnis by encouraging Muslims to pray in each other's mosques and prohibiting Shias from insulting Sunni icons like wives and companions of Prophet Muhammad (S). 

Other examples:

• Liaqat Baloch, Deputy Amir of Jamaat -e- Islami poltical party in Pakistan, got attacked on Twitter by his own followers earlier this month for leading a delegation to Iran to pay condolences for the martyrdom of Suleimani, who they wrongly consider the architect of Sunni genocide in Syria. 

• Scholar Syed Jawad Naqvi, chancellor of Jamia Urwa-tul-Wusqa in Lahore, made many enemies amongst fellow ulema for allowing scholars of other sects to speak freely at his annual unity conference in November 2019. Opponents of Naqvi are sadly some of the crudest trolls on social media. 

• Popular Pakistani scholar Tariq Jameel, disparagingly called a "shia-lover" by some, was publicly chastised by scholars of his own school of thought and forced to answer humiliating questions in a July 2018 interview held to determine whether the news circulating on social media that he was converting and encouraging his followers to become Shia was true or not. 

• Palestinian leader Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas reportedly got heat from members of his own party for traveling to Iran to attend the funeral of Suleimani, who he hailed a martyr of Al Quds.

• Scholar Sheikh Ahmed Kerina of Al Azhar University in Egypt was temporarily suspended by university officials in 2014 for visiting a Shia seminary in Iran where he presented a project of cooperation between the two schools to combat extremism.
• Saudi Scholar Salman al-Awda has been imprisoned since 2017 by his government for encouraging reconciliation between Muslim countries after Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, and Egypt imposed a boycott against Qatar for its close ties with Iran.  "May God harmonize between their hearts for the good of their people," was his fateful tweet.

In North America, scholars and intellectuals at the Institute for Contemporary Islamic Thought have  persevered for 40+ years to foster unity among Muslims, despite facing hate and rejection from other Muslims. These trailblazers include Zafar Bangash, president of Toronto's Islamic Society of York Region, Crescent magazine editor Afeef Khan, and scholar Imam Muhammad al-Asi, who has dedicated his life to bringing Muslims together through his Friday khutbahs given outside the Islamic Center of Washington. Imam Abdul Alim Musa of the Al Masjid Mosque in Washington D.C says he got kicked off the speaker circuit of Islamic conferences years ago for his support of the Islamic Revolution in Iran.

No doubt, mockery and ostracism hurt more when they come from those close to us. This work is not for the faint of heart. People who put their relationships, careers, and peace of mind on the line to unite the ummah per God's instructions need to be respected and honored.

Will Pakistan Be First To End US Dominance In Post-Suleimani Era?

While thronging Irani and Iraqi mourners stole the spotlight after Americans killed off their top generals, little global attention was paid to how much the assassination inflamed neighboring Pakistanis, perhaps enough to turn simmering anti-US sentiment into a revolution that finally casts off decades-long American dominance.

Iran's Supreme Leader Imam Sayyid Ali Khamanei and the rest of the Axis of Resistance vowed straight away to avenge the assassinations by "ending the corrupting presence of America in the region" and tens of thousands of Pakistani voices echoed the sentiment, even though their government itself refused to condemn the killings and apparently banned media from referring to the slain as martyrs.

Influential Pakistanis, including politicians, military officials, scholars, political activists, and journalists across the country, took it upon themselves to give bellicose speeches upbraiding American foreign policy while youth torched American flags and chanted anti-American slogans at rallies and women clutching babies in even the tiniest villages lit candles at vigils held to commemorate the January 3 assassinations of Irani General Qassim Suleimani and comrades.

"Pakistan is indebted to Hajj Suleimani," Allama Syed Jawad Naqvi, Chancellor of Jamia Urwa-tul-Wusqa, expounded at a gathering in Islamabad he helped organize to protest America's assassinations and policies in the region. After wreaking havoc in Iraq and Syria ISIS (Daesh) had announced its plans to move towards Pakistan and Afghanistan on its way to Iran, and some factions in Islamabad were ready to welcome it, Naqvi said. "But Hajj Suleimani put his hand on Daesh's neck and did not let it take a single step towards any other Muslim land. Why did they kill Hajj Suleimani into bits and pieces? Because he tore apart [America's] schemes in the region into bits and pieces."

Other prominent protestors:

• Pakistan Muslim League (N) Leader Khwaja Asif lambasted Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan during a Parliament session on January 6 for failing to stand by Iran. He accused Khan of making foreign policy decisions based on"fear" and "blackmail" from America and Saudi Arabia.

• In a GTV Network interview on January 10 former Pakistan National Assembly member Syed Raza Abidi of Pakistan's People's Party said he's returning to the political arena "because my country needs me," and he wants to "help defeat American plots" in the region. 

• Former Pakistani Army Chief Mirza Aslam Baig, whose picture with young Suleimani getting military training in Cherat, Pakistan, in 1989 is circulating on social media, called Suleimani a "friend" during a protest organized by Muslim Unity Forum in the nation's capital of Islamabad on June 5. He said "we should unite under the guidance of Allah and His Prophet Muhammad (S) and ready ourselves to challenge our enemy (American government and its foreign policies)."

• Thousands of Sunnis and Shias attended Murdabad America (Death to American Hegemony) rallies in major Pakistani cities in the days after the assassinations. Mufti Sayyid Ashiq Hussain said at the march to the American Consulate in Lahore: "America [government] is not only an enemy of Iran but also of Pakistan and all of the Muslim world. Pakistan should stand with Iran. This one martyrdom has united and awoken us all."

• Deputy Amir Jamaat-e-Islami Liaqat Baloch led an 8-member delegation to Iran on January 14 to offer condolences to Irani political and religious leaders. Baloch had spoken the previous week at the Islamabad rally. "We have to take revenge on the enemy's of Islam, humanity, and Muslim unity." Thirty-five religious organizations plan to meet soon in Lahore under the banner of the National Alliance for Religious Harmony to strategize on how to deal with "new threats to Islam."

Indeed, the assassinations may be the spark that burns down perennial American subjugation in Pakistan. This nation usually ranks top three in Pew polls for strongest anti-US sentiment thanks to the devastating consequences of "friendship" with America, especially during the last 40 years of U.S. adventurism in Afghanistan. Prime Minister Khan, who had promised while campaigning to stand up to U.S. dominance, lamented in 2011 that "ours is perhaps the only country in history that keeps getting bombed by our ally."

Independence has been an evolving process for Pakistanis, starting from day one when millions put their lives and wealth on the line to create a land where Muslims could live according to Islamic teachings. Intellectuals like Allama Iqbal urged Pakistanis to continue the struggle and break away from neocolonial rule. After suffering for decades under corrupt puppet governments, Pakistanis thought voting in an outspoken leader like Khan would bring independence, dignity, and prosperity to themselves and their Kashmiri neighbors. But it didn't, and in fact the opposite happened.

At this point, enough Pakistani people seem to realize that the only path to freedom is through themselves. If they're looking for a bit of direction, Iqbal showed them nearly a century ago where to turn.

Dekha hai Malukiyat-e Afrang ne jo Khwab
Mumkin hai ki Us Khwab ki Tabir badal Jaye
Tehran ho gar Alam-e Mashriq ke Geneva
Shayad Kurra-e Arz ki Taqdir Badal Jaye

Imperial dreams of the West
Could become dashed
If Tehran becomes the Geneva of the East
The fortunes of this hemisphere might turn

The crude assassinations catapulted Iran into the spotlight, and it responded by vowing to lead the region to freedom from American subjugation. It's up to Pakistani scholars like Naqvi--one of the best leaders Pakistan has produced in decades--to channel people's renewed enthusiasm into a new reality that helps achieve that goal.

Don't Let Empire Sabotage Post-Suleimani Resistance Like It Did Arab Spring

The outpouring of emotions and people onto the streets of the Muslim world and beyond after the American assassination of Irani General Qassim Suleimani and comrades was so serendipitous that Iran's Supreme Leader Sayyid Ali Khamanei called it a "day of God" in his historic sermon during Friday prayers January 17 in Tehran.

"The day of God means seeing the hand of God in the events - the day when tens of millions in Iran and hundreds of thousands in Iraq and some other countries came to the streets to honor the blood of the commander of the Quds Force," Khamanei said.

Resistance and revolution are definitely in the air, not only in Iran and Iraq but everywhere the heart beats for peace and justice. The last time Muslims rallied in similar numbers was during the 2011 Arab Spring, which was ignited by the self-immolation of an impoverished Tunisian street vendor. People hit the streets to bring down U.S.-backed dictators and the havoc their decades-long imperial rule had wrought in the Middle East. Within months, U.S. puppets in Egypt, Tunisia, and Lebanon were booted and regimes in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Yemen, and Jordan were under pressure.

But Empire struck back fast and furious then, and it's doing the same now, vehement in its desire to maintain hegemony over the Muslim world. It's important we study the tactics used to subvert the Arab Spring so we avoid falling in similar traps today, some of which are already underfoot.

US and its allies "employed a number of simultaneous tactics to sabotage the Arab Spring," according to a 2012 opinion piece in the Muslim Village. "These included: (1) instigating fake instances of the Arab Spring in countries that were/are headed by insubordinate regimes (2) co-opting revolutionary movements (3) crushing pro-democracy movements against “friendly” regimes; and (4) using the age-old divide and rule trick by playing the sectarian trump card of Sunnis vs. Shi’ites, or Iranians vs. Arabs."

Syria

American think tanks like the Brookings Institution is already predicting (hoping?) the assassinations will be "plunging the region into a chaotic abyss."

There are signs, however, that this time things will be different. Here are three:

1. There is a single apparent leader this time, Imam Khamanei, who has 30+ years experience leading the fight against imperialism.

2. The goal of the movement is concrete and clear: remove U.S. military presence from the region.

3. Martyr Suleimani fought down imperialism wherever it was needed, from Yemen to Palestine to Turkey, regardless of the people's race or religion, and is a unifying figure among Sunnis, Shias, and Christians as well as Arabs and non-Arabs.

In fact, even U.S. President Donald Trump, who ordered the hit, can fall in line with Suleimani on this one.

Trump just a few months ago: "Time to bring 'em home!"

Ditch Muslim Scholars Mute on Iran War

You'd think it was U.S. scholars and not U.S. soldiers who hit the bunkers last week when missiles went flying after U.S. President Donald Trump's de facto declaration of war on Iran.

Usually tripping over each other to be the first to condemn/support the social issue du jour, influential American Muslim scholars' voices were nowhere to be heard in the aftermath of Trump's drone assassination of top Irani and Iraqi military brass on January 3.

That's even though the martyrdoms of Irani General Qassim Suleimani and Iraqi Commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis shook the Muslim world to the core, bringing millions to the streets to mourn and seek vengeance for heroes who protected the shrines of holy personalities from ISIS and buried the terror group in Iraq and Syria. Iran swiftly retaliated by destroying U.S. military base Al-Asad in Iraq--the first time a country has attacked America since WW2--and vowing to kick out all U.S. military presence in the region.

After bombing to bits Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Somalia in front of our very eyes, America now declared war on Iran and threatened to attack 52 of its cultural and religious sites, which could include the shrines of family and companions of Prophet Muhammad (S), and not even a tweet out of our so-called Muslim "leaders"?

Where were Yasir Qadhi, Omar Suleiman, Hamza Yusuf, Imam Zaid Shakir and all the other scholars who otherwise love pontificating on "social justice" and "standing up for justice" in Islam.

Upon hearing about the assassinations--considered an act of war by international standards--these scholars should have immediately organized, strategized, and mobilized to educate and guide Muslims, the American public, and the U.S. government on understanding the geopolitical situation, avoiding further conflict, bringing home our troops, and working towards peace and justice for all.

But, as usual, our most influential leaders are silent when it comes to PREVENTING death and destruction. It's later that they like to show up to guilt-trip us into donating to their favorite charities and love getting their pictures taken flying around delivering water bottles and blankets to desperate war refugees.

Here's Shaikh Omar Suleiman in a 2019 video appeal for donations to Yemen: "I want to focus on the name of an organization Human Concern. If the Prophet (S) was alive and he saw the image of the young Yemeni child whose rib cages were so pronounced and then dying because they don't have proper food and drink, what do you think the Prophet (S) would do?"

Please tell us, Sheikh, what Prophet Muhammad (S) would do. Would he be running around trying to save babies drowning in the river or would he have been upstream stopping those throwing babies in the river in the first place?

From his Facebook status updates (which did not mention the Iran flare-up at all), we know Shaikh Yasir Qadhi was in Turkey passing out winter packs to refugees from the previous war while we were on the brink of World War III.

"If only I could explain how sad their stories are and how pathetic the situation is," Qadhi wrote. "On average, they [Syrian refugees]  have been living in shanty tents for around five years, with no idea of what awaits them next. They rely almost totally on aid to survive."

Qadhi added: "We desperately need more funds to deliver more packs."

A breath of fresh air, Imam Muhammad Al-Asi of the Islamic Center in Washington D.C. is one of the few Muslim leaders in America who discussed the assassinations during his January 3 Friday khutbah. He lamented that not enough people speak up on issues afflicting the Muslim world.

"There are no Abu Dharr's [an outspoken companion of Prophet Muhammad (S)] in today's world," Al-Asi said.

The first step to fixing our problems is booting spineless, gutless "scholars" from leadership positions, according to Al-Asi.

Al-Asi: "You go to their [scholars who are silent] functions. You attend their programs. You are part of the crime. It's not easy to say this. It's the fact and it is the reality. Some humans can speak truth to injustice and others remain silent. If this continues like this there will be other martyrs. If you continue to be silent or passive to all of this, you will be on the wrong side of this issue. I don't care how you perform your prayers or which masjid you go to. The marytrdom that has taken place is a testimony to all of you who have been absent in reality.

Do we want to kill ourselves with our silence in addition to their bullets and bombs?"