Where are the peaceful Muslim leaders? Fox News knows.
by: Craig Wiesner on September 14th, 2009 | 11 Comments »
In the years since September 11th, I’ve often heard radio-talk-show hosts / callers, chatterers at family gatherings, and TV pundits asking “Where are the peaceful Muslim leaders?” as though there were none out there condemning violence and encouraging friendship and peace. Whenever I have a chance to directly answer that question I’m very happy to have some solid examples of incredible Muslim leaders who have spoken out and continue to work for peacemaking and friendship. On September 11th, one of my closest friends and colleagues helped organize a gathering outside the White House, lighting the night for peace and friendship.
This event, like many such gatherings which have been put together over the years, didn’t get the same kind of coverage as violence or loud protests typically do. Amazingly, though, FOX News’ Washington D.C. affiliate covered the event.
My friend Samina Sundas is one of the founders of American Muslim Voice (AMV), an organization formed after September 11th, which works to foster friendship and understanding while pursuing social justice for all. The organization operates on a shoestring budget and boundless energy and passion. It would not be an exaggeration to claim that AMV has brought tens of thousands of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Unitarian Universalists, humanists, and elected leaders (of all faiths and no faiths) together in the cause of friendship, peace, and social justice.
AMV's Annual Open House
She has some pretty simple steps for building bridges between people. Find a place, invite a bunch of people, serve them some good food, and get them talking to each other. Soon, they are no longer strangers who have something to fear from each other, they are friends who have something at stake together – peace. The other simple steps she follows to overcome injustice are: see injustice, have faith that something can be done, and then call all those friends together to stand up against it!
When the immigration department ordered Muslim men to register themselves back in 2002, and instead of this being a simple process ended up being a nightmare of disappeared teen boys and fathers, AMV’s friends came to the rescue making phone calls, holding press conferences, and demanding their release. It worked. An embarrassed government quickly released most of the disappeared men and teens.
But AMV is NOT just about justice for Muslims. When ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) swept up a Palo Alto father in front of his home on his way to work, and ordered both parents deported, potentially leaving their American-citizen children to the foster system, AMV led the effort to help that family.
When the third Palo Alto student in as many months committed suicide on Caltrain’s railroad tracks, Samina Sundas was there, offering support to the entire community and pledging that her organization would do anything it could to help children and families in the Bay Area who might be struggling with the stresses of living in today’s hyper-connected yet disconnected world.
Samina Sundas and AMV are not alone in working for peacemaking, friendship and social justice. Another friend, Iftekhar Hai, heads up the United Muslim American Interfaith Alliance, which like AMV, has created bridges between tens of thousands of people. Iftekhar was with me on the June 2002 delegation to Afghanistan. He would drag me around by the arm and introduce me to Afghans by saying “Look here! This is my friend Craig. He’s a Jew!” The first few times he did this, I cringed, waiting for something bad to happen. But each time the reaction was the same, the person to whom I was being introduced would touch a hand to his or her heart and welcome me as “a person of the book.”
The hospitality we received everywhere we went in that war-torn and rubble-strewn country was incredible, especially given the fact that our country had just killed and maimed so many thousands of Afghans in our campaign to capture Osama Bin Laden and drive the Taliban out of power.
Fox News was with us, at times, during our interfaith peace delegation in Afghanistan back in June 2002. But, not a minute of footage ever made it onto American TV. Japanese and European networks covered our delegation extensively. Back then, as far as U.S. media was concerned, a bunch of Jews, Christians, and Muslims working together, praying together, mourning together, and creating bridges of friendship wasn’t the kind of news they wanted to air. I’m glad to see that at least Fox News’ Washington D.C. station is more open to sharing the good news of peaceful Muslim leadership on this September 11th anniversary.
Coverage of these types of events on a local and national scale is pretty scant. For example, mosques across the country open their doors to new friends from all faiths during Ramadan, inviting people to learn about Islam, meet local Islamic leaders, and participate in breaking the fast, sharing a meal together. How much coverage do those dinners get each year? Not much. That’s where we come in.
Now that you’ve read a bit about some of the great work being done by Islamic leaders, organizations, and individuals, perhaps you too can be quick to answer the family gathering chatterer, talk-show caller, or TV pundit, who asks “Where are the peaceful Muslim leaders?” Robert McAfee Brown, a dear friend who died shortly before September 11th, loved to use the quote “There comes a time when silence is betrayal.” Perhaps from now on you can answer someone who asks about peaceful Muslim leaders quickly by saying there are LOTS of them and here is a link to a story about just a few of them that my friend Craig (a Jew) wrote about at Tikkun Daily.
And…. if you know a Muslim person who has particularly touched your life, who is working for peace and fostering friendships, why not post a comment right here on this blog so that we can all get to know him or her.
Brilliant–and thank you for your unbiased sharing and respect for the media outlet that has actually carried the news of these activities amongst all the others who are first in entertainment…strangely, given their rightist bent, but truly a brave and wonderful thing to do FOX network
which BTW i have eben reading some terrifically balanced articles from ob all sides of the spectrum…can it be…NEWS and INFO gathering with integrity rearing its beaten down head?
This is coming from a muslim, but i will say that in all my decades of being muslim, the majority of folks whom i have known as muslims were VERY DEEPLY LOVING peace-building people. the outstanding muslim friend of my life is Michael X. Hinton from the North East Bronx (Edenwald-Gunhill area projects) who has worked tirelessly since he was a bairn it seems to promote understanding, respect, and harmony among groups and individuals within the projects and across the City of New York.
Michael X. coulda been anotha gangsta, but when his best friend and aspiring rapper of love rather than gold glam girls and guns was murdered, this young survivor read his first book as he searched for the reasons why life is held so cheap and childen devalued so steeply in the poor neighborhoods of one of the richest cities on earth. That book was The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
After that first book, in Mike’s back pocket or carrying satchel, there was always another in progress. Michael himself is a talented writer. But moreover he is an adept at living a good and decent, generous spirited, phenomenally hard-working and human harvest of peace – productive Life.
Salaamu aleikum–my beloved brother and friend
well i do not want to monopolize this, but i would like to share my warm acquaintance from Windsor Mountain School –RIP –Celeste Sullivan a muslim and a jew: a remarkable peace purveyor as her recent
obit
testifies
http://heartofskycafe.blogspot.com/2009/08/in-memory-of-celeste-sullivan-1955-2009.html
All good, but such statements as “99.9% of Muslims world-wide are peace-loving” is contradicted by the surveys which show 10-50% of Muslims world-wide approving of terror tactics and suicide bombing. And as the % of the population rises, these attitudes and demands for imposition of Sharia Law, e.g., become more strident and violent.
Pretending that Muslims are not responsible for most of the riots and violence in the world is not a solution.
Brian,
I’ll stick by my assertion that 99.9% of people in this world want peace. But, when you live in fear and with oppression, and someone asks you what you’d be willing to do to those whom you perceive cause that fear and who oppress you…… Many will answer violently.
Let’s start with fear. Many Americans were afraid that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, fears egged on by a lying White House and its machine, and the trauma of September 11th which the neocons used to terrify us further. Given that fear, according to Wikipedia posts about polling prior to the war, 55% of Americans supported invading Iraq, which we knew by then would involve a “shock and awe” campaign of massive bombings. We knew that tens of thousands of Iraqis would be killed and perhaps 100,000 maimed. What does that say about us? We support killing massive numbers of people with bombs from the sky, many of whom are completely innocent, we support missiles being fired from unmanned drones, mortars, and other forms of ground assaults. Many Americans support torture and assassination.
We kill because we are afraid that if we don’t, others will hurt us. And others have hurt us – with September 11th being one of the most heinous of attacks on our soil.
Let’s look at oppression. Many people on this planet live under horrible oppression. There are walls/fences around them. They are deprived food, decent shelter, housing, meaningful work, safety, health care, and when they look at the future they see nothing changing for them or their children.
Oppressed people may support whatever tactics / weapons are available to them because they too are afraid and they do live every day under oppression. Just as President Bush and his minions scared Americans into supporting their mayhem against Iraq, there are other “leaders” across the world who use other people’s fear and oppression to convince them to support, and carry out, acts of mayhem against those who are labeled as their enemies. One of the most popular tricks is for the actual oppressor to blame someone else for the oppression, thus taking the heat off of themselves.
By the way, if you haven’t noticed it, in addition to the fear that folks like Vice President Cheney and his ilk used to ramp up the war machine, others like Rush Limbaugh like to convince folks that they are actually the ones being oppressed. Despite millions of listeners, Rush will often lament how terrible it is that the conservative message is being silenced by the “tyranny of the left.”
So, the machine that gets Americans fired up for war is no different than the machine that fires up other people to strap on suicide vests and blow up pizza places. Scare people enough, and if they aren’t really oppressed, convince them that they are oppressed, and they’ll support whatever violence you decide to dish out (especially when the violence is carried out by others and you actually have no skin in the game).
Still – with all that – if people actually had faith that MOST people really do want peace, most people really don’t want to hurt anyone else, that there is actually more than enough food, shelter, water, access to health care, and that a better world truly is possible (read Michael Lerner’s Global Marshall Plan), then we could all have peace.
We ALL have to stop believing those who tell us we have to kill or terrorize to overcome our fear and oppression. We have to work to stand up against oppression where we see it, but to do so through nonviolence.
Perhaps Craig Wiesner would like to explain the meaning of the phrases “Dar al-Islam” and “Dar al-Harb”?
Perhaps Aminah Carrol could also explain why Muslim-ruled areas of the world are called “Dar al-Islam” – places which have submitted to Muslim rule. And the rest of the world is called “Dar al-Harb” – lands of war, against which jihad is to be waged until all the world become “Dar al-Islam”?
Dear Jack,
I was a Korean linguist in the Air Force, not an Arabic linguist, so I had to go to the web to look up the phrases you mentioned.
The first definition of Dar al-Islam that I found was “areas where Muslims are the majority” and the first definition of Dar al-Harb that I found was “areas where Muslims are in the minority and are persecuted.”
I learned as a linguist that translating certain words or phrases can be tricky if you don’t really understand people and their culture. During the last eight years, I’ve gotten to know many Muslims from different parts of the world. My most intense experience was in Afghanistan in June of 2002. As a Jew, I was nervous about being in a Muslim country, especially one that had suffered such trauma in the months leading up to my time there. The first time my new friend Iftekhar Hai introduced me to a group of Afghans by saying “Here is my friend Craig, he is Jewish” I was pretty nervous. The reaction then, and every single time I was introduced everywhere we went, the response from the Afghans to whom we were being introduced was the same. Hand touching heart and the words “a person of the book.”
Everywhere we went, we were welcomed with open arms. What little food people had, they shared. What little comfort they could offer in the rubble, they gave to us as their guests.
Once, an Afghan who happened to speak English really well, took me aside and asked if I would chat with him about Israel and the Palestinians. We had a very engaging talk – disagreeing somewhat, but it was a great conversation.
One day while we were leaving a village that had been particularly destroyed by U.S. bombs, our interpreter was sitting near me in the car and he was unusually quiet. I asked him what he was thinking about. He was furious over the destruction but not at me, or Americans, or Jews….. He had been living in Afghanistan when the Taliban came into power and he eventually escaped to Pakistan. In Pakistan he studied Arabic and English and for the first time in his life he was truly able to read and understand the Koran. What he’d been taught in Afghanistan, he told me, was a pack of lies. He and others like him had been misled, had been told that the Koran said things which it did not say, and it was the lies, the evil in some men’s hearts, that eventually led to so much destruction, death and despair. That’s why one of his most important goals was to make sure Afghan children, boys and girls, got a decent education… learned how to read several languages, so that no one could lie to them about what a particular word or phrase meant.
Yes, Jack, there are hateful people who will use religion, language, fear, and violence to get what they want. Yes, there are things said in the Koran, the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible), the New Testament, and other sacred texts that can be interpreted to mean we should hurt and kill in the name of our creator. Onward Christian Soldiers…. marching off to war…. Manifest destiny….. white man’s burden…… Yes, there are those who believe that their religion is the one that should dominate the planet, and they will kill if that’s what it takes to spread their religion.
The real question isn’t what do certain words mean. The question, for me, is what do I believe the creator intended. The answer, for me, comes from the fact that virtually every known religion has within its sacred texts some very common themes and messages. The most common being what we call the “golden rule.” Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. As a linguist, the small nuance I add to that is that before you can do unto others you have to get to know them. What I want and what they want may not be exactly the same. What I’ve done with my life, especially in the last dozen or so years, is to go out and meet the people in places like Afghanistan and El Salvador, and learn about them, live with them, eat with them, pray with them, laugh with them, and cry with them. And I stick to my belief based on that real experience that 99.9% of people want to live in peace, paz, salaam, shalom.
Peace be with you brother Jack.
Saalam Aleikem
Ahn Yong Hee Kay Ship Shi O
This article – and Tikkun in general – reminds me that there were undoubtedly Jews in 1930 worrying about their responsibility to understand the Germans.
I have been fortunate this year to volunteer to help the disabled in Kashmir, at the Hope Disability Centre, http://www.hopecentre.webs.com. I learned firsthand about peace-loving Muslims. I didn’t know what to expect when I went there, but I felt I would be safe, even though Kashmir is rated “Extremely Dangerous” as a travel destination. I was more than safe. I was welcomed with open hearts everywhere I went. If I went for a walk, I would end up disappointing many families who so wanted me to join them for tea. Or a meal. Or to attend a local wedding.
Kashmiris who spoke English would ask me: What do you think about Kashmir? I would always answer: I love the beauty of Kashmir, but I love the beautiful hearts of the people even more. And it was true. I found the Kashmiri Muslims to be compassionate to others – to the many disabled in their communities, compassionate even to disabled animals. On the drive from the Srinagar airport on my arrival, we had to slow down while we waited for an untended horse to cross the road in front of us. A three-legged horse!!! And seemingly well cared for. When I asked about it, I was told that the horse had probably been hit by a truck, and its owner continued to care for it, and very probably took it to the vet when needed. I saw many physically and mentally disabled children being cared for by their families with help from other community members. It would appear that disabled babies are not left to die in Kashmir. They are loved. And included in society. One of the bakers where I bought my daily tsot bread was blind. The shop owner around the corner from the baker was stone deaf. The tailor that made my salwar kameez was crippled by polio. A local shepherd got around on one leg and a stick. In my 10 weeks living and working with the Muslims of Kashmir, only one person wanted to start an argument about which religion was best. My standard answer: I love them all.
In my experience, I have found the Muslims of Kashmir to be peaceful, peace-loving, tolerant and compassionate, open and welcoming to strangers. The Muslim leaders of the Kashmiris do not call for violence. They call for nonviolent protest. I am always surprised that after 20 years of repression and disappearances, rapes and violent deaths of unarmed protesters, the Kashmiris can remain open-hearted and welcoming to strangers. Kashmir is the most militarized place on earth, with no good reason for it.
I will be returning to Kashmir soon to continue my work for the disabled there. And to look for solutions to rickets. And to do what I can to help the Kashmiris in their work for peace and the removal of the Indian military.
Every problem would lend itself to solution if we determined to make the law of truth and nonviolence the law of life. Gandhi i
It is amazing what we can learn about people when we step outside of our own daily reality and step into, with one toe or two full feet, another. Thank you for sharing your experience, especially today on Gandhi’s birthday.