How Should US Muslims Respond to the Ft. Hood and Major Hasan Media Blitz?

Assalaamu Alaikum (Greetings of Peace):

Dr. Kaukab Siddique and I have had some major disagreements over the past few years, and I have no reason to believe that this trend will not continue in the days ahead (unfortunately). But with that said, in a recent posting on the Fort Hood incident, KS raised a number of very important points worth repeating. In an article titled "How Should US Muslims Respond to the Ft. Hood and Major Hasan Media Blitz?," he noted the following (from the latest edition of the online New Trend Magazine):

1. Collective guilt is not acceptable under any law, be it Islamic Law or US law.
2. If you were not involved with Major Hasan, you don't have to be apologetic
just because you are a Muslim.
3. Did you persuade Major Hasan to attack US troops? Of course not. So, why are
you apologizing?
4. Has any impartial inquiry been carried out into the Ft. Hood attack? No! So
any positions based on the media reports are without foundation. If you live
in America, you should know that the media have many objectives, but the
search for truth is not one of them.
5. Were US Muslims asked for their advice when Bush clamped sanctions on Sudan
[which were continued by Obama]? Of course not.
6. Were US Muslims asked for advice on Somalia before the US decided to oppose
Islamic groups trying to implement Islam in Somalia? Of course not! As a
result, Somalia has the largest refugee population in Africa now but the US
media ignore it.
7. Did Bush ask US Muslims' for support before he invaded Iraq? You gotta be
kidding! No!
8. Did. Bush ask US Muslims whether he should smash Fallujah during the holy
nights of Laylatul Qadr? No
9. What about Afghanistan? The US has to destroy a whole country to "get" a few
hundred Al-Qaidah people? Any Islamic advice taken from US Muslims? Not a word!
10. Obama started bombing Pakistan without the slightest attempt to ask Pakistani-
Americans .
11. We all remember 9.11 but we forget that a MILLION Iraqis died slow deaths
under the Clinton regime's sanctions before 9.11. Can we even discuss 9.11
openly without risk to our jobs and lives?
12. Did US Muslims agree to the creation of Israel in occupied Palestine? Do we
support the terrorism Israel carries out every day? Did "our"
government express the slightest words of regret over the genocide in Gaza,
including hundreds of children killed by the Israeli air force?


I left out point # 13 because it went a little over the top (in my humble opinion) in the criticism leveled against a number of Muslim organizations by name; and while they do indeed warrant criticism, I subsrcibe to the view that we shouldn't throw the baby out with the dirty bath water - "argue in ways that are best" whenever possible (even when criticizing).

Excessive criticism aside, I want to thank KS for his hard-hitting commentary; it's an analysis that should give us all a little pause. There is one correction I would like to make, however. In the matter of Sudan, Muslims in America (which included organizations he criticized) were consulted for their support of what turned out to be a Zionist-Neocon-Fundamentalist agenda; and, unfortunately, a number of prominent "leaders" and organizations blindly signed on (while others remained painfully silent on the issue)!


El-Hajj Mauri' Saalakhan