Attack against pilgrims calls for renewed intrafaith cooperation
By Dawud Walid
(As published in Arab American News)
Thursday, 10.24.2013, 09:12pm
News that Michigan Muslims were attacked at Hajj recently, due to
sectarianism, increases the need for American Muslim leaders and
activists to cultivate a spirit of constructive engagement among the
followers of Islam, especially in America.
I personally know some of the Shia Muslims who were reportedly
beaten, choked, threatened with rape, and called “kafirs” (disbelievers)
in Mina. I have no reason to doubt that this incident happened, as I
have witnessed sectarian harassment up close, while visiting Saudi
Arabia and other places. Moreover, in the past decade, we have seen
certain regions ravaged by sectarian violence, including numerous
bombings at houses of worship during Friday prayer sermons
It is a mistake to act as if sectarianism does not exist among
Muslims; as if ignoring the problem will make it go away. Moreover, it
is irresponsible to say that the mere mention of it is somehow promoting
it. It must be approached, head on, with spirituality as the guide, as
well as wisdom.
In February 2006, after the bombing of Al-Askari Mosque in Samarra,
Iraq, the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations
(CAIR-MI) saw an opportunity to bring the Metro Detroit Muslim
community together by, not only asking its religious leaders to denounce
sectarianism, but by also creating a platform that could bring them
together. This area of cooperation was needed, in order to robustly
challenge Islamophobia, which is a common enemy to all Muslims and to
the integrity of America as a whole. I was part of the effort, which
organized imams for bi-weekly meetings over a span of months and
produced scholastically correct replies to common attacks used by
anti-Muslim bigots against the Qur’an, Prophet Muhammad (prayers and
peace be upon him and his family) and the Prophet’s wives. These
answers can be found online, under “Imams Defend Prophet (S).”
These meetings birthed the practice of Detroit area imams attending
and speaking at events, hosted at Islamic centers of different schools
of thought, as well as the Council of Islamic Organizations of Michigan
Imams Committee monthly meetings, which are now under the banner of the
Michigan Muslim Community Council (MMCC).
In 2007, Michigan imams showed leadership, by signing the Muslim
Code of Honor, which affirms that Muslims should respect differences of
opinion within Islamic theology and jurisprudence and not to pronounce
“takfir” over other Muslims, calling them nonbelievers. In September of
this year, a number of national Islamic organizations, including the
Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and CAIR, signed onto a similar
code that rejects sectarianism among Muslims.
We ought to demand that Islamic scholars overseas and governments
abroad vigorously denounce violent sectarianism and grant all people of
faith equal protection under the law.
However, our primary concern should be on working towards better
cooperation among Muslims of all schools of thought in America. We face
challenges that range from Islamophobia to the crisis of drug and
alcohol use among our youth, which Muslims have a vested interest in
addressing with our intellectual and financial resources. We simply
cannot allow voices of intolerance to concretize the community discourse
to the point that we divide ourselves to the detriment of our
collective interests in America.
As pilgrims return home, it is my hope that our community renews
its commitment to a key principle of Hajj, which is the unity of the
collective interests and welfare of all people under their Creator. We
will never eradicate sectarianism, but we can work, in our own way, to
marginalize those who seek to promote intolerance and hatred and who
falsely fly the banner of Islam.
