Terrorism in Pakistan plays out like clips from Hollywood. Ten men armed with backpacks and shopping bags full of sophisticated arms storm the cargo terminal of Karachi airport and hold the Airport Security Force, the army, police, Rangers and even the Special Services Group at bay for five and half hours.
Television media provides live coverage, with one of the reporters hitting the ground and breathing heavily into the mike while the camera zeroes in on one of the terrorists standing in plain sight on a roof top. It finally dawns on someone that they might be compromising the fight against the terrorists as well as the lives of the journalists so the coverage becomes a great deal distant.
We are always wiser afterwards. Now we’re crowing on how the army and other security forces were able to defeat ten terrorists. There was positivity and back-slapping all the way and questions of security lapses and intelligence failures were all shooed away.
And though I was very concerned about how the media was compromising the security forces’ efforts, the five and half hours of being glued to the television were very enlightening. The news then came out uncensored; the interviews were unvarnished. One said that there was no security forces response for the longest time after the attack. Another said that efforts were aimed at getting the terrorists alive and one had been so captured. Next thing, all ten terrorists were dead.
The cargo terminal entrance where the terrorists barged in at 11:25 pm is guarded by sleepy ASF workers who were about to go through shift change. That entrance is reserved for VVIP officials who receive smart salutes from the ASF and reward them with baksheesh. Gunning down the ASF was seamless for the terrorists who then ran a kilometer toward the Jinnah terminal in an effort to enter and hijack a plane. Thankfully the sprint was two kilometers and they met resistance half way.
It was nerve wrecking to hear that they had bunkered up on the runway and first off seven security personnel were killed and slowly, very slowly there was one and then two and finally all ten terrorists were killed. The death toll of the security forces keeps rising and is 17 at the time of this writing. And of greater concern, there are now three terrorists that have re-engaged the security forces.
Regardless of the Pakistanism “sab theek ho jayega” (everything will be alright) or the political chest-thumping that “we will never let this happen again” it is vital for the Pakistani nation to demand answers and insist on solutions.
Chief Minister Sind Syed Qaim Ali Shah pathetically stated that there were intelligence reports that important people or places were under threat, but that Karachi is such a large place, it is very difficult to know. I can essentially guarantee that the internal response to this intelligence was to beef up security for all the important people. I was mortified to know that he had arrived at the scene while the “ghamsan ki jang” (furious fight) was going on between the security forces and the terrorists, for his own security detail probably takes up a lot of manpower and space. He had to have been a hindrance.
The terrorists had come for the long haul; dates and dried food and water reminiscent of the Mehran naval base attack in 2011. Perhaps we did learn from the Mehran naval base attack for that took 17 hours to control and this took only five and a half.
The terrorist attack on Shia pilgrims returning from Iran on the same day got dwarfed in the news by the airport attack.
But like Bob Dylan asked “how many deaths does it take till we know that too many people have died”. Innumerable minorities, numerous religious devotees, several armed forces personnel, countless innocent people have died and audacious attacks on the Marriott hotel, the Mehran naval base and now the Karachi airport among others have occurred. But we are not up to self-examination: the media repeated ad infinitum that the attackers looked Uzbek. In the melee the media was told that the weapons were manufactured in India, and slowly but surely, it is being molded into a hunood-yahood-nasara (Hindu-Israeli-Christian) conspiracy.
Immediately after the 2005 London train bombings one of the friends of the terrorists said that killing Al-Qaeda operatives didn’t make a difference because, pointing to his head, he said “Al-Qaeda is inside”. Pakistan’s population has been similarly radicalized and like infection circulating through the bloodstream of a seriously sick patient, streaks of the population has bought into the Taliban ideology. And these streaks infiltrate the army, the government, the judiciary, educational institutions, mosques, the business community, onward to an infinite list.
We don’t dare question Nawaz Sharif’s commitment toward erasing terrorism. Why are we speechlessly tolerating absurdities in an interview he gave to the BBC a week ago that he was hoping for a peace deal with the Taliban? Why didn’t we see through Saudi Arabia pressuring us to send our military to combat Hafez Al-Assad in Syria? Why do we forget that Nawaz Sharif is beholden forever and ever to the Saudis for providing him amnesty after his Musharraf adventurism? We lend a blind eye to Saudi Arabia’s export of its violent and extremist Wahabi ideology.
The prognosis for Pakistan’s survival is grim as it is, it will become essentially zero if an immediate, concerted and mighty attack is not mounted on each and every militant holdout. And Taliban-like extremism in the population must be outed and punished publicly, swiftly and effectively.
Nawaz Sharif’s and previous governments have been wholly absorbed in shoring up money and power. It’s clear that Nawaz Sharif and company shed crocodile tears on the endless loss of life and economic damage in Pakistan. It might be instructive for Nawaz to remember that while the Taliban continue their volley of attacks in every province of Pakistan, pretty soon all that Nawaz Sharif will be ruling will be his bullet-proof Mercedes.
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Speech at re-opening of Islamic Center of Greater Toledo
Dr. Mahjabeen Islam was president of the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo in 2012
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Assalamoalaikum and may peace be upon all of you!
Some events remain forever etched in our minds. You remember exactly where you were and what you were doing when they happened. Like 9/11.
And so it was for me for Sunday September 30th 2012.
I was doing rounds at Toledo Hospital and as is my custom, I had left my purse in the nurses’ station. When I came back from the patient’s room there was a flood of messages on my phone. The first I checked was from Imam Farooq: there had been a fire at the Center, the voice mail said. I raced down I-75 convinced that it was a false alarm or else a short circuit. From a distance I could see the ladder of the fire truck touching the minarets and a plume of smoke exuding from the side of the dome.
About 4 hours later Fire Marshall Frank Reitmeir told me it was no accident but arson instead. I remember driving home that night; numb, dazed, robotic.
The next day the Fire Marshall and Police Chief had us walk through the Islamic Center. I remember Jim Adray and me walking-rather wading-in a pitch dark Center. Surreal doesn’t describe it. The police’s flashlights darted across the soot-stained walls, the wet floors and the ceilings that seemed to have vomited bunches of wires. The large oval stain and burned carpet in the middle of the men’s prayer area became a sort of insignia of the arson.
Till today I have trouble accepting that in one fire Randy Linn had brought down the entire Islamic Center. Every room was damaged from the water of the sprinkler system.
I remember telling the Fire Marshall that I was a fan of the show 48 Hours and that we needed to find the arsonist in that time frame. Frank tried to hide his disdain for my 48 Hours mind-set. On Tuesday 20 minutes before it would have been 48 hours I called Frank and he said “funny, I was just getting ready to call you, we got him”. “48 hours, Frank” I said with much glee.
The Islamic Center had received threats a couple months before the arson and even though more than a year has elapsed since the arson, I still have trouble believing it sometimes.
Institution building and the placement of processes are very important to an organization. A few years ago we were able to develop a dynamic blast-mail system and it proved indispensable in our hour of grief. We used it to galvanize our community and many people still recall how much they appreciated being kept up to date with all that was going on.
BYOPR was a reverberant theme in those emails. Bring your own prayer rug. Cos we were uncertain if our makeshift arrangements would be adequate for prayer.
By far the most touching moment in those weeks was the united Friday prayer on the Friday after the arson. We had a large tent outside and all the mosques of Toledo cancelled their Friday services and their congregations came to the Islamic Center. A physician who is a member of another mosque was to take a flight that day but rescheduled it just so he could be at the united Friday prayer.
My voice broke as I condoled with the community and several men told me later on that my words had made them cry. We had an amazing sense of unity.
Our unity then was much like a Hadith (saying of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him) “The similitude of believers in regard to mutual love, affection and fraternity is that of a body; when any limb of it aches, the whole body aches because of sleeplessness”
We had forgotten our differences and contrary opinions. A sense of shock and grief pervaded all the Muslims of Toledo.
The Multi-Faith prayer the following Sunday was much like the united Friday prayer-this time all faiths came together to help heal our hearts and minds.
I am a firm believer in the concept of God’s maslihah which translates into God’s reason, wisdom and will in everything that happens. In my limited comprehension, I felt that the arson was a call to unity and a demand for justice.
And though that day was able to galvanize the Muslims of Toledo, our continued unity remains a challenge.
Another very difficult point in this nightmare was to hear Randy Linn’s raw hatred toward Muslims when he spoke in court. He claimed it was Fox News that made him just jump up and do it.
I am grateful that Randy Linn was prosecuted at a federal level and I thank the first responders, the Fire Marshall’s office and the police department. My deepest appreciation goes to US Attorneys Steve Dettelbach, Ava Dustin and especially Bridgett Brennan for prosecuting this crime so well and achieving an exemplary sentence for Linn.
The true heroes in this are Randy Linn’s ex-wife, Karen and his co-worker Rikki Slattery. If they had not identified him, Linn could not have been prosecuted. If there were more courageous and principled people like them, the world would be a different place.
Our justice system did superbly with Randy Linn’s sentence, but every day one hears of more Trayvon Martins and Renisha McBrides who are denied justice because they are the wrong skin color.
There are way too many Muslim men that are denied employment or harassed at work because they have a beard. Too many women have to appeal to the courts to be able to wear hijab at their workplace. And Muslims do feel that they live under a state of siege.
As a nation we must move toward embracing the spirit of our constitution where we don’t discriminate on the basis of color, religion and ethnicity.
While we appreciate justice in the arson of the Islamic Center, all of us must first erase our own prejudices and then work toward the equal application of justice.
The great poet-philosopher of Pakistan, Allama Iqbal reflected on the premise of equality in the Quran when he wrote aik hi saf mein kharey ho gaye Mahmood o Ayaz, na koi band raha, na koi banda nawaz: that in the same line of prayer stood the king and the slave, there remained no distinction in status.
By Islam and the constitution of the US all men are created equal. I look forward to a day when our nation will make this a practical reality.
May God’s mercy and choicest blessings be upon all of you!
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Controlling Ohio’s opiate epidemic requires a different treatment approach
http://www.toledoblade.com/OpEd/2013/12/08/Controlling-Ohio-s-opiate-epidemic-requires-a-different-treatment-approach.html
Action teams are combating the opiate epidemic, but they are missing the vital piece of promoting medication-assisted treatment
Four Ohioans die every day of opiate overdoses. Yet as daunting as the statistics are, the reality of treating the ravages of our opiate epidemic is even worse. Medication-assisted treatment has become essential.
In 2011, one in 20 Americans used prescription painkillers for nonmedicinal purposes. Hydrocodone, an opiate, is the most frequently prescribed medication in the United States. Between 2000 and 2009, the number of pregnant women who used opiates went up five times.
In the late 1990s, doctors were urged to consider pain as a vital sign. Powerful painkillers were developed and used effectively by competent physicians, but they also were diverted to “pill mills” that sprang up in Ohio and across the nation.
Some greedy or careless physicians prescribed opiates indiscriminately. Other doctors who suddenly realized the problem, or feared government regulation, summarily ended treatment with opiates. That forced many patients who had grown dependent on opiates to get their drugs on the street — or to switch to heroin.
Studies over the past decade have shown that opiate addiction is a chronic relapsing disease, like diabetes, hypertension, and asthma. Relapse rates for people who depend on opiates range from 40 percent to 60 percent — similar to the rates for these other chronic diseases.
Brain scans reveal structural and functional changes in the opiate-addicted brain. Blaming an opiate addict for relapsing is like scolding a diabetic for having high blood sugars.
Addiction crosses all boundaries of race, religion, ethnicity, education, profession, age, and wealth. I’ve seen a 65-year-old suburban professional who is addicted to oxycodone chat with a 25-year-old heroin addict, in a touching display of fraternity.
I have specialized in treating addiction for more than two decades. In that time, I often felt powerless as I recommended abstinence and counseling, only to see relapses and ruined lives.
Medication-assisted treatment changed that. Such drugs as methadone, buprenorphine, naltrexone, and Suboxone can be prescribed along with behavioral treatment, enabling patients to maintain sobriety and regain the ability to function fully.
Methadone is very effective for treating opiate dependence. But because of its potency and high risk of overdose death, it can be dispensed only in maintenance programs that require daily attendance and swallowing of liquid methadone in front of a witness.
Buprenorphine not only binds tightly to opiate receptors in the brain, it also can prevent stronger opioids, such as oxycodone and heroin, from doing so. Higher doses of the drug do not cause euphoria, lowering its potential for abuse.
In medication-assisted treatment, patients get a detailed evaluation, urine drug testing, counseling, assignment to a 12-step program, and a prescription for buprenorphine. Doctors who are not board-certified in addiction medicine can take an online course in buprenorphine and obtain a license to prescribe it.
A pregnant opiate addict should be cared for by an experienced addiction specialist. In that way, the buprenorphine dose is carefully adjusted, the pregnancy is protected, and the intensity of opiate withdrawal in the newborn baby — and the resulting hospital stay — are reduced.
Without treatment, pregnant addicts often use a potpourri of drugs. Such abuse sometimes kills their babies, or causes prolonged stays for newborns in an intensive care unit.
Toledo has its share of addiction specialists. But it also has Suboxone “cash-pay” clinics, where the only activity is the exchange of money for prescriptions. Just as painkiller pill mills created the opiate epidemic, Suboxone pill mills are implicated in overdose deaths.
Action teams convened by Gov. John Kasich and Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine are doing great work in combating the opiate epidemic. But they are missing the vital piece of promoting medication-assisted treatment.
My family-medicine patients send me thank-you cards, but my opiate-addicted patients write thank-you booklets. One such patient was homeless and hopeless.
He dutifully followed a medication-assisted treatment program for a year. He now has a job, a new car, his own apartment, health insurance, and even a 401(k) retirement plan.
Our collective contempt for the disease of opiate addiction is based on ignorance and misinformation. Criminalizing addiction is inappropriate and ineffective; you can’t punish it out of patients.
Recognizing addiction as a disease, and getting more physicians certified to practice office-based opioid treatment in tandem with counseling and 12-step meetings, can quickly control Ohio’s opiate epidemic.
Mahjabeen Islam, M.D., practices in Perrysburg and specializes in addiction and family medicine.
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
US will pay a price for its hypocrisy on Egypt: Haroon Siddiqui in Toronto Star
Superb article in The Toronto Star by Haroon Siddiqui
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2013/08/15/us_will_pay_a_price_for_its_hypocrisy_on_egypt_siddiqui.html
Opinion / Commentary
U.S. will pay a price for its hypocrisy on Egypt: Siddiqui
The U.S. and its allies have been enablers of the grave crimes committed by the Egyptian military.
By: Haroon Siddiqui Columnist, Published on Thu Aug 15 2013
There has always been a hierarchy to the value of life. Kings mattered more than peasants. Killing continental European colonialists in Africa or the British in India brought the wrath of the empire down on the natives, who were strapped to the cannons and blown to bits by the hundreds. The contemporary era, with its spread of democracy, globalization and greater egalitarianism, raised hopes that all human beings would have equal value.
But the murder of 2,977 innocents on Sept. 11, 2001, led to the killing of at least 100,000 Muslim civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq and Pakistan. An Israeli life is deemed infinitely more valuable than that of a Palestinian. Our own government in Ottawa makes no bones about caring more about Christians in Egypt and Pakistan than Muslim victims of similar religious persecution there or in Myanmar. When the West does care about Muslims, it does so for the secular “good Muslim,” not the Islamist “bad Muslim.”
When Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s thrice-elected “Islamist” prime minister, ordered tear gas and water cannons on peaceful protesters in Istanbul, he was duly reviled. But the Egyptian army that has been firing live ammunition into peaceful “Islamist” protesters and killing them by the hundreds in the last month has only been told, politely, of our “concern.”
On July 11, Ottawa raised just such a pipsqueak “concern.” Stephen Harper’s government was more emphatic as it condemned the shooting death of a Coptic Christian priest near El Arish. “The targeting of religious leaders is unacceptable.” Following the second massacre, July 27, in which about 80 protesters were gunned down, Ottawa was “deeply concerned and appalled” — and fixated on its clarion call for respecting “religious minorities,” namely Coptic Christians.
Barack Obama was also mostly silent about the two massacres. So was David Cameron. So was much of Europe. They had refused to call the July 3 military coup a coup. In fact, John Kerry passed the perverse judgment that in toppling the elected president Mohammed Morsi, the Egyptian army was “restoring democracy.” American annual aid of $1.3 billion was to continue.
It’s only now after Wednesday’s bloody massacre of pro-Morsi protesters that Obama stirred himself to shed crocodile tears. The U.S. and its allies have been enablers of the grave crimes committed by the Egyptian military as well of the Goebbelsian lies it has been peddling.
After each official atrocity, the army has under-reported the deaths and blamed the victims, accusing them of “inciting violence,” “hoarding weapons,” “torturing people in public squares,” “fomenting terrorism” and being “a threat to national security.” It has hurled a slew of charges against Morsi — murder, treason, espionage, conspiring with Hamas, attacking and insulting state institutions, etc. It has held him incommunicado, along with several top Brotherhood leaders. It has shut down a dozen pro-Morsi TV stations, with a nary a peep from free speech advocates in the West.
The U.S., the E.U and others have also been doing the Egyptian army’s bidding by calling on “all sides” to refrain from violence when, in fact, the violence has been almost always one-sided. Western governments and media have also accused Morsi of having been unduly partisan when, in fact, he was far less so than most ruling political parties in democracies. Proportionately, he appointed far fewer dummies than, say, Harper to the Senate, or the Republicans or Democrats named friends and funders to key posts.
Morsi was inept in the extreme. But he did reach out to his opponents who simply refused to accept their repeated defeats at the polls.
It has now been credibly reported that the secular anti-Morsi forces formed an unholy alliance with Egypt’s Deep State (the army, the intelligence, the security forces, the police, the interior ministry and its paid thugs, the judiciary and the bureaucracy), along with the beneficiaries of the Hosni Mubarak era (crony capitalists and corrupt politicians) to undermine the Muslim Brotherhood government. They collaborated in mounting mass protests, in a blaze of hateful anti-Brotherhood propaganda by both the state and privately-owned media, which heralded the unproven and unprovable claims that 20 million people had taken to the streets and 22 million had signed anti-Morsi petitions. Post-coup, acute shortages of gas and electricity miraculously disappeared overnight. Law-and-order situations improved in selective neighbourhoods.
Reportedly in on the plot were the intelligence agencies of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other oil-rich Gulf states except Qatar. They hate the Brotherhood, not so much for its Islamic ideology but the democratic threat it poses to their monarchies. They rewarded the coup with $12 billion in aid.
The army conveniently claimed that the coup was only a response to the people’s will. In turn, it has been forgiven all its sins — including the virginity tests on women protesters, and the shooting of Coptic demonstrators and running them over with armoured vehicles.
What we’ve witnessed is “fascism under the false pretence of democracy and liberalism,” said Amr Hamzawy, an Egyptian political activist and former MP.
All this will not be lost on the Muslim masses in Egypt and elsewhere. There will be a price to pay — we don’t quite know when and where and how. But as American pollster Dalia Mogahed, who has surveyed Muslim societies worldwide, says, it is useful to remind ourselves that “Al Qaeda was conceived in the prisons of Egypt and, contrary to conventional wisdom, not the caves of Afghanistan.”
Haroon Siddiqui’s column appears on Thursday and Sunday. hsiddiqui@thestar.ca
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
CAIR Leadership Award Acceptance Speech
Assalamoalaikum and may the best of peace be on all of you!
The highest honor in my mind is to be appreciated by one’s own people. And for this I am deeply grateful to CAIR.
The Islamic Center of Greater Toledo’s construction began in 1982-the year that I moved to the United States. Mine was the first wedding that was held at the Islamic Center. I could not have imagined then that fast-forward 30 years, not only would I become its president, it would be at a time when a hate-filled, armed and drunk Randy Linn would torch its prayer hall.
Throughout my career in medicine I have been acutely aware of the power of my signature and how it can profoundly change lives. After I was elected president of the Islamic Center the added power to affect the lives of 500 Muslim families would weigh on my mind. I remember. When requests for zakat money or financial assistance came from the community, I would beseech God to sharpen my sense of justice and objectivity.
Muslim leaders should continually remember the triumvirate of accountability: the angel on the right, the angel on the left and God above. Our responsibility and accountability is greater and the Day of Judgment should be continually in our thoughts and impact on our decision making. In my mind the definition of leadership encompasses the four Cs: consensus building, conviction, courage, and consultation. With absolute integrity connecting all of them.
The concept of shoora or consultation is an excellent one. I feel shoora begins at home, where I live with my youngest daughter and mother. I run a very democratic household and in every important issue my daughters Atiya, Sairah, Faiza, and my mother and I vote. Thanks to technology my Atiya votes from Chapel Hill NC and my Sairah from Boston MA. Everyone gets an equal vote; my youngest daughter Faiza’s vote is equal to my mother’s or mine. Instituting shoora and equal representation in families, workplaces and organizations encourages team spirit and accomplishes a whole lot more than egocentric tyrants handing down unilateral decisions made behind closed doors, as it tends to happen in our mosques and Islamic schools.
Just before Ramadan 2012 at the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, we received an eerie threat that said “stopped” in Arabic with a smiley face in grease on the same paper. It was very strange. The writing was in typed Arabic, with each letter disconnected, and rather than “stop” it said “stopped.” But it didn’t have to make sense for us to know that it was intended as a threat.
Our congregation had gotten very concerned after the Joplin City Missouri arson and suggested that we get added security at the Islamic Center. And here came consensus building: some Council members felt that security during Saturday iftar dinners and Friday prayer was not needed and just another expense.
We learned how it is important for leaders to integrate conflicting opinions and make the decision that is born of conviction and a commitment toward the community. We did have security during Ramadan and I am so grateful that we did; had Randy Linn decided to attack us during Ramadan with a full mosque, it would have been disastrous.
I just attended a conference in Toledo called “Abrahamic Visions of Peace” and they spoke of “internal pressures from the community” and I was reminded of the disagreement within our community regarding the disposition of Randy Linn’s case. To me, making it a federal rather than a county case seemed so logical and obvious; but it wasn’t so clear to others. And here courage is what was needed. Against a lot of pressure I pushed for it to be prosecuted at a federal level and it was. This was important because it wasn’t just about our case; this sets a precedent for future cases.
Only this past week Randy Linn was sentenced to 20 years for unlawfully entering a religious institution, carrying a weapon and arson. I want to acknowledge the diligence and determination of the US Attorney’s office especially the work of Bridgett Brennan and Ava Dustin. The tense hearing when Randy Linn tried to withdraw his guilty plea was handled with professionalism and the skill and convincing arguments of Bridgett Brennan.
Randy Linn was given an exemplary sentence which works to ensure that religious minorities are protected in our country. Judge Zouhary’s statement at Randy Linn’s sentencing was very instructive. He told Linn that what happened on Monday in the Boston bombings and what Linn had done were “an assault on the American psyche”. He also told Linn to study Islam while he’s in prison so that he could perhaps better understand the people that he had attacked.
I can trace the way I’ve been treated as a Pakistani Muslim immigrant for the 30 years that I’ve been in the US. When I first came here, people did not know where Pakistan was and I was treated with interest and courtesy. Post 9/11 things still weren’t too bad. But over the last 7 years or so, that courtesy and interest has changed to coldness and intimidation. There are times I feel that I have horns on my head! At others if looks could kill I’d be dead! My experience is backed up by polls that show that public opinion of American Muslims is worse today than immediately after 9/11.
People would have us believe that America belongs to the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant. The fact is that all its citizens, red, yellow, black, white and brown own America. Muslims do live in fear; we do feel that we are under siege. But cowering in the corner will not do us any good. Calling non-Muslims “Americans” and allowing us to be made into “the other” will not either.
It is for Muslim-Americans in general, and our leaders in particular, to promote the premise that sharing a religion with fanatics or crazies doesn’t make all Muslims extremists. That there’s the good, the bad and the ugly in every group, culture and religion.
We must follow the example of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) about whom the Quran says in Surah Qalam “You O Muhammad stand in an exalted standard of character”. With courage and restraint, determination and flexibility, fearlessness mixed with wisdom, let us work for a day where differences do not mean inequality and we can walk in any neighborhood with skins of many hues and covered heads and not be marginalized, harassed, intimidated, injured or killed.
The highest honor in my mind is to be appreciated by one’s own people. And for this I am deeply grateful to CAIR.
The Islamic Center of Greater Toledo’s construction began in 1982-the year that I moved to the United States. Mine was the first wedding that was held at the Islamic Center. I could not have imagined then that fast-forward 30 years, not only would I become its president, it would be at a time when a hate-filled, armed and drunk Randy Linn would torch its prayer hall.
Throughout my career in medicine I have been acutely aware of the power of my signature and how it can profoundly change lives. After I was elected president of the Islamic Center the added power to affect the lives of 500 Muslim families would weigh on my mind. I remember. When requests for zakat money or financial assistance came from the community, I would beseech God to sharpen my sense of justice and objectivity.
Muslim leaders should continually remember the triumvirate of accountability: the angel on the right, the angel on the left and God above. Our responsibility and accountability is greater and the Day of Judgment should be continually in our thoughts and impact on our decision making. In my mind the definition of leadership encompasses the four Cs: consensus building, conviction, courage, and consultation. With absolute integrity connecting all of them.
The concept of shoora or consultation is an excellent one. I feel shoora begins at home, where I live with my youngest daughter and mother. I run a very democratic household and in every important issue my daughters Atiya, Sairah, Faiza, and my mother and I vote. Thanks to technology my Atiya votes from Chapel Hill NC and my Sairah from Boston MA. Everyone gets an equal vote; my youngest daughter Faiza’s vote is equal to my mother’s or mine. Instituting shoora and equal representation in families, workplaces and organizations encourages team spirit and accomplishes a whole lot more than egocentric tyrants handing down unilateral decisions made behind closed doors, as it tends to happen in our mosques and Islamic schools.
Just before Ramadan 2012 at the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, we received an eerie threat that said “stopped” in Arabic with a smiley face in grease on the same paper. It was very strange. The writing was in typed Arabic, with each letter disconnected, and rather than “stop” it said “stopped.” But it didn’t have to make sense for us to know that it was intended as a threat.
Our congregation had gotten very concerned after the Joplin City Missouri arson and suggested that we get added security at the Islamic Center. And here came consensus building: some Council members felt that security during Saturday iftar dinners and Friday prayer was not needed and just another expense.
We learned how it is important for leaders to integrate conflicting opinions and make the decision that is born of conviction and a commitment toward the community. We did have security during Ramadan and I am so grateful that we did; had Randy Linn decided to attack us during Ramadan with a full mosque, it would have been disastrous.
I just attended a conference in Toledo called “Abrahamic Visions of Peace” and they spoke of “internal pressures from the community” and I was reminded of the disagreement within our community regarding the disposition of Randy Linn’s case. To me, making it a federal rather than a county case seemed so logical and obvious; but it wasn’t so clear to others. And here courage is what was needed. Against a lot of pressure I pushed for it to be prosecuted at a federal level and it was. This was important because it wasn’t just about our case; this sets a precedent for future cases.
Only this past week Randy Linn was sentenced to 20 years for unlawfully entering a religious institution, carrying a weapon and arson. I want to acknowledge the diligence and determination of the US Attorney’s office especially the work of Bridgett Brennan and Ava Dustin. The tense hearing when Randy Linn tried to withdraw his guilty plea was handled with professionalism and the skill and convincing arguments of Bridgett Brennan.
Randy Linn was given an exemplary sentence which works to ensure that religious minorities are protected in our country. Judge Zouhary’s statement at Randy Linn’s sentencing was very instructive. He told Linn that what happened on Monday in the Boston bombings and what Linn had done were “an assault on the American psyche”. He also told Linn to study Islam while he’s in prison so that he could perhaps better understand the people that he had attacked.
I can trace the way I’ve been treated as a Pakistani Muslim immigrant for the 30 years that I’ve been in the US. When I first came here, people did not know where Pakistan was and I was treated with interest and courtesy. Post 9/11 things still weren’t too bad. But over the last 7 years or so, that courtesy and interest has changed to coldness and intimidation. There are times I feel that I have horns on my head! At others if looks could kill I’d be dead! My experience is backed up by polls that show that public opinion of American Muslims is worse today than immediately after 9/11.
People would have us believe that America belongs to the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant. The fact is that all its citizens, red, yellow, black, white and brown own America. Muslims do live in fear; we do feel that we are under siege. But cowering in the corner will not do us any good. Calling non-Muslims “Americans” and allowing us to be made into “the other” will not either.
It is for Muslim-Americans in general, and our leaders in particular, to promote the premise that sharing a religion with fanatics or crazies doesn’t make all Muslims extremists. That there’s the good, the bad and the ugly in every group, culture and religion.
We must follow the example of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) about whom the Quran says in Surah Qalam “You O Muhammad stand in an exalted standard of character”. With courage and restraint, determination and flexibility, fearlessness mixed with wisdom, let us work for a day where differences do not mean inequality and we can walk in any neighborhood with skins of many hues and covered heads and not be marginalized, harassed, intimidated, injured or killed.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Islamophobia, anti-Semitism and freedom of speech
Printed in The Toledo Blade January 6, 2012
Watching Randy Linn in court last month was unsettling. He pleaded guilty to defacing religious property, using fire to commit a felony, and carrying a firearm as he walked through the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo last Sept. 30. He accepted a binding plea agreement of 20 years in prison, without appeal or parole, for the arson.
His diatribe at the hearing was worse. He cited news media, especially Fox News, for inspiring his desire to avenge U.S. military deaths. He conceded he knew nothing about Muslims or Islam, other than that Muslims did not believe in Jesus Christ as savior.
America’s Constitution promises justice, liberty, and protection of citizens. Yet a wave of Islamophobia, reflected in incidents such as the Islamic Center arson, suggests that we are more intent on protecting freedom of speech than Americans’ lives and property.
In 2004, when he signed the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act, President George W. Bush said that “extending freedom also means disrupting the evil of anti-Semitism.” The law requires a specific federal agency to document acts of physical violence against Jews, their property, their cemeteries, and their places of worship. It also mandates monitoring of anti-Jewish propaganda and promotion of unbiased school curricula.
There is no similar law to respond to this country’s ferocious and well-funded Islamophobia industry, which relentlessly whips up anti-Muslim sentiment that can inspire disturbed people to destroy property, maim, and even kill.
Just weeks before the Islamic Center arson, the Muslim Public Affairs Council released a report on 25 supposed experts on Islam, who are frequently quoted by news media. The report concluded that just one of the 25 “experts,” Daniel Pipes, has had any kind of education about Islam.
Two so-called academic experts, Pamela Geller and Brigitte Gabriel, do not have college degrees, the report said. Yet not only do these pseudo-experts get frequent attention from mainstream media, some of them also train law enforcement officers and testify about their hate-filled agendas before Congress.
Several of these so-called experts were cited by Anders Breivik, who in July, 2012, planted a bomb in an Oslo government building that killed eight people, then went on a shooting spree that killed 68 people, mostly teenagers. Breivik subsequently told a Norwegian court that violence was necessary to save Europe from Marxism and “Muslimization.” In his manifesto, he repeatedly quoted anti-Muslim propagandists Robert Spencer, Pamela Geller, and Walid Shoebat.
Marc Sageman, a terrorism consultant and former CIA officer, notes that just as religious extremism “is the infrastructure from which al-Qaeda emerged,” the writings of anti-Muslim misinformation experts are “the infrastructure from which Breivik emerged.” Their rhetoric, he adds, “is not cost-free.”
At the opening last November of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro, Tenn., which survived arson and zoning protests, Assistant U.S. Attorney General Thomas Perez asserted: “Without question, we are seeing real challenges to the civil rights of Muslim Americans, including arsons of mosques, assaults, and other hate crimes. We have a steady diet of these cases.”
Mr. Perez expressed deep concern about harassment of Muslim, Sikh, Arab, and South Asian students in schools. “I have often said that today’s bully is tomorrow’s hate crime defendant,” he said. “So we are vigilant to ensure that schools are taking bullying seriously, and are held accountable when they do not.”
He added: “We are doing everything in our power to stop this blight on our nation.” It is comforting to know that the Justice Department recognizes Islamophobia as “blight.”
The Islamophobia industry helped push Anders Breivik to commit a massacre. Fox News helped incite Randy Linn to burn our mosque. Muslims, mosques, and Islamic schools are attacked every week.
There is a federal law against anti-Semitism. But if I call for a similar law against Islamophobia, I am told that protecting freedom of speech is more important.
Hate speech is turning into hate crime. It starts with words, but it ends with mosque burnings — or deaths.
Dr. Mahjabeen Islam is past president of the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo.
http://www.toledoblade.com/Letters-to-the-Editor/2013/01/06/Islamophobia-anti-Semitism-and-freedom-of-speech.html
Watching Randy Linn in court last month was unsettling. He pleaded guilty to defacing religious property, using fire to commit a felony, and carrying a firearm as he walked through the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo last Sept. 30. He accepted a binding plea agreement of 20 years in prison, without appeal or parole, for the arson.
His diatribe at the hearing was worse. He cited news media, especially Fox News, for inspiring his desire to avenge U.S. military deaths. He conceded he knew nothing about Muslims or Islam, other than that Muslims did not believe in Jesus Christ as savior.
America’s Constitution promises justice, liberty, and protection of citizens. Yet a wave of Islamophobia, reflected in incidents such as the Islamic Center arson, suggests that we are more intent on protecting freedom of speech than Americans’ lives and property.
In 2004, when he signed the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act, President George W. Bush said that “extending freedom also means disrupting the evil of anti-Semitism.” The law requires a specific federal agency to document acts of physical violence against Jews, their property, their cemeteries, and their places of worship. It also mandates monitoring of anti-Jewish propaganda and promotion of unbiased school curricula.
There is no similar law to respond to this country’s ferocious and well-funded Islamophobia industry, which relentlessly whips up anti-Muslim sentiment that can inspire disturbed people to destroy property, maim, and even kill.
Just weeks before the Islamic Center arson, the Muslim Public Affairs Council released a report on 25 supposed experts on Islam, who are frequently quoted by news media. The report concluded that just one of the 25 “experts,” Daniel Pipes, has had any kind of education about Islam.
Two so-called academic experts, Pamela Geller and Brigitte Gabriel, do not have college degrees, the report said. Yet not only do these pseudo-experts get frequent attention from mainstream media, some of them also train law enforcement officers and testify about their hate-filled agendas before Congress.
Several of these so-called experts were cited by Anders Breivik, who in July, 2012, planted a bomb in an Oslo government building that killed eight people, then went on a shooting spree that killed 68 people, mostly teenagers. Breivik subsequently told a Norwegian court that violence was necessary to save Europe from Marxism and “Muslimization.” In his manifesto, he repeatedly quoted anti-Muslim propagandists Robert Spencer, Pamela Geller, and Walid Shoebat.
Marc Sageman, a terrorism consultant and former CIA officer, notes that just as religious extremism “is the infrastructure from which al-Qaeda emerged,” the writings of anti-Muslim misinformation experts are “the infrastructure from which Breivik emerged.” Their rhetoric, he adds, “is not cost-free.”
At the opening last November of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro, Tenn., which survived arson and zoning protests, Assistant U.S. Attorney General Thomas Perez asserted: “Without question, we are seeing real challenges to the civil rights of Muslim Americans, including arsons of mosques, assaults, and other hate crimes. We have a steady diet of these cases.”
Mr. Perez expressed deep concern about harassment of Muslim, Sikh, Arab, and South Asian students in schools. “I have often said that today’s bully is tomorrow’s hate crime defendant,” he said. “So we are vigilant to ensure that schools are taking bullying seriously, and are held accountable when they do not.”
He added: “We are doing everything in our power to stop this blight on our nation.” It is comforting to know that the Justice Department recognizes Islamophobia as “blight.”
The Islamophobia industry helped push Anders Breivik to commit a massacre. Fox News helped incite Randy Linn to burn our mosque. Muslims, mosques, and Islamic schools are attacked every week.
There is a federal law against anti-Semitism. But if I call for a similar law against Islamophobia, I am told that protecting freedom of speech is more important.
Hate speech is turning into hate crime. It starts with words, but it ends with mosque burnings — or deaths.
Dr. Mahjabeen Islam is past president of the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo.
http://www.toledoblade.com/Letters-to-the-Editor/2013/01/06/Islamophobia-anti-Semitism-and-freedom-of-speech.html
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Mosque arsonist: Fox News made me do it! /Salon.com
Saturday, Dec 22, 2012 10:00 AM EST
An Indiana man says he was spurred on by news reports suggesting Muslims were "killing us"
By Bill Morlin, Southern Poverty Law Center
This article was originally published by The Southern Poverty Law Center.
An Indiana man who pleaded guilty yesterday to setting an Ohio mosque on fire told a judge he was motivated by media accounts – specifically those on Fox News – suggesting Muslims were threatening Americans and were in control of parts of the federal government.
Details made public at the plea hearing also revealed that the arsonist, Randolph Linn, was carrying a pistol when he entered the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo on September 30, only minutes after several worshippers had left, and that he had more guns in his car.
Linn, a 52-year-old truck driver from St. Joe, Ind., expressed no remorse when he admitted trying to burn down the third largest mosque in the United States. Under the terms of a plea agreement, prosecutors and Linn’s defense attorney will recommend a prison term of 20 years when he is sentenced early next year.
Accounts of the federal court hearing were provided to Hatewatch by Mahjabeen Islam, president of the mosque, who was present along with 10 other members of the mosque.
When U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary asked Linn about his motivation, he responded that he was spurred on by newspaper, radio and Fox News accounts suggesting Muslims were killing “us” and were in control of the Department of Homeland Security and the White House, Islam recounted.
“When asked if he knew any Muslims or about the Islamic faith, he said he did not; he knew only what he got from Fox News, and he did know that ‘they don’t believe in Jesus Christ as the savior,’” Islam said.
“Randy Linn’s statements clearly incriminate the media,” Islam said. “We call on print, Internet and broadcast media to educate the public about various cultures and religions and promote the strength of diversity, rather than whipping up hatred that leads to such destruction. Fox News, in particular, needs to reset its course and policies very quickly.”
The fire caused an estimated $1 million worth of damages.
“We are grateful that no one was injured or killed when Randy Linn came to the Islamic Center,” Islam said. That kind of tragedy, she said, “was a major possibility” because Linn entered the mosque carrying a gun in his hand and had three other firearms in his car.
“The prospect of Randy Linn finding anyone in the Islamic Center is spine-chilling, and we appeal for attention and action on the easy availability of these deadly weapons,” Islam said.
Court documents say Linn left his Indiana home on Sept. 30 in a red four-door Chevrolet Sonic, stopping at a gas station near Perrysburg, Ohio, to fill three gas cans he had in the vehicle, before driving on to the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo. The mosque in Perrysburg is the third largest in the United States, a 70,000-square-foot landmark, visible for miles, with 3,000 members who celebrated the center’s 32nd anniversary in October.
Linn made numerous efforts to enter the Islamic Center before finally gaining entry, walking through several rooms with a pistol in his left hand before exiting and then returning with a gas can, the court documents disclosed. He entered the mosque’s prayer room on the second floor and poured gasoline on the prayer rug used by worshippers during prayer services. Linn then set fire to the rug and fled. His actions were caught on surveillance cameras, and he was arrested a few days later after the photos received media coverage.
Islam said attending the hearing and seeing Linn left her “numb and overcome.”
“At no point during the hearing did Randy Linn reveal any remorse for what he had done,” she said. “He pled guilty to all three counts but took no responsibility.”
Linn pleaded to intentionally defacing, damaging and destroying religious real property because of the religious character of that property; using fire to commit a felony; and using and carrying a firearm to commit a crime of violence.
“His guilty plea, acceptance of a binding plea agreement with no chance for appeal and a prison sentence of 20 years, sends out a clear message to future criminals that our society will not accept hate and violence,” she said.
Islam’s comments were echoed by U.S. Attorney Steven M. Dettelbach of the Northern District of Ohio, who said, “Religious freedom is at the core of our country, and we will continue to aggressively prosecute such hate crimes whenever and wherever the evidence warrants. This was a true joint effort to seek justice for these victims.”
Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez said the freedom to worship in the manner of one’s choosing is one of our most fundamental rights as Americans.
“The Department of Justice and the Civil Rights Division will continue to aggressively prosecute hate-based attacks on houses of worship,” Perez said in a statement. “I commend the cooperative efforts of local and federal law enforcement officials to ensure justice in this case.”
An Indiana man says he was spurred on by news reports suggesting Muslims were "killing us"
By Bill Morlin, Southern Poverty Law Center
This article was originally published by The Southern Poverty Law Center.
An Indiana man who pleaded guilty yesterday to setting an Ohio mosque on fire told a judge he was motivated by media accounts – specifically those on Fox News – suggesting Muslims were threatening Americans and were in control of parts of the federal government.
Details made public at the plea hearing also revealed that the arsonist, Randolph Linn, was carrying a pistol when he entered the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo on September 30, only minutes after several worshippers had left, and that he had more guns in his car.
Linn, a 52-year-old truck driver from St. Joe, Ind., expressed no remorse when he admitted trying to burn down the third largest mosque in the United States. Under the terms of a plea agreement, prosecutors and Linn’s defense attorney will recommend a prison term of 20 years when he is sentenced early next year.
Accounts of the federal court hearing were provided to Hatewatch by Mahjabeen Islam, president of the mosque, who was present along with 10 other members of the mosque.
When U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary asked Linn about his motivation, he responded that he was spurred on by newspaper, radio and Fox News accounts suggesting Muslims were killing “us” and were in control of the Department of Homeland Security and the White House, Islam recounted.
“When asked if he knew any Muslims or about the Islamic faith, he said he did not; he knew only what he got from Fox News, and he did know that ‘they don’t believe in Jesus Christ as the savior,’” Islam said.
“Randy Linn’s statements clearly incriminate the media,” Islam said. “We call on print, Internet and broadcast media to educate the public about various cultures and religions and promote the strength of diversity, rather than whipping up hatred that leads to such destruction. Fox News, in particular, needs to reset its course and policies very quickly.”
The fire caused an estimated $1 million worth of damages.
“We are grateful that no one was injured or killed when Randy Linn came to the Islamic Center,” Islam said. That kind of tragedy, she said, “was a major possibility” because Linn entered the mosque carrying a gun in his hand and had three other firearms in his car.
“The prospect of Randy Linn finding anyone in the Islamic Center is spine-chilling, and we appeal for attention and action on the easy availability of these deadly weapons,” Islam said.
Court documents say Linn left his Indiana home on Sept. 30 in a red four-door Chevrolet Sonic, stopping at a gas station near Perrysburg, Ohio, to fill three gas cans he had in the vehicle, before driving on to the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo. The mosque in Perrysburg is the third largest in the United States, a 70,000-square-foot landmark, visible for miles, with 3,000 members who celebrated the center’s 32nd anniversary in October.
Linn made numerous efforts to enter the Islamic Center before finally gaining entry, walking through several rooms with a pistol in his left hand before exiting and then returning with a gas can, the court documents disclosed. He entered the mosque’s prayer room on the second floor and poured gasoline on the prayer rug used by worshippers during prayer services. Linn then set fire to the rug and fled. His actions were caught on surveillance cameras, and he was arrested a few days later after the photos received media coverage.
Islam said attending the hearing and seeing Linn left her “numb and overcome.”
“At no point during the hearing did Randy Linn reveal any remorse for what he had done,” she said. “He pled guilty to all three counts but took no responsibility.”
Linn pleaded to intentionally defacing, damaging and destroying religious real property because of the religious character of that property; using fire to commit a felony; and using and carrying a firearm to commit a crime of violence.
“His guilty plea, acceptance of a binding plea agreement with no chance for appeal and a prison sentence of 20 years, sends out a clear message to future criminals that our society will not accept hate and violence,” she said.
Islam’s comments were echoed by U.S. Attorney Steven M. Dettelbach of the Northern District of Ohio, who said, “Religious freedom is at the core of our country, and we will continue to aggressively prosecute such hate crimes whenever and wherever the evidence warrants. This was a true joint effort to seek justice for these victims.”
Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez said the freedom to worship in the manner of one’s choosing is one of our most fundamental rights as Americans.
“The Department of Justice and the Civil Rights Division will continue to aggressively prosecute hate-based attacks on houses of worship,” Perez said in a statement. “I commend the cooperative efforts of local and federal law enforcement officials to ensure justice in this case.”
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