The Obama Campaign, at it's best, has not been about Obama.
It's been about a mass movement, a coming together of long time
activists and newcomers, who have dared to restore hope to politics, to dream that
there is a place in the arena of politics for the good. That's what makes
the character assassination and subsequent resignation of Mazen Asbahi from the
Obama Campaign so hard to take, so bitter. The lamentation has been heard
from many of the leading voices in both the Muslim and the Arab community. (See
here and here and here.) As it had been reported on
this blog, Asbahi had been appointed by the Obama
campaign as the designated contact with both the Arab and the Muslim
populations, two distinct yet overlapping communities who have bore the brunt
of post-9/11 xenophobia. It was a long-overdue yet important step to mirror
earlier connections and indeed commitments from the Obama campaign to Jewish,
Catholic, and evangelical communities.
Yet almost as soon as this began, it was over. Asbahi was
forced to resign not due to anything he had done, not due to anything he had
said, but because of an immediate and deliberate attack on him started by
rightwing bloggers and picked up by the Wall Street Journal. At the center
of their charge, this accusation: for a period of about two weeks Asbahi
served on the board of a charity, Allied Assets Advisors Fund, that also
featured an imam of a Chicago mosque who was connected to someone who may have
been connected to someone who might have possibly been connected to...
you get the picture. The
legal cases implicated in the above ended in a mistrial. Yet apparently we are no longer in the realm of
innocent until proven guilty. We're no longer in the realm of fact, certainty,
or law. It is the absurdity of playing the "Kevin
Bacon" game with the wellbeing and
representation of persecuted communities like Arab-Americans and Muslim
Americans.
Any political campaign that would want to find a legitimate
community contact person would want to find someone like Asbahi, someone who is
rooted in a community, and is well-connected. And by the logic of the
"Six Degrees" game made famous through the actor Kevin Bacon, yes,
every Muslim can be tied to another Muslim who can be tied to another Muslim
who can be tied to... someone found not guilty of a crime. By that logic,
can we also implicate Karen
Hughes, who spoke before ISNA? How about Condi
Rice who met with ISNA leadership? And how
about John McCain's connections to John Hagee, of the maniacal "Christians
United for
The goal of the campaigns against Muslims and Arab-Americans is
much more sinister. It is no less than the disenfranchisement and
marginalization of Muslims and Arab-Americans from the political
arena. The blog that led the charge against Asbahi also identifies other
potentially "Islamist" organizations:
- The
Islamic Society of
- The
Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR)
- The
Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC)
- The
Muslim Student Association (MSA)
- The
International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT)
In other words, every single significant group representing
Muslims in
The right-wing bloggers that targeted Asbahi also insinuated that
since he had served in a leadership position in the Muslim Students
Association, somehow he was a secret Salafi-Wahhabi. This is part of the
problem of our age, where it is sufficient to repeat two words in the same
sentence in lieu of proving a link. Had they actually studied Asbahi's
faith, words, and deeds, they would have seen him a part of the subtle and
beautiful community of the Nawawi Foundation,
one of the leading lights of the American Muslim community. Yet we have
seen how simply putting
The real casualty is that these types of episodes are precisely
what the Muslim-haters like Daniel Pipes count on, with their public and stated
agenda of fighting against the participation of Muslims in civic life, a goal
of engagement that Muslims like all other citizens re entitled to. This is
their stated goal, after all: "[The]
increased stature, and affluence, and enfranchisement of American
Muslims...will present true dangers to American Jews." The goal is to make sure that other Muslim activists,
leaders, public intellectuals, and citizens retreat from the public space into
a self-exile.
We refuse to be part of this campaign of fear-mongering. To
the right-wing bloggers and their emissaries of hate, we have to respond by
saying that we will meet your hate with soul force, your ignorance with a will
to educate, and your xenophobia with a capacity to love. And
yet we cannot do it alone. Here the Arab-American and
Muslim-American community is in need of help, of alliance, of networking with
others committed to the dignity of all, to make sure that there are no more
innocents thrown under the bus. And yes, even the most ardent supporters
of Obama need to hold the Obama campaign responsible and ask that we go not
gently into this abyss of fear-mongering.
The casualty is not just Mazen Asbahi and the next Mazen Asbahi.
The real casualty is the dream where politics can be an arena for
the good.
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Obama doesn’t discriminate. He throws Muslims (Asbahi) and Christians (Rev Wright) under the bus when it suits his purposes.
Neither Christians nor Jews, nor Muslims can trust him.
I resent the term “Muslim haters” as well as “Jew Hater” or any other use of the Hatred, unless supported by specific comments and people. I respect Islam just as I respect Christianity (my faith) and Judiasm and all religions that work for peace and Justice in the world.
Sadly, the news of the day is more of Muslims killing Muslims than for Muslims seeking peace, justice, and wanting to get along with other faiths. If there is fear and prejudice against Muslims it is a result of that news and not the visceral reaction of Americans who live in a great country that respects and protects religious freedom and promotes religious tolerance.
Muslims should spend more time condemning the daily carnage of Muslims killing Muslims (about 50 per day in recent days) and then they may find less discrimination and concern about Islam in all political parties.
We have to remember this nation has been structured in a manner to allow freedom of religion, while at the same time keeping the state from catering to any particular one. The reality is candidates do have their own personal religious choices and by law are not obligated to favor any one religion's views over another in the governing of the national family of American Citizens. With the tragedies in world history, we should wish it remain so among humanity. People need to be vigilant as individuals in honoring the 14th Amendment which prohibits discrimination against anyone based on their religious preference as long as that religion isn't in general posing a clear and present danger to life and property of other US Citizens.
In that context, presidential candidate Obama is not obligated to be trying to court anyone's vote based on showing favoritism towards one religion or another, even his own. His job and approach should remain the best interest of the national family of Americans which he has over and over again articulated. Americans who are have espoused Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Taoism etc., should not be pressuring any political leader to cater exclusively to any religious groups' interests as this will only fuel sectarian divisions. He is doing the right thing in keeping focus on leading Americans as a nation of human beings US Citizens, not a religion. Religion divides and these kinds of issues only affirm that. We need to be united as a national family for the good of each member of society regardless of their religious preferences, as long as that religion is not a clear and present danger or corruption of humanity.
We have to remember this nation has been structured in a manner to allow freedom of religion, while at the same time keeping the state from catering to any particular one. The reality is candidates do have their own personal religious choices and by law are not obligated to favor any one religion's views over another in the governing of the national family of American Citizens. With the tragedies in world history, we should wish it remain so among humanity. People need to be vigilant as individuals in honoring the 14th Amendment which prohibits discrimination against anyone based on their religious preference as long as that religion isn't in general posing a clear and present danger to life and property of other US Citizens.
In that context, prsidential candidate Obama is not obligated to be trying to court anyone's vote based on showing favoritism towards one religion or another, even his own. His job and approach should remain the best interest of the national family of Americans which he has over and over again articulated. Americans who are have espoused Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Taoism etc., should not be pressuring any political leader to cater exclusively to any religious groups' interests as this will only fuel sectarian divisions. He is doing the right thing in keeping focus on leading Americans as a nation of human beings US Citizens, not a religion. Religion divides and these kinds of issues only affirm that. We need to be united as a national family fo the good of each member of society regardless of their religious preferences, as lng as that relgion is not a clear and present danger or corruption of humanity.
I do not know about other faiths, but I do know that Obama and his campaign hate Islam and Muslims. They will say and do anything to stay away from us. I volunteered for the Obama campaign during the primaries. Now, a truckload of donkeys cannot haul me to volunteer for his campaign again. A friend once asked me, “Why you stop supporting Barack?” I said- we, the Muslims are not part of Obama’s message of change and unity. He does not want to be associated with anything Islamic because he is afraid of being labeled a Muslim. Oh, please! If Obama is a Muslim then I am a Hindu. Obama does not respect what is important to me as a Muslim (my faith) why should I support him. Besides, I will not be welcome as a volunteer at his campaign - I am a Hijabi (Muslim woman with headscarf) and proud of it. I was thinking McCain before he selected that VP. Come Election Day, I am going Hijab shopping, inshallah.
Greeting Mrs Rahim. You stated,"A friend once asked me, “Why you stop supporting Barack?” I said- we, the Muslims are not part of Obama’s message of change and unity. He does not want to be associated with anything Islamic because he is afraid of being labeled a Muslim."
Are you the spokes person for all Muslims? With respect to your personal choice of faith/religion, would you say living as a US Citizen under the laws of the US Constitution is of less value than living as a Muslim under the laws of Islam? Would you want president catering to each personal religious preference or do you want a president that caters to our needs as US Citizens while protecting our rights to exercise our personal religious beliefs as long as they are not violating the rights and privileges of our fellow Americans? Understanding the reason there is church/religion and state separation can be very confusing to people who put their whole heart and soul into their espoused religion. That mandate,total surrender to God, found in most theistic religions, should not be taken to mean God commands us to abandon being peaceful cooperative citizens in the country we are born.
Political leaders will obviously bring their own personal values into their office. The most important thing about America is the ability of leaders to distinguish what's good for all citizens from what will only be good to a group of their own preference based on religion, gender, special interests, or race. We see the bad economic results of catering to corporate interests to shun regulation over protecting employees'(working class) best interests. Sen Obama is verbally showing concern for middle class best interests in tax relief as opposed to this adminstrations and McCain's preference for tax relief to the wealthy. Muslims need to be concerned with those kinds of issues.
Political leaders, good ones, have to stay that kind of humanitarian neutral course as it pertains to governing a democratic republic of diverse groups of citizens. Religious groups should not be offended if he does not come right out and verbally endorse a particular religion over the needs of the general population.
You stated, "Oh, please! If Obama is a Muslim then I am a Hindu. Obama does not respect what is important to me as a Muslim (my faith) why should I support him. Besides, I will not be welcome as a volunteer at his campaign - I am a Hijabi (Muslim woman with headscarf) and proud of it. I was thinking McCain before he selected that VP. Come Election Day, I am going Hijab shopping, inshallah."
The term Muslim means one who is surrendered to ILAHA/GOD. Some monotheists surrender to one Al-Ilaha named Allah who rejects having humans as adopted or spiritually reborn sons and daughters and absolutely rejects the term begotten son. Some surrender to THE ONE AL ILAHA YHVH (Jehovah) who adopts and endears humans and angels as HIS Sons/ Children. HE prophesied in Psalms and confirmed in the Gospels, which Allah claims in the Quran to have inspired King David and the Apostles write in Hebrew, that HE would call a Human Body HIS Begotten Son. So, once one considers the implications of that claim, it's not correct to say Sen. Obama, any true Christian, or follower of Judaism doesn't respect the faith of Muslims since based on the Quran most are Hanif Muslims following the faith of Abraham the Hebrew.
I personally accept being a Hanif Muslim and accept the Quran's claim to merely be confirming the Book of Moses in the Arabic language. The Quran was given specifically to the desert Arabs who thought sons of God and begotten son meant literal coitus between ILAHA and women which was NEVER the case. Anyway, I make this point to say many Muslims really don't understand True Islam doctrinally until they study Hanif Islam, the TRUE Islamic(Arabic for Surrender to Peace by Submission to The Will of ILAHA YaHuVaH) faith of Abraham. If your faith is so important, I'm amazed at how many don't know these details.
So, is saying "Obama does not respect what is important to me as a Muslim (my faith) why should I support him.", is that being fair to him? If your faith leads to you making false judgments about people based on rather or not they verbally show public support for a faith that's not even clear in it's doctrines and claims, then the problem isn't Sen Obama, it's your mis comprehension of your own faith.
What should matter to Muslims as US Citizens is which presidential and vp candidates are going to preserve our freedom of worship and religious freedoms, Sen Obama and Sen Biden or Sen.McCain and Palin? If you choose not to vote, you are will still be choosing to leave who gets in office to others and you may wish level headed intelligent candidates like Senators Obama and Biden were in office. Muslims need to realize they are US Citizens first. We are born human beings first which is why we still have to choose our religions for ourself. I'm not telling you who to vote for, but don't make an enemy where there is none. If Sen Obama is a Freemason, as most political leaders are, he already has accepted the Quran as a valid important religion.
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