Our Community Is Being Used

Yahya Abdul Rahman

Montreal October 1, 2003 (MMN): They call on us when they need bodies for a rally. They contact us when they require financial assistance or to provide quantitative data regarding some racist anti-Muslim incidents.  They approach us for surveys and other statistical data on our community, and seek our endorsement for  their various political campaigns. They in fact publicly address many of our concerns and express in their  speeches "solidarity" with our community.  Wonderful!!!

But, heaven forbid, that any of our real concerns - which are many times light years from theirs - are included in any of their efforts. In fact, as a community, our input is hardly ever welcomed. They have an irrational and xenophobic fear of Islam and all things they would consider "Islamic." They utterly despise all talk of God or religiosity. They whine about being mis-represented and maligned  in the media but at the same time hold many distorted views about our religion and way of life, and view those who are religiously observant as being "fanatics" or "fundamentalist," thus demonstrating how utterly clueless they really are.  Their understanding of our community and our faith is almost nil, yet they purport to be defending us. They are in fact guilty of the very racism and bigotry they so often speak out against.  Oh, they will protest when reading these words, that they have Muslims in their midst and that they have the Muslims' true interests at heart. But these Muslims they speak of, for the most part, are far removed from their community and have almost no connection with their faith. In fact, some of them do not even believe in God at all even though they have been brought up in Muslim families.

I am speaking, of course, of those leftist and liberal organizations which are very much active here in Montreal and worldwide. Now most you already know that my politics are very much to the left, and have been so for many years. Most of this stems from my working class roots and growing up in a  household which, due to complex circumstances, depended on social assistance to get by. My mom always said I took the side of the underdog, and stated that this was the reason I became Muslim. Mothers seem to possess a tendency to conduct a psychoanalysis on their children in order to figure them out.

And no, I am not becoming a right-winger either now or in the future.

The concerns I am addressing in this column, however, is how our community is viewed by these "activists." When these people speak on behalf of refugees, or against a racist anti Muslim incident or some other ungodly injustice taking place, they do so not  only for the sake of those affected per se, but to promote a particular political agenda. These incidents are merely talking points used to promote that agenda. Our community, especially post 9/11, is now the subject of their attention. 

One  thing we Muslims are taught from a very young age, however, is that our actions are based on our intentions. The action in itself may be good, but if the intention is wrong, then the action itself becomes tarnished due to that wrong intention.

But I am tired of seeing our community being used as pawns in some political board game. I am tired of the attempts to co-opt us into some "ism" with grandiose visions of the future and how humanity should be ordered when, on closer scrutiny, these "isms" are actually hostile to our faith and way of life. Many in the past have approached our community - including those with big beards, big turbans- and even bigger mouths, with visions of how to rescue us from our ills. 

I am tired of being told that these people really care about our well being, when in fact we are just being used and will be utterly discarded into the dustbins of insignificance when we are no longer needed. 

I am tired of the lies, exaggerations and deceptions being utilized to further their political agendas, with no solid moral foundation of honesty and integrity in their guiding principles. We are expected to participate in these deceptions, and when we don't we are labeled as being callous, selfish and only interested in promoting a "fundamentalist agenda."  

I am tired of liberal white women donning burqas in public rallies - yes I have witnessed it - or having meetings where people are invited to "try on a burqa" and saying they are speaking on behalf and "protecting" our Muslim sisters, when in fact what they are doing is so utterly offensive to our community. 

But the fact is, many of the lies and distortions used in these political campaigns are actually hurting our community. For example, many of these Pakistani refugee claimants are in fact not Shia, but lying Sunnis claiming to be persecuted Shia or Christians in order to make their case to stay in Canada. In the long run, sadly enough, they are committing an injustice against the Muslim community, and many of us are getting angry over how our community is being dragged through the mud by these liars. Sadly, naive activists are falling for their lies and have no problem seeing our community vilified once again by an already hostile anti- Muslim Media. (see Abid Jan's essay "The need to study refugee claims in Canada and the IRB" at: http://www.montrealmuslimnews.net/irbabid.htm)

Don't get me wrong, I too am against these unjust deportations and these people should be permitted to stay regardless of their claims. No one is illegal means NO ONE is illegal, period.

They may also respond by stating that politics is about give and take, and you cannot always have it your way. "You scratch my back, and I will scratch yours." Fair enough, but it seems the only ones getting scratched is our community, and the wounds are pretty deep.

Have not these organizations learned in their past experiences why the Muslim community steers clear from them?  The Muslim community can see right through their agenda and want no part of what they are doing, even though the various issues these activists are addressing are of core interest to Muslims.

Are there problems in our community? You bet there are, and plenty of them - just like any other community consisting of human beings has, and I am not trying to gloss over them here. But what I am trying to say is that the Muslim community refuses to be used in some game. Many promises have been made to us in the past and we have been severely burnt. The game is over and we are not playing any more.

In the meantime, we may want to reflect on the following words of wisdom from the Holy Quran: "O ye who believe! If a wicked person comes to you with any news, ascertain the truth, lest ye harm people unwittingly, and afterwards become full of repentance for what ye have done."

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Yahya Abdul Rahman is the editor of the online Montreal Muslim News Network (MMN). He can be reached via e-mail at: montreal@montrealmuslimnews.net