STOP SELLING OUT THE UMMAH! - COLLABORATORS & OPPORTUNISTS

“ WHOEVER RALLIES TO A GOOD CAUSE SHALL HAVE A SHARE IN ITS BLESSINGS; AND WHOEVER RALLIES TO AN EVIL CAUSE SHALL BE ANSWERABLE FOR HIS PART IN IT: FOR, INDEED, ALLAH WATCHES OVER EVERYTHING” (QUR’AN 4:85)

U.N.I.A. MARCH FOR FREEDOM, HARLEM, 1922

EL-HAJJ MALIK/ MALCOLM X IN HARLEM, 1962

SANITATION WORKERS STRIKE IN MEMPHIS,

TENN. 1968 (JUST BEFORE DR. KING IS MURDERED)

MARCH 25, 1999 MARCH ON 1 POLICE PLAZA IN PROTEST OF THE

MURDER OF AMADOU DIALLO BY NYPD SPECIAL UNIT

CITY HALL 2011

FOLEY SQUARE, 2011

1 POLICE PLAZA NOV. 2011

MAYOR COREY BOOKER OF NEWARK, N.J. 2012

INTRODUCTION: As the struggle and call continues for greater accountability on the part of the Mayor and Police Commissioner with regards to the unjust , warrant-less surveillance of the Muslim community by the NYPD , lone acting imams and Muslim heads of not-for-profit organizations are “selling out” the masses of the people, intentionally or un-intentionally. For the sake or promise of crumbs from the master’s table, opportunists are placing their individual careers,  institutions, or potential for personal benefit, over the welfare of Muslim men, women, youth, and children.

Others are blundering ahead with their mouths open and lips flapping, "bumping their gums" without really knowing the issues at hand. They are providing support for those visiting injustice upon our community. Instead of addressing the real issues , these ignorant individuals are responding to criticism of the NYPD based upon their perception of Commissioner Ray Kelly as a good guy, as if this struggle is a personality contest. It is not! There are serious constitutional questions and matters of freedom at stake in this battle - ones apparently not understood by those who would support Kelly over Muslims and our many allies of all faiths.

As for the collaborators and opportunists well, you know the type. During slavery in America they were called “house negroes”. During colonialism they were called “the boss’s man “. At a time when the Muslim community is unifying to denounce injustice and those responsible for it, these men and a woman or two stand alone ,or else with the enemies of justice, supporting those whose need to be held accountable, and apologizing for those who should themselves be apologizing.

Personally, I have refrained from calling out some of these individuals in public, until now. However Allah (Glory be to him) says in the Qur’an (4:148) : “Allah does not like for any evil to be mentioned publicly, unless it be by him who has been wronged (thereby). And Allah is indeed All-hearing, All-knowing, “.  These self-serving apologists , or well-meaning blunderers, continue to be quoted in the press, and thus are exposing themselves. So now it’s time for them to be held accountable for their words and actions . We, the people, now publicly speak out as aggreived parties.

It’s obvious that the Mayor and Police Commissioner Kelly continue to be under heavy criticism for the actions of the NYPD’s special surveillance and entrapment operations. Editorial boards of major newspapers, presidents of universities, governors of other states, the Ny and American Civil Liberties Unions have now spoken out in support of the basic position articulated by local imams of the Majlis Ash-Shura of Metropolitan New York, Muslim lawyers, students, and activists – men and women, elder generation and young. Now hardly a week or a day goes by without the Mayor and Police Commissioner being called to account. Their weak and transparent attempts at media spin are not working.

So what do Muslim collaborationists and compromisors do? They kiss the ring of those in authority, kowtow, serve as mouth-pieces and apologists, and provide Ray Kelly and Peter King with the opportunity to say that they’re “meeting with Muslim leaders” while in actually they are avoiding doing so. Those Muslim opportunists should be ashamed of themselves and make tauba (i.e. repent and make amends) for their words and deeds.

THE PROBLEM: Instead of coming with their questions and concerns to sit with those of us who are in the forefront of the struggle for justice on behalf of the ummah, the compromisors and sell-outs instead sit with those whom they undoubtedly believe will benefit them in some way. Afterwards they stand in front of the press  and support the oppressor instead of the oppressed. They value a photo-op or media quote over the dignity of our people, and their own individual egos over justice.

When a handful of Muslims demonstrated a lack of courage during the time of the Battle of Tabuk, and lagged behind those in the vanguard due to cowardice, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) ordered the Muslims to boycott them - not to return their salaams, and even for their wives not to sleep with them, until after they had engaged in tauba.

Here are some examples of the collaborators and opportunists, or sincere blunderers, of this day and time, and their public statements. The least we should do when we see them is voice our disapproval of their actions, and then encourage them to make tauba:

name: MOE RAZVI (“My name is Mohammed but you can call me Mo”)

quote: "THE WAY WE WERE INFORMED, INDIVIDUALS OR PERPS OF INTEREST WHO WERE BEING FOLLOWED INTO MOSQUES OR OTHER RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS, THAT'S WITHIN THE GUIDELINES. IT'S NOT CASING OUT A MOSQUE.... THE MAYOR AND POLICE COMMISSIONER HAVE OUR FULL SUPPORT."

COMMENTARY: As the Founder and Executive Director of Council of Peoples Organization (COPO), Mo can always be seen parroting the same lines. A few years ago he appeared at a City Council hearing where community residents and leaders were speaking against extending Bloomberg’s term for a third time. He vociferously defended the Mayor and declared his loyalty to him. It was embarrassing to watch. Then at the end of 2011 he declared at the Bloomberg Breakfast that several of us Muslim leaders, imams and activists, were boycotting, “The Mayor and Police Commissioner have our full support “. Then earlier this week after meeting with Police Commissioner Kelly he repeated his disgraceful pledge of loyalty before the press. Perhaps he's trying to get funding from the Bloomberg Foundation. Allah knows best. Mo needs mo’ integrity and humility. He is an opportunist who should be shunned and boycotted by our community until he makes tauba. Moe Razvi is a graduate of both the NYPD Citizens Academy and FBI Citizens Academy. I'm sure that looks impressive on his resume as he applies for certain jobs and grants.

                    Moe graduates

name: QAZI IMAM MOHD QAYYOOM

quote: " THEY (THE NYPD) ARE NOT TRYING TO HURT US. THESE PEOPLE (BOYCOTTERS OF THE BLOOMBERG BREAKFAST) IS A RADICAL MINDED PEOPLE IN [MY] BELIEF...MY FRIENDS AND RELATIVES AREN'T BOTHERED BY THE NYPD'S TACTICS. WE WERE USED TO MUCH WORSE IN OUR NATIVE COUNTRY. WHAT WE EXPERIENCE HERE IS FREEDOM."

COMMENTARY: He is the founder of the Muhammadi Community Center in Jackson  Heights, Queens. This is America brother, not Bangladesh or another country . We have our own history here and our own struggles, and the current one against the NYPD's unjust surveillance policy is part of an on-going one that has been occuring in NYC for several decades. If things are much better here in this country and in this city, it is because people have struggled for centuries against the forces of repression in this land, in order to make it possible for you and your relatives to come here and enjoy freedom. Are you aware that the struggle of African Americans to acheive the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965 opened the door to reformation of immigration laws, leading to the greatest mass migration of Muslims to a non-Muslim land (the USA) in history? How much do you know about the battles in court rooms, the street, schools, universities and houses of worship throughout the country in order to make laws just, and subject law enforcement authorities to laws that guard the rights of all citizens? How much do you know about the struggle right here in New York City? How much do you know about the struggles of the people aginst the NYPD? If you don't know much or anything, then with all due respect, neither you, nor Sheikh Drammeh (see below) , nor Mo, or others who share your ignorance (and by that I mean your lack of knowledge) and your view, are qualified to speak publicly on the issue. You should be quiet and listen, and do some reading and research, unstead of undermining the work of those of us who know better than you do. And you should be humble enough to acknowledge that we do.
name: SHEIKH MOUSSA DRAMME

quote: “ WE CAME TO SUPPORT OUR COMMISSIONER FOR THE WONDERFUL JOB HE HAS BEEN DOING…HE IS NOT HERE TO PLEASE EVERY MUSLIM, NOR IS HE HERE TO PLEASE EVERY NEW YORKER, BUT HIS RESPONSIBILITY IS TO PROTECT EVERY LIFE UNDER HIS COMMAND.”

COMMENTARY: Sheikh Drammeh is a perfect example of a good hearted, good spirited  brother who doesn’t know what the hell  he’s talking about ! He should refrain from making public statements about matters that he has no knowledge of. I wonder how he would feel if he learned that the children of his Islamic Leadership School (a fine institution which he leads admirably), and he as its head master, not to mention Masjid Al-Iman, had been under covert surveillance for 6 years or longer? How does he think the headmasters of other schools just like his, and other masaajid like the one he founded,  feel to learn that they have in fact been infiltrated and surveilled although they are no more guilty than he and the children he teaches? Sheikh Drammeh teaches his students about the importance of standing up for their rights as Americans. But when those of us whom he claims he respects does precisely that, he takes the side of those whom we are standing up against without even listening to both sides of the conflict. How does he justify that? He should ask himself those questions, and refrain from verifying his ignorance (i.e. lack of knowledge) of civil and human rights, and the struggle to assert them in America, beyond what is necessary to learn to pass a citizenship test..

Even worse though, brother Drammeh has gone way out on a limb, further than anyone else, in his defense of Ray Kelly's leadership. Don't read the following on an empty stomach :

http://muslimcommunityreport.com/2012/03/07/why-i-support-hon-raymond-kelly-the-new-york-city-police-commissioner-in-the-midst-of-these-media-frenzy-misinformation-hula-hubs-of-nypd-spying-on-us/

Sheikh  Drammeh is further reported by the press to have referred to Ray Kelly as "one of the most honorable public servants NYC has ever had.” How would he know? As President Abraham Lincoln once said “It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt. “ Drammeh has removed all doubt. He too should be shunned and boycotted until he makes tauba.

OTHERS ?

    There are other imams and individuals who have for years now been closely identified with the Mayor and Police Commissioner , but who have also had the wisdom to refrain from speaking critically of those of us who are fighting for justice on behalf of the Muslim masses in metropolitan New York. These brothers have been reserved in their public comments concerning the NYPD surveillance, and have refrained from declaring their allegiance to Pharaoh and his magician, even though they are not yet standing with our collective Moses presence. To them we say, preserve your credibility with Allah and with the people – both of whom are watching. A year from now Bloomberg will no longer be the mayor, and more likely than not Commissioner Kelly will be gone as well (that is to say, IF he lasts until the end of his term of service). We, the people and our bonafide leaders will still be here. And so will you. And Allah knows best.

Stand with Allah and the people, or be quiet and step aside, instead of trying to run interference for Pharoah and Haman. We don’t want for you to get hit by the friendly fire not of bullets, but of truth and justice, so don't run interference for Bloomberg or Kelly.

TO ALL MUSLIM OPPORTUNISTS:
 If you sell out the people you will be exposed and disgraced in this life and the next. Repent to Allah and apologize and make amends to the Muslims !

AND NOW A LAST WORD FROM OUR BROTHER WHOSE GREATNESS SURPASSES THAT OF ALL OF US:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znQe9nUKzvQ