Muslims V Muslims

Muslims V Muslims

Mike Ghouse, June 10, 2007

We must continuously remind ourselves that there are only a few organizations out there serving the Muslim community, indeed there is a paucity of them and it is our duty to support them. If we cannot support them, at least we should not pull any one down in the public. In the long run all of us will lose if we don't guard ourselves.

CAIR is usually the target, I have asked innumerable people and journalist to show me the proof for all the bad things they talk about CAIR, I am yet to see one. This has happened on open forums and some of the neo-con Websites as well.

A few days ago, I read similar disdainful write ups extending to ISNA and ICNA as well. Tomorrow, it would be you and I. If we give credibility to any one of these accusations without any proof, there will be no one left. This is the relentless strategy of the extremists of other kind; the neocons. They have succeeded in the Shia-Sunni divide in Iraq, in putting Iran against Saudi, and there is much more to come. The sad part is we are buying these instruments of mass deception. The Saudi's have let their clerics issue fatwas against Shia's and a very few have voiced against that. We at WMC (World Muslim Congress) have done our part in condemning such a Fatwa. If we do not wake up, the neocons will slice us in everywhich way.

Mistakes are made by all organizations, the bigger you are the more mistakes you are likely to make. Making mistakes is part of doing things as you will not make any mistake, if you don't do anything or if you are dead.

As Muslims we have to remember consistently when we say takbir, we are simply and clearly acknowledging that we are humble in the presence of almighty. Reciting Allahu Akbar ought to bring humility and not arrogance.

As far as CAIR representing Muslims in America, they do, so does ISNA and other organizations. One has to understand the system, no president or representative of the people was ever elected by 100% of the population. Only 30-40% of (searching for the accurate numbers) America votes, and that is shared by two parties, the libertarians and a few independents. My friends, that is representation in a democracy and we have to live with it.

Some of our organization chiefs get arrogant and consider the smaller ones as insignificant and meaningless, they need to be reminded privately that when we stand in prayers shoulder to shoulder, every one is on par. The pettiness on part of some of those organization has got to go. We have to support each Muslim organization for their contributions for creating a better society for one and all.

The big organizations like CAIR, ISNA and ICNA ought to consider reaching out and embracing all the organizations, no one should spend their energies in dismantling the other but building others.

May Allah guide us on the right path to be good to ourselves and good to all of Allah's creation.

Please feel free to forward this link: http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2007/06/muslim-v-muslims.html

Mike Ghouse
World Muslim Congress
www.WorldMuslimCongress.com

CAIR membership plummets

Membership in the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has declined more than 90 percent since the 2001 terrorist attacks, Audrey Hudson will report in Tuesday's editions of The Washington Times.

According to tax documents obtained by The Times, the number of reported members spiraled down from more than 29,000 in 2000 to less than 1,700 in 2006, a loss of membership that caused the Muslim rights group's annual income from dues to drop from $732,765 in 2000, when yearly dues cost $25, to $58,750 last year, when the group charged $35.

The organization instead is relying on about two dozen individual donors a year to contribute the majority of the money for CAIR's budget, which reached nearly $3 million last year.

Asked about the decline, Parvez Ahmed, CAIR board chairman, pointed to the number of individual donors to the organization.

"We are proud that our grass-roots support in the American Muslim community has allowed CAIR to grow from having eight chapters and offices in 2001 to having 33 today," Mr. Ahmed said.

The self-described civil liberties organization for Muslims seeks to portray "a positive image of Islam" through public relations and the media, but has instead alienated some by defending questionable accusations of discrimination.

Critics of the organization say they are not surprised membership is sagging, and that a recent decision by the Justice Department to name CAIR as "unindicted co-conspirators" in a federal case against another foundation charged with providing funds to a terrorist group could discourage new members.

M. Zuhdi Jasser, director of the American-Islamic Forum for Democracy, says the sharp decline in membership calls into question whether the organization speaks for 7 million American Muslims, as the group has claimed.

"This is the untold story in the myth that CAIR represents the American Muslim population. They only represent their membership and donors," Mr. Jasser said.

More details Tuesday, online and in print editions of The Washington Times.