CAIR: Civil Rights Champions or Oppressors of Free Expression

When I was growing up, my parents spoke of the Ummah. Perhaps it was my inexperience with the world outside our home or just a youthful imagination, but somehow I interpreted their description of it into this mythical land in Islam where there was harmony and every being was graced by the love and mercy of Allah (swt).

After I graduated High School, my world expanded. I have discovered the Ummah is not a place of harmony but of conflict. There is divisiveness and discord that never occurred in my home growing up. Yes, we had disagreements about ordinary things, but never about Islam. On Islam there was always agreement; Allah (swt) is a Just and Merciful God with a boundless capacity for forgiveness.

Since I graduated from private school and started taking college classes, I’ve been exposed to a larger world. A world far different than the one I envisioned when I was growing up. In the real world there are those who don’t view men and women as equals. There are those who view people of different races, religion or social economic backgrounds as less than them.

Until recently, I knew nothing about CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations) other than it existed.

I never gave it much thought beyond that until March when I was on Twitter and witnessed the bullying event described in my first blog post. After that, I was prepared to dismiss the CAIR masses as a bunch of egomaniacal bullies out to force their opinions down everyone’s throat. Like the Muslim Brotherhood and other supremacist organizations. This assessment was solidified in my mind when I tested the waters with my father and mentioned CAIR in passing. The first time I brought it up, all he said was, “They’re dirt.”

It wasn’t the first time I had heard him say that about a person or organization but it somehow always surprised me. Before he took the parental controls off our computer and cautioned me about sharing to much personal information with strangers; he would describe people as ignorant or confused about Islam or America and the liberties afforded us in the west but his criticism always came from a place of compassion and he urged forgiveness because only Allah (swt) knows what was truly in their hearts.

“And Allah invites to the Home of Peace and guides whom He wills to a straight path” (10:25)

"Show forgiveness, enjoin what is good, and turn away from the foolish." (i.e. don't punish them) (7:199)

"And remove the fury in the believers' hearts. And Allah turns in forgiveness to whom He wills; and Allah is Knowing and Wise." (9:15)

I was nine years old when we were attacked on 9/11. I asked my father if it was true that the attackers were Muslim, he said they thought they were but were wrong because they didn’t understand Islam.

Things started to change when I left the familiar security of a private school. Over that first summer, I had more time to myself and started going out into the world more and more on my own, choosing my own books to read (not just books assigned in school or ones my father gave me) watching more TV, etc. he warned me that there were people who he called “dirt.” They were people who had no morals. People who only wanted to take from trusting people and the community who would not give back. He again cautioned me about sharing personal information. He has used the word “dirt” many times since then to explain people or organizations that clearly upset him Ahmadinejad, Bridget Gabriel, almost anyone in the GOP, convicts on MSNBC’s “Lock-up” or men on “To Catch a Predator” (two shows I never watched before graduating and don’t watch when Father is home) and others. I accepted his explanation and went about my business as I’ve always done. However, my new independent access to forums like Twitter gives me often contradictory information on many controversial subjects. So, as I continue to sift through a seemingly endless supply of information and misinformation I have found it difficult to draw and maintain any concrete conclusions on my own.

Part of the problem is researching through mainstream media. There doesn’t appear to be an equal balance in reporting from trusted mainstream news outlets on this organization’s activities.  Most of the negative reporting comes from highly suspect right wing organizations like Jihad Watch, Muslim Media Watch or overt bigots like Pam Geller or Bridget Gabriel. The few sources that are not blatantly right wing or bigoted still present highly subjective stories loaded with conjecture. Much the same way CAIR approaches stories about their detractors. Let’s be honest they use the words Islamaphobe, Zionist, racist and bigot quite liberally.

There are however, questions that cannot be ignored that CAIR has yet to satisfactorily put to rest…Holy Land Foundation being chief among them. But there’s also:

·         Did Siraj Wahhaj conspire to blow up New York City monuments or is he "one of the most respected Muslim leaders in America" as CAIR described him when they included him on its advisory board?

·         CAIR defamed Muslims Hisham Kabbani and Khalid Durán. Is CAIR responsible for the death threats that resulted from that defamation?

·         Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman was convicted for conspiring to blow up New York City landmarks, including the Lincoln and Holland tunnels in 1995. How can CAIR justify calling the conviction a "hate crime" against Muslims?

·         Why do CAIR Representatives refuse to outright condemn Islamic terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah.

·         Does CAIR “effectively give aid to international terrorist groups” as claimed by former FBI assistant director and chief of the FBI’s counterterrorism section, Steven Pomerantz, once charged?

·         Does CAIR effectively have the right to speak in the name of the Muslim community given the number of Muslims who disagree with them?

I don’t know if CAIR is a Front Group for Hamas as many claim and point to The Holy Land Foundation as proof. I don’t know if it’s sincere in its claim to want open dialog with non-Muslims “to promote justice and mutual understanding,” or enhance understanding of Islam, promoting justice and empowering American Muslims in an effort to protect Civil Rights.

Here’s what I do know:

I have yet to hear satisfactory justification for the attacks made against the group of Muslims who stood up in support of the New York Police Department in March. They’ve thrown lot of slurs around but have yet to provide a substantive rebuttal to the issues raised that day. Hardly what I expect from an organization that says it wants to empower American Muslims. And not what I was taught was appropriate behavior for Muslims.

"He who does not show mercy to others will not be shown mercy" Prophet Mohamed (sws)

It is better to forgive than to attack.

What I am left with is more questions:

·         Is it fair to judge an entire organization based on the actions of a few?

·         Should and organization priding itself on “empowering American Muslims” allow this type of un-Islamic behavior to continue unchecked by its employees and associates?