The Scorpion's Shadow - II

Friday, August 23, 2002
By: Tashbih Sayyed

Islamists want to prevent the democratic values from reaching the Muslim lands. They know that democracy will lay to waste centuries old work of the fundamentalist obscurantists by freeing the Muslim common person from the litralist despotism. To preempt the spread of democratic culture in Muslim countries, Islamists want to destroy the fountain head of freedoms - the United States of America. To achieve this objective, they had to do two things. First, set up their outposts inside the US. Second, establish themselves as the sole representatives of all the Muslim Americans. Such a mission needed a lot of money and the governments of countries as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Libya and others made sure that there was no shortage of that.
Muslim life revolves around a mosque and whoever controls a mosque controls the Muslim mind. Islamists, immediately embarked upon founding a number of mosques and Islamic centers all over the US. Common Muslims were unaware of Islamist agenda. They, on the contrary, felt a sense of gratitude toward these mosque builders. Islamists, after founding the mosques and Islamic centers did not hand them over to the community but retained the control over them.

The physical control of the religious centers placed the Islamists in a unique position of power. They were now not only controlling the lives of the innocent Muslims but were also presenting themselves before the democratic institutions of the US as the sole representatives of the whole Muslim community. In order to perpetuate themselves in an unassailable position of political, religious and cultural power, the Islamists connected all the Islamic centers in a nationwide network. This arrangement made it impossible for any non-Islamist to establish his or her mosque or Islamic center. Such a mosque could not get support of any kind from anywhere. Every one had to seek 'religious Mafia's protection and blessings.

By virtue of their physical control over mosques and Islamic centers, Islamists started to assume the political, cultural and social leadership. Common Muslims did not object. They were under too much obligation to object at anything. They were coming in ever increasing numbers to offer their prayers and listen to the sermons and speeches given by the Islamist leaders. The Islamists controlled the pulpit too. Islamists used the growing attendance of unsuspecting Muslim worshippers at their Islamic centers to intimidate the American democratic system into believing that the whole Muslim community of America is behind them. Before anybody could realize, these Islamist "leaders" taking advantage of American freedoms were pushing their agendas. Islamists were using the mosques and Islamic centers to maintain their control over the minds of American Muslims. Islamic centers had become a place from where Islamist were to launch their offensive against American freedoms.

Muslims by attending Islamists controlled mosques and Islamic centers, were inadvertently becoming a party to an extremist agenda. They did not know that Islamists wanted to destroy a country that has given them the second chance to live like a dignified and honorable human being. The subtle and indirect sermons attacking the American values were poisoning the common Muslim minds. Without knowing, they were finding themselves in agreement with Islamists terrorist program. Unconsciously, they had started feeling the bitterness, unique to Islamism, toward the civilized values as represented by the US.

It is not that all the Muslims were so naive to follow this green Pied Piper, but Islamists had taken care of them. Islamists fascist propaganda machine believes in discrediting all their opponents of any credibility before they even open their mouths. Still there remained quite a few who took it upon themselves to warn the Muslim community in particular and the world in general of the Islamist's Nazi designs. Islamists are aware of these moderate Muslims. They have already taken steps to isolate them. By launching a campaign of character assassination of moderate Muslims they insulate the common Muslims from their warnings. Islamists total control over mosques and Islamic centers has given them such a power that can easily muzzle any voice and kill any opponents' chances of surviving in a Muslim community. They have successfully established a totalitarian Islamic state within the most democratic state of the US.

Islamists know that without muzzling the moderate Muslim voices they can never succeed in destroying the United States of America. Moderate Muslims have no place to go but the US. Defense of truly pluralistic society is a matter of life and death for the moderates. Islamists know that at this stage, at least, the majority of Muslim Americans do not share in their hatred for American freedoms. That's why they want to eliminate this element of moderation from the Muslim community in the US. They want to make sure that the whole Muslim American community is with them.

To force the normal Muslim Americans into joining their camp, the Islamist radicals have been running a campaign in many directions. First, Muslims are being told that the Jews control the US government and they have decided to turn them (Muslims) into a second class citizen. The Muslims are being scared into believing that they do not have any option but to join the 'Islamic' organizations and groups who claim to be fighting for the Muslim's civil rights. Otherwise when the US government will come after them and incarcerate them in concentration camps, Islamists will not come to their rescue. The Islamist organizations championing the cause of Muslim civil liberties will not fight for their rights. Islamist are working hard on establishing a bogey that the United States of America is an enemy of Islam and is not as democratic, pluralistic and tolerant as perceived.

Following their plan to disrupt the life here in the US, Islamists look for opportunities to create chaos. They object at the established rules in the US work places. They want the employers to allow the fundamentalist Islamist culture in their organizations. They incite the Muslims to resist the age old American working traditions. Instead of helping the Muslims to adapt to the new life, Islamists want them to continue in their old irresponsible ways. They are urged to reject the rules under which an American worker performs. Since most of the Muslims come from societies where there is no respect for rules, where there is no discipline and where the laws are made to be broken, they do not find anything strange in Islamists tactics.

People in the US have come from all corners of this globe. They belong to different faiths, different races and different colors. No body stares at any one just because he is different. Everyone who comes here instantly becomes one of the Americans. This is the beauty of this nation. There is unity in diversity. Islamists do not respect this basic American virtue. They do not want Muslims to become part of one American nation. They want them to stick out as a sore thumb. They want Americans to look at Muslims as somebody not American. Before Islamists brought their divisive tactics in the US, no body took notice who belonged to which faith. Now every time a Muslim appears on the scene, people look at him or her with new found inquisitiveness. The moderate Muslims that I have talked with have expressed their frustration on such Islamist tactics. They say that Islamists want to divide the one American nation into groups based on religions to start a civil strife and communal discord as it exists in all Muslim countries.

In a polarized American society, it will be easy for the Islamists to achieve their goal. It will create a sense of insecurity among Muslims. To make the Muslims feel insecure in America and to force them to join the radical Islamist groups, a deliberate attempt is being made by Islamists to drive a wedge between Muslims and non Muslims. Innocent incidents are being turned into events that cause non-Muslims to dislike Muslims. The non-Muslims are intentionally made to hate Muslims. Situations are being created under which a non Muslim is made to think that Islam is not a peaceful religion and Muslims are not law abiding citizens.
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