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On March 21, over 150 federal agents raided the offices of several prominent Muslim organizations and the homes of some of the most respected members of the American Muslim community, located in Northern Virginia. For over 20 years, the Muslim leadership associated with the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), one of the targets of the raid, has been at the forefront of many progressive, moderate, intellectual and liberal initiatives taken by American Muslims.
The raids, according to authorities, are investigating alleged links between IIIT and terrorist organizations. No one has been arrested and no charges have been made yet. The terrorism task force is hoping it will find some evidence in the material, computers and files, it has confiscated from the Herndon offices of IIIT. The IIIT is a research institute that has invested two decades and millions of dollars in search of "the Islamic epistemology" - a magic wand that when discovered would instantly restore the lost glory of the Islamic civilization.
The raids on IIIT and the Graduate School of Islamic Social Sciences are an attack on the most moderate, most pro-American of Muslims. These raids have sent a shiver down the spine of the American Muslim community. If people like Dr Taha Al-alwani are also targets in the war on terrorism, then this war is indeed a war against Muslims and not terrorists.
In the last few months, the Bush administration has systematically disengaged itself from the American Muslim community. In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, President Bush was indeed heroic in making several statements, and appearances with Muslim leaders, to protect the civil rights, properties, businesses and places of worship of American Muslims.
Muslims recognize that if he had not been so supportive, the backlash against the community would have been very severe. But that was in 2001. Since the beginning of this year, the White House has become completely inaccessible to Muslims. Things are so bad that even public relations contacts, such as Eid celebration in the White House that were routine in the past, are now on hold. Even the American Muslim organizations that endorsed the candidacy of George Bush and campaigned for him in 2000 now have no access to their President.
One of the most debilitating effects of raids on moderate Muslim institutions is the power it gives to those conservative Muslims who are critical of the US and see the war on terror as essentially a global war on Islam. These raids weaken the position of moderate Muslims who are inviting the global Muslim community to do its best to undermine extremism and intolerance within the Muslim world.
This was supposed to be a war on
terrorists, the radical extremists who advocate violence against the US,
not against moderate Muslims who promote democracy, education and interfaith
relations. More and more Muslims are feeling that if moderate Muslims become
as much a target as extremists then perhaps the war on terror is slipping
into a war on American Muslims.
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