Do American Muslim immigrants have any idea of the pain and trauma they cause Muslim converts by racism?

If you don’t know, it’s then it’s unfortunate, may Allah open your eyes. If you know, yet prefer to remain in denial, then Allah has blinded you to the truth, if you know, and can see it right before your eyes, but choose to do nothing, say nothing, but still demand that America respects you, accepts you as an equal, then you do not know America at all.

There are good, God fearing, socially conscious people in this land. I do not believe that our country will ever fully accept a Muslim America headed by arrogant, racist, leaders who champion civil rights but deny black Muslims the dignity that the demand for themselves.

The American Muslim convert community has been nearly completely overrun, marginalized, and left to die out by America’s immigrant Muslim Communíty. This is one of the greatest injustices of our time. Do you have any idea of how it feels to American Muslim converts to know that we have to fight racism and marginalization from the very Muslims that we’ve helped pave the way for through our blood, our sacrifice, and our struggle to uphold and spread this religion?

Do you know that Islam is the only religion in America where people can honestly say that they get treated better, and with more respect walking into a church, than walking into a million dollar Masjid? Too many Muslims have sacrificed, suffered, and endured the hardship of being Black and being Muslim, for too many years, for our whole memory to be washed away.

If the voices of the Black Muslim and Convert community  vare going to be muffled, and if our relevance as a convert community that Allah has personally guided to Islam is going to be dismissed simply because most of us are black, then know that by Allah, and may He be my witness, we are not going down without a fight.

Black Muslims have been on this continent before we became a republic. Despite being stripped of our languages, our identity, our knowledge of our history, our heritage, and our religion, they could not take our faith and belief in the One God. We still held on to Allah sub’haanahu wa ta’ala, and He gave us back Islam, and we are still holding on to His rope as you read this.

We will never let go of our faith. Even amongst the thousands of Muslim converts who all but abandoned Islam  because of racism, sectarianism, and rejection by the immigrant community, the belief that there is no God but Allah is still resting in their hearts. No amount of oppression will take that away. It is Allah’s divine gift to us, and He knows this situation better than we know it ourselves.

We have been fighting racism on this land for 400 years. If we have to keep on fighting it in 2018, within our own faith, in our own country,  and from the Muslim immigrants whom we will still love, in the land that we slaved for and helped build with our bare hands, then know that even though it hurts us, because we love Islam, and we love Muslims,  we will still resist.

If i was tasked with taking up this cause alone, I certainly would do it because I am fearful of what He would do with me if I turned my back on it, and because I am in need of Allah’s mercy and forgiveness more then anyone else I know. Allah commanded me to step forward, despite my insisting to Him  day after day, and night after night that I am not worthy. However Allah has indicated to me that help will come, and that there are people who are already inspired and waiting to support this cause, and that I will not be alone. But He stipulated that I have to put myself out there first. Y’all know how Allah is always testing folks. (Lol).

So I asked al-Rah’masn be He Exalted and Glorified, can I be myself, the one with faults, sins, and defects, or do I have to pretend that I am a sanctified holy shaykh or Imam. Al-humdu lillah, He said, that He already knows who I am, ( And indeed We have created man, and We know whatever thoughts his inner self develops, and We are closer to him than (his) jugular vein.” (Quran 50:16).) He also said that my good deeds will erase my bad deeds. A man kissed a woman (unlawfully) and then went to the Prophet and informed him. Allah revealed: “And offer prayers perfectly At the two ends of the day And in some hours of the night. Verily! good deeds remove (annul) the evil deeds (small sins)” (11.114). The man asked Allah’s Apostle, “Is it for me?” He said, “It is for all my followers.”

So, with Allah’s help, we will mount a moral and dignified resistance to being conquered, overran, and dismissed and marginalized by the very people that our country, the country we helped build, opened its doors to, and whom Allah allowed to prosper on His land. And before we invoke the du’aa of the oppressed, for which there is no barrier between it and Allah, we shall appeal to the faith, and moral conscience of Muslim America.

Iis not permissible for Muslims to allow another group of Muslims, to pounce upon them like conquerers, using their money, influence and education to marginalize them. Thank God this is America, and al-humdu lillah, Allah is watching, and knowing, and has the power over all things. I trust Him that He will make an opening for us.

I recently started an organization, Mosque Without Borders    so that I can fulfill this responsibility. I have nothing to fight with right now except my voice, my key board, and my love for Islam, feel free to donate . If your heart tells you to stay away from it then stay away because it means you’re not invited. If your heart tells you that this is right, then donate if you can or email me, tell me who you are and what you can offer, and I’ll tell you how you can help.

This in house fight we are about to have in Muslim America, has nothing to do with our government, nothing to do with islsmophobes, with my fellow countrymen who are not Muslim (although you do not have to be a Muslim to donate or support), and it has nothing to do with the media, fighting islamophobia, breaking any laws of these United States, or trying to destroy anything that we have built. It does not have to be a cantankerous exchange. I will not mention anyone’s name, disparage anyone’s character or reputation, and I will not reveal anything that as an Imam for twenty years, I am sworn to keep private. But it’s not going to be a kitty spat either. So there you have it. Keep us in your du’aa, wal Allahu al-Musts’aan.

Lastly, yes, I am an American Imam, and when the weak and the marginalized of our communities cry out. I listen and pay attention. Read the following from an American Muslim convert, and know that I have a thousand just like it in my inbox.

“As a black american single head of a household of four children, I find your article very accurate. I have attended the local masjid and have never felt so alienated in my entire adult life. The traditional Muslim women indeed acted as if they were superior in every form and fashion. For example, the ladies of the masjid were once cooking a meal, one sister grabbed the knife and vegetables from me saying that I did not know how to cut the vegetables properly. I was appalled. She mentioned that Americans had everything cut up for them and I could not possibly know what I was doing. It took all of my faith not to slap the mess out of her. I have lived some 42 years in America as a black woman and have come from a farm to a ghetto where we cut up everything, from vegetables to people!!! So I totally agree with addressing the racism that exist amongst Muslims as a whole. I am tired of some well meaning sister telling me about Islam based on a cultural upbringing that has no rationale or legitimacy in relation to the Quran or hadiths. I may be a new Muslimah, but I have learned to stand my ground when things do not add up. Thanks for the article.”

Jazaaka Allahu khairan, thanks for you support. Imam Abu Laith Luqman Ahmad

imamabulaith@yahoo.com, , http://www.mosquewithoutbrders.org

Right now we need, funds, IT people, graphic designers, video folks,  office space, and more funds. Please no not contact me if you are not prepared to get to work right away.