AMA for Strategic Involvement of Muslim Youth

Davis, California: UC Davis students, commemorating Eid al Adha, “The feast of the sacrifice,” were urged by speakers to get more actively involved in civic events in an effort to silence the neo-con efforts to manipulate the Muslim American voice. Eid al Adha is the most important of the Muslim holidays. Muslims believe that the Eid calls the faithful to self-sacrifice for the good of helping the community and to seek greater spiritual depth. The gala dinner, attended by some 350 students and hosted by the UC Davis Muslim Student Association (MSA), included entertaining skits, speeches, and prayers. It was held on Friday, January 28, 2005 under the banner “Eid-Sacrificing for the Faith”.

Ali Ataie spoke about the common threads in all three Abrahamic faiths —Judaism, Christianity and Islam. He recalled the historic Muslim perspective of Prophet Jesus on sacrifice and resurrection. He cited chapter and verse of the Old Testament (the Torah), the New Testament and the Qur’an where all three agreed that spiritual discipline evolves from sacrifice. The key speaker for the evening, Hazem Kira, representing the American Muslim Alliance (AMA) reminded the audience of the duty of all Muslims to work in making the society around them better and more enriched through social and political activism. Kira, a former UCD graduate, spoke with a sense of urgency.

He cited various reports by the ultra-conservative Rand Corporation, which provide a blueprint on how to undermine the Muslim American community by playing a divide and rule game. “The ultimate assignment is to undermine the American Muslim community by undermining its primary values, its main ideas, its representative institutions and its primary modes of self–empowerment and self-representation,” Kira said, quoting author Tahir Ali’s analysis of the report entitled ‘Civil Democratic Islam: Partners, Resources, and Strategies’ by Cheryl Bernard. The neo-conservative movement, strengthened by a recent presidential victory, and a domination of both legislative houses —congress and senate — is eyeing the third branch of government.
According to Ali’s analysis they strategize to manipulate American Muslims as well as global Islam. In his article “Rand Robots…”Ali said neo-conservatives wish to bring about “internal wars” on a global level, hoping that Muslims killing Muslims in large numbers, can accomplish three goals: 1) recreation of Muslim societies in Western image, with or without democratic institutions, 2) long-term control over oil and policies toward Israel, and 3) reconstruction of Islam on Biblical model, reformation included. ”American Muslims must be aware of these realities…because these policies are being implemented as we speak by nefarious characters whose only objective is to undermine our rights, even if it means compromising constitutionally guaranteed civil rights.”
said Kira Kira, referencing Ali, also went into an outline describing how the strategy works: 1) “Support the modernists first, enhancing their vision of Islam over that of the traditionalists by providing them with a broad platform to articulate and disseminate their views.

They, not the traditionalists, should be cultivated and publicly presented as the face of contemporary Islam. 2) “Support the secularists on a case-by-case basis. 3) “Encourage secular civic and cultural institutions and programs. 4) “Back the traditionalists enough to keep them viable against the fundamentalists (if and wherever those are our choices) and to prevent a closer alliance between these two groups.

Three key factors are crystal clear about this report: 1) The author of this report, Bernard, seeks to redefineIslam, 2) find and promote Muslim leaders and intellectuals of their choice, and 3) involve Western governments in reorganizing and transforming Islam; by persuasion, when possible, and by force, when necessary. Notwithstanding the fact that this report clearly violates the First Amendment, since its publication in 2004, various groups and organizations have put Cheryl Bernard’s recommendations into action. By the end of the evening many in the audience agreed to volunteer to help with research and writing on behalf of the AMA.

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Editor: Akhtar M. Faruqui
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