Isil’s British convert brings to mind this letter to Muslims in the West

RASHMEE ROSHAN LALL January 6, 2016

western muslims

Now that the main suspect in Isil’s latest propaganda video is thought to be British convert to Islam Siddhartha Dhar (Abu Rumaysah), Haroon Moghul’s letter to a young Muslim in the West comes to mind.

Mr Moghul addressed his fellow 30 million Western Muslims, spread out across Europe (excluding Russia), the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

He lamented that Western Muslims were caught between two competing forces – jihadist movements and anti-Muslim bigotry.

Things might get worse on both counts, he acknowledged, but “God does not change the condition of a people until they change themselves.”

“Though we had every reason to speak out, we have barely begun to come together,” he said, lamenting that “we have little to no relevance outside national security”.

He suggested the following:

  • answer ‘yes’ if people ask you, “Are you Muslim or are you American?” (or some such question.)
  • do not say ‘Islam is a religion of peace’ if people ask whether you condemn terrorism.
  • To speak truth to power, you need power.
  • Political Islam, while a dead-end for much of the Muslim world, would be still worse for Western Islam.