A dialogue on Islamic leadership, accountability and justice

WITH ALLAH’S NAME THE MERCIFUL BENEFACTOR, THE MERCIFUL REDEEMER

Dec. 25, 2011

WHAT SHOULD BE THIS COMMUNITY’S NUMBER ONE PRIORITY?

I believe it was in the mid sixties when a brother came to the home of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and was trying to get him to give him a name for his fish business that he was preparing to open up in his city. The brother shared with Mr. Muhammad some of the names he was considering such as El this and El that with Arabic roots and he asked the Honorable Elijah Muhammad what he thought. The honorable Elijah Muhammad just looked across the table at the brother and said, “Why not call it “Fish Market” brother?” He then went on with the business at hand for the rest of his guests. I cite this incident to make the point that while many people have a tendency to beat around the bush dealing with unessentials, men with vision and a purpose go directly to the point and do not waste precious time on triviality or unimportant concerns.

In my opinion it is the focusing on things that did not have a high priority under the leadership of Imam Mohammed that has got this community going around in circles.

Having recognized this, I decided to write the newly selected “COMMUNITY OR COUNTRY WIDE CONVENER OF IMAMS” AN OPEN LETTER AND I HAVE ENCLOSED SAID LETTER AT THIS TIME:

WITH ALLAH’S NAME THE MERCIFUL BENEFACTOR THE MERCIFUL REDEEMER
WE MUST REGAIN THE TRUST….
MAKE IMAM MOHAMMED’S WORD BOND

October 25, 2011

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE NEWLY SELECTED
COMMUNITY WIDE (NOT NATIONAL)
CONVENER OF IMAMS
IMAM BASHIR ALI.

WITH ALLAH’S NAME THE MERCIFUL BENEFACTOR, THE MERCIFUL REDEEMER

PLEASE CONSIDER THIS FOR AN AGENDA ITEM AT YOUR FIRST IMAM’S MEETING

Dear Imam Ali,

Congratulations on being selected the new convener for the Imams following Imam W. D. Mohammed, I’m sure that you will do an excellent job and you have my support in pursuing that objective.

Having said that let’s get down to business. As you most likely know that our association is slowly coming apart and needs urgent and immediate care if we are to survive as a community reflecting the goals and objectives of Imam W. D. Mohammed. For example in Chicago alone:

• Middle east type dictated Bogarted leadership
• Two conventions.
• Four separate Eid’s
• First Sunday almost dead
• No financial transparency or accountability
• Tough guy goon squads on the loose
• And the list goes on and on

HOW DO WE, THE IMAMS WHO FOLLOW THE LEADERSHIP OF IMAM W. D. MOHAMMED ESTABLISH A CREDITABLE AGENDA TO COLLECTIVELY PURSUE, COMMUNITY WIDE (not nationally), WHILE WE SIMULTANEOUSLY ADMINISTER OVER OUR LOCAL PROGRAMS IN OUR VARIOUS CITIES?

To attempt to answer this question generally we have to assess what we know and what we do not know concerning all of the events surrounding and following the death of Imam Mohammed. (who, what, when, where, why, and how) An investigative committee needs to be assigned and given the task to research and report back in 90 days or so as to what they discovered or learned.

To attempt to find the answer to this question programmatically we must ask:
What was Imam Mohammed committed to ?
a) daily
b) weekly
c) monthly
d) annually
e) special occasions only

Once we answer these questions then we should organize to make the word of the Imam “BOND”. If he put his word out to the believers that he would safe guard their investments in CPC, GROUP VOLUME BUY and SALAAM NUTRITION, then we should organize to make sure that his word is kept and no matter how long it takes us to fulfill his promise to the investors in these programs, we should let them know that we will make their investments and trust of the Imam our number one priority and we will rally the entire community to come together to stand behind the promise of Imam Mohammed to those believers who trusted him and invested their hard earned money in his vision for economic success, security and prosperity.

Brother Muhammad Siddeeq

This letter was followed up with a Midwest conference call and a request was given to Imam Bashir Ali to bring this concern to the Community Wide meeting of Imams at their next gathering in Washington, D.C. When Imam Bashir returned I contacted him and we spoke on the phone and he assured me that he called this concern to the attention of the Imams in D. C. and that we would have further discussion on these concerns in our next Midwest conference call in the early part of January. So the ball is now in the court of the “leadership” of this community and we are anxious to see how they will respond.

The enthusiasm that the students, Imams, friends and associates of Imam Mohammed are exhibiting on and via of the internet is incredibly wonderful but in my opinion would be more effective if we could resolve and support the number one prime priorities of Imam Mohammed first and bring it to the conscience of the world first before sharing and publishing all of the wonderful things that he shared with us–having put his priorities in motion first. There also exists a need for sensitivity to history and chronology so that those who read these wonderful teachings that are proliferating the internet may gain a sense of why Imam Mohammed said or did certain things at a particular time and never revisited that same thing at a later time. Absent this understanding or knowledge, one could tend to take a statement that Imam made in 1975 to aid our gradual transition from the Nation of Islam teaching into the pure teaching of the Qur’an and arrive at the confused and erroneous disposition of some the stony-hearted Immigrant and misguided Muslims who would rather ignore the challenge that Imam had to undertake to achieve the great goal that he undertook and thereby label him an enemy to Islam than to see and accept his wise strategy of gradualism that was successful.

All of this confusion and lack of unity of purpose that we are encumbered with today, in my humble opinion, is directly the fault of the Imams and the Newspaper of this community because they have all been so busy with their excellent talents, abilities, and grasps on the teaching that they saw no need to sit down with each other and come out of that meeting with a single goal based on THE NUMBER ONE PRIORITY OR PRIORITIES OF IMAM W. D. MOHAMMED FOR THEIR COLLECTIVE FOCUS AND OBJECTIVE. Instead they chose to become mavericks, in search of fulfilling their own great destiny, and not seeing the value and need to hit this society with one major focus coming from the Journal, the Imams and the believers championing the NUMBER ONE PRIORITY OF IMAM W. D. MOHAMMED. When have you seen a protracted effort via of an article or series of articles in the Journal calling on those who have taken charge of CPC or Group Volume Buy, the Community Center, etc., to come forward and give this community some facts and information of the status of these programs? When have you seen the popular Imams who get your invitations and honorariums offer a whole Khutbah or lecture series on the need for those who hold these programs in their control to come sit down and resolve this stalemate that has so many believers in a financial strain or dilemma?

The problem that the Journal is facing, that The Mosque Cares in facing and many of the Centers and Masjid’s (Masajid) are facing could be solved overnight if the believers would see this kind of unity, devotion and concern toward the number one priority of their leader Imam Mohammed lifted up and be given total support and concern from the “so-called leadership” of this community. (How to reach the masses, Jesus gave the key, if I be lifted up from the earth I will draw all men unto me) But when they look around and they see from the Imams and the Journal no support for the Imam’s wife, no support for the dedicated Muslims who put large sums of money up for CPC, no support for the dedicated Muslims who put their savings and trust in the Group Volume Buy and Salaam Nutrition and the Ansari fund. Then, they hear about Muslims who were allegedly ripped off in Oklahoma trusting and trying to support Muslims who claim that they could be trusted and all the while there is not one peep from the Muslim Journal standing up for all of these people. Well over a million dollars or more collectively has been taken from the innocent and trusting believers and not one Imam has had the courage to stand up and champion the cause of these believers. Not one article has been published in the Muslim Journal calling for justice for any of those mentioned above, and the trust has been utterly destroyed. So the believers may not have a way to speak out in a public forum but they have voted with their spirit and their pocketbooks, they have voted with their Zakat, they have voted with their trust; and in the future if we do not rise to change this situation they will totally withhold their support.

Well, today we have a new convener leadership in front of the Imams and if this new young and brilliant Imam continues to demonstrate the commitment that he has shown in the past and not buckle under democratic process and legitimate criticism as the former convener did we may be able to get these healthy concerns before the country wide Imams and the community and entertain an intelligent discussion on how we can positively change the negative direction of this community that has a sacred and noble mission from G-D to fulfill.

As-Salaamu-Alaikum
Brother Muhammad Siddeeq

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