Is the Muslim Journal and its editor supportive of the direction that Imam Mohammed was leading this community in?

WITH G-D’S NAME THE MERCIFUL BENEFACTOR, THE MERCIFUL REDEEMER

December 9, 2008

IS THE MUSLIM JOURNAL AND ITS EDITOR SUPPORTIVE OF THE DIRECTION THAT IMAM MOHAMMED WAS LEADING THIS COMMUNITY IN?

When the blind lead the blind they both fall in the ditch

Before writing this article I want to make one thing perfectly clear and that is, I am not trying to hurt a decent human being nor launch a personal attack on anyone, but instead am attempting to show that this individual in question, though very nice as a person, has demonstrated and is demonstrating by her own words that she is not up to the test nor is she qualified for the challenge facing her since the death of Imam W. D. Mohammed. The reason that it is imperative to point these flaws out to our Muslim Community is Ayesha Mustafaa is not just another Muslim sister in our community, she is perhaps, by title and responsibility at this time, the most important sister in this community because she has the unique responsibility and obligation of keeping the members of this world wide community informed. When or if her vision becomes cloudy the entire community suffers.

Therefore, if those of you who read this article are strong enough to separate yourself from a personal sympathetic attachment to the individual who we are compelled to focus on and not see this as some personal attack or attempt to hurt this individual and see this effort as an objective effort to point out a serious problem in this person’s professional skills and services to our Muslim community, we can make some progress in moving our community forward.

I have taken this route because formerly when I attempted to rationally communicate a professional criticism with this person on a serious community concern, the only response I was able to get back was an emotionally charged child like outburst.

Some Muslims who made the transition from the old Nation of Islam might remember “The Supreme Minister”, Wallace Mohammed attempting to explain this type of Dilemma using the idea of eating Chocolate Candy. The Chief, as we affectionately called him at that time, said that when you see a person that you love is eating too much sweets and you have to communicate to them that they are hurting their health by doing so, it becomes extremely hard when the person can’t rise above their love for chocolate candy and see that what you are attempting to do is save them from ruining their health and getting very sick and they only see that you are denying them from eating chocolate candy.

This is the case of our Community newspaper the Muslim Journal and its editor Ayesha Mustafaa. For some strange reason our editor is blind or indifferent to the serious and critical responsibility put before her as the editor of our paper and becomes offended whenever one writes or puts to her a challenge bigger than she has the strength, capacity or willingness to tackle. Consequently our community suffers and is fed watered down, overly censored stale mediocre information and denied the hard hitting challenging issues that affect and impact this community’s vital survival and existence.

Case in point: The following are the words of an educated, skilled experienced journalist who is the editor of our Newspaper the Muslim Journal. Sister Ayesha is addressing the information that I personally have published on my website Family Siddeeq.

Sent: Thursday, December 4, 2008 2:09:39 PM
Subject: Re: Fw: Family Siddeeq

In my 34 years of being in this community and in Chicago, I have not seen anything that hurt the “character of Imam W. Deen Mohammed” more than these (Family Siddeeq) emails. Ayesha K. Mustafaa

These are some very powerful words coming from an experienced educated editor of a national newspaper. In my 34 years of being in this community and in Chicago, I have not seen anything that hurt the “character of Imam W. Deen Mohammed” more than these emails. Ayesha K. Mustafaa

Before going any further it is incumbent upon me to make clear that I am not above being criticized or condemned for the writings or opinions that I express publicly. However, I do believe that I have the right to expect that my criticism be correct and accurate and not empty emotional rhetoric.

Time nor space allows me to reprint the writings that Sister Ayesha was referring to but for those readers who would like to review all of those articles to see if there is any truth or accuracy in the words of our Editor you may do so by visiting, siddeeq.com

To some people, they are saying, this is a lot about nothing, but the wise will see that this is a major indictment against Ayesha Mustafaa and begs the question “IS SHE QUALIFIED AS A JOURNALIST TO BE THE CHIEF SOURCE OF NEWS AND INFORMATION FOR THE FOLLOWERS OF IMAM W. D. MOHAMMED?”

In an article entitled, Essential Qualifications Of A Good Journalist, written by R. Jackson on April 28, 2007 for Journalist network, Mr. Jackson states:

(A good journalist must have) a sense of ethics and accuracy.

Great writers choose their words carefully, always ensuring their work is both accurate and meets ethical standards, whether personal or those of the organization the piece is for.

I am sure that this is not a revelation to any Muslim nevertheless the one trained and endowed with over 30 years of journalistic experience and skills and now is the editor of the Muslim Journal newspaper. This may not be the first misrepresentation she has ever been guilty of but it certainly is one of the biggest ones and most serious one.

I do not say these words because her subtle attack is on me and my family but because it is totally false. For an educated, experienced journalist to write such words when nothing in our writings even suggest any disrespect or attack on Imam Mohammed but instead have been a steady flow of energy defending and attempting to set right the injustices heaped upon him after his death. Then for the editor of the Muslim Journal who has not defended the good name or work of Imam Mohammed when others have attacked and maligned him, to have the audacity to fabricate such a total inaccurate statement of the truth, we are in serious trouble. This is Allah showing us that this lady who is the “guiding light” of this community will stoop to any depths to attack someone she does not like or disagrees with. This then translates into the fact that this person does not function using Islamic or honorable principles to see and understand or interpret a situation, but uses her own “understanding” which Imam Mohammed cautioned us to avoid.

With the above in mind I personally challenge this confused lady to a public discussion on her intentional misrepresentation of what I have and am publishing on “Family Siddeeq”. I don’t believe she has the courage or ability to accept my challenge but for the sake of this community I repeat; how can we hope to stay properly informed when the one who is informing us is either too prejudice, afraid or incompetent to fulfill that role.

“WHEN THE BLIND LEAD THE BLIND THEY BOTH FALL IN THE DITCH”

Muhammad Siddeeq