My colleague Rabbi Larry Englander wrote regarding Muslim spokespeople:
most of these spokespeople are academics or heads of cultural organizations. Where are the Muslim clergy?
Rabbis Barry Block and Jeff Stiffman reported having dialogs and good relations with a local Imam. Debbie, also, welcomed a local Imam who joined the congregation on the Erev Shabbat immediately following September 11. And, a dialog has begun. It strikes me that Debbie's Imam was from India and Jeff's from the Sudan (on the edge of the Arab World). Is that significant - where are the Arab Muslims?
Rabbi Phil Bentley refers to renowned Muslim scholar (or "mullah" or "imam"? - is there a difference in Islam?) Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi who holds a position in Islam that Phil identifies as something like that of R. Moshe Feinstein for American Orthodox Jews. Sheikh al-Qaradawi says "Our hearts bleed for the attacks that has targeted the World Trade Center [WTC], as well as other institutions in the United States despite our strong oppositions to the American biased policy towards Israel on the military, political and economic fronts." and Phil adds the caution: "I know, I know - we don't want them to justify terrorism within Palestinian territory either."
This, of course, heightens the fear that Rabbi Melanie Aron raises of the Muslims (she does not specify whether or not they are "clergy") using the opportunity of "trialog" to call Israel a "Terrorist State". This looks like a new front, on which we need to be vigilant, a point that Rabbis Frank Sundheim and Fred Davidow have now made as well.
I have been reading the releases of the American Muslim Council (Towards the Political Empowerment of Muslims in America)
While I admit that I started monitoring the releases after September 20, I have not seen an unambiguous denunciation of the attacks of September 11. In addition, the release from October 11 regarding their board member Dr. Jamal Barzinji's presentation at the same conference at which Phil's Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi spoke seems sorely lacking. Of the 34 sentences of his speech, 2 mention the terrorist attacks:
Our American Muslim community has shared the terror, the sorrow and the grief with fellow Americans, in the loss of innocent lives. Hundreds of Muslims perished with the World Trade Center and Pentagon destruction.
The paragraph goes on for another five sentences to state how American Muslims were targeted as victims (without mentioning Sikhs) and ending:
American Muslims are now seen more clearly than ever as an integral part of the strength and heart of America.
The vast majority of his comments dealt with various permutations of this sentence.
As I posted in "An Online Primer On Islam"
Islamic Studies, Islam, Arabic, and Religion
A site, posted by a University of Georgia professor, which is "intended to be of use for students and teachers at all levels, as well for members of the general public who wish to get a non-polemical view of Islam (including Sunni Islam, Shi'ism, and Sufism) and to a lesser extent of Judaism and Christianity."
A quick check indicates that all those listed who condemn the terrorist attacks of September 11 are academics or "scholars" (except for "Rabbi" Michael Lerner!).
These comments make the struggle seem like a "religious" war between Islam on the one hand and Judaism and Christianity on the other.
And, this is certainly the way it seems when you read about Muslim leaders in the Middle East. Here's an article in the October 19 edition (20011019) Associated Press report on Excite:
Updated: Fri, Oct 19 1:21 PM EDTMideast Clerics Decry U.S.-Led War By ADNAN MALIK, Associated Press Writer
I have since learned from Rabbi Englander that, "subsequent to my posting (perhaps, to some degree, on account of it), there is now a meeting planned in Toronto between Jewish and Muslim leaders -- including Imams."
But, is this the way we have to define the situation?
See What Do We Mean By "Religious" Wars
Last modified 22 October, 2001.