Peter King’s hearing: The way forward for the Muslim Americans

By now, a lot has already been written and said against Rep. Peter King’s notorious, discriminatory and un-American congressional hearing entitled “The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and that Community's Response." I am not going to repeat it. 

What I want us to do instead is focusing on what have we gained from the hearing and where do we go from here. 

The array of witnesses that King presented on March 10 has already backfired on his very core claim of the non-cooperation of Muslim Americans in confronting extremist terrorism. Rep. Keith Ellison set the tone of the hearing when he broke into tears while telling the story of Salman Hamdani, a 23-year-old Muslim American paramedic of Pakistani origin, who lost his life in saving his fellow Americans on 9/11. Another witness Sheriff Lee Baca of Los Angeles, CA, also testified over and over during the hearing that in his jurisdiction Muslim community and Muslim organizations including local chapter of CAIR cooperates significantly in identifying and combating any radical element in the community. 

During the hearing, disputed and infamous Muslim, so-called expert Zuhdi Jasser uselessly tried marketing himself as the best Muslim brain in the U.S. The more he talked; the more he lost. Not only he was challenged by several U.S. congress representatives up front, but he has been also proven wrong by several journalists, reporters, researchers and professionals all over the country afterward. However, the best answer to his false claims came from the former president of Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), Dr. Ingrid Mattson.

Dr. Mattson writes in her testimony published in Huffington Post: “In addition to my individual efforts, I was able to work with other leaders at ISNA and with other American Muslim organizations, like the Muslim Public Affairs Council and Muslim Advocates to organize dozens of conferences, panels, educational forums and meetings to address these issues with the greater Muslim community. We issued fatwas and statements condemning terrorism and lately, realizing the danger of the new phenomena of internet recruiting, have developed videos and other materials to counter the terrorists' message…The reality is that all of the recommendations Peter King's witness Zuhdi Jasser made today have already been done by Muslim American organizations.”       

This is exactly what King, Jasser and all fellow Americans need to be told over and over. 

Throughout the last decade, when King was supporting terrorism elsewhere, when Jasser was simply stepping up the ladder of fame by bashing Islam and Muslims on Fox News and at other places, the Muslim community was actually addressing the issue of radicalization professionally. We are proud to have mothers and sisters like Dr. Mattson, Maha Elgenaidi, Farhana Khera, Zahra Billoo and many others who took it upon themselves and have worked tirelessly to make sure that ALL types of terrorism be stopped and nipped in the bud. The list of Muslim fathers, brothers and organizations is way too long to be mentioned here in this blog.  

We did not do it for the sake of The Department of Homeland Security or FBI or any other agency. Instead, we did it for the sake of our God, the Lord of the Universe.

Yes, we did it, because our Islamic faith guided us to do so. Verse 32 of Chapter 5 in the Holy Quran tells us that slaying one innocent person equals slaying all of humanity and that saving of one person equals the saving of entire humanity. There are several verses like this in the holy book and numerous sayings of the blessed Prophet Muhammad supporting the same message. 

We did it, because we condemn all kinds of terrorism. We did it because we believe in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We did it, because America is our home and we care about all of our family members regardless of their faith, race or ethnicity. 

This is who we are and that’s what we have done and continue to do. 

We should not be distracted by these hearings and the propaganda of right-wing media. Regardless of the results of these hearings and bias reporting, we, the Muslim Americans, must pledge to continue our struggle against terrorism and radicalization.  We must pledge to strengthen existing adult and youth programs across the nation and to introduce even more. We must pledge to educate our fellow Americans about Islam more extensively and thoroughly than ever before. And we must remember to thank our peaceful, right-minded friends and colleagues of all faiths who choose to stand with us in these tough times.  

American history is full of beautiful stories of communities and individuals who bravely stood for their values and this country. Now is the time for the Muslim American's story. It’s time to set our legacy straight. As we stand proudly as Muslims and as Americans to protect our faith and our country, we must ask our Lord to bless us with the courage, wisdom and partners that are needed to counter King’s false propaganda.  

Let’s continue to do our best with the right intention and the utmost sincerity and leave the results in the hands of God, the Almighty. Indeed, He is enough for fear and hate-mongers like Rep. Peter King.