By Ayesha Ahmad, IOL Washington Correspondent
STERLING, Va., March 24 (IslamOnline) - Muslims in northern Virginia, where a number of federal raids on Muslim businesses, institutions and homes took place on Wednesday and Thursday, are taking active steps to come together and respond to what they felt amounted to attacks by the federal government.
On Saturday, about 40 to 50 Muslims attended a town hall meeting held by Congressman Frank Wolfe, a representative for the 10th distinct of Virginia, where many of the Muslims whose locations were targeted reside.
Prior to the meeting, the Washington-based Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) held a preparatory forum, in which Muslim leaders explained to the people the best way to approach the Congressman.
"We must indicate… that we will not be intimidated," said MPAC political advisor Mahdi Bray. "We will build our masjids [mosques], we will support our charities, we will write the checks. We have to show that we're not afraid, and we have to show unity."
The raids on Wednesday and Thursday targeted charities, foundations, businesses, learning institutions and think tanks, as well as the homes of individuals associated with these organizations, with allegations of support for "terrorist" groups.
But those who were targeted say that they are being caught in a government "fishing expedition," that the search warrants had no basis and that the method in which the raids were conducted was inappropriate.
Nineteen-year-old Hana Unus, who says she and her mother were handcuffed for five hours while federal agents searched their home, attended the MPAC meeting at the ADAMS (All Dulles Area Muslim Society) Center in Sterling. The ADAMS Center's day and Sunday school was also raided because it leased the second floor of one of the locations listed on the search warrant; their Sterling center was one of the many northern Virginia locations vandalized after September 11, as well.
She emphasized the need for Muslims to come together in the wake of the raids.
"We need to drop the little bickering that we do now," she told IslamOnline. "It doesn't matter where each person is from, it doesn't matter what people have been through. We need to come together."
Unus said that although she had to learn from the experience she endured, others could learn from her and avoid suffering the same fate.
During the MPAC meeting, Bray encouraged Muslims to not be afraid to "speak truth to power," and addressed several points MPAC thought should be brought up in the meeting.
"You need to tell them, you're creating a certain amount of resentment, you're creating a certain amount of alienation… and that's not in the best interests of the society," he said, explaining that it was important to address what was best for the whole society, not just Muslims.
He stressed the importance of coalition-building among different minority groups with similar experiences, saying that the racial profiling now focused on men of Middle Eastern backgrounds has been used against other communities before as well.
"There are people who are interested in helping [us]," he said. "Think in terms of how this impacts other communities."
Another issue he urged them to take up was the misconduct of law enforcement authorities, saying that the federal raids on the failed energy corporation Enron were not performed with nearly the same behavior.
The most important thing, Bray said, "is that we trust in Allah. They plan, too, but Allah is the best of Planners."
At the town hall meeting Saturday afternoon, Muslims called on Congressman Wolfe to protect the considerable Muslim presence among his constituency, stressing that they were also part of his community and that their rights had been violated.
In response to several direct questions regarding what he would do to bring justice to those whose homes had been invaded, he said several times that the first step was to hold a meeting bringing together Muslim citizens and authorities to certify what really happened.
"Work out a time and we'll get together," Wolfe told the audience. "We'll get the authorities, and we can work out what happened… I can't do it more than that."
He disagreed with the Muslims' concerns about growing intolerance of Muslims among Americans, and about the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush targeting Islam or Muslims because of their faith and ethnicity.
"I think the American people are very, very tolerant," he said when Muslims asked him to hold a congressional hearing on religious freedom in America. "I don't believe there is intolerance in America. There have been other instances that have happened… that had nothing to do with anybody's faith. I don't think you need a hearing [for this issue]."
However, he said, "I will be glad to look into any case that you bring in. My door is always open."
Bray, who was unable to attend the town hall meeting, emphasized that this kind of action - Muslims making their representatives aware of their concerns and not backing down - was vital in order to take charge of their own fate in this country.
He also said that while the current measures the Muslims were taking were reactive, they needed to "get away from… responding in a crisis mode."
"I don't think this is the end of it," he told IslamOnline. "I think there's a design to discredit Muslims… a design to render us financially neutered. We have to maintain action."
"One good thing that will come out of this is a grassroots entity that will respond to problems like this in the future," he said.
