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Muslim Leader Details White House Visit, 60 Minutes Appearance
By Ali Asadullah
FREMONT, Calif., Sept 30 (IslamOnline) - Nationally renowned scholar and community leader Shaykh Hamza Yusuf spoke about his recent experiences at the White House and on CBS's
60 Minutes to some 400 San Francisco Bay Area Muslims Sunday at a community informational seminar.
Hosted by a coalition of Bay Area Muslim political and social action organizations, the half-day event provided a rare opportunity for education and candid questioning on such pertinent issues as civil rights, dealing with law enforcement, community outreach to non-Muslims and media interaction.
Yusuf, the event's keynote speaker, addressed these and other timely topics and discussed at some length his recent meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush, as well as his interview with
60 Minutes.
Responding to various criticisms he received since meeting with the President, Yusuf went on the offensive, explaining his motivations at this critical time for both the U.S. and the Muslim community. "I got a lot of flack from certain corners about what I did," said Yusuf. "The way I look it ... I've been in this country working for close to 15 years. I didn't just show up."
"You know, I've been doing a lot of work; and whether people appreciate that or not is not really of interest to me," continued Yusuf. "Because if it's for Allah, then the important thing is that Allah appreciates it, and not human beings.... I don't really care, to be honest with you, what anybody thinks about what I did because I know what my intention is and that's the only important thing for me.
"My intention, after speaking with Shaykh Abdullah Bin Bayyah, was to convey a message, and also to do the best that I could to stop war and bloodshed," he said.
Additionally, Yusuf detailed a very candid and frank discussion with Bush that included explanations of Islamic principles as well as Yusuf's personal assessment of the current crisis.
"I just mentioned [to the President] the fact that the real danger here lies in that the Muslim world could be easily polarized if more innocent people are killed in the Muslim world," noted Yusuf. "And I said that this was, in fact, an opportunity for the American government to win over people by showing this type of patience and a respect for due process for the law."
With reference to the specific issue of the causal roots of terrorism, Yusuf matter-of-factly explained to seminar attendees the logical position he put before the president:
"I told [Bush] that the people in the Muslim world watch on Arabian television the worst forms of terror in Palestine, to children to women ... And this has a profound effect on people's psychology. If you see that, you're just gonna start hating and wanting to do something about it. And unless these type of things are addressed, there's not gonna be a victory in the war on terrorism. It will be like the war on drugs. Because one of the things the American government never did in the war on drugs, it never dealt with the fact that addiction in America is one of the major problems, and unless you deal with demand, instead of trying to attack the supply, you're not going to win. And so if you're gonna try to cut off the branches of terrorism without dealing with the roots of it, you're not going to win."
When it came to the topic of 60 Minutes, Yusuf, half-joking, half-serious, commented to the audience about the perils of the media. "Let me tell you something, I don't know what's going to happen," said Yusuf. "But they interviewed us for three hours and we all gave them enough rope to hang us. So we're gonna see."
"I learned some real lessons," Yusuf continued. "They do a pre-interview ... and you're very comfortable. But then when you actually get on the interview, if you start maybe not giving him the answers he was expecting, he says, 'But didn't you say?' And they're filming you live.... Only now maybe 30 million people are going to see it."
The 60 Minutes segment, with correspondent Ed Bradley, aired Sunday night and featured Yusuf as well as Imam Siraj Wahaj, Fareed Essak and Faisal Abdul Rauf. Bradley focused narrowly on the question of, "How then is that a religion that promises peace, harmony and justice to those who follow the will of Allah, can have in their midst thousands committed to terrorism in the name of Allah?"
Yusuf's answer to Bradley was simple, "They [the terrorists] cannot bring any textual evidence from the Qur'an to prove anything that justifies what they've done. And I think it is a
jihad [struggle], now, for the Muslims in the Muslim [countries] to rid themselves of this element."
Yusuf's response was consistent with the largely conciliatory tone that prevailed during the segment. However, at Sunday's event in Fremont, other speakers were not quite so apologetic.
Abdul Malik Ali, Northern California Amir of the Sabiqoon Movement, spoke to attendees of the need for certain segments of the American Muslim community to take a tougher stance on the issues surrounding the current crisis.
Mentioning a range of inconsistencies and discrepancies in the government's assessment of guilt in the case of the four hijackings, Ali made a call to action.
"There is a segment of the indigenous Muslims who we believe have to bring up these points," said Ali. "This is not for all of you to bring up.... Yes, some of you are dealing with the politicians. Cool, go ahead and do that.... But, there must be another segment of the
ummah [Muslim nation] who deals with these issues and deals with these facts..."
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