on Feisal Abdul Rauf and the Park 51 travesty

Two articles on the so-called "ground zero" mosque and Feisal Abdul Rauf who is heading up the project.

Abdul Rauf has been close to the US establishment for a number of years now, serving as a US State Department Muslim representative during both Bush and Obama regimes. Abdul Rauf is as much of a "good Muslim" that anyone get without actually giving up Islam. Yet, even as "good" of a Muslim Abdul Rauf is, he is just not good enough for the US establishment, and he has been effectively abandoned in the "ground zero" mosque Islamophobic controversy.

Meanwhile, Abdul Rauf continues to serve the State Department on his latest tour of sheikhdoms and monarchies (i.e. US allies and puppets) to talk about all of the rivers of milk and honey that can be found in America - all for Muslims. Abdul Rauf is apparently a Sufi Imam, according to some web sources, it is unfortunate those who are on the beautiful path of Tasawwuf should fall for such an obvious fraud.

Readers of this blog will remember that the Rand Report strategy also including a recommendation to support "sufis" in their effort to reshape Islam. This post is not intended to malign Tasawwuf, but it is intended to point out how the imperialists are using Muslim leaders, and how some Muslim leaders have fallen right into their trap.

Ikhras blog writes:

It is no surprise that Imam Abdul Rauf’s itinerary includes countries like Saudi Arabia and Gulf countries, which are already staunch US allies. The man wouldn’t stand a chance trying to convince citizens of Kabul or Baghdad that the US is a tolerant, egalitarian entity.

We’re all for dialogue as long as the US boot is not on the neck of those it’s trying to “dialogue” with. Is Imam Abdul Rauf unaware of atrocities the US is committing in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq? Has he no concept of decades-long US support for Israel throughout its colonial occupation of Palestine?

This is as ridiculous as a Vietnamese-American cleric flying around to give a good impression of the US around the time of the My Lai massacre.

For a Muslim to ignore US atrocities and focus on the its supposed “regime of religious freedom and equality” is an expression of American arrogance. House Muslims, with their knowledge of English, their degrees from American universities, their spacious houses in the suburbs and their consumerist lifestyle, perceive their position on the empire’s sociopolitical ladder as more valuable than the lives of dispensable Muslims languishing in refugee camps. An Islamic community center in Lower Manhattan is more “cool” and worthy of advocacy than mosques in Afghanistan and Iraq the US has bombarded.

And also on another blog:

Repeatedly some Muslims have attempted to appease the imperialists, be it through their cookie cutter condemnations, or by becoming “moderate” “liberal” “progressive” type of a Muslim. These Muslims have still not learnt a very basic lesson of the Qur’an – that attempting to appease the oppressor will only lead to an increase in their act of oppression. Attempting to “fit in” by acting in concert with the FBI, or becoming a US State Department’s token “good Muslim” spokesperson a la Feisal Abdul Rauf (the individual who is heading up the so-called “ground zero” mosque) will end up backfiring. As Ali Abunimah said: “If the State Department could design a Muslim it would be someone like Rauf.”