Muslims for McCain, Muslims for Obama: Can Muslims and the Media Handle it?
Last week I was up in DC for some government-relations work, and was a bit shocked to receive a request from FOX News for an interview on the Presidential Race.
Generally speaking, whenever the issue came up in my conversations with national Muslim leaders over the past few months, I have been relaying my personal preference for McCain over Obama, and that is primarily due to what I believe the policy progress will be under each administration. Normally I avoid the media like the plague (especially for the past few years) because I consider myself to be a policy analyst, not a political activist.
Anyway back to the request for the interview: On further investigation, I discovered that a national Muslim group had recommended my name to the FOX producers. As you’ll see in my first “aired” interview with FOX News (along with an Obama supporter, Shayan), I was quite nervous as I tried to frame my message for four simultaneous audiences. All in all, alhamduallah I enjoyed the experience (the limo ride to the studio and back was nice too!:) ). DC is obviously extremely political, as the questions framed by Brian (the FOX host who interviewed me) make very evident. So I wasn’t all that shocked when the following questions were asked of me and the Obama Muslim supporter (transcript from Media Matters):
From the June 25 edition of Fox News’ Fox & Friends:
KILMEADE: Mohamed, do you find it insulting at all when Barack Obama goes out of his way to say, “Hey, I am not a Muslim. I’m a Christian, and let’s stop these spread” as if being a Muslim is bad.
ELIBIARY: Well, of course, I’ve had issues just like every other Muslim with the way he’s framed that. I think that this is actually part of a bigger problem or challenge that Obama has, which is his image. He tries to craft it really, really tightly, while when we compare him to McCain — you might remember a controversy a few months back where Mitt Romney was asked if he would appoint a Muslim to his Cabinet, and his response was, “There aren’t enough Muslims to warrant such a position,” but McCain’s response when he was asked was, “Look, I’m going to appoint the best American that’s qualified for the position.” I’m like, what else can I really ask for?
KILMEADE: That’s who — Shayan, you’ve heard some of these things. I mean, when you hear Barack Obama come out and say, “These are rumors about me being Muslim. I’m not,” and make that effort, does that turn off for you?
SHAYAN FAROOQI: Not necessarily, because he, in fact, is not Muslim. But I feel that, as a candidate, he’s laid the groundwork down for all of us with our individual faiths to take whatever positive we can and contribute to the plurality of the American landscape.
Media Matters sent out an email about it last week (link here). Media Matters compiled some of the subtle and sometimes overt digs at Obama being a Manchurian Muslim candidate in this 4 minute video, and that’s the way DC goes. If you can’t view the 4-minute video below, I’d highly recommend clicking the link above and watching it.
Part of the American Muslim community’s challenge post 9/11 is to seem “as much American as possible” in this highly politically charged environment, and across the entire spectrum. That has been a bit hard emotionally at times due to the polemic discourse dominant today, but America does need Muslim-American leadership if it is to get anywhere in addressing its Counter-Terrorism challenges and US-Muslim World foreign policy issues.
Here is a nice article about the concept of Messaging that clearly explains the formula of M=EC3. M (Message) = E (Emotion) x C (Credibility) x C (Contrast) x C (Connection). The easiest thing for Muslims to do is respond in kind to the polemic discourse launched against us, but I believe we can do better then just caricaturing the environment simply as “Anti-Islamic/Muslim”.
As I’ve been sharing with my father, an Obama supporter and donor for over a year now, Stephen Covey suggests in his works that we must first “seek to understand in order to be understood”. For example a few weeks ago I was a delegate at the Texas GOP Convention, where I picked up this lovely refrigerator magnet. 
After asking the vendor how the magnet came about, you should have seen his face when I explained that “Allah Akbar” simply means “God is the Greatest”. So therefore swapping God for Obama, his magnet is actually stating that “Obama is the Greatest” - not exactly the message he intended to deliver.
I guess my point is that just like we (as Muslims) tell Americans that they don’t understand Islam all the time, because their only source is the sensationalized media, we should also recognize that we may be falling victim to the same mistake in perception. That does not necessarily mean all Muslims should vote for McCain over Obama (I’m not a big fan of Bloc-Voting anyways); rather we should at least reassess our conclusions and temper our own polemic counter-discourse. Many promoters of “Islamic Radicalism” talk are simple folk who are just scared, who don’t have a competent President to lead them, and who are victims needing our solid assistance to guide them.
Remember the “E” in M=EC3…
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Mohamed, great article, but since I’m the first to comment, let me say right off the bat that the whole article is about to be ignored because you’re a Muslim headlining on FN as a McCain supporter =) Let the flame wars begin
Siraaj
I never knew there was a Muslim person that supports a man that wants to kill Muslims. Like Siraaj was saying I was about to ignore it but as soon as I found out your a John Mccain supporter I decided to read the whole article.
Let me just say I am very dissapointed in any Muslim that supports John Mccain because of where he stand with the Muslims. I mean he’s a man who insults our religion. He said I quote “I’ve been to Iraq eight times, I know the leaders, I know the situation on the ground. I know that Sunni and Al-Qaeda are closely tied”. So he’s saying we sunnis are terrorists makes me angry at anyone who supports him specially our fellow Muslims. The fact that John McCain would basically call millions of Muslims terrorists is appalling to me.
What I want to know brother Mohamed is what made you be a supporter for a man like him. What is he doing for the Muslims for you to support him? What will he do for us if he wins the election because all I heard was he’ll stay in Iraq for 100 years and go to war with Iran.
And fox news… they’re always saying negative things about us and I hate them for that. If I had tv at my house I wouldn’t watch fox news because of the way they make us look.
salam
Aminah M.
I am extremely excited to know and see that there are high profile muslims, who are voting for McCain and not Obama.
To Aminah Muhammad, if Obama wins (and he would landslide), kindly give me your mailing address so I can send you 100$ check if Obama ends Iraq war without starting any new in next 4 years. (btw Iraq war would not end in next 4 years).
4 years in Iraq is better than 100 years in Iraq (McCain’s plan)
This Mohammed guy is getting $$$$$$.
salam… brothers/sisters: lets be careful about personal attacks and questioning sincerity/motivations of the author. This is not only wrong in any medium, but is especially wrong Islamically. Let me say, and as you all know, I have written a lot against Republicans, including McCain. I am not thrilled with Obama, but I would take him quite easily over McCain. BUT still, it doesn’t mean that I believe anyone who supports McCain is an agent!
Lets remember that Br. Mohamad is a well-known, respected figure among Texas’s Muslims. He didn’t suddenly appear on the scene or started some uncle tom organization like Juhdi or some other butt-kissers. Please read his past articles and also check out his website to see how much good he has done for us. He also is a regular speaker at Texas Dawah.
Instead of ad hominem attacks, lets stick to facts and substantive arguments. It is no sin to go on FOX Noise as much as we hate it and despite it (a sentiment which I am sure even Br. Mohamad shares). However, even our boy Obama has appeared on FOX many times… CAIR individuals have appeared on it too. So, you cannot run away from a medium when it asks for you.
So, in the spirit of discussion, I would like to ask Br. Mohamad why he feels that McCain will be better for “policy progress” than Obama? As far as I can tell, McCain will be a continuation and possibly a worsening of the Bush presidency. Enlighten us!
P.S. The article is appropriately titled, “can the Muslims handle it”, i.e. can we handle difference of opinion in a respectable manner? Can we at least try??
Well here we are again in 2008 worrying who will be the better candidate and our Islamic center has already started feeding us the fact that Obama is the Muslim choice. Let me ask this, what difference does it make if its Obama or McCain? Before the election they need to be good to everyone and be very careful of what they say. Until at least one of them gets into office. Bush was supported by Muslims in the 2000 elections. And now most of them have animosity towards him. Have we not learned from our mistakes? There is no need to support or endorse these candidates because none holds what we are looking for.
I mean why endorse a republican or a democrat? What is it they have promised? No good for us. Why should we be even looking up to them? They do not reflect me as a muslim and I do not want to be identified with them because they just don’t represent me.
The fact of the matter is that we should just stay away from this age old rhetoric. We have bigger stuff to worry about then worry about who it is that we should be endorsing. I suggest reading the khutbah on voting in the US by Jamal Zarabozo.
May Allah Guide us to whats right and Protect us from Shaytan and his evil tactics.
MR, John McCain was fool to speak the truth (that US intends to make permanent bases in Iraq and stay there for 100 years (like they are in Japan, Germany etc). My point is Obama would not/ can not change it. If US military leaves Iraq it would be for different reasons.
Obama definitely seems better candidate, but I do not expect much from him.
To Hasan…. I am not saying Obama is all that good himself but I know he’s better than Mccain. Insha’Allah if Obama wins since he has a Muslim background he might become a muslim, Allah can do amazing things if you didn’t know. I just think fox news aka Muslim haters will do anything to have Mccain elected and that idea is scary for me.
I know Obama doesn’t have a chance but you never know man. And like MR said 4 years of Iraq is better than 100 years in Iraq. I will send you my address if Obama wins so you can send that $$$$$.
I hate fox news and how they make us look. I still remember when they broke the news of Obama attending a madrasa haha to many Americans that word sounded very scary but they never said madrasa meant school and not anything more than that.
All I know is Mccain will be worst then Bush if he’s elected president. Lets pray that doesn’t happen insha’Allah.
As muslims we have to elect the person we think will go easy on our fellow Muslims and that person is not Mccain.
Amad,
You ask, As far as I can tell, McCain will be a continuation and possibly a worsening of the Bush presidency. Enlighten us!
You are talking to someone who actually supported Bush in 2004?! That would seem to be what he is interested in.
Personal insults are not good adab and beyond that are a waste of time. When anyone is involved in politics for a long time, basic standards of morality and decency are gone from the mind. Br. Mohammed’s views are going to change because of some comments on an internet site.
May Allaah (swt) reward you for whatever good you may have done and may do, Mohammed. But the Muslim community should not listen to people who take positions so adverse to the interests of our community. I don’t listen to anyone who told the Muslims to support Bush and I’m not going to listen to anyone who tells the Muslims to support McCain. They should neither be given platforms by sites like MuslimMatters either.
I’ve been critical of Obama supporters, but this is just too much. I honestly don’t believe it, but at the same time I shouldn’t be surprised.
Allaahu’l Musta’an.
Allaah knows best.
As salaam alaikum,
With all due respect, will the brother who is pro-McCain explain what advantages McCain has over Obama? As an influential blog, this website has the responsibility of educating its readers and raising the level of dialogue regarding these critical issues.
For example I can name a few reasons why Obama would be better for America in general, and Muslims in particular:
1. End Guantanamo Bay - Barack has called for its immediate closure, whereas McCain supports it
2. Torture: McCain supports the torture tactics used against many of our innocent bretheren in Gitmo and other secret prisons across the world
3. Iraq War: McCain supports the “surge” - which essentially also is yielding ’surge’ of deaths. Hundreds of thousands of our Iraqi brothers and sisters have died. Obama was against the way since day one!
4. Habeas Corpus - Obama supports the protecting of habeus corpus- Mccain in fact was appalled and against the recent supreme court decision that simply gave Muslim prisoners in Gitmo the right to a fair trial.
5. Civil Liberties and Rights - McCain has supported the Patriot Act, wheras Obama is against it
6. Foreign Policy - McCain continues the right wing rhetoric which would not help our standing in the world, wheras Obama is willing to actually talk to our global neighbors and would help restore America’s once great image across the world.
7. Tax Breaks for the Rich - Obama would end the tax cuts for the ultra rich, and change the tax system so that it would favor the real working class and those struggling to get by
8. health care - although Obama’s plan is far from perfect - he actually has a plan that would move towards insuring more Americans. It is a travesty that over 1/3 of our fellow Americans are uninsured or underinsured.
…
I would like to hear any argument on how McCain would be a better president based on the issues listed above. In fact, aside from superficial social issues which really have no affect on Muslims (like gay marriage, abortions, etc.) on what issues is McCain better than Obama at all?
Kindly re-read my posts, you totally got it wrong. I am convinced that Obama is going to win election, landslide (not Reagan landslide though). I am not sending you money on his win, I would send money if he at the end of his first term, you would not have a war going (either Iraq or somewhere else).
Allah can guide McCain as well, Abu Talib who was so close to Prophet Muhammad PBUH did not become muslim, while his greatest enemies did.
What if brother Mohamed is simply taking our status as a political liability and trying to make McCain lose? Did anyone consider that
Siraaj
Hassan Insha’Allah he will end the war in Iraq and Afghanistan before his term is over. Sorry I misread your post.
Small point - the picture is the same as that used for another recent article, and therefore almost didn’t read it thinking it wasn’t anything new.
H. Ahmed, I have different perspective, from my experience, ofcourse I can never say with absolute certainty that I am right, but I believe I am right that why I believe what I believe. Now we would never know how McCain presidency would look like (as he is going to loose), but basically these issues, are more related to circumstances and mood of country rather than individual candidate of president, so lets look at ur points:
1. Gitmo would close, even if Dick Cheney become president. Gitmo would close before Bush leaves office.
2. Torture would not exist in gitmo, as gitmo would be closed, but there would be incidents here and there, without approval of higher authorities. McCain would not be different than Obama. McCain has spoken against torture as well during debates.
3. Iraq war would not go away under either presidents.
4. Habeas Corpus, McCain be off on this issue, but so is Bush, and he can not do anything about it, because judges overrule him. But McCain appointing future judges can be scary scenario.
5. Patriot Act was actually born during Clinton era, it just hit puberty after 9/11. Obama like any other senator would have voted for it, if he was there, its easy to say now that I am against it. It would not go away completely, may be there would be slight modifications. But that would be largely due to democratic majority congress (senate projection 55-60 Democrats)
6. Obama may look good to europeans, but for muslims it would be same, worse for Pakistan though.
7. Obama may be better in taxes, as long as it does not increase my taxes, and again it would be democratic majority who would help it
8. Health care, Obama seems better, but again it would be democratic majority who would help it.
abu noor and h. ahmed - jazakallahu khayr for your comments. the influence and value of sites like this increases when we have readers who provide valuable comments. it is especially refreshing to see people who can disagree without resorting to name calling or childish remarks
as far as MM goes, there is no official endorsement of either candidate, this post helps to show that there’s 2 sides of the issue - though i think its fairly obvious from previous articles that some of the MM staff support obama - see amad’s post on mccain that just went up earlier this week.
i personally was very intrigued to see what reasons would motivate someone to support mccain and i am not so quick to dismiss the arguments. if there is any lesson i learned from the bush fiasco, its that we really dont know which candidate is going to be better for the muslims so we shouldn’t be so quick to jump to assumptions - hear the other side out :). i’m not thoroughly convinced obama is going to be any better than mccain in that respect. i think his trying to be “im not a muslim” may end up doing more harm. however, i still think he would be less antagonistic than mccain.
as far as domestic policies go, i think obama wins no contest. his tax policies, healthcare, etc are all far better for the country i think than mccain’s agenda.
lastly, regarding the original article. i agree with br. mohamed’s sentiment that mccain at least overtly is saying he would just pick the best person and this is fairness - however, the overriding issue for me (and i believe many others) is the war issue. i also don’t think obama will be able to easily end it, i’m pretty sure most of it is rhetoric, however, i will take the rhetoric of anti war over “100 more years” any day
I think if the muslim community is going to avoid making another Bush mistake, then it is important that Mccain supporters such, as Muhammad, are given a platform on this site to explain their viewpoint. Its a worldly issue, and therefore its wrong to be closed to the idea that Mccain could be better - at least listen to the argument. As long as they are arguing in context of the policies we care most about, then what harm can there be in it?
I think you need to give a proper explanation. It’s one thing to say, “Don’t vote for Obama” but it’s another to then say “Vote for a man who wants to stay in Iraq for the next 1000 years.” What happened man?
Comment edited
You have a sound point when you say we should think about it carefully.
But how in the world does that mean you should endorse McCain?!!!?!?
You mentioned only this to support McCain and used the anti-Obama as another support which doesn’t really get you anywhere either.
This is all you really have to support him:
“There aren’t enough Muslims to warrant such a position,” but McCain’s response when he was asked was, “Look, I’m going to appoint the best American that’s qualified for the position.” I’m like, what else can I really ask for?”
Given that Muhamad comes from a long line of madrassa educated Egyptians, and there are few other Muslims savvy enough to penetrate McCain’s racist Christian-nationalist base, there is probably no one better to spread Wahabeeism to the GOP. Radical Islamic extremism will never prosper unless we sincerely communicate global Wahabeeism to all corners of society, even those who pride themselves on jingoism and callousness toward the poor.
We Salafists need to adopt a bipartisan approach or we will never be able to impose shariah law on the West.
musa that was hilarious
Musa, you got it buddy! Imagine that…. a wahhabi-influenced McCain… he would be a killer, dude!
On a serious note, I have reminded Br. Mohamad to stop by and answer the questions raised here, because he committed to that. I am especially interested in the justification because I just can’t imagine that McCrazy will be better than Obama, regardless of the latter’s shortcomings. Especially on the domestic front, I want someone sorting out the mess that the basic services are in.
At the same time, as Ibnabeeomar points out, after our 2000 experience with Bush, I just have this serious nagging at the back of my mind if we are getting on the wrong bandwagon again. So, OPEN MINDS please. If we believe in our choice, then someone’s opinion should not be able to disrupt it, rather it should strengthen it if we can respond to the doubts.
Right, GOP is very weak now, neo-conservatism may be in “last throes”, and there could be vacuum in GOP, that muslims can fill.
Hamada:
I see NO LOGIC at all in you endorsing McCain. A 70-year-old amnesiac man who sees more logic in taking his Presidential campaign to Canada (no we can’t vote for your president) rather than a US state. And then you went on a US TV station and said THIS which just makes me wonder what is going on with you.
Here us brothers are doing whatever we can letter campaigns and what-have-you to ease the suffering of Muslims. And then you just waltz into a limo and just drive up and say, “Hey vote McCain!”
How can any of us not be angry?
I don’t want to talk to an Iraqi brother and have to tell him you did this and it just makes me angry to no end that you had a crack at mainstream media and then did THIS! Of ALL the things in the world–you went and did this!
It was people like Mohammed Elibiary that were telling the Muslims to vote for Bush in 2000. He even supported Bush in 2004. So, now you’re saying we should be open to listening to him now because he was so wrong then? That’s some strange logic.
I don’t have any doubt that Muslims will mainly go for Obama, and that if he wins he will do many things which would make one regret it. I personally am not telling people to support Obama or McCain, but with Obama at least there is an argument. With McCain I have no idea what it would be.
This is someone who thinks the biggest issue not only in foreign policy, but in domestic policy is amping up the U.S. War Against Islam and Muslims. On top of that, his domestic policies couldn’t be more out of line with the Muslim community here in the U.S. (Other than a few super rich immigrants who are afraid of losing their Bush tax cuts.)
The problem with this article is that there is no argument. Muslim for McCain is something which belongs in The Onion. Have a real debate with a Muslim supporter of Nader, or of Bob Barr, or of not voting at all if you won’t to examine closely the reasons most of the community is supporting Obama. But don’t let credence to this kind of stuff. Please.
Allaah knows best.
I suppose it all depends on perspective. Al Qaeda truly wants the American army right where it is so that they can bleed it out in afghanistan and iraq (and from what I’ve read, they’re succeeding). Supporting McCain means supporting keeping the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, which means supporting the Al Qaeda position.
Sneaky sneaky Mohamed
Sorry, was channeling Michelle Malkin there for a moment.
I’d be interested in understanding why a Muslim should support McCain myself.
Siraaj
It’s pretty clear that Obama has a reason to avoid being associated
with Islam–he doesn’t want to start that whole fiasco again. So
from that point, sure we may feel hurt by him not being all politically correct
about how being a Muslim isn’t a bad thing–but come on his FATHER is Muslim.
Do you think he needs to even say that there is no problem with being a Muslim?
Why does he need to appeal to your inferiority complex?
Use your head. His dad is a Muslim–do you think he hates his dad or something?
Secondly, whereas Obama has his previous problem with Islam being skewed into his religious beliefs
as a reason to do little work with Muslims– McCain has NO reason to explain for his lack of support
of the Muslim community. All he said was “appoint whoever is qualified” and that is
exactly what you would hear just about ANY politician say. In other words, McCain has nothing to
make himself a better candidate.
So if you are considering McCain to be an angel because you see one little snag in the Obama
that you thought to was an angel and so you make him out to be a devil than I think you have a problem.
In other words, you are being reactive with this whole thing and using one man’s small shortcoming as another man’s greatest virtue.
I like Siraaj’s idea
It seems muslims in south (specially texas) may think differently than muslims in north. Can that be the case as well.
Dawud, we GET your point, you don’t have to make it in 10 comments
Wait for Br. Mohamed to respond, and then I am sure you will have an opportunity to respond.
Br. Abu Noor, interesting info. regarding the brother’s past support for Bush, though he makes no secret of his strong distaste for him now (which I guess many do). Let’s see what he has to say inshalah.
Hassan, I am still from Texas (mentally), and being in Texas should make one only despise GOP even more, courtesy Bush
You know what is surprising? It shocks me how so many of you are convinced that Obama will win…Are you kidding me? America is ready to embrace a black President????????? I highly doubt it, however i am still voting for Obama, even if i think that his chances of winning are slim.
I wouldn’t vote for McCain just for his scary looks, my mom says he looks like 70’s villain from Indian movies, lol! So my family and i are voting for Obama (thats 8 votes right there for Obama =)
Hidaya, as of now Obama should win comfortably, unless in next few months he breaks and says, he has been secret muslim and want to implement shariah, then McCain may have slight chance…
Or he choses hassan to be his vp candidate. That would have a similar effect.
American politics are whacked!
In all seriousness, however, I’ve given up on politics altogether - even at my tender age I’ve realized that all politicians are crooks and liars.
Actually Obama is well liked in most of the Muslim world.
And Anonymouse: yes, american politics are whack, and flawed on so many levels - however it is what it is - u can either help to bring real change and improve it, or let things remain the way they are. However as Muslims it is our religious obligation to act out, speak out, or at least feel in our hearts all that is wrong and work towards improving all that is ‘whack’.
And no- not all politicians are crooks and liars (great blog btw), just look at Rep Keith Ellison. Mashallah, he is a great human being and should be commended for his difficult work and is a great example for all of us.
First of all my apologies for not having the time until now to reply. Awoke this morning to an AP report that DOJ was pushing for new profiling guidelines on the FBI, so I had some research to conduct and a conference call to get on.
http://www.star-telegram.com/804/v-print/story/739153.html
I’m a poor negotiator I guess, because sad to say I didn’t get any $$$$$.
Thanks Amad, Musa, Siraaj and anyone else for standing up for a civil discourse, but anyone who’s followed my career or read my other posts would know that I take a whole lot of hits from the right in order to mainstream Muslims and their policy perspectives. I am the guy after all that Michael Savage called a “Verbal Murder” on the air, because I was one of the first and harshest attackers of our President when he used the Islamic Terrorist terminology stuff.
Now moving on to McCain v. Obama. With all my networking amongst the American political scene, 17 years and counting now, I’ve learned never to base anything on the media image whether positive or negative but to network and investigate. I’ve been roundly criticized by friends in the past for not emotionally reacting to the bigotry amongst some on the right in a matter that’d satisfy the average Muslim, but just like I refuse to play the terrorism condemnation game I also want to win the war and not just Novocain myself through a battle. Short of blaspheming our Prophet or something like that, I will sit down and try to understand where someone with hostile views towards Islam and Muslims is coming from instead of writing them off. Christians would call that having the heart capacity to love the sinner while hating the sin. Sheikh Waleed would say that the default state of a believer approaching all is from a position of dawah, seeing even Dobson, Land or any other Christian Right leader I’ve discussed this stuff with as a “future Muslim” if Allah wills it and not my enemy. The civilizational or identity separation is promoted just fine already by others whether militant or civil.
As I told NPR in an interview in late 2004 when I decided to vote for Bush over Kerry, I simply grab a sheet of paper, split it down the middle and identify the issues important to me. That list is not any different then any other mainstream Muslim. The difference again is that I don’t use any media created perceptions whether positive or negative to form my conclusion. For example in late 2004 I informed my dad who was running a Muslim get out the vote operation from Dallas to get Muslim voters in Florida out to defeat Bush in November that Bush will win, why and that he’ll be the best president for Muslims at home and abroad in his 2nd administration. I based that conclusion on how elite opinion in DC, including at the Pentagon and the Intelligence community, had written him off as untrustworthy and would not follow him into any other wars or grant him any new legal authority like a Patriot Act II. In other words he’d be a lame duck president from day one of his 2nd administration, which indirectly aids the American Muslim community’s campaign to educate all of America that our foreign policies oversees need adjustment if we are to get anywhere in the post-Cold War 21st Century. I had read John Kerry as simply what I see Obama now as, an unprincipled politician after power and nothing else. Even Malcolm X back in the 60s broke down the wisdom of preferring the wolf over the fox, for those who see McCain as the Dajaal or something. I see McCain, not as a neo-con or Christian Right, but as a patriot who’ll stand up for what’s right and against even his own President in order to do the right thing. I would submit his bucking Bush-Rumsfeld to get a new military policy for Iraq disengaged from the neo-cons calling the shots. (more info on this later)
For the record as I mentioned in my post, I’ve never done anything to support or oppose the concept of a bloc vote, but I have worked to get many Muslims registered and was awarded the Invisible Giants Award years ago in Selma, Alabama for following MLK’s footsteps in doing that. The bloc vote approach by some of our national leaders is largely futile, amateurish and only succeeds at disempowering our community psychologically. We, as Americans who are better educated about certain foreign affairs issues, should make our positions clear on policy ground to the rest of America and support the candidate who’ll support more of what our priorities are on a principled basis. I say all that because some have chosen to fault me for the Bush 2000 mistake, but sadly maybe I should have spoken up then but I didn’t care for the potential backlash fitna reactionism that would have unleashed. For the record I was supporting McCain in 2000 over Bush, whom those of us more familiar then the national Muslim leaders then knew was unqualified. Two weeks ago I was in Florida and in a meeting with some Mosque leaders there, you can be sure I laid that debacle at their feet. I’ve never issued any declaration in my 17 years advising even my family members, much less all Muslims, whom to vote for whether Republican or Democrat. If that 17 year history isn’t enough for folks to recognize that there is a difference between a Muslim running around thinking they can think for all Muslims, caricaturing our entire community as manipulatable sheep, and one simply stating his personal opinion in 2004 and in 2008 whom he personally will vote for you; then may God help you because I can’t?
When I first met with the McCain campaign folks now three months ago as part of a group of Muslim leaders I told them that I didn’t vote for their guy in the primary and laid out the issues he needs to address. I also shared that he’ll get no where with Muslim audiences so long as he ignores the machine twisting his words about staying in Iraq 100 years. I even recalled to them how my apolitical mother came one day and asked me if the 100 year quote was real after seeing it on an Arab Satellite Entertainment channel. Shortly their after McCain did start to stand up and defend himself from such distortions. Read the speech where the quote emanated from and tell me which American policy maker except Kucinich-Ron Paul-Nader would disagree with it. Anyways I’ll write a different post on the Iraq War and what I’ve found Americans, including those Muzzlim ones, can realistically expect under each administration. Keep in mind that like Obama, I too have public statements in the TV media saying the invasion of Iraq is misguided and will be counter-productive and numerous other lobbying efforts.
Nothing personal against Obama, but he’s not the messiah many Muslims are hopping for. And from the data I’ve seen it’s not all that far fetched that McCain will be our next President.
Hamada,
As salaam alaikum
Im glad you have a 17 year track history of being involved in public policy or politics. However the very fact that you voted for Bush in 2004 makes me want to discredit anything you say. Nonetheless, I will respect your opinions and would like to ask the following simple question:
Your comment did not in any way answer why you felt McCain was better than Obama. And also, I brought up a list of about 8 issues (scroll up) in which I i feel that Obama is much better than McCain on. Can you please share any issues where you think McCain would be better than Obama?
Moreover, you are strong in your defense of McCain despite the fact he has changed completely since 2000, yet are quick to dismiss Obama as “an unprincipled politician after power and nothing else”. You view McCain as a man of integrity who will stick up for what is right. But who will stick up for our muslim brethren being tortured in Gitmo and other secret prisons across the world that we dont even know about? McCain has infamously switched his views on torture. Is this the same man you are describing in such a positive manner? Why should your portrayal of him be accepted with any credence?
Again - I am trying my best to understand where you are coming from. So please, i humbly ask, as a person with far less experience with American Politics, who is well aware of the fact that much of what i read/hear in the media is biased, - please give us a simple list of issues on which McCain would be better than Obama.
H. Ahmed, it seems like you work for Obama…:D
BTW brother Muhammad did answer why he voted for Bush in 2004. It was his understanding (right or wrong) that Bush with all distrust would not be able to do much harm to muslims and muslim world. You know to think of it, John Kerry would have to do something macho if he had been elected to not appear as weak.
A Muslim voting for McCain is like a Muslim voting for Israel to Bulldoze Palestinian Homes.
Joe Lieberman the Jewish Zionist is a staunch supporter of McCain. He is seen with him in Iraq and in Israel together. In fact McCain kissed him in DC one time. Just do a Google search for it.
The yahood hate Obama. AIPAC will not vote for Obama. J street is pro-obama. AIPAC is anti J street. Thus AIPAC is anti-Obama.
So to all the Muslims who plan on voting for McCain, how will you justify the fact that you know you are supporting AIPAC by voting for McCain.
BTW I don’t think I’m voting this year.
Obama was sucking up to AIPAC as well, neither would go against Israel’s interests.
AnonyMouse,
You are now my favorite Muslim Matters author.
Don’t listen to the rah rah politics supporters. There’s a million more beneficial things to spend one’s time and money on if you want to improve your community and this country than messing with politicians. As George Carlin said, if you vote, you have no right to complain.
Hamada,
As I said before may Allaah reward you for your sincere intentions and all the good you have done that I am unaware of. Your last post was, to me, a strange and bizarre mix of justifications for your past endorsements along with a statement that you don’t really make endorsements and people should vote for whoever they want (thanks.) Although you stated you are a policy analyst who bases your decisions on who will bring more progress on policy, every reason you’ve given for both 2004 and 2008 choices has been a mixture of Machiavellian voting for your enemy will help you more than voting for your friend type arguments and insider everyone could be Muslim, don’t believe the media hype type arguments. First may Allaah (swt) guide everyone to Islam. Second, I hate the Machiavellianism and I hate the political games. Our primary goal here has to be to present the Prophetic Message, and such tactics and dishonesty/disingenousness are hampers to that in my analysis. Your arguments on behalf of McCain would be ridiculous coming from any non-Muslim political analyst or commenter so I’m afraid I can’t give them more credence just because you’re a Muslim. So the last four years it was good to have Bush because he was a lame duck and he couldn’t get done the craziness he wanted to, this also made the country realize it was craziness. But after that four years is over, don’t vote for the change in direction we were supposedly paving the way for with the lameduck Bush, but pull a fast one and vote for the dude that the whole time’s been calling for more crazy than Bush has. Huh? What?
But I do love you for the sake of Allaah (swt).
Salaam wa Allaahu ‘Alim.
MR,
“A Muslim voting for McCain is like a Muslim voting for Israel to Bulldoze Palestinian Homes”.
I was thinking of dear brother Hamada at a McCain rally and McCain is giving his speech about crushing the Muslims being the “transcendent struggle of our time” and indefinite occupation and the neocons are there and the professional Islamhaters and everyone’s holding hands and singing “Bomb bomb bomb Bomb Iran and everyone looks around and suddenly realizes that there’s a Muslim at the rally.
It may be think of the classic Dave Chappelle bit where he’s a blind Klan leader speaking at a rally who doesn’t realize that he’s Black.
Sorry, the last line should read “it made me think….”
Dawud,
I’m sure we all know the facts but they seem to be misstated in your post.
Obama has said that his father was not a Muslim, but an atheist, unless you’re talking about his stepfather, who he said was a “secular Muslim.” His step sister, the daughter of his stepfather and his mother, is a Buddhist who denies the family was Muslim when she and Barack were children.
His father’s father did convert to Islam, but his step grandmother has said that that was only his personal decision and was not for the whole family. She has also been quoted previously as saying she was Muslim but was quoted earlier this year saying she was actually Christian.
Terrible article and man how are we suppose to trust your judgement anyways. You supported bush in 2004 and see what he has done to the muslim ummah. Destroyed two muslim nations and left countless muslims dead. Now you are talking about us supporting Mccain so that we see more muslims dead. Sorry your judgement was flawed than and it is flawed now.
Amad please let the author defend himself rather than you defending him left and right. Even if he thought that Bush will be exposed as he is a weak president he was wrong because we have seen what he has done to the muslims.
I am not suggesting Obama is a good choice for muslims but Mccain please spare me.
I never defended Br. Mohamad in his support of McCain. But I do defend his right to express his view and not be insulted and have his sincerity questioned.
H. Ahmed and others, its not a matter of a list of issues. Like I mentioned above, I’m a policy guy so therefore I also look at who can pass what and how other political forces will respond. For example my top issue is the GWOT and by extension Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa and all other geo-political theaters we’re engaged in along with what’s often termed “Democratization”, especially how Islamic and Islamist movements and our policy towards them. My second most important issue is Comprehensive Immigration Reform and the immigration court policy issues attached to that like deporting non-citizens based on political ground. My third issue is federal government reform, especially shacking up the Congressional pork barrel system out there so we can have a transparent legislature that works and can get more than just 1 Senator to vote against a Patriot Act that no-one read. Issues like language in the GWOT I see as symptoms that won’t really get resolved until you address the cause which is our nation’s incoherent and schizophrenic strategies dealing with all the aspects of the GWOT. Like I stated before, I don’t vote based on who offends me more in the media but choose to research why they think how they do and whether we can find a middle ground to build from.
On the first issue, as Admiral Mullen (Chair of the Joint Chiefs) stated yesterday at a Pentagon briefing we’re drawing down in Iraq. I shared this with my dad as well as even friends in the Federal Law Enforcement community (ex. FBI) when this decision was made at the White House last year. The Admiral couldn’t talk at a Pentagon briefing as freely as he did about starting to shift troops from Iraq to Afghanistan unless the Commander in Chief had granted him that latitude already. Obama’s rhetoric on the Iraq deployment started from a position of come home asap to by 16 months and a shift to Afghanistan where he’d fight in the NW Frontier to now where he’s not saying any end dates and just said yesterday that he’d grow the combat brigades. Grow the force for what you should ask; unless there are dynamics at play here he’s not being honest with his supporters on his ability to change them.
I truly understand the Muslim sense that the occupation of Iraq is counter-productive and the US should get out, and as one of the loudest voices against the war during the congressional authorization I certainly don’t want to be misunderstood as in any way supporting the initial invasion. I also recognize the reality of Iraq at the moment, having met, trained and chastised Iraqi leaders from the largest Shia and largest Sunni parties for many issues I don’t need to list now. I also recognize what’s the official and unofficial stands of all the regions’ governments and influential groups with our government. We as Americans whether Muslim or non have never had a serious conversation on what’s best for Iraq to minimize civilian massacres and what’s the real position of the region’s governments. Some of us are still looking too far back and are still pissed off at Bush, and as a resident of the city hosting his Presidential Library and Think Tank I too plan on making my perspectives known during his legacy debate but now is not the time. I’m really trying to look forward at January ’09 and beyond.
There are some who see a straight withdrawal from Iraq as great. I wouldn’t necessarily disagree with that, for I’m not invested in any presence there, future bases or whatever. I would however open their eyes to the facts Sen. Obama was enlightened to, which is that we can’t withdraw from the Persian Gulf region for a whole lot of reasons over the next 10+ years. So if you withdraw from Iraq and end up making the Persian Gulf the conflict fault line, whether with Iran or Al-Qaeda, how much global stability and economic prosperity do you think an Oil barrel’s price will get you.
I’d understand if there was a benefit to Muslims in that scenario, but in actuality you’d have a destabilized Iraq with open blood-letting spilling over into Jordan and Syria and a worsening of the Palestinian population’s situation and no progress anywhere. The only happy Muslim I can see is Bin Laden celebrating the fracturing of the Saudi Royal family’s hold on the Peninsula.
On the second issue, the short answer is that McCain can bring moderate republicans to join the already present democratic bloc who are ready to approve any comprehensive immigration reform bill before them. While in an Obama administration, moderate republicans will come under tremendous grassroots pressure to resist or have Conservatives run against them in the Primary. It doesn’t take much to filibuster or derail reform legislation in the Senate. Look at what happened last year, simple talk radio networks were enough to galvanize enough Americans to kill the reform effort because Bush had no credibility on the issue with conservatives or moderate republicans upset with him on Iraq policy and Rumsfeld. Every couple of generations in American history, a seismic socio-political shift happens and Comprehensive Immigration Reform of a largely Catholic Hispanic population is the page turner many Muslims are searching for today. McCain can get it passed, while Obama can not and will actually enable the reactionary right (Tancredo, Peter King, etc.) to rally millions and grow their political clout. Don’t know about y’all but whenever I get an opportunity to weaken a guy who wants to nuke Mecca as a deterrent (Tancredo) or one who claims that 85% of our Mosques are run by extremists (King), I take it.
A good rule to remember is that when the White House is run by a different party then the Congress you have an opposition party to raise your concerns. If Obama were president then I promise you that the “Muslim issues” generally outlined will find no opposition party to champion them, while a McCain administration will force the Congressional Democrats to actually differentiate themselves from the White House and be honest on their promises to their constituents. And finally as much smarter folks then I have pointed out over and over with studies, this is a Center-Right country and in the past 40 years we’ve only had 2 democrats elected president and both got a whole lot of help.
Suhail,
Can you tell me what disaster Bush has been able to unleash upon the Ummah, whether here or oversees, since his re-election in 2004; because from where I sit he hasn’t been able to do anything but indirectly help Muslims at home due to his incompetence since becoming a lame duck President in January 2005?
Abu Noor,
Bottom line from my vantage point is that I don’t see the “change” you’ve convinced yourself is coming policy wise, though I would expect Obama to make us “feel better” as minorities along for the ride to some multi-cultural utopia God only knows where. Please see the brief crack I outlined above in my 6:13pm post. My fiqh approach on voting is that one should vote for the best candidate who’ll deliver the best result according to our morally arrived at interests and objectives. I do as much due diligence as possible to ascertain who’ll actually deliver what they’re pitching, and any reasonable and informed Muslim activist will tell you that if it wasn’t for the negative incompetents of Bush in Iraq and his lame duck status the American Muslim organizations would not have been able to impact the bureaucracy as much as they have in order to correct their misreading of what’s a threat in our community or where extremism really comes from.
Abu Noora (Hamada)
Hamada:
You didn’t address anything at all really.
I don’t see any of that as sufficient backing for McCain.
Obama isn’t a messiah and we all know that. You calling him “a man after power” is just pathetic–he’s a politician, what do you think politics is about? They are all after power. McCain has been after it longer than Obama–so what’s your point?
Watch these videos
THIS MAN IS A LIAR!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEtZlR3zp4c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioy90nF2anI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj7HbqwZwRM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5T-He4EZU0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJFlebXxWTQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfexrMju7_I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwnbgPFu-tw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAzBxFaio1I
Bismillah,
Br. Mohamed (Hamada),
First, I think the rest of the people commenting here are actually a little too nice when it comes to the responses they have toward your post. Let me first tell you congratulations for being manipulated by mainstream media. Coming from a media background I see that you fell into their trap of using you for their own agenda. Seeing as you are a republican supporter, you may not see the problems that arise from stations such as Fox News. They have agendas and that they have been a staunch driving force (along with other mainstream media) in the hatred, the murder, and destruction of Muslims and their land.
I’ll state from the beginning that I am neither a supporter of Obama nor McCain.
Did you ever think closely about the question that were asked in the interview and maybe think that they perhaps used you for their own agendas?
Example:
KILMEADE: Mohamed, do you find it insulting at all when Barack Obama goes out of his way to say, “Hey, I am not a Muslim. I’m a Christian, and let’s stop these spread” as if being a Muslim is bad.
The people at Fox News DO think being Muslim in bad, you posted the second video yourself! But in this one instance they go and make it seem like they are sympathetic to Muslims.
The SAME GUY who interviewed you is the same guy who is saying that there are reports of “wahhabism” in an elementary school in Indonesia.
The second Issue is the issue of knowing the bounds Islam has places and not transgressing those bounds. Do you not have any concern for the Muslims or have any gheerah for the deen?
in the beginning of Islam a war was waged and was started because of the honor of just one woman when her garment was lifted revealing her. Are you aware, akhi, of the horrendous crimes done against Muslim women in places like Iraq?
WAllahi if this gets posted or not posted, you and me both will be responsible for our own actions on the day of Judgment. This will be on your conscious. Imagine for every person you convince to vote for McCain, and if elected for how many Muslims that will be tortured and killed. How will you be able to stand in front of Allah?
You, akhi, have a lot to learning to do in terms of your deen. And the ONLY reason I am not equally reprimanding those who are voting Obama, is because it may be that they are doing it for the intention of warding off a bigger evil (i.e. McCain)
But who am I? No one.
Go to Iraq in the front lines just to observe what’s going on over there. And see if you’ll support McCain or anyone else that allows this to happen.
WAllahul Musta’an. May Allah protect us from His wrath, ameen. And May Allah guide you and us all, ameen.
I guess people are simply missing Mohamed’s point and accusing him of Iraqi deaths or what not. He is just sharing his judgment based on experience, which can definitely be wrong, but he is sincere. As he has said repeatedly, end results matter, and according to him, our end results would be achieved by voting McCain. And his hope and wishes for ummah are sincere. Now I disagree myself with him, despite hating Obama myself, I would still prefer him over McCain for same reasons Mohamed is supporting McCain, to get the end results.
I guess muslims were not able to handle it. I think Mohamed may be thinking innovative and outside the box here. Atleast appreciate that.
Maybe it’s a simplistic and/or ignorant attitude that I have, but the way I see it is - why waste so much energy getting hyped up pre-election, when no matter who is elected, we’re going to have to deal with anti-Islamic/ anti-Muslim sentiments and policies no matter who gets elected?
Rather than deciding who to vote for, shouldn’t we focus more on how to deal with the situation post-election? Instead of arguing about who is the lesser of the two evils, shouldn’t we just develop a strategy to deal with the evil we’re going to face, period?
Shrien, I am not convinved anything will change in Iraq with either Obama or McCain… I prefer Obama for other reasons, some of which Haseeb mentioned. Let’s remember that neither mccain nor obama are responsible for iraq– the neocons are. So, why you would make the whole issue about iraq and make such strong assertions mystifies me a bit. You could have made the other solid technical media points more effectively without dressing them in emotion.
Really, is it too much to ask if we can have a discussion based on facts and logic, and avoid emotional outbursts? It isn’t like we are deciding between mohammad obama and mccain? Chill out. Relax. Be kind. You never know what you will learn if you keep an open mind. Go obama!
Amad,
It’s simply about the gheerah i have over Muslim and the Deen. Sure they are not responsible for Iraq, but one strongly has no problem staying there for a while and allowing the massacre of Muslims while the other would like it to stop as soon as possible.
how then is it not about Iraq?
It’s interesting that even in voting for McCain, could make the state of US the muslims who live in the US a lot worse than it already is. The Brother mentioned that he is looking forward, but subhanallah forward looks bleak for the Muslims if McCain is elected.
I’m not into politics, i could care less about voting, but when it comes to the blood shed and the unjust detention of our brothers and sisters..forgive me for actually speaking up when others are afraid to be “politically incorrect.”
wallahu Alem.
Br. Shayan Farooqui is a former YM Teaneck, NJ member…just as a side note.
Dawud Israel,
Thanks for the you tube videos. Now I’m not Karl Rove or anything, but I am a graduate of both the leading political school on the Right as well as the Left. I can tell you that attacks such as these from the left of a candidate from the right, won’t make a dent on the election but are a good grassroots viral networking tool for the attacking side. If you want to destroy a candidacy, then attack him from his base. For example for Obama, attacks coming from the left like A. Huffington on his movement to the Center as a brand image undermining strategy, will have the resonance necessary to synchronize with attacks coming from right defining Obama as untrustworthy to woo the center (independents) away from Obama as well as depress the excitement amongst his base which hurts get out the vote (gotv) efforts. The same issue can be mapped out from the right in order to derail a McCain campaign, but as of yet those forces are more disciplined then their counter-parts on the left.
Br. Mohamed - i guess my main question is, if GWOT is the primary issue of concern, isn’t mccain pretty much - by all accounts - a 3rd term of bush in this respect? at the least, i feel obama would make an ideological change (if not the physical policy change) in reducing american presence there and ending the war. if we’re agreed the war is not a good idea, then it seems logically, obama is the one to endorse. even if he cant get the troops out, it would at least be a start correct?
In regards to what bush has done since 2004 to the ummah, i would contend that his increases in troop levels in iraq is disaster enough to the muslims in iraq, and the fallout from it is disaster enough for those of us here - i haven’t seen any indirect help to muslims by his lame duck status. bringing in mccain would simply be bush again, but without the lame duck status.
i understand your argument about the destabalization that would occur if we pulled out - but the area is already unstable to begin with
a) americans leaving isnt going to make it THAT much worse, and
b) as muslims i do believe we need to support whatever anti war effort there would be, no matter how small, so that the intervention in their affairs is stopped. even many nonmuslims have expressed the sentiment that its time to let them handle their own affairs.
anyway, in the end i do agree with anonymouse. its a lot of hullabaloo. if i vote, it would be for obama - but i dont think ill be voting at all. its clear neither candidate is going to be ‘good’ for the muslims, but mccain being a lesser evil seems fairly clear to me.
i have read through the discussion here, but i personally still do not see anything i would consider any kind of a compelling reason to favor mccain in any respect, the guy has war-monger written all over him.
Shirien,
Thanks for the insult. It’s funny how you jumped to the conclusion that I’m neive and don’t know what I’m doing when engaging with the media. I’m not perfect, but I would have hoped to come off as a bit more sophisticated. I recognize the fact that the grassroots has by and large only seen either neo-conish Muslims or sell outs do right wing media since 9/11. My dear sister, I would never insult your own understanding of your deen or question how seriously you take your Islamic identity. I would like to however inform you that I’m a brother who’s studied every Poll, Survey and Study of American attitudes towards Islam and Muslims conducted since 1988 beginning with the American Jewish Congress.
In very simple language, it benefits our community’s image amongst the entire spectrum of Americans to see our community as diverse and non-monolithic. For example that’s why after 9/11 every Muslim group was touting that Arabs are a minority of Muslims and we’re ethnicly diverse. How many stereotypes and counter-messages did a four minute segment to millions of conservative Americans dispel by having two articulate, non-accented and obvious Americans debating rationally as happens in every other community who they’re personally supporting for President. Do I live under a rock to not know what Fox News does or doesn’t do?
A long time ago I learned in political school that the average American only thinks about politics an average of 3 minutes a week. Only a minority of Americans follow political current affairs in order to expect your messages to resonate outside the disempowered opposition groups. If you’re content with simply feeling bad in your heart that Muslims are facing injustices, then so be it. I’m trying to change it by changing American attitudes towards Islam and Muslims, and as every policy maker will tell you “no policy is sustainable without the informed consent of the American people.” Which takes me back to the point I made in my post about the elements of a successful “Message” and “credibility” is certainly a vital component as well as the “Emotion” part. I don’t know you and from a quick skim of your blog, I sense a strong anti-war sentiment. Imagine the emotional sense of comrodery an anti-war non-Muslim American feels when they find an anti-war Muslim American. Now for better than half of our fellow Americans, patriotism defined as loving our country and desiring its safety as priority one is similar.
Hey did anyone notice that the button of Obama said “Obama Akbar” and not Obama al-Akbar… so even these red-necks are sensitive to the usage of the infinite form of “al” - “the” as being exclusive for Allah! Gotta give it to them for their sensitivity to this matter of Tawheed
On a serious note, I have a few more thoughts. I hope I don’t need to remind readers of my political positions. You can easily go to the history of my posts and see my strong democratic, liberal (politically) tilt. However, the more I was thinking of this post, the more I can actually see a lot of positives with having minority, but visible contrarian positions. Let me expound:
Did you notice that in the FOX clip, the brother Shayan actually seemed relatively “more important” when placed in contrast to a McCain supporting Muslim (our br. Mohamad)? Consider an Obama campaign viewpoint. That Shayan, “that Muslim”, suddenly became “something interesting”. Now imagine two Obama supporters on the same program. How interesting would that be to an Obama surrogate screening FOX? Not that much I contend. You see I am taking this class in Negotiations these days. And when you add relative differences, when you make a case for the “other side”, suddenly your vote takes more importance.
Think about this. If you are selling the car, and two buyers show up at the same time…. what happens to the value of that car? It suddenly looks very desirable to both buyers and your car will get top dollars. It’s not much different here. Two parties (two candidates) are negotiating with you for your vote. If all Muslims lay their votes down for one party (like we did in 2000), then our vote is a “given”, and there is no need to pay attention to us. But, if suddenly some voices start signaling a reaction to the other party, Muslims suddenly start to look a valuable commodity. The Jewish community is using this quite well…it seems that every time, they have strong, vocal Jewish big-wigs supporting the Republican side, even though the Jewish vote is largely Democratic, and as my last post pointed out, didn’t move much even after Bush’s overtures to court them for 4 years from 2000 to 2004.
So, IMHO, I think having some vocal supporters for the “dark side” can only make Muslims look more politically mature, more sophisticated, and actually quite a bit more “desirable”. You can bet that Obama’s camp took note of this interview, and you can bet that this will allow/urge them to court the Muslim vote with far less fear of the right-press, because after all, if McCain can court us, why can’t Obama? So, for the sake of the Muslim vote taking more importance, I LIKE IT!
Talking about Iraq, “Obama was forced to call reporters back for a second news conference in Fargo, North Dakota, after he initially left open the possibility of revising his 16-month timetable for pulling U.S. combat forces from Iraq.”
[source]
So, as I said, I don’t think the two candidates will be much different on Iraq eventually– I don’t believe Iraq is the defining factor for me. There are a lot more reasons to prefer Obama over McCain… but Iraq isn’t one for me. So, all the emotions about what is happening in Iraq is well-taken, may Allah help our brothers and sisters there, but how we somehow think that it is McCain’s fault, goes over my head. I think a better position will be that McCain may be more trigger-happy than Obama, and that is more defensible and arguably a better reason to avoid him (as Omar mentioned).
Abu Noora,
Jazzak Allaahu Khayr for the clarifications. I don’t think I have really argued any change will come foreign policy wise from Obama, but an argument could be made that he’ll be better than McCain. Personally, I have been clear that I don’t believe voting or politics should be a priority for Muslims. Sorry to insult your life’s work
I actually think that what is being displayed in this whole dialogue in addition to the hot button emotional issues of anti-Islamic war mongering rhetoric from McCain and U.S. foreign policy in general is the difference between people who are professionally involved in politics and people who are not. You seem to be relying a lot on your personal experience and what you believe it has taught you about how politics work and how all the political insiders seem to ‘know’ that somehow they have been effective in making things better for Muslims since 2004.
The average Muslim out there doesn’t see things as better — the charities were shut down, brothers are locked up in Guantanamo and secret prisons all over the world in the thousands, being tortured, the U.S. is has remained at war in two Muslim lands throughout that time, has also killed Muslims in Somalia and Pakistan, and is threatening Iran. You think we on the outside just don’t understand how the game is played.
I would just say to you without making an accusation at all to keep in mind that of course it is entirely in the interest of all the politicians you talk to and the system as a whole to convince you that you’re making a difference. It’s also in your own interest to convince yourself of that. The system, like any successful system is powerful in providing incentives to those involved to convince them it is in their own interest to perpetuate itself.
In short, I don’t believe the myth that this is a country where the “people” have the power. I don’t believe, with all due respect to MAS, that “voting is power.”
I came across an interesting quote today, “rather than demonstrating discourse, rhetoric provides a public impression of discourse when in fact there may be none.” (Robert Paine, “When saying is doing” from Cross Cultural Studies in Rhetoric Robert Paine ed.) I believe the main purpose of the political system especially as it has developed to its current state is to provide the public impression of democracy when in fact there may be none.
But even if I am completely 100 percent wrong it is indisputable that there are much more important ways to influence society than electoral politics and that Muslims do not have the numbers, the cohesion, or the weight of resources within society to influence electoral politics. We should be focused on building those resources and strengthening our communities, something we could be doing without having to play games or compromise any of the Prophetic Message to unabashedly speak nothing but the truth in the way we want to express it. Instead we have spent the last six and will spend the next six months in these types of debates.
Anyways, again Jazzak Allaah for the clarifications.
Your brother,
Abu Noor.
Br Dawud nice videos. Might I suggest something of that sort for Obama please? jazakAllah khair
Anonymouse makes a very good point. I mean they are liars and cheats. How can we get pulled in to this pre-election hype. Our job living here in America, is to give dawah and educate people about Islam,not to endorse them and accept their system.
The candidates do not have our best interest at heart. And dont say that we have to choose the lesser of the two evils. Both are evil if you ask me.
Meh. Lol… I still feel this election is overrated. Neither candidate seems to be sincere in there goals and plans, especially in how they relate to Muslims.
Br. Mohamed,
you stated, “Imagine the emotional sense of comrodery an anti-war non-Muslim American feels when they find an anti-war Muslim American. Now for better than half of our fellow Americans, patriotism defined as loving our country and desiring its safety as priority one is similar.”
are you by any means suggesting i should post pro-iraq war sentiment on my blog? I am not attacking you, but one book I recommend you study is Kitaab At-tawheed. Particularly in cases of tawheed ar-rubobayyah.
Also you mention “for better than half our fellow americans…” You said that you studied all the polls done in terms of what Muslims believe here in america, have you not brother looked to the polls and seen that close to 70% of American are opposed to the war? The reaction will be no different than if an American posts the same things.
so how would my anti-war, anti occupation, anti killing of muslims and innocents at all instill a sense of deep emotion against muslims in the hearts of non-Muslims. wallahi if that’s what they feel then that’s what they felt before they read my blog. I’m not trying to please anyone but Allah.