Darfur Horror: What are Muslims Waiting For?

Darfur Horror Continues: What are Muslims Waiting For?

It seems that while the rest of the world is indulging in semantic and diplomatic tussles, the Muslim World is waiting for somebody from the rest of the world to once again come and solve Muslim problems. Then they will get into action to scream "foreign intervention".

The UN is busy trying to force Sudanese government to disarm the Arab militias -- the janjaweeds -- who are murdering, dispossessing and raping the non-Arab tribes of Darfur. The African Union is planning to send in a peace delegation, but the Organization of Islamic Countries and the Arab League are maintaining silence, as if nothing is happening.

American Muslim organizations are also silent. They are too busy protesting the inhuman torture of "Arab prisoners" in Abu Ghraib to have time to worry about the mass murder, forced displacement and rape of thousands of non-Arab Muslims. So far none of the National Muslim Organizations have anything to say o the matter.

The Chicago Council of Islamic Organizations {[Tel: 630-629-7490; www.ciogc.org] seems to be the only organization making some effort to rise awareness of the issue. Dr. Jihad Shoshara (jshoshara@yahoo.com), has launched a local grass roots initiative to generate awareness of the tragedy in Darfur and is hoping to raise funds for immediate relief. He informed that there are some Muslim charities which are now beginning to raise funds for relief in Darfur and for the refugees from Darfur. He is also trying to get local Imams to talk about Darfur in tomorrows Qutbah, please contact him for more information. Please support his efforts in whatever way you can.

I have a horrible feeling, after exchanging views with several important Muslim American leaders on the subject, that instead of doing the right thing, they are going to launch a campaign to cover up the crimes of the murdering Arab militias and obfuscate -- at least in the eyes of Muslims -- the role of the Sudanese government. They seem to be more concerned that truth about Darfur will expose the racism in Muslim societies. They are determined to deny this even if it means covering up the crimes of the Arab militias and present it as a "human tragedy" as if a big asteroid has fallen on Darfur creating the problems.

I want to remind them of the Quranic verse [4:135] they are currently fond of quoting to the press (from 201-203 the favorite verse was 5:32):

O ye who believe! stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor:

From now on all of us, who refuse to do something to stem the violence, relieve the pain, bring the culprits to justice and take measures to ensure that this does not happen again, are culpable too. Those who are not a part of the solution, are a part of the problem.

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