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Urgent message to Muslims:
educate, get involve, and mobilize
By M. Saqib Faheem - UC Davis
"Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear."
Harry S Truman (1884 - 1972), August 8, 1950
This is an open call to all Muslims in America.
Our future, and our collective well being as members of this society depends greatly upon our actions today. If we wish to continue to enjoy the status of being both a Muslim and an American citizen you must act now in concordance with both Islamic teaching and American.  Constitutional Ideology. Islam teaches us to be active members of our community; role models for any that may look upon how we live our lives so that they could only draw the conclusion that Islam is the cause of any good we may do. As Americans we are afforded the rights to organize, demonstrate, and speak out against that which we do not believe in. We are afforded rights that must be used in times like these when the very rights themselves are being threatened by those that govern us. However an enormous amount of the fault here lies within our own ranks. We lose our rights because we are not willing to make the effort to preserve them. Already with the passed legislature of the Patriot Act and the proposed sequel we have been stripped of and denied many of the rights which the ideology of this country demands we retain.Unfortunately ideology by itself has no voice. Americans have a voice and that voice has been in protest by and large against the laws being passed in the interests of national security. This American voice however cannot function in an effective manner without our own participation. If we are the victims in this situation then we are equally the aggressors, guilty of our own silence. The events that pass by today have long and far reaching effects that will change our lives and that of our future generations. This is a hard truth that cannot be changed. What can be changed is our participation. If we speak now and come together we can let our voice be heard and join in chorus with the millions of fellow Americans already demonstrating and protesting on our behalf. We need to stand up and speak up to protect and preserve civil liberties for ALL.
American Muslim Voice (AMV) approaches the issues at hand with a different methodology than other fine organizations which fight for a similar end goal. Where others are determined to effect our political system from the top down by encouraging and supporting Muslim candidacy we approach the matter from a grass-roots perspective.
You, yes you, and you alone can affect this movement by yourself. You do not need to run for office, involve yourself in politics or give up your life for this cause The only contribution you need to make is one of your own self being. Contribute yourself to your community and get in touch with the people around you. Muslims have no voice in America because we are reclusive within our own communities and refuse to participate outside these circles. It is an absolute necessity that we begin to reach out and try to become better neighbors, citizens, and community members.
At this time, when we are being painted as terrorists and our administration proliferates the fear of our people across America. We absolutely need to sustain ourselves is a sense of community with those outside of our race, religion, and creed. We need to infuse ourselves into a larger community that can reciprocate support back and forth as needed to ensure that no member of this enclave of individuals should be alienated and victimized simply because the numbers work against them. This is exactly how our administration and the media is pillaging our beliefs and our way of life today. Establishing this larger sense of community amongst people of all different backgrounds and religions should be the imperative task of every Muslim and largely every American. This is what it truly means to be American. The true patriot is he who holds dear to his or her heart the ideals of the country and not just the administration that is supposed to execute those ideals. As Muslim Americans we must become involved in the larger American community and lend ourselves as the best possible people we can within our neighborhoods, our children's schools, our professional environments, and any other area where we can effect change.
A simple random act of kindness can create a ripple with no logical end. Join the AMV in our efforts to make this truth a tool to shape our future in this country. Our goals are simply to provide resources making this as simple, understandable, and effective as possible. I urge you all to think of Mr. Truman's sobering words, spoken nearly 50 years ago but never more applicable than perhaps today.
Isn't it about time someone heard the American Muslim Voice?
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