February 4th, 2021
Mehlaqa Samdani
Recently, the U.S. Council of American-Muslim Organizations, which includes the Council on American Islamic Relations, the Islamic Council of North America, and others, called on the Organization for Islamic Conferenceto break its silence over China’s treatment of its Muslim Uighur population. The OIC, an international body made up of 57 Muslim-majority countries, meets regularly to discuss matters of concern to Muslim communities around the world. While it regularly and rightly calls out India, Israel, Myanmar and other countries on their persecution of Muslim communities, it has so far been muted in its response to the Chinese government’s atrocities against its Uighur population.
While these organizations were right to pressure the OIC to call out China, they would do well to also condemn OIC member states on their human rights records. American-Muslim organizations strive to improve the civil rights and liberties of American-Muslims and promote the equal treatment of Muslims under the law. They are therefore uniquely positioned to understand how in many Muslim-majority countries, religious minority groups are treated like second-class citizens.
As an American-Muslim, I have worked to counter societal and structural Islamophobia through educational programming and dialogue. In addition, I have tried to raise awareness around injustices against Muslims around the world. However, as somebody who grew up in Muslim-majority Pakistan and who follows trends in other parts of the Muslim world, it is not lost on me that many Muslim governments and societies persecute, oppress, and discriminate against religious minorities.
Whether its Ahmadis, Hindus, or Shias in Pakistan, the Copts in Egypt, the Bahai’s in Iran, or the non-existence of religious freedoms for non-Muslims in Saudi Arabia, it is clear that many countries in the Muslim world have failed their religious minorities. On a religious discrimination score, political scientist, Jonathon Fox found that Muslim-majority countries scored four times higher than Christian-majority countries.[1]
American-Muslims organizations understandably hesitate to acknowledge these facts, given the rising tide of Islamophobia in the U.S.--they do not further want to draw attention to these issues. Similarly, protecting the rights of minority groups has historically been used to advance colonial interests and justify western interventions in Muslim lands. This is therefore a sensitive topic that needs careful handling.
However, it is my contention that American-Muslim organizations must grapple with them for a variety of different reasons.
In a well-known prophetic tradition, Prophet Mohammad urged his followers to help both the oppressed and the oppressor within the growing Muslim community. While people around him understood why it was important to help the oppressed, they wondered why and how they should help the oppressor. To this the Prophet responded: “By preventing him from oppressing others”.
Other than it being a religious obligation and a humanitarian imperative to stop oppression, there are practical aspects to consider as well.
Very often, the discourse surrounding Islamic norms and practices is dominated by Islamophobes and militant organizations who reinforce the essentialist notion that Islam is inherently violent and targets religious minorities. It is important for American-Muslims to reclaim this narrative and offer a more nuanced analysis.
It is also critical to engage the next generation of American-Muslims in this conversation. Many find it difficult to reconcile the discrepancies between the Islam their parents have raised them in and the regressive practices prevalent in Muslim countries around the world.
What role can American-Muslim organizations play in this regard?
The first step is to facilitate national conversations among American-Muslims around this contentious issue. Many Muslims lack the religious literacy and sociopolitical knowledge to have a more contextualized understanding of this issue that ultimately shapes perceptions about Muslims and Islam.
It is also necessary to discuss ways in which American-Muslims can advance the rights of minority groups in their countries of origin. While 20% of American-Muslims are African-Americans, 75% of the American-Muslim population are immigrants and children of immigrants. Many have strong links to their countries of origin through family ties, remittances, and motherland politics. These American-Muslims can play significant roles in their birth countries by investing in local organizations that work to promote religious pluralism and equal citizenship.
It is also important for American-Muslim organizations to call on the OIC to organize conferences around the rights of religious minorities in the Muslim world. Grassroots activism in Muslim majority-countries can be greatly helped by regional and global, Muslim-led efforts to create norms around social justice issues.
The Marrakesh Declaration of 2016 was a Muslim-led effort that brought more than 300 scholars, intellectuals, and jurists from around the Muslim world to advance the rights of minority groups in Muslim-majority countries. While the OIC praised the initiative, this was not an OIC-led effort and has not yet found traction in Muslim-majority countries. There are many Muslim jurists and theologians around the world who have been working on the rights of religious minorities--it is important to highlight their voices under the auspices of the OIC.
For years, American-Muslim organization have enjoyed the support of allies who have combatted Islamophobia alongside the American-Muslim community. Those of us who are immigrants and maintain ties to our countries of origin, it is time we expressed similar solidarity with minority groups there who do not enjoy the same freedoms we do.
[1] Daniel Philpott, ‘Religious Freedom in Islam: The Fate of a Universal Human Right in the Muslim World Today’, Oxford University Press, 2019