An Open Letter to the American Public

Nevertheless, the questions that abound must be answered satisfactorily and truthfully: What is Islam? Who are the Muslims? Why do they hate us? If their religion is one of peace, why are they so violent? How is Islam compatible with democracy? What place do Muslims have in America? Why are Muslims intolerant of other faiths? Are American Muslims funded by foreign groups? Are American Muslims the enemy? Why isn’t more emphasis placed on peace rather than war in Islam? Is Islam an American faith? What is the truth about Islam? What is the truth about American Muslims? There is Judge Hassan El-Amin, the first and only Muslim to serve as a judge in the state of Maryland. There is also Captain Rasheed Muhammad, the first Muslim military chaplain in U.S. History. Both are followers of Imam W. Deen Mohammed. The first native born American Muslim to be a member of an United States Olympic Team is Shareef Abdur-Rahim, a follower of Imam W Deen Mohammed and an NBA all-star with the Atlanta Hawks who was educated in a Muslim American school named for Imam Mohammed’s mother. And when the question is asked who speaks for Islam in America upon the religious obligation of serving this Nation’s strength and beauty, there is no doubt in the mind of former boxing great and American cultural icon Muhammad Ali, because Imam W Deen Mohammed is also his leader.

When our Nation mourned with the people of New York City in Yankee Stadium, it was Imam Izak-El Pasha. Leader of Harlem’s Malcolm Shabazz Mosque, another follower of Imam Mohammed, who was asked to represent Islam and Muslims by New York Mayor - Rudy Giuliani. And when President George W. Bush declared from the Islamic Center of Washington that terrorism is not the face of Islam after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack, the Muslim religious leader speaking in support of the President was Imam Yusuf Saleem, the National Director of Education for Muslims in association with the leadership of Imam W. Deen Mohammed. The nearly three million Muslim Americans following Imam W. Deen Mohammed have had an independent history and evolution in the international community of Islam. Descended from Africa and slavery in America, we have never known another home. Our American identity was never assumed, it was understood, even when our human worth and citizenship was provisionally denied us by law. With the facts of African American history widely known, it must be underscored that we have evolved from Mike Wallace’s 1959 portrayal of the Black Muslims as The hate that hate produced into an organic religious community cherishing for all others as ourselves: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The quality of our American lives is characterized by a singular and mainstream Islamic religious devotion that we interpret to demand conscious awareness of and responsibility for our citizenship. This is most profoundly expressed in our cardinal commitment to family and neighbors, both of which for us, like most Americans, are predominantly Christian and Jewish. The simple fact is that we are Muslim Americans serving G-d and country, and we believe that we have been prepared to lead all Muslims in America to a model Islamic community life. This means that as our country grows into its future, we will be here always serving its good interests. These are truthful answers for a few of the above questions. But for a lasting satisfaction, dear America, in this one of our most important hours, we are obliged to consider W. Deen Mohammed.

Sincerely, Imam E. Abdulmalik Mohammed