As Salaamu Alaikum,
This will be very short. I find it strange how politics in our communities move from silly to dangerous daily. We have dictorial Imams making some very unwise decisions day to day on how the community moves forward. The sad thing is that most people will say nothing due to they think once a man has become the Imam he is the ultimate authority in the community and should not be questioned by anyone at anytime.
This behavior is very common in communities that are primarily African American in ethnic make up. It is not strange now that I think back to how most of us have been raised. The preacher in our community (most of us were Christain at one time) was given the ultimate power and remained the preacher until he died or became too old to function well. Usually they died first. We (African Americans) have always had a savior complex. I think it goes back to our slave history. Although over 400 years have passed since we were legally and physcially slaves the residue of that time still is with us. We needed true saving at that time and could not do it ourselves so we prayed for a savior. We need real saving now from ourselves. Only Allah when wanted by us to do so will be able to save us.
So it stands to reason that if some egomaniac wants to play the role of savior allow him to do so. Plus, the masjid (place of worship) gives most men of African decent (not unlike the church) a place to be the leader. He can't rule anywhere else so the masjid becomes the platform. Unfortunately, many of our leaders do not distinguish between leader and dictator. So we have policies established just to stop one thing or another (no matter if it has value or not) based on how the dictator Imam and his groupie like followers feel about who has organized it. If you are in okay no problems. If you are out well you will pay and pay big if you don't smell the coffee and get out fast.
This leaves us very empty as a community. It also has us looking like pure fools in the eyes of the general public. This leaves us always going to others for assistance with our social, economic, educational and most other problems (job loss, temporary homelessness, hunger, domestic violence, child abuse, etc) we may have in our community. This gives are true enemy much to use against Islam.
I am going to end this short blog by saying it is time for us to wake up! All of us who have and are being abused by Imams and others in the community due to they are men, have titles, etc. need to unite! I am not talking about hurting anyone I am just talking about joining forces to establish and in some cases save projects like Food Pantries, shelters, Sunday school programs, etc.
I will continue this blog and write specifically about various issues that pertain to abuse.
If you want to contact me call (404) 366-6610 or email me at haleem1@aol.com.
To know more about me and what I have been doing with the permission of Allah for the past few years visit: 1000peacewomen.org, baitulsalaam.net, spencer-majeed.com and blogtalkradio.com/baitulsalaam
Much Respect and Love
Hadayai Majeed
Humble Servant and Warrior Queen for Allah
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