Insider, Outsider; the Security Perspective

Insider, Outsider; the Security Perspective


Who’s in and who’s out? Who lives on the edge, walks the margin of the mainstream, who is most suspect in the media and frightening to us all? There are many ways to look at economic, political and cultural exclusion. But these days we all know outsiders are considered dangerous to insiders, despite all their apparent disadvantages. So Brothers and Sisters of the Straight Path, let’s take a moment off from martial arts practice in the hot warehouse and consider the issue of insider and outside Muslims, from a security perspective.

Last week law enforcement raided the Miami warehouse and arrested seven adherents of a sect named “Seas of David” an apparent spin off of the Moorish Science movement. The government and media depicted them as a terror cell, though FBI was somewhat more cautious than the media, calling the cell “more aspirational than operational.”

In fact, it is not clear if any real danger has ever existed. “The Moorish Science Temple of America was founded in 1913 as a sect of Islam but incorporates teachings from Judaism and Christianity”, said Sr. Aminah Beverly McCloud, Professor at DePaw University; "They're soldiers for God in the same way that the Salvation Army is an army." While details about the splinter group has yet to emerge, some civil-liberties advocates note that informants may once again have helped create a plot that otherwise wouldn't have existed. And yes, we may ask ourselves: are vulnerable individuals and communities deliberately being set up?

CAIR and MPAC quickly distanced the sect from mainstream Muslim communities they represent. They declared the suspects not Muslim. For us Muslims, however, it is surely not enough to loudly say; “These perpetrators are not of us!” since these captives also require support to ensure justice is done. Can justice be done in this age of panic and politics of fear? One way or another, this is an opportunity for good work and healing.

With the Jihad Watch and Front Page folks relentless in their irresponsible attacks of mainstream Muslim American organizations, depicting CAIR and MPAC, ISNA and ICNA all as sinister sects, shall we all stay home in fear and confusion? Certainly not! Both the ICNA and ISNA conventions are coming up the weekend of July1, and there is no risk to attending. Of course, such organizations also have their insiders and outsiders, don’t they?

Authorities all around the world target vulnerable and apparently peaceful populations out of convenience, expedience, misplaced fervor and police paranoia. Seas of David are a tiny sect; but in China, the Falung Gong sect numbers in the millions. Recently, the sect known as the Akramiya came to my attention. Based in Uzbekistan, its founder Akram Yuldashev was originally linked to the Hizb-ut-Tahrir, but profoundly changed his tactics over 15 years ago and has said he has never called for an Islamic State. The comparison with the Seas of David might be suggestive.

Uzbekistan's former chief Mufti, Muhammad Sadyk Muhammad Yusuf, told the human rights group Forum 18 that he believes that it is far removed from politics. Talib Yoqubov, chairman of the independent Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan, added; “There is nothing like Akramiya in Uzbekistan now. Several years ago, they spoke of Wahhabi. Then they started talking about Hizb ut-Tahrir. Jamati Tabligh became another accusation under which they imprisoned many people. Now it is Akramiya. I am sure after a while, the authorities will come up with some new name. This is the process we witness in Uzbekistan.” Sound familiar?

However, the 2005 uprising (and tragic Massacre of 500 unarmed protesters) did arise when 23 members of the Akramia movement were put under arrest. These were influential Andijan businessmen who were trying to establish a unique model of "Islamic socialism" in the town. A general social welfare system had been set up at the companies run by the businessmen, who had agreed to pay their employees a higher wage than minimum. Virtually all those gathered on the square were employees of the detained businessmen.

Alarmingly, all those questioned by Forum 18 stated that soldiers from a unit called Bars, trained by American military instructors, fired on people indiscriminately. The Carnegie Endowment has obtained censored government tapes that nevertheless cast doubt on the government version of the massacre. The tape cane be viewed on www.nytimes.com/asia and audio of demonstrators praying and being murdered can be found on the Columbia School of Journalism website, compiled by Uzbek refugee Galima Bukharbayeva.

Those on the right have their Ruby Ridge. Those on the Left have other martyrs to police brutality. An unsubstantiated tip may lead to a terror raid. A sloppy analysis based on the secret mining of the SWIFT global banking network’s 12.7 million daily messages would place all of us at risk. Too bad, since Treasury Under Secretary states, “people do not have a privacy interest in their international wire transactions.” Right and Left, those who care about freedom ought to be alarmed.

But those who are “inside” should not imagine that they will be there forever.