I continue to be deeply concerned about the treatment and condition of Muslim citizens of China. The attitudes, behaviors, and rules guiding and governing universal and international decency and humane treatment on the part of responsible governments toward their citizens are what distinguishes human community from base animal life. Even with the recognition of religious, social, or political differences that can lead to serious conflict between governments and their people, there are standards and conventions respected by all civilized people as to what is acceptable for the conscious human soul in its regard for fellow human beings.
We have seen serious abuses even in these United States of America displaying an appalling treatment by government authority toward innocent citizens demonstrating their natural right of free and responsible expression under the dictates of the US Constitution, to bring attention to a serious breach of trust between citizens and government. We have seen the loss of innocent human life at the hands of those sworn to “protect and serve” the public citizenry.
We have seen the irresponsible, morally-weak leadership of self-serving political, race-bating interests manipulate the ignorance and passions of international and national publics suffering an unprecedented global, life-threatening health pandemic. We are witnesses to the strategies of those with diabolical motives to divide human beings and separate human communities from their natural community support networks. We are speaking to the moon and sun people -those thinking they hold the power of the moon and the sun, and we are also speaking to the common people.
We Muslim-Americans congratulate our national government’s recent steps to isolate wrongdoers in China who have targeted and victimized indigenous Muslim communities for no reason other than their religious, cultural, and ethnic identity. These wrongdoers have deliberately instituted policies of repression, oppression, and social degradation affecting the Chinese Muslim population, and they deserve to be called-out and severely sanctioned. It would be no surprise if an American Christian constituency would speak out in support of the legitimate struggles of any Christian society on this earth, or for any principles supported by universal and humane Christian teaching that were being openly ridiculed or discarded by a government authority in justification of mistreatment of a Christian population.
We Muslim-Americans also wish to respectfully remind our national leaders of US Constitutional values pointing to and guaranteeing respect for the dignity of the human individual rights to life and welfare. Americans are entitled to have national leaders working for the national unity in the name of and upon the principle that mankind is one human community. It is on the record, from our recent past and our late leadership, and now, that we will not be silent when forces in this country desire to put all of us at risk by dog-whistling and fanning the sentimental flames of race and ethnic conflict. We are a group knowing better than most the reasons for and language of race division, and we know the language of racial and ethnic harmony.
We encourage our government to remember more of its better traditions in its domestic policies, as it acknowledges the wrongs and abuses abroad. We encourage our national leaders to not further shame themselves and this nation before the world. We encourage Muslim-American leaders to follow their best traditions and respond to Muhammed the Prophet’s leadership as he taught “Let there be no harm and no reciprocating harm.” This is us speaking against the wrong lest we not have the reach to change it with our hands, and we are not satisfied to only hate it in our hearts.