Earl Abdulmalik Mohammed Speaks

It is a conscious duty of faith for Muslims to be interested and informed about the conditions of our brothers and sisters in faith, no matter where they are. We are cautioned not to interfere, unnecessarily or ignorantly, with the affairs of Peoples. But, where the need is apparent and it is desired, then we must attend these issues with the strongest sense of obligation. Allah says in the Holy Qur'an, "And when the need for aid in religion is known then give that aid." Our late leader sensitized us to our duties and what should be our sensitivities regarding the affairs and treatment of Muslims in the world, especially where they have a minority status in a particular country. I am following in the great tradition of Imam W. Deen Mohammed. I am wanting our People to understand that this obligation is a serious matter, and that even though we may be faced with trying circumstances and difficulties ourselves, even conflicts and crisis within our own reality, we are not excused from the weight of conscious duty and awareness of the condition of Muslims, generally, and to serve them with the best of our resources and knowledge.

I have mentioned in my writings and addresses the issues facing Muslims of Palestine and recently, in Kashmir. I have also mentioned the situation for the Rohingya People of Burma (or Myanmar) who were forced out of their homeland and now are refugees in the neighboring country of Bangladesh. I would like here to speak about our brothers and sisters in China, who have a long, rich tradition of Islamic life and identity. They are of two primary ethnic groups, one that is readily identifiable with the majority ethnicity of the Chinese people and the other who are descended from the Turkish and Kurdish people. Both of these groups are now being victimized by elements in the ruling order of China that want to question, suspect, and weaken their Islamic identity. Elements in the government of China are making concerted, deliberate moves to erase centuries of Islamic identity, debase the religious faith of indigenous Muslim citizens of China, and disrupt and destroy their sense of peace, security, and comfort, and their futures in their legitimate and hereditary homeland.

We Muslim-African-Americans are an indigenous community of Muslim citizens in America. We are also an ethnic group. We belong to the American identity and the African-American identity. But, we are special within those realities and it can be said, and I have said in repeating the thinking of our late leader, that we are ourselves, independently and autonomously, "a People" and even a "new People." We have the memory and taste of oppression. It is real and it lives in us. As such, we can never turn aside from its symptoms and it Signs wherever they manifest in the world. We are particularly moved and obligated when it involves the Peoples of Islamic faith.

I, as a leader in our Muslim-African-American tradition wish to bring American and international attention to what is happening to the indigenous Muslims of China by way of the policies of insensitivity and brutality directed at them by elements in their government. Their lives as Chinese peoples of history, contributions, and pride, and their futures as a distinct Muslim-Chinese People are valued and respected by us and all conscientious Muslims, and I would like to believe by other Peoples of Faith. We are seeking a stronger, more visible, bond with the Muslims of China to support them in faith, and draw immediate and lasting attention to their condition. We pray for Allah's Help to them. Allah says that He loves those who are regardful of Him, and who order themselves according to the disciplines of that regard. These, are referred to as 'the righteous', and they are of the finest of citizens in this world no matter what land they think of as home, be it America, Myanmar, Palestine, India, or China.