The big American flag suddenly flew from the masjid and the chant “Islam means peace, Islam means peace” droned on like a masturbatory mantra we hoped would magically chase away the demons in our midst.

It didn’t and it won’t. And once again, our leadership has failed us.

Sure, nicey-nice (though slightly panicked) statements were released to the press. Our Jewish and Christian cousins of good will stood to protect us against possible attacks by bigots. (Could they rely on us for the same? I wouldn’t count on it.) And lo and behold! Here is Hisham Kabbani on TV! He’s back and looking good. I cheer, again. But then, oops! He’s gone again as we collectively stumble, fumble and drop the ball-- again.

“Islam is against terrorism, but.....”

Who wrote these types of statements and who approved them? They need to be fired.

There are two main reasons our collective response to 9-11 seemed so weak and conditional to so many, and continues to appear that way. One is the great big “but” interjected into or implied within so many press releases and by so many talking heads. (Of course, the fact that our brothers and sisters overseas are cheering isn’t helping matters much.) Another is we’ve never, as a community, stood firmly against the Wahabiesque extremism before, so we’re a little bit late to the party and need to play catch-up.

In fact, we’ve been complicit through our silence, or as in the Kabbani-State Department case, complicit by means of our misplaced, slightly rabid, and certainly inaccurate condemnations of someone who, it turns out, gives every appearance of having been correct. Frankly, that attack elicited suspicions in some people at that time regarding the agendas of those signatory organizations. Now, of course, it all looks even more questionable, doesn’t it? Of course it does.

In my locale—compare it with yours—we bumbled and fumbled along as usual. We have one individual with education and experience in matters of public relations, press relations and so on. When I learned of her existence a few years ago I could not help but wonder why her skills and experience were not being used. It was puzzling. (I’m sure it had nothing to do with gender issues.) Local Muslims sent out a terrific press release. So excellent, it was picked up for ridicule on an out-of-state radio station. That “We condemn, but...” issue. We also hosted a disasterous (and ridiculed) "Media Dinner." Ruined by those infected with the Wahabi version of Islam, of course, as usual, as would be expected.

And what can we say about our national organizations post-9-11? Not much. After the initial press releases (“Yes, but....”) they all kind of vanished except for MPAC. (Ok. You get an A for effort, but check out PLO legal advisor Diana Butto. She’s good.) Of course, most of them are now operating under a cloud of justified suspicion and many seem to be under outright investigation. Its kind of hard to get accurate information these days.

Do you know where the money goes?

Too bad our various organizations didn’t keep a clean and orderly house—with a qualified, honest accountant. But then, that would entail behaving in an honest, responsible and accountable manner, and Muslim-American leadership does not appear to do that and the people do not demand it—they just keep handing the money over “for the sake of Allah” without ever requiring accountability for what is actually being done with the money.

At best, things look like business as usual in our national advocacy groups post-9-11. A stress on foreign issues, and issues pertaining to particular ethnic groups—not American-Muslims per se. (I mean, I’m of Irish descent but I’ve never seen any concern on the part of Muslim organizations for Irish issues. Arab issues are certainly popular though.) There is an ongoing whine of how victimized we are now, and so many people hate us, and we’re so misunderstood, and we do nothing but good, and boo hoo hoo.

Well, excuse me, but where were you when the Wahabis were saying kill all Americans and Jews? Did you ever speak up and clearly condemn anti-Jewish rhetoric and hatred as distinguished from criticism of Israel? Where were you as the Palestinians descended into self-defeating, immoral kamikaze acts for the sake of a nation-state—not God? Did you just always say “yes, but....”? Or were you intimidated and frightened into silence by “hadith bombs” and other manipulative techniques used by the Wahabiesque? ("Don't fear them. Fear Me!") Or, are you one of them?

AMPCC, consisting of the American Muslim Alliance (AMA), American Muslim Council (AMC), Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), and Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) put out a release July 23, 2002: “U.S. MUSLIMS CALL FOR 9/11/02 DAY OF UNITY AND PRAYER. All faiths urged to open houses of worship for interfaith activities.”

Excuse me? U.S. Muslims? No. Only your membership.You simply do not speak for Muslim-Americans. You speak only on behalf of your members. And the fact is, we Muslim-Americans are not currently occupying the high moral position required to legitimately urge other faith traditions to do anything.

We need to clean up our house first.

In God’s Name! Where is our self-criticism post-9-11? This event should have elicited a long over-due soul-searching throughout the entire Muslim-American community, but it did not. What it did elicit was a long, low, moaning whine of pseudo-victimhood.

Yes, Americans are closing down one of the most open countries to have ever existed in the name of security. Yes, Americans are restricting their previously unheard of civil rights in the name of security. And yes, Muslims are being searched, detained and under suspicion in the name of security. But that is our own fault. Remember, 9-11 was done in the name of Islam, with plenty of emotional support from Muslims and ongoing threats from Muslims—our people, our community, not someone else’s. There is no getting around or denying that.

Its all our own fault.

If a Muslim-American is now detained unjustly we don’t have the structures needed to help, nor do many of us have the knowledge of our rights and how to protect them in this country. Our leadership has failed us by not building those structures nor addressing the obvious need for that type of knowledge in a community with a large immigrant demographic. (CAIR started wonderfully, but soon lost their focus with international and ethnic concerns. The “action alerts” have dried up and the organization remains under a cloud of suspicion.)

And if that Muslim-American is being held justly for some kind of involvement with the Wahabi extremists, it is still symptomatic of a failed leadership that did not firmly address and respond to the unhealthy attitudes and beliefs that nurture the Wahabi and Wahabiesque version of Islam, but instead allowed it to flourish without firm confrontation and condemnation. More often than not, it has been supported by the default silence. A silence that is the result of a general Muslim misunderstanding of what healthy communal unity looks like, seasoned with a bit of collective self-delusion regarding our imagined superiority to the rest of humanity. This is a recipe for complicity with evil.

It sounds a little weak to be complaining now if your community had no voter registration drive, and if it tolerated those who would consume the benefits of this country while refusing their civic duty to vote, and discouraged others by calling it haram. It is a bit weak when your community offered no appropriate options for political action or training, and made no attempt to actually build an alternative to, say, the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, if you were so concerned about U.S. policies. Its a bit weak when we (we?) spent week after week, month after month, year after year, complaining about Kashmir, or Palestine, or some other international issue, but never about issues of justice in our own towns and communities. Its a bit weak if you thought, advocated or tolerated attitudes that call all non-Muslims kuffar, and harbored malicious thought towards them, or towards our Jewish cousins (“Jew” is not the same as “Israel”). You expect help and concern from them now? That isn’t how things work for the most part.

If you thought globally, but failed to act locally, you’ve got no one to blame but yourself for the mess the ummah has become. If you participated in a sham of an election in your masjid that offered no real choice of qualified personnel, and you did not demand qualified personnel, and then hold them accountable to their responsibilities, you’ve got no one to blame but yourself. If you simply handed over vast sums of money with no concern for how it was spent, you are largely responsible for the mess the ummah has become.

Those to whom God has given wealth shoulder an astounding responsibility regarding its stewardship and distribution. Money can enable great good, or help nurture astounding depths of evil. It is not enough to simply sign a check saying “for the sake of Allah” and walk away. And it is too much if you only sign the check after you have imposed decisions you were not equipped to make and your feet have been kissed. Islam is a middle way.

We Muslims today are known not for piety and good deeds, but for hatred and violence. We are viewed not as a mercy to all humanity, but as a potential danger. This is the result of the actions and inactions of Muslim-American leadership on both the national and local level. This is the result of the people failing to hold their leaders accountable.

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