The rise and fall of the ’salafi dawah’ in the US (Part 1) Umar Lee Jump to Comments Over thenext few days, weeks or however long it takes, I will be writing a series about the rise and fall of the “salafi dawah”, the accomplishments, mistakes and ultimately, its fall amongst US converts from my perspective and consulting with some other brothers on the scene at the time. I’m not going to open comments on these posts until the end because I’d like for everyone to have the full body of information - at least from my perspective - before commenting. This is part one. Part 1 The Beginning… In the early to mid 90s, we witnessed a period in which lots of people were becoming Muslim after the new interest in Malcolm X brought on mostly by Spike Lee’s X hats and the movie. This brought on a short period of revived black consciousness in which we saw many black bookstores open that sold books such as “The Isis Papers” and “Stolen Legacy” promoting myths of a black super civilization that used to exist that had 25th century technology buried beneath the Saharan desert to protect their super knowledge from the evil of the white man. There was so much hope that ‘knowledge of self’ would finally bring blacks out of the rut they’d fallen into. This “hope” is what leads AfricanAmericans into different movements. The strong yearning to be a part of something positive. Many of you will not understand this yearning, but it is very strong. I cannot understand it as well as a black person, but I do know what this yearning is like. This point is important because many of these new Muslims from the influx would find that their next “great hope” was in the salafi dawah. The black consciousness period basically ended with the disappointment in lack of substantive response in aftermath of the “Million Man March”. Lots of people showed up, lots of good feeling, lots of money made for some, but nothing happened in the black communities after that. After the Malcolm X bio-pic and the new black consciousness movement, this led to a lot of interest amongst black youth (even white youth like me at the time) in “returning to their roots” which eventually led many of them to Islam. I became Muslim myself during this period after reading the ‘Autobiography of Malcolm X’. The same is the case with others I know. On top of pointing out the influx of Muslims that came in from the short black consciousness period in the early 90’s, it must also be noted that the internet was taking off. This is important to note as the internet would feed much of the growth of the salafi movement and, ironically, eventually contribute to its current decline. Before this time, in the late 80’s, some of the forbearers of salafi dawah that were already here in the US, used to drive hundred of miles to give lectures in which there would only be like a dozen people who all knew each other. This was a “big gathering”. There were few converts that were salafi at that time. These speakers would form part of the backbone of the salafi speakers circuit along with those that were about to graduate from the University of Madinah (Abu Muslimah and Abu Usamah). It is these individuals, along with Dawood Adib, that really took “the dawah” to the converts where it was originally mostly a Gulf Arab thing. Next, I will talk about the competition for the new converts and the salafi movement’s rise. 13 Comments Part 2 After many of us became Muslim in the early 90’s, we found that there was a competition for our hearts and minds between the Sufis/traditional Muslims, the Salafis, and the Tablighis. There is, however, a lot of overlap between the Sufis/traditional Muslims and the tablighis so in some ways I kinda put them in the same category. The ‘Ikhwani’ movements just weren’t interested in converts except where they could help speak out on issues such as Palestine. This usually required white converts and hence not a lot of black converts were interested in their movement and the ikhwan weren’t interested in them…unless they had big money. This is why you’ll find that there are more converts amongst the Sufis/traditional Muslims, salafis and tablighis than the Ikhwani groups where it is/was very rare. Many of the new converts at that time, because of the internet, began connecting with other new Muslims across the country, learning their Islam together and many were learning about salafi speakers. Email lists were formed and websites began to go up. Thus began what some have called the ‘cut and paste’ era. A brother could in this era look like a scholar if he knew the right sources to cut and paste from. Salafis - because they eventually had an army of zealous converts from which to pull - did an excellent job of book and tape distribution and had two magazines that were spreading like around the country in Muslim circles. These books, tapes and magazines went into the prisons where more Muslim converts eventually became salafis. But one of the most important parts (if not THE most important part) of spreading the salafi dawah to other parts of the country were the annual winter conferences. The two major conferences were IANA (Islamic Assembly of North America) and QSS (Qur’an and Sunnah Society of North America). Although there were some conflicting issues with the leaderships of those organizations, many of the rank and file attended both conferences and there was a lot overlap of speakers at both. It was at these conferences that the attendees would buy many tapes, meet other salafis, connect hearts, network, make new friends, meet the speakers personally and sometimes even become friends with the speakers. At these conferences you saw many big beards, thobes (above the ankles), and many niqaabis wearing all black. All of this may sound cliché or even silly now, but back then it was really a big deal to see so many people actually “practicing the religion” in the eyes of relatively young and new Muslims. Then on top of that, the emphasis on following the letter of the Islamic law and keeping the salaat lines straight and filling in the gaps that was emphasized no place else. Nowhere else would you see this type of emphasis, and through the eyes of a zealous convert eager to practice his new religion, this all looked good. Most importantly, we felt like we were “a part of something”. This is a critical point Unlike today’s caricature of a typical salafi, there were quite a few professional and responsible brothers in the ranks that were African American. There were also white and Latino brothers there. It was the bulk of these type of brothers that would later leave. In retrospect, I liken these conferences to drugs in a way. You got such a high (in your Imaan) on the first one that you just had to go back for another hit to boost. Eventually you Imaan becomes dependent on it in a way. More on the issues of the loss of responsible brothers and the loss of an outlet to get this ‘high’ when we discuss the decline. The most popular taped lectures were by Dawud Adib, Abu Muslimah and Abu Usamah and they often at that time worked together as a group and spoke on the same panels along with Muhammad Syed Adly on weekend gatherings and mini-conferences that on a smaller level served the same purpose as the major conferences. The brothers that worked distributing the tapes were very good at marketing and created a demand for the tapes. Some brothers even made a living just selling these tapes. They didn’t get rich, but they didn’t have to do anything else during this time. It got to a point where it was not strange to find people who had 300-400 tapes in their collections. The salafi books and tapes were flowing like a river. In addition, a lot of the more savvy converts started putting out stylish t-shirts, hoodies, jackets, etc with catchy slogans that appealed to many of these same converts and sold very well. This helped promote the salafi dawah too. The talents of many of these new converts were former members of Jamil Al-Amin’s or WD’s group. it looked even better. where’d you get that thobe?” … “Where can I get more tapes?” A ‘buzz’ was created and this helped spread the word. book. magazines. books. email lists. and taped lectures to compete for this market of new Muslims. there was sort of an inner economy within the salafi movement. drew far more Muslims. “Man. Then again. This was from the tenacity of the brothers going from masjid to masjid posting these announcements or spreading these fatwas. t-shirt.utilized very well during these times. There was a lot of hope and excitement and when contrasted to what they saw in their small communities. Also. In contrast. One would also see posters for the salafi conferences and advertisements for the salafi magazines on the bulletin boards of these “ikhwani” masjids. Next. The conference attendees would return to their cities ready to recruit others armed with tapes. I’ll continue to discuss the rise when I write about the salafi bonds of brotherhood in the 90’s… Part 3 By the mid to late 90’s. the salafi dawah – love it or hate it – had become a force to be reckoned with – especially on the East Coast – and had at least a small presence in almost every major US city. with a new look and would spread the word amongst other Muslims in their hometowns. that would return to their cities ready to hit the ground running and enthusiastically spread the word. . The conferences and mini-camps had become “must attend” events and groups of families would travel caravan-style to these functions. with converts of any religion by nature being more zealous. most of the converts from the early 90’s ‘black consciousness’ era lived in that region too. The converts that became Muslim from the short ‘black consciousness era’ had become salafis in large numbers and perhaps the majority of those from that era – the ones that stuck to Islam . ISNA conferences. With all of the tape. for example. and magazines. the salafis had clearly established themselves as the most dominate Islamic presence on the internet. There was a vast worldwide network of articles and audio lectures that interlinked to one another and were sent on the numerous email lists. Even people who were not necessarily a part of the salafi group often referenced this vast network salafi websites. Also. They would tell their friends to subscribe to the magazines and get the new books and tapes by these speakers (huge contrast to the boring speakers they would hear locally on a weekly basis) join the email lists and tell them about the websites and the latest books that came out. they were more dedicated to giving dawah and spreading of the tapes. but they just did not have the driven and energetic attendees that the salafi conferences had. This was especially true on the East Coast where the brothers often made a point to support each other’s businesses even if they had to pay more. The real strength – in my opinion . new thobes and kufis and tales of their experiences at the conference. So hundreds. The groups and pockets of salafis around the country consisted mostly of new Muslims and/or Muslims that used to be tablighis.have been salafi at one time even if they are not now. It was kinda funny to walk into an ‘ikhwani” run masjid and see fatwas or articles from salafi websites posted on the board. The other movements (especially predominantly black ones) just did not have the magazines. or “old workers”.was on the East Coast because most of the major speakers and people of knowledge lived in that region at that time. The internet presence along with the grassroots efforts the conferences produced was second to none at the time. perhaps thousands of brothers and sisters would return to their homes all over the country excited. books. by the late 90’s. food and other types of sales. So a large number of those who entered Islam after the brief black consciousness period in the early 90’s became Salafis. They had found gold and desperately wanted this good thing for everyone. This way was the right way for everyone. When I traveled. And they did each and every time during this period.and reading books and listening to lectures of great sacrifice for deen by Muslims of the Salaf . It was about competing for good deeds and genuinely wanting for brothers what you wanted for yourself. even though I was willing to do so. I often didn’t have to buy food or pay for a hotel. Brothers like me traveled from community to community. mini-conferences and impromptu visits. I felt compelled to add this part because many think that everything was entirely funded by Saudi money. Remember those people who sold everything before Y2K and bought farms expecting the world to become like “Mad Max”? … Well. but almost. When brothers came to St Louis.The groups of salafis in the cities outside the east coast would come together to listen to tapes. I would not even know where I was going to stay. (This is in a time when long distance was not free) There was a lot of genuine love. These groups of brothers and sisters would become very tight knit and become such close friends they would form a loose network across the country and would visit and call each other often. This was behind the zeal (and in many cases over zeal) of many of the brothers. not only because the brother were leaving the company of good friends. It wasn’t about “milking” brothers. We had discovered the roadmap to utopia. They used their own gas in their own cars to travel to spread this message. I can’t describe for you the sense of loss one feels returning to a city with a small and generally inactive Muslim community. One of the things that I want to keep emphasizing is the great hope and excitement amongst the brothers. because it will put into context the great hurt and pain that would come later during the decline. Many spent their own time and money to spread this message. but I knew that my salafi brothers would have my back. If only we could get everyone to realize it. Another thing everyone needs to understand is that we believed with our very beings that this was going to be the answer to the world’s problems. we didn’t go that far. understand that we were largely a bunch of idealistic young people in our early to mid-twenties as well.many dropped nearly completely out of the world and immersed themselves and their families fully into this bubble. and each time we were received very well by our fellow salafis. When it was time for departure from the conferences. brothers would often insist on my staying with them. have their own make-shift classes or listen to ‘ilm-online’ which was a tele-link to classes in East Orange. We loved to meet a new salafi brother. This was the case with many brothers. tears would flow. and we would talk and have a good time over some food and I’d stay in their home with no problem. although they wish they could have gotten some Saudi money. . Many completely invested their lives in every way to this movement expecting everything to keep growing. we were equally as generous to brothers when they came to visit. Also. This was not true on the grass roots level as many brothers sacrificed a lot of time and money. The environment often was hypnotic. With these great ideals in mind . but they knew that they were often returning to dead situations in their hometowns. so cut us some slack for being naive. That is only true with the major organizations and some of the book publishers. They spent their own time and money to make these tapes and buy the books to spread them. Others sold furniture and other personal belonging and gave the proceeds to the masjid. gained a reputation amongst Salafis as “the best Muslim community in the US” and many moved there from other communities to help build the community. websites and email lists.O. For the first time in many of our lives. and successful businessmen and women in the ranks.) led by Abu Muslimah.O. many families with these skills moved to E. was the place to go. Some were so close that they were like blood brothers. There was an idea .O. with the hope of helping to build upon this great new thing. E. school teachers. There were also Muslims – even those that were not salafis . We had no idea that the world – the real world – was continuing to move on without us… Many were very close and had some very good times. Unlike the remnant salafi movements today. and had shared good times together.” and its “satellites” As the word spread via word of mouth. Sisters sold their jewelry. Brothers like me made their full time jobs ‘being Muslim’. There were IT professionals. This made a big difference in E. Many groups of friends traveled thousands of miles together.O. tapes. made hajj together. And this brotherhood made it attractive to others. There was amazing and persistent dedication. and this brotherhood served as a nice contrast during these times.no. This made East Orange. Many had come from a chaotic life as non-Muslims. NJ and its “satellites”… Part 4 “E. brothers in the smaller towns grew tired of the boring khutbahs and lack of reception of their local community to their calls to salafiyyah and eventually either established their own small salafi masjids or just left in frustration for other communities with large numbers of salafis. the salafi dawah grew stronger and more popular. over the “satellites” (communities that followed E. we felt like part of something special. There were so many young converts involved One of the most exciting and largest salafi-led tasks was the Islamic Center of America (ICOA) project in East Orange.from around the country so impressed with what they saw in E. Graphic Artists. organized bake sales and had fundraisers amongst themselves that raised several thousand dollars. Some were blood brothers. Many put their lives on hold . During this time. did have some brothers in the ranks that were professionals and/or college educated.O. Hearing what was going with the ICOA project on from the tapes.O. cried together.at the time . conferences. Abu Muslimah not only did not discourage brothers from going to college but also encouraged other brothers to acquire skills to help the community. E.O.O’s lead) that would form in other cities. We would just find an odd job here or there to support ourselves and our families and return to our salafi world. Abu Muslimah himself has a degree in Business Management from Rutgers. Most importantly. . magazines. engineers.that it was better to concentrate in certain spots and build up that area. These times still make me smile with nostalgia Eventually.and dedicated themselves completely and dove in head first with full confidence that this movement would stand and continue to grow and prosper here.O. NJ (E.You could not go wrong with this. There were brothers that took second jobs in order to dedicate the entire salary of that second job to the ICOA project. then E. STOPPED their lives . It was said that if you can’t make hijrah overseas. NJ become a major destination for those leaving the smaller communities and made it the most dynamic salafi community in the country during this period and the epicenter… Next… East Orange. Many others dedicated their time in trying to “go study” with no thought of what we were going to do when we got older. O. It was the latest trend. they were a satellite to E. By everyone’s estimation. sleeping facilities for guests. The smaller communities never really developed for several reasons.O. Outside of EO/Northern New Jersey and Philadelphia. In Philadelphia.O. and other things all in that building. It was these accomplishments that caused more reasonable brothers to overlook a lot of the overzealous brothers that were in the rank and file. but the most prominent reasons at that time were lack of leadership and brothers eventually leaving for E. the largest number of salafis in the country. food bar.especially after Jumuah . Janazah washing facilities. the street was filled with Muslim families walking to the masjid. like me. mistakes and ultimate downfall. brothers would not spare any effort to lure you to move. Others. the once abandoned section of town around the ICOA were now reinvigorated as the Muslims brought life to where it was once dying. However. at that time. A visit there though was enough to impress anyone from a small community. bookstore. DC during the . We will eventually get to the problems.O. The community was a testament to itself. dress and acts of worship. It even got to the point in Philly that nonMuslims even started to dress like the salafis. had. a men’s and womens lounge. and Nashville. but still not the more complete community that was in E. One could walk to the masjid and see several other Muslims doing so. Kansas City.plenty of Muslim vendors on Fridays. like on Ghostbusters. or Philly. At Jumuah time. not religious) just to see the accomplishments of the community or just to get a ‘charge’ before returning back to a smaller community. they had the most impressive salafi accomplishments that I knew of: A school that went up to 12th grade with certified Muslim teachers and students that often went on to college. It was a great accomplishment and this drew even more people to move there. a festive atmosphere . In Philly. Big beards and niqaabs became a normal thing even for people that were not salafi. Over time. would make a ‘pilgrimage’ there (no.O. The African-American Muslim community in Philly began to appear more Salafi and gradually incorporated Salafi norms of doing things into their speeches. but next I will talk about the DC/Northern Virginia community Part 5 Northern Virginia A lot of visits back in the day led to the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington. or Philly or were trying to form a community in their locality and get those from even smaller communities than their’s to move there as well. a huge Eid sized musullah. The city of East Orange renamed the back alley of the ICOA “Ahlus-Sunnah Plaza” because of this. However. all these cities were also ‘satellites’ of E.that they contributed thousands of dollars to help. there was a pink slime lying underneath that no one was addressing that would contribute to ultimately bringing the entire dawah down. The bookstore distributed tapes all over the United States and Canada as well as many parts of Europe and there was also an independent Hajj package and a Muslim security team. Eventually. With so many Muslims moving to EO.O. When one walked into the building. In spite of their numbers. But before you left. the salafi community didn’t achieve what the community in E. The apartment buildings all around the masjid were full of Muslim families. one could see that this was a pretentious-free environment. Some examples of these communities like this were Atlanta. but they still had a large number of salafis there. the salafis were in such large numbers that they set the trend for the other Muslims. they got the building and made the necessary improvements. exercise room. during that time. It would be these types of brothers that would lead the downfall across the country. there were some small salafi communities that formed in other cites that consisted of brothers that either could not afford to move to E. rather by a concoction of organizations affiliated with the religious outreach programs of the Saudi government. the classes would expand tremendously and the tapes and CD’s of the lectures would be mass produced. Turks. Under the tenure of Sheikh Ali. The attraction of Sheikh Ali was the fact that this was a man who was born and raised in America. he was not a firebrand and seldom raised his voice. Salafis were becoming a major force in the area due to these major-factors: .The emergence of a vibrant African-American Salafi community centered at Jammat al-Qawi in Washington. sold and spread all over the US. which trained American-Muslims for free in Arabic and religious studies and many went on to study at the universities in Mecca and Medina. The DC area community was not founded by Salafis. DC . The office was run by Idris Palmer and Friday night lectures were given at the home of Jafar Sheikh Idris. organizations affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and its American branches mainly being the Muslim American Society. Many would stay for just a few months while others would stay permanently in the area and become active in the community. By the time the 1990’s rolled around. spoke in clear English. Canada and the UK. As the Salafi Dawah was on the rise. People would come who were raised in Muslim homes.The lectures of two men who would become famous the world-over to Salafis and that is Jaffar Sheikh Idris and Ali al-Timimi. Northern Virginia was the best community overall .in my opinion. was the best SALAFI community. and sounded like an .O. . and not only had a great knowledge of the deen but was college educated. The Mahad provided a fresh crop of students each semester who would come and live in the area. This was a man who could take the knowledge of the Salaf and make it applicable to your everyday life and could speak in a language we all understood. and South Asians. an IT professional. The classes at the home of Sheikh Jaffar created a brotherhood amongst the students that grew and attracted an extremely diverse group of students from all racial and economic backgrounds. VA. Sheikh Ali became such a popular local figure that his classes became “the place to be” for the youth of the masjids throughout the DC-area. Some were even secular or sufi and generally very far from the Salafi Dawah. a cancer researcher and a very serious intellectual. (E. In the DC area. . and a variety of other mostly ethnic based groups such as Afghans.The other Saudi-backed organizations such as the World Assembly of Muslim Youth and the Muslim World League . As the school had no housing students set-up makeshift housing where ten or fifteen brothers would stay in one or two bedroom apartments and give them names such as “Dar usSunnah” or “Dar as –Salaf”. they began in the 1990’s very small with a small office in DC for an organization called the Society for the Adherence to the Sunnah which was where the program of Ali al-Timimi was based. the most dynamic part of the salafi movement in the DC-area was the students of Jafar Sheikh Idris and Sheikh Ali al-Timimi. Eventually these classes would be given by Sheikh Ali al-Timimi and at other times by Sheikh Jaffar’s son Yusuf. Contrary to media reports.1990’s was becoming the most active and vibrant Muslim community in America as a whole.The opening of the Institute of Islamic and Arabic Sciences of America (the Mahad) in Fairfax.The American Open University which was affiliated with their line of teachings which varied slightly from the other Salafis in the area but became the most popular. from time to time . It pains me when some of the moderate and balanced brothers are impuned along with the ones that became extreme. and they did in a most evil way. They quickly became disliked by the leaders of many local Muslim communities. They were known amongst other Muslims for causing an uproar at local masjids where they would publicly confront the imams and lecturers on what they perceived as bid’ah. I want you all to know that they were human beings who had hopes.had three aspects . The Decline . This kind of attitude and ill advised outbursts stopped the amazing growth from being even more than it was. and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence if they lack understanding” . Generally.Aftermath of 9/11 The combination of these three things would be too much to overcome.in my mind .NPR host most of the time.Social Breakdown . How he differed from the other Salafi leaders in the community is that he would . There were NUMEROUS active sisters that would attend these classes at Dar Al Arqam from all over the area.and only grew more and more narrow. First. These sisters were also highly educated and brilliant women who loved Islam and not victims of misogynist pigs. Many spent their own time. which in turn caused the social breakdowns to be discussed later.Albert Camus When I speak of the downfall I speak with a voice that is full of pain as I see something that was once so beautiful torn apart and shattered.Ideological . I also want to add that the people in this DC salafi circle tended to be thinkers. and highly educated individuals . Those were some very good times. Even during the time of growth. We used to have volleyball tournaments after the classes and did other activities together. there was an overzealous element that I alluded to in the first posts that was narrow – and as time passed .but those of us who were not educated were made to feel welcome and a part of the family. The best times of my life… Next … I begin to talk about The Downfall Part 6 The Decline “The evil that is in the world almost always comes of ignorance. I will talk about the ideological splits.address political issues and acknowledged the world that we live in. money and effort to put this together. The aura around him and the strength of the brotherhood around Sheikh Ali was unbelievable and he knew that those who have an irrational bigoted fear and hatred of Islam and those in the government who sought fame out of the suffering of Muslims.including the African-Americans . would one day seek to undermine what he was doing. dreams and feelings. . and those within the Muslim community who could not intellectually or theologically counter what he was saying. There was a number of African-American brothers in this circle who had college degrees and good jobs particularly in the IT field. Eventually the brothers put together an organization called “Dar al-Arqam” where everyone would come together for the classes and get together for food and laughs afterwards. in the beginning.anti-Saudi per se.we are going to drive it into the ground (and we are going to drive everyone away in the process) It was slow at first and many of the QSS and IANA speakers were still attending both conferences. this was of little consequence to those of us in the rank and file. The zealots were also prone to banging brothers over the head on their position on the Saudi King.and others . This was not good enough for the zealous faction. Those with IANA were of the opinion that one did NOT have to call oneself salafi and loyalty to the Saudi throne was NOT a requirement upon every Muslim. while I wanted to stay neutral as it was of no concern to me. New Muslims soon got involved in issues that had nothing to do with them and thought that Islam was all about these two issues.In the beginning.must be loyal to and praise the Saudi rulers.and am not . In the beginning. . To the contrary. it was a minor issue. I referred to this split in my second post. this schism was represented by IANA (Islamic Assembly of North America) on one side and QSS (Qur’an and Sunnah Society of North America) on the other. beginning to raise the new children and solidify the new communities that had been formed. You couldn’t even remain silent on the issue. but it began to trickle down as QSS speakers started giving lectures about “the importance of obeying the rulers” and “Why one should call oneself Salafi” and began an inquisition to “purify the ranks of the salafis”. Much of the promotion of this schism came out of the UK from Salafi Publications (SP) and they began to distribute mass emails that began to create a lot of confusion amongst the rank and file. In other words…we are going to concentrate on the small mistakes…. the more reasonable brothers would simply overlook these zealots in the ranks in the interest of the greater good. Only the most strident QSS people refused to go to IANA. but they mean the Saudi throne) On the first issue. I was not . Their guiding principle was that the small evil must be exposed because it is not clear while the big evil is clear. It was not good enough to recognize that Saudi Arabia printed copies of the Qur’ans and gave money to spread the dawah.Whether or not it was a MUST to call oneself a salafi even if he/she adheres to the salafi dawah . but I grew tired of brothers trying to force the Saudi throne down my throat.have a disliking of them to some extent because they were trying to MAKE me love them. it really centered around a couple of issues: . As I said. On the top level. although they would accept the teachings as the truth. their insistence would MAKE me . One – in these people’s minds .Loyalty to the Saudi throne even if one is not Saudi (They will say “the rulers”. there were many of the opinion that it was almost sinful to not distinguish oneself as a salafi and became more and more belligerent and uncompromising over time. As things were going well and moving forward at the time. but as more and more new people came in – especially those who are more educated – these new people were less prone to label themselves with any label. QSS was basically of the opposite opinions and hence much of the reason for the split. When I reflect on this. this was pretty silly because these two issues had little to do with the issues that were right in front of us: Going to the next level. Then there were the seeming concurrent deaths of Ibn Baz. and many hoped that this issue would go away. Next…Boycotting and Excommunication reach a fever pitch Part 7 1999 – 2000 was a time when things started happening so fast that it was hard to keep up. the speakers that we were listening to were in fact quoting from scholars past and present. The students at the Mahad . They already wanted to go in a different direction with the dawah and take the focus off of individual. although these guys were harsh. They were also known for shouting brothers down and generally making small issues into huge ones. This fitnah reached such a level to the point Ali At-Timimi felt compelled to give this lecture in the UK on it in an effort to arrest this cancer’s growth. Eventually they made it an issue over which one should be abandoned or boycotted. there was so much being accomplished – despite the problems coming from QSS and SP – that some of the major salafi speakers called for a meeting in East Orange (EO) in order to elect an Amir amongst themselves and become more organized and coordinate their activities for the benefit of all. “No scholars in the West!!!” they would shout at you in their efforts to discredit all Western speakers not in their clique. but . They formed a new organization Salafi Society of North America (SSNA) in New York that claimed “connection to the ulamaa”. This became the new question of the new “are you connected to the ulamaa?” era. (This was a time before the turned their venom on other salafis) However. The faction influenced by QSS was against this and protested greatly.were affected by this. At the grassroots level. This started a new period in which “the ulamaa” became a term to bash brothers who listened to Western speakers. but it continued to grow and grow. those affected by the QSS faction – even in good times – were the ones that gave the salafis the bad reputation for having bad character. Problem is that the QSS/SP faction insisted that these two issues were very important and continuously took it to the next level. Other Muslims hated to see salafis coming for this reason and unfortunately. family and community development and put the focus on who is “on it” and “off it”. That lecture got Sheikh Ali permanently thrown out of salafiyyah. They refused to work with other groups of Muslims and were prone – even in those times – to not mix with other groups of Muslims except when they were calling them to salafiyyah. this fitnah festered below the surface. In reality. We would talk to the lecturers about these issues in private and would continuously be told that this is not something that we should jump into. Ibn Uthaymeen and Al-Albani who all died during this period. the more reasonable brothers were painted with this brush as well. They would discuss ad nauseum Sunnah and Bid’ah and deviants of other non-salafi groups.For a few years. In the Summer of 1999. they were not takfeeri.especially those from Philly . Anyone associating with the people on the “off it” list. This great Salafi Speaker purge would leave no survivors from the speaker’s circuit and eventually kill off the larger events that were not replaced by those who only had the power to destroy and not build.. That being the case. They started to demand a “bayaan” from every individual – whether written or spoken and recorded – “clarifying their position”. Every few weeks. but risked having a huge “refutation” written against them on the email lists and their name dragged through the mud.this is not what they meant by this question. this created a lot of problems inside homes as the wife would not appreciate being boycotted by her friends because her husband is not “taking the correct position” or vice versa. The obsession with “clarifying one’s salafiyyah” reached a fever pitch. Those that did not were not only ostracized. The people on these lists (and those with them) could be backbitten with no problem. defended their honor. TROID (The Reign of Islamic Da’wah) came on the scene and took the inquisition to new heights. TROID even had a lecture entitled “Come let us backbite for and hour for the sake of Allah” that showed exactly where they thought the priorities of the Muslims should be. Just hide your books if someone came over. In this “bayaan” one would affirm their rejection of the list of “deviants” the self appointed ecclesiastical tribunal came up with and affirm their loyalty to a list of scholars many had never heard of that they were calling “the Kibaar” (i. nor speak to you. they were discredited with seemingly a mountain of “daleel”. they had a new expose on a new Western speaker that should not be taken from “according to the ulamaa”. Everyone that wanted to maintain their standing in the community was forced to comply. They may even make up a nickname for you. Soon. This meant that no one would give you the salaam. the biggest scholars on earth) Many were forced into a corner to accept the position of the ecclesiastical tribunals. It was a form of “thought reform” The penalty for not complying? … The dreaded boycott. They meant are you listening to the translations of the telelinks being provided by them? After SSNA disappeared from play in a major way ( although still operating a masjid in Brooklyn that is home to a lot of good brothers). and many in the rank and file tried to conceal their position on certain speakers and perhaps still benefit from the Western speakers while listening to these tele-links to show face. or who had their books or tapes was to be boycotted as well. Long lists of people who were “off of it” were distributed and put on the walls of salafi masjids. your wife or even your children.e.Books were set on fire and thousand of tapes thrown out as TROID’s ecclesiastical edicts spread across the country. There was a character assassination taken out on speaker after speaker and one by one. There was a lot of confusion during this time. The entire focus became to focus on which “mistakes” people were making ( I once met with a person from . Many took “the correct position” under social duress. it was not good enough to remain silent on these issues. All sense of weighing the benefit and the evil was thrown out the window. No need to research further or stop and think about this. Now instead of asking the lecturers questions and concerns that they went to school and were trained to answer. who this guy had never met. The community in East Orange became paralyzed with these TROID edicts and they demanded that Abu Muslimah step down because he was not “connected to the ulamaa” and allegedly made “anti-Saudi statements”. The most rabid ones were obstinate and could not be reasoned with. No need to think and weigh the benefit of this boycott versus the evil that it was causing. And it would hurt everyone … including many children. Soon. because “the ulamaa said to boycott the community. The “kibaar” had called for a boycott and they knew best.” Since “the kibaar said to remove the children from the Islamic school in EO” many put their children in public schools or made feeble attempts to homeschool. Anyone who was friends with someone who was friends with someone who listened to the banned speakers was accused with “tamyee” (watering down the religion) and risked abandonment. The fact is that the people calling for the boycotts were the people “attached to the ulamaa” and the rank and file had no way of directly talking to and explaining the evil that was happening in order to give a proper picture of what was happening.” The newer salafis –what few there were now holding on to the dawah – that were being taught under this new order and never knew the era when the Salafis were accomplishing things. was a Sufi with absolute certainty. New Muslims were now immediately indoctrinated with a list of people they could not take knowledge from instead of being taught the basics of Islam in the name of “protecting this man’s deen. closed and some made all current members send an email to the administrator “clarifying their salafiyyah” or risk being thrown off the list.TROID who told me with certainty that a good friend of mine named Idris Palmer. and this guy was so removed from anything remotely close to reason that I could not tell him otherwise). EO was nearly abandoned and all the progress that was being made as a community stopped. “The ulamaa” had said to boycott him and the community split. They refused to do any sort of reconciliation and insisted on humiliating and abusing their opponents. The growth stopped and soon only those interested in this type of “on it” or “off . It did not matter that when one listened to his statement in English that this was not an anti-Saudi statement. Salafi email lists that had open membership. There was no need to look at all of the good that was coming out of the community. everyone now had to go through these intermediaries for a translation (and might I add spin) All of the more reasonable and educated brothers fled from any connections to this movement as they wanted no part of this. A lot of us . were mostly remaining. . after this. Things continue to descend into chaos as people even started to ask people their position on people they had never even heard of like Abul Hasan Al-Maribee. rumor-mongering. or being able to find a job as a convicted felon. No one knew who this man was. QSS. All these things were introduced to new Muslims and it was misapplied on people relentlessly. It was our belief that our demons could be exorcised by the memorization of the fatawa of scholars and by simply mimicking the ways of the scholars and running around and talking and acting as if we were not still dealing with the issues in our lives that pre-dated Islam when in fact we were dealing with these issues on a daily basis. This is one of the main places we went wrong. Although more of our issues were spoken on at that time – especially as opposed to now – nonetheless. books and other things started to dry up. Some of you are probably looking down your noses at us.it” attitude. but I say that you don’t understand. and the self appointed ecclesiastical tribunals testing peoples’ “manhaj” became the rule of the day. This ideological schism and TROID’s inquisition and thought reform program caused so much confusion that breakdowns in the social fabric started to breakdown Next…The Social Breakdown Part 8 Social Breakdown… Before I talk about the social breakdown. Because of the long list of “deviants”. yet it was essential for one to take a solid position against him in order to be considered “thiqah”. I don’t tell this story because I am trying to use it as fodder for you all to laugh at. the salafi economy of tapes. would slowly shrivel up and all but collapse in the US from lack of support. “exposing”.came from poor backgrounds. chemical addictions that many around me had. I don’t think that I can express the great hope followed by the great pain. and came from dysfunctional homes. there were no fatawa that told us how to deal with an indifferent mother on drugs. No matter how much I try. Who wanted it to be known that they’d gone to a QSS conference after TROID’s mandate? Every common person was suddenly subjected to the rules of jarh wa tadeel as if they were a narrator of hadith and people were divided between “thiqah” (trustworthy) and “matrook” (abandoned). but were afraid to speak about them to our fellow Muslims. This is a serious story. Abandonment. Lives were revived where there was no hope only to end up right back in ruin. were poorly educated. I want to address my own shortcomings as well as those of many that were around me at the time. The TROID inquisition got absurd and they even turned on QSS and began to cannibalize their own. That is me as a white man … how much more so for a black man or woman? Many entered the deen wounded by society and were at the bottom of the barrel. name-calling.brothers and sisters . Many. Just as many wanted to proudly proclaim their blocks and neighborhoods and schools before Islam. Others. Especially after TROID’s thought reform started to take affect. ripped to shreads and stomped on There were brothers that were just confused from all the discord and hit the streets. What led us to the streets has been put in our minds in our childhoods living through the harsh realities of urban life in America. and our anger towards life manifested itself in a harshness in the deen and a rigid approach to the dawah. We were angry before we took shahadah. work for. This created a criminal underclass within the Salafi movement that paid lots of lip-service to the deen but in reality had lots of underlying problems. As the TROID ecclesiastical edicts were passed around. and then after isha hit the streets and make money the only way that they knew how. It ravaged the entire movement like a forest fire. And it was all the more important at this point because so many had children that now needed to be raised. The feelings of brotherhood and closeness were replaced by suspicion.cutting off everyone . . Others even left Islam completely. Even when you spoke to an old friend. fear. This left many brothers to attend lectures. The course of action the salafis took with their lives . fight for. The Salafi Dawah had given us something to live for. many more reasonable brothers did not like any of this at all and disassociated themselves from the movement completely. The trips and visits across the country stopped. They no longer had anyone they would relate to. There were even instances of blood brothers splitting and not speaking to one another. and eventually pain… great pain. Some went insane (no exaggeration). many were killers by the time they were in high school. marriages. A new term was coined .When the ideological schisms happened. Marriages broke down and even ended in divorce because of arguments over these issues. Others got angry and became very anti-salafi. As I mentioned earlier. because of the damage and evil associated with the movement. Many stopped practicing and even became drug addicts and alcoholics because their tranquil world had been destroyed as their group of good friends were split. it revived many of the inner demons that were never fully exorcized in many.“Salafi Burnout” – to describe this phenomenon of sudden drop in Iman after (supposedly) being strong salafis. who’d been friends for years. it had a negative effect on friendships. ran away from the label and refused to acknowledge it for themselves. Brothers no longer had a network of friends to stay in touch with. were now splitting up over these issues of who is “on it” or “off it”. Brothers stopped keeping in touch as it might end up in an argument. These brothers needed a social network and it was torn apart. and had emotional issues that had never been resolved. so they proclaimed being “salafi” after that. you did not know which side of the issue he was on. A spiraling cycle of chaos began in which we saw depression grow and the social problems begin.was now backfiring. or they were abandoned by their close Muslim friends and they had no place else to go. and if necessary die for. and entire communities. They’d cut off their non-Muslim families and Muslims of other groups and now had no one to turn to in times of need. all that mattered was trying to “go study”. uneducated. divorcee (or in an unhappy marriage) with a broken family. The good feelings had been replaced with a cold and dull fist in our stomachs. Many just could not handle it and would either submit to the inquisitors and give a “bayaan” in which they were required to denounce all the speakers on the “off it” list and accept their “kibaar” in order to be accepted into the new order. or the latest lecture series. (In the decline. Regular people were uncomfortable around them. This was – in my opinion . get Master’s degrees. Eventually. You had no one to turn to.because of the complete focus on what every one else was doing and a lack of focus on themselves. “spread the dawah” and/or “establish classes”.worked out . Women were stuck with a gang of children to raise. It was very tough coming back to the real world after living the last decade in a bubble because you felt like such a fool for not living in the real world and for not preparing yourself for life’s legitimate challenges. Salafis were blissfully unaware of the latest American (or world) economic or social trends. it hurt because the world had moved on and we found ourselves replaced. During the good times.and left too . no money and no direction in life. Others stuck in bad marriages and perpetually depressed with no friends. mattered little to the rest of the world. Some. They were almost no good to anyone…Not even their own kids. Grown men have cried because of this feeling of helplessness and pain … the feeling that they threw their good years away for nothing: an incredibly empty feeling. job training. The entire world became where the next conference was going to be. get good jobs and get into good marriages. The Complete Stranger Marriages and other moves . Some seemed to take pleasure in boycotting and ruining a brother’s reputation and standing in the community. The environment became tense even amongst those “with the correct position” because everyone is afraid of saying the wrong thing. Many had long since alienated their non-Muslim families and other Muslims. Trends came and went. even many of those who submitted got tired of dealing with that – especially after they started turning on each other . the obsession became who is the latest to be put on the “off it” list) Elections came and went. Relics. Many hadn’t read the latest best-seller. Men that were flat broke with no skills.avoided you like the plague in public because they were afraid to be seen with you.that are generally bad moves now . Many felt: “What have I done to my life?!” It was the beginning of the long and cold winter that has lasted the last 5-6 years for these brothers and sisters.The life of the boycotted one was tough because you had no friends in the other masjids and those who liked you from the salafis – in secret . the latest book to come out. American Salafis had become foreigners in their own homeland. While we were living in our bubble. out of touch and forgotten about. after returning to the real world. But more importantly. Many of the things that mattered to salafis. And no longer had community support. The brothers had become dated. People younger than us went on to graduate college. They live in fear that the rest of their lives will merely be to exist instead of live. The breakdown just continued to slide down as even those remaining in the movement started to have more and more problems in their ranks such as porn addiction and other sexual problems increased. The boycott was dreadful because you’d be left alone. looked in the mirror and saw what they had become to the eyes of the world: A detached. irrelevent and forgotten. Friendships in the remaining salafi circles became totally pretentious and phony because one had to show good face at this point and denounce the proper people like a “good salafi”. Time had passed.many of them for the streets. and many moderate speakers were thrown in jail.much better during the good times because of the stronger brotherhood and the united cause. Rafil Dhafir and countless numbers of others would still be free men. wither away and die even without 9/11 … perhaps even faster as it is intellectually bankrupt. I tend to think that they would be. Jafir Idris and Ali At-Timimi would likely still be teaching in N. Ali At-Timimi.who got him into trouble . All of that along with the public lynching of Sheikh Ali by ideologically-driven prosecutors who had no concern for justice.and I can only take their silence as an endorsement of the evil injustice done to him and may Allah guide them.were forced to address 9/11 and come out of their shells to some extent. (Remember the Muslim organizations endorsed Bush in 2000 and without 9/11 would have probably endorsed him for reelection) Other than that we can assume: Ismael Royer would be free and likely would be the leading Muslim blogger.and in the context of this series. Ironically. This is why the social discord is so out of control on their side. However. If this man and his students were so dangerous and violent as alleged. but that is a moot question because 9/11 DID happen. would possibly have a permanent place of its own. I can assume that many masjids would be having anti-American khutbahs and organizing protests against President Gore’s (who would have likely been elected in 2004 after a failed Bush presidency) “pro-zionist policies”. most Muslims in the US are not going to follow a triumphalist-isolationist movement that refuses to address social and political concerns in an era in which those concerns are at the forefront of peoples’ minds. but nonetheless.those who sought to destroy the salafi dawah dealt a death-blow to what had been in the DC-area. the treachery of many within his circles. these bad social moves became magnified and there was just no way to make these bad moves with the lack of the 1990’s structure. however. After this upheaval. and the foolishness of some of his students individual actions . Salafis became pariahs and were falsely accused of supporting terrorism. On the moderate side. it makes me wonder if they would still be active and operating had 9/11 not happened. the TROID faction .who eschewed real world issues . other speakers took themselves off the circuit. The social carnage was massive If there was any hope of a reversal of this trend … that ended with the events of September11 Part 9 Sometimes I wonder how different the world . then how is it that two of the people who falsely testified . much activity on that side of the coin was forced to stop. This killed off organizations like IANA almost overnight and other activities stopped. Once the structure began to collapse. I firmly believe that the salafi movement in the form of TROID would have continued to dry up. The Saudi money would not have stopped and the conferences would still be going on and the mahad in N Virginia still open and full of students Allah Knows best about any of that. Virginia at Dar Al Arqam which. Anwar Al-Awlaki would probably still be in America giving lectures and putting out CD lecture series Sh. they are either unwilling or unable to confront social and political issues and would prefer to bury their heads in the sand. and because of it. What saddens me tremendously is that other Muslims have been silent and have not spoken out against the treatment of Sheikh Ali – as a Muslim and a human being . by now. Certainly far too intellectually bankrupt to compete in the arena of ideas in the post 9/11 era. The world completely changed in a lot of ways. In general. the salafi movement would be had September 11th not happened. mistreated and contracted Hepatitis. the remaining reasonable and moderate American brothers had no place to go and for all purposes – especially with all the fitnah of brothers being arrested – and basically went into hiding and are quietly going on with their lives observing the social anarchy from afar.a major moderate book publisher . were already silenced.one of which still lives in the N Virginia area and freely associates in the community . but was devastating to the moderate side. for years. Yes. want to destroy the Muslim community .against him . was not on the IANA side. All of this was a final nail that would give drifters nowhere to go in a search for some common sense through the madness. I have found brothers that were formerly active in the salafi movement - . But that was largely because many of those with social problems – largely African-Americans . Next … Final Thoughts and Comments will be open in that post Part 10 Final Thoughts… When IANA and other such organizations dissolved after 9/11. many of them withdrew even further from the public light because of the additional political and legal heat that was applied. That is because this movement was non-violent and were law abiding citizens and no one has thought of doing any such thing. destroy a peaceful group. made to serve a life sentence in prison where he has been beaten. then they can do it to anyone. Homaidan Al Turki .and do not see us as Americans and do not recognize our humanity . and the rest of the community will remain silent.were attracted to TROID’s calls to discord and chaos. put a leader in jail like a third world dictatorship. And that is what made it so sad. the TROID partisans would have conferences entitled “Stop the Discord” but they were a joke because they never admitted that this very discord was of their doing. A bowl of fruit had been offered to starving men. whose characters had been viciously assaulted during the TROID inquisition.a man whom neither he nor his students had any blood on their hands can be put into jail.Sufi groups. The massive social problems that plagued the TROID side of the split. who seem to take great joy in his suffering.are not in danger for their lives. and TROID (and their likes) came along and took a dump in it and told everyone that this was an improvement. Now there is little left of the movement that once had so much hope. After 9/11.can in turn come into the community. regretted the harshness he had as a young man that turned people away and had become more and more friendly towards other Muslim groups as the years went by and wanted a spirit of brotherhood to exist between all the Muslims. The example of Sheikh Ali . Sheikh Ali knew the problems within the ranks of the salafis and. Before 9/11 many of the speakers. If they can do it to Sheikh Ali . 9/11 contributed very little to the demise of the TROID side of the movement.was railroaded and the company hasn’t been the same since.is that those who hated Islam. There are other Muslim groups . The TROID gang also took a lot of pleasure in his suffering as well and some of them even posted as much on their internet message boards.who was one of the best hopes for the Salafi dawah in America . Others were forced out of the country and/or imprisoned. This contrasts greatly with the gov’ts image of this group as a violent jihadist group.and I will say what must be said . There is no real solid “movement” in place. Even if one visits a lot of the old salafi websites.000 converts and several speakers that were themselves converts.000 people in which 95% were converts. and have become sort of a punch line.with small trimmed beards.brothers that at the time had big untrimmed beards and exclusively wore thobes . I hear that Texas Dawah puts on a pretty good program. run away from the old salafi movement. one will find that they haven’t been updated in months or sometimes. years.target the college aged (18-25) middle class. This is in contrast to the old days when you had large numbers of converts at the old salafi conferences. They thought it to be “unbeneficial” to address social issues and those very issues ate away at them like acid.000 attendees at their last conference. they continued to shrink in influence. but they – along with Al Maghrib . but I would be surprised if even 1% of that number were converts. a suit and tie on and wanting nothing to do with the movement. and have an entirely different focus. Plus people just got tired.they are also waning in influence. A crowd of 3. Some converts that have been around this crowd have even gotten the feeling that they are a “pet convert” and shy away. TROID began to lose influence as the tabloid style emails ceased and they ran out of people to character assassinate. some have retooled. Some were even very antisalafi. Converts are welcome to come. . This has contributed to the end of the “cut and paste” era. but they are not considered in the programs. Mention the word ‘Salafi’ to a Muslim what often comes to mind is a criminal who marries several times. That is just not the case now. Gatherings in East Orange could draw 2. It also did not help matters when some groups that were opposed to the salafi movement as a whole took the opportunity to scapegoat them after 9/11. Texas Dawah and the Al Maghrib Institute are two examples of such organizations that are pretty balanced and have run away from the salafi label like the plague. children of immigrants. They are the ones associated with ‘salafiyah’ when other Muslims think of salafis. where – even in those places . but it is clear that they don’t speak to our issues in their conferences. We converts are largely an afterthought in their programs. These groups do not concentrate on converts anymore and disown the title ‘salafi’ for themselves because they do not want to be associated with the legacy of TROID – for good reason. No one considers us anymore. They can’t put together any conferences outside of Philly and Newark. this is not to say that they reject converts. Texas Dawah – for example . And Salafis are almost nowhere to be found in the post 9/11 intellectual debate. As to the TROID side.000 would have close to 1. As to the remnants of the IANA side of things.had over 3. Again. They thought it better to “leave these issues” but it never left them. raising children. Everything else is a faded memory. things were great. In the DC area. triumphalist brothers. nothing wrong with that. There are some who remember those days. The problems of people like me are not even conceptualized much less thought about. until they are nothing more than a handful of . thus many are still in the streets with no place to go. Again. because usually they were not around during the good times and do not know that what they are doing is a dead end. because I knew that this program – though very good for its audience – was not for people like me. There are still brothers floating around that seem to think that it is still 1996. but a class and social divide. If organizations such as Texas Dawah or Almaghrib ever decide that they want to deal with converts. and seemed to be on the move. They are concentrating on the second generation youth . dealing with non-Muslim family and non-Muslim in-laws. especially without the social support that was around in the 90’s. The Islamic Center of America in East Orange seems abandoned compared to how it used to be. the salafi masjids folded one by one. As it stands. and I could tell that he just couldn’t relate with a person like me. (Another issue is that you can’t rule out the barrier that the fees for the Al Maghrib) This is why I feel that these new organizations are too limited in their scope to be anywhere near the old days.but there are many others out there. who have also run away from the salafi movement. The converts are left with a choice of being left in the cold to observe from the outside as forgetten about relics from a past era or to assimilate completely into the immigrant world and resolve to leave their American identity behind. There are a few remnants at the Dar as Salaam masjid in Maryland.nothing wrong with that . There is little to no talk of community building. Across the country. but they are isolated. I feel sorry for brothers like this when I see them. the movement is a shell of what is used to be. but we are left in the cold. go to the masjid and pray and do good deeds and in their homes still enjoy the knowledge. then they will have to take on social problems in order to be affective and not declare them to be “of no benefit” At one time. cleaning up and reviving neighborhoods.I attended an Al Maghrib class in New Jersey and immediately felt out of place as a convert. or things of that sort that are of importance to converts. Jamatul Al Qawee was taken over by the TROID element and is barely functional via a handful of isolated. I spoke to Muhammad Al Shareef. This is not a criticism of him. as I enjoyed his class – in an abstract way – but I could tell that there was not only a convert/non-convert divide. Then things fell apart as the over zealous element was never put into check and ultimately destroyed everything. The crowd was overwhelmingly first or second generation immigrants and middle to upper class young individuals that were either in college or just graduated. there is no fervor amongst the handful of Salafis that are remaining. Double weekend classes or a once a year conference does not compare to an everyday movement that was a way of life. jaded and scarred. . The brothers and sisters across the country are left alone… left to pick up the devastating pieces and try to carry on their lives… left to try to fill the huge void in their chests….sad isolated brothers in a few cities that even now do not realize that the world has moved on without them. They are in for a rude awakening. Isolationism was such a big mistake and that is why I am opposed to it.I am left feeling very cynical. Even though I look upon those days with fondness . left try to live instead of simply exist… left to wait to wander with no place to go.
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