You pose a very important question at the end. It reminded me of a khutbah I listened to (link below) and after re-reading the transcript of it the following quote stuck out:
"That is how authoritarianism works. That is the culture of authoritarianism. In a culture of despotism and authoritarianism, you are always impressed and dazzled by those who subordinate you."
The whole khutbah is worth a listen/read as it helps answer your question I think.
Excellent article. Note: Many love Imam Magid, and I was blessed to have met him in the Hajj 2006. At the same time; I believe Imam Magid is a good man; may Allah bless him; and hopefully will also appreciate the investigative journalism presented to change course and not be silent on the genocide in Palestine and rethink any working "alliances" with interfaith "partners" whose sons/daughters may be members of the zionist cult killers murdering Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza and the urgency for America to end the complicity.
SM calls Zohran Mamdani a "useful idiot" for Islamists. After the release of the video response and attempt to "clarify" his accusations against Mamdani, it wouldn't be surprising if the response to Maguire and many like him (US politicians that receive money from AIPAC) is a "useless idiot" for Zionists.
=======
A second piece to consider is the debate in the UK regarding "Islamophobia" and how Muslim Americans can be protected here in the US:
Why ‘Islamophobia’ still matters: It’s about more than just hate
Thank you. I think there is some great work being done on Silicon Valley complicity with genocide. It requires more advocacy than investigation as it’s all public.
Love to our brothers and sisters in the UK, but I am divorced from the social and political context of that country and may not be helpful writing about that.
However, anything on Muslim organizations and leadership in the US, I am interested. I have a couple of major projects in the hopper now so it may take a while to get to it😀
Thank you, Br. Ahmed, this is great. Also, if I may recommend considering posting video presentations, similar to Zeteo, as Br. Mehdi Hassan does, especially for investigative journalism pieces like the one above.
My nieces are in Adams Beats and we all love it as a family and support them. If you don't like the anthem of the country you live in, quit being so miserable to yourselves and go move somewhere else. No country's government will fully align with one's social and political views. We are happy in America, support our low income non Muslim neighbors and community members from different groups, are able to worship more freely than our time living in Gulf Arab countries we fled from, have secure stable facilities that are barely functional in our ancestral lands, are treated with dignity and help Muslim refugees (whom are denied entry in vast majority of Muslim countries). My grandparents are not responsible for the crimes of General Tikka and Bhutto, my parents are not responsible for the crimes of Gulf monarchies, my cousins are not responsible for the crimes of the BJP government and I am not responsible for the crimes of Donald Trump and Joe Biden, just as how an average Baghdadian was not responsible for the crimes of Mamun.
You sound like a coward. You are commanded by Allah to enjoin good and forbid evil. Resisting tyrants who oppress you for your faith is an obligation. Their are three levels of faith, the least of which is acknowledging in your heart that something is evil, you fail even at the lowest rung of faith. Instead of speaking against oppression and tyranny you come mewling like a whipped dog about how much you love your master.
You sound like a keyboard warrior. Send me an update with a picture whenever you show up at the Palestinian border with the simplest of weapons. Until then have fun patting yourself on the back.
Your happiness in America that you brag about is predicated on the immiseration of the billions in global south, of which Muslims make up a large part.
It is inappropriate for a Muslim to be “happy” with a status quo that is built on the necks of the followers of the prophet ﷺ around the world. This status quo of American global domination cannot exist without the exploitation of Muslim laborers in factories and sweatshops, the killings of Muslim scholars (who we believe are the inheritors of the prophets) who oppose it, and the extraction and unjust distribution of resources from Muslim majority countries.
The mundane day to day reality that you and others (the global minority) live in America (“security”, stability of work, access to large variety of cheap commodities, etc) cannot exist without a horrific day to day experienced by the global majority. Babies in the global south being born with deformities caused by pollution or depleted uranium from American munitions, children maimed and deformed by Israeli bombs or extractive factories with dangerous machinery, and people watching their parents get ravaged with mystery illnesses from exposure in their youth to dangerous byproducts of American domination.
Domination has to happen on *all* levels: physical, psychological, economic, spiritual, etc, to the *majority* of the world, for a “comfortable” existence for Americans who can access it.
And you think cordoba masjid, the landmarks in Cairo, the structures in Samarkand didn't have slave labor behind it of people taken away from their lands far away and sold into slavery due to their poverty, yet we all celebrate it? The status quo is human civilization functions a particular way and we do what's in our ability to control it. If you're so against sweatshops be honest to yourself and go live like the Amish and make everything yourself instead of lauding your bravery while buying everything made in china from Uighur concentration camps.
Claims that this is just “human nature” are dishonest and have been debunked for centuries. You’re uninformed and making bad faith attempts to flatten very distinct historical phenomena to try and intellectualize your rottenness and dead heart.
Slavery that could have existed during Islamic rule is structurally very different than chattel slavery (not based on race, slaves are still viewed as people, slaves have rights and aren’t forbidden from knowing how to read or making hajj or practicing Islam.) The formation of Cordoba and the United States are structurally very different (Cordoba didn’t need to genocide 99% of the indigenous population while the US did, U.S. existence is impossible without stealing the sons of Islam for slave labor (Cordoba doesn’t rely on slavery or genocide for its very existence). Cordoba didn’t need to preemptively invade or meddle in every place around its’ affairs (America’s Manifest Destiny and annexing western territories, Spanish American War and stealing PR, Guam, Philippines, interventions in Latin America, Cold War intervention likes Korea and Vietnam, etc)
Flattening how genocidal euro-Christians carried out their violent extraction projects and how Muslim lands were ruled not only shows that you have a piss poor opinion of Muslims around the world now, but also how much hatred and disgust you have for Muslims historically.
Glad you have a magic ball to see into hearts- congratulations on reaching that maqam. I don't know about genocides but massacres did occur in Al Andalus. Slaves have *some* rights in Islamic law and not to the same degree as a free person. Go read any fiqh manual and that will make it quite clear (the Arabic ones and not the English translations that often intentionally miss those chapters out). Meddling was all around- if that wasn't the case there would not have been dozens of Sultanates around the Muslim world at any given time. Go read Tarikh Tabari and then come back and tell me there was no violence in Muslim history- what a joke.
I have no clue what she was fired for but throwing a really nice masjid community that does so much for countless families in the area, serves the spiritual needs of many converts and newly practicing Muslims, keeps youth away from bad environment, one of the few masjids that takes women's perspectives into consideration and much more just shows her personal spite and grievances are more important to her than what's much more than one person's political views not aligning with her employer.
That's false. There are prominent fiqh views that allow praying behind criminals. It's just Western Muslims like yourselves have created an activist utopia of how Islam should be lived out in a way that was never lived out throughout our history.
I get that. As a community though, hiring an Imam comfortable with war criminals and does their bidding, works to give them moral and religious legitimacy by using the name of the organization the community built and continues to donate to, is there a level of complicity on the community that makes people uncomfortable?
This topic will never end. I know people who viciously defend the Bhutto and Zia ul Haque regimes despite the rapes and massacres that occurred to the Bengalis under the former, and the domestic repression under the latter. On the other end of the spectrum, their opponents consider them as international/domestic war criminals. And then add to that a bunch of ulama who take either or sides. At the time should half the masjids in Pakistan issued ultimatums for people not to pray behind any imam who backs or is against the relevant ruler? We cannot use politics to dictate where to pray and who to seek personal spiritual counsel from or else it will be chaos that will never be solved. If you want that in your masjid go ahead but I'm glad here with Adams we've managed to survive as a thriving community despite all the fuel to the fire outsiders like to throw at us. And if you (i.e figuratively anyone of this view as you don't live here) live here and hate Imam Maged so much, no one is forcing you to pray at Adams. There's countless masjids in Northern virginia. If politics is so important, go do an inquisition and figure out which Imam can be your political tool and pray behind him. The rest of us will continue with our status quo.
Is it the case that you like Magid’s politics and brand of political activism, or that you like him and don’t particularly care what anyone else thinks about his politics?
My earlier question was about if there are moral qualms? Say Adams was considering hiring an Imam who openly supported the Gaza genocide- not support people who support it, but loudly speak out in support of it? Would that give you moral pause or would you also have the forget the haters and let them pray somewhere else attitude? I get that you say it never ends, but do you draw a line somewhere or is it a free for all?
I don't like his politics at all personally (not that my political views count anyways as everyone will always say their own view is the best). What I care about is Imam Magid saving countless marriages, smoothening out what would have been messy divorces, taking/convincing numerous laxed people in his area for Hajj, managing to balance Salafi/Sufi influences in one space without one getting overly upset/outdone by the other, working in tandem with several deputy Imams who have lasted for years (unheard of in most masjids where the Imam is kicked around like a garbage can by the board), counseled so many people with personal problems, and been a genuine presence in the local society. He doesn't take the mic to scream out his political conclusions and getting mad at people who don't go along. He understands people may not be with him on that and still manages to maintain friendships/ties. Free for all and a market place approach. If the majority of people believe the benefits someone brings to a space outweigh the harms of their political views, we go with that. And in Adams case, that is how it has played out. And Imam Maged is no hater of any group of Muslims including Palestinians. Just because I'm against illegal immigration doesn't mean I hate Mexicans. People who throw black and white lenses at policy views should go open their own spaces as mainstream Muslims aren't interested in working with them.
That's just not true though. Read through the seerah and tarikh works and it becomes quite clear the masjid is not just a place for prayer. Not to open a can of worms but political revolution is authorized at the masjid. It's clear to me you're coming at this from an activist perspective but I'm writing from a scholarly perspective. I don't blame you for your emotional take though- I commend your concerns but find them unsubstantiated in our literature.
I was replying to OP’s demand that people who question the government’s policies should leave America. As if being complaisant ‘ideal minorities’ will save us from the wrath of Settler Colonials.
You pose a very important question at the end. It reminded me of a khutbah I listened to (link below) and after re-reading the transcript of it the following quote stuck out:
"That is how authoritarianism works. That is the culture of authoritarianism. In a culture of despotism and authoritarianism, you are always impressed and dazzled by those who subordinate you."
The whole khutbah is worth a listen/read as it helps answer your question I think.
https://www.usuli.org/2023/03/10/when-the-lands-of-islam-are-no-longer-safe-for-muslims/
Excellent article. Note: Many love Imam Magid, and I was blessed to have met him in the Hajj 2006. At the same time; I believe Imam Magid is a good man; may Allah bless him; and hopefully will also appreciate the investigative journalism presented to change course and not be silent on the genocide in Palestine and rethink any working "alliances" with interfaith "partners" whose sons/daughters may be members of the zionist cult killers murdering Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza and the urgency for America to end the complicity.
https://ifamericansknew.org/
For the next investigative piece, if may suggest calling out Silicon Valley's complicity in the Genocide in Gaza.
CAIR Calls for Firing of Sequoia Partner Shaun Maguire After Racist, Anti-Muslim Rants
https://www.cair.com/press_releases/cair-calls-for-firing-of-sequoia-partner-shaun-maguire-after-racist-anti-muslim-rants/
Silicon Valley Wants Endless War: How Venture Capital Fuels Racist Killing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKSKawpFsfs
Maguire's video posted on Twitter targeting Mamdani: The full video is here: https://x.com/shaunmmaguire/status/1941784526688022948
SM calls Zohran Mamdani a "useful idiot" for Islamists. After the release of the video response and attempt to "clarify" his accusations against Mamdani, it wouldn't be surprising if the response to Maguire and many like him (US politicians that receive money from AIPAC) is a "useless idiot" for Zionists.
=======
A second piece to consider is the debate in the UK regarding "Islamophobia" and how Muslim Americans can be protected here in the US:
Why ‘Islamophobia’ still matters: It’s about more than just hate
https://5pillarsuk.com/2025/07/08/why-islamophobia-still-matters-its-about-more-than-just-hate/
The term ‘Islamophobia’ is not fit for purpose and fails to protect Muslims in law
https://5pillarsuk.com/2025/07/06/the-term-islamophobia-is-not-fit-for-purpose-and-fails-to-protect-muslims-in-law/
Thank you. I think there is some great work being done on Silicon Valley complicity with genocide. It requires more advocacy than investigation as it’s all public.
Love to our brothers and sisters in the UK, but I am divorced from the social and political context of that country and may not be helpful writing about that.
However, anything on Muslim organizations and leadership in the US, I am interested. I have a couple of major projects in the hopper now so it may take a while to get to it😀
Thank you, Br. Ahmed, this is great. Also, if I may recommend considering posting video presentations, similar to Zeteo, as Br. Mehdi Hassan does, especially for investigative journalism pieces like the one above.
Love that idea!
My nieces are in Adams Beats and we all love it as a family and support them. If you don't like the anthem of the country you live in, quit being so miserable to yourselves and go move somewhere else. No country's government will fully align with one's social and political views. We are happy in America, support our low income non Muslim neighbors and community members from different groups, are able to worship more freely than our time living in Gulf Arab countries we fled from, have secure stable facilities that are barely functional in our ancestral lands, are treated with dignity and help Muslim refugees (whom are denied entry in vast majority of Muslim countries). My grandparents are not responsible for the crimes of General Tikka and Bhutto, my parents are not responsible for the crimes of Gulf monarchies, my cousins are not responsible for the crimes of the BJP government and I am not responsible for the crimes of Donald Trump and Joe Biden, just as how an average Baghdadian was not responsible for the crimes of Mamun.
You sound like a coward. You are commanded by Allah to enjoin good and forbid evil. Resisting tyrants who oppress you for your faith is an obligation. Their are three levels of faith, the least of which is acknowledging in your heart that something is evil, you fail even at the lowest rung of faith. Instead of speaking against oppression and tyranny you come mewling like a whipped dog about how much you love your master.
You sound like a keyboard warrior. Send me an update with a picture whenever you show up at the Palestinian border with the simplest of weapons. Until then have fun patting yourself on the back.
Your happiness in America that you brag about is predicated on the immiseration of the billions in global south, of which Muslims make up a large part.
It is inappropriate for a Muslim to be “happy” with a status quo that is built on the necks of the followers of the prophet ﷺ around the world. This status quo of American global domination cannot exist without the exploitation of Muslim laborers in factories and sweatshops, the killings of Muslim scholars (who we believe are the inheritors of the prophets) who oppose it, and the extraction and unjust distribution of resources from Muslim majority countries.
The mundane day to day reality that you and others (the global minority) live in America (“security”, stability of work, access to large variety of cheap commodities, etc) cannot exist without a horrific day to day experienced by the global majority. Babies in the global south being born with deformities caused by pollution or depleted uranium from American munitions, children maimed and deformed by Israeli bombs or extractive factories with dangerous machinery, and people watching their parents get ravaged with mystery illnesses from exposure in their youth to dangerous byproducts of American domination.
Domination has to happen on *all* levels: physical, psychological, economic, spiritual, etc, to the *majority* of the world, for a “comfortable” existence for Americans who can access it.
And you think cordoba masjid, the landmarks in Cairo, the structures in Samarkand didn't have slave labor behind it of people taken away from their lands far away and sold into slavery due to their poverty, yet we all celebrate it? The status quo is human civilization functions a particular way and we do what's in our ability to control it. If you're so against sweatshops be honest to yourself and go live like the Amish and make everything yourself instead of lauding your bravery while buying everything made in china from Uighur concentration camps.
Claims that this is just “human nature” are dishonest and have been debunked for centuries. You’re uninformed and making bad faith attempts to flatten very distinct historical phenomena to try and intellectualize your rottenness and dead heart.
Slavery that could have existed during Islamic rule is structurally very different than chattel slavery (not based on race, slaves are still viewed as people, slaves have rights and aren’t forbidden from knowing how to read or making hajj or practicing Islam.) The formation of Cordoba and the United States are structurally very different (Cordoba didn’t need to genocide 99% of the indigenous population while the US did, U.S. existence is impossible without stealing the sons of Islam for slave labor (Cordoba doesn’t rely on slavery or genocide for its very existence). Cordoba didn’t need to preemptively invade or meddle in every place around its’ affairs (America’s Manifest Destiny and annexing western territories, Spanish American War and stealing PR, Guam, Philippines, interventions in Latin America, Cold War intervention likes Korea and Vietnam, etc)
Flattening how genocidal euro-Christians carried out their violent extraction projects and how Muslim lands were ruled not only shows that you have a piss poor opinion of Muslims around the world now, but also how much hatred and disgust you have for Muslims historically.
Glad you have a magic ball to see into hearts- congratulations on reaching that maqam. I don't know about genocides but massacres did occur in Al Andalus. Slaves have *some* rights in Islamic law and not to the same degree as a free person. Go read any fiqh manual and that will make it quite clear (the Arabic ones and not the English translations that often intentionally miss those chapters out). Meddling was all around- if that wasn't the case there would not have been dozens of Sultanates around the Muslim world at any given time. Go read Tarikh Tabari and then come back and tell me there was no violence in Muslim history- what a joke.
Who are you addressing?
Towards the general spectrum represented by the disgruntled Adams employee Hanna (article was linked on your original piece): https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/technology-gaza-awakening-control
So she was fired for expressing unpatriotic views?
I have no clue what she was fired for but throwing a really nice masjid community that does so much for countless families in the area, serves the spiritual needs of many converts and newly practicing Muslims, keeps youth away from bad environment, one of the few masjids that takes women's perspectives into consideration and much more just shows her personal spite and grievances are more important to her than what's much more than one person's political views not aligning with her employer.
So it may not have been about her being a disgruntled employee or the choir? Could be something else?
I would suggest you investigate and fact-find a matter before you comment about it.
But you will be responsible for every crime a man commits, if you knowingly pray behind and support him, after knowledge of his crimes.
All the power to the wonderful community and masjid. Kick the trash out and enjoy the cleanliness.
That's false. There are prominent fiqh views that allow praying behind criminals. It's just Western Muslims like yourselves have created an activist utopia of how Islam should be lived out in a way that was never lived out throughout our history.
I get that. As a community though, hiring an Imam comfortable with war criminals and does their bidding, works to give them moral and religious legitimacy by using the name of the organization the community built and continues to donate to, is there a level of complicity on the community that makes people uncomfortable?
This topic will never end. I know people who viciously defend the Bhutto and Zia ul Haque regimes despite the rapes and massacres that occurred to the Bengalis under the former, and the domestic repression under the latter. On the other end of the spectrum, their opponents consider them as international/domestic war criminals. And then add to that a bunch of ulama who take either or sides. At the time should half the masjids in Pakistan issued ultimatums for people not to pray behind any imam who backs or is against the relevant ruler? We cannot use politics to dictate where to pray and who to seek personal spiritual counsel from or else it will be chaos that will never be solved. If you want that in your masjid go ahead but I'm glad here with Adams we've managed to survive as a thriving community despite all the fuel to the fire outsiders like to throw at us. And if you (i.e figuratively anyone of this view as you don't live here) live here and hate Imam Maged so much, no one is forcing you to pray at Adams. There's countless masjids in Northern virginia. If politics is so important, go do an inquisition and figure out which Imam can be your political tool and pray behind him. The rest of us will continue with our status quo.
Is it the case that you like Magid’s politics and brand of political activism, or that you like him and don’t particularly care what anyone else thinks about his politics?
My earlier question was about if there are moral qualms? Say Adams was considering hiring an Imam who openly supported the Gaza genocide- not support people who support it, but loudly speak out in support of it? Would that give you moral pause or would you also have the forget the haters and let them pray somewhere else attitude? I get that you say it never ends, but do you draw a line somewhere or is it a free for all?
I don't like his politics at all personally (not that my political views count anyways as everyone will always say their own view is the best). What I care about is Imam Magid saving countless marriages, smoothening out what would have been messy divorces, taking/convincing numerous laxed people in his area for Hajj, managing to balance Salafi/Sufi influences in one space without one getting overly upset/outdone by the other, working in tandem with several deputy Imams who have lasted for years (unheard of in most masjids where the Imam is kicked around like a garbage can by the board), counseled so many people with personal problems, and been a genuine presence in the local society. He doesn't take the mic to scream out his political conclusions and getting mad at people who don't go along. He understands people may not be with him on that and still manages to maintain friendships/ties. Free for all and a market place approach. If the majority of people believe the benefits someone brings to a space outweigh the harms of their political views, we go with that. And in Adams case, that is how it has played out. And Imam Maged is no hater of any group of Muslims including Palestinians. Just because I'm against illegal immigration doesn't mean I hate Mexicans. People who throw black and white lenses at policy views should go open their own spaces as mainstream Muslims aren't interested in working with them.
Moiz,
You conflate a masjid with a country. Countries exist (mostly) and must be run by people in power.
The major purpose of a masjid is the worship of Allah and His pleasure.
When any other activity becomes the major business of a masjid, it loses its way.
Counseling services, social clubs and travel agencies specialize and perform better at all the tasks you say your imam performs.
It is probably acceptable to pray behind a thief out of necessity, but not to elevate and honor him with the title of imam, unless he makes taubah.
I will rest my argument here and not waste time trying to reason with someone who has justifications for the unjustifiable.
That's just not true though. Read through the seerah and tarikh works and it becomes quite clear the masjid is not just a place for prayer. Not to open a can of worms but political revolution is authorized at the masjid. It's clear to me you're coming at this from an activist perspective but I'm writing from a scholarly perspective. I don't blame you for your emotional take though- I commend your concerns but find them unsubstantiated in our literature.
What do you mean? You are referring to the Zionist interfaith omerta Magid speaks with I described?
Ahmed Shaikh,
I was replying to OP’s demand that people who question the government’s policies should leave America. As if being complaisant ‘ideal minorities’ will save us from the wrath of Settler Colonials.