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Friday, March 29, 2024

The sacred ties of parent and child — O’ Allah forgive America for her sins

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Quran: Chapter 90, Al-Balad (The City) — verses 1-4

I do call to witness this City;

And thou art a freeman of this City;

And (the mystic ties of) parent and child;-

Verily We have created man into toil and struggle. 

On June 14 I purchased new American flags to proudly wave in my front yard in recognition of Flag Day, a quiet and often forgotten American holiday. Some of my friends of various faiths have sarcastically asked me why are your waving that flag. I have to admit that on the surface it may seem a bit ironic that a Muslim, who supports Colin Kaepernick’s right to kneel during the national anthem, also proudly displays “Ole’ Glory” in his front yard; however, beneath it all we have to remember the many people died for our rights to stand, kneel or do nothing at all. I think it’s this evolving thing we call “freedom of conscious” that is at stake here. A freedom that is being threatened by the very folks entrusted to guarantee all Americans our human and civil rights.

Say what you want about Colin Kaepernick and the other kneeling NFL players, but I bet you one thing, they all know the words to the national anthem far better than some folks in Washington D.C. who indirectly call the football players’ mothers “bitches.” The holy connection that G_d has put between a mother and her child should not be slandered or degraded in any form. Let us pray, “O’ Allah forgive America for her sins.”

Yet I continue to proudly wave my American flag. Yes, “my flag,” first-person singular. My flag is a sign, a symbol that tells a powerful story, a glorious story, yet sometimes a sad story and sometimes a sinful story. The stories vary according to which hand is waving the flag during various epochs of our American history.

In grade school we learned about the Statue of Liberty and this beautiful sounding phrase, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free …” Today we can add the phrase, “unless they are Hispanic. Why do we take their children from them at the border? Our current United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions defense for separating parent from child is, “Obey the law of the land.” Well, aren’t we glad that slavery is no longer the “law of the land”? Let us pray, “O’ Allah forgive America for her sins.”

The Qur’an speaks of the sacredness of parent and child, especially the bonding of mother and child. One ugly page of our American past shows enslaved African mothers with arms outstretched with crucifying pain on her face as her child is being ripped from her arms to be sold into the ravages of slavery. African-Americans should strongly resonate with the pain of our Hispanic brothers and sisters who are losing their children at the U.S.-Mexican border. These Mexicans are human beings who just want opportunity in the land of the “free.”

On July 4, 1976 Imam W. Deen Mohammed, the son of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, stood before thousands of his followers inside the mosque and around America and picked up the American flag. He declared, “If you won’t carry it, I will!” At this time America was from the burdens of the Vietnam War and respect for the American flag — nationwide — was at an all-time low. The imam’s followers roared with approval of his stance to uphold the American flag; not because of the ugliness in American history but for the beauty and the promise of what the flag represents for generations to come.

Today it is our turn to stand up and do as scripture requires of us; stand up for what is right and forbid what is wrong and shameful. Our youth are frustrated with gun violence — the common gun violence in inner cities and the mass shootings of students in rural and gated communities. Let us pray, “O’ Allah forgive America for her sins.”

We, the older generation, collectively we are society’s “parents” who have a sacred connection and obligation to our children “society.” This is our day and our time to roll up our sleeves and do all we can within our power to save our American society. That is why we continue to wave O’ Glory despite all of the ugly things that has been done in her name. 

Let’s keep our eyes on the prize and not lose focus on the goodness in America. As African-Americans, let us never forget the painful sacrifices our fore parents made to make America great, both willingly as freed men and women, and unwillingly as slaves. We do not need to make America “Great Again.” Our job is to make America greater than she was yesterday. In the meantime, let us pray, “O’ Allah forgive America for her sins.”

Michael Saahir is the imam at Nur-Allah Islamic Center. He can be reached at nur-allah@att.net.

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