altmuslim - Muslim leadership: Time for Muslims to expect more from our leaders

One of the things few Americans know about Muslims is that we tend to be very trusting. Give us your word, and we will take it on faith. Part of this attitude comes from our varied cultural backgrounds, and part of it comes from our religion, which teaches us to always look at people in the best possible light. However, there is also a saying of the Prophet that goes, "Tie your camel first, then put your trust in God." In light of the recent arrest of Abdurrahman Alamoudi, former executive director of the American Muslim Council and founder of various American Muslim organizations, this hadith is something American Muslims should ponder.

Alamoudi's arrest is being watched with anxiety by some Muslim Americans. Some Muslim leaders have already issued statements describing the arrest as part of a "witch hunt" against Muslims. A few are suggesting that Alamoudi is being framed as an example to Muslims that anti-Israel rhetoric (such as the support for Hamas and Hizbollah that he voiced in a Washington, DC rally a few years ago) will not be tolerated in this country. Having lived in a climate of fear for the last few years, it is understandable that Muslims would have a knee-jerk defense of someone who has worked to protect Muslim civil rights in the post-9/11 era.

Alamoudi's arrest, however, deserves a serious discussion within the American Muslim community and a closer look at the facts surrounding his actions, legal or otherwise. As for any criminal wrongdoing, a failure to convict would give weight to the argument that law enforcement is unfairly tilted towards Muslims, but if the charges against him are upheld, the credibility of every Muslim organization and leader may be similarly tainted. Whether or not there is any legal wrongdoing is for a court of law to decide. However, what we need is for the court of American Muslim opinion to be convened in order to demand accountability and uphold standards for those who represent us in the public sphere.

There is no room for American Muslim leaders to either serve their own private interests at the expense of ours, or to further tarnish the Muslim image with acts that, legal or not, have the appearance of impropriety and further erode what little trust our fellow Americans have in us. For example, Mr. Alamoudi's emotional outburst a few years back in support of Hamas probably made him feel better, but that one statement cost Muslims much in the way of political goodwill and was used relentlessly in the 2000 elections to discredit all of us. And while Mr. Alamoudi probably thinks he has a good reason to collect $350,000 from an unknown person in London as compensation for his services to Libya's Qaddafi - a man perceived by the majority of Muslim Americans as a dictator who has used violent means to eliminate his opponents - he only shows himself as a man with extremely poor judgement who has forfeited any claim to moral, much less political, stewardship of a Muslim organization.

The Alamoudi case highlights a major flaw that exists in many American Muslim organizations and centers. In the pursuit of rapid organizational growth, transparency and accountability have taken a back seat. There is nothing inherently wrong in raising money overseas for causes here at home, but to do so without strict reporting of both donors and recipients, especially in the past few years, is reckless and causes more harm to our community than any PR program that such money could fund. And there is no room for people in people in positions of power to abuse the trust of Muslims by either pursuing personal enrichment or playing fast and loose with the laws of this country. Especially in this day and age, how could Mr. Alamoudi, or any notable American Muslim who lives in the limelight, not consider the possibility that such actions might have dire consequences that the rest of us have to pay the price for?

Unfortunately, Muslims in America lack a healthy mistrust of authority within their ranks that is essential to maintaining accountability in our leadership. Once our leaders come to expect that every action they take will be scrutinized - not just by the Patriot Act-armed FBI, but by the people whom they claim to represent - only then will our institutions be ready to meet the challenges of the next chapter in American Muslim history. There is too much work that needs to be done to undo the damage caused - both by people who wish us ill and those within our ranks who take advantage of our complacency - for us to take any more chances on another "leader" who falls from grace and drags the rest of us down with him. It's time, in other words, for American Muslims to start tying their camels.

This article bares open what many Muslim leaders' myopic obscurantism has tried to camoflage in their complaints regarding Alamoudi's arrest. What the h*** was this guy doing receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars from a stranger in London?

As a non-immigrant, non-convert American Muslim, I have had it with "leaders" who share my religion but not its demands of honesty. Remember the big uproar surrounding Benevolence International? I recall many Muslims swearing - without any supporting evidence - that a Muslim charity would never deceive its donors by subverting funds. Now, even after its leader plead guilty to embezzlement for doing just that, these blindly obedient defenders of Infallible Muslim Integrity have remained deafeningly silent.

I now refuse to support - monetarily or otherwise - the vast majority of Muslim organizations in this country due to the pervasiveness of incompetent accountability (and sometimes frank corruption, as seen in Alamoudi's case) within their ranks. I know that I am not alone in this assessment - or its consequences. Muslim organizations that do not rapidly rebuild themselves on transparency and honesty will find themselves defunct within the time it takes American-born Muslims to become the financial supporters of our community.