What is the Point [2]?

Well, the first Talking Dollar cartoon stirred up quite a wave of protest from concerned Muslims. However, the second "Talking Dollar" cartoon feature of al-Ummah, which you see in this issue, stirred up a hurricane! The top official of one Muslim organization called ASFA's chairman and called for him to "stop the attacks!"

Interestingly, one wonders, where is the attack? If the proverbial shoe fits as they say, wear it and if not, then no specific person or group is targetted--it is simply like any other political cartoon - an expression of protest in a humorous way. Why is it more upsetting than our hundreds of pages of articles and fatawa and commentaries and explanations of Islamic `aqida, fiqh and tasawwuf?   Is it because it gets a lot of bite; after all, a picture, the proverb goes, is worth a thousand words.

We noted the severity and harshness of the cartoons in other magazines, recently. However, we did not complain, as we do not consider these to be targetting us. And even if they were, "sticks and stones..."

Let's face it, the "powers-that-be" in America are finally waking and "smelling the coffee". The silent majority of Muslims, who hold fast to the `aqida of Ahl as-Sunna wal-Jama`at, as transmitted to us over 1400 years of history and tradition, are waking up.

When distributed at one large Islamic organization's convention, their officials finally acknowledged that Ahl as-Sunna had  found its voice, and   invited one representative of As-Sunna Foundation to the podium to open their Business Session. Though minimal, nonetheless this is a gesture of acknowledgement from a major Islamic organization that: "we, as a large Islamic organization have faced up to your existence." However, this is a  minor step forward for an organization, that only a few years, attempted to prevent ASFA literature from being sold in their convention bazaars. It is a step long in the making and wholly insufficient--the doors of all Islamic organizations must be flung wide to accept all Muslims - especially the vast majority -  if they truly believe in the unity and brotherhood of Islam.

No one can prevent it and it is insha-Allah, time for the holders of the banner of Truth to rise from their stupor, and call for a return to the moderate and truthful principles of `aqida, fiqh and tazkiyya that characterized our pious forebears in Islam. The hegemony of the few, emboldened by petro-dollars and a brash, crude and a rough modus operandi is over. We only ask that Allah guide them and us to a unity of heart, with the purpose of serving Allah and His religion.

the Editor