Audio By Carbonatix
At a town-hall-style meeting February 21, Nezar Hamze stood to ask Allen West a pointed question. Hamze, executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations, asked West why he keeps claiming that the Qur’an instructs Muslims to attack America (read more about that exchange here). West cut Hamze off before he could say much more than that. So we asked Hamze to write up what he intended to say to West that night. Below is Hamze’s response.
Congressman Allen West was once asked by a Marine why people would warp the religion of Islam to attack America. Mr. West replied to him: It’s not a perversion; they are doing exactly what the Qur’an is telling them to do. So I called him out on his statements.
It was a very simple question I asked: Can you show me where in the Qur’an it says to
attack America, kill Americans, or kill innocent people? He replied
that the Qur’an was written before America existed and mentioned
something about the verse of the sword and killing infidels.
Unfortunately the crowd was so excited and so vocal against me that my
response was cut off. Mr. West lost his composure and told me “not to
blow sunshine up his butt.” Then he said that I attacked America
and told me to go home. For the record, I didn’t go home; I returned to
my seat and finished listening to his presentation.
Mr. West,
you have brought great shame to the United States House of
Representatives. Your behavior that evening represents the antithesis of
our democratic republic. We look to our leaders to answer difficult
questions with dignity and composure. Your behavior represented that of a
military commander barking orders at a soldier. Mr. West, you are no
longer a military commander, and I am not your enemy. You looked at me
and said, “You attacked us, you attacked us.” I didn’t attack anything,
and for you to accuse me of such horrific events is just as baseless as
your knowledge of Islam. Terrorists attacked us on 9/11, Mr.
West. Terrorists attacked us!
I grew up in Fort Lauderdale just
like any normal American boy. I was heavily into sports — baseball,
football, wrestling, boxing, golf, triathlons, and karate. I also hit
the gym pretty hard. I studied automotive technology and took a career
path into management. I continued my education in business management
and specialized in operations management. I have authored leadership
development courses and facilitated training for multiple
companies. There’s just one thing that sets me apart from most other
people: When I was a child, I began practicing Islam.
I grew up
with many friends of different faiths and always got along. I would
even go to church and temple with them every once and a while. I’ve
always been a law-abiding citizen and often volunteered for different
groups. I was a Big Brother volunteer as well as always volunteering for
my local community functions at the Islamic Centers. I currently have
four beautiful children, and I am happily married. My two boys are
following in my footsteps, and my two girls are getting ready to start
playing softball.
I recently started with the Council on
American Islamic Relations as executive director. As an American
Muslim that practices Islam, I have seen our society change over the
last 30 years. In the ’80s, the most controversial event the American
Muslim community had to deal with was the film Not Without My
Daughter. Oh, how the times have changed. Today’s society, the American
people are still looking for justice for the terrorist attacks on
September 11. While America has held many accountable, we still have not
seen justice. Some are trying to hold the American Muslim community
accountable, and some even go as saying Islam attacked America —
as Allen West said to me.
Allen West was brought to my attention
by a member of the community, referring me to clips of his campaign
events. As you review the clips, you quickly see Mr. West is presenting
himself as a critic of Islam to the American people, while teaching them
falsehoods about our faith. He is not the only politician trying to
score points with his constituents using Islam as the punching bag. This
unfortunately has become a nationwide phenomenon. The critics of Islam
self-proclaim scholarly knowledge and feed the American public twisted,
perverted explanations of the Qur’an that have no base and support.
Mr.
West, you have developed an autocratic style of rambling off dates and
names of wars mostly regarding imperial armies and the Ottoman Empire.
You never actually go into the details of the war, you just name them,
insinuating Islam was the problem. You have also surrounded yourself
with the nation’s most hateful anti-Islam propagandist. During your
campaign, these propagandists gave you a stage and fueled your audiences
with anti-Islam insults. There is also documented history that you have
had relationships with these groups before you ran for office, while
you were stationed abroad. Your progression in the pronunciation of
Arabic words is a clear giveaway that you are not learning about Islam
from a learned Muslim — you are learning about Islam from non-Muslims.
You
mentioned the verse of the sword and something about killing infidels
when I asked you to show me a verse in the Qur’an. Well, Mr. West, there
is no verse of the sword in the Qur’an and no mention of infidels. The
word infidel is not even an Islamic word. The term infidel was used by
the Christian crusaders against Muslims. That’s right, Christians used
to kill the infidels (the Muslims). I have yet to read a Qur’an that has
the word infidel in it. Please feel free to do some research on the
origin of that word.
I encourage you to actually read the Qur’an
and not take a sentence out of context and change the meaning and
historical relevance to suit your own needs. You can also reach out to
the Islamic community that lives in your district. I will encourage them
to contact you as well.
Mr. West, I have tried numerous times
to reach out to you and explain the backlash that your rhetoric is
causing. I am on the ground dealing with the product of Anti-Islam
propaganda every day. For you to ignore my concerns regarding the Islamic
community is irresponsible and does not reflect credibility on the
United States House of Representatives. You work for us, the American
taxpayers. We don’t work for you.
In closing, I extend my hand in
friendship as a father, as an American, and as a civil servant. I am
not your enemy. When I stood in front of you that evening, I was
representing the American Islamic community and the rights of all
Americans. To live in peace, practice their faith without being
harassed, and not be insulted by a United States congressman. We have
all made mistakes, and we should learn from them. You have a unique
opportunity to build bridges with the Islamic community and apologize to
us for blaming Islam for the terrorist attacks on our great nation.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Follow The Juice on Twitter: @TheJuiceBPB.
