A Muslim by Any Other Name

There was an article in the 10 June Lexington Herald-Leader by Nabeel Jawahir, a Lexington resident who is executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Kentucky. His writing was a sort of apologetic for the Muslim community with regard to the claim many make that the community is not vociferous enough in its condemnation of the actions taken by those who participate in jihad, or "holy war," such "war" actually, if not primarily, comprised of acts of murder and terrorism by Muslims on infidels (all non-Muslims), but also if not more so by Muslims upon Muslims.

Jawahir went to some pains to explain that the vast majority of Muslims – certainly those in this country – want no part of the type of jihad that everyone sees played out every day on the TV news programs. He's right about that, and most folks don't blame American Muslims for the atrocities that are routine stuff of Muslims in other parts of the world, such as Sudan, where the Muslim-controlled government has been engaging in genocide of the country's "infidels" for years – up to a couple-hundred-thousand dead numbered most recently, as consensually figured by those who are supposed to know. This is not even to mention Iraq and Lebanon, where Muslims kill indiscriminately – non-Muslims, women, children, anyone who just happens to be in the wrong place at the right time.

In any case, this is how Jawahir finished his column: Kentucky is home to thousands of Muslims who make positive contributions every day. We are part of the fabric of this state. In fact, one of the most prominent Muslims in the world is from Kentucky. If it does not immediately come to mind that I am referring to Muhammad Ali, perhaps this illustrates the extent to which positive imagery has been disassociated from Islam. A worse example to prove his point could not have been imagined by Jawahir.

Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., named for his father who is said to have been named for one of the most famous emancipationists in the South, also a Kentuckian. Insulting his own father, he changed his name. His notoriety and fame accrue to his one-time ability to knock the stuffing out of others – even their lives – if they should be very unlucky. He waged his own jihad for one thing – MONEY – by trying to knock out other men's brains. Surely, Jawahir could have found a better example of a Muslim than that, someone whose legacy is blood dripping from other men's eyes, mouth, ears, and wherever else he tormented them.

And so it goes.

Jim Clark