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[quote=Anonymous][b]I find it absolutely abominable that you actually had the audacity to criticize Islam by essentially saying that the best that Islam can do is acquire African Americans and people from ghettos. I was just thinking about what you wrote and could not get it out of my mind. I realized the gravity of what you wrote. You may as well as have said "You Muslims may be increasing in number, but the best you guys can do is get the poor folks or n*****." You basically got busted, couldn't edit or delete what you wrote, and so you began to backpedal because you had to save face.  And then you immediately accuse Muslims of caring very much about the color of people's skin. It's pretty clear YOU do. We do not. Our prophet was middle eastern so he may have been dark complected himself. Many, if not most, Muslims are olive complected or dark complected. Yes, the American Muslim face is changing to blend in more with American society, but generally speaking, most Muslims are not blonde and blue eyed or caucasian looking. So why on earth would we discriminate against people who look like us? That just makes no sense at all. In fact, I think when you realized your mistake in posting something so obviously racist, you tried to hurl the racism accusation back at Muslims to deflect from your mistake. Not cool at all. [/b]

First of all, your emotions about the facts I posted aren't really a part of the argument.  I don't see how and where I got busted or tried to backpedal.  I stand behind what I wrote. The idea that it reflects poorly on Islam is all your own interpretation - why is that my problem?  The rise (and fall) of Salafi Islam in the ghettos and prisons of Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington is a part of your religion's history in this country, a well-documented part that lots of and lots of people - from that very community - wrote and wept about.  Not the only part, but a part nevertheless.  Study it. Own it.

[b]Of course there are other scholars in other countries but why am I or Muslims in the US obligated to follow or believe their interpretation of the Quran? Why would I choose a scholar to follow that hails from any other country than the one I was raised and reside here? That makes no sense to me. In Catholicism the Pope is the religious leader of the world. In Islam, there is no world leader of our religion. Each person is expected to study the Quran well and learn on his or her own. Other Muslim countries may follow Sharia law but the Sharia may differ from Muslim country to Muslim country. Moreover, simply because some people interpret Islam much more harshly it does not follow that therefore Islam must indeed be unreasonable. That would be a naive conclusion. Scholars are not perfect, they make mistakes. And remember that Islamic scholars here in the US are not restrained by the old cultural traditions and patriarchal mindset of other countries. As such, the kind of Islam they preach is TRUE Islam, free of any cultural influences. In fact, Islamic scholars from other countries might have a very hard time escaping their cultural influences because if they did, their followers might denounce them. [/b]
You are free to follow whoever you like.  It's pick your sheikh. What you aren't free to do is insist that scholars you don't choose to follow and people who DO decide to follow them don't understand Islam, have loophooles in their understanding, cherry-pick their quotes or are hell-bent to hate Islam.  Bin Baz is just as Muslim as Hamza Yusuf. He is (was) as much of a scholar, possibly more, than Yusuf. Who are you to say one is learned and the other isn't?

Islamic scholars in the US may not be restrained by the patriarchal mindset but they have their own restrictions, have no doubt about that. Every culture poses its own burdens. Hamza Yusuf is influenced by what is cool in America just as much as Bin Baz was influenced by what was cool in America. They both serve what their clients eat up.[/quote]

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