Time for Muslim Outrage Against Khalid Latif (and Other Propagators of Lies on Boko Haram)

By Nadrat Siddique

Special to the New Trend



I noticed large numbers of repostings of a Huffington Post piece on the putative kidnapping of schoolgirls by Boko Haram. Muslims and non-Muslims alike seem to view the Huffington Post as an authority on Africa, Islam, and on Boko Haram, a Muslim organization with deep-seated roots in Nigeria. Here is the link, along with some initial musings on it:



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/imam-khalid-latif/muslim-outrage-boko-haram_b_5279101.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false#sb=4291220b=facebook



Being the daughter of a journalism professor, the first question I ask upon reading a piece on a controversial topic is: Who is the author, what are his political affiliations, and to whom is he financially ingratiated? Imam Khalid Latif, the writer of the Huffington Post piece has quite a resume. New York Mayor Bloomberg selected him—of all New York City residents—to fill the position of NYPD Muslim chaplain. Previously he was Muslim chaplain at one of the most racist and war-policy formulating institutions in the country—Princeton University. And—according to his self-description—he offers his services to the State Department. The State Department is the entity bombing Muslims all over Africa. So, from the gecko, I'd take anything he said about Africa with a grain of salt.



The piece begins with a misplaced parallel. Latif, in his infinite empathy for Muslim women, lists the various tragic situations of Muslimahs he’s encountered in the course of his work as a chaplain: Rape and molestation victims, abused wife, resistor of an arranged marriage who was beaten, and so on. These likely occur in the U.S., where his work as chaplain is centered. The pertinence of such experiences, however heartrending (and I say that as a Muslim woman who has personally endured several of the situations listed), is irrelevant to a very specific and complicated situation in Nigeria, and seems at best a mudslinging campaign (sling enough mud, and some of it, however irrelevant, will stick).



A few paragraphs into the piece, he engages in an outright (but cleverly worded) fabrication on the philosophy of Boko Haram:



“Education is a basic right in Islam, regardless of what the Boko Haram believe. The Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, has said that ‘Seeking knowledge is compulsory on every Muslim’.. Boko Haram's ideology is attacking this God-given right.”



But Boko Haram’s statements make it very clear they are not against all education, only Western-style education, which they view as indoctrination in jahiliyyah. In other words, their efforts are geared at preventing the mental colonization of their people. This is not unusual, and most movements against imperialism and colonialism/ neo-colonialism—from the Algerian anti-colonial movements, to the Lakota Sioux to the Taliban—have historically resisted the educational institutions of the invading/ colonizing power. The attribution of blanket anti-education sentiment to the group is dishonest and furtherance of propaganda against a group targeted for genocide by the puppet government and its masters (the military powers seeking to recolonize Nigeria).



Saying “no” to Western-style education is a bulwark against cultural imperialism and the amplification of Western corporate presence in Nigeria—and by extension all of West Africa, since many of the largest and most influential African universities are located in Nigeria. From the imperialist standpoint, this threatens Western corporate interests. From the Muslim standpoint, this provides a measure of protection for Nigeria from junk goods typically dumped into Third World nations, whose valuable resources--oil, diamonds, petroleum, and the like—are then extricated. Islamically-educated girls and women are not ideal customers for useless garbage such as hose, high heels, and mini-skirts.



Saying “no” to Western style education also creates a mind-set which challenges Western nihilism. Gay marriage, pornography, pedophilia, premarital sex, and identification with the oppressor become a hard sell, as desensitization is avoided.



Another question no one, including Latif, has bothered to ask is: Why, in a region which is the wellspring of the most renowned, powerful, and influential centers of learning—those established by the Muslim Kingdoms of Timbuktu, Mali, Ghana, and others--an alien education with no relevance to African or Muslim peoples is needed. The spectacle of Michelle Obama and the #Saveourgirls campaign endeavoring to reinstate the “right” to a superior education—in their view one that is not Afrocentric nor Islamic—to poor, ignorant Africans is classic cultural imperialism.



What are the characteristics of a Muslim group opposing Western style education? Are they are fundamentalists? If they are, would they permit the kidnapping or rape of young girls? Fundamentalists are known for their exceedingly strict moral codes; eschewing of pre-marital sex; “shotgun weddings” in cases where a man has associated closely with a woman, let alone had sexual relations with her; and for embrace of children born out of any union. They do not stand for the abandoning of raped mothers with children in the countryside, as the Western media bizarrely claims. So, either the group is fundamentalist—or it isn’t. The practiced and professional liars of corporate media seem to be having a problem deciding on one fabrication and sticking with it. The continual vacillation in the story is exposing their lack of basic journalistic integrity. And the story they tell is beginning to resound of the incubator babies story—preposterous and far-fetched, yet swallowed by the American masses—concocted by the U.S. to justify the first invasion of Iraq. At some point, the American public must wake up and realize that Western militaries and AFRICOM will lie through their teeth to eliminate or discredit any group which gets in the way of their military designs.



On a journalistic level, Latif, like most Western journalists covering the Boko Haram story, does not ask the key question which bears asking: When has Whitey ever cared about Africans? Why is a White Supremacist government suddenly concerned about Nigerian girls to the extent of investing U.S. military assets there? How is it that all the nations standing with the U.S. in that effort are members of AFRICOM? Is it possible that this is an imperialist pretext to cement U.S. military bases in and around Nigeria (and West Africa in general)?



Finally, are the kidnappings fact or fiction? If they are fact and not fabrication, why have the numbers of girls ostensibly kidnapped, released, and remaining in custody in the storyline put out by the puppet government, its masters, and their propaganda arms—fluxuating like a pendulum daily? How is it that a tiny group of at most 40 Boko Haram members could walk into a town like Chibok, seize the girls who were on their home turf (surrounded by their families, teachers, village elders, etc), and depart with the girls in tow, without any resistance from the families, teachers, etc.? If the stage on which this story is being told, was instead a court of law, the storytellers would be thrown out of court for lack of credibility.



© 2014 Nadrat Siddique

A Muslim’s Guide to Dealing with the Media

By Nadrat Siddique

How to manipulate media when you’re doing an event

 

1) Cultivate current email/ twitter/ text message lists and phone numbers of journalists.

 

2) Time is off the essence. Conduct actions such as protests, street theatre, press conferences, etc. when an action is in the limelight, and the time is ripe.

 

 

What to do if approached by a non-Muslim media representative at or after a public event, or in relation to world events

 

1) Differentiate between types of media if they approach you.

 

a) National media. If a journalist is with a national media outlet, for example, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Fox News, etc, be very careful. They may be trying to trap you into saying something which can be used against you. This can have serious consequences, from causing you to lose your job, to placing you in physical danger (for example, by displaying your picture with words attributed to you, which may have been taken out of context); to prosecution and even incarceration. Therefore, if the journalist is national, be wary, and consider not returning the call. Do not let your ego and the desire to be seen or heard on national television allow you to be trapped.

 

b) Local media. If he or she is with a local newspaper, radio station, etc, consider talking to them.

 

c) In either case (a) or (b) above, it may be helpful to do a brief Google search on the person contacting you, to see what else they have written, and whether or not they are overt enemies of Islam. This should help you decide whether you wish to speak to them, and what tact to take if you do.

 

d) If you do talk, be very disciplined and clear in what you communicate. Don’t show off, use rhetoric, or issue threats. Be particularly careful not to get trapped into admiring violent action, whether or not you feel it is appropriate under the circumstances. Instead simply state the facts of the situation about which you are being interviewed. If you must speak to them, insist on recording the complete meeting for yourself.

 

4) Follow up. If the journalist fairly reports what you say, write him or her a note of thanks. If the journalists reports on your action or words erroneously, send a written correction and insist it be published/aired for the sake of fairness and accuracy.

 

Always personally thank the journalists who do show up for your actions. Keep in touch with them to make sure you have updated contact information for them.

 

 

How to answer media when they attack Islam, overtly or subtly

 

1) Note the source, news segment, etc carefully so you can go back to it later when you’re ready to write.

 

2) Do your research. Use facts—not rhetoric, and not emotion.

 

3) Start with a general premise, but be sure to provide details to back up that premise.

 

4) Be succinct, follow editorial roles, and respond in a timely fashion.

 

5) Use spell check!  If it can be done in a timely fashion, have a friend edit your writing for spelling and grammar. The letter or email doesn’t have to be perfect, but glaring errors can make you appear inept, uninformed, or dishonest when your letter is published or read on air, and should be minimized.

 

6) If you don’t get published or otherwise recognized, don’t get discouraged. You’re adding to the litany of voices which tell the self-proclaimed media moguls that they are not fooling everyone. Eventually they will be forced to report at least a modicum of the truth.

 

7) If you don’t get published in one news source, try another, but don’t give up.

This report was originally presented before the Jamaat al-Muslimeen National Majlis-e-Shura on May 3, 2014.