This "community" has a LOT of catching up to do, as far as I'm concerned.
A LOT.
Protect there faith?
I-S-L-A-M The So called Religion of Peace? the faith that permits the abuse of women, the religion that wants to destroy Israel that denys the divinity of Jesus, a religion that believes suicide bombers are rewarded with a harem of virgins? Sure they can be trusted....
This "community" has a LOT of catching up to do, as far as I'm concerned.
You're right to be skeptical, but you should also inform yourself.
(no flame intended)
July/August 1999
http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/0799/9907021.html
Special Report
Dispute Between Kabbani Followers and Hosts Disrupts Forum at Islamic Center of Southern California
A landmark meeting at the Islamic Center of Southern California that featured a State Department ambassador-at-large speaking on international religious freedom ended on a sour note June 8 when members of the Islamic Supreme Council of America disrupted closing comments of Dr. Maher Hathout, the center’s spokesman.
More than 200 Muslims and representatives of the Christian and Jewish communities stared in disbelief as the ISCA dissenters shouted “dictator” at Dr. Hathout. They noisily refused to leave but did sit down when security officers asked them to.
(snip)
The controversy centers around Sheikh Hisham Kabbani, a Lebanon-born religious leader who has been in the U.S. for the past nine years championing his international Naqshbandi order of Sufism. The Los Angeles Times published a lengthy profile on Kabbani on April 15 stating he has converted hundreds of inner city African Americans to his fold. Other reported supporters include his uncle, the grand mufti of Lebanon, the president of Chechnya, the Sultan of Brunei (one of the wealthiest men in the world), and O.J. Simpson.
To all appearances, the 54-year-old Sheikh Kabbani sees himself as the catalyst for making his brand of Islam the dominant Muslim force in the U.S. However, most American Muslim organizations see dangerous divisiveness in his message. Kabbani gained the enmity of nearly every Muslim group in the U.S. on Jan. 7 when he delivered a speech to a State Department open forum.
In essence, the white-bearded Sufi charged that the “ideology of extremism has been spread to 80 percent of the [American] Muslim population.” He claimed the foremost Muslim student organization was directed by extremists and hinted that alleged terrorist Osama bin Laden was buying nuclear devices from the Russian mafia which could then fall into the hands of radical Muslim students in the U.S.