Wednesday, July 28, 2004

U.S.: Why are dark-skinned people Muslim?

On July 15, Human Rights Watch issued a report on the condition of Foreign workers in Saudi Arabia.... The report described "the pervasive abuses foreign workers endure...the abysmal and exploitative labor conditions many workers face, and the utter failure of the justice system to provide redress." The real question is this -- why did the Islamic world not uncover these human rights abuses, so close to the holy city of Mecca?

Based on interviews taken in Bangladesh, India and the Philippines, HRW found abysmal and exploitative labor practices, wanton rape of women workers, and beheading of guest workers accused of crimes without proper legal process. Anyone who has visited Saudi Arabia knows the racism with which ordinary Saudis treats the brown and black-skinned masses that come for Hajj. Like hundreds of Bangladeshis every year, my parents endured these indignities during their recent pilgrimage. When he returned from Mecca, my father told me, "To them, we will always be miskeen (beggar). Doesn't matter what we do, or where we come from. They see our skin and don't need to see more." If this is how pilgrims are treated, imagine how much worse is the plight of the "Guest Worker." Yet, we Muslims remain silent on these abuses -- after all the Saudis are the keepers of Islam's holiest site, so they cannot possibly be racist!
Read DhimmiWatch's piece on Slaves in Saudi Arabia. Here's the link to the original article.

For those trolls who wish to point a finger at Christianity, go read the Book of Philemon. Remember this, too, it was Christians who led the anti-slavery drive, and some of those involved had once been slavers themselves. Moreover, it is Christian nations which have taken the lead in combatting discrimination. More specifically, the U.S. itself has come a long way from its shameful past of slavery.

What is Islam's answer to Philemon, especially since brutal slavery is rampant in the Muslim world?

What would the self-delusional Malcom X have to say about Mecca and Saudi Arabia if he were alive today?

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