By Brother Azhar Sheraze

And (as for) those who strive hard for Us, We will most certainly guide them to Our Paths; and Allah is most surely with the doers of good.
- The Holy Quran Chapter 29, verse 69.

The February 22 tragedy of the Askiriya Masjid in Samrra, Iraq was as heartbreaking to the Austin, Texas community as it was for the rest of the world. The bombing was more than a desecration of a beloved's holy shrine, it was an attack on the values and unity of Islam and Muslims. The attack was a tool in the hands of mischief makers who used it to try to further the loss of human lives and desecrate more holy sites for their own insidious ends.

It was important for us to understand the real motives of these attacks before we were to rush into reactionary protests. By striving to 'radicalize' Sunni and Shia groups, the attackers evidently wanted to create further chaos in Iraq. If this were to occur, further violence and hatred stemming from radical attitudes would reverberate beyond that region.

After spirited discussion with Shia youth at the University of Texas at Austin and guidance from Ulema like Syed Sulayman Hassan who was visiting Austin for Muharram majalis, and Sheikh Safdar Razi who is our resident 'alim at the Islamic Ahlul Bayt Assoication (IABA), we came to terms with our course of action. We felt our best response to the attacks would be to bring the greater Muslim community together for a peaceful sit-in in order to promote and display Muslim solidarity. It is only through inspiration, peace, and solidarity of the Muslims that we can effectively send a message to those who wish to divide us.

Every crisis brings a new opportunity. This specific crisis became an opportunity for us to channel our energies and emotions towards a positive call for Muslim solidarity. Bringing Muslims together to categorically condemn all forms of violence against innocent lives and holy symbols in Iraq and abroad was how we chose to avail this opportunity.

First, the sit-in would help enliven constructive communication between Sunnis and Shias in our community, which will allow us to advance our understanding and cooperation. Second, the sit-in would condemn any sort of injustice, including violence among sects within Islam and among different faiths, something all people of conscience would find necessary. Third, it would provide a needed 'alternate frame' for the media concerning this attack. Unfortunately, media outlets have largely depicted this attack being primarily due to an "age-hold conflict between Shia and Sunni that has been going on for centuries." This elementary appraisal neglects political circumstances in history and also undermines the peace that Sunni and Shia communities have had for many years in Iraq prior to the 2/22 tragedy. Further still, the majority of Shias and Sunnis have refused to involve themselves in sectarian conflict, whether incited by outsiders or inside extremists. Finally, the event would provide a way to send a resounding message of peace and unity to our brothers and sisters in Iraq.

With those thoughts in mind, our efforts came together in the form of a community-wide demonstration, where the Muslim community at the University of Texas (UT) and from all around Austin gathered together on March 3, 2006 at the Main Mall of the UT campus for our sit-in, A Call for Muslim Solidarity. It involved Muslims of diverse backgrounds and other people of conscience to come together in solidarity to denounce the loss of human lives and the desecration of holy sites across Iraq and abroad. Though our experience may be limited to our community, I share these thoughts in hopes that they may provide insight for concerned Muslim activists who work to please the Almighty God.

The event comprised of Quran recitation, combined Muslim congregational prayers, speeches, visual presentations, and an ending supplication (the presentations and documents could be accessed via our website: http://www.siawareness.org/muslimsolidarity). The media here in Austin focused on the idea of our action-oriented spirituality; the headline on a newspaper referred to our congregational prayers as being a means of "praying for solidarity." As such, we understood more clearly how beautifully the ideals of peace, unity, and justice are embedded within Islamic spiritual practices. Moral philosophies and theories on social ethics outside Islam could never construct practices that would resonate as well as Islamic traditions do in the hearts of believers. These spiritual practices, along with public speeches and visual presentations were essential parts of our activism.

Certain factors were crucial concerning the organization of this event. First, the Society for Islamic Awareness (SIA), our organization on campus, was already an established organization at UT at the time of this tragedy. The members were already connected and had previous experience of working in coordination with each other. Our regular activities include roundtable discussions, Dua Kumayl supplication nights, projects like Muslim Voices magazine and lecture events on important issues related to Islam and the Muslim experiences in the West. Having this organizational resource helped us mobilize ourselves within ten days after the tragedy on 2/22. Without an established organizational structure, such rapid mobilization within such short time would have been less probable.

Furthermore , being organized on campus opened up access to many different resources inside and outside the university that gave us the ability to fund, publicize, create and disseminate literature, and communicate with various other organizations, especially bodies like the Muslim Students Association (MSA). Email lists and online community programs were of special importance; having people on our email lists and groups were great ways of connecting people to the cause and having them be a part of the effort.

Also, SIA as well as the IABA community were already in good communication with other Muslim organizations and had maintained good relations in the past. I believe this helped garner their trust and support for this cause. Of course, having other organizations involved quickly spread the message through their contacts and email lists.

The guidance of knowledgeable and competent Ulema was crucial in appraising the tragedy in the right context and deciding the course of action as mentioned above. The community support for SIA activities and their dedication toward this initiative because of the importance of the underlying cause was highly conducive for the effectiveness of this event.

Lastly and very importantly, the entire issue of the 2/22 tragedy was a sensitive one. Short-sighted objectives of merely reacting to this tragedy in Samarra without putting it in the right context would have probably been much less effective in the mobilizing the greater Muslim community and perhaps even regressive for our efforts to express solidarity than was our organized and well-thought-out plan.

On the national level, we may have missed an opportunity to bring the Muslims closer and initiate a dialogue among us and others following the 2/22 tragedy. This concern has been shared by many in the AMYNA network and in other places. However, our experience tells us that we can be proactive and start taking steps towards providing foundations for these important efforts.

Throughout this adventure, it was humbling to remind ourselves that without being sincere to the Almighty, our exertions would ultimately be brought to nothing. Were we successful in accomplishing our objectives? We are not sure; God is the better judge. However, we do feel that our success may not necessarily lie in the accomplishment of the noble objectives of this initiative, but rather in the sincere struggle to try to traverse the road to His pleasure. Without that constant reminder of the underlying purpose, we would have lost breath along the way. In the end, as quoted by Shaheed Baqir Sadr in Our Philosophy, "Our success is only from God, on Whom we have relied and to Whom we resort."