May 14, 2009

It has been explained to me by organizers of ‘Muslim Day’ (Asad Dean, the older brother of Ahmed Amiruddin, through a third party) that Al-Sunnah Foundation (exemplified here in this video by its Chair) has nothing to do with this event. While I am not completely sure what to make of this, I am opting out for giving him the benefit of the doubt because, as far as I know (the same goes for the public), he has not done anything that comes even close to what his younger brother has done. I do not want to implicate him by association. In this statement, I provide a retraction but with very clear conditions.

The retraction relates to this point:

‘Muslim Day @ Canada’s Wonderland’ , as explained to me by organizers, is not associated with Ahmed Amiruddin and his Al-Sunnah Foundation.

I retract under these conditions:

For ‘Muslim Day @ Canada’s Wonderland’ to be transparent in stating their connection with Amiruddin and his Al-Sunnah Foundation. A simple online search will reveal that the way it was advertised in the past has been extremely misleading. On TorontoMuslims.com (see it here - screenshot 1, screenshot 2 -), it was advertised as the following:

Syed Asad Dean
(647) 273-3094
info@muslimday.ca

Courtesy of:
Ahlus Sunnah Foundation of Canada
http://www.alsunnah.org

http://groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/Canadian_Muslims

In addition, on the Al-Sunnah Foundation website (seen here - screenshot -), it is put forth as “ASFC Presents Muslim Day ’08 at Canada’s Wonderland”. The same was done in previous years on that website. While on other websites, the “Official Sponsors” were listed as other organizations.

Official Sponsors
Villa Madina Mediterranean Cuisine

Mary Browns Famous Chicken

Crescent Halal

Moes Southwest Grill

Sana Printing

Western Union

Thaqalayn Muslim Student Association

Reviving The Islamic Spirit

 

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Again, this way of advertisement is extremely suspect and misleading which is the reason why I attempted to create a stir about it. Is it connected or is it not? While I am going to give the benefit of the doubt to his older brother that IT IS NOT, as I do not want to implicate him in his brother’s head-hunting tirade on national television (in light of what he did to Al-Maghrib Institute instructors), I must ask you and the other organizers to be a lot more transparent.  Tell Al-Sunnah Foundation and your brother to not associate himself with this event. If ‘Muslim Day’ loses support it will be due to him and his organization as NO ONE in the Muslim community – with the exception of the fringe – hold to such opinions. I am just putting forward my observations triggered by the ‘miscommunication’ that resulted in my name and picture being plastered on the Muslim Day website. I was curious so I looked it up.

Without these changes, it will just appear that Ahmed Amiruddin and Al-Sunnah Organization are using ‘Muslim Day’ to gain political clout in order to gain repute for his campaigns which you claim has NOTHING to do with ‘Muslim Day’. In that case, I reserve MY RIGHT to call things out as I see it.

Beyond these, I will provide no further retraction. These are my observations and I will stick to them.

With all that said, my criticism of Ahmed Amiruddin and Al-Sunnah Foundation still stands. On CBC news, Amiruddin outright stated to a reporter that he shares his concerns (all unfounded allegations and insane generalizations about problems within the Muslim community) with authorities. Amiruddin is quite proud of this interview and he freely boasts about it on the Al-Sunnah Foundation website in that he was covered by CBC among many other networks. This interview alone should establish the fact that he is in contact with the RCMP or CSIS (which are both attached at the hip). Therefore, it is pretty clear that he is a “CSIS proxy”, whether or not he gets money from CSIS is where the question lies. Nevertheless, it is definitely something that people should consider as a possibility in light of what he has revealed to the public, past CSIS practice and the current concerns regarding CSIS covertness as explained in detail by a joint statement by CAIR-CAN and the Canadian Arab Federation (read it here). He has statements on his website saying that he is not connected but I find such claims to be suspect.

If the rumors are true that Amiruddin wants to sue me for making these statements, go right ahead. I find it ridiculous that calling someone out as a “CSIS proxy” after openly admitting that they do share information and concerns with authorities on national television can land you in legal waters. Being a “proxy” implies that you share information from outside a given organization. I really do hope that these rumors are false because I am not backing down to such a disgraceful use of the legal system just because a person can dish it out but cannot take it. If you want to go around in public stating your insane opinions, making accusations against individuals and organizations (ones that should sue them like Al-Maghrib Institute and all the other mosques he lambasted), then get ready for people to call you out. You must be completely delusional to think that you can go around on national television and remain immune to criticism or reasoned analysis. I’m making a statement on my own website and I don’t even expect such a special treatment.

Why should people refuse calling this guy out as a “CSIS proxy” (official or otherwise) when he freely admits to it on national television? Why should people tread carefully in wondering whether or not this guy is provided some money by CSIS when he has worked with them before and that CSIS is known for such practice? Why should inquiring about this require “hard evidence” when the biggest issue is CSIS covertness and illegal practices?

This has been an educational experience and I would like to thank everyone for following the developments. I am putting everything out in public for my own protection, legal or otherwise.

In the spirit of resistance,
Critical Mood