In California, Muslim-Owned Liquor Stores Become A Target

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[quote][size=18]In California, Muslim-Owned Liquor Stores Become A Target[/size]

By Shahed Amanullah, December 1, 2005

[i]On one side, Muslim immigrants say they're just trying to make a living. On the other, an African-American neighborhood struggles to rid itself of an abundance of liquor stores.[/i]

The issue of liquor stores in poor African-American neighborhoods such as those in Oakland, California has long been an issue of contention with urban activists. Seen by many as magnets for criminal behavior and contributing to alcohol abuse among the poor, liquor stores were one of the first targets in the 1992 Los Angeles riots. It gets even more complicated when you consider that 80% of Oakland's 360 liquor stores are owned by Yemeni Muslim immigrants. Aside from the obvious implications of Muslims selling alcohol (and in turn contributing a large share of the donations for several Bay Area mosques), this fact brings a religious dimension to a community conflict where Muslims can be found on both sides of the struggle. While a few Muslim community members (mainly African-Americans) have raised the issue of Muslims contributing to the decline of inner-city neighborhoods through their domination of the liquor store business, the war of words has never escalated into violence. For that, it took an offshoot Muslim group (well, make that an offshoot of an offshoot) to finally take matters - and several crowbars - into their own hands last week at two stores. "The suspects entered the store and questioned why a Muslim-owned store would sell alcoholic beverages when it is against the Muslim religion," Oakland police said in a statement. Then, in full view of video cameras, the store was vandalized until broken bottles of hard liquor littered the floor. A few days later, store clerk Abdel Hamdan was kidnapped and thrown in a trunk while others lit the store on fire. Spokespeople from the Nation of Islam joined the Yemeni American Grocers Association to condemn the attacks. "That is not our way," said Nation of Islam spokesperson Tony Mohammed. "Our job is to kill the appetite (for alcohol) in the black community." After denying any knowledge of the attacks, a spokesman for the splinter Black Muslim sect that runs a bakery (their slogan: "A Taste of the Hereafter") and other small businesses in North Oakland (and apparently thinks the Nation of Islam is too soft) turned himself in to authorities. Yusuf Bey IV - whose father founded the sect and died last year amid charges of corruption and rape - turned himself in along with an accomplice to face charges of robbery, vandalism, and making terrorist threats. While this particular string of attacks may have been solved, the larger issue of alcohol in poor neighborhoods - and Muslim complicity in its proliferation - has yet to be addressed by the larger immigrant Muslim community in a more productive manner. Barring that, more violence may be on the way.

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com

[url=http://www.altmuslim.com/perm.php?id=P1602_0_24_0]alt.muslim[/url][/quo…]

Ok, some discussion points:

why do so many muslims sell alcohol/haraam products?

what can and should be done?

how can/should vigilante action be stopped?

I notice they talk to Nation of Islam... was no muslim group available for comment?

Forum

yashmaki — Fri, 9 Dec 2005 - 16:55

i think your uncle is right, we shouldn't go anywhere near the stuff.

I'm trying to find a detailed answer in the meantime this will have to do:

[b]The Prophet ﷺ said that we should not indulge in any Haram. Is it cursed if we buy or eat from places where alcohol and pork is sold, because we are from Europe and can’t help our situation?[/b]

[b]Fatwa[/b]

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.
The Muslim should not sit at a table where alcohol is served. Imams Ahmad and Tirmizi reported that Jaber narrated that the Prophet said: "Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, he should not sit at a table where alcohol is served". So, it is unlawful for the Muslim to eat or drink in restaurants where alcohol or pork are served as this might be interpreted as an acceptance of what the wrong-doers are doing.
But if one is compelled to do so, he can, provided that he sits at a table where there is no alcohol or similar forbidden things. He could wait for a time when the restaurant is empty of those dissolute people.
As for buying lawful things from these places, it is lawful. But if there are Muslim shops that sell the same thing, it is more appropriate to buy from them.
Allah knows best.

Answerer: Fatwa center supervised by Dr. Abdullah Al-faqih

Ref: http://www.islamweb.net/ver2/Fatwa/ShowFatwa.php?lang=E&Id=1706&Option=…

As far as i can recall one of the reasons why it's permitted to shop in supermarkets is coz it's pretty much unavoidable in this country. Indian supermarkets don;t have everything we need.

Also the bulk of goods is not alcohol in supermarkets if it were we wouldn't be allowed to shop there. Although there is haram food about it is packaged, less room for contamination. Same goes for alcohol in supermarkets.

But in restaurants and other food outlets where they serve alcohol it's sitting in glasses, even fallen on the tables etc. What about your glass how clean is it?

I duno i'm really iffy about eating out can't you tell lol. I've heard too many horror stories.

Back in the day i used to eat in nandos. But then i heard about the stunned meat issue and started thinking about the halal meat issue. Soon after a nandos branch opened in my town, i thght cool i never knew nandos had a bar until this branch opened though, call me slow. I never saw any bar in brummy branch. An obviously didn't see the drinks on the menu. But this branch in my town had a huge bar soon as you walk in. When i stepped in in my jilbab and headscarf i felt soo out of place, didn't feel right. I felt like i was sinning, i knew it was wrong to eat there. my mate didn't understand she thght iwas being too fussy, but i walked out. Since then never eaten in them places.

yuit — Fri, 9 Dec 2005 - 17:07

It is a hard call to make, i was shocked when I first went into one of my mate resturant and saw the amount of acholol they sold, by all account they make 2/3 of their profit from it. I sure people will find it strange walking into a pub just to order lunch and using the excuse they haven't come to drink. But I remember I think The Revival Agony Aunt telling how she first learn about islam from a muslim who used to visit the pub and drink Orange juice. But neverless it seem wrong.

But there is a good agrument to have that nothing is 100% halal in this country, the story of so call halal meat which someone said in this thread is a perfect example. I think u can do the best with you own intention. But I remember going to a Sh Khalid Yasin talk once and he mention that before muslims complain about all these other places, we should focus on the muslims, he mention that we should boycot all muslims store that sold anything haraam and we shouldn't use the excuse we only buy our bread and milk from there as in a sense we endorsing the person behaviour and keeping the muslims in business. But it one thing me saying this and agreeing with it but i found it much harder to actually do, but i do try.