The 5 Problems with Emgage: An Insider's Expose

Emgage is supposedly the leading American Muslim civic engagement engine empowering the community to vote and making its voice heard. I have followed Emgage from its founding in 2006, and even helped start the Michigan chapter in 2016. I have been in the room to see Emgage grow from a scrappy start up to a major player in Muslim civic spaces, and I feel compelled to expose the dark underbelly of this sus organization.

Problem 1

Emgage is way too professional. Instead of relying upon uncle volunteers from the local mosque, Emgage has insisted on hiring mainly young professionals who have supposedly dedicated their careers to public service. Immigrant Muslim children are required to only study medicine, engineering or law. People who want to work in non-profits and who hold degrees in public policy, political science and communications are highly suspicious. They are not in touch with the mainstream Muslim society. When Emgage staffers say things like “inshallah,” they actually follow through. One must wonder if they even know what these words mean.

Furthermore, most of the staff are too punctual to work in the Muslim sector. They insist on having meetings on time during the day instead of 10:00 p.m. at night. They also waste money on strategic planning with consultants in fancy suits and “theories of change” who have a lot of PowerPoint presentations and do breakout sessions. They use Zionist apps like Slack and Asana.

Emgage staff suppress the voice of many people by insisting on sticking to an agenda during meetings. They refuse to go on tangents. Muslims invented Algebra, and should be allowed to go on a tangent at any time. 

Finally, they insist on getting a reasonable wage for all their work. Rather than living on the duas and hugs from their fellow community members, they want to be paid in cold, hard cash with health insurance and 401k benefits. They do not want to wait for Jannah and the promise of gardens and houris. Not even our Imams usually get these perks in this life. The insistence on professionalism is alienating Emgage from other Muslim organizations.

Problem 2

Engage has many strange people involved. Most do not speak Hyderabadi Urdu. Hao, it is true. Some of the people pray in funny ways, waving their hands and using rocks. Some are speaking a so-called version of Arabic which no one except Yemeni people understand. And there are a lot of women, both in leadership positions and on the board, some of whom shake hands. Having too many women on a board means there needs to be a more formal decision-making processes with less joking around and more attention to decorum. See Problem 1. 

Emgage planning retreat from 2023 with staff, board and volunteers.

Although diversity is usually a strength, it is one of the main reasons Emgage should be criticized. It is trying too hard to represent everyone. One recent example is an African American faction within Emgage that insists on having their agenda discussed: this group is advocating support for Vice President Harris for President. Although all Muslims, including Emgage Muslims, love Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X, we don't appreciate being reminded of the problems that have nothing to do with Palestine or Kashmir.

Gun safety, criminal justice, access to clean air and water, educational opportunities, health care for all, jobs with living wages, accessible housing: these issues are too complex and boring to be addressed by the American Muslim community at large. Especially for the hard-working suburban Muslims that do the heavy lifting at all the mosques… in the suburbs. It would be far better to have only One Issue, just like we are only One Ummah. And it is far easier to have the issue decided upon by what’s app warriors and uncles in the suburbs, rather than “diverse” people sitting in strategic planning meetings.

Problem 3

Emgage has too much money. In the early days, Emgage board members would have to beg our family and friends to donate lots of money. We stayed connected with the community by holding fundraisers where we locked the doors until somebody gave a check for $10,000. In a sad break from this time-honored tradition, the Emgage staff has applied for hundreds of grants and has successfully gotten some of them. Instead of the board working hard to cover payroll every month, there is a multi-year budget, an endowment which is partly invested in Muslim mutual funds, and there are ongoing relationships with many wealthy Muslim and Muslim-allied philanthropists in our country.  Emgage sends its team for training to workshops on how to create a long-term sustainable institutions and do relationship building. We really miss the fundraisers and locking the doors.

Emgage showed its effectiveness in states like Michigan where staff, interns and volunteers knocked tens of thousands of doors and helped elect people like Detroit Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and Dearborn’s Mayor Abdullah Hammoud. There are many successes and concrete results in other states also, including Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, Virginia and New York. The Muslim community should rightly be suspicious of any group that is successful: We are a community that is used to tragedy and bad news, whether in Palestine, Myanmar, Sudan, Kashmir, Syria and more. Or when Andrew Tate joined Team Muslim. May Allah guide him. 

Emgage’s rise and success elicits suspicion and concern. The Republicans and right wing see that Emgage is getting too much money and access, and have been incessantly attacking Emgage in Congress and in the press. Some Arab and Muslim social media warriors have also attacked Emgage for having too much money and access. Emgage should not be greedy and insist on being attacked by everyone: it should only pick ONE side, or Emgage will run the risk of appearing like a moderate middle of the road organization.

Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud speaking at Emgage event

Problem 4

Emgage is too cozy with the government. There is a rightful anger at the White House and Congress for its sponsorship of genocide and other policy failures. Emgage’s strategy has been to try to correct these injustices from within the framework of government using a long-term strategy that may take decades. Emgage has not been very successful yet since these injustices are continuing. Although Emgage has worked to get hundreds of appointees into government positions, impacted policy in important areas, and has gotten allied candidates elected, it has not stopped the egregious policies advocated by AIPAC and other nefarious players. AIPAC invested $100 million into the 2024 primaries alone. Other right-wing groups have invested many millions more with thousands of paid staff members and corporations to push their agenda for the past 40 years. Emgage should have done better with its few million bucks and 18 years of work. The work of one pious person should have been worth thousands of times more, and we should have had a second Muslim president by now (Obama was the first). Since Emgage has not seen success in almost 2 decades of work, it should dissolve and donate the proceeds to Instagram influencers and what’s app warriors who have a better chance to change America. It should dis-Emgage.

Emgage canvassers getting ready to hit homes with their lit!

Problem 5

Emgage has shady founders and board members. Khurram Wahid is one of the original founders. He helped found CAIR New York, CAIR Florida, worked as a public defender, and did thousands of hours of pro bono legal work for Arabs and Muslims against secret evidence and the Patriot Act after 9/11. He is also Canadian, prefers Hockey to Football and is overly confident. Most damning is that he went on a trip to Israel sponsored by Zionists as part of the Muslim Leadership Initiative. Although he may have thought he could learn about Israel and outsmart them: he was wrong. We know he was wrong because he issued a public apology and Republicans still spew hate on him. Emgage should find better founders.

Other board members and staff are known to have shunned work in the private sector making lots of money. Instead, they are actually working in government, bringing grants and business opportunities to communities who have never before had such access. These people are highly sus: who gives up lots of money to be a public servant? (See Problem1) If this was Pakistan or Egypt, we would be lining our own pockets with kickbacks and baksheesh. Our communities do not need access, grants or opportunities. All they need are kind words and photo ops. Our reward is in Jannah.

Some of the Emgage board members work for highly progressive groups and others come from highly conservative backgrounds. They have too many commitments and are too diverse (see problem 2). They are expected to attend compliance workshops, fill out conflict of interest forms, sign non-disclosures, donate every year, attend meetings, and they have term limits. In a standard mosque, if one donates a lot of money and is a founder, one gets to be appointed to the board for life and have one’s own wudu stall. Caliphs did not have term limits, and neither should board members. Emgage’s insistence on Problem 1 will dissuade many of the uncles from joining or donating.

Emgage has partnered with many organizations over the years to achieve its goals

Conclusion

From my years of working with Emgage, I am uniquely qualified to point out that Emgage is far from perfect. It is constantly reviewing its rules and processes, and changing them when there are deficiencies. The American Muslim community deserves perfection and excellence now, and clearly Emgage is not there yet. Emgage has corrupted many young people with ideas of public service and it instills hope despite seemingly insurmountable odds. It has trained too many people who are now working in government and being paid with our hard-earned taxes. It is preventing too many brown uncles like me from fulfilling their destiny bossing around underlings as lifelong board members. I sincerely hope we can use this insight to help Emgage find its way and fulfill its original mission  

Dr Muzammil Ahmed is a brown uncle Chairperson of the Michigan Community Advisory Committee for Emgage.  He serves on the Executive Board of CAIR Michigan. He is former chair of the Michigan Muslim Community Council and a co-founder of ISPU.