Posted on 05/31/2004 4:53:21 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
I am an American Muslim who came to the United States 35 years ago as a student, completed my undergraduate and graduate education and, like so many before and after me, got a job, gradually embraced this country, became a U.S. citizen and raised a family.
In my judgment, most Americans strongly believe American Muslims have not forcefully and irrevocably condemned terrorism. This is disturbing because American Muslims and their organizations have strongly condemned terrorism.
However, because Muslim American organizations are local and stratified by sect, ethnicity and country of origin, their uncoordinated condemnations never reached the decibel level necessary to make an impact. This organizational fragmentation, coupled with poor media skills, diluted their message even further.
Regardless of the causes, this misconception needs to be addressed immediately because it has erected an invisible barrier toward the full acceptance and advancement of Muslims in America.
I recommend that the Council on Islamic-American Relations co-ordinate and lead a confederation of U.S. Muslim organizations on a Muslims Against Terrorism March in Washington on Sept. 11. This peaceful march will have the sole objective of registering a united, unqualified and thunderous condemnation of the Sept. 11 attacks as having no space or sanction in Islam.
Americans and indeed the entire world will be able to see and hear in their living rooms the unity, clarity and strength of this message magnified by the diversity of its participants.
Imagine the impact of American Muslims — of every national origin, ethnicity and race from Alaska to the Virgin Islands consisting of Shia and Sunni, Democrats and Republicans, conservative and liberal, U.S.-born and immigrants, burqa- and hijab-clad to manicured socialites in T-shirts and jeans, bearded and clean-shaven, white- and blue-collar, successful and struggling — all marching together to make one clear statement.
The march should not be misconstrued as an apology for the acts of the perpetrators. As an American Muslim, I am not responsible for the acts and interpretations of more than 1 billion people who also possess the same faith. The acts of the Irish Republican Army have not resulted in the blanket indictment that Catholicism sanctions terrorism. Nor have the acts and ideology of the Ku Klux Klan been allowed to tar all whites and Christians as racists.
There will always be a Muslim minority whose interpretations of Islam will lead to acts of extremism and militancy similar to fringe groups in other faiths. Our goal should be to explicitly and forcefully reiterate that the American Muslim organizations sponsoring the march do not see any sanction of terrorism in Islam.
If such a march is held, I am convinced that the invisible wall and muted suspicions that separate American Muslims from the mainstream will melt, the incidence of hate crimes will decrease and the political, social and economic advancement of Muslims will accelerate. I am neither an academic nor a politician nor a business magnate. However, I am a thinking, productive, tax-paying, vote-empowered U.S. citizen who sees the potential of U.S. Muslims held hostage by misconception on one side and inaction to correct it on the other. And I believe there are millions like me.
--Amin M. Lakhani of Atlanta works in the electric power industry.
hmm..wonder if he can cite one?
wonder why he didn't?
"-Amin M. Lakhani of Atlanta works in the electric power industry."
Educated. Literate. How many in the conclaves of Detroit are educated and literate? I realize the Fascists who took the planes into the WTC were educated fascists, but there are so many immigrants in Muslim pockets who are not. They do not want to assimilate, and work to create a Muslim society inside the US.
Today I saw a PBS show on second generation Japanese Americans who joined military intelligence units during WWII in the pacific theater.
Many were required to serve by their families. (As I remember...) One father told his son to stand up and be counted, and to always remember the Japanese cherry trees planted in Washington DC. He said that his son should remember that his roots were in the good American ground, not the Japanese. All interviewed said that they knew they were Americans, and were proud to fight for their countries and for freedom. Later, they were able to help Japanese POWs and save the lives of civilians who were afraid to surrender. Finally, they served in the occupation forces as administrators and administrative support in Japan.
These brave Japanese Americans have set the bar. Arabs and other Muslims will come under close scruitiny. They may even have their civil rights impinged. But the Japanese who immigrated here came to abandon their authoritarian cultures and even in the face of discrimination on duty, served proudly, with valor and honor, and in the end were able to help both their country and their own people.
We expect as much or more from American Muslims. Nothing less will do.
72 virgins are waiting for every muslim in Allahs' paradise as long as they kill or are killed by an Infidel, so why would they fight terrorism.
And that will be the perception if they aren't more visible. And anti-Muslim sentiment will grow if they don't. So they better get on the stick. The ball is in their court.
Excellent points.
I think all the virgins have been spoken for.
Good points. I concur.
Hey I have an idea, instead of comdemning, how about quitting the cult?
If only I got a penny for evert time I heard a muslim make this argument. The condemnations of the IRA from cathloc groups was deafening, from the SDLP in the north to all the government powers in the south if Ireland.
I agree. This memorial day, I'm remembering the muslims who fought communism in Indonesia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the mideast.
Many were and still are our allies. I think if we can encourage the undecided ones to remember the religious intolerance that we defeated in the soviet union, they will respond supportively. The 1996 bin Laden fatwa says that America is the next big power Islam will destroy. But hadn't his mujihadeen just finished defeating the real threat to religious freedom together with our freedom fighters?
I'm concentrating on the positive this weekend. We've lost over 800 troops fighting to liberate Iraq, and we've lost more than 3,000 civilians over the past 30 years to Islamic violence. But during that time, we also fought side by side with a lot of good people from those cultures. They helped us defeat a horrible enemy.
Many fell only hoping that their children could grow up to choose their beliefs of their own free will. Together, we realized it, even if only in a few places.
Great post & Cherry trees in DC history bit.
Allah makes them as needed. it's in their book
No sir, you are not responsible for the acts themselves. But they are committed an the name of Allah and Islam. As a Catholic, I abhorred the Northern Ireland violence.....and everyone knew how I felt. No, Islamic America shoulders much of the blame for what their brethren do. Why? Becuase the only Islamic voice in America I ever hear is Ibrahim Hooper's, and its always whining about "unfair treatment" that US Muslims receive..
"American Muslims need to unite against terrorism"
But they won't. A few, of course, consider themselves FIRST Americans, then Muslim. But the greater bulk, like the recent immigrants from Hispanic countries, have little in common with the land in which they have chosen to live. To them, the US is largely a blank slate, upon which they may write anything they wish, without regard for those who are already here. They resent it when they are reminded they are here largely on the sufferance of the citizens of the US, and demand angrily to be permitted to follow their own customs, language and moral code, even to the point of actively resisting the power and authority of the municipality around themselves. Well, a little peek into history, of what happened to German-culture communities in 1917 and again in 1942 in this country may be something of an eye-opener for these unwilling souls. Very few German-language enclaves exist in the US today. Well, OK, the Amish, but they have never been troublemakers in the wider community, and they largely remain in rural locations.
But the Muslims in America have no such cushion. They have stepped into urban and suburban America, and most of America considers this to be THEIR home.
Our side knows information in totalitarian countries travels from family member to family member. These Arab-Americans can be the ears we so desperately need.
The German part of my family (father's side) came over before World War I, but when World War II came, they all joined up and fought their distant cousins in Germany. My mother's side fought their distant English cousins in the American Revolution. It's a tradition and part of being an American. Now it's time for Arabs who are citizens to do their part.
Many were required to serve by their families. (As I remember...) One father told his son to stand up and be counted, and to always remember the Japanese cherry trees planted in Washington, DC. He said that his son should remember that his roots were in the good American ground, not the Japanese. All interviewed said that they knew they were Americans, and were proud to fight for their countries and for freedom. Later, they were able to help Japanese POWs and save the lives of civilians who were afraid to surrender. Finally, they served in the occupation forces as administrators and administrative support in Japan.
These brave Japanese Americans have set the bar. Arabs and other Muslims will come under close scrutiny. They may even have their civil rights impinged. But the Japanese who immigrated here came to abandon their authoritarian cultures and even in the face of discrimination on duty, served proudly, with valor and honor, and in the end were able to help both their country and their own people.
We expect as much or more from American Muslims. Nothing less will do.
Tagline adjustment.
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