Is America Listening?

They ask why have Muslim Americans not been vocal against terrorism.

Well, since 9/11/2001:

1. Muslim American religious leadership has spoken more than 400,000 times in over 2000 Mosques and Islamic centers during Friday sermons condemning terrorism and violence regardless of the faith of the perpetrators. 

2. Muslim American leaders have issued over 11,000 press releases and statements condemning 9/11 attacks and other acts of terrorism committed in the name of their religion or community.

3. Muslim Americans have participated in over 7,000 prayer services organized to remember the victims of 9/11.

4. Muslim Americans have appeared in over 5,000 television and radio shows condemning acts of terror.

5. Muslim Americans have contributed over 2,000 articles and letters in news media challenging extremists who use violence to promote their ideas.

They say all terrorists are Muslims.

Official US statistic show the following: Only 6% of terrorist attacks on U.S. soil from 1980 to 2005 were carried out by Muslim extremists. The remaining 94% were from other groups, 42% from Latinos, 24% from extreme left wing groups, 7% from extremist Jews, 5% from communists, and 16% from all other groups. 

They say that Islam promotes terrorism.

"We have given dignity to the children of Adam," (17:70) and "The one who takes a human life without any due process is like the one who kills the entire humanity and the one who saves a life saves the entire humanity," (5:32) "God invites you to the abode of peace," (10:25) are part of the Quranic teachings binding on Muslims.

Yet, the Islamophobes do not stop in their tireless rants against Islam and Muslims. Who are these people?

These extremist Islamophobes are mostly right winged tea baggers and minute men. These people share the same ideology as the people who justified slavery, promoted the lynching of the blacks, denied religious rights to Mormons, Catholics and Jews. They are questioning the integrity of Muslim Americans because their commitment to human values and human dignity and the values of freedom and justice may still be clouded with racism and bigotry. They are targeting Muslims because they view Muslims politically vulnerable and socially weak, which is not the case because a good number of first and second generation Muslims Americans are educated and serve the community in various fields including armed forces, engineering, medicine, law and education.

But America will not listen to them. The bed rock of America is based on liberty, peace and justice for people of all races and religion. This is the only country in recent history that has shown that it has the ability to change it's outlook towards minorities. There was a time when Jews were not allowed to settle in Milwaukee, when women were not allowed to vote and when blacks were lynched in public. America changed and now a black man is the President of the United States of America, Wisconsin elected Jewish members of the Senate and women are running for the highest offices in the country.

America will change and Muslims will have the same equal status and rights without any suspicion to their sincerity and integrity. But the responsibility to change the conditions are on the shoulders of Muslims. "Allah does not change the condition of people unless they are willing to change them." This is the most powerful message from the One who is the source of all messages.

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Dr. Aslam Abdullah is editor in chief of the weekly Muslim Observer and director of the Islamic Society of Nevada.