So here we are at the seventh anniversary of the day of infamy 9/11/2001. For everyone it is a time to reflect as to why such a horrible event occurred. But more than others it is time for the global Muslim community and the Muslim-American community to introspect and reflect on the consequences of this awfully destructive act committed by a set of their co-religionists. An overwhelming majority of Muslims all over the world have condemned this act of lunacy. Without doubt the 9/11 attack violated the most basic teachings of Islam, Qur’an and Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), and it painted a totally erroneous and damaging picture of Islam, a religion whose very name spells peace and submission to the will of our Creator.
Those misled Muslim terrorists who thought they were protesting the mistreatment of the Muslim Ummah by the Western powers actually contributed to the creation of the much magnified problems for their community for many years to come. It is against the basic human philosophy to kill and destroy innocent people because someone wants to express his/her outrage, no matter how serious the outrage may be.
The lives and future of the many million Muslims who live in Western countries have been undoubtedly jeopardized by this lunatic act. As for the Muslims in the US, they have been effectively rendered into second class citizens and it may take fifty or more years for them to recover from this setback. They have lost trust of the majority non-Muslim community whose cooperation they need to become a part of the mainstream in their adopted country.
The best thing that Muslims everywhere and especially Muslims in the US can do on this anniversary is to pledge to increase their interfaith efforts, their efforts to be friends with people of other communities, and build bridges of understanding with them.
