Muslim Immigrants Are Invaluable in the Fight against Terrorism
By Akhtar H. Emon
Iqra Academy of Palos Verdes
Rolling Hills Estates, CA
The Qur'an, like the Biblical Scriptures, teaches us to protect life,not to destroy it. Like every good American and a person of faith, when Muslims see criminal activity, they report it to the authorities.
Similarly, the Neighborhood Watch (NW) Programs are not aboutspying on each other, but they provide collective protection.
The Time Magazine's Oct. 17, 2016 cover page quotes theQur'anic Verse: "Whoever saves one life, saves all of humanity"underneath a picture of The White Helmets of Syria and the 6,000 livesthey have saved.
When AliouNiasse, a Muslim immigrant from Senegal, noticed and reported smoke coming from a car parked in Times Square in May 2010, he prevented a terrorist attack and saved many lives.
Police were able to disarm the car bomb before it caused any casualties. Niasse was working as a street vendor. He was a new immigrant to the US.He said, “If I see a terrorist, I am going to catch him before he
runs away.”
Six years later, on September 16, 2016, a homemade bomb was detonated in New York’s Chelsea district, and was soon linked to other devices found in Manhattan and New Jersey.
An Afghan immigrant Mohammad Rahami, the father of the suspect, said he had called the FBI authorities to report his son’s erratic behavior. Rahamihad told the FBI two years earlier: “My son, he’s doing really bad, OK?”
Yes, the Muslims who come to the United States should report when they see something wrong going on. As the conduct of Niasse and Rahami illustrates, and the FBI has duly attested, Muslim immigrants have already stepped up to serve as allies to law enforcement agencies.
Newcomers to this country from the Middle East and South Asia, many of whom fled violence and tyranny when they came here, are especially aware of the threat posed to America and to Islam by terrorism.
Indeed, the Muslim immigrants and refugees are invaluable in the fight against terrorism. But, unfortunately they are subject to anti-Muslim bias and stereotypes and the bias is based on the false premise that Islam and the West are at war, and always will be.
Muslim immigrants and refugees, as well as native-born Muslims should not be viewed as a security risk. What threatens America is not the arrival of new Muslim immigrants or war refugees from Syria but the alienation of immigrant communities.
Discrimination and marginalization of particular populations endangers us all, not only because we lose invaluable allies in the fight against homegrown terrorism, but also because these very factors create disaffection and anti-social conduct. It is a vicious loop.
Stigmatizing Muslim immigrants and refugees and those of other religions and national origins fractures society and gives our enemies an edge. It threatens the stability and the resilience of the United States. Resisting marginalization makes us more united against terrorist threats; it enriches our society, and makes us safer.
The best way to prevent immediate and future security threats stems from cooperation and building trust with immigrant and other communities.
Rather than looking for security by blocking immigrants with tall border walls and restrictive policies, a comprehensive immigration reform will turn America’s immigrant culture into a strong national security asset.
Quoting Salam Al-Marayati, the President of the Muslim Public AffairsCouncil (MPAC):
"The 2016 Election has focused on terrorism,immigration and refugee resettlement in ugly ways. But it has also sparked a productive dialog about the need for reforming immigration policies and creating stronger systems to welcome and resettle newcomers as neighbors, colleagues and contributors to our communities, and as partners, not suspects of law enforcement".
Muslim citizens, refugees and immigrants know that the United States can be for them what it has been for so many others: the last best hope.
The narrative that we as a country choose will not only demonstrate this nation’s values, it will determine the trajectory of our national security and our struggle against terrorism.
Back to Pakistanlink Homepage
