September 11 Was a Wake-up Call for American Muslims to Give People the true Picture of Islam
By Shabbir Motorwala
Florida

 

On September 11, 2001, America was attacked. More than 3,000 innocent people lost their lives. Those victims knew their fellow workers as human beings; they did not differentiate them as Jews, Christians, Muslims or Sikhs. They worked together to build a better America.

People who attacked America were not Americans, but they did not represent the values of Islam, which teaches the sanctity of innocent lives and tolerance toward others. Islam requires every Muslim to greet everyone, Muslim or not, with “Assalamu Alaikum” — peace be upon you.

How can such a religion be accused of bigotry or of violence? About 300 victims in the Twin Towers were Muslims. They were not accomplices in that hateful crime, yet innocent Muslims became the target of hate crimes. Many were deported — many of them who had built businesses and called America their home were rudely told that they did not belong here. Mosques were vandalized and burned. Hatemongers and Islamophobes had a field day painting 1.5 billion Muslims as terrorists. That gave rise to xenophobic pundits who filled TV coverage with hate and bigotry. Unfortunately, some gullible Americans bought into it. “Sharia” became an ugly word, mosques became unwelcome edifices and Muslims next door became undesirable aliens.

Globally, innocent Muslim lives were destroyed because of faulty intelligence. The citizens of many thriving Muslim countries, such as Iraq and Libya, paid with their lives in order to fulfill promises our political leaders made to send Muslim nations back to Stone Ages. After 20 years of protracted war in Afghanistan — whose citizens played no part in 9/11 attack — we left the country in ruins, with thousands of lives lost and costing US taxpayers trillions of dollars.

And in the end, we ended up replacing the Taliban with the Taliban.

However, some good has happened in these 20 years. Many Americans, both Muslim and non-Muslim and Muslim, have tried to find out why 9/11 happened and what role American Muslims can play in explaining their religion to others. The Qur’an became a bestseller for many weeks — people wanted to know about Islam and its followers. Many found that it teaches exactly what the Torah and the Bible do.

They learned that the Qur’an is an extension of the Old Testament and the Torah and the Book of David.

The 9/11tragedy made many American Muslims realize that they were living in bubbles and needed to get involved. It gave rise to many organizations that engaged the media and political leaders and fostered interfaith dialogue. The presence of Reps. André Carlson, Rashida Tlaib and Omar Ilhan in Congress are the result of this Muslim awakening. American Muslims also engage with law-enforcement agencies and become more vigilant about suspicious characters in our own communities.

Locally, the Coalition of South Florida Muslim Organizations reached out to the broader community. South Florida Muslims became socially active by starting a  free medical clinic , engaging Muslims by advocating voter registration and serving the needs of domestic-violence victims through organizations such as NUR Center. They are feeding homeless people through Project Downtown, while also establishing centers for Islamic and Muslim understanding at various institutions of higher learning, educating students and faculty about the true meaning of Islam and the contributions of Muslims to America.

Many Muslims will be participating in many 9/11 memorials throughout the country to pay tribute to those who lost their lives. While the tragedy brought pain and suffering to everyone, American Muslims paid the price twice. However, we learned to get involved. Pew research polls suggest that they have not become disillusioned with the country. They are overwhelmingly satisfied with the way things are going in their lives.

We will continue to educate xenophobes and Islamophobes and work with like-minded people to make sure that another 9/11 does not happen. We will make sure that hate and bigotry have no place in South Florida — or anywhere else.

(Shabbir Motorwala is a founding member of the Coalition of South Florida Muslim Organizations (COSMOS). Miami Herald)