Islam in New York
Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.
September 3, 2010
Salaroche

To doubt that the religion of Islam is intimately related to the events of 9/11 amounts to a certain kind of blindness to reality. All of the nineteen hijackers involved in that incident were Muslims. Al Qaeda, the terrorist organization that masterminded the 9/11 atrocity, is formed by Muslims too. Failing to see such a strong common trait between them can only be intentional.

9/11 was perpetrated by Muslims. No doubt about it.

Does this mean that all Muslims are terrorists? Of course not. Does it mean that all Muslims support terrorism? Not at all. Does it mean that all Muslims should stand firmly in condemning Islamic terrorism? Yes it does. If they want to reassure the world that their religion stands for peace.

Another question is, can all Muslims stand firmly against Islamic terrorism? And the answer is no, not all of them can. Understandably, many of them fear retaliation from their own brethren if they do.

As we are all aware, Pakistani Muslim extremists don’t hesitate to blow themselves up taking dozens of their fellow Muslims to the other world with them. The same case applies in Iraq. Muslims don’t hesitate to slaughter other Muslims in the name of Islam.

Sadly, any terrorist act perpetrated in the name of Islam makes for very bad public relations for that religion. Whether we like it or not, Islam has been largely discredited in the eyes of the world in these few years after 9/11. In consequence, people of the Muslim persuasion are often viewed with a certain degree of suspicion when they’re first met.

The question that often springs in the minds of many westerners when they meet a Muslim individual is: does this Muslim guy hate the west as much as the 9/11 hijackers did?

Then there’s the issue of how women are treated within Muslim social norms. Controversies regarding the veil and the Burqas keep surfacing in some western countries as issues that run contrary to western norms of freedom and equality of genders. That and the question of how Muslim women are barred from places and activities where only Muslim men are allowed contribute to the general perception that Islam is incompatible with the western world. These issues don’t give Islam a good reputation in the west.

It’s no wonder, therefore, that when news of a project to build an Islamic center just two blocks away from Ground Zero hits the general media, so many people raise their voice against it.

Islam is intimately associated with 9/11 and Islam is not a religion that enjoys the best of reputations in New York or in the rest of America. And American Muslims know this.

Short of having repeatedly staged massive and highly publicized Muslim-American demonstrations in the streets of New York clearly stating the Muslim-American community’s unconditional condemnation of their brethren’s participation in 9/11, I don’t see how else they could have restored the American public’s trust and acceptance of their religion.

Muslim-Americans have to take this issue at heart. They have to accept responsibility for the actions of their fellow Muslims. They have to show much more openly to the world their total rejection of such crimes committed in their name. Along these lines, they have to acknowledge the deep pain that some of the adepts of their religion have inflicted on the people of New York.

Moving their planned center to a location farther away from ground zero would be a good start.

Salaroche