Blend of Civilizations

It was my first time visit to the United States, in Chicago‘s O’Hare International Airport, when I was told to stand up and wait right next to a wall. I felt all my blood falling down to my knees as if I had been told that they would take me to Guantanamo, Cuba. Thirty minutes later, an officer came to tell me: “There is a problem with your name!” and asked me to follow him. He took me to a room and asked me to wait there. As I was sitting, I kept cursing, “It’s not because of my name; because of Bin Laden, the idiot.” Then I was directed to an investigation room, where another officer started querying me. Because my passport had a VISA to Iran, he asked what my purpose was for going there. I answered that my purpose was tourism. By that time he let me out, I had already missed my flight to Nashville. It was the twenty fifth hour since I flown from Bahrain, and I was totally exhausted. I started looking for my sister; and, after seven hours of searching I found her crying. It turned out that she had been told that I was returned back home. If my name had been Jackson, I would not have had all that trouble!

After the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York City, by the so-called Islamic terrorists, the world is no longer the same. Because of them, I was stopped and hassled in that airport, millions of Muslims are harassed everyday, and more than one billion Muslims are thought of as potential threats! Because of these terrorists, “42% of Americans of low personal religiosity, and 65% of high personal religiosity perceive Islam as violent” (Christianity Today). I do not blame them because, if I were in their shoes, I would think the same way. If all I were to see and hear about Muslims is what the media broadcast, I will never differentiate between violence and Islam. However, Bin Laden is not Islam, nor does he represent it. Islam is misunderstood by non-Muslims but also by many who falsely claim to be Muslims, like those terrorists. 

There is no way any Christian, Jew, or Muslim can come out and say he represents all Christians, Jews, or Muslims respectively. There is not a way all Christians, Jews, or Muslims come with one clear definition of their holy scriptures. If this were the case, we would not have seen all these sects diverging from each other in each religion. However, in every religion, one will find extremists who claim the utmost knowledge of its doctrines, although unfortunately, they always go above, beyond, and against such doctrines.
One day, I heard a person stating on the news: “Islamic extremists are fighting the United States because it’s a Christian country.” But I do not agree with him. The mosques bombed by Al-Qaeda during the last year in Iraq were not churches full of Christians! The bakery that was destroyed in Iraq last couple of months was not a US military camp! Most of the time the people that are beheaded day-after-day by Al-Zarqawi’s group are not Christians, Jews, or other westerners! The terrorists kill Muslims everyday, and most victims are civilians. Why are they doing this? It is clear that this is not a holy war strictly against non-Muslims but anyone who thinks differently from the terrorists.

Some of you non-Muslims might think that the terrorists are like this because Islam’s teachings lead to this ideology (i.e. because of the Jihad concept). Well, I strongly disagree. The Koran makes the definition of Jihad very clear: “Fight in the cause of Allah [God] those who fight you, but do not transgress limits; for Allah loveth not transgressors” (2:190).  As is  the case in all countries, fighting in Islam is mandatory whenever a foreign invasion is in place; however, God asks us not to start the fight. On the contrary, Bin Laden continues to use the concept of Jihad to back his ideas, but he miscalculates it. Jihad is a broad concept; it literally means “struggle.” The greatest Jihad is the struggle with the self to get rid of what God forbids. The minor Jihad is the fighting for the Islamic Ummah (community) whenever during an invasion or an all-out war. The Prophet Muhammad has asked Muslims not to cut trees or harm old people, women, and children. Muhammad himself used armed force only when it was necessary. For example, in the battle of Ahzab, in the beginning of Islam, this was a clear aggression on the part of the unbelievers in Mecca, who had traveled 300 miles from Mecca to Medina to attack Muslims.  The Prophet ordered a trench be dug in order to avoid armed confrontation instead of going to war with them (Athar, Shahid). God says:

… if any one slew a person – unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land – it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people. Then although there came to them Our apostles with clear signs, yet, even after that, many of them continued to commit excesses in the land. (Koran 5:32)

Many people question the use of suicides by most of these terrorists, and whether or not it has a base in the religion. Al-Qaeda cheats many people by convincing them that, by committing suicides, they will be considered martyrs who will get to heaven. However, hell is the final destiny for such practices. In Islam, anything that indirectly harms the self is prohibited; such as alcohol, pork, tattoos, etc. So, if directly harming the self is allowed, then there would be a clear contradiction in the religion itself! The life and body are sacred in Islam, and nothing justifies harming them; God says, “… And spend of your substance in the cause of Allah, and make not your own hands contribute to [your] destruction …” “… Nor kill [or destroy] yourselves: for verily Allah hath been to you Most Merciful! …” “…Whether open or secret; take not life, which Allah hath made sacred, except by way of justice and law …” (Koran 2:195, 4:29, 6:151).

Islam, the word itself, means “peace and submission.”  One of the attributes of God is As-Salaam, the peace giver.  The path of Islam is called the path of peace.  The ideal society in Islam is called Darus-Salaam.  That is the city of peace.  It is for this reason that Jerusalem was originally named as Salem, city of peace, by Canaanite Righteous King Melchisedeck, a contemporary of Prophet Abraham and was changed later to Urousalem and then to Jerusalem. The mission of Islam, as given to Prophet Mohammad, was “to be merciful to mankind” the Quran (Athar, Shahid). If one really investigates Islam, one will understand that terrorists’ practices have nothing to do with its doctrines; that explains why, in spite of the 11 September attack, more than 30,000 Americans have converted to Islam since then (The Learn the Bible), and Islam is currently the fastest growing religion, according to the Guinness Book of World Records 2005.

If Islam is proven to be a religion of tolerance, why would some of its practitioners turn to intolerance? There many reasons, especially politics. Why does Al-Qaeda not have its main base in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, etc.? Why did Osama Bin Laden left Arabia? Where was Al-Qaeda created? Who supported it? Al-Qaeda was not wanted in Arabia, so its members went to Afghanistan, where they received the support and money from many countries, including the United States, to fight the invading Russians. With Al-Quaeda’s barbarian mentality, it was the best choice. However, Al-Qaeda expanded, seized Afghanistan, and then, using Islam for justification, started blowing-up buildings and people everywhere. We must all remember that not all terrorists are Muslims! There is a lot of terrorism in Ireland, Latin America, and Sri Lanka, where Muslims are not present.

As a result of these misguided terrorists, Islam and Muslims are put first in the list whenever any bad disaster happens. Thank God, the Tsunami was not blamed on Muslims! The real problem is that many countries now are issuing statues that limit the freedom of individuals in the name of limiting terrorism. It extends to imprisoning suspected people, just because of their appearance. One of my friends, who wears veil, was asked in the Chicago‘s O’Hare International Airport to take off her clothes in front of God and everybody; to make sure she was not carrying any weapons of mass destruction! Muslim girls are forced to remove their Islamic head scarves in Germany and some other western countries; where is the freedom?  This was the case in France, so a number of girls shaved their heads so as not to show their hair!
The world should understand that Islam is all about fighting such barbarian practices.

The world should understand that we Muslims are against terror and with the war on terrorism. However, to fight terrorism, the world should understand who the real terrorists are, who support them, and how to not to pull the trigger on the wrong target.  The world should no longer sleep, and I hope it will awake one day to learn the truth about Islam versus the terrorism.