Posted on 10/15/2001 2:21:37 PM PDT by websterglobe
During a September 9th, 2001 speech, an American Muslim cleric named Hamza Yusuf said that the United States, "has a great, great tribulation coming to it." He also stated that, "This country is facing a very terrible fate," he said. "The reason for that is that this country stands condemned. It stands condemned like Europe stood condemned because of what it did. And lest people forget that Europe suffered two world wars after conquering the Muslim lands. . . . [Europe's] countries were devastated, they were completely destroyed. Their young people were killed." Yusuf was among a group of Muslim clerics recently invited to the White House to declare his and other Muslim clerics condemnation of the attacks and support for America.
Another American Muslim cleric, Muzammil Siddiqi, who recently spoke at a service at the Washington National Cathedral after the attacks and was also among the group invited to the White House, harshly criticized U.S. support for Israel at a rally outside the White House last October, at which marchers chanted in praise of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist group. "America has to learn," Siddiqi said. "If you remain on the side of injustice, the wrath of God will come. Please, all Americans. Do you remember that? Allah is watching everyone. God is watching everyone. If you continue doing injustice, and tolerate injustice, the wrath of God will come."
American Muslims have made much of hate crimes directed against Muslims since the attack. Such of these as there are should be condemned and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. But given the mixed messages expressed by American Muslims like Yusuf, Siddiqi and others, as well as the ecstatic popular reaction to the attack seen in Egypt, the West Bank, and other Muslim areas, it is fair to wonder just how much of crime Muslims consider September 11th to be. "We need to hear from Islamic leaders," writes Gilbert Meilaender in the current Christian Century, "sincere condemnation of the attacks. Not ambiguous comments designed to ward off military reprisal, and not condemnations which--in the same breath--condemn Israel."
Fortunately, some American Muslims understand this. Writing in the Los Angeles Times, Marlon Mohammed asks, "Am I upset that ordinary Muslims are being looked at with suspicion and hostility? Of course. Should we do all we can to stem intolerance toward any religious or ethnic group? Of course. But the bulk of my anger is directed at the Islamic extremists who perpetrated the atrocities of Sept. 11."
"Think of it like this," Mohammed continues. "If you found out that a criminal was pretending to be you while committing murder in your community, who would you be most angry with? The victimized people in your community? Or the man using your identity to commit the murders? I don't begrudge non-Muslims their suspicions right now. How can they tell if that friendly Muslim sitting next to them on the plane is for real or not?"
For Marlon Mohammed, this is the heart of the issue: "The terrorists are deceivers and traitors. They are the enemies of all law-abiding Muslims everywhere. They have perverted our faith; they have appropriated our identities; they murder in our name. They are the true enemy. Hostile stares from strangers should be returned with feelings of empathy and mercy. We have all been traumatized by a common foe."
The big problem here as I read Islamic utterances and theology is that they have, with varying degrees of directness to suit the immediate occasion, declared a religious war of conquest upon the non-Islamic world, while we refuse to face it for irrational fear of being called racist or intolerant. For this reason we are going to get cut to pieces over time whie being immobilized by our countercultural guilt.
Isn't that a huge red flag for someone, Islamic or not, to have made a statement like that two days before WTC attacks? Presumably, he has had chats with the FBI since then...
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