Sunday, January 02, 2005
A chat with an Amerian Muslim
The holidayz seem to flying by and there is only one week left now. I had a whole list of things I wanted to do and looking at it now, not much had been done. But unlike most students, I'm actually looking forward to going back to school after the lengthy 8-month break (though i'm not sure on how long that feeling will last). In the meantime, more late nite partying with family friends (and by partying I mean playing pool or renting movies).
I recently had a brief conversation with an American muslim who was visiting Canada for the winter holidayz. Upon my inquiry on the treatment of Muslims in U.S., her reply came forward with a teenish style raising of the shoulders and a look that said "Why would anything be wrong?"
After a few dumbfound seconds, I began to explain to her the different things I had read in the paper. Once again, her response was simple: "exaggeration is what sells the news"
This conversation kept recurring to me several times over the next few dayz. I was not sure what was more disturbing: the fact that one of the champions of democracy had turned on its words and was creating a police state for its muslim minority or the lack of awareness that made the muslim community believe that everything was 'good and jolly.' Before I go ahead and present any newspaper clippings, I would like to tell a tale of two men. One is a neurosurgeon and head of the department of neurology at a respected university and the other an aircraft engineer. What do these people have in common other than the fact that they were both Muslim, lived in Canada, and were over fifty???? They had both been stopped and interrogated for several hours during their transit through various U.S. airports (note: they both lack beards or any other visible sign of being Muslim other than their names).
Since I personally know both men, one being my father and the other my friend's dad, it made the story ever more hard hitting.
I further stumbled upon two more 'articles' that I thought would interest muslims and non-muslims alike. The first article is from a man named Daniel Pipes, who was temporarily appointed by George Bush to serve at the United States Institute of Peace. In this article, not only does he ardently support the internment of Japanese after Pearl Harbor, but proposes a similar treatment for American Muslims where U.S. would be "registering their whereabouts, profiling them, monitoring their mosques or infiltrating their organizations."
http://www.islamicity.com/m/news_frame.asp?Frame=1&referenceID=18416
But after reading this, a person can make the arguement that no matter what the people in power are saying, the general population is sympathetic to muslims. I'm not going to deny or confirm that fact, but readers can make their own judgements from what they will read next. This next one has become a personal favorite of mine. Even though it represents a mismatch of some ignorant hick against a Muslim scholar, the truth cannot be much farther. The response is beautiful in its drawings from history and modern events. I believe it represents a micro chasm of why there is a distinct two tier system in the world. The best part is that the answer relies on facts which cannot be just dismissed as biased opinions. To give some background, some one from States posed a certain stereotypical question to a Muslim scholar.
http://www.islamonline.net/askaboutislam/display.asp?hquestionID=2405
I wish I can present these findings to my visiting American friend, but the more I tell them, the more they will deny it. Just like 9/11 woke the US population, does every Muslim have to be imprisoned before they realize the enormity of the situation.
I recently had a brief conversation with an American muslim who was visiting Canada for the winter holidayz. Upon my inquiry on the treatment of Muslims in U.S., her reply came forward with a teenish style raising of the shoulders and a look that said "Why would anything be wrong?"
After a few dumbfound seconds, I began to explain to her the different things I had read in the paper. Once again, her response was simple: "exaggeration is what sells the news"
This conversation kept recurring to me several times over the next few dayz. I was not sure what was more disturbing: the fact that one of the champions of democracy had turned on its words and was creating a police state for its muslim minority or the lack of awareness that made the muslim community believe that everything was 'good and jolly.' Before I go ahead and present any newspaper clippings, I would like to tell a tale of two men. One is a neurosurgeon and head of the department of neurology at a respected university and the other an aircraft engineer. What do these people have in common other than the fact that they were both Muslim, lived in Canada, and were over fifty???? They had both been stopped and interrogated for several hours during their transit through various U.S. airports (note: they both lack beards or any other visible sign of being Muslim other than their names).
Since I personally know both men, one being my father and the other my friend's dad, it made the story ever more hard hitting.
I further stumbled upon two more 'articles' that I thought would interest muslims and non-muslims alike. The first article is from a man named Daniel Pipes, who was temporarily appointed by George Bush to serve at the United States Institute of Peace. In this article, not only does he ardently support the internment of Japanese after Pearl Harbor, but proposes a similar treatment for American Muslims where U.S. would be "registering their whereabouts, profiling them, monitoring their mosques or infiltrating their organizations."
http://www.islamicity.com/m/news_frame.asp?Frame=1&referenceID=18416
But after reading this, a person can make the arguement that no matter what the people in power are saying, the general population is sympathetic to muslims. I'm not going to deny or confirm that fact, but readers can make their own judgements from what they will read next. This next one has become a personal favorite of mine. Even though it represents a mismatch of some ignorant hick against a Muslim scholar, the truth cannot be much farther. The response is beautiful in its drawings from history and modern events. I believe it represents a micro chasm of why there is a distinct two tier system in the world. The best part is that the answer relies on facts which cannot be just dismissed as biased opinions. To give some background, some one from States posed a certain stereotypical question to a Muslim scholar.
http://www.islamonline.net/askaboutislam/display.asp?hquestionID=2405
I wish I can present these findings to my visiting American friend, but the more I tell them, the more they will deny it. Just like 9/11 woke the US population, does every Muslim have to be imprisoned before they realize the enormity of the situation.
Faraz Ahmed 4:57 p.m.