NEW YORK (AP) - Nine years of denouncing terrorism, of praying
side-by-side with Jews and Christians, of insisting "I'm American,
too." None of it could stop a season of hate against Muslims that
made for an especially fraught Sept. 11. Now, Muslims are asking
why their efforts to be accepted in the United States have been so
easily thwarted.
"We have nothing to apologize for, we have nothing to fear, we
have nothing to be ashamed of, we have nothing that we're guilty of
- but we need to be out there and we need to express this," said
Imam Mohammed Ibn Faqih in a sermon at the Islamic Institute of
Orange County in Anaheim, Calif., the day before the 9/11
anniversary.
There is no simple way for American Muslims to move forward.
Images of violence overseas in the name of Islam have come to
define the faith for many non-Muslims at home. The U.S. remains at
war in Afghanistan, and although America has formally declared an
end to its combat operations in Iraq, U.S. troops there continue to
fight alongside Iraqi forces.
Within the U.S., domestic terror has become a greater threat,
while ignorance about what Islam teaches is widespread. More than
half of respondents in a recent poll by the Pew Forum for Religion
& Public Life said they knew little or nothing about the Muslim
faith.
Some U.S. Muslims say their national organizations share the
blame, for answering intricate questions about Islam with
platitudes, and failing to fully examine the potential for
extremism within their communities. Muslim leaders often respond
when terrorists strike by saying Islam is a "religion of peace"
that has no role in the violence instead of confronting the
legitimate concerns of other Americans, these Muslim critics say.
"There's a quaintness and naivete or outright whitewashing of
some very complex issues," said Saeed Khan, who teaches at Wayne
State University in Detroit. "This has caused a lot of frustration
for a lot of Muslim Americans, myself included."
The summer frenzy about Islam in America has revolved around
Park51, a community center and mosque planned two blocks from New
York's ground zero. Opponents and supporters of the center
converged on the area for protests and counter-protests Saturday
after the morning memorial ceremony at the World Trade Center site.
In recent months, mosques in Tennessee, California, New York and
elsewhere have been shot at and vandalized. Threatening messages
were left at one mosque. A Florida pastor caused a global uproar
with his ultimately unfulfilled threat to make a bonfire of Qurans
on Sept. 11.
Many Jewish, Roman Catholic, mainline Protestant, evangelical,
atheist and other groups have responded with an outpouring of
support for Muslims, but suspicion remains high among many
Americans.
Islamic centers have become a focus of non-Muslim fears. Federal
authorities have placed informants in mosques, saying doing so is a
critical counterterrorism tool. Muslim groups have separately
created national campaigns encouraging congregations to monitor for
any sign of radicalization, but they have also complained bitterly
about the use of informants, worried the innocent will be caught up
in the net police have set for criminals.
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