Changing Muslim Hearts

#5

The muslim problem is only with non-muslims killing muslims, let me illustrate:

(Muslims v/s Pagans)
- Sudanese muslims killing christians and animists - A-OK
- Pakistani terrorists killng Indians - Allah-Hu-Akhar

(Muslims killing muslims)
- Pakistanis killing Bengalis - You know it happens, there were also ... you know, they wear lungi`s and eat fish, man they were asking for it.
- Sudanese in Darfur - you know they are kinda dark, cant be real muslims

The only problem is when Kansas homeboys are blowing up the mosque minaret to get the sniper or the Hindu soldieris who switches to full auto and sprays bullets around.

Thanks Anne. You`ve cut to the heart of the matter and done it so well.

Your article reminded me of this family I peripherally knew a while ago. They were refugees who had got asylum here (I forget which Arab country. sorry) and their kids were born and brought up here. They were not allowed to have any American friends, the girls wore hijab from the time they were like five years old. And they constantly bitched about America even though they had even spent time on public welfare and had even lived in public housing. I think I met them somewhere just once and was so disgusted and disturbed by their constant complaints about the country (that has is own faults) that had given them refuge, a place to stay, food to eat, an opportunity to begin a new life.

I know there are more of these folks who marginalize themselves and consider themselves superior to the US and to Americans. So bombing evil Americans is no great tragedy to them.

I believe they are the minorty but still they are a sad and scary reality and as Muslims we have to decide who do we let speak for us? These ghettoized Mullah types ever ready with their jihad or moderate, reasonable, educated human beings who are not scared of analyzing themselves?

This does not mean America and the West does not have problems or that their policies are great but we cannot forever intersperse the ``but`` when talking of Islamic extremism and violence.

I wish more people were interacting on this board. Oh well!

This thread was read 364 times and there are 6-7 posts.
That certainly speaks about the popularity of your message Mrs. Shamim with the Muslims.

Would you tell your Pakistani brothers in Queens and Dallas to walk openly on the streets with banners and placards condemning UBL and suicide bombings?

fantastic!

You have simply yet eloquently said what so many people think, muslim and non-muslim alike.
Terrorism and all the other hate crimes are not just caused by extremist groups, but also the attitude that is inherent within us all.

If schoolchildren and their parents were encouraged to explore the joys of integration, and to reject xenophobia, then at last things might change.

Well done.

Dear Anne,
good piece and the sentiments behind it are in the right piece. as you watched the unspeakable crime against humanity and heard your 15 year old son say ``it sucks to be a muslim``. do you think 15 year old american (read caucasian/christian) kids say that when they watch CNN where it shows that 20,000 Iraqis died? I dont think so. The issue is that as a friend of mine said, ``Muslims are the new black people in America``.

Far more people have died all over the world and still do than did in NY at 9-11. I think 9-11 was a terrible atrocity but it should be kept in perspective. 3,000 dead as opposed to the million dead in Rawanda in ONE month alone. Sure they werent Americans but they were human beings.

Just because 9-11 happened doesnt mean that every thinking Muslim goes into overdrive trying to explain that Muslims arent all rabid fanatics. When Timothy McViegh was convicted I dont recall his redneck brothers and sisters talking about how all hicks werent bad.

I really think you should keep things in perspective for your 15 year old if nothing else. He needs to grow up with a broader perspective rather than trying to defend who he is.

ofcourse it`s our mess and we have to clean it up, but the world being a mess isnt entirely our fault either. the bottom line is that there is a problem where we have a major role but then the powers to be also have an equal role to play.

rumpus.

Dear Anne,

Noble sentiments! But what took some of us so long to realize what many generations of immigrants have known and been doing for centuries?

[Teach newly naturalized citizens the language, the culture, the ways of being an upstanding citizen. And how about some anti-violence, anti-terrorism classes thrown in for good measure?]

All that information IS currently available, and has been that way for a long while – especially since the internet became available. There is no reason to ask Immigration to do what individuals should be doing on their own (language, etc.).

One of the things many immigrant groups ought to leave at the door is the attitude of expecting a government that would run their lives and do things which THEY need to do on their own.

Glad to read a practical perspective by a Muslim mother on the current state of affairs.

One wonders what must be going on in the minds of the mothers who were on the receiving end of hearing about their sons` acts in London, New York, Madrid and elsewhere.

Anne:

welcome back!

you have said it more eloquently than i do in a rambling oblique fashion...

--leave heavenly injunctions and dogmas aside....it is our mess, we got to clean it up ourselves

more power to you!

lve

t

Amen Sister!