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After the horrific attack on September 11th, the American Muslim community
braced
for the backlash. Unfortunately, they got it. Government
leaders appealed for
calm, with President Bush reminding people that
"we should not hold one who is a Muslim responsible for an act of
terror." The
Department of Justice issued a statement
reminding Americans that "we must not descend to the level of those who
perpetrated Tuesday's violence..." One
week after the attacks, President George W. Bush visited
the Islamic Center of Washington, DC for the first time. He met with
Muslim leaders and issued a statement that "Those who feel like they can
intimidate our fellow citizens to take out their anger don't represent the best
of America, they represent the worst of humankind and they should be ashamed of
that kind of behavior." He also reminded people that, "these
acts of violence against innocents violate the fundamental tenets of the Islamic
faith and it's important for my fellow Americans to understand that.... The face
of terror is not the true faith of Islam.'' Despite
these words of support and hope, anger and ignorance
won out in many places across the
country and the world. Indeed, the ignorance was so appalling that innocent
people from other faiths and cultures were attacked merely for looking
Middle Eastern or Muslim. A
full report of backlash incidents has been compiled and published by the Council
on American Islamic Relations. They documented 1717 incidents of
violence, threats, and bias in the first six month alone. While the report
highlights the worst cases of hatred and violence, it also brings out the
positive: the American Muslim community's assistance in 9/11 relief and
law enforcement efforts, and support offered to Muslims by Americans of other
faiths. The full
report is available to download from the Council on American-Islamic Relations: American
Muslims: One Year After 9/11
(Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat versions) A
summary of the report can be found by clicking here. "Do
not be people without minds of your own,
saying that if others treat you well you will treat them well,
and that if they do wrong you will do wrong.
Rather, accustom yourselves to do good if people do good,
and not to do wrong if they do evil."
-
The Prophet Muhammad (reported by Tirmidhi)
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