American Muslims to Osama bin Laden and Co.: Don’t Do Us Any Favors

By Riad Z. Abdelkarim, MD

I had just returned from an outing with my children when I heard the latest words to emanate from one of Osama bin Laden’s henchmen. My wife, who dons the hijab (Islamic head covering), had stayed behind that evening. Earlier in the day, after dropping our children off at a Muslim weekend school, she had been on the receiving end of an obscene gesture from a man who thought she was somehow less American than he. With the memory of that insult fresh in her mind, she did not want to venture out that evening, but she insisted that I take the children out. I did not even have the chance to insert into the VCR my children’s video rental of choice—“102 Dalmatians”—when she relayed to me the chilling words of Suleiman Abu Gheith, which she had just seen on an Al-Jazeera broadcast.

I shuddered when I heard of his warning to Muslims and children in the United States and Great Britain not to fly on any airplanes or live or work in any tall building. What does he think we will do—betray our fellow Americans so that his band of thugs can attack our fellow citizens at will? So that they can avoid killing any Muslims in any of their future treacherous plans? It is too late for that, Mr. Abu Gheith. Among the 6,000 or so innocent men, women, and children who were slaughtered on Sept. 11 were several hundred Muslims.But that doesn’t really matter here, as all victims were innocent civilians undeserving of the horrible, fiery death which Bin Laden and company have praised.

What Bin Laden, Abu Gheith and their ilk do not understand is that the estimated seven million American Muslims are just that—Americans and Muslims. There is no oxymoron in the use of this term, no contradiction, no paradox. Our children recite the pledge of allegiance at school every morning, and we also teach them to read from the Qur’an and live by the example of our great Prophet, Muhammad (may God’s peace and blessings be upon him). We are just as American as our fellow citizens of innumerable ethnic and religious backgrounds.And we are just as Muslim as any Muslim in any other part of the world.In fact, because we have been blessed to be born in (or immigrate to) this great country, we are able to practice the teachings of our noble faith more freely and more completely than in any other part of the world, including those with predominantly Muslim populations.

There is no oxymoron in the use of the term American Muslim.

As American Muslims, we join the vast majority of Muslims worldwide who reject the twisted teachings of Bin Laden. We deeply resent the fact that he has hijacked our faith and has attempted to justify his actions by hypocritically adopting many of the legitimate grievances of the Muslim and Arab worlds.Osama bin Laden has no more legitimacy in his claim to be the “poster boy” for the Palestinian cause than did Saddam Hussain a decade ago.By claiming to be defending the rights of the downtrodden and oppressed in the Muslim world, he has only tainted the grievances of those he claims to represent—grievances which in many cases reflect genuine and widespread sentiments prevalent in the Muslim world.

Yes, it is true that my government has supported undemocratic, unpopular, and repressive regimes in the Muslim world while promoting democracy and human rights in the rest of the world. Yes, it is true that much of the world has turned a blind eye as our nation’s sanctions against Iraq have killed over half a million innocent children, while leaving the Iraqi regime more entrenched in power than ever. And yes, it is true that my government has offered blind, unconditional moral and financial support to the state of Israel, which continues to terrorize Palestinian civilians daily with its own brand of apartheid.

It is also true that many of us in America—not just Muslims but people of other faiths as well—sincerely believe that the current campaign of bombing Afghani cities and villages (sure to result in civilian casualties and displace at least hundreds of thousands of war-weary Afghan refugees) will only make matters worse. But we believe in voicing our differences and concerns by engaging the public, media, and elected officials in honest dialogue. Not by perpetrating mass murder against innocent civilians or by threatening such acts.

By perverting the teachings of our faith, Bin Laden and Abu Gheith already have placed the lives and livelihoods of American Muslims in peril.In addition to the Muslims massacred in the Sept. 11 attacks, nearly one thousand acts of hate against us have been reported. Our children have been harassed at school, and our mothers, wives, sisters and daughters taunted and attacked because of their Islamic attire. Airlines have humiliated and degraded Muslim and Arab passengers by refusing them service.The FBI has questioned thousands of us (including myself) across the country, and cynical pundits and commentators have vociferously and unfairly questioned our loyalty and patriotism.

So, Mr. Bin Laden and Mr. Abu Gheith, if you were hoping to do us any favors, don’t bother. Thanks, but no thanks. I will be flying aboard our American planes and encouraging all of my fellow American Muslims to do the same.And we will all continue to live and work in our nation’s skyscrapers.Because we are Americans…and Muslims.

Dr. Riad Z. Abdelkarim, a physician, is Western Region communications director for the California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).