Muslim American Ethnicity - Source: CAIRI am continually asked about American Muslims and the burning question always touches upon the concern whether they would make good American citizens. Judging from the American political and military experiences since 9/11, along with the recent disseminations of selected readings from Islamic scriptures, the question is not unexpected or unwarranted. I am happy to say that I have very compelling information about the issue, which could very well put the concerns to rest. The information may surprise some, but not others. Remember, though, every generalization has its exceptions. In this country, we have too many extremists of all stripes nosing around wherever young people congregate, looking for vulnerable people to radicalize in one way or another. And they find them in all walks of life, some young, some not so young, and some are not Muslims at all. Some wake up later and realize their errors. Some do not. Some become anti-American because of employment problems or economic woes which they blame on the government. Some are of a criminal mind, awaiting an opportunity. Many are simply stupid and incompetent and respond to anyone or any program that pats them on the head and tells them they are oppressed. Perhaps we would do well to consider swapping our poverty programs that are not working, for a decent program to fight stupidity instead. If we can wipe out stupidity, we need not worry about poverty or the anti-Americans. Of course, we might lose at least one political party. But for now, let’s look at the Muslim Americans.
a. Muslim Americans, people who were born here of Muslim parents, see America as we brother Americans see America. It is their homeland as well as ours, and anything that threatens this homeland is also threatening to them, no matter what religion the culprits embrace. They do not subscribe to world conquest (the Arabs are the primary movers in that area), and happen to like this country just the way it is. They came here for a better and perhaps a quieter life. They are not here to corrupt us from the inside; we have many politicians who see that as their own tasks anyway. And as far as military service is concerned, many Muslim Yanks do enter the armed forces. We never hear about them because they are quiet, like the rest of us would be.
b. As far as religion is concerned, I believe most Americans have no idea what Islam is all about. That is tragic. We should be better than that. This blog alone printed more than one hundred articles on Muslims during its first year. Americans generally should have a decent knowledge of at least the three main religions, which include Islam. You can find great information on the right websites (About.com is a start. You can find out about all known religions there). If the terrible sounds out of the Middle East frighten you and you begin to wonder if our borders are safe, I cannot help you there. They are not safe and probably will not be for a long time. But I can ease your mind by letting you know that the Muslim Americans appear to embrace a purer form of Islam than that their peers in the Middle East and elsewhere. Indeed, they do not have the traditions of the people who live in the Middle East, who see things through the prism of what they believe is Western oppression. Their American peers for the most part do not even understand those traditions. In the Middle East, not all traditions are learned from the parents; they are also learned from school chums and next door neighbors, the local imams, and the local news and social broadcasts. They do not have that here, and when they do hear of it, they feel that it does not apply to them because they are Yanks, not Pakistanis, or Syrians, or Saudis. The word American, of course, does not bother them the way it would bother a Syrian--especially one who met Nancy Pelosi. After all, our guys here are every bit American, and some of them wonder about the Syrians!
c. If here they read the Qur’an and other scriptures more than their peers in the Middle East, it may be worth our while to understand why. I know that they do read the Qur’an. Their peers in India, Pakistan, etc., have imams, radio, al-Jazeera, and other sources of information – they do not have to read the Qur’an for information about their faith -- it is all around them, all day long. A very large segment of the Middle Eastern population do not understand the Qur'an anyway. Yes, I know you have seen those kids in the Afghanistan Madrassas bobbing their heads up and down as they memorize the Qur'an. Well, they memorize the words, but they do not know the meaning -- it is not written in their language. They love it when some ten-year-old or younger tyke can recite the entire Qur'an (which means "recitation"), but you must note that no one asks them to give any meanings. The Arabs also need help with the Qur'an; it is not the simple, easy work that some are led to believe. The American Muslims do read it in order to discover more about their religion. They do not look for reasons to hate or to fight, as others do. Indeed, they also read the Qur’an from an American perspective in light of American traditions of live and let live, democratic principles, the American sense of justice and fair play, and also something never mentioned among Muslims in the Middle East – the Golden Rule. When I read through the convaluted passages of Qur’anic thought, I see the dialectics of the seventh century along with the obvious hatred of Muhammad, toward those who opposed him or ignored him in that century. I see a closed circle of seventh century Hijaz, a small part of the Arabian Peninsula afire with mutual hatred and fear. The actors and the stage are limited to Muhammad, the people of Mecca, the Muslims and the Jews of Yathrib/Medina and few others who resided in the area at that time. Those “enemies” of Muhammad and Islam are long since gone and should have been forgotten, except by scholars of the ancient times. The attempts and successes of transferring that enmity to us in the twenty-first century is not only stupid, it is criminally and tragically so. Yes, when many people in the Middle East read the Qur'an or Ahadith, something that happened 1300 years ago might as well have happened last week.
d. The American Muslims could very well be excused if they are simply upset and confused about the bitterness and the recriminations of “other” Muslims toward the Christians and the Jews of today, thirteen centuries later in a land Muhammad never knew. Sometimes it is difficult for them to convince someone living in the Arabian Peninsula that Americans were just not there.
e. Why do not the Muslim Americans take to the streets like their brothers and sisters in so many other countries, but unlike the others, denounce the terrorism that is being perpetrated in their name? The answer to that is, why don’t we Americans take to the streets and denounce that type of terrorism? We just do not do that, generally, and neither do the American Muslims. Union members are paid by their unions to hit the streets in support of Leftist ideals. MechA and LaRaza, and others are funded by American corporations and other supporters of anti-American groups, to raise hell on our borders and hit the streets in support of anti-American causes. “Hitting the streets” has a bad name. The silent majority cannot be found there. Many Muslim Americans are part of the silent majority. Remember, when the border groups raise holy hell on our borders, very few anti-border groups come out to confront them. Real Americans generally do not hit the streets like some Europeans, Asians, and Middle Easterners, who are usually ORDERED into the streets and SCRIPTED – and FUNDED – for that purpose.
There is a great deal of continuing interest in Muslim Americans and no doubt it will be a positive experience for scholars and others who look at this silent group. I have not finished my work in this area and would like to see more; however, the basic information appears to be just as I have noted. At the moment, the American Muslim stands with us, and is welcome. We might not recognize him or her though, because he looks like us, talks like us, and, truth be told, he is part of us.
Remember, one of the exceptions to every generalization about Muslims we must forever face is that whatever the Saudi Arabia-based Wahhabis are doing here, ostensibly to help Muslims in general, whether it is building schools or mosques, providing spokesmen or imams, or providing free Qur'ans and Islamic literature, it is not always good for us or whatever other Muslims are involved. Of course, that is our problem. If we are not men enough—or women enough— to send them packing, then we are as much of the problem as they are. This present administration has not yet shown a deep understanding of the problem, and appears to listen only to the Wahhabis. The Wahhabis are not and will not be our friends. Indeed, Muslims who do not share the extremist view of the Wahhabis are considered by the Wahhabis as infidels. The “other” Muslims in Kosovo found that out the hard way. The administration does create a great deal of laughter in the Middle East when our president talks happily about the Religion of Peace, while surrounded by a dozen or more Wahhabi warriors. First they should not have been "imported" Muslims at all, but real Americans who embrace that religion. But let’s face facts: I fear the Democratic Party more than I fear the Wahhabis. I certainly do not fear the American Muslims.
HJS
Works relative to the analysis:
The Arab Mind, by Rafael Patai; The Balkans, by Misha Glenny; American Muslims, by Asma Gull Hasan; Moslems: Their beliefs, practices, and politics, by Gabriel Oussani and Hilaire Belloc; My Year Inside Radical Islam: A Memoir, by Daveed Gartenstein-Ross.
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