Attack on America - Editorial

September 16, 2001

Assalamu alaikum,

It has always been the policy of IslamForToday.com to promote the theology of Islam - pure monotheism, belief in God and specifically the oneness of God.  Unlike so many other Islamic websites, we strive - for the benefit of Western converts to Islam and those considering becoming Muslim - to  make a clear distinction between the universal, eternal religion of Islam and so-called "Islamic causes" - various contemporary, regional, often ethnic-based, geo-political upheavals involving Muslims.  But the enormity of the carnage in the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001, means that we cannot be silent.  Let the Muslim community face facts. 

These outrages were apparently committed by Muslims acting explicitly in the name of Islam (or their warped version of what constitutes Islam).

Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) instructed us:

"When you see an evil act you have to stop it with your hand. If you can't, then at least speak out against it with your tongue.  If you can't, then at least you have to hate it with all your heart.  And this is the weakest of faith." -  (Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Number 79:)

Yet it would appear that there are some rather vocal Muslims among us who do not even possess this weakest of faith.  There was disgusting rejoicing in parts of the Muslim world at the the massacre of thousands of innocent civilians.  And in Britain the leader of the Al Muhajirun group apparently declared that 'Muslims throughout the country and across the world are celebrating today.'

Whilst there has been widespread condemnation of the attacks by mainstream Muslim leaders, even now the sickening, sanctimonious, hypocritical, paranoid, anti-American and anti-western invective continues to spew forth from some immigrant Muslims across the West who themselves benefit from the positive aspects of Western society such as freedom of speech and the ability to practice their Islam however they like.

As one of our writers puts it:

Can we just drop the paranoia and reclaim our humanity here? Would it be too much to ask for these people to shed a tear for the innocent?...Instead, they are spreading the sort of hate and sickness that propelled 19 men to slam 4 planes into buildings all over the country.

Hence, exceptionally, this special edition of IslamForToday.com deals solely with the impact and implications of the slaughter visited upon the United States.

In specially commissioned articles written exclusively for IslamForToday.com,  three Western converts to Islam bring their perspectives to bear on these terrible atrocities.  Ruqaiyyah Waris Maqsood denounces the dreadful 'hijacking of Islam' by a very false kind of Islamism, coming just at the very time when true Islam has been enjoying increasing success, particularly in the USA.  Michael Young examines the Islamic rules of warfare and demonstrates how the terrorists, by attacking the World Trade Center, a civilian target, and using passenger planes full of non-combatants, have flagrantly violated the most basic Muslim conventions of war.  And New York-based American convert Umm Zaid shares her experiences of the past days and vents her rage at those Muslims who espouse the ideological agenda of the terrorists who caused such carnage in her city.

This update also includes external links detailing condemnation of the attacks by prominent Muslim scholars and organizations plus commentaries by Muslim and other writers exploring the "Why?" of the attacks, the "What now?" and the backlash against Islam and innocent Muslims.

American and some foreign leaders have been swift to decry the attacks variously as a war on freedom, democracy, even civilization itself.  Comforting as these notions may be to some, the thrust of many of the articles gathered below is that it would be foolish for America not to look beyond these clichés.   If these were attacks on civilization, then why were they not made against, say, Sweden, Germany or Canada?  Why specifically America?  The fact remains that whilst the vast majority of ordinary Americans are decent folks - inward-looking, more than half reportedly even without a passport - peoples throughout various parts of the world believe that the Washington establishment through United States foreign policy has at times given  them cause to feel  resentful and aggrieved.  Within the world-wide Muslim community, this most obviously manifests itself in America's support for the State of Israel against the mainly Muslim Palestinians, the propping up of non-democratic regimes which supply oil, e.g. feudal Kuwait, plus ten years of air raids and sanctions against the people of  Iraq.  This is in no way to excuse or condone Tuesday's atrocities but, not least for its own safety and security, America needs to undergo a period of reflection and self examination as to its role in the world.  As Martin Woollacott, writing in the British newspaper, The Guardian, put it:

America's best defence against terrorism originating from abroad remains the existence of governments and societies more or less satisfied with American even-handedness on issues which are important to them.

Our deepest sympathies go to the injured and to those who have lost loved ones.

Hussein Amin
Editor, IslamForToday.com
www.islamfortoday.com

Attack on America - Special Feature

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