Assalaam alaikum!
Well, I'm a terrible blogger. I'm sorry about the lack of posts (for the like two people who read this - my favourite two people!!!), but school is back and life is a wee bit crazy. Please forgive me. I am going to try.
Anyhow. September 11 came and went and a lot of people are sad for the lives lost and everything. Don't get me wrong - what happened was terrible and inexcusable and all the loss of life that happened was tragic. I may get some flack for this, but I think it is a little pointless for we Americans to tear off the bandaid every year and reopen the wound. I believe the time has come to quietly, respectfully move on. Those who were lost will be loved and remembered by those who knew them and the rest of the American public will always remember those horrible images that we saw in Newsweek and on TV, but let us mourn the dead in peace.
Moving right along. So, I'm not even going to go into all those conspiracy theories about bombs being planted and the CIA being involved in the attacks and this and that and the other thing. Forget it. I don't care. For the most part (not entirely, of course), Muslims who buy into these theories are probably looking for a desperate way to not have to believe that there are such embarrassing members of our ummah (community). Face it, people. Even if it weren't Muslims behind 9/11, do you really think that all people who call themselves Muslims are good? Do you think the Taliban and Al-Qaeda are completely fabricated? Please, spare me. Accept that there are bad eggs. Accept it, I say!
So, what is with this whole "Ground Zero Mosque" thingy? Why are those darn Moslems building something so close to hallowed ground? Why do they want to "stab Americans in the heart," as it were? They preach peace - so they claim - how can they be so insensitive?
First of all, let's get one thing straight. It isn't a mosque. It is a community centre. It will have a restaurant in it, as well as a prayer space. There is a mosque around there already and it has been there for years. So... what's up with all the hubbub?
Quite frankly, the only explanation I have for it is fear, ignorance, hate, and blindness (or any combination thereof).
So, has everyone here heard of the First Amendment? Don't worry if your answer is no. I'll give you a bit of background.
In 1787 (not hijiri, obv... because that would be in the future), the Founding Fathers of America - a group of learned and (hopefully...) honourable men - all sat down together and wrote out what is now known as the American Constitution. Which, by the way, is an awesome document!
Now, these Founding Father guys wanted to make sure that everything would be pretty solid in their new Constitution because God forbid we go back to the era of King George what with the badness and such. So after they thought they had finished the Constitution, they went back and looked it over.
Since these were the days before computers (what??), when they found mistakes or omissions, they couldn't just insert it into where it should go. So they created another document: the Bill of Rights. Within this Bill of Rights are the first ten amendments - changes - to the Constitution. Annnnnd...
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
So, what does that mean? Well, our focus is the religion part, so I'll explain that bit. Pretty much, it means that there can be no establishment of a national religion and that the government cannot favour one religion over another, or favour religion over irreligion or vice-versa (Board of Education of Kiryas Joel Village School District v Grumet, 1994).
This, of course, means that no one can legally stop Muslims from building a community centre in Lower Manhattan simply because they are Muslim. Of course, some people tried to stop them on the grounds that they (the Muslims) were building on a historical site. Nice try. The Landmarks Preservation Commission ruled unanimously that the site could be demolished. Probably because it is of little or no historical significance.
I have been reading through some Google headlines and apparently Muslims build mosques at places of historical conquest. I mean, there are mosques all over Spain and all over where the Islamic empire once stood! Craziness, right?
Or, not so much. There are almost 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide. So yeah, there are probably a lot of mosques on sites of "conquests," as they are saying. But, umm, remember how the Muslim empire extended into Spain and stayed there for hundreds of years? Could it not be that Muslims build mosques where mosques are needed? I know, it's a crazy idea, but it just might be the case. There are Muslims praying in the streets of New York because their mosques are too small! So, don't go around telling me it's unnecessary.
So, what about this hallowed ground business?
Okay, let's get something straight. It is NOT at Ground Zero. It is blocks away from Ground Zero. And if it is such "hallowed ground" (Sarah Palin's words, btw - this nonsense is not of my invention), then how does one explain the fast food joints, the vendors selling WTC statuettes (thereby directly profiting from the tragedy), the strip club - all of which are an equal distance from Ground Zero as the proposed community centre?
A strip club. A. Strip. Club. THAT, my friends, is not hallowed ground. That is a normal North American community functioning as any other might. And as such, there should be a place for religious practice!
Now, is it insensitive of Muslims to build a community centre there?
Well, is it insensitive to build Cathedrals in Europe? I mean, Hitler was Catholic and believed it was his holy duty to kill the Jews:
"What we must fight for is to safeguard the existence and the reproduction of our race...so that our people may mature for the fulfillment of the mission allotted it by the creator of the universe...Peoples that bastardize themselves, or let themselves be bastardized, sin against the will of eternal Providence."
Also, for the atrocities committed against Jews and Muslims in the name of Catholicism during the Spanish Inquisition, and in South and Central America during Spanish colonization, there should definitely be no Catholic churches or Cathedrals there, right? No Sikh temples in India for the assassination of Indira Ghandi. No Anglican churches in England for King Henry VIII's oppression of Catholics. No Catholic churches in England due to Queen "Bloody" Mary's oppression of Protestants. No Buddhist temples in Sri Lanka. No Hindu temples in Sri Lanka. No mosques or Hindu temples in India or Pakistan or Bangladesh. No Catholic churches in Italy. No Protestant or Catholic churches in Germany. No churches, synagogues or mosques in Israel. And don't even get me started on France! In France there should not only be no Catholic or Protestant churches, but no Deist temples, no secular bodies, and no gathering place for atheists. No Catholic or Protestant churches in Ireland. No Anglican churches in Canada (no Catholic churches in Québec). No atheist places in China.
Please note, that this is not an exhaustive list. My husband says, "This is not even an exhaustive list of things I can name off the top of my head," (also, please note, atheists aren't safe either, so I don't want any of your "down with religion!!" foamy rhetoric).
So, yeah. People should pretty much not exist if we want to use such flawed reasoning. Also, I would actually like to say, I think there is no better place to build an Islamic community centre!!
No, I'm serious!
In the movie Frida (excellent movie about Mexican artist Frida Kahlo), Friday says to Diego about a painting of Lenin he did:
"Whatever happens, you have aroused people. You've made them get passionate about their ideals!"
This incident has inspired a great amount of emotion in American people. While it is often quite an ugly side, as a Muslim, I like to think of it this way:
At least one person, probably more, saw this whole "mosque at Ground Zero" thing happening and thought to themselves "What kind of people would do something like that?" They then went home, researched Islam and discovered the truth about it. They then realized that it is a beautiful religion and all-encompassing way of life. They converted. They became Muslim. Alhamdulillah.
Furthermore - and my explanation bridges the previous idea and my next statement - I have read somewhere someone saying something along the lines of "Can you guarantee that no Islamic terrorist will come out of this mosque that they are building at Ground Zero?"
Yes. I can.
Terrorists do not come from mosques. They do not come from learning about their faith. Terrorism arises from ignorance.
A young Muslim, being led astray, may someday make his way into this community centre and speak to the Imam, hoping that someone will validate his hateful beliefs. He will learn about what the seemingly-violent passages of the Qur'an are actually about. He will learn the proper context of war. He will learn that killing innocents is never ever ever ever allowed.
Ignorant people like to point to the violent-sounding verses of the Qur'an and say "This is NOT a religion of peace!"
The explanation of such verses will be for a different entry, insha'Allah, but for now I will say that even just reading the verses before and after those ones puts them into context. The same way you cannot pluck a verse from the Bible and quote it out of context, you cannot do the same to the Qur'an either.
Uneducated people don't know that. Uneducated Muslims might not know that! Ignorance breeds fear. Fear breeds hate. Education will solve these problems - not the destruction of a community centre or an unwanted war. Just ask Greg Mortonsen - read Three Cups of Tea.
If any attendant of the community centre becomes a terrorist one day, it will be because he didn't go enough!
Okay. Now onto Qur'an burning.
This one I will only touch on briefly because there isn't much to say.
First of all, the guy didn't do it. I am not one for conspiracy theories, as I said, but I would be willing to bet that a couple of guys in black suits came up to this guy and highly advised him not to go ahead with his plan. That's all I'm saying about that.
But. In case you were wondering, in Islam, burning is the respectful way of destroying things. If the name of Allah appears on any papers we are to burn them rather than dispose of them in the garbage. Now, this doesn't excuse this preacher guy's proposed actions because it is his intentions that really matter, but I just think that it's a little ironic.
Please. Do not go around burning Qur'ans. The Qur'an is a beautiful book full of God's Words and Commandments. Sunhanallah, it is beautiful just to look at.
I would just like to point out that a few years ago, a group of Orthodox Jews set fire to a collection of New Testaments. The world media was silent. If this had happened in a Muslim country, I am willing to bet it would be all over the news, especially in light of the Qur'an burning scandal.
Look, everyone. Religious intolerance is wrong. It doesn't matter who is doing it. As Muslims, we believe that we should bring everyone close to Islam, but we should not be violent towards those of different faiths.
Let's all just hug and make up. Are you ready? I am!
Here are some fun links to sites/videos/blogs regarding the topics I covered:
http://www.cracked.com/blog/3-reasons-the-ground-zero-mosque-debate-makes-no-sense/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/26/AR2010082605510.html
http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/30306/bloomberg-opposing-mosque-would-play-into-our-enemies-hands/ (<--Subhanallah, a great speech by the mayor of New York City)
And here's a little You Tube video:
