Waqar Hasan was a Pakistani Muslim immigrant who had come to New Jersey to live the American dream. Leaving his family in Milltown, NJ, he went to Dallas, Texas, to open a grocery store. Four days after 9/11, a white gunman came to his store and shot him in the face. The killer went on to shoot two more Muslims that same week, seeking to avenge the 9/11 attacks.
The 9/11 tragedy unleashed the most intense manhunt in US history. After almost a decade-long pursuit, Osama bin Laden was finally located and killed in Pakistan, bringing relief and closure to some of bin Laden’s victims. Some — Muslim and non-Muslim — continued to suffer. I, just as Mr Hasan and his family, am one of them. I resemble a Muslim.
Bin Laden was a mass murderer who exploited religion only to further his own nefarious agenda. He did not represent Islam. Most of his victims were Muslims — including some of those martyred on 9/11. However, some people in the United States continue to see him as representative of Islam’s teachings and wrongly blame the Muslim-American community for his actions. Apparently, such people do not learn from the mistakes we made a few decades ago when the German-American and Japanese-American communities were wholly treated with suspicion.
Today, polls show that two in five Americans feel some prejudice towards Muslims. Muslim-Americans have been the victims of multiple hate crimes, have been subject to rigorous security checks and have been denied flights and forced off planes. Women wearing headscarves and men with beards have publicly been called ‘terrorists’. Processions have shouted ‘go home’ and ‘leave the USA’ slogans outside Muslim-American community centres, even though the US is their home. Mosques have received death threats via phone and email. Even as Muslims across the US voiced their relief on bin Laden’s death a year back, the walls of Maine’s largest mosque were spray painted with the slogan: ‘Osama Today, Islam Tomorrow’.
It is no secret that many Muslim-American groups have condemned al Qaeda and all similar terror groups. Why then the antipathy? Polls have shown that the vast majority of those prejudiced against Muslims have actually never met one. Their opinion of Muslim-Americans is based on media reports alone. To combat growing ‘Islamophobia’, therefore, getting to know one another is vital. Mutual awareness is the key. The Muslim-American community must take the lead on this and build stronger bridges with other American communities. We must also educate fellow Americans and highlight the true teachings of Islam as Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) practised.
As a Muslim-American youth leader belonging to the first Islamic-American organisation, I, along with scores of other youth, have taken to the streets, distributing peace flyers and highlighting the Islamic principles of peace, love and loyalty. We have conducted numerous interfaith symposiums. We have organised several campaigns in the spirit of service to our nation. To commemorate the tenth anniversary of 9/11, for example, we organised a nationwide blood drive campaign that resulted in over11,000 blood donations across the country — potentially saving 33,000 lives. We continue to work to change perceptions of Islam in America and prove that Muslim-Americans are loyal and peaceful American citizens — just like other Americans.
Back in New Jersey, Mr Hasan’s widow forgave her husband’s murderer and joined the fight to get him off death row. “When I went to the trial, I saw that he had children,” she said. “Even though he did what he did, I had no right to take him from his children. We all felt that way.”
When asked how she felt about the US, she said, “I’ve never had bad feelings for America. You don’t judge people by one man’s mind. Only he (the murderer) thought that way. Everyone else helped us. Everyone else was amazing.”
I agree. The US is a great place. Her greatness lies in her plurality, tolerance, freedom, and rejection of all forms of bigotry.
The US constitution is not just a pile of paper; it is a sacred document that actually does guarantee equal rights to all citizens. Unlike Pakistan, criminals are not treated based on the victim’s faith or ethnicity. The rule of law reigns supreme. Mr Hasan’s murderer, for example, got the highest criminal penalty in the United States. It is quite un-American, therefore, that Islamophobia should flourish in America. Apparently, bin Laden’s actions were vile enough to evoke such an unexpected reaction from many Americans and lead to rising prejudice against Muslims and many others who ‘resembled Muslims’. Bin Laden was the criminal of all such profiled.
To provide complete closure to bin Laden’s victims, therefore, the US must work to account for all of his crimes — including rising Islamophobia. For as long as that continues to thrive in the US, the memories of bin Laden shall continue to haunt Muslim-Americans. Bin Laden shall continue to live.
The writer is a physician, writer and Chairman of the Muslim Writers Guild of America