Message From Young Muslims (Sisters)

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Message From Young Muslims (Sisters)
ahmer
09/20/01 at 08:51:38
Message From Young Muslims (Sisters)

Muslims Categorically Condemn Vicious Acts of Terror in
America

As an American Muslim, I wish to express my absolute and
total condemnation in the strongest possible way, on the
atrocious, and cowardly acts of terrorism that occurred in
our great city of New York and in the capital of our
country.

Muslims of America give the government full support to hunt
down all terrorists. However, we ask that President Bush
not allow more innocent civilian lives to be taken in the
process. A war against Afghanistan will not serve justice.
A war against all terrorists will. Afghani civilians had no
part in the destruction of the WTC. How will such a massive
atrocity that the US will inflict on the Afghani people,
with the support of the American people, in the name of
justice, be any different from what we ourselves faced this
week? We cannot fight terror with terror.

Directly after the attack, in what can be described as
shameful, irresponsible, biased reporting, television
networks showed over and over again the reaction of a small
group of Palestinians as if to say that those Palestinians
celebrating the attacks on America happened to be the
collective reaction of all the Palestinians of the world.
The footage that now automatically plays in the minds of
American people is not representative of all Palestinians.
No attempt was made by television networks to warn viewers
of this fact. We have to be careful not to judge the
actions of a small group of people as representative of a
whole population. The American media however, is
responsible and guilty of doing just this.

It is most unfortunate that television networks did not
show footage of a massive Palestinian vigil that was held
in front of the U.S. consulate in East Jerusalem holding
signs that read, “Americans: Terror is our common enemy”
or “We can feel your pain, We are victims too!” or, the one
million Palestinian school children who observed a moment
of silence after the attacks for the victims of Tuesday's
attack in NY and Washington D.C. Doing so would not have
only been reasonable, but also extremely fair. To me, the
medias’ bias is becoming very apparent. This type of
manipulation of the facts is dangerous and very disturbing
because it only encourages some people to go out and harass
or even commit hate crimes against fellow Americans who
happen to be Muslims.

When a Christian American, Timothy McVeigh, carried out the
Oklahoma City bombing, neither Christianity nor even the
Christian world was accused of the attack simply because a
Christian masterminded it. Rather, directly after that, the
American media across the nation quickly and prematurely
pointed their fingers at Muslims as being the culprits.
Every single Muslim ethnic community in America has taken
their turn in condemning the cowardly and barbaric acts
carried out by people who called themselves Muslims.
Regardless of this, Muslims across the nation, and in fact
all over the world, have had to face the consequences of
it. In a serious backlash, the members of our communities
are being harassed, sometimes physically assaulted, and our
masajid are being desecrated and destroyed.

The terrorists who masterminded this attack deserve the
worst kind of punishment for their action and for using the
name of a peaceful world religion, Islam, whose root word
literally derives from the word “peace” to justify their
insane actions.

In the Holy Qur’an, Allah (SWT) clearly warns mankind that
life is sacred and that murder is a grave sin. “Who-so-ever
kills a human being for other than manslaughter or
corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he has killed
all mankind, and who-so-ever saves the life of one, it
shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind," (Al-
Ma'idah: 32). The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said “A believer
remains within the scope of his religion as long as he
doesn't kill another person illegally." What may be
astounding to some to know is that the Prophet (PBUH) even
in time of war forbade the killing of trees! The Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH) said, ``Do not kill women or children or
non-combatants and do not kill old people or religious
people,'' and he said, ``Do not cut down fruit-bearing
trees and do not poison the wells of your enemies.'' What
more proof do we need to convince the masses that Islam is
a truly magnificent and peaceful religion?

After one week of this tragedy, the fact still remains that
terrorists took the name of our beautiful religion to
justify their actions against humanity. We, as Muslims must
take this personally. Amid severe ant-Muslim backlashes, we
must stand tall, and our Iman must be strong. We must be
proud of who we are in this hard and trying time. We must
realize that this is our time to work harder than ever
before to dispel the myths with our gentle words and
actions. Instead, we are afraid to look like Muslims and we
are afraid to say that we are Muslims.  We must not rid
ourselves of our Muslim identity. This is what Shaytaan
wants.

I urge my sisters to keep their hijabs on!  Let us benefit
from the rewards of being mujahiddah’s.  When the Prophet
(saw) and his companions were tortured (this harassment
that we are encountering is nothing like torture) they
didn’t act like cowards and cease to “look” Muslim. We
should take note of that and be proud that our hijabs show
that we are Muslim.

As a Muslim Ummah, we must unite and be strong like never
before. We must do this in order to survive in this
increasingly hostihe environment.  May Allah (swt) help us
and protect us in this time of need and may He unite our
community out of His mercy, Ameen.

It is not the job of our president to make our fellow
citizens understand our religion as he did in his address
to the nation. The time to do something is now. We must
seize this opportunity and reach out and teach the American
people of our religion of peace.

Fatimah Beig is a National Shura Member of Young Muslims
Sisters branch. To learn more about YM activities in your
area, please email: info@ymonline.org


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