Faith under fire

The aftermath of Sept. 11 left the country reeling and looking toward an uncertain future. As information filtered its way across America, terrorists were quickly identified as members of the Islamic faith. \nReligious studies professor Kevin Jaques said this caused many Muslims to take a serious overall look at their faith.\n"Muslims across the U.S. and across the world have been going through a process of self analysis and self criticism over what Muslim communities are doing," Jaques said. "Because the radical groups tend toward violence, mainstream Muslims have ignored or tried to stay out of their way."\nJaques said an emerging self-criticism is promoting constructive discussions about the nature of Islamic thought in the contemporary world.\nJaques said the majority of moderate thinking American Muslims have ignored the dangers posed by radical and violent extremists Muslims. He said the large group of moderates didn't pay enough attention to the small group of radicals and allowed the situation to escalate.\nJaques said because of the political freedom in the U.S., Muslim communities in America need to be more outspoken.\n"After Sept. 11, because of the political situation here in the U.S., mainstream Muslims are in a better position to persuade people from getting involved with these radical groups in the first place," he said.\nJaques said the situation has improved over the last year, and with strong leaders the mainstream Muslim community will find a bright future in the wake Sept. 11\n"Muslims are taking a look around them now and being cognizant of what's going on in their community," Jaques said. "They're being self critical of their communities and people in their communities, but this ordeal has not caused them to reconsider their faith, just take a look at certain people practicing their faith."\nSenior Mohamed Yusuf, a member of the Bloomington Mosque, said the issues involving radicals in his faith became evident on the same day they became evident to the rest of the country.\n"These are things now coming into our attention more clearly," said Yusuf, who is president of the Muslim Student Union. "We never thought these extremists would cause as big a problem as they have."\nThe word Islam comes from the Arabic word "Salaam," which means "peace," Yusuf said.\n"Me and the other Muslims I know have always looked at Islam as a religion of peace," Yusuf said. "In my opinion all these terrorist attacks can in no way be related to the peaceful religion of Islam."\nYusuf grew up in what he described as a non-Muslim community composed of many religious affiliations where everyone got along.\n"I have always found the Muslim community to be a friendly and accepting one," Yusuf said. "In all my life I've never come across a personal conflict with a person of another faith."\nYusuf said his upbringing made the reality of Sept. 11 hard to swallow.\n"Because of the way I've grown up and the way I've interacted with other Muslims, Sept. 11 turned out to be a very shocking incident to me," Yusuf said. "I could have never imagined something of this sort happening."\nFreshman Mohamed Aljohani said he has not seen any changes in his Muslim faith since Sept. 11.\n"We haven't been looking at our faith in any special way before or after Sept. 11," Aljohani said. "Some people changed their names or look after Sept. 11. Those people are being singled out as people related to those responsible for the terrorist attack."\nAljohani said he would become a stronger Muslim if discriminated against because of his faith.\n"If someone discriminates (against) me for Sept. 11 that will just cause me to become a stronger Muslim and pray more," Aljohani said. "Islam is non-violent."\nSocial Activity coordinator for the Bloomington Mosque and IU professor Adel Mekraz said Sept. 11 definitely made Muslims stop and think about their faith.\n"Every religion has people all over the spectrum." Mekraz said. "We have conservatives and extremists, just like everyone else. Among the Muslim community there is an overwhelming feeling that Sept. 11 was a horrible act and the people behind it are maniacs."\nMekraz described Muslims who believe the terrorist attacks were justified as disenchanted and unhappy with U.S foreign policy.\n"It's no secret that Arabs and Muslims are generally unhappy with the U.S. always taking sides with Israel," Mekraz said. "This in no way justifies Sept. 11. There is no reason American civilians have to pay for U.S. foreign policy."\nMekraz said he feels an overwhelming appreciation to America for the opportunities it has afforded him.\n"America gave me liberation, a college degree and a house with my family," Mekraz said. "I would never want to harm America.\n"The people who committed these acts may have been Islamic, but they in no way represent the majority of Muslims," Mekraz said. "This is a small faction of the Muslim community. The idea of solving issues with violence doesn't represent the Muslim ideal."\nMekraz said the way to solve world problems is through discussion and debate, not terror.\n"This is a democratic country, with many channels to voice opinion," Mekraz said. "We don't need violence to get a point across. These people hijacked the Muslim religion and impacted it significantly with their actions. People have drawn conclusions about us, and whether they are fair conclusions is still up for discussion"