For American Muslims, everything changed on 9/11

Posted: 9/15/06

For American Muslims,
everything changed on 9/11

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

DALLAS—Everything changed on 9/11—at least for American Muslims. But whether the change has been for the better or the worse depends on personal perspective and individual experience.

Waco’s Muslim community meets in a nondescript building behind an auto repair shop and a convenience store. The Islamic house of prayer—about 25 miles from President Bush’s Crawford ranch—shares a parking lot with a small Primitive Baptist church. No outside sign identifies the place of worship, but its identity is no secret, said Al Siddiq, president of the Islamic Center of Waco.

Five years after terrorists attacked the World Trade Center towers in New York, Muslims in the United States assess changes in their relationships with American Christians. This file photo shows rescue workers cutting through steel beams lodged in the ruins of the World Trade Center. (BP File photo by Jim Veneman) 9/11 Five Years Later • For American Muslims, everything changed on 9/11 • Differentiate 'Muslim' from 'terrorist' scholars say • No sweeping revival, but impact of 9/11 still felt in churches • Negative perceptions of Muslims persist, panel says • Who's Who in Islam: major groups • Christian presence in Holy Land small and getting smaller • Islam built on five pillars of worship & five pillars of faith • Poll shows some prejudice against Muslims • Children of Abraham: Muslims view God, church & state through different lenses

Muslims throughout the area know where to meet for prayer, and non-Muslim visitors always are welcome at worship services, explained Siddiq, a Pakistan-born American citizen who has lived in Waco since 1987.

“But we don’t want to draw unnecessary attention to ourselves,” he said.

The FBI has questioned Siddiq five times since Sept. 11, 2001, in response to rumored links to terrorism that all proved completely false.

“I understand security issues. I did intelligence work with the Army,” said Siddiq, who served six years in the U.S. Army and was stationed in Korea with the 101st Airborne Division. “But sometimes, people overreact.”

Even so, Siddiq believes awareness about Islam has increased in the Waco area since the attacks on the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon.

“I’ve spoken in 52 churches after 9/11,” he said, noting Seventh & James Baptist Church adjacent to the Baylor University campus was the first to invite him. “Overall, the relationship is for the better. It has opened doors.”

The best way to improve relationships between Christian and Muslims in the United States would be for the followers of each religion to be faithful to what each faith teaches about peace, he stressed.

“We each should practice our religion. ‘Turn the other cheek. Love your neighbor as yourself,’” he said, quoting the Christian Scriptures. “If Muslims live by the Quran and Christians put into practice what is in their own Bible, we all would be better people.”

In the 20 years Imam Yusuf Kavakci has led the Dallas Central Mosque in Richardson, he has seen his congregation grow from a few hundred to more than 5,000 who attend the mosque each week. In stark contrast to the simple facility in Waco, the Dallas-area mosque is a large two-story structure with amenities rivaling many North Texas mega-churches, including a medical clinic and an academy.

“We have good relations with our neighbors and our community,” Kavakci said, noting his congregation’s relationship with its religiously pluralistic community has grown stronger since Sept. 11.

“In a positive way, leaders have visited us. Some said: ‘We heard some of the sisters in your community have been harassed verbally for wearing head-coverings when they go out. We will accompany them,’” he said.

Alif Rahman, who teaches an outreach class at the Dallas Central Mosque for the Islamic Association of North Texas, has received numerous invitations to speak in churches since Sept. 11.

Imam Hamad Ahmad Chebli, leader of the Islamic Society of Central Jersey, leads weekly seminars on the proper way for Muslims to pray. (RNS photo by Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-Ledger)

“The goal is not to proselytize but to give right information,” he said.

Like Kavakci, he expressed appreciation to Christians who reached out to North Texas Muslims to shield them from any retaliation after Sept. 11.

“After 9/11, some Christians came here, literally holding hands and encircling us to say, ‘We are here to protect you and stand with you,’” he recalled.

“We have a great relationship with our community, but at the same time, we hear stories of people who have experienced backlash—men who have been profiled, women with head-coverings who have been verbally attacked.”

Mark Long, director of the Middle Eastern studies program at Baylor University, has heard similar stories from students who either are Muslim or appear to be of Middle Eastern descent.

“Most I know have had some heightened sense of discomfort,” he said. “They feel their bona fide status as American citizens is suspect.”

Long’s colleague in the Baylor University religion department, Chris van Gorder, agrees relationships between Christians and Muslims in the United States have “changed dramatically, mostly for the worse” since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“A lot of my students have formed their opinions on Islam based on what they hear and see in the media. Once they meet Muslims, they are better able to understand,” said van Gorder, who wrote his dissertation at the Queen’s University of Belfast on Christian-Muslim relations and is author of No God but God: A Path to Muslim-Christian Dialogue on God's Nature.

“American Muslims are not a social threat. Most Muslims in the United States are here for economic reasons. They have a high respect for Christianity as they understand it. And they have a desire to be good neighbors and productive members of the community.”