(I apologize for this off-topic post: this doesn't have much to do with social media analysis. Nonetheless, I'm compelled to write. Mashallah).
Throughout this blog I've always held as a central tenet that Muslims need to be known by non-Muslims as simply people and exemplary, engaged citizens first, making our outward 'Muslimness' almost secondary. I'm not advocating denying or hiding our faith or core identity, but rather let our values direct our behavior and deeds.
How humans treat and evaluate each other rests much more on what is done than on what is said (or, if you prefer tired cliches, actions not words). In the nine years since Sept. 11, thousands of press releases have been sent out by Muslim organizations saying "Islam Is A Religion Of Peace", etc. ( what I call "IIAROP" releases), yet clearly anti-Muslim sentiment remains just as high or higher. Why?
Because a demonstrable record of charitable acts by Muslims to others, of sufficient aggregate weight to countervail the impact of the Sept. 11 attacks, has yet to surface and register in the public consciousness.
Let's cut through it: the deep root of Muslim fear and distrust is not a theological debate, though many think it is and engage in dialogues based on scripture-throwing, verse versus verse, trying to rack points over theological minutiae like some kind of card game.
The root of fearing Muslims stems from profound hurt, the universal instinctual reaction of the deeply wounded, the incredibly violated.
It doesn't matter that American Muslims were also violated on that day. It doesn't matter that the attackers abused Islam, cloaking deadly political agendas in the name of religion. It doesn't matter that such groups are a fringe element, numerically speaking.
None of these rational points count, and will ever count, because the cold corollary to this wound -- the reality check that many don't wish to face -- is that all Muslims will continue to be identified at the subliminal, visceral, instinctual level as the source of that trauma, until the real healing begins. And probably for some time after that.
No amount of contextualizing, blogging, talking points, interfaith sessions, group dialogues, IIAROP releases, education, outreach, etc. can ever hope to change this by itself. The identification and association of incident with attacker is far too deep, too rooted, to be merely explained or contextualized away by a cadre of rational responses and arguments. Such actions are a necessary component in the healing process, of course, but rational responses alone will not heal the raw emotional damage in the collective psyche.
Nine years of Muslims primarily pursuing this kind of path, I believe, has proven this, and has gotten us to where we stand today.
We speak of Islam as upholding love, charity, service.
As we speak, so must we do.
As we do, so it may be known, inshallah.
As the gifting season of Eid nears, consider the possibilities of gifting to the entire world a plethora of good deeds, an overwhelming outpouring of generosity and grace to our non-Muslim fellows, a critical mass of every day compassion, one heart a time.
Small deeds, but real activities, simple ones, not just writing checks to charity. Millions of actions, every hour, sincere in niyyah. A sister helping an elderly woman with her groceries. A brother giving a colleague a lift to work because his car broke down. Giving your child's schoolchum a ride home. Taking care of a distraught group of teens from down the street, whose surreptitious party erupted violently out of control.
We do these things not out of pride or vanity or out of an ulterior motive to change perception (that is perhaps the byproduct, the blessing, inshallah, if the niyyah is sincere). We do this because its the right thing to do. Acts of charity, and the larger collective effect of healing the injured, are both in our deen, and it's time that deen is manifested in individual tiny activities, everywhere.
Live the word.
Eid Mubarak.
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