American Muslims transcend sectarianism

By Hasan Zillur Rahim

The rain was coming down hard when the 55-year old pediatrician Dr. Zehra Attari walked out of her Oakland clinic in Northern California on November 7 after sunset to drive to a medical conference a few miles away.

She never made it to her destination. In spite of the best efforts of the Oakland and San Jose police departments, she remains missing.

The Sunday following her disappearance, my son and I were among about 400 Muslims from the San Francisco Bay Area who gathered near her clinic to distribute flyers to pedestrians, local businesses, motorists and bus drivers for leads.

As we anguished over Dr. Attaris inexplicable disappearance and held candlelight vigils for her, the news of Sunni suicide bombers killing at least 65 Shias (or Shiites) in two mosques in Eastern Iraq during the Friday congregational prayers on November 18 came as a numbing blow.

I found this crime particularly inhuman in light of the fact that Dr. Attari is a Shia and a significant number of us trying to trace her whereabouts are Sunnis.

Some of us like to bury our head in the sands but it is a fact that Muslims have been killing each other for years, in Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan and elsewhere.

But when someone we know disappears in our own backyard and Muslims of all sects Җ Shias, Sunnis, Sufis and any other label familiar to you spontaneously gather to pray and search for her, the sectarian strife that bedevils the Muslim world stands out and becomes that much more reprehensible.

On the Friday of the Sunni suicide bombing in Iraq, the imam at the mosque I attend in Northern California lashed out at the perpetrators during his sermon. (Iraq is 11 hours ahead of Pacific Standard Time, so the news had already reached us.) ֓I have said this before and I say it again, the imam said, his voice trembling with anger. ԓThe suicide bombers and their planners are murderers, not martyrs. They are the real enemies of Islam. We must confront and defeat them, wherever they may lurk.

I have no doubt that similar sentiments were expressed in mosques throughout America.

Muslim extremists Ԗ comprising all sects - are consumed by the low instincts of greed, power, envy and self-righteousness and often invoke Islam to justify their crimes when they attack non-Muslims. But their hypocrisy and political motives become evident when they kill their co-religionists with the same fervor they reserve for the so-called infidels. The overwhelming majority of Muslims who do not share their nihilistic views become as legitimate a target for their violence as Jews, Christians and others.

But the tide is turning.

When suicide bombers from Iraq killed almost 60 people in Jordan on November 9 during a wedding reception, furious Jordanians took to the streets the following day to denounce al-Qaida and terrorist mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

This public display of unequivocal outrage sent a current of energy through moderate Muslims around the world, including here in America.

But a few Muslims still continue to be reflexively defensive. I was discussing the Sunni suicide bombings in Iraq with a group of friends when one of them said: Well, Jews kill Jews, Christians kill Christians, Hindus kill Hindus, so why make so much fuss when Muslims kill Muslims?Ӕ

Normally I would have walked away from such a non sequitur but not any more. There was a heated exchange in which I, and others in the group, forcefully made the point that we should concentrate on fixing our own problems and let the Jews, Christians and Hindus worry about theirs. After much back and forth, my friend conceded that trying to rationalize the crimes of Muslim extremists because those of other faiths also commit them is counterproductive and can end up boosting the extremists, even if indirectly.

Some Americans also undermine our efforts by continuing to question our loyalty and sincerity. Why are you so quiet?Ӕ asked one of them in a recent op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times (November 13). Instead of pointing out for the umpteenth time that we are anything but quiet and listing all media evidences to support our claim, I ask these fellow-Americans to visit one or more mosques in their cities during the Friday congregational prayers. Thats when they will encounter the maximum number of Muslims in their area.

Listen to the sermon. Talk to the Muslims. Exchange in a frank give-and-take. You will soon discover a pattern: while Muslim thinking is by no means monolithic, most Muslims condemn terrorism and are eager to work with law enforcement officials to thwart extremism. You will also find that most Muslims abhor tribalism and sectarianism.

Which brings me back to Dr. Zehra Attari. Her disappearance has cast a pall over us. Please help us locate a fellow human who dedicated her life to serving the less fortunate in a tough section of Oakland, even though she lived with her family in a prosperous neighborhood in San Jose. Call (877) 428-8274 with any information about her or the gray/silver Honda Accord she was driving, California license plate 4MUH810. You can also contact the Oakland Police Department Missing person Unit at (510) 777-3211. There is a
reward of $20,000 (twenty thousand dollars) for any information leading to her safe return.