Life After September 11th:  A Muslim’s Perspective

Life has changed for all of us since September 11, 2001.  For
Americans, it was a shocking realization of our vulnerability.  The
belief in the U.S. supremacy and hegemony, in the new uni-polar world
order, was suddenly shattered.  We realized that it was possible for us
to be attacked at home and suffer heavy casualties.  The terrorists had
deliberately taken aim at the Twin Towers – the World Trade Center,
which to them represented U.S. economic power and stood as a symbol of
a materialistic and wealth oriented society, and which looked out over
the rest of the world for new exploitable markets.

For the Muslims living in the U.S., it was shocking to see some people
of our own faith justify this heinous crime, which took the lives of
around 3,000 innocent civilians.  The perpetrators, in their skewed and
deviated logic, had reasoned that this attack on American civilians was
a justifiable retaliation for previous U.S. attacks on Muslim
countries, which had resulted in many civilian deaths.

Whenever a heinous act such as this one happens, the majority of
mainstream Muslims wonder just how far and how long this madness will
continue.  This event forced us to reevaluate ourselves and our
communities, and to recognize that fanatical and radical
interpretations of our faith have hijacked our religion from the
mainstream Muslim population.  Clearly, we do not have one Islam, nor
do we have one version of Christianity, nor one Judaism.  We are always
dealing with an understanding of these great faiths, and the
understanding depends on the person or group who is doing the
interpreting.  In dysfunctional, degenerate, uneducated and backward
communities, interpretations of the faith will be degenerate and
backward.  When the crusaders slaughtered 30,000 Muslims and Jews, and
when the Inquisition held its brutal courts in Europe, and in Spain, in
particular, it was not Christianity that committed these atrocities, as
Christianity is a religion based on love and compassion, but people
from degenerate and dysfunctional societies in Europe, who called
themselves Christians.  In other words, fascism and bigotry do not
belong to any religion, but can be found in the misguided followers of
all religions.

Unfortunately, these radical, fanatical, right-wing Muslims feed their
counterpart, the radical, conservative, right-wing evangelical
Christians, who have high-jacked the politics of this great country of
ours.  The right-wing, conservative mindset of self righteousness, with
its simplistic view of the world as black and white, along with the
belief that, “We are 100 percent right and on God’s side,” while anyone
who opposes them is “100 percent wrong and on the side of Satan,”
demonstrates a lack of understanding of other cultures and belief
systems and a lack of respect for human life and dignity.  The very
idea that, “You are either with us or against us,” whether this comes
from Al Qaida or the Taliban or their counterparts, the right-wing
evangelical Christians and the neo-conservatives who run this country,
brings only war, hatred and destruction to our world.  These people
only know the language of aggression and war, rather than dialog,
finding common grounds, and believing in mutual respect.

Before it is too late, the mainstream, moderate, and intellectual
Muslims, Christians, and Jews, as well as the non-religious, must open
the doors of communication and dialog that will unite us, and take back
the politics from the self-righteous warmongers, all across our Mother
Earth, with the hope of a more peaceful and just world where people can
pursue happiness and have the opportunity to grow to their full
potential.

Sincerely,

Bahar Bastani, M.D.
Professor of Medicine - Nephrology
Saint Louis University