The Murray State News > Opinion
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Muslims are not enemies
By Majed Alharbi graduate student from Alqassim, Saudi Arabia-->Published: Thursday, April 28, 2011
Updated: Thursday, April 28, 2011 21:04
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Muslims in Murray were saddened by the article that has been written by Kristi Hiter. Indeed, American and non-American Muslims have been friends with Christians for a long time, despite the slight differences between the two faiths. Tolerance and co-existence is taught in Islam. Muslims believe in exchange of thoughts and ideas for better understanding of one another.
The Muslim community in Murray has wonderful communication with Christians. They have visited churches and, likewise, leaders of churches have attended the Murray Mosque. In addition, Christians have attended Muslim holiday (Eid) ceremonies and Muslims have attended Christian ceremonies.
No one can deny the fact that Muslims are part of the American society (e.g., Muhammad Ali, Dave Chappelle, Malcolm X, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, etc.). Some non-American Muslims who have come to Murray have left their families and lives back in their country to seek an education here this great country. This is not a hard thing to do. All they came here for was to study and go back to their country. We – the Muslims of Murray – have no hidden agendas and the idea of being aggressive is totally false and simply conjecture.
Extremists exist in all faiths. An overwhelming majority of Muslims have and continue to condemn what happened 10 years ago on Sept. 11. Undoubtedly, even Muslims were killed on that tragic day.
Furthermore, many Muslim scholars warn all Muslims against committing acts of violence. The Quran teaches that taking a single life without right is like taking the lives of all of humanity (the Children of Adam). Honor killings have nothing at all to do with Islam. This is a cultural practice that Shariah (Islamic law) forbids. The Shariah is a system that preserves religion, life, dignity, lineage and wealth. One good quote I would love people to read is what Napoleon Bonaparte said about Quran and Shariah: "I hope that the time is not far off, when I will be able to unite all the wise and educated men from all countries and establish a uniform regime based on the principles of the quran, which alone are true and alone can lead men to happiness..."
Allah, the Compassionate One, the Merciful One, gave women many rights 1,400 years ago that were only given to women in the past 150 years in the United States (e.g., voting rights, property rights, etc). Muslims follow the Prophet Muhammad's (may God mention him among His angels) perfect example in dealing with women.
Allah says in the Quran: "O you who believe, you are forbidden to inherit women against their will, and you should not treat them with harshness" (An-Nisa 4:19). The Quran teaches Muslim men that they have to live with women honorably. If you dislike them, it may be that you dislike a thing and Allah brings through it a great deal of good. Both Muslim men and women have been commanded to seek knowledge. We can see this in the example of Aisha, the wife of the Prophet Muhammad (may God mention him among His angels), who was a great scholar of Islam.
Moreover, the Quran teaches Muslims and non-Muslims how to live peaceful lives. The words compassion, love and mercy are mentioned more than 355 times in the Quran.
Muslims do believe in Jesus (peace be upon him) and love him more than themselves and they cannot be Muslims unless they believe in him.
In conclusion, Islam is a religion that promotes peace and does not condone violence. Islam and its companying law recognize Christians and give them a protected status.
History has proven this. Islam is not an anti-American religion but rather a way of life which shares with non-Muslim Americans the values of monotheism, respect, honor, equality, hard-work and justice.
I know that I am very happy to live in this community, experiencing this amazing possibility of learning, discovering and understanding our commonality while respecting our differences. Muslims are hard-working people just like non-Muslim Americans. Islam is nothing to be scared about.
If the leaders of the United States from the beginning stages of this country up until 2001 did not fear Islam, why should you? "O people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians): Come to a word that is just between us and you, that we worship none but Allah (the One God), and that we associate no partners with Him, and that none of us shall take others as lords besides Allah."
This is what Islam teaches – worshiping the One God, the God of Abraham, Moses and Jesus.
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Friday, April 29, 2011
The Murray State News - Muslims are not enemies
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