Muslims in the public square: My faith in America
The first few paragraphs:
Over the past several weeks, I’ve been listening to and watching with wonderment and amazement the national conversation about Islam in America. I hear a question of whether moderates in my faith can exist or whether we’re all somehow fundamentalists-in-waiting condemned by a faith that stems from a root word meaning “peace” in Arabic. How would my late father respond to such a question in the spirit of restraint and generosity that marked his life? An immigrant to the US by way of Tanzania and India, my father saw himself as a bridge figure, embracing this country with all his heart but forever explaining that his Islam was characterized by openness, compassion and respect for other faiths.
My father built on the teachings of the Prophet and my Imam. He started with the premise that we all share a common humanity: a concern for those less fortunate than ourselves, a sense of civic duty and a commitment to higher ideals, spiritual or secular, that can unite or divide us, depending of which parts we choose to follow. He taught me to respect, serve, and be loyal to my country and that in no way diminished my ability to practice and express my faith.
But that’s what puzzles me about the current national conversation. I grew up in the United States, in the deep south. I practiced my faith easily and integrated into a community in Georgia that supported Newt Gingrich. And nobody questioned my faith or my commitment to America. Not until after 9/11. That’s when seemingly educated but ill-informed scholars asserted that Islam and the West were caught in an unavoidable clash of civilizations; that there is something fundamentally inconsistent between Islam and western values.
But I embrace both. I am equally stirred by the Gettysburg Address, Martin Luther King’s I have a Dream speech, and the teachings of the Prophet Mohamed. One of my favorite teachings of Hazrat Ali, the fourth Caliph, stands out in my mind. He said, “No honour is like knowledge; no belief is like modesty and patience; no attainment is like humility; no power is like forbearance, and no support is more reliable than consultation”. When I read this, I see no fundamental conflict between Islam and the West. But we need more bridge figures. Those who can help us get past mutual ignorance and clashes of misunderstanding. And perhaps we don’t fully appreciate our own history. There was a time in Spain between the 8th and 15th centuries when Muslims, Christians, and Jews created a civilization together, prospered together, and built a culture of mutual respect.