Speaker,
students analyze effects of 9/11
Kimberlee
Morrison
Online Forty-Niner
Contributing Writer
At
an event hosted by the Muslim Student
Association (MSA) in the University Student
Union, Amir Abdel Malik Ali discussed
his analysis of the current political
administration in the United States and
what he called its inevitable demise.
Ali deviated from his original script of the effects of living in a post-9/11
world on Muslims in the United States.
According to Ali, the western world has “declared war on Islam.” He
suggested this war was brought about by the West’s inability to control
Islam’s rapid growth, which is in direct conflict with America’s
post-9/11 “shift toward fascism” and the fastest growing monotheistic
religion in the world.
This may be a difficult theory for most to digest. Sanna Zaheen, a sophomore
English major, said the current movement in the direction of fascism is itself
the aftermath of 9/11. As a result, she said there is now a plot of religious
persecution and discrimination against people of color, not just Muslims.
While Zaheen has not experienced either directly, she said, “A core principle
in Islam is to speak out against injustice if one is not in a position to take
action.”
First-generation Egyptian-American and junior social work major, Melissa Attia
and her family were not lucky enough to escape open discrimination before or
after the attacks of 9/11. In the aftermath, Attia said the discrimination
became much worse.
She recalled several instances of what she believed to be religious persecution,
from her father losing his job for being presumed Muslim (Attia’s family
is Coptic, an Egyptian denomination of Christianity) to having a stranger spit
in her face in the mall for simply looking Arabic.
What hurt the most was the
treatment they received from their neighbors; people who knew the Attia family
and watched Attia and her siblings grow up.
“
Not only did our neighbors verbally attack us, but people spray painted derogatory
terms on the walls of our home and threw trash in our yard,” Attia
recalled. “Once someone threw something on our lawn and set our yard
on fire. To this day my dad swears it was a cross.”
When the Patriot Act was passed, Attia looked at the U.S. government in a whole
new light. Its passing brought the Arab community out into the open to “fight
against the myth of who we are,” Attia said.
“
I just wish people would accept me as a strong, socially conscious woman,” Attia
said, “instead of not accepting me because of my facial features or
the color of my skin.”
This fight against religious persecution and racial discrimination of all people
of color was at the heart of Ali’s speech, according to Zaheed.
The speaker’s goal was a socio-political awakening to fuel the fight
against injustice. He sees this goal being accomplished through education.
According to Ali, 80 percent of Muslims are not Arabs, so the war on Islam
has simply resulted in “minority witch hunts.” For this reason,
coupled with the current Muslim “revival,” Ali said it is important
for Muslim people everywhere to stand up and speak out against western imperialism.
For those who would disagree with his premise that the United States is in
a dangerous shift toward fascism, Ali outlined 14 signs of fascism, including
controlled mass media, supremacy of building of military in spite of domestic
problems, obsession with national security, fraudulent elections, disdain for
the recognition of human rights and the suppression of labor power.
Ali was explicit in his distinction between the American Nation of Islam and “true
Islam.”
“Real Islam believes that Muslims should be involved,” Ali said.
He also acknowledged how powerful the Nation of Islam could have been as part
of the Civil Rights struggle.
Although militant in language, Ali expressed hope that Islam could be pivotal
in the fight against future fascism and growing discrimination of people of
color in the United States.
According to Zaheen, “Islam does not focus on nationalism.”
In fact, nationalism opposes diversity, said Ali.
“
Only two Arab countries are Muslim,” Zaheen said. “So there are
Muslim people all over the world.”
This is why Zaheen believes religious organizations like the MSA bring people
together.
“ We do inner-faith events, social programs like Katrina and Tsunami relief
fundraisers and deal with other topics affecting all people of color,” Zaheen
said.
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