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Resonate your identity with Naseeb journals. Express your opinions, share your thoughts, post your writings and connect with like minded people through the power of expression.
Being Muslim After 9/11
Being Muslim, not just in the US but anywhere in the world, has become a unique experience (for some far better, for others far worse, and for still others no different) in the wake of the 9/11 tragedy.
How have you changed, if at all, after 9/11? Have you and/or family and/or Muslim friends gotten any backlash for being Muslim? Do you feel that the 9/11 tragedy was in fact the work of "radical Islamic militants" as the media often terms them?
What lessons have you learned since 9/11 and how have you seen the world (including those of other faiths) react to Muslims in the aftermath?
Comments on this journal
Well to answer the above questions, I do think that being Muslim, post-9/11, has become a different experience for most. Those of us in this country find that we need to do more than usual to prove that not everyone is a "terrorist" or an "Islamic fundamentalist" or alot of the other scalding epithets thrown at Muslims. It has become a challenge/opportunity for us now to rise higher than before and prove to the non-Muslim world that we are not the terror-inducing, fatalistic, suicidal maniacs as portrayed by the media. Hence, this challenge should be looked upon as an opportunity not to cower in fear but to be confident and optimistic.
How have I changed after 9/11 and have I or anyone I know gotten backlash for being Muslim? I have changed a little bit only to the extent that the 9/11 tragedy hit home for me. My dad, God bless him, is alive and well but he was on the 46th floor (cafeteria)--instead of his 72nd floor office--when the building was hit; the folks on his floor felt a vibration that permeated the entire area but everyone calmly made their way down the stairways and got out safely, thank God! My dad made it out safe and sound but until that point, as soon as we got news about the towers being hit, I was going crazy at work trying to see how my dad was. I left work right away as I was hysterically crying worrying over my dad and kept calling his office and cellphone with no answer at either number. He finally called from a payphone after an hour (as cellphone service was disabled all over Manhattan) which is how we all knew that he was finally alright. A family friend's relative died in the same building and only his arm was found. There were several colleagues of my dad that died as well. Ironically, my dad was in the same building when it was bombed in '93...thankfully he came home scratched up a little bit but otherwise alright. Lesson: Life is very precious and NEVER to be taken for granted.
As for backlash, everyone at work (this was 2 jobs ago) was extremely (over-the-top) helpful and concerned when this happened as they knew that my dad worked in the Twin Towers. Our neighbors were very accommodating as was anyone and everyone white/non-Muslim. Luckily, my family and I never faced any backlash but do know of people who have and that is upsetting to me.
What lessons have I learned and what have I observed post-9/11? Well a few things: 1) CNN and FOX News suck!!! Talk about super-biased, a$$-kissers of Isreal 2) G. W. Bush is the biggest jerk that ever lived in this millennium and the US is "Big Bully #1"...hate to say it as I was born here and am an American but it is what it is...what can you do... 3) Being Muslim is super-awesome and the non-Muslims who hate Islam do so because they fear it for being so awesome as a rational/logical faith and not for anything else, hence post-9/11, my sense of pride (identifying myself as Muslim) has skyrocketed 10-fold 4) When others badmouth Islam, continue to counter their negatives and make them see the truth as to the wool over our eyes that this government is trying to pull...it is sad, pathetic, and demeaning (demeaning because obviously Bush and cronies feel that the people of the US are dumb enough to believe anything that is fed to them)!
How have I seen the world react to Muslims in the aftermath? Of course it isn't fun to see Muslims being oppressed or retaliated against, whether it is the Iraq example or the Afghanistan example, but post-9/11 there have been a record number of conversions of non-Muslims to Islam (and especially so in the US) and I think that if it wasn't a matter of socio-economic dependency on the US (to whatever extent), the rest of the world would never sit with its hands tied behind its back and watch what is being done to Muslims right now.