MAY I HAVE A WORD? THOMAS ARE SR.
Take Off Your Shoes and Follow Me Beyond what I had read in a few books, I knew little about Islam. So one Friday afternoon, I decided to visit a mosque in nearby Atlanta. With some trepidation, I approached the entrance, which was surrounded by people who did not look like me. A young Middle Eastern man immediately approached me, stuck out his hand, and said, “Welcome.” After introducing myself, I said, “I would like to participate in your prayer service. I am not here to join. I just want to learn.” He smiled. “We sit on the floor, but we do have chairs you can sit in if you would be more comfortable.” “I think I would like to do exactly what you do, if that would be acceptable.” “Then take off your shoes and follow me.” We entered a room the size of a basketball court filled with several hundred Middle Eastern and African American men lining up for prayers. An equal number of women lined up behind us. The Atlanta Masjid of Al-Islam serves a lower-income community on the southeastern side of the city, and yet here were hundreds of people who had found time for worship. A procession of men, young and old, greeted me and thanked me for sharing their time of prayer. By this time, my anxiety was turning into respect. The service began with prayers in Arabic, but I followed their motions, knelt, put my forehead on the floor, felt a wave of humility, stood up, and then did it all over again.Then the Imam preached in English about the need for Muslims to respect others, especially Jews and Christians. He touched on the foolish-
ness of gambling and alcohol and on the importance of keeping one’s word. All in all, it was an eye-opening experience. Since that time, I have made some Muslim friends and learned to respect their expression of faith. I have also come to understand that Muslims living in America are afraid, and I don’t blame them. They are looked upon with suspicion every time a terrorist attack takes place anywhere in the world.Two of my new friends, Ali and Aisha, both PhD scientists, are often maligned for no other reason than that they are Muslims. Lumping all Muslims together, certain talk show hosts, politicians, and fundamentalist preachers induce fear in the hearts of uninformed people because of the real and perceived practices of unreasonable Muslims. In fact, most Muslims are peace-loving individuals. However, there are some—the radical Salafists— who view the Christian West with abhorrence. But how many Americans have even heard of the Salafists? Calling for a return to the seventh century and the Islam of Muhammad’s time, this small group of Islamic radicals supports a militant interpretation of jihad. Many Americans think that Muslims are envious of Western progress. In fact the radicals hate us for it. “Progress?” they say. “Look at your materialism, divorce rate, sex industry, drug culture, and homeless people. Look at how you destroy the environment! Is that progress?” Radical Salafism was behind the assassination of Anwar Sadat because of his close ties to America. And in 1979, it was the Salafists who captured the US embassy in Iran and held Americans hostage. Americans could not understand. After all, the Shah was modernizing Iran. He ignored the poor, but then, who didn’t? He was a secular ruler installed by the West. In contrast to the Shah’s promotion of Western values, Salafism honored two passions—social justice and the spiritual life—both of which were being poisoned PRISM 2008
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by modernization and materialism.They had no interest in Western dress, sports, or entertainment. Such things trivialized life and blurred faithful people’s commitment to the will of God. Angered by the Shah’s opulent lifestyle, dictatorial government, and secular nationalism, Iranian students staged a demonstration in January 1978. The Shah responded by sending out his SAVAK troops and shooting to death 70 unarmed youth. Later that same year, the SAVAK killed 700 rioters.Yet, within days, President Carter pledged America’s support to keep the Shah in power. It was the Salafists who spawned the Taliban in Afghanistan and the al Qaeda of Osama bin Laden. It was the Salafists who crashed planes on 9/11 into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania. High on the Salafist hit list was the secular Saddam Hussein, for the radical Salafists hate the “unfaithful” Muslim as much as the trivial American. Pledging allegiance to no national regime or Islamic division, radical Salafism is a stateless philosophy.These radicals are dangerous, and we as a nation must guard against them. However, on September 11, 2001, very few Muslims supported their radical political agenda. Today, who knows how many? Recruitment to their extreme view of Islam is growing. More terrorists hate us now than ever before. However, my American Muslim friends are not among them. It is unfair, cruel, and unwise to label them as such. The West must reach out with understanding to the majority of Muslims who are peaceful citizens. The 21st century gives us a choice: to make war or seek understanding. So I invite you to take off your shoes and follow me. ■ Thomas Are Sr. is a retired Presbyterian pastor living in Big Canoe, Ga. “May I Have a Word?” is a new opinion column that will run three times a year.