Talk about sensationalizing an issue! OK we get it, a Pakistani American did a piss poor job at trying to terrorize Americans in front of The Lion King play (that alone proves he’s evil!) and now we get to read about his exploits 24/7 until something else makes headlines. Maybe another Tiger Woods mistress will go public!
The typical characters are all over the media playing their part. You have the Muslim alphabet soup organizations with letters of condemnation, you have Muslim bloggers, writers, and other journalists engaging in the debate about how we as Muslims are perceived do to the actions of idiots like Faisal Shahzad, and of course you have politicians hovering around like vultures seeking to pander to the fringes of their party with cries of denying Miranda Rights and revoking citizenship.
But where does any of this get us? After the non-stop “reporting” about this guy is over, after the headlines and “important” updates every 15 minutes gets old, are we ever going to seriously have a discourse on why a 30 year old Pakistani-born American with a wife and kids would get involved with terrorists and try to commit a terrorist act?
Are we truly ready to discuss the issue of terrorism like adults and devoid of prejudices that will blanket label all Muslims and Islam, and focus on the issue of terrorism as it affects all Americans regardless of background?
I mean reality and truth have to win out at some point. How many journalists reported that the street vendor who alerted the police according to what I have found out was a Senegalese born Muslim? I guess that’s not sensational enough, because it would introduce a paradox for those who make money off the “big scary Muslims” can’t deal with, that for every idiot there are several reasoned human beings like with most groups that we single out.
At some point Muslims, we have to discuss what we could be doing better to encourage our wayward thinkers to embrace the essence and core values of Islamic thought that speak of moderation, tolerance, righteousness, and high ideals and actions. At some point we have to discuss what we as a community could be doing better. I don’t quite think statements and letters of remorse and condemnation are doing the job.
Granted, we can all take a great sigh of relief that no one was hurt and tragedy was averted, Thank God for that. However, at some point in time, hopefully very soon, we have to mature as a people and decide what it is we all need to do to prevent not just the actions of terrorism, but to remove the mindset that produces the thoughts to commit them.
For now, we can sit back and watch the news cycle enjoying the talking heads and politicians joust for moments to capitalize on the hype.
Personally, I will be joining with that group of Americans who turned to HGTV or something else when they realized that the cable news was not going to talk about something else. To quote my wife “You would think there is nothing else going on in the world”, I smiled and turned to one of those house-hunting shows.
Feel free to contact me when we are ready to advance the debate beyond the typical routine.
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#1 by Qasim - Chicago Islam Examiner on May 5, 2010 - 11:04 am
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I think your first line said it best. It’s atrocious enough that anyone would want to harm people, and they would want to use a bomb to do so. But the Lion King? I mean come on!! Musafa must be rolling over in his grave right now.
On serious note. I’m glad this lunatic was caught. I’m kind of pleased many news agencies are realizing this guy had nothing to do with Islam, and was just an incompetent brown version of Joseph Stack. (not that Joe Stack was very competent but, you get what I mean)
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#2 by Thor on May 5, 2010 - 12:08 pm
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Robert, like you, I’ve been wondering when they are going to address the issue of when, where & why he was “radicalized”. Was it some radical Imam?? He apparently went to Pakistan to learn to be a terrorist. I ain’t buying the foreclosed home thing because there have been plenty of Americans that have lost their homes and didn’t go out and kill somebody else. Hopefully this will all come out in the wash.
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#3 by Qasim - Chicago Islam Examiner on May 5, 2010 - 12:14 pm
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Ok why is anyone radicalized? I don’t know if you can put a label on it. Here’s a quote I found that some people consider of Osama Bin laden. “His hatred of racism, sexism, elitism, and mainly classism, is what prompted him to make a new world for the people—a paradise in the jungle. The children loved it. So did everyone else.” Now stop for a minute and think about that quote. That’s a radical, no? Now consider that it wasn’t Osama bin Laden that quote is talking about. It’s Jim Jones. Sorry for the misdirection but the point is, a radical is a radical, a fanatic is a fanatic, and an incompetent fanatic like Shahzad is no different than Joseph Stack.
These people are twisted and have a disease and only with a collective HUMAN effort will we either stop them before they do any damage and hopefully rehabilitate them – or, keep their damage as minimal as humanly possible. History has always had these kinds of psychos. I don’t see them going away any time soon. (unfortunately)
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#4 by Nadeem on May 7, 2010 - 11:11 am
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After 911, somewhere around 4000 Muslims applied for jobs with the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency). Looking at the lousy pyrotechnics used by this guy, it seems that Shahzad worked for the hollywood department of the CIA. Since, the Pakistani government also works deligently for the same agency collaboration and corroboration made the new series an instantaneous box office hit. No payments on the mortage means that all money is now either in Mexico or Italy; the paycheck is no longer deposited in the US account by the CIA. More pressure on Obama, while Bush and Buddies sip on a cold glass of beer laughing at the making monkeys out of the American people.
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#5 by Muhammad on May 22, 2010 - 12:32 am
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Unfortunately, with such homegrown terror plots as we have seen lately in the NY times square, it puts all American Muslims once more in a tough position. That is not deniable, as the “guilty by association” runs rampant everywhere now.
However, this is an indication for an urgent call for urgent reform in our Islamic teaching and preaching. I am not sure if this person was inspired nationally or internationally, but the fact remains that our Islamic teaching and preaching in America is a dire need of reformation, open-mindednes, tolerance, and more academic understanding of the religion, instead of the old “blind imitation” attitude. In addition, there is a need to look at the spiritual aspect of Islam, i.e. sufism. Despite the popular resentment of sufism amongst the majority of American Muslims, yet, it is badly needed, especially if taught correctly within the context of the Book and Sunnah.
Since American Muslim communities don’t pay much attention to the quality, academics, and the much needed round-background of its religious leadership and scholars, we will have our own youths stray away in their judgment or actions. It is inevitable. While I pray it does not happen, but we need to do more than just prayers.
American Muslims have the opportunity to take the lead in academic Islam, spiritual Islam, and all aspects of Islam. Being the most educated, wealthiest, and most tolerant community of Muslims worldwide, it can be the bridge that connects American values of freedom, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, with the rest of the Muslim world. In return, it can also convey the true peaceful, loving, and merciful Islamic values, to our fellow Americans of other faith systems.
The first place that needs to be looked at really hard, are the centers and mosques. We need Imams and Scholars, who understand what Islam is, not just a narrow minded, exclusive sectarian view of the religion. At the same time, we need them to be in touch with the broad American society to know how the rest of America thinks. Because our children think the same way. importing scholars and Imams from the villages of some Muslim country, under-paying them, and overworking them, with a serious gap in understanding the American Muslim views, values and mindset, can and will probobly lead to undesired results.
Part of combating terrorism and violence done in the name of Islam, is to uproot intellectual terrorism practiced through narrow-minded teachings and extremly exclusivist views all around our community centers. To focus on Mercy, positive contribution to society, and on the ethical and spiritual aspects of Islam, rather than tapping people in the old and complex arguments of ancient dialgoes among the sects and groups, which are largely based on self-righteousness, and end up intellectually terrorizing the other. Constructive criticism is part of the solution, and we -collectively- are obliged to do that.
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