THE EVENTS centering around Sept. 11 have given rise to a wide range of emotive responses across the globe. And perhaps no where were they more intense than in the USA and the Arab world. Feelings spoke of shock or affront to the world as we knew it then.

Along those lines comes this letter from an American who, living in America, has witnessed this explosion of intensity from within: “Funny how it is such a double standard. When an American generalizes ALL Muslims as being fundamentalists and terrorists, the Muslim response is that it is only a few Muslims and they do not speak for us, and perhaps slowly but surely the American starts to believe that fundamentalism and terrorism is not apart of Islam.

“However, when a Muslim generalizes by saying that ALL Americans are wild, Godless, immoral, and the American family has no family values, etc., the American response is that it is some and not ALL Americans because every American comes from a different culture and background. And almost never does the Muslim even bother to absorb the American’s statement, labels him a ‘kafir’ and does not open their mind to understanding.

“I am Muslim myself but I have seen a whole different side of some Muslims’ attitudes since 9/11. It is the ‘You must not tread on my Muslim lifestyle but I can tread on your Jewish/Christian/American lifestyle’ mentality that bothers me. Through my journey in life and my experiences with other people I have come to the conclusion that people are the SAME no matter what side of the earth they are on.

“Muslim or non-Muslim people are just despicable sometimes. It does not matter where one comes from, or where they are raised, PEOPLE ARE THE SAME. When I converted to Islam, I expected to meet chaste, serene and honest Muslims, and I have. But on the Internet, through the course of my conversion, I was appalled to run into hate-filled and obsessed Muslims, just as I had when I was Christian and ran into hate-filled and obsessed Christians.

“The moral of the story is: Its every man for himself. Needless to say I was very disappointed when I heard some Muslims saying Americans deserved to die and all this other ‘Bin Ladenism’ crap. But I know what true Islam is about and it’s not about dissing Americans. I am just concerned that it now seems that the Muslim Ummah has turned more toward hating Americans.

“The Muslim Ummah is not about that and that is why its crumbling. We are turning our focus to things that we have no control over. I have learned in life to only act upon that which you can control. No, Muslims cannot control what the US government does but yes, we can control our relationships and take care of the other Muslims around the world and everything else will fall into place.

“And the Ummah cannot be brought back together again by bashing America. One of the reasons being that there are Muslims who are American and you offend them with nasty comments about the country they come from. And bashing America also won’t do any good because like the old sayings go, ‘You can catch more bees with honey’ and ‘Sweep around your own front door before sweeping around mine’.

“I know I cannot open anyone’s mind if they are unwilling, but by bashing Americans and their lifestyle, Muslims are acting no better than the Americans who talk trash about Muslims. Think about it. Thank you.”

Well spoken. Perhaps it is time for us to stop and consider that if there are differences of opinions, we should perhaps be focused on the policies of the US government rather than on the American people or their way of life. It is not the Islamic way.

— Tariq A. Al-Maeena, [email protected]