On the tenth anniversary of September 11, 2001, one of America’s most prominent Muslim scholars delivered a landmark address reflecting on what that devastating day meant for the Muslim community and where it must go from here. With characteristic candor, he unequivocally condemns the perpetrators of the attacks while challenging Muslims to transform their grief and hardship into lasting, proactive change rather than merely reacting to the next crisis.
A Community Forced to Grow Up Overnight
Before 9/11, the American Muslim community could be compared to an innocent child playing outside, unaware that disaster was about to strike. The attacks forced Muslims to confront realities they were simply not prepared for, but they also served as a catalyst for unprecedented unity and engagement. For the first time, bridges were built between Arab and Pakistani Muslims, between immigrant and African-American communities, and between major Islamic institutions. Muslims realized they needed to be actively engaged in media, politics, and civic service rather than living on the margins of society.
9/11 was a catalyst that the Muslim community needed in order to understand that it was living a very naive life. For the very first time, some immigrant parents actually supported their children’s decision to choose majors in fields other than engineering and medicine, and if you’re a child of immigrants, you know how groundbreaking that decision is.
Lessons for Muslims Moving Forward
- Violence in the name of Islam is not only un-Islamic but also completely counterproductive, as the past decade proved with devastating clarity
- Two colossal wars, hundreds of thousands of Muslims dead, civil liberties destroyed, and torture at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo were the real results of extremist actions
- Muslims must be proactive rather than waiting for the next catastrophe to galvanize them into action
- The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was sent as a mercy to all of mankind, not as a source of terror or hatred
Our religion gives us the spirituality and tranquility that this materialistic era completely lacks. We say boldly and proudly to our fellow citizens: if you wish to experience this peace, then believe as we have believed, and all of this and more shall be yours.
The address closes with a powerful call to action: the only lasting response to hatred and Islamophobia is for Muslims to turn back to Allah and embody the virtues of their faith in their daily lives. It is not enough to talk the talk; Muslims must walk the walk, demonstrating through their character, their civic engagement, and their compassion that Islam is truly the religion of mercy, revealed to the Prophet of mercy, by the Lord of mercy.
