In the unrelenting cascade of counterterrorism thrillers and cable news coverage of terror incidents, the humble voice of Islam’s mainstream has been silenced. This, combined with the fact that only 25 percent of Americans have ever met a Muslim, makes it easy to see why so many are misled and fearful. Who are today’s Muslims? What do they believe and what are their hopes and dreams?
According to the Pew Research Center, as of 2009, the population of the Muslim world stood at 1.6 billion souls or about 23.4 percent of the world’s population.1 Estimates are as high as 1.8 billion in 2017. Approximately one in every four persons alive today is a Muslim. Let that sink in. Map 5 shows the distribution by percent throughout Africa and Asia of the 95 percent of Muslims who live in these continents.
A quick survey of the map reveals that the Arabic speaking Middle East is almost the smallest grouping, containing only 8 percent of all Muslims in the world. Almost one-third of all Muslims live in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Many are surprised to learn that the nation with the highest number of Muslims is Indonesia, with more than 200,000,000. That’s a long way from Arabia. Between the Indian subcontinent and Indonesia, almost half the Muslims of the world are represented.
Map 5 — distribution of Muslim Population by Region
For those curious about the absolute numbers, they are shown in Figure 1 on the next page.
The Muslim world is wonderfully diverse. As with Christianity, the practice of Islam is very much affected by local culture, not to mention the brand of Islam itself. In a recent visit to a small mosque in San Diego, a group of young Pakistani professionals eagerly told me that there are seventy-eight different sects of Islam. This is a very small number when compared to the estimated 40,000-plus Christian denominations and independent groups. But when overlaid upon the uncounted ethnicities, languages, and cultures represented by Islam, it is clear that Islam is not a monolith but a mosaic of diversity.
The disintegration of the political empire that had been merged with the teachings of Islam for thirteen centuries was a substantial first step in the liberation of Islam as a world religion. Forever free from the influence of emperors crazed by their thirst for power and wealth, Islam could pursue its spiritual identity. Smaller scale Islamic empires and monarchies emerged and continue to this day, but Islam as a whole exists distinctly from political power.
Figure 1 — number of Muslims by Region
There are four major divisions in Islam: Sunni, Shia, Sufi, and Ahmadi.
Sunni
The Sunnis represent 90 percent of all Muslims. Except where noted, all of the descriptions of Islam I write about in this book refer to Sunni Islam. The term Sunni comes from the Arabic word Sunnah and refers to the traditions of the prophet Mohammed. Sunni Muslims don’t think the successors of Mohammad had a direct connection to God. For this reason, they place heavy emphasis on the Sunnah as the means of finding direction in day-to-day life.
Shia
The Shiites make up the bulk of the remaining 10 percent of non-Sunnis. We have tracked their origins to followers of Mohammed’s cousin Ali, who was rejected as the Prophet’s successor. Shia Muslims believe in a divinely appointed leader who follows in the footsteps of Mohammed as both spiritual guide and secular ruler. Most of the world’s Shiites reside in Iran, which would explain the rise to power of Shia cleric Ayatollah Khomeini during the Islamic revolution there. Three other nations have Shiite majorities: Iraq, Bahrain, and Azerbaijan, but there are also significant numbers of Shia Muslims in Pakistan, India, Turkey, Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Nigeria. Without powerful government oversight to hold the factions in place, the 1,400-year-old feud between the Shiites and the Sunnis is the first to boil over. We see this happening in 2018 in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen.
Shiites believe in the infallibility of their leaders—like the Pope to the Catholics. This explains why Shiites celebrate birthdays and deaths of leaders and make pilgrimages to their shrines. This practice is considered idolatrous by strict Sunnis. Shia Muslims also hold to the future appearance of a messianic figure known as the Mahdi, who will one day appear and rule the world with the justice of Mohammed. Over the centuries, various succession crises took place resulting in multiple offshoots. They are called “fivers,” “seveners,” and “twelvers,” depending on how many of the previous imams they recognize.
Sufi
Flowing like life-giving blood through the veins of the Muslim body are Islam’s mystics, the Sufis. They are not a distinct sect—they are Sunnis or Shiites who practice a deeper spirituality. Mysterious and uncounted, Sufis earnestly seek to experience the divine presence of Allah. Mystics embark on a journey of self-discipline in order to achieve purification of the soul. Dozens of Sufi masters have risen to prominence and followers have founded orders in their names. Each order has a unique pathway to a higher consciousness, and seekers are guided through a progression of steps and practices to achieve it. Disciples are only allowed to progress to the next level upon the approval of their master. Key elements of the Sufi orders are love for all mankind, transformation of the soul—from an inclination to desire evil to a state of contentment, an aversion to materialism, and participation in various practices to elevate consciousness.
The well-known “whirling dervishes” come from the Mevlevi Sufi order, founded by Rumi. The dervishes are dressed in white and orbit around their master, who spins on his own axis. I heard a Turkish master describe this practice as a means of aligning with the orbits of the solar system to draw closer to God. Spinning for sometimes hours, dervishes fall into a trance-like state and find intimacy with God.
Ahmadi
The Shia concept of the messianic Mahdi was taken to the next level by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908). Ahmad claimed to actually be the promised Messiah and Mahdi in fulfillment of several end-time prophecies made in the hadith. Ahmad, which is a variation on the name Mohammad, gathered a following of believers who came to be known as Ahmadi Muslims, or Ahmadiyya. Ahmad didn’t bring any new teaching with him. He only claimed to be the fulfillment of Mohammad’s original teaching, sent to bring peaceful revival to all the peoples of Islam.
Ahmadi Muslims practice Islam indistinguishably from the Sunnis. Along with the claim of a succession of Mahdis who followed Ahmad, they bring two major points of emphasis. Missionary activity is a high priority, and peace is promoted as a core teaching. They have branded themselves with the term “True Islam,” nabbing up the domain name TrueIslam.com with Facebook and Twitter handles to match. They are freely critical of the power struggles and tribal infighting that occurred throughout the history of the Islamic Empire and today. As a result they have drawn the ire of Sunni leaders and—ironically, given their tagline—are not accepted as being true Muslims. In Pakistan, where their numbers are the greatest, they are legally forbidden to claim to be Muslims, and persecution is rampant. The Ahmadiyya have grown in numbers to more than ten million and are in most of the countries of the world.
Nobel Laureate Dr. Abdus Salam and his grandson, my friend Maaz, happen to be Ahmadi Muslims. I met Maaz at a social event put on by the Ahmadiyya Community of San Diego called Coffee, Cake & True Islam. Maaz is an industrial engineer and the father of a young daughter. In his spare time, he faithfully leads the small Muslim community that meets in an office on the back edge of a large industrial complex. Most, if not all, of the small group are from Pakistan. Maaz speaks perfect English, and we hit it off right away. When he realized that my concept of Islam and of Muslims was not based on the image presented in the US media, but on actual history, he lit up, and we connected on a different level. In addition to having many enlightening conversations about the spiritual significance of many of the Muslim rituals and beliefs, we have talked for hours about the many spiritual truths we hold in common. I find these times of rich spiritual fellowship extremely refreshing, and I often leave with tears in my eyes, thinking of the harsh results of the ongoing lack of understanding between Christians and Muslims. I truly consider Maaz to be my brother and I expect that he will follow in the influential footsteps of his grandfather.
The Sunnis, Shiites, Sufis, and Ahmadis are held together by the Quran. In addition to the Quran, they agree on other core elements of the practice of Islam, which have been distilled down to what we know as the five pillars. These two components are what form the common essence of all of Islam.
The Quran holds a higher place in Islam than does the Bible to Christianity, or the Old Testament to Judaism. In pre-Islamic times, there was no concept of one all-powerful and loving God who cared for his creation and involved himself in their lives on an individual basis. On dark nights in the deserts of Arabia, terrified and confused souls sought solace and direction from the kahin, a kind of soothsayer or fortuneteller, who in turn would consult the jinn—spirits with some degree of power that occupy the atmosphere, and sometimes magic lamps. When consulted about the meaning of a dream, the location of a lost flock, or whether to take a certain bride, the kahins invariably provided their direction in the form of Arabic prose. And the answer to the question of the agonized seeker required no small amount of interpretation.
The words of the Quran were delivered in similar style, as contemplative prophetic musings in the form of beautiful Arabic prose. When pressed for an exhibition of miraculous powers as validation of his status as the Messenger of God, Mohammed’s consistent response was that his only miracles were the prophetic recitations. Islamic tradition captures the essence of the miraculous powers of the Quran in the story of the conversion of Umar, one of Mohammed’s first followers and his second successor. At first, Umar was a staunch opponent of Mohammed and angered that his own sister had become a follower. His anger boiled over on one occasion when he learned that Mohammed was teaching in his sister’s home. With murderous intent, he set out for his sister’s house with sword in hand. Upon entering and hearing the sound of Mohammed’s voice, he was so affected by the beauty and profundity of the recitations that he immediately dropped his sword and became a follower. As Reza Aslan points out in No god but God, like Saul of Tarsus who ceased his persecutions of the followers of Christ when he was transformed by a vision of the Savior, “Umar was transformed by divine intervention: not because he saw God, but because he heard God.”2
The power of the Quran is not limited to its meaning. Baraka, or blessing, is derived from the sound of the words itself. For those who don’t speak Arabic, it is virtually impossible to experience and appreciate this element of the Quran. In most mosques around the world, Quranic readings are conducted exclusively in Arabic, regardless of the language of the listeners. The veneration of the words of the Quran reached such great heights that a vigorous doctrinal controversy arose as to whether the Quran was eternal and coexisted with God or was created. The dispute became so intense that the scholars of the time were tortured, exiled, and executed depending on their position, as you will recall from our discussion of the Umayyad dynasty in Chapter Two.
The Holy Quran contains 114 chapters and over 6,000 verses. Each chapter, known as a surah in Arabic, corresponds to a specific prophetic episode and has a one-word title. Surahs are sequenced according to length rather than chronology, from longest to shortest, with the exception that the first chapter is a short preamble. Each surah begins with the words, “In the name of God, the Merciful-to-all, the Mercy Giver.”
Many people in the West are exposed to the Old Testament and the book of Leviticus for example, which contains hundreds of directly stated laws, ranging from what type of meats are forbidden to eat, to how long a woman must abstain from sex after her menstrual cycle. Not so with the Quran. Of the 6,000 verses, only about six hundred contain some form of law or directive, and the vast majority of these pertain to a religious ritual or prayer. According to Esposito, “Approximately 80 verses treat legal topics in the strict sense of the term: crime and punishment, contracts, family laws.”3
Clearly, the Quran is not a book of law.
Much of the Quran consists of beautiful prose describing the nature of God—as one, as all-powerful, yet gracious and merciful, providing mankind and animals with everything they need. In return, man is expected to worship God, not simply by acknowledging his greatness, but by living a life that is worthy of his greatness. In the Quran, there is no separation between the worship of God and a person’s works. One’s deeds are a reflection of one’s attitude towards God. The deeds that are required proceed from a heart of integrity and compassion—honesty in all spheres of life, generosity toward those in need, and respect for one’s elders and family.
The Quran was insufficient as the sole basis for a comprehensive religious and secular legal code. Where the Quran was silent, a second source was equally authoritative—the holy grail of the original Muslim community’s practices. The customs and traditions of this venerated group are known as the Sunna, from which the term Sunni is derived.
This would give rise to the study of what are known as the hadith, the collection of recorded sayings and practices of Mohammed and his key companions. This study was complicated because the scholars who dug into it were more than 150 years removed from the life of Mohammed. With four competitive schools of thought, the temptation to doctor or even invent hadith that were supportive of one’s doctrines proved to be too great. There was a proliferation of conflicting hadith, giving rise to yet another area of study: determining the pedigree of the hadith. Each of the four centers of study had their own differing, authenticated versions.
Confusion as to the authenticity of all but the most principal hadith, along with the necessity for direction in matters not contained in the Quran or the hadith, would give rise to two other sources for direction: drawing analogies from comparable situations or events and consensus among the scholars.
I recommend reading the entire Quran but here is a representative example. I suggest the following English translation by my good friend and fellow peacemaker Safi Kaskas and his co-author the late David Hungerford: A Contemporary Understanding: The Qur’an, with References to the Bible. As with all translations, there is a tension between literal accuracy and literary style. As with the Bible, it is virtually impossible to capture the meaning of the original text with the original literary style.
The Quran, Surah 11, the Prophet Hud, verses 1–11
In the name of God, the Merciful to all, the Mercy Giver:
Alif Lam Ra, (this is) a Book whose verses are perfectly constructed, then detailed directly from the grace of the Wise, the Most Expert, so that you may worship no one but God. I am sent to you from Him to warn you and to give you good news. Ask your Lord to forgive your sins and turn towards Him in repentance. He will let you enjoy a good life until a specified time, and He will give His grace to everyone who was graceful. But, if you turn away, I dread the suffering (which is bound to befall you) on that Mighty day. You must all return to God, as He has power over everything. See how they turn away, trying to hide from Him. Even when they cover themselves with their clothes, He knows all that they hide and what they reveal. He has full knowledge of what is in men’s hearts.
Every living creature on earth depends on God for sustenance and He knows where it lives and where it dies. It is all in a clear record. He created the heavens and the earth in six days and the throne of His Majesty of His mightiness extends over the water. (He created this) in order to test which of you is best in deeds. And if you (Prophet) say, “You will be resurrected after death,” the unbelievers will answer, “this is clearly nothing but sorcery.” If We defer their suffering for a specified time, they are sure to say, “What is preventing it (from coming now)?” on the day when it befalls them there will be nothing to divert it from them and they will be overwhelmed by the very thing they mocked. If We let man taste some of our mercy and then take it away from him, he will abandon all hope, forgetting all gratitude. If We let him taste ease and plenty after hardship has touched him, he is sure to say, “Misfortune has gone away from me.” He becomes overjoyed and boastful. Except those who are patient in hard times and do righteous deeds: forgiveness of sins awaits them and a great reward.
The five pillars of Islam address devotion to God and are practiced by the Sunnis, the Shia, the Sufis, and the Ahmadis. They are:
1. The Profession of Faith—Shahada. The profession of faith is the single entrance requirement into the Islamic faith. “There is no god, but God, and Mohammed is the messenger of God.” Plain and simple, this is an acknowledgment of the oneness of the all-powerful Creator. There is no other god. Mohammed absolutely considered his God, Allah in Arabic, to be the same God as that of the Hebrews and the Christians. The second phrase is an acknowledgment that the words of Mohammed as received from the angel Gabriel, and thereby the words of the Quran, are the direct words of God. Making this proclamation makes you a Muslim.
2. Ritual Prayers—Salat. The required ritual prayers take place at five specific times each day: dawn, noon, afternoon, sunset, and before bed. In Muslim-majority countries, the faithful are summoned by the haunting cries of the muezzin from minarets piercing the heavens. Preferably performed in community, the prayers are recited by the imam or prayer leader using the identical words used by their ancestors for centuries. Any male may lead the prayers. Emphasis is placed on voice quality, since the sound of the words is as important as the words themselves. The leader sings the prayers out in deep, rich tones.
Devotees stand in compact and perfectly aligned rows on prayer rugs or inside rectangular markings on the carpet. Accompanying the prayers are postures of standing, bowing, and kneeling—both upright and with forehead to the floor, always facing toward Mecca. The leader usually pauses in the prostrated position, allowing all a few moments of personal prayer and worship. The prayers close with a ceremonial turning of the head to the right and to the left, repeating the words, assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah (“peace be upon you and God’s blessings”) to neighbors on both sides.
I have visited several mosques in San Diego for Friday prayers. I’ll never forget my first visit.
Leaving my shoes in one of the hundreds of cubbies stacked from floor to ceiling in the walls that form the entry area, with trepidation, I walk into a room filled with men sitting cross-legged and facing the front of the large, open room. I see the ebony skin color of Africans, the rich mocha colors of the Indian subcontinent, the tans of the Middle East, and a few with skin tone lighter than my own. Most are dressed normally, but a few are wearing white robes and some are dressed in their traditional national clothing. Along the back wall are several rows of women of all ages, mostly sitting in chairs or on the floor leaning against the wall. Some are wearing the hijab, others are not. Children are scattered around the room, some running around and playing, others sitting with their mothers, and a few boys are with their fathers in the front section. Several older men are seated in chairs along the sides or on the floor leaning against the walls. I take my place inside one of the rectangle outlines on the carpeted floor.
As men continue to trickle in, a heavyset man with the dark complexion of a Bangladeshi or Pakistani sitting towards the front stands up and walks to the microphone. With rich intonations, he begins hypnotically chanting in Arabic. His voice is continuous as when singing, not stopping between words and holding some syllables for several seconds while his voice rises and falls musically. It is the call to prayer. The room falls silent.
Allaaaah hu akbar, Allaaah hu akbar
Ash-hadu anla ilaha illah Allah
Ash-hadu anna muhammadar-rasulullah
Hayya as-salah
Hayya al-falah
Allahu akbar allahu akbar
La ilaha illa Allah
(All but the last two lines are repeated twice).
God is great, God is great
I bear witness that there is no God but Allah.
I bear witness that Mohammed is the messenger of
Allah.
Make haste to prayer.
Make haste to salvation.
God is great.
There is no god except Allah.
The call to prayer continues for several minutes, after which the speaker introduces himself as the chairman of the board of the mosque, makes some announcements, and then introduces the visiting imam. It is time for the khutbah—the sermon. I find myself listening to a sermon about the story of Moses from the Old Testament of the Bible.
In the moments after the khutbah, I notice men slipping forward to occupy each available rectangle on the carpet so that there were no empty spaces. The symbolism of a cohesive community is compelling. Everyone rises and the prayers begin. Since I don’t understand Arabic, I focus on imitating those that I can see in front of me. We begin in a standing position with hands overlapped across the front about belt high. Some raise their hands to their ears as if listening. As the imam prays, we begin a sequence of bows, placing our hands on our knees as we bow. At a poignant moment in the prayer, the imam pauses and speaks the words Allah-hu akbar. In perfect unison, each person drops to their knees and bows with forehead to the floor, many repeating the words, Allah-hu akbar. I find myself swept up in the power of this sacred moment—shoulder to shoulder with several hundred fellow worshipers honoring God by bowing before him together. As we linger in this posture, I hear prayers whispered out on all sides of me. With the prompt of Allah-hu akbar, we rise to a vertical position, remaining on our knees. We repeat the cycle of prostration, pause for prayer, and rising several times, each change of position prompted by another Allah-hu akbar. As we are in the upright position on our knees, I notice a hand signal being passed down the rows. Each person sequentially points with their index finger. I take my turn and later learn that with this gesture, each is signifying that God is one.
We end up comfortably on our knees listening to a final prayer and the ceremonial assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah (“peace be upon you and God’s blessings”) to the right and to the left, which closes out the prayers. Since this takes place on a Friday afternoon, most men of working age quickly rise, retrieve their shoes, and make their way back to work.
Those with time on their hands stay around for some chit-chat. I see families mingling and carrying on happy conversations, parents trying to gather up their small children, and baked goods for sale on a table in front. As I mingled about attempting to make conversation, most were friendly and welcoming. At this point it has every bit the same feel as being in church on Sunday morning.
I have heard many other khutbahs since then and find them to be quite similar to the many sermons I’ve heard in church. Recurring themes are trusting in God in difficult times, treating others with respect, honoring one’s mother, husbands and wives having respectful interactions in the home, and, always something about helping those less fortunate.
3. Alms Giving—Zakat. All Muslims who are able are required to pay an annual tax of 2.5 percent on all of their income and assets. The tax is to be used to help orphans, widows, the poor, and for the propagation of Islam. In general, the zakat tax is considered an individual matter, but in a handful of nations, the tax is collected by the government.
Muslims take this much more seriously than Christians do their tithes. This became clear to me when I attended a fundraising event in San Diego for the people of Afghanistan. The emcee was the leading imam of the largest mosque in San Diego. After a wonderful dinner and entertainment featuring traditional Afghan music, the imam took the stage. In my experience within the Christian community, the approach for solicitation of funds for benevolent causes has always been somewhat subdued. But, with the first words of the imam, I was ready to hide under the table.
Talk about pressure. He started at the high end—$5,000. Without batting an eye, he stated that until we had three donors, we wouldn’t be moving to the next level. After about ten minutes of cajoling, the goal was met. From $5,000 we gradually transitioned all the way down to $10–$20, with arm-twisting directly proportional to the amount of the donation. And there were no private jets involved. Donations were going towards building schools in Afghanistan. I don’t know what the final take was, but I can say that my dress shirt needed dry-cleaning.
I have a friend from Turkey named Aysun who is a wonderful example of practicing the third pillar. I met her at an international social event in San Diego. Her younger sister had won the US immigration visa lottery several years earlier and was living in the United States, so Aysun came for a visit. She loved it so much that she decided to apply for a student visa and enroll as a student at a small school in San Diego. She left a management position in Turkey, where she had supervised a large number of factory workers. I loved hearing her tell stories of her grandfather, a devout Muslim, who taught her of the importance of giving to those in need. Aysun was living on a shoestring budget as a student, but she often dug into her purse and pulled out a few dollars whenever she passed a homeless person on the street.
I have been to many Friday mosque visits and other special events, but I can’t recall one of them without a solicitation of funds for the underprivileged.
4. The Fast of Ramadan—Sawm. A fast is declared for Muslims during the ninth month of the Islamic lunar year, the month of Ramadan. It was during the month of Ramadan that Mohammed received his first revelations from God. From sunrise to sunset for the entire month, Muslims are to abstain from food, drink (even water), and sex, and instead focus on devotion to God. Many read the entire Quran during Ramadan and spend extended amounts of time in prayer. During this season, abstention from anger is especially emphasized. The fast is intended to be a time of personal reflection, and daily meetings at the mosque facilitate this.
Since the Muslim calendar is based on the lunar year (354 days), Ramadan begins eleven days earlier each year. When Ramadan falls in the summer months it can be especially difficult. However, as my friend living in Jordan explained,
The government shortens the work day by several hours. The short days and fasting means very little is accomplished business-wise during the month (important for people traveling to Muslim coutries during Ramadan). In Jordan, during Ramadan, it is illegal to eat, drink, smoke or chew gum in public between sunrise and sunset—even for non-Muslims. Some restaurants stay open for expats and tourists, but if they have windows facing the street, they must be blacked out. Also all liquor stores in Jordan close down for the entire month.
After the sun sets, families gather for iftar—the daily breaking of the fast. My friend in Jordan went on to tell me that most non-Muslim expats stay off the roads during the hour before sunset. Hungry drivers are on edge and in a rush to make it to their iftar destination on time. Some mosques offer daily iftar dinners especially geared to the needy and to the devout. Protocol is carefully observed. The iftar meal is complicated by the fact that evening prayers are also required at sunset. Typically dates are served before the prayers to take the edge off the hunger, the prayers are observed, and finally dinner. Restaurants usually change up their menus to serve a buffet or a set iftar meal. Families and friends often gather in homes to celebrate iftar, where the burden falls on the hungry homemaker to prepare the meal while fasting.
After dinner the night prayer is observed and most waste no time getting home to bed. Everyone is up early to eat breakfast before sunrise.
As the month wears on, fatigue sets in. It’s a tough schedule. For the devout, spiritual momentum builds. The last ten days of Ramadan hold special meaning. It was during this window that the angel Gabriel appeared to Mohammed. Some linger in the mosque all night, hoping for a similar visitation and the promise of forgiveness.
The fast finally ends on the first day of the tenth month, which is a holiday known as Eid al-Fitr, or “feast of the breaking of the fast.” Eid al-Fitr is a national holiday in most Muslim countries, and celebrated with a gusto matching that of Christmas in the West.
I was deep into my research for this book during the month of Ramadan 2017, so I got a lot of visibility into the observance of the fast. I even made a misguided attempt to keep the fast myself. However, the first day of Ramadan took place on Memorial Day, and I had a family barbecue planned that afternoon. Thinking I could start on the following day, I realized I had a business lunch scheduled. After a couple more days just like that, I realized what a challenge it would be for Muslims living in countries that don’t observe the fast nationally, and I gave up my feeble attempt.
I found that Ramadan is a wonderful time for non-Muslims to get a clearer picture of the practice of Islam. In addition to a heightened observance of all things Islam, mosques all over the United States host iftar gatherings, and often open these up to the public. I attended several. I took a small group to one such gathering. My wide-eyed friends seemed a little frightened when I told them we would not be sitting together, but dispersing ourselves individually to maximize our experience. For the first hour, we sat with the congregation and watched a presentation given by a computer science professional about the physical and spiritual benefits of observing the Ramadan fast. Next we met Aigul, a member of the mosque Board of Directors, who graciously escorted the members of our group to their tables and introduced each to the others at the table. I later found out that she is an influential physician at a top medical center in San Diego. On the drive home I listened with joy to my friends’ excited conversations about whom they had met and what they had learned. Each expressed surprise that they had not encountered any of the stereotypes they had expected – just ordinary people having pleasant conversations.
At the end of the month of Ramadan, I took another group to a large formal dinner event for the celebration of Eid al-Fitr. The month-long fast now complete, the atmosphere transitioned from somber introspection to celebration. The women were dressed in a vast array of colors and traditional fashion. There were Pakistani women wearing knee-length dresses with colorful pants. I saw Somalian ladies wearing full-length, long-sleeved dresses with a white hood over the head draping down past the shoulders and a round opening for the face. And others wearing flowing pastel-colored silks with scarves draped around their faces. Even the men broke out brightly colored robes and scarves.
Two large buffet tables were filled with copious amounts of herb-roasted chicken, sliced beef, bright yellow basmati rice, a variety of side dishes, and plenty of fresh pita bread and hummus. Most of the people in the room made multiple trips to the buffet table, returning to their places with heaping plates of food. Children, parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles all sat together at the large tables. Happy conversations filled the eating space. I overheard a heated conversation among some men, including the imam, who was a single guy. I moved nearer to see what the conversation was about. I chuckled when I learned they were roused by a recent NBA game. A comedian provided entertainment after dinner.
Not all celebrated. I sat at a table with a woman named, Aisha, who was present at the celebration without a husband, and with four grown children. Her eyes had the shape of sadness and exhaustion. I didn’t bring up the subject of her husband, and in the course of our conversation she told me, with watering eyes, that she had almost no relatives left in Afghanistan; all had been killed.
The festivities were interrupted at the proper time so everyone could make their way back into the meeting area for the evening prayers.
5. The Pilgrimage to Mecca—Hajj. Every Muslim who is financially and physically able is required to make the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime. Pilgrims, known as hajis, may arrive during a prescribed five-day window scheduled about two months after the end of Ramadan. In Mecca they take part in the annual festival involving circling the black cube, known as the Kaaba, a ritual that has been taking place since before the life of Mohammed. The men dress in seamless white garments to symbolize unity and equality before God. The Kaaba is thought to have been built originally by the prophet Abraham and his son Ishmael. During the festival the hajis participate in several days of meaningful rituals and ceremonies to offer worship to God and commemorate the prophets.
At the close of the festival, Muslims celebrate their second major holiday, known as Eid al-Adha, or the “Feast of the Sacrifice.” Eid al-Adha commemorates the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son according to the command of God, who then provided a ram for the sacrifice instead. In the Muslim version of the story, the son involved was Ishmael, while according to the biblical account in Genesis 22, the son was Isaac. For the feast, each family sacrifices an animal and divides the meat into thirds. One-third is given to the poor, another third to friends and relatives, and one-third is kept.
Some years ago I was with my family on holiday in Istanbul. It turned out to be the day before the Eid al-Adha feast. It seemed that the entire city had been turned into a stable. Everywhere I turned, whether in a parking lot behind a store, a vacant lot, or a post on a street corner, sheep were tied near a bundle of hay. They were awaiting sacrifice on the following day.
The five pillars are what bind all Muslims together. Just as with Christians, the level of commitment to the practice of the key tenets of their faith varies. Among the many Muslims I have met, most are very serious about their commitment to God and the practice of all five pillars. Even the secular-leaning Muslims I have met remain committed to caring for those less fortunate and maintaining a daily relationship with God through prayer.
According to the Quran, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity are actually the same faith: “He has ordained for you the same faith He commanded Noah (Nuh), and what we have revealed to you, and what We commanded Abraham (Ibrahim) and Moses (Musa) and Jesus (Esa): ‘you shall uphold the faith and do not break up into factions.’” (The Quran 42:13) More than twenty Old Testament prophets are validated by the Quran, including Jesus of Nazareth. The story told in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke is virtually retold in the Quran and is known as the Injil. Mohammed considered Islam to be a clarification of both Judaism and Christianity for the Arab peoples. Mohammed rejected the controversial teaching that Jesus was the “Son of God,” which he understood literally. He also repudiated the teaching that Jesus himself was God, a member of the so-called “Holy Trinity.” This doctrine had emerged and was vigorously debated among Christians in the centuries just prior to Mohammed’s lifetime. Islam is unwavering in its commitment to the unity of God, known as tawhid. There is no place in Islamic theology for a “Son of God,” who is also God, or for a God made up of three distinct personalities.
Even so, mainstream Muslims have a great degree of respect for Christians and are well aware of the commonalities with Islam. In fact, Muslims believe that Islam is the fulfillment of Christianity, and that Mohammed merely pointed out areas in which Christians had corrupted the original teachings of Jesus. The Quran 5:46 says,
“We sent Jesus (Esa), the son of Mary, to follow in the footsteps of those earlier prophets, confirming what was available of the Torah. We gave him the Gospel. It has guidance and enlightenment…”
Mainstream Muslims have a great degree of
respect for Christians and are well aware of
the commonalities with Islam.
For the most part, minority Christian groups peacefully coexist in Muslim-majority countries, as they have for many centuries. Palestinian Christians and Muslims stand hand-in-hand in resistance to the Zionist colonization of their ancestral homelands. Since the 9/11 attacks in 2001, the so-called war on terror and its conflation with a war on Islam have created political pressure between Muslims and Christians in many places. When this pressure breaks out into violence, it must be recognized that what drives this violence is not the ideology of either Christianity or Islam, but political injustices.
In the United States I have found that Muslims are willing participants in interfaith groups and activities. My good friend, Imam Taha Hassane, imam and director of the Islamic Center of San Diego, tirelessly attends and gives talks at interfaith gatherings all over San Diego. Imam Taha was named the 2018 Community Hero by the National Conflict Resolution Center and KPBS. In 2010 the UN unanimously adopted the observance of World Interfaith Harmony Week, which was proposed by King Abdullah II of Jordan, a Muslim.
The Syrian refugee crisis played a significant role in the 2016 US presidential campaign—Donald Trump made this statement, “We cannot let them into this country, period.” From the perspective of human suffering, the Syrian conflict can only be described as a nightmare from hell. In a September 2017 report by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, experts estimated that over 60 percent of Syria’s entire population (a staggering fourteen million people) have been wounded or displaced.4
There are several factors leading to the choice to flee homes and risk perilous journeys to faraway places on such a massive scale. With five separate groups engaged in the fighting, and dozens of splinter factions, the entire country is a battleground. Government forces are indiscriminately utilizing high-tech Russian thermobaric bombs as well as low-tech “barrel bombs.” These explosives often fall on densely populated neighborhoods resulting in a huge number of civilian casualties. Both types of munitions are hellish in their method of human destruction. According to Popular Science,5 thermobaric bombs produce an incendiary blast, which literally burns the flesh off of those encompassed by it, and barrel bombs rip people to pieces leaving scattered body parts in the wake.
Another key factor leading to the desperate choice of becoming a refugee is that, with dozens of marauding factions seeking to boost their ranks, any non-fighting male is under constant threat of conscription, or of being accused of fighting for the enemy. If detained by the government forces of Assad, the likelihood of being tortured and murdered is high. Human Rights Watch has obtained smuggled photographs validating claims of systematic torture and murder of detainees on a scale numbering in the thousands.6
Talgat’s decision to get his family out of Syria came in terrifying fashion. I learned of his story from an American friend living in Amman, Jordan. When Talgat’s teenage wife, Zauresh, went into labor for their third child in late 2013, the civil war had already engulfed them. Their home was in the border town of Daraa, which is known as the “cradle of the revolution.” According to Public Radio International, the street graffiti protesting the Assad government that was the spark that set off the Syrian uprising was spray-painted in Daraa early in 2011.7 When Talgat ran from his house to find emergency transport to the hospital for his wife, he found himself dodging artillery explosions and eventually detained at a military checkpoint. He finally secured transportation and made it home to find himself the father of his third child. Zauresh had given birth alone at home.
As horrifying as this experience must have been for his young family, the journey to a new life outside of war-torn Syria would prove even more difficult. Talgat, Zauresh, and their four children, one a newborn, were able to escape on foot across the nearby border into Jordan with barely more than their own lives. Life in Jordan was better than living in a war zone, but the struggle for survival continued. As an undocumented immigrant, Talgat was not allowed to work, and the government of Jordan provided no financial assistance to refugees. Unable to survive on meager handouts from nongovernment aid groups, after a few months Talgat decided to take his family to the capital, Amman, in hopes of finding under-the-table work. Over the next three years Talgat was able to provide for his family in this fashion, but was caught and reprimanded several times by labor officials. Eventually, his family was forcibly sent to a refugee camp with a stern warning that if they caught him working again they would all be taken back to Syria. With a family to feed, and no path to citizenship or opportunity to work legally, again, it was time for desperate measures.
After six months in the camp, Talgat and his younger brother set out on a desperate adventure to find a third brother who had made his way to Sweden, in hopes of paving the way for his family to live in Sweden. Of course, Talgat would have no choice but to leave his young wife and their four children behind. The child who had been born at home in Syria, a boy, abruptly stopped speaking after his father left.
The details of their journey are sketchy. Somehow they made the treacherous overland trek through Syria into Turkey, where they found a smuggler of human cargo who could transport them to Hungary. There they were forced to live in hiding for months, scratching for survival in the wild. The Hungarian police eventually caught up to them and they spent three months in jail. When they were released they were able to somehow make it to the Baltic coast and secure passage to Sweden. There they were able to find their brother and file the proper paperwork to become legal permanent residents.
Only one step remained. Filing the necessary documents to allow their wives and children to join them in Sweden and also become residents. This process takes about two years. Miraculously, five years after leaving their home in Syria, Talgat, Zauresh, and their four children were reunited in Sweden in January 2018.
As a footnote, my friend living in Amman who helped facilitate the reuniting of the family told me this: “One of Zauresh’s brothers is named Jihad. He is one of the gentlest, kindest, most generous people I know. When I finally met him in Sweden, he had tears in his eyes when he thanked me for supporting his sister and wife when he couldn’t.”
A New York Times story reports that on August 31, 2016, during the Obama presidency, the United States reached its goal of admitting ten thousand Syrian refugees in a resettlement program.8 This is only about two out of every one thousand refugees. Twenty-three other nations are ranked ahead of the US in receiving Syrian refugees including Germany, Sweden, and Canada.
Beyond the Quran and the five pillars, what are Muslims all over the world really about? What are their hopes and fears, their dreams, and concerns?
Many Christians rely on statements from evangelical leaders such as Franklin Graham, who said, “It wasn’t Methodists flying into these buildings, it wasn’t Lutherans, it was an attack on this country by people of the Islamic faith,”9 or televangelist Pat Robertson, who reveled in a hypothetical conflict between Muslims and gays10 in the aftermath of the Orlando shooting in summer of 2016. Other Americans fall into the category of “I don’t know.”
Thanks to groundbreaking data collected by Gallup between 2001 and 2007, representing 90 percent of all Muslims worldwide, we are not limited to the irrational ranting of televangelists or non-factual news programs for an accurate understanding of the viewpoints of Muslims. John Esposito and Dalia Mogahed provide informative exposition of the data in their insightful book, Who Speaks for Islam?
When asked what the United States could do to improve their lives, the most common responses of Muslims from around the world were to reduce unemployment and improve the economic infrastructure.11 When asked about their dreams for the future of their own countries, the majority cited improved economic conditions, greater security, and an end to civil tensions. Next in line were improvements in education, democratic ideals, and freedom of speech.12
Sound familiar?
Jobs, education, economic improvement, safety, freedom of speech… How can this be? The primary concerns of 90 percent of all Muslims on the planet are unemployment and education? What about all those reports telling us that the core beliefs of Islam involve extreme violence against all infidels? As we have shown, it is not a core belief, and as the survey results show, the primary concerns of the vast majority of Muslims do not include anything even remotely related to the violent subjugation of all to Islam.
When queried about the meaning of jihad, only the island nation of Indonesia thought the meaning of jihad was to sacrifice one’s life for the sake of Islam. More common responses were, “a commitment to hard work,” “achieving one’s goals in life,” “struggling to achieve a noble cause,” “promoting peace, harmony, or cooperation and assisting others,” and “living the principles of Islam.”13
Focusing specifically on the 9/11 attacks, 93 percent of those surveyed did not agree with the statement that the attacks were “completely justified.”14 When questioned about their devotion to Islam, both the 93 percent who were against the attacks and the 7 percent who were for them considered themselves devoted Muslims. Those who condemned the 9/11 attacks often cited verses from the Quran as their justification.
Sharia law in its most authentic form
emphasizes family law and social
egalitarianism. It is seen as a form of legal
protection against autocratic rulers.
Only a handful of countries surveyed returned majorities saying that Sharia law should have no place in government. But in the many countries where Sharia law was favored, only a minority favored it as the sole source of legislation. Most favor a balance between a secular legal system and Sharia law. I have spoken with many Muslims about Sharia law. They think of it as a means of living under the principles of social justice taught by Mohammed. Non-Muslims tend to be incredulous that Muslims favor Sharia law. Of course, most non-Muslims equate the term Sharia law to the oft-publicized Taliban version involving harsh punishments and enforcement of restrictions as ridiculous as displaying flowers that are too colorful. But Sharia law in its most authentic form emphasizes family law and social egalitarianism. It is seen as a form of legal protection against autocratic rulers. Muslims simply want to be governed with the fairness exemplified and taught by Mohammed in the Quran.
I find it curious that so many Americans find fault with Muslims for wanting their faith to have a place in legislation. Another Gallup poll, taken in 2006, produced results that show a clear majority of Americans want the Bible to be used as the source for laws in America. Nine percent of Americans would like the Bible to be the only source for legislation and 42 percent would like religious leaders to play a direct role in creating a constitution. American Christians had nearly identical responses to the people of Iran.15
Mohammed’s teaching on women was
revolutionary for seventh century Arabia–
and for the rest of the world. He granted
women equal status with men, rights to family
inheritances, and fair treatment in the case
of divorce.
In addition to misperceptions about what mainstream Muslims believe about jihad and Sharia law, most Americans seem completely in the dark when it comes to understanding the role of women in Islamic society. Most are aware of the voting and driving restrictions on women in Saudi Arabia that were in place until very recently. They know about religious police enforcing the proper dress of women in Iran. They have seen the images of women wearing full-body garments with only a mesh opening for vision in the oppressive heat of Afghanistan. But most seem ignorant of the fact that over the last few years, as Aslan states, the Islamic world has produced more female presidents and prime ministers than both Europe and North America combined.16
We have already seen that Mohammed himself was quite secure in the presence of strong women. We’ve learned that his first wife was fifteen years his senior and a prominent member of Mecca’s elite merchant community. His youngest wife, Aisha, apparently had no problem standing up to Mohammed. Far from having a submissive role in a male-dominated society, in the famous “Battle of the Camel,” the camel was Aisha’s as she passionately led the army into the fray. Mohammed’s teaching on women was revolutionary for seventh century Arabia–and for the rest of the world. He granted women equal status with men, rights to family inheritances, and fair treatment in the case of divorce.
Over time, the teaching of the various legal scholars throughout the world of Islam would follow regional cultural norms more than the example of Mohammed. For this reason, even today there is huge variety in the role and rights of women in Muslim-majority countries. While in Wahhabi-ist Saudi Arabia, women have been forbidden to drive until very recently, in neighboring United Arab Emirates, women are allowed to be commercial and military pilots. An October 2014 CNN story told about Major Mariam al-Mansouri, a “highly trained, combat ready pilot,” who even led a strike mission against ISIS positions in Syria.17
In Afghanistan, Iran, and Saudi Arabia many women wear full-body burqas in public. In Turkey, it’s a different story. My friend Dilara is the general manager for a Turkish high-tech company in partnership with a company located in the Middle East. When not running the business on-site, she travels the world engaging with executives of other companies. She has a daughter living in the US, so visits the states a couple times per year. An ultramodern woman with short cropped hair, she does Pilates daily, avoids red meat, has a housekeeper, and enjoys the finer things of life. Also from Turkey, Aysun and her sister, whom I mentioned in the discussion about the Five Pillars, love going to the nightclubs in San Diego. Aysun is naturally blonde and, when dressed to the nines, she and her sister look just like all the California girls at the clubs. They love a night on the town with good food, music, and dancing.
Nine Muslim women have been heads of state, with the women leaders of Mauritius, Bangladesh, and Kosovo in power as of early 2018. Megawati Sukarnoputri was president of the largest Muslim country in the world, Indonesia, leading over two hundred million Muslims. Bangladesh has had two female prime ministers.
In a wonderful TED talk entitled, “How Women Wage Conflict without Violence,” filmmaker Julia Bacha cites a study conducted by Maria Stephan and Erica Chenoweth, documented in their book, Why Civil Resistance Works. In their study of the major nonviolent and violent conflicts that took place between 1900 and 2006, they found that nonviolent campaigns were more than twice as effective in producing the desired changes.18 Bacha cites the research of Victor Asal, who indicates a major factor in the choice to use nonviolent resistance as a means of producing political change is whether women are allowed to play key roles in the public life of the society.19 When will the war on terror end? Perhaps when the nations of the West have as many women heads of state as the Muslim world does.
The portrayal of Muslim women in the US media is almost exclusively an image of oppression and victimization. Esposito and Mogahed reference a recent survey of all photographs of Muslims in the American press. The survey revealed that three out of every four photographs of Muslim women showed them in a passive role. Compared to photographs of Muslim men, there were six times as many images of women who were portrayed as victims.20
Victim images of Muslim women were reinforced by Laura Bush, not long after her husband invaded Afghanistan. In a November 17, 2001 radio address on PBS, the First Lady declared that “because of our recent military gains in much of Afghanistan, women are no longer imprisoned in their homes. They can listen to music and teach their daughters without fear of punishment. The fight against terrorism is also a fight for the rights and dignity of women.”21
In late 2015, I tuned into a prime-time CNN interview with Reza Aslan. Aslan was invited to the program as a subject matter expert for questions relating to Islam. “Does Islam Promote Violence?” was written in large block letters at the bottom of the screen as the segment began. They first played a clip from the Bill Maher show in which Maher, pausing for dramatic effect, states, “Not only does the Muslim world have something in common with ISIS, it has too much in common with ISIS,” virtually equating the Muslim world with the Islamic State terror group. The lead interviewer next stated that Maher had gone on for five minutes talking about circumcision for women and not respecting the rights of women and then asked Aslan for his response. The dual CNN anchors then took turns interrupting Aslan while he was explaining that female genital mutilation (FGM) is not part of Islam, and that there have been seven female heads of state in Muslim countries. They kept trying to bring the conversation back to FGM in Somalia and voting restrictions in Saudi Arabia as if this represented the norm. Even in the presence of a religious scholar telling them otherwise, the prime-time news anchors were already convinced that Muslim women are victims of repression and violence. And if CNN is telling this story, what story are Fox News and Breitbart telling?
Fortunately, there are data to counterbalance the non-factual rhetoric that floods the airwaves. On the subject of higher education, while the countries of Brazil and the Czech Republic show 4 percent and 11 percent respectively for the number of women pursuing education after high school, in Iran more than half of college students are women. In Egypt, Jordan, and even restrictive Saudi Arabia, the numbers are in the 30 percent range.22
Since the colonial era, the Western world has been obsessed with the dress of the women of Islam. From the hijab to the burqa to the burqini, Westerners have long seen the modest dress of Muslim women as a symbol of oppression. But what do Muslim women think? When asked to compare themselves to women of the West, a common response was that it was the women of the Western world who lacked self-respect and submitted to the will of men in their style of dress. Esposito and Mogahed point out, “In both cases, the assumption is that women are either covering or uncovering to please or obey men.”23
Rather than being sources of repression,
Muslim women see Sharia law and the
teachings of Islam as means of protection
from male-dominated government
and culture.
What about Sharia law? When a woman from Islam’s mainstream thinks of Sharia law, contrary to what we might first think, she actually thinks of it in a positive light. In a family law context, Sharia provides a layer of financial protection for women. In one example of Islamic jurisprudence, Esposito and Mogahed point out that a woman is never legally responsible for supporting herself or anyone else, even if she is wealthy. This being the case, brothers receive double the inheritance of the daughters upon the passing of their parents. A woman is free to have a job, but never obligated to work. Her closest male relative is obligated to provide for her. Under this framework, the man is legally responsible for providing not only for his immediate family, but also for any women in his extended family who lose their source of support through death or divorce.24
Examples such as this help us to understand why 81 percent of Iraqi women answered that religious authority should play a direct role in the creation of family law.25 In fact, when queried about what is the most important thing to advance the progress of Muslim women, the answer most frequently given was “attachment to their spiritual and moral values is critical to their progress.”26 In African nations where female genital mutilation is practiced, Muslims agree that this is irreconcilable with the teaching of Islam.
Rather than being sources of repression, Muslim women see Sharia law and the teachings of Islam as means of protection from male-dominated government and culture.
What about Muslim men? Do they feel that women’s rights should be restricted in comparison to their own? With regard to voting rights, 87 percent of men in Iran are in favor of women being allowed to vote. Even in Saudi Arabia, where women were restricted from voting at the time of the survey, 58 percent of the men were in favor of women being allowed to vote. In virtually every country surveyed, clear majorities of the men answered that women should be able to work in any field for which they are qualified.27 In further data analysis, Gallup found that there was no correlation between the religious commitments of Muslim men on either side of this issue. Such data reveals that restriction of women’s rights in Muslim countries is not due to the teachings of Islam.28
When it came to those who committed honor killings, in the country of Jordan, 69 percent did not perform their daily prayers and 56 percent did not perform the fast of Ramadan. In fact, many had histories of violent behavior. Thirty-five percent had already served sentences for previous crimes, 32 percent were illiterate, only 4 percent had attended college and 24 percent were brought up in broken homes.29 Clearly, something other than the teaching of Mohammed had driven these men to murder their own female relatives.
The Gallup survey results presented by Esposito and Mogahed paint a substantially different picture of today’s Muslims than Bill Maher and CNN. And every Muslim I meet seems only to confirm their conclusions. There is Mohammed, a young, intelligent PhD software engineer from the resort city of Agadir in Morocco. We met at an international social event in San Diego a couple of years ago. He was excited about my book project from the beginning. When I told him the title of the book, his eyes got big and he told me about his American workmates. They had confronted him about why Muslims had an inherent and violent anger towards the USA. Mohammed was very proud to tell me that, on the contrary, Morocco was the first country to recognize the United States as a nation when we declared independence. He is equally frustrated with the US media as he is toward the radical imams who violate the Quran and recruit terrorists, and with their ignorant followers who are “too lazy to study the Quran for themselves.”
Mohammed got impatient with me when I asked him about women wearing the hijab. “Morocco is a free country. If they want to wear it they wear it, and if not, they don’t,” he quipped. Always quick to respond to my questions with substantive answers, Mohammed knows the Quran, and prefers not to focus on rules, but on the heart of Islam and the principles behind the rules.
Or what about Rashid, whom I met in Grand Junction, Colorado when I was there for my father’s hip replacement surgery a couple of summers ago? I ran across the street from the cheap hotel where I was staying to have dinner at a local restaurant. I sat down at the bar next to a Middle Eastern looking young man, always looking for opportunities to interact with Muslims. Rashid was an engineering student from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a small country on the southeastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula. Rashid stayed permanently at the cheap hotel right next door to mine, and all his schooling expenses were paid by his father. I was a bit curious about his choice for housing. Surely there must be less expensive and more convenient options near the university where he studied. I don’t remember much about the conversation except him telling me when he was traveling in the Middle Eastern countries lacking oil revenues such as Jordan or Lebanon, the locals could always spot travelers from the Gulf States and tried to charge them extra for taxi rides and other services.
What I do remember is after we had dinner, exchanged phone numbers, and then left for our hotel rooms, before I reached my room, I received a somewhat shocking text message from Rashid, propositioning me for sex.
The vast majority of Muslims are concerned
with the same things we are concerned with
… Like us, they have hopes for a bright future
for their children.
Or my good friend Fayaz Nawabi, who came to the United States from Afghanistan as a refugee. As he was growing up in the US, he had difficulty adjusting to the various moves and life changes. He became angry and rebellious, and even started a gang in his middle school. He is a born leader. Amazingly, by the age of thirteen he had memorized the entire Quran. At the same time, he loved sports and often listened to sports radio and was a frequent call-in participant known as “the kid.” After stints as an ESPN radio producer and at an investment banking firm, Fayaz became discontent with the corporate world and went back to school. He studied public administration and city planning at San Diego State University, with an associate’s degree in Japanese thrown in for good measure. He has developed a keen interest in politics, and you will find him all over the place in the San Diego local political scene. He continues to serve as a part-time imam for several of the mosques around town. Watch for Fayaz to emerge on the larger political scene—he recently ran for a seat on San Diego’s City Council.
The vast majority of Muslims are concerned with the same things we are concerned with. They are city council candidates, accountants, software engineers, and struggling students. They are at varying places on the sexuality continuum. They are fleeing homes they have had in their families for generations, under waves of violence—desperate for a breath of peaceful air. Like us, they have hopes for a bright future for their children. And they have no interest in strapping on a vest full of explosives and detonating it in a crowd of Americans.
But what about 9/11? George W. Bush, Donald Trump, and much of America seem to be mystified about why Islamic extremists are compelled to commit acts of terror against American citizens.
We’re about to go behind the curtain and shine a light on the ominous dark power of Islamic terror.
CHAPTER 3 NOTES
1. Pew Research Center, Mapping the Global Muslim Population (October 7, 2009), http://www.pewforum.org/2009/10/07/mapping-the-global-muslim-population/.
2. Aslan, 158.
3. Esposito, 76.
4. “About 465 thousand Persons Were Killed and 6 Years of the Syrian Revolution and More than 14 Million Were Wounded and displaced” Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (March 13, 2017), http://www.syriahr.com/en/?p=62760.
5. Kelsey D. Atherton, “thermobaric Bombs and other nightmare Weapons of the Syrian Civil War,” Popular Science (October 5, 2016): 4, https://www.popsci.com/thermobaric-bombs-and-other-nightmare-weapons-syrian-civil-war.
6. “Syria: Stories behind Photos of Killed detainees,” Human Rights Watch (December 16, 2015), https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/12/16/syria-stories-behind-photos-killed-detainees#.
7. Hugh McLeod and a reporter in Syria, “Syria: How It All Began” PRI (April 23, 2011), https://www.pri.org/stories/2011-04-23/syria-how-it-all-began.
8. Haeyoun Park and Rudy Omri, “US Reaches Goal of Admitting 10,000 Syrian Refugees. Here’s Where they Went,” New York Times (August 31, 2016), https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/08/30/us/syrian-refugees-in-the-united-states.html.
9. Christopher Mathias, “A Pastor Who Said Islam Is ‘Evil’ Is Speaking at trump’s Inauguration,” Huffpost (January 18, 2017), https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/franklin-graham-islamophobia-trump-inauguration_us_587e3ea5e4b0aaa369429373
10. Dan Evon, “Pat Robertson Comments on Orlando Shooting,” Snopes (June 15, 2016), https://www.snopes.com/news/2016/06/15/pat-robertson-orlando-shooting-comments/.
11. John L. Esposito and Dalia Mogahed, Who Speaks for Islam? (new York: Gallup Press, 2007), 62.
12. Esposito and Mogahed, 94.
13. Esposito and Mogahed, 21.
14. Esposito and Mogahed, 69.
15. Esposito and Mogahed, 49.
16. Aslan, 72.
17. Dana Ford, “UAE’s First Female Fighter Pilot Led Airstrike against ISIS,” NN (October 9, 2014): 13, https://www.cnn.com/2014/09/25/world/meast/uae-female-fighter-pilot/index.html.
18. Julia Bacha, “How Women Wage Conflict without Violence,” TED: Ideas Worth Spreading (June 1, 2016), https://www.ted.com/talks/julia_bacha_how_women_wage_conflict_without_violence/transcript?language=en.
19. Bacha.
20. Esposito and Mogahed, 100.
21. Esposito and Mogahed, 101.
22. Esposito and Mogahed, 103.
23. Esposito and Mogahed, 110.
24. Esposito and Mogahed, 119.
25. Esposito and Mogahed, 113.
26. Esposito and Mogahed, 113.
27. Esposito and Mogahed, 121.
28. Esposito and Mogahed, 123.
29. Esposito and Mogahed, ___. [need page number]