As
the 10th anniversary of 9/11 approaches my thoughts turn to what I
have learned over the past decade and how that has lead me to where I am today. The events of that infamous day have
directed me down my current path.
Before 9/11 I knew nothing about Islam or the Middle East, I had never heard
the name Osama bin Laden and in August of 2001 if you had asked my 14-year-old
self what I knew about the Middle East I would have said, “They have camels
there, right?”
I
am now a senior majoring in Middle Eastern/Arabic studies and I am currently
living in Amman, Jordan studying Arabic and while 9/11 isn’t the sole reason I
choose to focus on the Middle East in my undergrad it did introduce me to and
sparked my interest in the Arab world.
So now ten years later, how do I view the Middle East?
9/11
forced Americans into a world that many were unaware of, we had to learn new
words like Muslim, Imam, Quran, and Jihad. And for the most part in the news media these terms were used
as propaganda in a negative way.
I have learned there are always two sides to every story. The world became a much smaller place
after 9/11 and continues to become smaller and smaller everyday. We will have
no choice but to be in contact with the people of the world, people who have
different cultures, values and religious beliefs then our own.
Islamaphobia
became a big problem after 9/11, which was a result of the misunderstanding of
Islam and the fear of the unknown.
One must not forget that only about 1% of the over one billion Muslims
in the world are classified as extremists. What about the other 99%? What are their stories? By no stretch of the imagination do
I pretend to be an expert on the Middle East, but I have found that many times
the portrayal of Muslims in the media doesn’t reflect the majority of these
faithful people.
I have learned that we need
to understand the people who are different from us because how can we expect them
to understand our ways if we don’t try to understand theirs. In his book, Following Muhammad Carl W. Ernst declared, “If we are to construct
a vision of the world in which multiple cultures exist together without
confrontation or domination, it is necessary that non-Muslims should be able to
understand the perspectives of Muslims.” I would add that Muslims also need to
try and understand our perspectives; it’s a two-way street.
We need to seek to understand those
people around us. It is very easy to criticize something you don’t understand.
But if we put in the effort to get to know the strangers among us we will
better understand the world and will not be as hasty to judge or make
assumptions about people. This applies to all people who are different from us,
not just Muslims. The Lord told
the Israelis in the book of Deuteronomy to “Love ye therefore the stranger, for
ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.”
Steve
Stone the pastor of the Heart Song Church in Memphis Tennessee did exactly
that. Last year the Memphis Islamic
Center was building a new mosque just down the road from Pastor Stone’s
church. To the shock of many in
his community he posted on his reader board, “Memphis Islamic Center welcome to
the neighborhood.” When it became
clear that the mosque wouldn’t be completed in time for the start of Ramadan
Stone opened the doors of his chapel to his Muslim friends so they would have a
place to pray and worship during their holy month.
Living
here in the Middle East I am the “stranger”, and I hope that the people here
will seek to understand me in the same way I seek to understand them. I wish
that people could see the Middle East that I see, not the Middle East of the
talking heads on TV or that of the politicians in Washington but the normal
everyday people with their families who want nothing more to live their religion
and have joy as Nephi would say.
Through
my studies at BYU and here in Jordan I have earned a deep appreciation for the
beauty of Islam and the devotion of its adherents. Understanding somebody
else’s narrative can change the way a person views the world, because you get
to see it from their eyes. We cannot forget 9/11; it’s victims and how that day
impacted the world. We should use that impact for good, if we are ever to really
find peace and friendship, it is going to come from mutual respect and
understanding. It requires that we employ empathy first; then maybe we will bridge
the gap between them and us.
