An example of my writing from BYU's newspaper, the Daily Universe:

As the 10^th 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.