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Islam Teaches Value of Human Life, Not Terrorism
One God, one nation, one people - what
happened last week? It’s unbelievable,
unspeakable and unfathomable. In the
most surreal sequence of events, we witnessed
the end to the lives of thousands.
As an American, I am appalled. Asa
Muslim, I am mortified. The
events that transpired were evil
and heinous. Unfortunately,
many Americans are still unclear
of what Islam teaches.
For the record, Islam supremely values
human life. “If one killed a human being ... it is
as if he has killed all of humanity. And if one
saved a life, it is as if he has saved all of human
ity” (Qu’ran, Chapter five, verse 32).
The value of one human being is equated
with all of humanity. Preliminary estimates
have it that 5,000 or so people died in
Tuesday’s attacks. This means that humanity
was killed 5,000 times over.
Muslims still smart from Oklahoma. A day
! ''
Good vs. Evil: The Choice
That Will Confront Us All
This evening is the start of the two-day Jewish holiday
of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year. Jewish stu
dents and guests will be gathering over the course of
these days at their home synagogues and at N.C. Hillel to
bring in the new year as a community.
The month leading up to the new year is
set aside as a time of personal reflection about
repairing the things that we did over the
Course of the past year that do not make us
proud and how we can rectify them. With the horrific
destruction of life in airplanes, the World Trade Center and
the Pentagon, the world is forced into communal reflection.
Jewish tradition holds that we are put on this Earth to make
a difference -a positive difference. One of the Jewish terms
for wrongdoing is chilul hashem - emptying the world of
God’s presence. Not only did the terrorists kill and injure inno
cents, not only did they make the entire world feel unsafe, but
they also committed a great chilul hashem, and their actions
have reverberations in every aspect of our existence.
The feeling of horror that I had upon hearing the tragic
news is not unfamiliar to me. I remember the years that I
lived in Jerusalem and the low level of constant fear of a ter
rorist attack that I felt any time I heard a truck door slam or
a sonic boom from an airplane overhead.
1 remember in 1995 when a sdcide bomber killed him
self and all of the other passengers on the No. 18 bus that
passed by my house. I remember my study partner being
called out of class later that day to be told that his friend was
on that bus and had been killed. I remember family mem
bers cdling frantically to find out if we were OK.
Now the phone calls are going the other direction. There is a
strange irony in getting phone calls from Israel to “check in”
after a terrorist attack. Back on American soil, I can say I
remember hearing the news of the attack on the World Trade
Center and watching the gruesome scenes throughout that day.
Now Americans and Israelis share the fear of terrorist
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after the bombing, headlines reported, “In the
Name of Islam.” Many Muslims were unfairly
harassed and threatened.
There are 10 million Muslims in this country.
Americans need to realize that Islam is not an
“over there” phenomenon. Islam is an
NOUMAN SIDDIQUI
Guest Columnist
When was the last time that the Ku Klux
Klan, with its cross as its emblem, served as a
symbol of Christian ideals? Why then should
any act of terror be equated with Islam? Even if
at times the perpetrators follow Islam, only in
name are they Muslim.
American Muslims are appalled, and we are
deep in mourning and prayer. Many innocent
people were killed Tuesday - many of whom
were also American Muslims.
Islam is a radically monotheistic religion.
attacks on our friends, family and children. We also share
the deep grief for those who have been killed. Perhaps now,
when Israel acts to eliminate terrorism from her midst in the
way that she deems appropriate, the world will be more
OR MARS
Guest Columnist
The diameter of the bomb was thirty centimeters
and the diameter of its effective range about seven meters,
with four dead and eleven wounded.
And around these, in a larger circle
of pain and time, two hospitals are scattered
and one graveyard. But the young woman
who was buried in the city she came from,
at a distance of more than a hundred kilometers,
enlarges the circle considerably,
and the solitary man mourning her death
at the distant shores of a country far across the sea
includes the entire world in the circle.
And I won’t even mention the crying of orphans
that reaches up to the throne of God and
beyond, making a circle with no end and no God.
The “bomb” in Amichai’s poem is a chilul hashem,
because it created “a circle with no end and no God." So did
the terrorists who attacked our country. This Rosh Hashana,
we should consider our ability as human beings to either
diminish or increase godliness in the world. That ability is a
gift that we must use as a blessing in our relationships with
others, as citizens of the United States and as humans.
Or Mars is the executive director at N.C. Hillel and can be
reached at http://www.nchillel.org.
cTltp laily (Ear Heel
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American phenomenon. Many
Muslims in this country were
bom here, and others have con
verted to Islam. All consider
America home.
understanding.
The great Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai long
ago wrote a poem called “The Diameter of the
Bomb.” It is all too appropriate for the events
of the last days.
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Viewpoints
Muslims dedicate their lives in submitting their
will and ego to that of the Creator. The term
Allah literally means “The God.” Muslims have
a very pure notion of God. Islam rejects any
other false god that we may erect: power,
money, status, ego, et cetera. In fact, Muslims
believe that the only true reality is God and that
all else is a relative reality that derives its real
form from God, “The True, Absolute Reality.”
Islam considers itself a way of life. Unlike
most religions, Islam recognizes war is unfortu
nately a necessary phenomenon of life and
therefore lays down the strictest criteria. What
is jihad? Jihad literally means struggle. Islam
does not endorse a holy war. Above all, there is
restraint and forgiveness. There are only two
situations in which Muslims are allowed to
engage in battle: 1) in the case of oppression or
2) in the case of religious persecution.
When in batde, Muslims must abide by the
strictest code of conduct. Muslims can only
strike down the oppressor. The elderly, children
As Flames Are Put Out,
Many Questions Linger
Where were you the day peace was shat
tered? When four planes fell out of the
sky and into our nation’s collective
memory forever?
You were skipping class. You were rolling out
of bed. You were driving to work.
Then you heard the news, and you watched,
appalled, as innocent people jumped to their
deaths from the top stories of the World Trade
Center, not waiting for the towers’ inevitable
plunge to bury them.
You frantically raced through your New York
and Washington, D.C., connections, wondering if
you knew someone - anyone at all - who might have been
in the paths of those planes. You prayed you didn’t. You saw
New Yorkers racing from hospital to hospital, looking for
any sign of their loved ones. There were few that found any.
And then the stories and connections began to surface: a
brother’s girlfriend who just got a job at Cantor Fitzgerald.
A former teacher on his way to Los Angeles from Boston. A
classmate whose mother worked at the Pentagon.
Through the week, the stories began to fit together seam
lessly like so much broken glass in a mosaic. The mortar
that held them together was uncertainty and death.
So you reached out for those you love. You called your
parents. You hugged your significant other a litde longer
than usual. And you mourned the loss of 5,000 people you
didn’t even know.
And where are you now? Who axe you now?
The sky is still the same deep blue that perversely showed
off the brilliant oranges and reds of Tuesday’s explosions.
We are on the same soil - ground that until Tuesday we con
sidered invincible and unpenetrable. But we are not the
same nation anymore. And you are not the same person.
We are now a people preparing for war, mentally and
physically. We are a country whose leadership is determined
to dig out the terrorists from their holes and kill them before
they kill any more of us.
Hard Lessons From the Crudest
Teacher: What Have We Learned?
Though an unexplainable and
heart-wrenching tragedy has
shaken our nation this week, we
can come out stronger as a nation, as a
government and as individuals. We can
come out victoriously
only if we can leam
some valuable lessons
from this terrible attack
and change our ways.
We cannot let even one death be in
vain. We cannot turn off the television
because we are afraid of the utter
depression that can set in. We must not
shrink away from pain but mourn with
those who mourn. How easy it is to
block out what happened, like it’s all a
bad dream and maybe tomorrow when
we wake up, it will be gone. No,
instead we must leam from this.
Starting with lesson one: We must
not forget what has happened. “Guard
yourself and guard your soul carefully,
lest you forget the things your eyes
saw, and lest these things depart your
heart. And you shall make them
known to your children and to your
children’s children” (Deuteronomy
4:19).
Perhaps America has been awak
ened from its slumber in order to
defend the victims whom we have
unintentionally cast aside. Before Sept.
11, news reports of bombings, gunfire
and fatalities in Israel were just annoy
ing. Once you’ve seen one car
explode, you’ve seen them all, right?
And e-mail chains urging us to take
action against the brutal forces of the
Taliban and their cruel treatment of
women were easy to delete - after all,
who has time to read them?
But now the oppression, persecution
and evil that have been overlooked for
years in the Middle East has has banged
down the door and forced us to be
engaged. We have the opportunity now,
like never before, to partner with other
nations to seek justice not only for the
United States but also for all those
across the world who have suffered
under the rule of heartless offenders.
and women are not to be struck down. Nobility
and honor are the code. A tree cannot be
hacked down. The water cannot be polluted.
The harvests cannot be destroyed. The earth
cannot be scorched. Islam teaches, “Don’t
oppress and don’t be oppressed.”
A famous story that typifies this strict code of
conduct appears in the example of the Caliph
Ali. He was engaged in battle, and he had his
opponent pinned to the floor. As he was about
to deal the mortal blow, the opponent spit in
Ali’s face. Ali put his sword down and walked
away. The opponent asked, “Why didn’t you
strike me down when you had the chance?” Ali
said, “Before you spit on me, I was striking you
down because you were a perpetrator of
oppression and tyranny. After you spit on me, I
was striking you down out of anger and ego.”
Skyscrapers are a symbol of permanence and
security. To see the twin towers come down like
a stack of cards forces all of us to question our
sense of reality. There are many things we have
CATE DOTY
POINT OF VIEW
But how do we do this? Do we let
our forgiveness cover all the wrong
that has been committed, turn the
other cheek and vow for peace and
nonviolence? Or do we return hate for
hate and use our power,
money and whatever
means necessary to
destroy and kill?
Lesson two: We must
JULIE MANCUSO
Guest Columnist
understand the subtle differences
between revenge and justice. Webster
understood it, God understands it and
now, we must desperately seek to
understand it - lives depend on it To
seek revenge is to inflict harm, pain,
suffering or injury. To seek justice is to
pursue fairness and impartiality. While
the words can seem similar at first, a
second look can reveal much.
For example, just a few days before
Tuesday’s attacks, a Los Angeles man
was beaten severely by an angry mob of
more than 20 people. He was a tow truck
driver who had accidentally hit and
killed a 4-year-old boy riding his scooter.
As he got out of his truck, he was met
with a raging group of onlookers who
immediately began to attack him and
beat him so viciously, he needed hospi
talization and reconstructive surgery. Is
this justice or revenge? Was anything
gained by beating a man so violently?
Let’s be honest It is sickening to
watch Palestinians celebrating in the
streets with their kids cheering and smil
ing while Americans are weeping, and
children here are left fatherless or moth
erless. I am tom between emotions;
while I am enraged to see such vile dis
regard for the sanctity of life, I am also
grieved to see Palestinian children who
have been taught to hate Americans.
I think God sees a very similar
image when he looks at this place. He
too is enraged by injustice, but He is
also full of compassion and love. In
fact, it is this love that runs so strong
that causes him to administer justice
for his children. America should not
play the “tough guy” by blowing up
whoever or whatever we so desire.
Monday, September 17, 2001
taken for granted.
After I spoke at the peace vigil in the Pit last
week, a UNC freshman got up and told us how
she used to go to school three blocks from the
World Trade Center. She couldn’t believe the
pictures of her familiar surroundings converted
into an amphitheater of ash and smoke. Her
school is now a triage center.
We as Americans have become zombies -
robots with a fixed routine. It is only after such
catastrophic events that we feel how naked we
really are and begin to question our false sense
of reality.
Along with the shock and grief, there is also
a sense of what is real after all.
“Whatever is on the Earth will perish. And
the Face of your Lord full of Majesty and
Honor will remain forever" (Qu’ran 55.27).
Nouman Siddiqui is a former UNC School of
Medicine resident He can be reached at
siddioo2@mc.duke.edu.
But underneath this exterior of bravado and
emotional determination, we are terrified. Those
who work at the White House say they’re scared
to go back to work. They tremble at the sound of
a plane, any plane.
Many of us have turned off our TVs. There is
no news now - no stories of miraculous survival.
There is only the growing death toll, the grim
faces of families still grasping at hope for those
probably buried under the towers, and a govern
ment designing the kind of war it wants to fight
against an enemy we once thought invisible.
President Bush says this war will be the first of
the 21st century. But against whom will we wage it? A
region? A country? A religion? Will this be our generation’s
Vietnam, with Osama bin Laden’s operatives playing the
role of Charlie and innocent Afghans as the real victims?
So much uncertainty. So much death. The potential for so
much more. And in the face of this horrific bleakness, who
are you now?
You are afraid of war -and yet, privately or publicly, you
push for the slaughter of those who killed so many. You are
an American who, until Tuesday, had not considered what
being an American meant. You still reach for those you love,
but with increased urgency and warmth.
You don’t know how to ask your Muslim friends to stay
away from their mosques. You have seen what one form of
fanaticism can do, and you are frightened that another kind
-one that could strike much closer to home - will take
them away from you.
You are the person who lost a friend, a brother, a teacher.
But you are part of a nation that lost its innocence - that
dropped its guard and paid far too high a price.
And, horrified by what you have already lost, you are ter
rified of the toll we will extract from others.
Cate Doty is a senior history and journalism and mass com
munication major. She can be reached at doty@email.unc.edu.
God and His scales of justice should be
the standard by which we act. Do not
be misled. God is not weak, helpless or
afraid. He detests acquitting the guilty
and condemning the innocent
Therefore, lesson three: Asa nation
and as individuals, we must humble
ourselves and seek wisdom from our
provider. God told his followers, “If
my people, who are called by my
name, will humble themselves and
pray and turn from their wicked ways,
I will come and heal their land.” We
must pray that those God has placed in
charge will seek Him for direction and
decisiveness, so that everyone will ben
efit from their decisions.
Finally, perhaps the most important
lesson to be learned from last week’s
evil is that tomorrow is guaranteed to
no one. Yes, this means we should be
the best citizens we can, conveying our
love for others everyday in words and
in deed. But it goes deeper than that.
We must be ready. Whether we want
to think about it or not, we must be
prepared for what lies beyond this life.
The Bible speaks of life as a mist that
appears for a little while and then van
ishes. While we should not fear death,
we must seek to understand and be
assured of our destination if death
should come knocking soon.
This nation can come out stronger
than ever before, but we must not live
in hate or anger, nor should we live in
fear. We must not become desensitized
or displace our pain on Arabs of any
kind, especially here at home.
Righteousness can prevail if we seek
to leam from our mistakes and the mis
takes of others. As the disciple Paul
told the church at Corinth, “We are
hard pressed on every side, but not
crashed; perplexed, but not in despair;
persecuted, but not abandoned; struck
down, but not destroyed.”
Leam, America. Leam.
Julie Mancuso is a senior journalism
and mass communication major. She can
be reached at mancuso@email.unc.edu.
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