Can a Muslim be a Good American?
By Mark Siljander

The title above is the head of an email I have repeatedly received from concerned friends. That particular letter is not unique among the hundreds of perhaps well-intended books, articles, emails, and videos condemning Islam, often from Christian authors. They warn us that “radical Islam” is intent on dominating the world, destroying Israel and our Western way of life. While I will not debate their findings, we must first stop and realize that these tactics operate from a “bad news” spirit of fear.  Meanwhile, the Bible tells us not to fear 200 times. Can we truly share the message of “Good News” while basing our sense of reality in fear?

Like the author of the e-mail, I too am upset that the Muslim radicals are winning the war on terror. The extremists are bankrupting us, radically altering our lifestyles, culture and politics. I am embarrassed that Westerners, especially Christians, are so terribly ignorant of Islam and only parroting what others have told them about the radicals. I am sick and tired of my inbox filling up with countless of these types of emails and my mailbox with DVDs, and having encounters with Christians whose only goal, it seems, is to frighten us with a paralyzing fear of the Islamic threat.

I am not an apologist for Islam, but the comments in many of these resources are for the most part, ignorant, reflect only the militant’s view or are simply wrong. Even if every point was 100% correct and once we are all in a state of fright, what do we do about it then? I have yet to read or hear of one rational strategy to thwart the dreaded onslaught. When confronted for solutions, my friends retort that we need to “beef up our military” and “convert Muslims to the Christianity.” Frankly, these have already been proven a failure.

I, and others like me (see WhyDoYouFearMe.com), are working towards a “Good News” approach for new solutions. The vast majority of Muslims are struggling to break the growing political grip of radicals with the power of a peaceful expression of their faith. The West’s hyper focus on radicals and fear-based approach only alienates and isolates them rather than empowering them. Many Christians understandably replay over and over the same videos and quotes of the murderous nuts and megalomaniacs, but then generalize that all Muslims follow the same narrow and murderous view of Islam. Perhaps we should replace our insecurity, fear and anger (that insults what the average Muslims cherish, i.e. their religion, holy book, prophet and traditions) with an emphasis on what we both value as positives and the good news of Jesus.

At the beginning of my journey learning about Muslims, I was shocked to find that Jesus is actually a prominent and supernaturally endowed Messiah in both Muslim and Christian traditions. Ironically, he can serve as a bridge to connect us, rather than divide.

The actual and historical distance between Christians and Muslims exacerbates the problem of misunderstanding. Much is lost when attempting to communicate across cultures. You have much more shared history and understanding with a family member than with a stranger. How vast is the potential for misunderstanding between people who are often continents away from each other, each with their own history and worldview.

Jesus used love as his strategy for change and inspired the largest people movement in history. This approach might actually attract more people to Jesus the Messiah, rather than perpetuating revulsion.

I am often challenged when I read Jesus’ teaching regarding love of neighbors. The lawyer in Luke 10 wished to justify his actions when he asked Jesus who his neighbor was. Instead, Jesus’ story of the merciful Samaritan showed that everyone is my neighbor. The bottom line in loving is to show mercy.

What does this mean for followers of Jesus as we discern how to respond to those of Muslim faith? Certainly there is much to discuss. Please join us in walking towards a rejuvenated Biblical strategy that embraces the hope and love proclaimed in the Good News–one that casts out fear.

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear is tormenting. He who fears is not made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:18)

“The gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.” (I Thessalonians 1:5)

I haven’t had guest bloggers in the past, but I thought this was worth
posting. Eboo wrote this for our www.whydoyoufearme.com website, but I
wanted to post it here as well.

Muslims Speak Out
by: Eboo Patel

I recently wrote a piece for USA Today where I expressed my strong opposition to Muslim extremists, my belief in American pluralism, and my desire to partner with Americans to defeat extremists and achieve pluralism. I got some interesting responses to this article.

One man commented: “The #1 argument we have against your people, referring to the non-violent amongst you, and that is as a whole, there is virtually nothing uttered which would condemn those in your ranks creating violence via killings and attempted ones. You all, again as a group, DON’T speak out against others of your ethnicity, possibly because of fear of retribution…but frankly, it does sicken us.”

It sickens me too.

As an American, as a father, violence like this sickens me – that’s why I wrote the op-ed.

But I know that I’m not the only Muslim who reacted this way. Outside that courthouse in Detroit when Umar Farouk Abdullmutallab was arraigned, were Muslims holding signs – signs like “Not in the Name of Islam,” “We are Americans,” and “Islam is Against Terrorism.” http://ow.ly/Z4qZ

And there are, in fact, a chorus of insightful, diverse Muslim voices speaking out against violence in the hijacked name of our religion. They don’t get as much attention in the media – so I’d like to point out a few.

Shahed Amanullah is an award-winning journalist, and editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com, an interactive news and discussion forum promoting a critical (and self-critical) analysis of issues regarding the Muslim community. There is much on AltMuslim that not only decries the violence addressed above, but also analyzes what we can do about it. Read this piece from Shahed on Confronting Radicalization Online. http://ow.ly/Z4uT

Reza Aslan, author of the widely read How to Win a Cosmic War is another Muslim who makes a point of speaking out on this issue. In a recent NPR interview, he pointed out the dissociation of radical Jihadists from Islam. http://ow.ly/Z4wL

“In fact, in many ways, you have to understand jihadism as an anti-clerical or anti-institutional movement. In fact, the jihadists define themselves in direct opposition to the traditional religious authorities –the imams of Islam. They find the traditional imams to be painfully out of touch. They believe the religious and political leaders of Islam have been adulterated or co-opted in some way.”

Finally, one of the best Muslim-authored pieces analyzing the Christmas Day violence, and offering further suggestions for the American Muslim community was Haroon Moghul for Religion Dispatches. http://ow.ly/Z4zh

“In both the case of the five young men who went from America to Pakistan and Umar Abdulmutallab, their own families warned the relevant authorities. Their actions argue that for all those who feel that acting violently redresses an injustice against the Muslim world, those near to them disagree enough to resist. Such a fracture within households suggests the intimacy and depth of the struggle, a battle that travels the Muslim world and unites it anew.”

It is my deepest hope that nothing like this ever happens again – but if it does, I know that my fellow Muslims will continue to speak out against those who commit violence in the name of Islam.