To the Editor:
It’s that time of year, when Labor Day passes and school traffic schedules take effect. In the midst of the post-summer hassle and bustle, September also begs our nation to reflect on a memory that still seems surreal. Coverage of the crumbling Twin Towers, debris, chaos, terror—seemed like a scene from an action movie and not something I should have been watching on the local news channel. Changed forever by this modern era Pearl Harbor, I have struggled to understand why and how. Over the course of the last 13 years I have also been forced to address the correlation of tragedy and terror with Islam. Being an American Ahmadi Muslim, I live the true teaching of Islam. The essence of my faith, Islam, which means peace in Arabic, can be captured in one phrase: “Love for all, Hatred for None” (the motto of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community).
America is called the land of the brave, so who is afraid of the unknown? Are we a society that is confined by stereotypes? Or are we willing to seek the truth? During an address, His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad, worldwide spiritual leader of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community said, “In order to see a religion’s beauties or defects, justice requires that you should make its teachings or its holy scripture the anvil by which to judge it, otherwise everyone would accuse every other faith willy-nilly.” On this anniversary of a scarring event, September 11th, take a vow to know more and dig a little deeper to uncover the truth. Make an effort to reignite the understanding and tolerance this country was founded upon.
Maliha Amjed Ahmed
Herndon