In responding to the ghastly terrorist attack
on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon (and the continuing conflicts in the
Middle East), Americans need to know more
about Islamic religion, culture, and history in order to be able to distinguish
between the guilty (a renegade terrorist organization) and the innocent
(the vast majority of Muslims in North America and around the world), and
to understand the reasons for the anger and frustration with American policy
overseas that Osama bin Laden and other anti-American Muslim militants
have tapped and exploited.
In particular, Americans must avoid demonizing
Muslims in general as "the enemy" or as an "evil empire." The links
below show that Islam is not inseparable from anti-American militancy,
and that most Muslims stand for peace.
N.B. The
views expressed in the documents linked below are not necessarily mine
or those of Washington and
Lee University, nor are they meant to represent the full range of positions
on these issues. They were selected for being clear and (more or
less) temperately expressed, or as likely to help readers understand the
views of Muslims and other interested parties. - Tim
Lubin [ South
Asia Links ]
For statements by U.S. Muslim groups condemning
the attacks, and general information on Islam:
Muslims
Against Terrorism (archived
site; now defunct) . . . and an article on it in
The Jewish Week
"Scholars
of Islam speak out against terrorism; clarify position of Islam"
Web
Resources for the Study of Islam (Dr. Alan Godlas, University of Georgia)
Islam
@ Religioustolerance.org
For public responses of Islamic organizations,
leaders, scholars, and news media:
Column by Prof.
Ali Khan (Washburn Univ. School of Law):
"Attack
on America: An Islamic Perspective" (in Jurist: The Legal Education
Network, Univ. of Pittsburgh)
Essay by Prof.
Abdulaziz Sachedina (University of Virginia):
"Where
Was God on September 11?"
(in the University
of Virginia Center for South Asian Studies Newsletter)
Islamic
Circle of North America
Includes many links, including opinions from
two well-known Islamic scholars on the WTC tragedy:
Sheikh
Yusuf al-Qadarawi and Sheikh
Muhammad Yusuf Islahi
"Muslim
clerics say attacks in US are un-Islamic" : Views of Sh. al-Tantawi
and Ayatollah Fadlallah
Al-Islam.org
, with an essay by Prof. Seyyid Hossein Nasr, "Islam
and the Question of Violence" and the organization's "Categorial
Condemnation of Crimes Against Humanity"
The
Lahore [Pakistan] Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam website with a message
of sympathy; see also:
"The Truth Unveiled"
Canadian
Council of Muslim Women
Palestine-Net.com
, a website devoted to Palestinian affairs
Links
to further organizations (list of Prof. Amir Hussain, CSUN)
Al-Ahram
Weekly (Cairo): "US TRAGEDY: The fall-out"
Specially Notable:
Afghani Perspectives:
Revolutionary
Association of the Women of Afghanistan: statement on the terrorist
attacks
The
Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan was founded
in 1977 by a woman named Meena. RAWA fought the Russian invaders of Afghanistan
and their local client regime. Meena was assassinated at the age of thirty
in 1987. It has also been fighting the fundamentalists, including the current
ruling Taliban group in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Aside from concern
for the lives and livelihood of innocent Afghan civilians, RAWA probably
also expects that a US attack may strengthen local support for the Taliban
government. [ See the
RAWA
website. ]
- Vincent K Pollard, University of Hawai'i at Manoa (reproduced from H-ASIA)
SEE ALSO:
"RAWA
questions Bush's war threats", by Prof. Vincent Pollard
(Ka
Leo O Hawaii, 21 Sept. 2001) |
An article by
Tamim Ansary, an Afghani intellectual living in the U.S. for 35
years: "An
Afghan-American speaks" [from Salon.com]
Speech
by Taleban Ambassador Syed Rahmatullah Hashimi on March 10, 2001 at
the University of Southern California
For background information on Islamic militancy,
Pan-Islamism, and Palestine:
"The
Revolt of Islam," by Bernard Lewis (The New Yorker, 19 November
2001, pp. 50-63)
"What
Terrorists Want," by Nicholas Lemann (The New Yorker, 29 October
2001, pp. 36-41)
and
other
New
Yorker articles on the attacks.
Islam
Links from PBS
"The
Most Wanted Man in the World" (from TIME.com)
Overview of declassified US government
documents related to American policies in Afghanistan,1973-1990
(from The National
Security Archive , George Washington University)
Russian
Documents on the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan (from the Cold
War International History Project)
Palestine,
region, Asia. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001
On the Arab-Israeli conflict (with
a focus on the Palestinian situation):
Teaching
the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, 2nd ed. (1993), by Ronald Stockton
(University of Michigan-Dearborn).
Salman
Rushdie interviews Edward Said, Prof. of Comparative Literature at
Columbia University and prominent spokeman of the Palestinian cause (video
file), author of After the Last Sky: Palestinian Lives (1986), an
eloquent advocacy of the Palestinian cause, with photos by Jean Mohr
The
Edward Said Archive (TESA)
A Jewish viewpoint:
"Where
the Violence Comes From," by R. Michael Lerner, Editor, Tikkun Magazine
What is "Fundamentalism"? Attempts
at definition:
"Fundamentalism"
(from The
Religious Movements Homepage @ The University of Virginia )
"Fundamentalist
Islam at Large" by Martin Kramer (Middle East Quarterly, June
1996), available on-line from International
Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism
On foreign policy considerations ("What
do we do now?"):
Dr.
Hasan-Askari Rizvi speaking at Columbia University (23 Jan. 2002) on Pakistan's
actions against Islamic militancy before and after Sept. 11 (Real video
file)
"UN
Gearing for Humanitarian Catastrophe in Afghanistan" , a report of
the Global Policy
Forum
"US
Retaliation - The Hopes and Fears of Asia" (from AsiaInt: Weekly Alert,
24 Sept. 2001)
"America's
Crisis: Asian Perspectives" (from AsiaSource)
"The
Algebra of Infinite Justice," by Arundhati Roy (from the Guardian,
29 September 2001)
Reprisals against Muslims in the U.S.:
In
the News [The Pluralism Project, Harvard University]
Cases
of backlash (from Religioustolerance.org)
For a summary of the inflammatory remarks
made by Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson:
"Verbal
assaults . . . by Fundamentalist Christian leaders" (from Religioustolerance.org)
Other Resource Collection Websites:
Afghanistan,
the Taliban, and the US: selected internet resources (University of California,
Berkeley)
September
11 Web Archive (Library of Congress / Internet Archive /
webarchivist.org / Pew Internet & American Life Project)
Afghanpedia
/ Sabawoon Online
Institute
for Afghan Studies
____________________ Timothy
Lubin, Associate Professor
Deptartment
of Religion
Washington
and Lee University
Lexington, VA 24450 USA
last modified: 22 February 2006
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