By Saad Ahmad • May 23, 2010
The attempted terrorist attack on New York earlier this month has once again brought Muslims in the United States under a microscope. One positive aspect is that at least one Muslim group in the US, which happens to be one of the oldest in the US as well, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (www.alislam.org), has once again accepted the challenge of defending Islam. This time with a simple message to all the lunatics who want to abuse Islam for their political agenda: Love it or Leave it www.thefoxnation.com/culture/2010/05/05/us-muslims-finally-take-right-stand?page=2
Muslims all across US must take time to reflect. We must analyze if the mosques all across the US are trying to instill the Islamic injunction about loyalty to one's country among the youth. Quran clearly states in Chapter 4 verse 60 that it is the duty of every Muslims to follow the laws of the land where they live. In addition to this there are several verses in the Holy Quran that specifically tell Muslims to not create disorder. This raises a relevant question for the Muslims in the US, "Are we instilling these values in our children". We all get upset when fellow Muslims are humiliated at the airports or are subjected to profiling – question is what are we doing about it? We need to constantly remind our children and our youth that there must be no ambiguity in their minds about being loyal to the United States of America - under all situations. Muslim youth must not be confused on this issue and must know that the Holy Prophet (peace be on him) said "Loving one's country is part of the faith". Mosques all across the US must become beacons of patriotism and not question marks about their loyalty.
It is high time for all Muslims to join the efforts of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community in this regard. They must make a clear stand that only those are welcome in their mosques that have a clear and unambiguous loyalty to the United States and those who are confused about it should just leave us alone. We will all prefer if they just get out of our country. We must be grateful that Muslims enjoy more freedoms in US than any Muslim country in the world and in that respect US is the most Islamic country in the world. We can freely go to our mosques, offer our prayers anywhere and at any time, preach the message of Islam on any street corner, and tell our children about Islam without influence from the state. Forget the non-Muslim minorities; many Muslims do not enjoy these freedoms in the so-called Muslim countries. And then when we see lunatics take the name of Islam to threaten this land, all Muslims in US must be offended and take measures to rectify this.
We are fortunate that this great country allows us to organize and create change. If some Muslims are upset about some aspects of the US policies; there are ways to turn their passion into results that are legitimate and legal – but at no point should this question their loyalty to this great country. I pray that Muslims all across US make every effort to educate their fellow Muslims and the younger generation about this very important teaching of Islam.
Northwestern Community Columnist Saad Ahmad is originally from Pakistan and has been living in Wisconsin since 1990. He attended the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and then stayed in the area. He works as a computer software consultant.
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