Reply #5: I am a Muslim [View All]

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

and I don't condone the acts of terrorists. However, I have been confronted with hostility and hatred; after 911, my husband's life was threatened by people who considered themselves "patriotic Americans" who "knew exactly what we believed." I'm not sure what you mean by "western liberal values"-if by that you mean the illegal invasion of a country, holding people without a writ of habeus corpus, torturing people, or enacting legislation that favors the rich while taking away social supports for the poor, no, I don't agree with them. If you mean seperation of church and state, respect for the complete spectrum of belief, the right for non-violent protest, then I agree with you-as do every Sufi and other Muslim I know in this country.

I come here for information and to give information, but what I have encountered recently is hostility to posts, apparently based solely on my religious beliefs. What I am trying to do is to build bridges, to help foster understanding. At times, I feel that there are some here who are not interested in this. If you are one of these people, then I guess our conversation is over.