Part of Islamic teachings is mutual respect and acceptance, according to Hussam Ayloush, a speaker at the Islam in America symposium in Bozeman in February and a Muslim-American from Anaheim, Calif.
Some Muslims disagree with American policies, Ayloush said, but that doesn’t mean they hate Americans. “There are lines by the thousands in Muslim countries for visas to come to America,” he said. “People are proud to visit here. There’s no shame — it’s the opposite.”
MSU Adjunct Professor Thomas Goltz has spent years traveling in Muslim countries. “I have never, not once, felt uncomfortable going around the Muslim world because they were Muslim,” he said.
Professor of Islamic Civilization Mehrdad Kia said the Muslims on campus at the University of Montana have been nothing but grateful to America.
“One thing I can generalize is overwhelmingly they love this town and this university,” he said. “This is the means through which they start a new life in their country.”
The root of the word Islam is the Semitic “slm,” meaning submission to a higher power.
Ayloush explained that al-Qaida is so unwanted in Muslim countries the terrorist organization must hide. “Eight out of 10 victims (of al-Qaida) are Muslim,” he said. “Every political leader has spoken out against (them).”
Terrorists are perceived unfavorably by the majority of Muslims, MSU graduate Raima Amin said.
“It’s a common misconception that Muslims condone terrorism, but in reality the majority of Muslims are peace-loving citizens who hate such acts, especially when they are wrongfully associated with Islam,” she said.
A recent Gallup poll, which surveyed 50,000 Muslims in 35 countries, showed that only 7 percent supported the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
“What was more surprising to many, was that among this 7 percent ‘extremist’ population, the majority cited their hatred of the U.S. on disagreement with political ideologies, U.S. foreign policies towards Israel, etc.,” Amin said. “They did not cite Quranic verses or Islamic teachings in their support of such terrorist acts. This further proves that Islam can in no way rightfully be associated with violence, terrorism or other harmful actions.”
Amin said most Islamic scholars agree the hijab — a scarf covering the woman’s hair — is mandated by Islamic law but not forced, while the burqa — which covers everything but the woman’s eyes — is a step above that.
“We believe God asked us to dress modestly to force others to judge us not by our bodies, but by our hearts and minds.”
The oppression of women in some countries that is widely criticized and associated with Islam, she added, actually has nothing to do with their Islamic-influenced dress and everything to do with the culture they were born into and the misguided members of society who may claim to do things in accordance with Islam, while their actions have no base in Islamic teachings.
Muslims worship Allah, which is the standard Arabic word for God.
It is against the Muslim religion to worship Muhammad, Ayloush said.
One of the Five Pillars of Islam is repeating the shahada, which can be translated as: “There is no God but God, and Muhammad is the prophet of God.”
“Jihad” is a term used to describe “inner struggle” and striving for the sake of God, according to Ayloush. It is “not holy war,” Ayloush stresses.
The inner struggle means controlling one’s passions and avoiding vices.
Arabic has no word for “holy war,” and the phrase was developed as a way to translate the word “crusade,” a Latin word and Christian idea.
The Quran surfaced about 1,400 years ago, Kia said, and there are no verses about the United States because the country did not yet exist.
The United States has gone to war in Afghanistan and Iraq because of those countries’ policies, not religion. They just happen to have a majority Muslim population, according to Kia.
The Sept. 11 attacks were committed by a minority group of extremist Muslims affiliated with the terrorist organization al-Qaida, which has small networks all over the world.
Christians have committed acts of terror both present-day and throughout history.
“The irony is that Christianity fought its holy war against Islam in the middle ages,” Kia said. “There was a Christian ‘holy war,’ there was a Christian ‘jihad.’”
There are terrorist organizations throughout the world. A full list of designated groups can be viewed at http://www.state.gov/s/ct/list/, and a list by country at http://www.cdi.org/terrorism/terrorist-groups.cfm.
The country with the largest Muslim population is Indonesia.
In a March 2009 Gallup Poll, 35 percent of Muslims in the United States were found to be African-American.
Kia said Muslim students at UM hail from Morocco, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Malaysia and parts of Central Asia.
Less than 20 percent of the 1.6 billion Muslims (according to a Pew study in 2009) in the world are Arab, Ayloush said. “It’s a religion,” he said. “Not an ethnicity.”