>>Our final section I like to discuss,
and it's a topic that I've studied and I'm very engaged in as well,
which is the experience of Muslim Americans post 9/11.
Clearly, Abdullah, this was
a huge shock to all Americans but I think especially to Muslim Americans.
I'm wondering how this is going to impact their lives.
The fact that people in the name of Islam and practicing Muslims did this atrocity,
the attacks of 9/11.
How can you describe what the experience has been like for
the Muslim American trying to deal with this trauma over the last years?
>>You're absolutely right that neither American society in general nor American Muslims,
in particular, were ready for this crisis.
I don't know if anybody could be ready for this.
We caught complete unprepared.
American society at large knowing very little about Islam,
very little to none.
For the first time in such a major way,
they found out about this world religion through the evil destruction,
destructive legacy of the 9/11 and things after that.
Everything they heard about Islam has become,
has been through the 9/11 barbaric terrorist act
on our soil and the events followed 9/11.
And the Muslims in the United States six to eight million for
overwhelmingly upright citizens as they were
chasing the American dreams in many different forms and shapes.
They never thought their identities,
their religion, their theology, their names,
their history, their country of origin where they
themselves or parents came from would be at the center of attention.
In front of the spotlights, in front of,
subject to interrogation, suspicion,
distrust in such a major and large scale.
And we weren't prepared for this.
For the most part, the initial reaction has been shocked, dismay, disappointment,
a shattering of American dreams that they've been following in such a troubling way.
Because they came to this country for better education,
for better lives for themselves and for their loved ones.
The last thing they thought they were going to be was
wherever they are to explain and apologize
for things that some other Muslims
have done in the United States or some other parts of the Muslim world.
For the most part, Muslims have been caught like deers in front of the headlights.
And that still continues to be.
As to what happened in Boston,
the Boston Marathon terrorist event,
that was painful to see that that still is the case, partially.
After all these years,
after all these things that they've been trying to respond as American Muslim community.
There's still some sort of a shock dismay,
embarrassment not knowing what to do.
And between apology and explanation and also a sense of security that they feel,
Muslim community has been going through.
It hasn't been a very pleasant experience for
many Muslims to live in a post 9/11 United States, to say the least.
>>Well, describe some of
the discrimination that you feel that Muslim Americans are experiencing.
Not to compare the two,
but of course after,
during World War II we had a very terrible reaction
against the Japanese Americans being placed in internment camps.
I don't want to congratulate America for not doing that with
respect to Muslims but in some ways.
And the reaction of President Bush,
I think was very good in the immediate days after 9/11 and going out of
his way to say that this is Muslims are patriotic,
Americans and that no violence or retribution against Muslims are going to be tolerated.
The official response to 9/11 was nowhere near what had happened in World War II.
>>Absolutely.
>>Nonetheless, there has been discrimination both private and governmental.
Try to explain that.
>>Absolutely. Thank God, things have not gotten as
bad as what happened to Japanese Americans or Asian Americans.
But there were invitations,
there were calls from very high public officials and politicians.
Some congresswoman from North Carolina and
others they were basically at least entertaining the idea of discussing
the possibility of a similar reaction if there will be another 9/11 if there will be
continuation of terrorist acts
against Americans especially here in the United States etcetera.
But thank God, the society clearly learned its lessons from its past
and it's still healthy at its core that the reactions have been measured so far.
But since 9/11, especially immediately after 9/11,
so many American Muslim citizens,
American citizens those who are Muslim have been subjected to official interrogation,
detention, some of them
basically put on no fly zone which made their life completely miserable.
It affected their business, affected their lives.
The famous Sami Al-Arian case.
Even though, again, the numbers are not very big in the official discrimination sense,
but it was enough for
all I think American Muslim community to question their place in this society.
Question their ability to be as American
as an apple pie to be fully American citizens equal American citizens like others.
I don't know if you want me to give the statistics.
Just go to various human rights organizations or
the ACLU cases defending Muslims who are subjected to discrimination in the workplace,
discrimination in the public life,
the civic life etcetera.
>>I'm sure you've heard this discussion many times because I have many times.
You go and you speak at a non-Muslim audience about 9/11,
about terrorism and the non-Muslim audience will say,
"Why haven't the moderate Muslims come out and denounce terrorism?
Why don't they?" And then,
you go to talk to a group of Muslims and they say,
"All we do is denounce terrorism until we're blue in the face.
Why isn't anyone listening to us?"
I'm sure you've experienced this phenomenon.
>>Oh, yes.
>>What's going on? Why are the two sides
not communicating or are able to hear each other's message very well?
>>Well if you figure this out,
if you know the answer of this 'why' question,
you will do such a huge service to America and especially American Muslim community.
I used to feel extremely frustrated when I hear this call like,
"Where are the moderate Muslims?
Why are they not speaking against?"
Because as someone who is part of the American Muslim community and
know the American Muslim community quite well working with various local,
national organizations, that's all what we do.
That's all what we spend our energy, time,
money focus, and attention since 9/11.
I used to just want to just pull my hair and scream if one more person will say like,
"Where are the moderate Muslims?"
But I grew to understand that there is a major problem here,
the inevitable challenge and crisis.
Unfortunately, our war is our message,
the mainstream Islam and Muslims message is not
hurt by the larger American Muslim community.
And it's not entirely their fault.
>>You mean, the larger non-Muslim.
>>I mean, non-Muslim American, I'm sorry.
Larger American society at large.
Our message doesn't come across.
This has a lot to do with where American Muslim community is.
Even though six to eight million American Muslim society
in their reality they are very, very successful.
Their income rate average, their education average,
their integration level compared to
other similar immigrant communities they are a successful bunch.
But when our perception is so far from our reality,
we don't know how to bridge that gap.
We don't necessarily see the American Muslim communities not as American
as an apple pie in the sense that they have not established
themselves as like Catholic Americans and Jewish Americans.
Their presence in the American media,
American educational system, the American Civic Society is not there, unfortunately.
This is inevitable. This is nobody's fault that they are not able to
communicate their message to the larger audience,
their fellow Americans as successful as they should.
There is a very encouraging development and progress in that regard.
But we have-
