Understanding.

If you read the comment thread in the post below you read a Muslim from the Middle East comment there. I asked if I could e-mail her some questions and she agreed. I realize that this is but one Muslim, but she absolutely reaffirms to me what I believe to be the feelings of most Muslims. Hind is a devout Muslim from Muscat - Oman (but she is from the kingdom of Bahrain). She has never lived in the United States.

My commentary about the answers are in red.

RWsparkle-How do you feel about the clerics who preach so much hate for America?

Hind-I think they are damaging the way Islam looks.. & we Muslims dislike those people's actions more than any other person from any other Religion!

RWsparkle-Do you think most Muslims are afraid to speak out against the radical ones?

Hind-I don't think people are afraid simply not bothered or don't have enough knowledge to argue and that's why they stay quiet.

This has been what I thought as well. I don't think most Americans realize how most in the Middle East live. There is simply not the education and knowledge that is available here to understand what is going on in the world. They are busy living day to day. They wake up thinking about how to provide food for their family that day, not wondering how the world is judging Islam or even knowing how the world judges it. Most of us in the U.S. have the luxury to contemplate and argue about the world, they do not. (Hind, feel free to correct me if I am wrong) I would still imagine that in places like Iran, there is great fear in speaking out.

RWsparkle-Do you feel that the U.S. is a threat to the Muslim religion?

Hind-Why would it be a threat? Would the U.S. stop us from believing what we believe in?

RWsparkle- How do you see the West and the Middle East coming to terms with each other's differences?

Hind-I think they have to learn to tolerate eachother..why do they change us? And why do we have to convert them to Muslims?To each his own! But I personally don't know how it is over there, but what I know is that I bump into ALOT of Christians & to be more specific I bump into Americans everyday & they don't look away or even look at us as terrorists, & WE don't pull out our weapons or think of ways to kill them .. They live among us and I don't think they're facing any problems from us .. & neither do we!

RWsparkle-Would you rather live under Democracy or under Muslim Law? In other words, would you rather religion be a private thing instead of a governmental thing?

Hind-I think they should be balanced out & that we should be able to combine them for the good of the people.

RWsparkle- What do you see as the biggest misconceptions about Muslims?

Hind-Some people believe that all we Muslims do is think of ways to destroy non-Muslims, & that's really not close to being true!We live our lives just like any other person from any other religion.. We respect others and HATE the acts of those terrorists who speak by our name! And also one thing.. The fact that Islam is shown as a vulgar, and a disrespectful religion I think is the greatest misconception of all .. This image those Muslim terrorists have created DOESN'T & SHOULDN'T represent Islam in any way! And I do agree with the non-Muslims when they say that they're ignorant & shouldn't be given a chance, but I say it again "THEY" not "US" !

You see? I don't see this kind of person as someone we can't possible live with in this world. I have to believe that Hind is more the face of Islam than the hate preaching clerics and the violent crowds they show on TV. Think about the things that Muslims could see on TV about Americans. "The Jerry Springer Show" or "College Girls Gone Wild" or "Cops." They would see a sick drunken slutty ignorant redneck kind of America. And, sad to say, that is a part of America, but it isn't the majority of us (Thank God) So impressions from TV, even news, can be SO wrong. I think this is what has happened with our impressions of Muslims.

RWsparkle-What was your first thoughts on 9-11? Did you worry that Islam would be equated with the highjackers?

Hind-What happened in America that day was certainly a tragedy..Not only for Americans but for me too & for many Muslims that I know. Innocent people were killed there, so any person with a heart would've felt upset and angry that day. Especially us, because the moment we heard about it we knew that Muslims would be to blame..And it happened that the highjackers WERE Muslims .. So I have nothing to say to defend them but again I defend Islam .. Islam is being used in a horrible way by the people who call themselves "faithful" to Allah and Islam.. And as I heared someone once say "instead of using Islam as a tool to gain people's trust and friendship... They're using it as a weapon".

RWsparkle-How do you think most Muslims see America and it's people? (in general)

Hind-Well in general (as in what I see in my daily life) is that we get along so well, where I am at at least. And those who put that barrier between us are only those closed minded ones, which I personally haven't met any in my life yet! It may differ from a country to another... But I assure you that here it's not like most of the people over there think! ....

RWsparkle-How do you feel about the U.S in Iraq?

Hind-I think the US started something they cant finish.Because at the beginning I thought that their mission was to get rid of Saddam & let the Iraqis live at peace ....Well Saddam is gone but I still hear about people dying in Iraq.

I have to point out to Hind that if we had just left when Saddam was gone the insurgents/terrorists would have taken over and Iraq would be even worse off. We had to and have to stay long enough to train forces and make sure the Democratic process moved forward. This was not something Iraqis could have done on their own. It was also critical to the future. Remember who is doing the killing there. It is not us. It is the insurgents and terrorists. They have no regard for the life of even their own people. Would you really wanted the U.S. to leave the Iraqis at their hands????


RWsparkle-Can you understand how the Muslim religion might look oppressive to the U.S.?

Hind-Yes I do .. Because I KNOW that all America know about Muslims is what they see on news.. And news never talks about Islam.. But talks about racist religious Muslims & their attacks on innocent people..And about that, I want to mention a little story of my own that happened few years back. I was watching TV one morning,& as I was flipping through the channels, a crying man caught my attention on TV. I didn't know what it was about at the beginning, but later I realized it was about the terrorists in Iraq who threatened to behead their innocent hostages. This time their hostage was an American man, & that man crying was his son & his wife also was on, they were both pleading & begging to have the father and husband back home!! I was watching both of them crying & at the same time I watch the terrorists holding him hostage.. I NEVER in my life shed as much tears as I did that day!!! & after few days I heared that the terrorists have killed the man.. that father,that husband! That has hurt me so much.. I dunno if I cried out of sadness or out of anger!!!! But my whole point is that I felt angry and enraged, and I'm sure that for the Americans to see that they absolutely had a reason to hate Muslims and have the wrong idea about Islam..BUT I don't just say that those people don't deserve to be called "Muslims"..They don't deserve to be called "human beings"!!!! And I'm sorry they use our religion in that way..

I think one point Hind missed here was that the question was about the repressiveness of the Muslim religion in the eyes of the United States. The burkas, the role of women, the role of the government in regards to religion. It is our belief that it is never for the good of society for religion to govern us because of the simple fact that we are of all different religions or no religion. Religion can and should have a say, just as the non-religious voice does. But it should be the voices together that decide. This is what we do here in America. Sometimes it is messy, loud, and angry. But it is wonderful because it is free. Theocracy doesn't work, in our opinion, because faith should never be forced on anyone. It has to be freely chosen.

Regarding Hind's reaction to the killing of the hostage. It is my belief that good people are all the same under the skin they are in. We all feel compassion for those hurting, no matter how different they are from us.

This is the commonality that we need to work with and hold on to.