This week when the news broke that America’s most wanted terrorist of 10 years had been killed, like all Americans I was relieved. Osama bin Laden’s death symbolizes a lot of things for Americans. Patriotism. Relief. Justice. But for Muslim-Americans, it signifies the death of the man who in one day destroyed the image of Islam in the United States.
September 11th 2001 affected me in three ways: as an American, as a New Yorker, and mostly as a Muslim. As an American, I grieved with millions of others over the 3000 lives that had been lost that day. As a New Yorker, I was horrified that my home city had been subject to such a brutal and merciless attack. However, as a Muslim, I have been dealing with the consequences of 9/11 for ten years because Muslims all over the world were overshadowed by the extremists who took over as the new face of Islam.
Muslims have been subject to continuous abuse and attacks for the past decade. Islamophobia has become viciously prevalent in our society due to hateful and unjust commentary by politicians who use the fear of radicalism to create fear of the religion itself. Islam has been demonized to the point where it is acceptable and even encouraged to openly make anti-Muslim remarks as a campaign booster.
The extremists who hijacked our religion have made it harder to be a Muslim in today’s world. Every time I hear the news of bombings, the first thing I now think is, “Please don’t let it be a Muslim.” Every time I board a flight, I’m subject to random searches because of the color of my skin. When the topic of 9/11 comes up in conversation, I have to be extra careful with what I say because my words will be judged as those of a Muslim, not of an American.
I still remember watching the Twin Towers go down in smoke from the window of my school in Queens when I was 13 years old. I remember parents rushing to the school to pick up their children in panic. And I remember my mother refusing to let us out of the house in the following days because Muslims, both children and adults, were being attacked throughout the city. It was a scary time to be a Muslim, and the situation today hasn't improved much.
Bin Laden’s death does not change a much in the face of global terrorism or foreign policy. One man’s death does not justify the hundreds of thousands of lives that have been lost in the war against terror. In reality his death is nothing more than a reminder of all the lives that have been lost due to terrorism.
Yet, as I watched people on the news celebrating throughout the country in light of his death, one image stuck out to me. There was a brown-skinned man wearing a shirt that read, “I’m Muslim, Don’t Panic” waving an American flag. The crowds were cheering him on. This is the image of what bin Laden’s death symbolizes for me as a Muslim. I hope that people will begin to remember that we are Americans too, and we mourned on 9/11 just like everyone else.
