Keep your umbrella to yourself

I hesitate to publish this, even as I hit the button that will send these words into cyberspace...In fact, I've been sitting on it for weeks. But whatever. Haters, please don't send me 'anti-Islam' messages. And pundits, don't bother with the lecture on my lack of political savvy and patriotism. (If you're going to anyway...please check your spelling - it gets kind of tedious deciphering angry verbless prose, especially when it's full of typos.)

I'm American, and I'm also Muslim - recently converted to Islam out of love for my Persian husband, yes...but first and foremost out of my respect for the philosophy that is inherent in the faith.
Before you offer me your knee-jerk reactions to that statement, consider this: Islam shares the same basic tenets as Christianity, Judaism, and nearly all other major world religions. They're all essentially based on the same concept: love, forgiveness, compassion for others. Granted, some individuals have skewed the message of Islam into a bizarre and violent movement, but don't assume for even one second that just because I am Muslim, or anyone else for that matter, that these negativities prevail across the entire population. I have nothing in common with Osama Bin Laden, aside from the fact that we agree that Bush is kind of a pinhead, and we are both Muslim. The relation begins and ends there. For the record, I also think Osama is a pinhead (there are much, much stronger terms I could apply to both figureheads, actually...but for the sake of civility I'll leave it at that.) With all of this in mind:

When I saw the news report that Osama Bin Laden had released another video tape and that in it he encouraged the American people to convert to Islam as a way of staving off further death and destruction, my first (and very sarcastic) reaction was, 'Well, I guess I'm covered then...'

But the truth of the matter is, simply being Muslim isn't what these people want for the global population. That isn't the point, and conversion isn't enough to satisfy them. There are a number of sects within Islam, I happen to sit on the Shiia side of the fence and for this reason I am just as subject to Osama's wrath as any other non-Muslim American. Shiia is a true minority in the grand scheme of the Islamic faith, with Iran being the only largely Shiia country on the planet. Al Q'aeda, Osama's own personal army, is Sunni. That's not to say that Sunnis as a whole are inclined toward this kind of fanatical expression of the faith; I'm just pointing out that Al Q'uaeda is a Sunni-based group and that because I am part of the Shiia belief system I am also on their shit list.

Why is this important? Because, as I said, it simply isn't good enough, in their eyes, that people should convert to Islam. You're technically expected (according to Osama's rules of the game) to pick sides. Sunnis have, historically, warred against the Shiia sect just as much as any other group (Americans, westerners, capitalists, etc.). Many of the acts of terrorism carried out inside Iraq in recent years were directly targeted at Shiia religious travelers who were journeying to and from holy Shiia shrines inside the war torn country. Their faith is so strong, they willingly cross the border from Iran into Iraq just to get a glimpse of these holy places, and they are cut down by other Muslims without a second thought.

The endless news reports from inside Iraq about how the country had to build literal walls inside Baghdad to keep the two groups apart is further evidence of the infighting that continues among Muslims.

The thing that troubles me about the news reports and discussion surrounding Osama's video (aside from his crazy vision that the entire world pray a specific kind of assan with him every day), and just about anything else related to terrorism these days, is the singular focus on Islam as a whole. The lack of explanation, differentiation, and analysis of the historical relationships within Islam leads to this 'they all look the same' mentality whereby anyone who is Muslim is automatically pegged as 'the other' and is viewed as a potential threat.

I get that the concept of 'Love, see no color' doesn't really work, particularly when applied to something so personal as religious belief...there is not going to be any hand-holding and singing about this. This is not a war that can be won with a big dose of love and happy thoughts. But it is a war simply because the 'other side' (ie - Osama) has made it so; and these people, whatever religion they brand themselves with, are just plain scary. But I feel the need to at least point out that not every Muslim is a terrorist, and not every call to Islam is an open ticket to safety. It may sound ridiculously obvious, but with hundreds of news stories every day directly associating 'war', 'terrorism', and 'death' with 'Islam' - there is a certain amount of mental and social conditioning going on under the surface. For every report you read that 'Muslim' or 'Islamic' terrorist groups have done such and such, how many stories do you see that explain the deeply splintered internal structure of Islam; or better yet, explore the softer, everyday side of what it is to be Muslim? And how deep does your own investigation into one of the oldest faiths on the planet ever actually go?

Well, I'll tell you one thing about Islam, it isn't anything strange or bizarre and it's not based in violence...it's just people living their lives, sharing faith in God and hoping this umbrella of misunderstanding doesn't cast the devious shadow of suspicion over them too because some pinhead with a video camera has a big mouth and crazy ideals.