As a Muslim-American immigrant, September 11 is a painful memory

I left my home country of Pakistan just a few weeks after September 11, 2001, to settle in my new home: the United States of America. As a 12-year-old Muslim immigrant at the time, I knew very little about terrorism or Osama Bin Laden.

I do recall feeling terribly sad over watching and hearing news of the immense loss of life following the 9/11 attacks by the terrorist group al-Qaeda. Yet, I could not comprehend why my faith was being blamed. Why the “Muslim” and “Islam” were suddenly synonymous with violence and terror.

For someone who grew up believing in my Islamic community’s motto of

‘Love for All, Hatred for None,’ this was a shock. I could not understand why my mother was being told she would be harassed for wearing the hijab in public. After all, my family had come to this country, in large part, to escape religious persecution in Pakistan.

I belong to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, whose followers face intense persecution in Pakistan and other Islamic countries. In my motherland, we are not allowed to say the Islamic greeting. The law says we can go to jail for calling our places of worship “mosques.”

Ahmadi Muslims are routinely gunned down and killed in Pakistan. My father, while living in Pakistan, received death threats for his beliefs.

So when we got on the plane to leave Pakistan behind and begin new lives in America, we were seeking freedom to practice our faith and other opportunities to make our lives better.

“We are Ahmadis in Pakistan and we are Muslims in America,” my father used to say.

The stigma of being an outsider did not go away after moving here to South Florida. Some politicians have brazenly called out Muslims and their faith for being violent. They accuse us of trying to implement Sharia Law in this country.

I wish they knew that the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be on him) made it an obligation for his followers to remain loyal to their nations. The Holy Qur’an says Muslims must obey those who are in authority over them (4:60).

Terrorists, who claim to be following Islam, have committed heinous crimes and atrocities. Terrorist attacks in the modern age have left cities and populations traumatized.

I sympathize with those who are affected by these horrible acts of violence. But Muslims have died in far greater numbers in

Syria and Afghanistan and other parts of the Islamic world at the hands of terrorist organizations like ISIS and the Taliban. Any loss of life is unbearable but Muslims, too, are also victims of this barbarity.

What we must do as part of a global community is educate ourselves and others, and erase stigmas and stereotypes.

Muslims in this country and around most of the world are not the enemies. The real enemy is poverty and ignorance, which help create militant groups. Our politicians, instead of playing into the hands of terrorists, must further the progress of peace instead of advancing the politics of division.

Next month, my family will celebrate 18 years in America. It’s our home now. I know I belong here because I would do anything to protect and honor my country.

My faith teaches me to be kind to my neighbors and strangers. It teaches me about the sanctity of life by declaring that even one loss of life is as if the whole of mankind has been erased.

This September 11th, let’s reflect on how we can all come together regardless of our faiths and backgrounds. Let us hope that our leaders recognize that the path to unity lies firmly in peace for all.