Muslim-Christian Relations in America
In the wake of the utterly senseless and grievous killing of
three young American Muslims in Chapel Hill, NC last week, a new urgency has
entered the conversation about Muslim minority communities in the West. The
discussion went global, with thousands worldwide posting the hashtag
#MuslimLivesMatter and weighing in to various media outlets. Even President Obama
made a statement about the shooting and offered his condolences to the
families. Some members of the victims’ families, as well as some leaders of the
American Muslim community, called on the FBI to investigate the killing as a
hate crime, which has now begun.
The Raleigh News & Observer ran a story on Sunday,
February 15 about Muslims living in the Triangle area (Raleigh, Chapel Hill,
and Durham). The article included interviews with several Muslims of various ages
and backgrounds. I was struck by two comments in particular. Ahsan Shaikh, a
lawyer who was friends with the family of Deah Barakat, said: “Right now, it’s
our turn to be the most hated community in America.” And Adeel Zeb, Muslim
chaplain at Duke University, said, “At the end of the day most Muslim Americans…[w]ant
to be treated like everybody else.”
These statements raise vital questions: What in fact has
been the experience of American Muslims? Are they really hated? And what does
it look like for them to be treated like everybody else? The answer to the
first two questions is long and complex, like most histories of immigrant
communities in the U.S. And the answer to the second is still evolving, in part
because American ideals are doing the same, but also because American Muslims
(like other immigrant communities) re-envision inclusion as certain milestones
are passed. But stepping outside of the American milieu for a moment, what is
certain is that the establishment of
substantial, permanent, and participatory Muslim minority communities in
Christian majority countries constitutes an altogether unprecedented and
precious opportunity in Muslim-Christian relations.
I raise this fact to highlight what I think is a key to greater
peace and mutual prosperity for both great faith communities, a way to create
more goodwill between Muslims and Christians, and a profound exercise in the
basic spiritual commands of religion. My proposal is simply that American Muslims in the West can and should
apply their experience of struggling for religious and civil rights into
advocacy for Christian minorities in Muslim-majority countries.
It may be difficult for Muslims in the West to understand,
but many Christians feel that the rights and privileges granted to Muslim citizens
in Western countries are not reciprocated to Christian citizens of
Muslim-majority countries. In fact, Christian minorities in Muslim-majority
countries undergo a wide spectrum of repression and persecution, not to mention
being denied basic freedoms that are taken for granted in the West: freedom of
conversion; freedom to proselytize; freedom to assemble for worship. These
problems are well defined and reported by numerous organizations including the
U.S. State Department Office of International Religious Freedom. Not that
Muslims in America have not also suffered: arbitrary arrests and detainments;
infiltration of mosques by government agents; denial of freedom of expression
and worship. And yet the perception of a double-standard exists, and I believe
it will continue to breed resentment until American Christians see and hear
American Muslims holding up the rights of Christian minorities in
Muslim-majority countries.
How might American Muslims do this? The experience of
living, thinking, worshipping, voting, and building families in America has
given Muslims valuable space and time in which to formulate religious freedom
advocacy. On the theoretical side, prominent American Muslim academicians and
thinkers such as Khaled Abou El Fadl, Abdulaziz Sachedina, Mukhtedar Khan, and
Feisal Abdul Rauf have articulated a vision of Islam that embraces and endorses
religious freedom, albeit from different schools of thought, whether juridical,
theological, or political. More practically, building communities and
institutions such as MSA, ISNA, CAIR, and other organizations has trained
generations in grass roots advocacy. Participating with government officials in
law enforcement and international public diplomacy programs has helped American
Muslims articulate a vision and identity for their communities that includes
civic engagement. The simple fact of the diversity of Muslim communities in
America, in terms of nationality, ethnicity, and creed, proves definitely false
such ideologies which would build boundaries along those lines. Lastly, as an
immigrant community, both relative to other groups in the U.S. and in
comparison with countries of origin, the American Muslim community is wealthy. They
can fund religious freedom advocacy in Muslim-majority countries where such
funding is either non-existent, or, if it came from non-Muslims, would be
received with reticence or even suspicion.
American Muslims face many challenges today and tomorrow. I
want them to have freedom of worship and expression. I do not want them to be,
or feel that they are, “The most hated community in America.” To that end, I
believe that one of most immediate and impactful things they can do as a
community to generate goodwill with Christians in America is to begin vocally
and forcefully advocating for the rights of persecuted Christians and other
minorities in Muslim-majority countries. I believe too that this is not simply
pragmatic; it is righteous. Did not Muhammad say, “None of you has faith until
you love for your neighbor what you love for yourself”? Christians hear in this
saying an echo of the words of the Lord Jesus Christ: “Love your neighbor as yourself.
That means it is incumbent on Christians too to resist injustice done against
Muslims. We have to do this together, for our neighbors both here and abroad.
