To Be American and Muslim is Not a Contradiction
Since 9/11, we have seen efforts by ISIS, al-Qaida and other violent extremists to recruit African American Muslims to their cause, preying on a collective sense of injustice and feelings of deprivation and social alienation from historic inequities. In 2008, for example, al-Qaida's then second-in-command Ayman al Zawahiri sought to interlace domestic African American racial grievances with the global jihad movement, targeting and recruiting African American and Somali youth. A 51-minute recruitment video presented motifs of Malcolm X, attempting to exploit historical African American Muslim activism as a potential means for future radicalization.
Read moreAs We Remember 9/11, Muslims Must Recognize That All of Humanity is Part of Their Community
This past year’s anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in America, I am reminded of how far Americans and humanity as a whole have come from that horrific incident that killed almost 3,000 innocent people in the United States. But similar atrocities and acts of terrorism remain a daily occurrence for ordinary people living in the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia alike.
Read moreAmerican Muslims Must Confront Islam's Role in terror attacks and Reclaim Faith
Tuesday, October 31, 2017, ISIS-inspired attack in New York City, the deadliest since 9/11, left 8 dead and several more injured. The perpetrator, 29-year-old Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov, was an Uzbekistan native who had moved to the US in 2010.
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