Since the Sept.
11 terrorist attacks, Imam Sayed Hassan Qazwini,
religious leader of the Islamic Center of America in
Detroit, has made it his mission to educate Americans
about Islam. Here he discusses common religious
misconceptions and the U.S. war against terrorism.
Q. What do you think is the biggest
misconception about Islam?
A. You hear the phrase "Islamic terrorist."
The word Islam cannot be combined with terrorist. I
don't care what Osama bin Laden would say about himself,
all I know is Islam has nothing to do with it, just like
it's not fair to say "Christian terrorist" when we have
a man like Timothy McVeigh. There is no Christian or
Islamic terrorism. It has no correlation to any divine
message.
Q. There's been a lot of discussion about the
meaning of the Islamic word Jihad. How do you define it?
A. Jihad originally means struggle within.
Islam asks me to struggle against my own deviant
inclinations, against my satanic thoughts. Islam
encourages me to be a good human being, to rise to the
level of angels and not to fall to the level of devils,
because we human beings have two dimensions, a divine
one and an evil one. Jihad is a struggle within myself
to be a better person. ...
Ultimately it was used for the defensive wars our
prophet had to endure. I have to tell you that when
Muhammad appeared, he was challenged by many evil
powers, exactly like Jesus was challenged. After
Muhammad escaped from Mecca to Medina, he established a
new society, and a new state.
This state was challenged by many forces; Muhammad
had to defend himself; therefore, he taught Muslims they
had a right to self-defense. Every human being has the
right once he is attacked to defend himself.
Now, let me explain something: When you are attacked,
it can have two terms: You personally are attacked, or
you as a nation are attacked. When I am personally
attacked, Islam encourages me to be forgiving, to be
above the perpetrators. In this one, Islam is very
similar to Christianity that tells you to turn the other
cheek.
But when I am attacked as a nation, I have a
responsibility to defend myself. Even in this country, I
am told if my name is drafted I will go serve. In many
countries, military duty is compulsory.
This is what jihad meant ultimately, that you would
defend three things: your land, your faith and your
life. Self-defense.
Some people are trying to use this term to cover up
their political agendas -- they kill thousands of
innocent people and they want to call it jihad. Does
Islam condone this? This has nothing to do with Islam.
Q. How do you think the United States has been
handling the events of Sept. 11, especially in
references to Islam?
A. With full honesty, I think the American
government has been doing excellent in cooling down the
anti-Arab public mood. The president made it so clear in
many speeches so far that our war is not against Islam
or Arabs. Our war is against terrorists. I have a letter
from the head of the FBI (forwarded by a state senator)
to say to the Arab community: Report any harassment to
the FBI. Many religious leaders were so strong. I think
the steps that the government has taken were excellent.
Q. How does one fight terrorism? Is the United
States doing the right thing so far?
A. If our operations are going to hurt those
terrorists who were behind the attacks in New York, I
would say, that's fine. ... We would like to see
terrorists brought to justice. All I fear is we are not
going to hurt the terrorists because there is no visible
terrorist waiting for us. ... Now there is no visible
terrorist we can go after. They're all hiding, and they
live among many civilians. The Afghani people have no
choice over their ruling party -- they have been
overwhelmed by the Taliban.
All I fear is that we may repeat the same thing in
Iraq. We said we were fighting Saddam 10 years ago, yet
Saddam is still in power. He is healthier, and his clan,
his children are enjoying the power. The one who is
suffering is the Iraqi people.
After 10 years of the sanctions, there are thousands
of Iraqi people who are suffering. So are we going to
punish the Taliban, or are we going to punish the
innocent Afghani people? If it's Taliban and bin Laden,
that's fine, but if it's going to be against innocent
civilians who have been already suffering from poverty
and now from starvation, to increase their misery and
calamity, I don't think that is fair. In order to bring
justice for vicious attacks, we should not attack
innocent people. I'm really concerned about what may
happen. Innocent people should not pay the price.
