Query: Islam?

copyright: trey ratcliffe

Google query: american+islam+blog

The top site claimed to share the “truths” of Islam. It was more like Fox News on horse tranquilizers, unfortunately. Preaching the opposite of Islamic Extremists, this blogger was equally frustrating, disappointing and scary. All I was looking for was some Muslim-American perspectives on things, but I guess I used the wrong keywords.

It is difficult to be a Muslim today. It is difficult to be a non-Muslim today. To watch repeated clips on television that equate bombs, deserts, and havoc to Islam—as if the equation is that simple. That ruthless. That archaic. But how can a few video clips drilled into our retinas over the last nine years define an entire religion that over 1 billion people follow? 1 billion other people that we don’t see in those heinous video clips.

Google query: islam+blogs

This time, I found some groups and individuals who wanted to share first-hand knowledge of Islam. There were articles about how different people felt about the hijab. There were blogs about how people reflected on scripture in the Qur’an. I felt more educated about Islam than attacked. Anger didn’t emanate out of my laptop screen this time.

It was easy to be understanding to the different perspectives, even though as a Muslim, I didn’t agree with all of the Muslims or the non-Muslim reporting on Islam. For a rare and precious moment, I didn’t feel attacked and hated the moment I tried to learn something concerning my own religion. Go figure, but I am scared of extremists and terrorists too. I also have nothing in common with them.

Islam is being talked about every day. It’s important for Muslims and non-Muslims to engage in the dialogue because this is how we can learn from each other and about ourselves.

General query: What do you know of Islam?