Muslim Americans: The dangers of lumping our friends in with our enemies

Muslim communities reject extremism

Muslims regularly attending mosques will not rid this country of all homegrown terrorism emanating from Muslim communities. As we’ve seen in the recent past, mosques are not impermeable to fringe extremists. Before Anwar al-Awlaki was the first US citizen ever to be placed on the CIA target list, he was an imam at a Virginia mosque. The five young Muslim men from Washington, DC, who in late 2009 disappeared from their homes only to be found in Pakistan allegedly trying to join Al Qaeda, also attended their local community mosque.

But in both cases, as with countless other cases before and since, the Muslim communities that these individuals were members of resoundingly rejected their actions and beliefs. Mr. al-Awlaki had to go to Yemen because no community here would accept him, and the parents of the DC men were the first to alert the FBI of their children’s sudden disappearance. And just three months ago, a vigilant Muslim-American community in Irvine, Calif. was so disturbed by the behavior of an undercover FBI informant posing as an extremist in their mosque, that the community turned him in to the FBI. As a recent study from Duke University and the University of North Carolina found, Muslim Americans provide authorities with more tips on suspected terrorists than any other group.

ANOTHER VIEW: Peter King hearing: Why won't media – or Muslims – address Islamism in America?

We need to support Muslim-American communities as they lead the fight to root out and prevent extremism in their own communities. Yes, there is much work to be done, but let’s not make it any harder by lumping our friends in with our enemies.

Zeba Khan is a writer and social media consultant. In 2009, she was recognized as a Muslim Leader of Tomorrow by the American Society for Muslim Advancement. You can follow her on twitter @zebakhan.

via The OpEd Project

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