World-Herald editorial: Religion and complexities

Word this week that Omaha’s Tri-Faith Initiative continues its laudable work in seeking a common site for Jewish, Muslim and Episcopal facilities provides a springboard for further comment on Dr. Akbar Ahmed’s important new book, “Journey into America: The Challenge of Islam.”

Ahmed, a scholar of Islamic studies at American University in Washington, D.C., and his team traveled to Omaha and other U.S. cities during 2008-09 to study the experiences of Muslims in America.

The pursuit of constructive relations between Muslims and non-Muslims in this country makes sense for many reasons. Our country rejects a caste system: Each citizen is fully American, regardless of one’s race or religious belief (or whether one is a 10th-generation American or a first-generation one).

Our nation’s founders stressed religious liberty. “The state has no right to force religious opinions on the free conscience,” wrote Thomas Jefferson. And the federal Constitution states: “No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.”

Ahmed notes that in 1783, George Washington wrote that the “bosom of America” should be “open to receive” new citizens from all walks of life. Such citizens, Washington wrote, included “Mohometans.”

Ahmed’s book describes the large number of American Muslims — including religious leaders as well as young people — who demonstrate moderate views and can be vital bridge builders between the Muslim and non-Muslim communities.

Consider the positive attitude of an African-American Muslim whom Ahmed’s team met. Referring to the late Imam W.D. Muhammed, a moderate Muslim leader in Detroit, the man told them, “Because of Imam Mohammed, I don’t hate you. We were taught to hate whites. He changed our mentality and led us in embracing the true Islam.”

As Ahmed’s book well explains, it’s in the common interests of America’s non-Muslims and Muslims alike to learn more about each other. Ahmed stresses that training needs to be improved for Muslim religious leaders and that American Muslims should not wall themselves off from the rest of society.

“It is essential,” he writes, “to be sensitive to what a society holds dear if there is to be any hope of mutual respect and friendship. Muslims should reach out to average Americans, learn about their culture and break their own pattern of isolation.”

Just as African-Americans have nurtured a culture of self-confidence and pride, Ahmed writes, so American Muslims need to “re-create their self-image” and bolster their confidence in themselves.

There are many challenges, of course. As Ahmed’s book straightforwardly explains, some Muslims succumb to suspicion, paranoia and anger. The “Mad Hatter’s tea party” is the term Ahmed uses to describe tension-filled encounters he and his team had with American Muslims who demonstrated angry or fanatical attitudes. Ahmed notes cases where radical Muslims in this country intimidate and even launch violent attacks on moderates. This problem needs greater public attention, Ahmed rightly says.

At the same time, the book explains, one shouldn’t assume that a middle-class appearance automatically indicates a temperate viewpoint or that a traditionalist appearance necessarily signals radicalism.

We would add that Americans — non-Muslim and Muslim alike — need to understand that the United States’ interests will not always coincide with the interests of Muslim countries (just as Muslim countries themselves have separate interests). If Iran develops nuclear weapons, that step will create major long-term tensions.

And Muslim/non-Muslim relations in this country can be negatively affected by what happens in Europe, where countries tend to be clumsy in addressing religious matters and where religion-related frictions sometimes take particularly ugly forms.

Omaha, to its credit, has set the right tone by promoting interfaith dialogue and understanding. Let us continue in this admirable pursuit of mutual respect and building a common future together.

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