From Your Muslim Neighbor

Written by Wendy Díaz

Dear neighbors,

With everything going on in the world today and the news that surrounds us, we know that things can get a bit confusing. As your Muslim neighbors and fellow citizens, we would like to assure you that we stand with you against all forms of oppression and injustice in the US and anywhere else in the world.

You may have heard Muslims say that Islam means “peace,” but you may have also heard from the media and other sources that Muslims can be “extremists,” “jihadists,” “radicals,” “fanatics,” and so on… Islam does stem from the Arabic root word, “Salama” which means peace, but the word Islam literally means to surrender yourself to God alone, in order to obtain peace in your life. A Muslim, by definition, is someone who submits to God in worship and obedience.

This surrender and submission necessitates that we have “God consciousness,” meaning that we are always aware that God is watching us and that we will be held accountable for our deeds and actions. God commands us to worship Him alone and to obey His Commandments, one of which is to never harm or kill innocent people.

We believe that all human beings came from the first man, Adam, and his mate, Eve. Therefore, we are all brothers and sisters in humanity and must respect each other. Our greeting is “as salaamu alaikum,” which means “peace be with you.” So even in our everyday dealings with others, we wish peace for everyone.

Indeed, there are people who may hail from lands with a predominately Muslim majority or who call themselves Muslims or who have “Muslim names,” who commit crimes against others, including acts of terrorism, but this does not represent our religion at all. Some of them even claim to do these acts in “God’s name,” but God is far removed from what they do. The targets of these criminals are people of all backgrounds and faiths. Many times, the vast majority of their victims are innocent Muslims. Their objective is to divide and conquer, so we must all stand together against them and offer our support to one another to oppose their cowardly goals.

Two of God’s attributes that are mentioned continuously in the Qur’an, our holy book, are that He is the Most Merciful, and the Most Compassionate. So how can anyone who ascribes themselves to Islam, and obeys God and His Commandments, not be compassionate and merciful themselves? The fact of the matter is that anyone who truly practices Islam or who firmly believes in God or an Almighty Supreme Being, is conscious that He is watching over them, and thus, must act in a manner that pleases Him.

When any tragedy happens in any part of the world, when lives are lost, when there is devastation in a land and we see people suffering, no matter their background or religion, we cry as you do, we feel like you do, we pray as you do. We are fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, sisters and brothers, friends and families, we are all human beings. We only want the same as everyone else, to live in the world in peace and to achieve success, to be productive members of society and good neighbors to you.

Our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "He will not enter Paradise whose neighbor is not secure from his wrongful conduct." - (Sahih Muslim, Hadith 15) He also said: “The merciful are shown mercy by the All-Merciful. Show mercy to those on earth, and God will show mercy to you.” - (At- Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud)

We ask you that you please stand with us against the discrimination and stigmatization against Muslim people, and oppose all types of racism and prejudice, just as we oppose all terrorism and acts of violence. Let us fight back those who oppose humanity by being kind and just.

God says in the Qur’an: “O ye who believe! stand out firmly for God, as witnesses to fair dealing, and let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just: that is next to piety: and fear God. For God is well-acquainted with all that ye do.” (Chapter 5, verse 8)

Sincerely,

Your Muslim neighbor