Make Up YOUR Mind

Ah, April 1^st; the only day of the year that people critically evaluate what is being told to them by the media before accepting them as true.

The media is a business and much like every  business it has a foundation of what sells. Unfortunately that foundation is fear. Fear sells. In the experienced words of Seth Morrison, people love to be scared. There is this concept of near-death riding that has become the basis for what is acceptable. If you’re not inches away from death, it’s not going to make the movie (The Ordinary Skier).

Sadly that conception of ‘fear sells’ is reflected in nearly every aspect of American media.

Don’t believe me?

I strongly encourage you to read an article that CNN posted titled, “Why They Hate Us” written by Fareed Zakaria. In the article Fareed writes, “Let’s be clear, while the Jihadis are few, there is a larger cancer in the world of Islam – a cancer of backwardness and extremism and intolerance." Well, I don’t know exactly which “world” Fareed is referring to, but here in the Islamic “world” of Morocco I have not found that to be the case.

Just yesterday, we went to a girl named Ghita’s house. Ghita is one of my students, she is smart, witty, and never late to class. While Ghita’s mom was attending to some unannounced guests, we had the chance to sit down with the small, but chatty aspiring agricultural engineer. She sat upright,  legs crossed; discretely critiquing her hijab, assuring herself that she looked presentable, while she waited eagerly to answer every question. After answering a few questions about her own life and her life at home, Ghita showed us an in-depth understanding about the importance of family that most girls her age would not comprehend. But it wasn’t until we started to talk about religion that Ghita showed us that she had wisdom and maturity far beyond her years.

With Ramadan literally right around the corner,  we asked Ghita what her favorite part of Ramadan is. Without hesitating she replied, “My favorite part of Ramadan is the unity. This is a month where every Muslim is equal. We all eat like the poor (fasting); we give like we are rich, and we pray more than ever before. It is in this month where we all experience true peace and tranquility.” Inspired by this profound answer from this basic question we eagerly asked another, “As a Muslim, if you could give everyone in the world advice, what would it be?” She sat back, thought about it for no more than two seconds, then leaned forward to answer. Although I don’t speak nearly any Arabic, just by looking at the way she talked about it was not only inspiring but assuring. She spoke with passion and confidence in a way that when you looked into her eyes you truly believed she was thinking about the greater good of everyone in the entire world. Once she finished I eagerly awaited to the translation from our translator Icabel. But once she stopped speaking, Icabel had to take a second to herself because she was getting chills from Ghita’s answer. Icabel translated saying, “She would tell the world to stop judging. She thinks that everyone thinks they are better than one another, trying to critique and change them. We have forgotten that we are all human, we are all the same. We do not have that right to judge others on the way we view our life. Only God has the right to judge. It is our job as humans to unite together so that before god judges us all, we can live in peace.” Wow, I too had chills running down my back. But it wasn’t the type of chills that would spark a revolution. These were different. They were the chills that provided me with assurance and a new faith in humanity. But they were also chills of guilt and disgust.

After leaving Ghita’s house I kept thinking about this quote said by the great Muhammad Ali. He said, “We as Muslims have to stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda. They have alienated many from learning about Islam.” While that may be true, we as Americans have alienated ourselves from a beautiful and powerful group of people that brings peace and tranquility. We are blinded by our fear that was created by our ignorance.

I challenge you, tell me which world has, “a cancer of backwardness” of extremism and intolerance?

Is it a “world” in which Donald Trump is president? Or is it a “world” whose leader said, “We continue to receive refugees at a rapid pace, whether they come from East Africa or the Middle East. Our only concern beyond the humanitarian aspects to which we obviously sensitive, is purely securitarian.”

Stop listening to the reports about the one percent of Muslisms who are extremists. Stop listening to lies. Start listening to those who put the humanity of the world before their own safety. Start listening to the Muslims, because we have a lot to learn.