By Jehangir Khattak
Muslim community in the United States has received the news of death of Osama bin Laden in a military operation in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad with a sense of relief and in the hope that it will turn a new page in U.S. relations with Muslims at home and overseas.
Leading Islamic organizations and civil rights groups are calling the death of the Al Qaeda leader as the evil face of global terrorism who met justice. American-Muslim community organizations were quick to welcome the killing of world's most wanted man. Blogs and social media were filled with reactions from the community. Their wording was varied, but the message was identical – bin Laden did not represent the Muslims in any way. Muslim organizations also welcomed President Barack Obama's declaration that America was not at war with Islam.
The nation's leading Muslim civil rights group, the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), said bin Laden "never represented Muslims or Islam." In a statement issued hours after President Obama announced bin Laden's death, it said: "We join our fellow citizens in welcoming the announcement that Osama bin Laden has been eliminated as a threat to our nation and the world through the actions of American military personnel."
Plainfield, Indiana-based Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) in a separate statement said the ideology of bin Laden is incompatible with Islam. It hoped Osama's death would bring some relief to all the families, of every faith and walk of life, who lost loved ones on 9/11 and in every other terrorist attack orchestrated at the hands of Osama.
Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), a New York-based Muslim community organization, called Osama "a serious threat to the security of America and the world" and termed his removal "a significant turning point in the post-9/11 global War on Terror." ICNA hoped that the Obama administration will use "this pivotal moment as an opportunity to rapidly end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and ensure the safe return of our troops."
Washington DC-based Muslim Public Affairs Council, a public service agency working for the civil rights of American Muslims and for the integration of Islam into American pluralism, said Osama's actions and those of Al-Qaeda had violated the sacred Islamic teachings upholding the sanctity of all human life. "We hope this is a turning point away from the dark period of the last decade, in which bin Laden symbolized the evil face of global terrorism," said MPAC President Salam Al-Marayati. He pointed out that Osama's senseless terror "had been met with moral outrage by Muslims worldwide at every turn in the past decade."
Americans of Pakistani origin, the country where bin Laden was hiding, also expressed their elation at the news. Some in the community recalled the humiliation that they had to face in the post 9/11 period in the West, especially in the United States, while others questioned the Administration's wisdom of not releasing the photos of Osama's corpse.
"The Pakistani community is very happy. But everyone is in suspense wondering if he is really dead or not because photo of his dead body has so far not been released by the U.S. authorities," said Mujeeb Lodhi, Publisher ofPakistan News, a New York-based Urdu language weekly. Lodhi said he heard many in the Pakistani community questioning the hurry that was displayed in burying Osama's body in the sea. "We have yet to see if the dead Osama will be more dangerous than when he was alive," he added. According to Lodhi, many Pakistanis felt unhappy at the growing hostility towards Pakistan in the mainstream media without recognizing the sacrifices that Pakistanis made in the war against terror. Pakistan says 30,000 of its citizens have fallen prey to terrorism since 9/11 and the country has sustained losses to the tune of $68 billion.
Mohsin Zaheer, another New York-based senior community journalist and editor of Sada-e-Pakistan, reminded those questioning the death of Osama in a Pakistani garrison town not to forget that his death on Pakistani soil proved "that Pakistan was not a safe place for bin Laden."
The Pakistani American Leadership Center (PAL-C), a Washington DC-based Pakistani community organization that lobbies on Capitol Hill, termed Osama's death as "a successful outcome of the U.S.-Pakistan security partnership." In a statement, it also referred to the growing criticism of Pakistan in the U.S. media by saying: "As we demand justice we must ensure that we do not act unjustly."
Goatmilk, a California-based blog run by playwright, journalist, attorney and humorist Wajahat Ali, was one of several Muslim community blog sites that carried mixed reactions to Osama's killing.
"With the passing of a man who came to represent violence and hate overseas, incite ignorance and misunderstanding within our own nation, and become the face of an agonizing war, I pray that our leaders turn this into a turning point in our history, bring our brave troops back home to safety, and allow for the suffering peoples of Afghanistan and Pakistan to establish the peace and security they have been longing for," wrote Hammad Moses Khan from Sacramento, CA.
"I'm Egyptian American and when Mubarak fell, it was one of the happiest days of my life, and today is too," wrote Aya A. Khalil.
Another commentator, Art Balaoro wrote: "Though I am not Muslim, I was happy to hear President Obama reiterate in his global statement that it WAS NOT a war against Islam. Very happy to hear the promotion of racial, religious, and ethnic tolerance in a critical moment."
Maleeha Haq wrote: "I cannot bring myself to celebrate for the death of any person, even one as hateful as OBL. The celebrations of his death at Ground Zero and the White House etc. strike me as macabre. I think OBL was largely irrelevant at this point. I fear for the reactions of the terrorist groups he inspired, especially how they will affect the people of Pakistan."
Bin laden's death reminded Zahir Janmohamed of the post 9/11 discrimination against Muslims: "Like all Americans, I am elated that Osama bin Laden is dead. This is indeed a day to celebrate and Americans deserve this day. But I am also reflective on all that occurred in the name of 9/11. I am thinking about watching my friends lined up in humiliation for "special registration" at a U.S. government office in 2003 because they were born in Iran. I am thinking about greeting my cousins from Pakistan at the LAX airport in 2002, who were in tears because of the questions they were subjected to by the DHS staff. And I am reflective of the tragedies the Bush administration created in the name of 9/11: the prison at Guantanamo and the Afghanistan war. The pain of 9/11 will endure, just as the pain of what was created in response to 9/11 will also endure."
While the American-Muslim community was quick to celebrate bin Laden's elimination, reports of hate attacks on Muslims in California and vandalism at a mosque in Maine sent new fears amongst pockets of Muslim communities across the nation about a possible backlash.
The Portland, Maine police are investigating the anti-Islam graffiti, which included: "Osama today, Islam tomorrow (sic);" "Long live the West;" and "Free Cyprus," painted on the exterior of the Maine Muslims Community Center sometime between late Sunday night and Monday morning (May 2).
"We ask Americans of all faiths to reject intolerance and to send a message of national unity to the rest of the world," said CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper. "We urge state law enforcement authorities and the FBI to investigate this incident as a hate crime."
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