• A Muslim woman wearing a hijab (scarf) was recently kicked off of a Southwest flight because someone thought she said, “It’s a go!” (implying the terrorist attack is on), when all she said was, “I’ve gota go.”
• Anti-Muslim protesters in Yorba Linda, California ranted and raved at Muslim families who were merely participating in a fundraising event by a Muslim relief organization focusing on the homeless.
• Congressman King puts on hearings about problems of “radicalization” among American Muslims (implying that the majority of Muslims in America are radical).

What do all these events have in common? They depict Americans who equate Muslims with terrorists. But Muslims are not the enemy – extremism is.

Fear blinds us to the following facts:

Muslims are radically diverse. 1.5 billion people, in over 2000 ethnolinguistic groups. Some women wear the burqa, while others become heads of state (like the late Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan and Megawati Sukarno of Indonesia). There are two major sects (Sunni and Shia) and 8 legal schools of Islam. In addition you have Sufi mystics, who long to experience God’s love.

It is absurd to equate Muslims with terrorists. Yes, there is a miniscule minority of evil Muslims who are terrorists and we must deal with them. I am for national security and support our government’s fight against terrorism. But this “demonization of Muslims is unjust and flat out wrong.

Fear not only blinds us to the facts, fear can also crush our sense of fairness. The good news is, though, that fear is not the only response to Muslims in the U.S. A recent article from the Huffington Post rightly noted:

“Americans are animated by a fundamental sense of fairness on questions about the place of American Muslims in society. Importantly, more than 7 in 10 (or 72%) Americans agree that the [King] hearings should not focus on the Muslim community alone, but should be broadened to focus on religious extremism wherever it is found. And support for this fair-minded approach is shared by both Republicans and Democrats and across religious lines. Moreover, 62 percent of the public agrees with a belief that has been emphasized by both post-9/11 presidents: that Muslims are an important part of the American religious community. Americans are reluctant to exclude Muslims from the American family religious portrait.”

Followers of Christ need to go beyond fear and fairness and respond with faith. I had the privilege of working with Muslim and Jewish leaders in the crafting of a document called, “Seven Resolutions Against Prejudice, Hatred and Discrimination.” This emerged from a dinner at Imam Ahmad’s home in Chandler, Arizona. The document describes people who are willing to move beyond fear to fairness. As a follower of Jesus it pushes me even further, to the response of faith – faith that expresses itself through love (Galatians 5:6). Read the Seven Resolutions document here, and see pictures from the event on the PCI Facebook page.

Lt. Gen. William “Jerry” Boykin recently served with the US Special Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, yet his role was mostly in intelligence gathering as Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence at the Pentagon. As a loyal patriot in the military, Boykin was and continues to be laser-focused on our nation’s enemies.

No one would deny that transnational terrorist groups like al-Qaeda and its affiliates or Taliban-related fighters in Afghanistan and Pakistan (tribal-based with local aims) are sworn enemies of the US. What I would like to highlight here is Boykin’s unshakable certainty that “Islam” equals Sharia law, and Sharia law equals a system inherently bent on world domination. In a recent article, posing as an expert on all things Islamic, he proclaims,

Sharia law is the foundation of Islamic theocracy and totalitarianism. The establishment of global Sharia law is the goal of the adherents to authoritative Islam. The Koran is unequivocal in its directive to Muslims to establish a global Islamic state, or Caliphate, over which the Islamic messiah, or Mahdi, will rule with Sharia as the only law of the land. That is the intent of many influential Islamic elements in America.#

Here I only test one of his claims: that Sharia as blueprint for global hegemony is the view of “many influential elements in America.” God willing, I will follow up with three more blogs touching on other aspects of this most misunderstood aspect of the Islamic faith – Sharia law.

But first, just a little background into the wider (and influential) movement to which Boykin relates. In today’s social science parlance, I speak here of “the anti-Sharia discourse.” Indeed, Boykin is the lead author of a book on this topic, Shariah: The Threat To America: An Exercise In Competitive Analysis (2010). It is published by a think-tank led by Frank Gaffney, who was a top security adviser for President Reagan. The book’s description on Amazon.com reads: “This study is the result of months of analysis, discussion and drafting by a group of top security policy experts concerned with the preeminent totalitarian threat of our time: the legal-political-military doctrine known within Islam as ‘shariah.’”

Many other voices from several quarters have joined in this chorus. I’ll only mention one here, Steven Emerson and his Washington-based SAE Productions and its nonprofit wing, the Investigative Project on Terrorism Foundation. And it seems that Emerson’s “nonprofit” pitch that America stands on the brink of impending doom at the hand of Islamic radicals is in fact rather profitable. In 2008 alone he collected more than $3.3 million. Investigative journalist Bob Smietana got interested in this one arm of “a multimillion-dollar industry of self-proclaimed experts who spread hate toward Muslims in books and movies, on websites and through speaking appearances” by virtue of covering a trial in a suburb of Nashville, Tennessee.

Opponents of the construction of a mosque in Murfreesboro, TN, managed to monopolize six days of court hearings with lectures on how Islam is not a true religion but rather a conspiracy to take over America and squash its cherished freedoms.# Unsurprisingly, one of the witnesses was Frank Gaffney whose think-tank had determined that one of the board members of the new mosque had been a member of Hamas (an allegation denied by the member and his board). Gaffney reiterated what other self-proclaimed experts in Sharia law had said, namely that Islam and Sharia were inseparable and therefore posed a vital threat to US security.

Fortunately, a coalition of Catholics, Protestants, Jews and Muslims stood up to defend the construction of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro. One of those prominent voices was that of Florida mega-church pastor Joel Hunter, who said that it was ludicrous for the opponents of the mosque to base their opposition on the claim that Islam was not a religion but a political system with a built-in legal code at war with American democracy. He added that Muslims are like other past minorities that faced tough challenges to be accepted in America. For that reason, he was not going to relent: “Islam is facing that now and we will not rest until they have equal rights with other religions.”

The latest news is that the judge was ready to throw out the opponents’ challenge to the green light for the building permit issued by the Regional Planning Commission, but they did manage to have another hearing scheduled for April 13. Regardless of the outcome, however, the fact that the opposition has gained so much traction is a testimony to the power and magnetism of the anti-Sharia discourse.

Yet that line of thinking is totally divorced from the worldview of the vast majority of American Muslims. Not only did all the major Muslim organizations in this country immediately condemn the attacks of 2001; they fervently and unequivocally support the ethical ideals of democracy and human rights, including religious freedom. The imam of the Manhattan mosque, Feisal Abdul Rauf, who has been at the center of the “Park51” controversy (their new building a couple of blocks away from “Ground Zero”), is a veteran of interfaith dialogue. Imam Abdul Rauf explained what he has learned as an American Muslim in his book,What’s Right with Islam Is What’s Right with America: A New Vision for Muslims and the West. As a young man he sailed into New York Harbor in December 1965, eying the Statue of Liberty. “Little did I realize then,” he mused, “that I was to discover the riches of my faith tradition in this land. Like many immigrants from Muslim lands, I discovered my Islam in America.”

One of his discoveries was that with its Declaration of Independence and its Constitution the United States of America is a better “Muslim” country than most so-called “Muslim countries.” I cannot here go into all the details, but let’s start with this summary:

Muslim legal scholars have defined five areas of life that Islamic law must protect and further. These are life, mind (that is, mental well-being or sanity), religion, property (or wealth), and family (or lineage and progeny). Any system of rule that upholds, protects, and furthers these rights is therefore legally “Islamic,” or Shariah-compliant, in its substance. Because these rights are God-given, they are inalienable and cannot be deprived of any man or woman without depriving them of their essential humanity.#

Another part of his argument centers around the two central commandments of love for God and love of neighbor. The three Abrahamic faiths, and Islam’s religious law (the Sharia) make this distinction. Their followers are to love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength. “Our Christian friends,” he writes, “call this the ‘vertical dimension’ of religious practice.” The second part is more sociological, having to do with the “horizontal dimension” of our faith – how we relate to those around us. The first dimension in Islamic law is called the ‘ibadat, the ritual aspect of the faith (the five pillars of Islam, and the like). The second dimension is the mu’amalat, literally the mutual relationships of people in society, which covers family law, contractual or commercial law, and penal or criminal law. That second branch, as opposed to the fixed nature of the first, is extremely flexible. As long as those objectives of Sharia are met (as stated in the block quotation above), they are constantly in need of revision and reformulation, so as to respond to the changing needs of society over time.

More detail will come in subsequent blogs. Here I only emphasize that Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf sits squarely in the center of mainstream American Islam. In an evangelical-Muslim dialogue to which Rick Love and I contributed, which was organized by Georgetown University last year, the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) was giving out free copies of his book. Muslims disagree on many details of theology, law and politics – as do Jews and Christians among themselves. But one thing is for sure: the conspiracy theories of Jerry Boykin and Steven Emerson have nothing to do with the view of Sharia held by the overwhelming majority of the Muslim American community.

As Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders, we adhere to a common core of ethical standards that compel us to speak out against all forms of prejudice, hatred, and discrimination that our faiths encounter. The following seven resolutions provide common ground for us as “children of Abraham.” We affirm these seven statements and resolve to share them with everyone, everywhere.

1. Our commitment to partnering for peace does not mean we dissolve our distinctive, historic beliefs into an imaginary “One World Religion.” Rather, it means each community seeks to be authentically faithful to its historic beliefs and finds within those beliefs the resources to reach out to one another in love and respect.  We encourage Jews, Christians and Muslims to work towards peace and justice together. We believe that our communities of faith should be a force for peace, justice and reconciliation, instead of discord and strife.
2. Dialogue between Jews, Christians and Muslims provides us with opportunities to understand one another, build relationships, and engage in peacemaking. Through dialogue, we work toward mutual respect, graciously bear witness to our faith and work toward religious freedom. We emphasize the common core of ethical teaching about love of neighbor and peacemaking. Whether in wartime or peacetime, religious people must engage in “hospitality” toward each other.  We must reach out in love and respect toward the alien and protect the stranger in our communities.
3. We seek to be accurate when we speak about one another’s faith. Overstatement, exaggeration and words taken out of context should not be the case among people of faith. The Torah teaches us “not to bear false witness against our neighbor” (Exodus 20:16). The Gospel teaches us to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (Matthew 7:12). The Qur’an teaches us to “stand out firmly for justice as witnesses to God, even though it be against ourselves or our parents” (Qur’an 4:135). Thus we strive to speak truthfully about one another’s faith, to respect each faith community’s own interpretation of itself, and not to compare the best interpretation and practice of our faith with the worst interpretation and practice of others. We encourage every person to be discerning regarding how media and literature portray the “other.”
4. We recognize that there is a difference between the teaching of any religion and the actions of misguided followers. No religion or religious community should be judged by the evil action of some individuals.  Thus, we do not believe that Islam, Christianity, or Judaism is inherently a religion of violence.  Without exception, proponents of each religion have extremists. We should not allow tiny extremist groups to become spokespersons of their faiths. We, the main stream followers of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, want to live in peace, justice and with respect for one another.
5. We defend the right of Jews, Christians and Muslims to express their faith respectfully. We stand against all forms of religious persecution against Jews, Christians, Muslims or anyone else. God desires all people to choose and practice their faith based on conscience and conviction rather than any form of coercion or violence. We denounce those who use violence in the name of religion.
   We affirm the right of religious freedom for every person and community in the world.
6. Respect for all faiths, languages, colors, and ethnicities is an ideal that America has sought to achieve. Since America was founded, Quakers, Catholics, Jews, Mormons, Native Americans, African Americans, Chinese, and Japanese, and others have been persecuted for their faith or ethnicity. We do not want to repeat the same mistake with Muslims, or anyone else. We do not believe that the vast majority of Muslims want to take over the world by force. We do believe that both Islam and Christianity want to win the world to their respective faiths by persuasion and not through violent means.
7. We pledge to work together for the constitutional right of Americans of all faiths, to build houses of worship anywhere in our nation as allowed by local laws and regulations; we stand against all forms of racism, hatred, religious intolerance, and ethnic bigotry and seek to preserve the human rights of all people as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; we call upon local and national elected officials to join their colleagues in denouncing and rejecting inflammatory rhetoric that endangers the lives of Muslims, Christians, Jews, and all faiths.

For the historical background to this document, please visit Rick Love’s website.

But Tea with Hezbollah does not merely moralize that Muslims and even terrorists are people too. Dekker and Medearis aim for reconciliation in a “more excellent way”.

Read the full review here

Ten religious leaders – Jews, Christians and Muslims — sat around the table enjoying tasty Middle Eastern cuisine at the home of Imam Ahmad Shqeira. The fellowship was warm and friendly. Near the end of the evening our conversation turned to serious matters. I asked, “What do you think of developing talking points together that could address some of the prejudice, hatred and discrimination our religious communities face?” An immediate consensus developed. We needed to act.

(In my next blog I will explain why addressing these kinds of human rights issues are really important)

Following this meal, we exchanged about twenty emails proposing key themes and edits to those themes that we needed to address. Then Imam Ahmad invited a smaller group of us to formalize our talking points into resolutions over a meal at the Islamic Community Center of Tempe, Arizona.

Below are the Seven Resolutions that emerged. What do you think? Would you sign these? Any comments or concerns? I would love to hear from you!

Seven Resolutions

Against Prejudice, Hatred and Discrimination

As Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders, we believe in a common core of ethical standards which compel us to speak out against all forms of prejudice, hatred, and discrimination that our faiths encounter. The following seven resolutions provide common ground for us as “children of Abraham.” We affirm these 7 statements and resolve to share them with everyone, everywhere.

1. Our commitment to partnering for peace does not mean we dissolve our distinctive, historic beliefs into an imaginary “One World Religion.” Rather, it means each community seeks to be authentically faithful to their historic beliefs and finds within those beliefs the resources to reach out to one another in love and respect.  We encourage Jews, Christians and Muslims to  work towards peace and justice together. We believe that our communities of faith should be a force for peace, justice and reconciliation, instead of discord and strife.
2. Dialogue between Jews, Christians and Muslims provides us with opportunities to understand one another, build relationships, and engage in peacemaking. Through dialogue, we work toward mutual respect, graciously bear witness to our faith and work toward religious freedom. We emphasize the common core of ethical teaching about love of neighbor and peacemaking. Whether in wartime or peacetime, religious people must engage in “hospitality” toward each other.  We must reach out in love and respect toward the alien and protect the stranger in our communities.
3. We seek to be accurate when we speak about one another’s faith. Overstatement, exaggeration and words taken out of context should not be the case among people of faith. The Torah teaches us “not to bear false witness against our neighbor” (Ex 20:16). The Gospel teaches us to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (Matt 7:12). The Qur’an teaches us to “stand out firmly for justice as witnesses to God, even though it be against ourselves or our parents” (Qur’an 4:135). Thus we strive to speak truthfully about one another’s faith, to respect each faith community’s own interpretation of themselves, and not to compare the best interpretation and practice of our faith with the worst interpretation and practice of others. We encourage every person be discerning re: how media and literature portray the “other.”
4. We recognize that there is a difference between the teaching of any religion and the actions of  misguided followers. No religion or religious community should be judged by the evil action of some individuals.  Thus, we do not believe that Islam, Christianity, or Judaism is inherently a religion of violence.  Without exception, proponents of each religion have extremists. We should not allow tiny extremist groups to become spokespersons of their faiths. We, the main stream followers of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, want to live in peace, justice and with respect for one another.
5. We affirm the right of religious freedom for every person and community in the world. We defend the right of Jews, Christians and Muslims to express their faith respectfully. Thus we stand against all forms of religious persecution against Jews, Christians, Muslims or anyone else. God desires all people to choose and practice their faith based on conscience and conviction rather than any form of coercion or violence.
6. Respect for all faiths, languages, colors, and ethnicities is an ideal that America has sought to achieve. Since America was founded, Quakers, Catholics, Jews, Mormons, Native Americans, African Americans, Chinese, and Japanese, and others have been persecuted for their faith or ethnicity. We do not want to repeat the same mistake with Muslims. We do not believe that the vast majority of Muslims want to take over the world by force. We do believe that both Islam and Christianity want to win the world to their respective faiths by persuasion and not through violent means.
7. We pledge to work together for the constitutional right of Americans of all faiths, to build houses of worship anywhere in our nation as allowed by local laws and regulations; we stand against all forms of racism, hatred, religious intolerance, and ethnic bigotry and seek to preserve the human rights of all people as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; we call upon local and national elected officials to join their colleagues in denouncing and rejecting inflammatory rhetoric that endangers the lives of Muslim Americans.