EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK

One Size
Does Not
Fit All

In Search Of A Common Voice

S

ohail Khan came to the United States from his
native Pakistan 14 years ago to study at the
University of Maryland. He was lured by the oppor-
tunity on our shores to succeed professionally and
personally.
Khan, a devout Muslim, hoped to become an engineer. He
achieved his dream in 1990, earning a master's degree in
mechanical engineering and joining General Motors as a sen-
ior project manager.
"America has so much in common with Islam," the
Farmington resident says. "They share lots of values and free-
doms — for example, judging something based on the merits
of the matter, or having the government consult with the peo-
ple before taking action."
A tall, soft-spoken man with a wife, three young sons and a
kindly demeanor, Khan was the spokesman of choice at the
Muslim Community of Farmington Hills' first-ever open
house at the Tawheed Center on West Ten
Mile last week. A member of the mosque, he
was easy to spot with his long beard, cream-
colored waistcoat (sherwanz) and white skull-
cap (topaz.
The open house proved eye opening.

Coming Together

I know that extremists interpret Islam's holy
book, the Koran, to defend violence toward
non-believers. And I know that they hope to
Editor
some day conquer America and convert non-
believers. Westerners must be vigilant to these
profound threats to our way of life.
But I'm not about to brand every Muslim a supporter of the
Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on America or of
mastermind Osama bin Laden's deranged
world view
"Islam is rooted in peace, blessing and sub-
mission," Khan told me, trying to dispel what
he called "misinformation" about the faith the
prophet Mohammed founded 1,400 years
ago.
"We denounce any act of terrorism, in the
U.S. or outside of it, by any individual, coun- Sohail Khan
try or regime," he said. "We don't support
any such act on principle."
He blamed a lot of the apprehension about Islam on
Muslims who, he said, have not been pro-active in telling their
story. He said the Muslim Community of Farmington Hills
came into being in 1994, yet has assumed, wrongly, that "peo-
ple knew about us."
A U.S. citizen, Khan said he rues civilian losses in times of
conflict, but nonetheless embraces the U.S. position of trying
to avert war, but not backing away if the objective is clear.
This isn't a man who, under the cloak of privacy, spews vitri-
ol instead of tolerance. Rather, he's a man who Jews and
Christians would do well to get to know in celebration of
America's diversity.

ROBERT A.
SKLAR

A Common Book

Another mosque member, Farmington Hills' Farah Baig, said
Islam calls for "equality of all human beings, whatever their
race, religion or ethnicity. We don't see any difference, except
in level of piety"

She was quick to add that such a call for equality "doesn't
mean that man will justly interpret all that God has said," cit-
ing as an example the Taliban's mistreatment
of Afghani women.
Kashif Siddiqi of Northville said Islam taps
the Torah and the Old Testament, not just
the Koran, as "sources of divine knowledge,"
and that Moses and Jesus are equal to
Mohammed "in the eyes of God."
"Muslims have an extremely high respect
and true endearment for Christians and Jews.
Farah Baig
We're all people of the Book," Siddiqi said.
He discredited the terror-based fundamen-
talist definition of jihad (holy war). "We're against what hap-
pened in America on Sept. 11. We've provided dollars, aid and
volunteer support at Ground Zero. We're as much concerned
about terrorism as anybody else."
Just as Jews must not brand every Muslim an extremist, so
must mainstream Muslims like Sohail Khan reinforce their
separation from the sick minds that wreak terrorism.
Separation can be achieved not only by joining Jews in tikkun
olam, in improving the world, but also by decrying violence as
a "just" path to political, personal or religious gain.

Against Hostility

In a telephone conversation Tuesday, Sohail included suicide
bombings against Israelis in this all-encompassing statement:
"Islam.is against all sorts of oppression, and all kinds of terror-
ism, in any way, shape or form, whether committed by indi-
viduals or groups or states against anyone
whosoever, in any part of the world."
He went on to call any military conflict
between peoples "a very sad thing for us to
see."
"Wherever there's an ongoing cycle of vio-
lence," he said, "we want cessation of hostili-
ties on both sides, with sincere and just nego-
tiations, and full implementation of all U.N.
resolutions, so humanity can move forward
Paul Blizman
rather than getting bogged down in conflict."
Farmington Hills attorney Paul Blizman,
who has studied Islamic history and culture, attended the open
house with his wife, Lee, at the invitation of a Muslim friend.
"We came to show our support," Lee said.
Her husband echoed many of my impressions in saying he
liked the emphasis on "Islam's commonalities with other reli-
gions, its recognition of Jewish and Christian prophets, and its
beliefs toward mutual respect, peace and charity."
As do I, Paul hopes the open house spurs more interfaith
participation at events across the metro area as a way to inspire
ecumenism.
He was right on, however, in stressing that, concurrent to
our coming together, "the terrorists and the Taliban have to be
dealt with."
Meanwhile, I urge Muslim Americans to hold their world
leaders accountable.
As Paul Blizman put it: "It doesn't help if Muslim leaders say
one thing to the general community and one thing quite dif-
ferent to their own community.
"We need to hear a common voice for tolerance and accept-
ance."
We sorely do. 0

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11/16
2001

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