American Power and Islam

As Muslims living in America, we oftentimes find ourselves trying to negotiate a fault-line between our religious and patriotic duties. This has been especially true in the aftermath of the horrific events of September 11, 2001, events which we are told changed the country, forever.

Unfortunately, we find that those attacks have done little to fundamentally change the country. The rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer. Spending for social programs and education is being cut, while the government proposes a half trillion dollar tax cut for the wealthiest segment of the population. Apparently, only money for the building a larger military and more prisons can be found. While this is going on domestically, our increasingly aggressive, antagonistic foreign policy has created a diplomatic nightmare which threatens to destroy the very foundation of the hard-won regime of international law which has brought peace to most of the world's societies, and stability to international relations.

It is the face of these realities that Imam Zaid Shakir examines the responsibilities of Muslims in America, as we negotiate the above mentioned fault-line, and the challenge facing America to come to grips with Islam. For as he cogently argues, if America can responsibly deal with the challenge of Islam, she will be able to responsibly deal with the challenges of the post-September 11th world.