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The Battalion
Page 3 A • Wednesday, September 1 1, 2002,
A year of change
w Muslims reflect on how their lives have been altered since Sept. 11
By Nishat Fatima
THE BATTALION
One year after the terrorist attacks
Hook place, the Muslim community in
College Station has faced a range of
Heactions.
“It is the responsibility of Muslims
here in the West to educate those who
Ho not know what Islam is really
Hbout," said Faisal Chaudhry, the
president of the Islamic Center for
Hryan-College Station. Chaudhry said
He feels there is a need to spread
Islamic awareness.
In the aftermath of the Twin Tower
Hnd Pentagon events, Muslims all over
■he world were the recipients of back
lash in many forms; some cases more
Severe than others. The Muslim com-
liunity in College Station had its share
hf hostility, but many said the positive
jactions outweigh the negative.
Arsalan Haque, computer science
graduate student and president of the
Muslim Student Association, said he
was surprised by the compassion the
Aggie community showed the Muslims.
“The first incident that happened
was when somebody left a threatening
letter on the doorsteps of the mosque,”
Haque said. “The person behind it
was caught, and later we found out
that it was a friend of the offender that
had turned him in.”
Haque said that because of the out
come of that incident, the mosque got
an overwhelming response from the
people of College Station.
“We got about 50 cards from dif
ferent people, we received phone
calls, flowers and many people
approached different members of our
community just to find out if they
needed anything,” Haque said. “One
day, we even had a guy who came and
sat outside in the lobby of the mosque
who said that he just wanted to make
sure that we were all right.”
Despite all of the support, many
members of the Muslim community
were still apprehensive. Ali Hakeem,
a junior economics major, said that
immediately after the attacks he was
very fearful and confused.
“I felt lost and afraid because of
the uncertainty of what might happen.
I was trying to figure out what had
just taken place,” Hakeem said.
Dini Sunardi, an industrial engineer
ing graduate student and public rela
tions officer of the Muslim Student
Association, said she felt the need to be
extra careful after the events took place.
“As a Muslim woman who wore a
head scarf or ‘hijab’ I had never
thought I needed to be cautious because
of being a Muslim ” Sunardi said. “But
after the attacks took place I realized
that I had to be extremely mindful of
JOHN I.IVAS • THE BATTALION
All Hakeem says, “Now I am more focused. I see the necessity to inform others about Islam. It’s a part of a lifelong project."
my surroundings. Thankfully, I did not
receive any hostility.”
Unfortunately, not all Muslims
received such a tolerant reaction.
There have been numerous reports of
hate crimes against Muslims in many
parts of the world. The Web site for
the Council for American-Islamic
Relations said there had been 542
anti-Muslim hate crimes reported
between the eight days of September
1 1 and 19. While the majority of the
crimes reported took place in the
United States, there have also been
many painful and serious events that
have taken place overseas.
In an event that occurred in South
Sheilds in England, CNN reported
that the message “Avenge America-
Kill A Muslim Now!” was sprawled
across a wall near a mosque. Other
reports of anti-Muslim activities on
the Web site www.jannah.org include
the dragging and beating of an
Afghani taxicab driver in
Twickenham, England, the battering
of a 19-year-old Muslim girl by two
men with bats in London, the burning
of an Islamic school in the
Netherlands and numerous threats and
attacks on mosques all over the world.
Masoud Shadjareh, president of
Britain’s Islamic Human Rights
Commission, told CNN that after the
attacks on the Twin Towers and
Pentagon took place, resentment
towards Muslims was growing world
wide. Reports of attacks and abuse
had been coming in to him from all
over Europe and even Australia.
“People reacted the way they did
because they saw Muslims as a threat,”
said Dr. Terrence Barnhart, professor
of psychology. “When a perceived
danger is coming from a group that is
different from the relatively homoge
neous group of people, then categories
tend to be created.”
“After the attacks people started to
stereotype all Muslims as one,”
Barnhart said. “In a way, the reaction
was almost normal, but that does not
mean that such behavior is justified.”
Mike Martin, a graduate student in
environmental engineering and public
relations manager for the Islamic
Center of Bryan-College Station,
agreed with Barnhart.
“People of all faiths tend to hijack
a portion of the religion and use it for
their benefit,” Martin said. “When a
Christian from the Aryan Brotherhood
holds up the Bible and and calls it his
guide book, the average American
knows better. Why should Islam be
exempt from that? Religion is made
up of individuals, and there are good
and bad people in every faith.”
Many Muslims have been ques
tioned by the government and many
others have even been taken into fed
eral custody for indefinite periods.
According to an article published by
the Rocky Mountain News on Aug. 15,
2002, American-born Saudi incom
municado Yaser Esam Hamdi has
been withheld with fewer rights than a
felon. Despite repeated appeals by
Federal Judge Robet Dumar to have
Hamdi speak with a public defender,
the circuit courts have yet to comply.
Judge Dumar even went as far as ask
ing the courts if the Constitution did
n’t apply to Hamdi, but the courts
refused to answer.
In reaction to this event, Haque said
“1 learned my history and my govern
ment in this country and from what I
have learned, this kind of treatment is
unconstitutional. Our framing fathers
fought for the Constitution and put the
due process clause in it for a reason.
How can that right be denied?”
Many students feel their lives have
changed on a personal level since the
attacks.
“Now 1 am more focused. 1 see the
necessity to inform others about
Islam. It’s a part of a lifelong project,”
Hakeem said. “The fact that the num
ber of conversions to Islam has grown
tremendously after 9/11 shows that
people want to learn about the reli
gion. In the past we have done a poor
job of reaching out.”
Chaudhry said that although he did
not receive any backlash on a personal
level, the constant watch on Islam has
left him feeling vulnerable.
“There are people out there who are
promoting hatred on the basis of their
ignorance. If everybody gets to know
each other better, then it is harder to be
prejudiced,” Chaudhry said.
Sunardi voiced the same opinion.
“Though there are almost eight mil
lion Muslims in America and 1.2 billion
worldwide, Islam is still one of the most
misunderstood religions,” Sunardi said.
“Muslims from all over should get
together, inform others, and dispel any
kind of wrong ideas that are out there.
The media is biased a lot of times, but
as long as we are out there, educating
people what Islam is really about, then
ON
Editor
cs Editor
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Reeves regains sensation in hands, feet
seven years after accident
1 ST. LOUIS (AP) — Christopher Reeve has regained some move
ment and sensation in his hands and feet, seven years after a horse-
riding accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down, one of
his doctors said Tuesday.
The Superman star also can breathe on his own for about an hour
at a time, said Dr. John McDonald, a Washington University neurol-
■ogist who has been treating Reeve.
McDonald said the actor's progress should illustrate that "improve
ments are possible, and that's what we should be aiming at."
He cautioned against false hope.
"Where (the recovery) will end we also don't know," he said.
"Nobody can tell if Christopher or anyone (with such an injury)
will walk."
Reeve had hoped to walk by his 50th birthday, Sept. 25.
But just to gain sensation is also an accomplishment, he told
People magazine for its Sept. 23 issue.
"To be able to feel just the lightest touch is really a gift," he said.
"The fact is that even if your body doesn't work the way it used to,
the heart and the mind and the spirit are not diminished. It's as
simple as that."
McDonald, medical director of the Spinal Cord Injury Program at
the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has
directed Reeve in a home therapy program that uses electrical mus
cle stimulation and repetitive motion exercises.
Since beginning McDonald's program, Reeve can move his right
wrist, the fingers on his left hand and his toes. He can feel a pin
prick on most parts of his body and can tell the difference between
sharp and dull.
McDonald said Reeve's advances defied previous scientific expec
tations, when experts predicted that he would never be able to feel
or move from the neck down.
Reeve exercises an average of three hours a week on a special
computerized bicycle that sends electrical messages to his legs.
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