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Confronting September 11: The Individual and Society: Choosing to Participate

In the aftermath of the September 11th attacks on the United States there was an outpouring of support for the families and victims of the atrocities. People around the country donated food, blood and money. Some New Yorkers found that participating in recovery efforts became a way to cope with their grief and sorrow. For Muslims living in New York there was an additional burden, in the flash of anger that followed the attacks, many found their loyalties questioned. Asama Khan discovered that the best way for her to contribute was by embracing her multiple identities as a Muslim, a New Yorker, a lawyer, and someone who cares deeply about human rights. Less than a week after the attacks, Khan and several friends and colleagues formed the group Muslims Against Terrorism with the hope that education can help to prevent future attacks and an unending cycle of hate.

Reporter Robin Finn wrote a profile of Khan that appeared in the New York Times. In the article Khan talks about how the attacks on September 11th influenced the way she thought about her identity:

    ... Ms. Khan's identity was in flux, even before the events of Sept. 11 transformed her from a citified, New Age Muslim who shopped at Ikea, skated in Central Park and made profitable use of her law degree as a project-finance associate at Chadbourne & Park, to an angrily articulate advocate intent on disproving any link between Islam and the fugitive who dominates her nightmares, Osama bin Laden.

    "I don't want to see this religion used by Al Qaeda and Osama to justify mass murder sprees. It's unacceptable," she says, agitation evident in her clenched fists. "It's like our religion was hijacked," she adds, an observation she'd like to take credit for but attributes to a California-based imam, Hamza Yusuf.

    On the morning of the attack, Ms. Khan was alone in her brother's apartment, having not yet preceded her furniture into this one, preparing to hit the gym with a friend from Zawia, the informal Islamic study group, whose focus is intellectual, not political, that she joined after being unable to find a mosque that fit her needs.

    The friend phoned and instructed her to turn on the television; she did, just in time to see the second plane hit, and remembered her brother's law firm did occasional business at the World Trade Center. (He wasn't there, nor did she lose anyone close to her.)

    Muslims Against Terrorism had its genesis in frustration: when she and several Zawia members went to give blood and donate supplies at the armory at 26th Street and Lexington Avenue, they were turned away because the facilities were overwhelmed. "We wanted to help but didn't know how; as Muslims, we were doubly grieving," she says.

    The Sunday after the tragedy, she and 10 colleagues formed a Web site and synchronized their mission: education. They developed a curriculum, sent speakers to schools in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, and made a presentation at a Columbia University workshop attended by 400 directors of after-school programs.

    "The best way to stop the cycle of hate is through education," maintains Ms. Khan, who is also working with the television and news media "to take away bin Laden's platform and take back our religion. If people start hating Islam, it's kind of like what Gandhi said, 'An eye for an eye and the whole world goes blind.' "

    Born and raised in Peoria - her parents, both physicians, immigrated from Pakistan to London to the United States - Ms. Khan spent three years in Pakistan during high school, a prolonged family reunion that wasn't as idyllic as planned. Though she had previously visited her grandparents in Karachi and Lahore, she encountered disturbing changes in 1986. "As kids, we'd sleep outside when we visited, and no one ever locked doors; the boundaries of the yards were two feet high. When we moved there, every home was a fortress. The walls were six feet high, some with barbed wire, some electrified. It was a stressful, violent place," she says. "It was clear to my parents that we were definitely going back to the United States for college."

    Ms. Khan, who attended college and law school in Chicago, was aghast to learn that some Americans responded affirmatively to a recent poll suggesting that Muslims wear badges; it scares her. Asked if she fears for her safety since making the move from anonymity to this very public antifundamentalist stance, Ms. Khan's poise deserts her.

    "Initially I thought I might be a target for anti-Muslim Americans. Now I realize I may be a target for the extremists, because what they're most afraid of is the truth. God forbid I should die speaking the truth," she says, her face wet with tears. "But better to speak the truth than to die not saying it. The people who lost their lives on Sept. 11th deserve at least that."

    Composed again, Ms. Khan decides that this new identity, while unsought and unpaid, might be a keeper, if only for the time it takes to enlighten Americans, especially young ones, that Islam is no villain. "I never for a minute thought my interest in and love for my religion would ever become a cause du jour. Now that it has, Muslim- Americans bear that responsibility."1

CONNECTIONS
  • Below is an identity chart for a High School student from the United States. For ideas on how to use identity charts refer to the Facing History and Ourselves website.
  • Using this model, create an identity chart for Aasma Khan. What labels does she use to describe herself? Which labels might others attach to her?
  • Create an identity chart for yourself. Begin with the words or phrases that describe the way you see yourself. Add those words and phrases to your chart. Compare your chart with those of your classmates. Which categories were included on every chart? Which appeared on only a few charts? As you look at other charts, your perspective may change. You may wish to revise your chart and add new categories to those you have already included. This activity allows you to see the world through multiple perspectives. What labels would others attach to you? Do they see you as a leader or a follower? A conformist or a rebel? Are you a peacemaker or a bully? Or a bystander? How do society's labels influence the way you see yourself? The kinds of choices you make each day?
  • Professor Helen Fein writes about the idea of a "universe of obligation" - the name she gives to the circle of individuals and groups "toward whom obligations are owed, to whom rules apply, and whose injuries call for [amends]. 2 How does Khan define her universe of obligation? How do you define yours?
  • How did Khan's interests and identity influence her response to the atrocity of the attacks on September 11th? What tools did she have to shape her actions?
  • Muslims Against Terrorism stress the role of education in preventing more attacks like the one on September 11th. What kind of education can make a difference?
  • In the wake of the September attacks, hate crimes and bias incidents against Muslims have spiked, at the same time bias incidents against Jews are also on the rise. What is the role of activists, such as Asama Khan, in responding to the incidents? What is the role of politicians and community leaders? What is the role of ordinary individuals in responding? To learn more about how one community responded to a series hate crimes watch the video Not in Our Town with your class.
  • Khan and her colleagues at Muslims Against Terrorism have spoken to Muslims and non-Muslims about violence perpetrated by those claiming to speak for Islam as well as violence directed at Muslims and people who been identified as Arab or Muslim. Why is it important that they address both?
  • To learn more about Muslims against Terrorism and their attempts to break the cycle of violence, visit their web site.
  • Research other educational efforts to bring people of diverse backgrounds together to prevent terrorism and a violent backlash against Muslims. What strategies do the groups employ?

1 "A Daughter of Islam, an Enemy of Terror" by Robin Finn, New York Times, Oct. 25, 2001, Metro Section.
2 Helen Fein, Accounting for Genocide, (Free Press, 1979)p.4