Fairness for America's Muslims

IT IS with a combination of hope and fear that nearly seven million Muslim Americans are ending their celebration of Ramadan, a month of daylight fasting, reflection and prayer that concludes with the "eid" feast this weekend. During Ramadan, the world's 1.2 billion Muslims rededicate themselves to two central Islamic values: sharing and tolerance.

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So it was sobering for me to review a recent poll revealing disturbing levels of intolerance towards Muslims among a random sample of a thousand Americans. The poll was conducted by an independent firm at the request of the Council on American-Islamic relations.

Some of the findings were chilling:

Some 29 percent of Americans strongly or somewhat agree that Muslims teach their children to hate.

Some 27 percent believe we value life less than other people.

Some 29 percent believe in a kind of world Muslim conspiracy "to change the American way of life."

With negative stereotypes prevailing among more than a quarter of the American people, there is no wonder that reported hate crimes and discrimination against Muslim Americans increased 70 percent from last year alone.

More than 700 violent attacks, including several murders, against us, or those mistaken for us, occurred in the first nine weeks following 9/11. Scores of us were illegally removed from aircraft, sometimes because the flight crew "did not feel comfortable flying with someone named Muhammad."

Public leaders made defamatory statements, including the Rev. Jerry Falwell, who opined on "60 Minutes" that our prophet Muhammad was a "terrorist." Louisiana congressman John Cooksey stated on radio that any "guy with a diaper on his head, and a fan belt wrapped around it" should be pulled over by police.

The silver lining to the survey was that those with Muslim friends or colleagues had significantly more positive perceptions of Muslims.

For this reason, it is imperative for Muslim Americans to overcome our fears and let our friends and colleagues know more about us. As Muslims, we must be proud ambassadors of a faith committed to peace, justice, and mutual respect among peoples.

We also ask Muslims and people of other faiths to join more than 700,000 Muslims who have already signed the online petition "Not in the Name of Islam," which rejects violence committed in the name of Islam and unequivocally condemns those who perform un-Islamic acts of terror and cruelty.

This year Muslim Americans launched a special `Sharing Ramadan' initiative. Hundreds of mosques across the country opened their doors at the end of the daily fast and invited neighbors to celebrate the evening meal with delicious food from countries all across the globe.

However, we Muslims cannot fight anti-Muslim racism by ourselves. We must call upon national and local leaders to speak out against bigotry. We must appeal to legislators to protect Muslim Americans -- and indeed all groups -- through firm hate-crime legislation. We must encourage the proliferation of interfaith meetings, so that Muslim Americans can share the message of peace and understanding with Christians, Jews, and our neighbors of other faiths.

We must ask the media to rethink its sometimes careless and inflammatory depictions of Islam and Muslims. Next time you plan to refer to us, momentarily substitute the word "African Americans" or "Jews" for "Muslims." If you would not make that comment about another group, then don't make it about us.

Racial or religious discrimination hurts all Americans. Our nation cherishes certain fundamental principles -- among them, the right to live without fear of prejudice and with equal protection of the laws. Like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Muslim Americans also dream of the day when we are judged by the content of our character, and by our contributions to this society, not by our race, religion, or ethnic background.

Omar Ahmad is the founder and chairman of the Council on American Islamic Relations, the leading Muslim civil rights organization in the United States.