From The Daily Beast
by Arsalan Iftikhar
As American Muslims join in marking the 10th anniversary of 9/11, Arsalan Iftikhar reminds us that one terrorist cave dweller named Osama bin Laden shouldn’t be allowed to dump 1,500 years of Islamic cultural progress down the drain.
Exactly 10 Septembers ago, our global community would awake to witness one monumental act of craven inhumanity that would change our world forever in one fell terroristic swoop. In addition to our country mourning the collapse of two of our largest towers, we as a nation also witnessed nearly 3,000 Americans of all religions, ethnicities, and races perish right before our eyes.
On this 10th anniversary of Sept. 11, I spent most of my day here in Washington, D.C. at the 9/11 Unity Walk, where hundreds—if not thousands—of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, and people of all faiths walked alongside each other to commemorate thelegacy of 9/11. Hundreds of us gathered at Washington Hebrew Congregation—the largest synagogue in Washington, D.C.—and heard a Muslim call to prayer as we then proceeded to the Washington Islamic Center where Jewish cantors sang over mosque loudspeakers and African-American gospel singers (who once sang for the Pope) melodiously sang “Amazing Grace” at the mosque grounds.
Such an encouraging display of interfaith unity from hundreds of Americans of diverse backgrounds was truly a silver lining from the very dark cloud that reared its ugly head upon our country one fine Tuesday morning 10 years ago.
