Character, face, person

When one has grown up in a Muslim country, it is difficult to delink any form of corruption and the government that is supposed to serve its people, particularly when the government bases its laws on religion. Religious prejudice extended its fingers to my family members, particularly one of them, who could not see a pleasant face associated with Islam. Post-Sept 11 has helped fuelled anti-Islamic sentiments. Prejudice is grounded by our surroundings, I wanted to combat it at home before it spreads, before it becomes something that others can add to, before mosques are burnt and Islam becomes a word that people spit at. I wanted him to understand that it is not religion that is wrong, but the people who misinterpret it. Islam, after all, does mean peace. A person is too a person first and foremost. Other classifications are secondary. One of my friends, who happens to be Muslim, I am expecially proud of. However, whenever his name is mentioned at home, there is silence. It got to the point where I was afraid to mention his name. So I bought him home to dinner. The family loved him. Once there is a face, this face is a person's and you can't label them so harshly anymore. You can't use labels against them, especially when they too decry terrorism. You see too that they are human.