Stopped by the nearest Mosque, made a few friends and dropped off a note. [View all]

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Dropped by my nearest mosque, made a few friends and dropped off this note:

As-salamu alaykum,

On this day where the President of the United States attempts to codify bigotry that is contrary to the spirit of Declaration of Independence, the advice of the founding fathers and the letter of the Constitution I would like to simply say,

I stand with you.

As someone who follows a different faith tradition I would like you to know that there are many who share in the disgust of the President’s opprobrium. I have been privileged to live and work with Muslims in Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. Some of that work involved working with Muslims to assist Vietnamese refugees, Cambodians to assist Muslim refugees and people of different traditions to assist Afghan and Iranian refugees that resettled into the United States.

I know Muslims who have worked for the US government for decades to fight against our common enemies. They will no longer be able to visit the US.

The actions of the President will not stand. They will be ridiculed by people who will resist religious bigotry and by people who have lived and worked with people outside the US and understand that the President’s arguments lack facts, wisdom or maturity.

We all know that this administration is a temporary occupier of the Presidency and that successors will return to the traditional expression of American values of religious tolerance, international friendship and embracing a search for universal moral self evident truths.

The greater problem is in educating the millions of his supporters who continue to engage in bigotry. Even though they remain a minority of the country they are a constant drag on progress not only against Muslims but also against people of color and the poor.

They do not know that Muslim scholars and philosophers have been instrumental in the foundation of Western values, philosophy and science. They do not know of Ibn Rushd whose original works on Aristotle and Plato were the foundation of Western Civilization’s re-integration of their work after the Dark Ages.

They do not know of ibn Musa al-Khwarizimi whose work translated into Latin laid the foundation for Western mathematics. When someone says that they want to eliminate Arabic influences in our education system I ask “how are we going to run computers on Roman Numerals?”.

They are not aware that much of Sir Isaac Newton’s work was drawn directly from Alhazen who laid the foundations of the scientific method six hundred years before Bacon and Newton would borrow heavy from his works.

From Aristotle to Ibn Rushd to ibn Musa al-Khwarisimi to Alhazen to Bacon to Newton the advance of civilization has always been the result of a free exchange of ideas that requires not just the free interaction of people from different traditions but a hunger for friendship among all peoples.

Influenced by thinkers from various cultures, different religions, all races we all toil under the same sun face the same moral challenges, the same test of bravery for defending principle and the same pursuit of Truth. Ultimately we all face the same end where we leave a legacy for standing for compassion, understanding and truth against fear, bigotry and lies.

President Roosevelt advised that “All we have to fear is fear itself”. While Trump has succumbed to that fear please be assured that millions of us stand with you.

In solidarity with American Muslims,

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