Omar Suleiman Address

Omar Suleiman Address: "Islam is a Test, Not a Threat"

Introduction and Opening

Good evening, it's wonderful to see so many of you here tonight. We're very lucky because tonight we'll be joined by Professor Iman Omar Saliman, who is here to give an address on the title Islam, a test, not a threat. So without further ado, please welcome Omar.

Thank you very much. As-salamu alaykum, peace be with you all. In the name of Allah, the most compassionate, the most merciful.

First and foremost, I want to thank the President of the Union, Matt, who is the tallest person I've ever met in the United Kingdom. So this is already a very unfamiliar and foreign environment to me, but it's wonderful to speak to someone at eye level here in the UK. And of course, all of you for attending and everyone that was a part of organizing this.

The Power of the Foreign and Familiar

Now, how you heard, what I just recited may have caused you a range of emotions. It may have given you what some social scientists describe as linguistic threats or anxiety, which can happen when a foreign language is spoken around you. Or it may have sparked curiosity and interest about what it was that was just recited.

Or maybe you just appreciated how it sounded, or maybe you just don't like my voice. A complex interplay of psychological factors can influence how we deal with the foreign and the unfamiliar. But the verse that I recited from the Quran translates as follows.

Say we believe in Allah and what has been revealed to us and what has been revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and his descendants. And what was given to Moses, Jesus and other prophets from their Lord. May peace be upon them all. We make no distinction between any of them. And it is to him that we wholly submit. When I translate the verse, suddenly the foreign and the distant may now feel familiar and near.

But going from foreign to familiar is usually a process, a process that many find inconvenient or too complicated to engage. Because in more ways than one, ignorance can be comfortable and knowledge can be complicating. When my worldview perfectly conforms to an algorithm that aligns good and bad

and truth and falsehood neatly to my likes and dislikes, then I inevitably live comfortably in my chamber of ignorance that intentionally or unintentionally excludes people and ideas that could be disruptive.

There are some who find joy in exploration and experiencing others. With the example of the recitation of the Quran, some would shed tears even if they didn't understand a word of it, just by being captivated by the beauty of the recitation or even the emotion of the reciter. But those who take it a step further by familiarizing themselves with the meaning of Islam's sacred scripture may find an even deeper sense of enrichment.

Historical Examples of Religious Recognition

The Quran speaks about Christians who hear the scripture and whose eyes fill with tears, not just out of an appreciation for the recitation, but also out of recognition. When the righteous Christian leader of Abyssinia, known as the Najashi, received the first set of Muslim refugees, fleeing the persecution at the hands of the pagan elites of Mecca, he initially granted them safety out of a commitment to his own scripture and principles of justice. But then when his diplomatic ties with Mecca were put to the test, and Islam and the Muslim community were misrepresented to him, he called forth the Muslims to recite from their book.

As Ja'far, the cousin of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, read verses about Jesus and Mary, peace be upon them, he was deeply moved and he famously drew a line in the sand saying, the difference between us and you is no greater than this line. This religious recognition of his had massive political implications and that it shaped his legendary refugee policy. He no longer saw these people as wanderers and Bedouins from the Arabian desert, but as brothers and sisters in humanity and faith.

The familiarity led to a beautiful, logical place of friendship and fraternity through faith. There is perhaps nothing more beautiful than when you see the best of what you hope to be in people whom you once assumed the worst. The great Syrian historian Ibn Asakir records that when a group of Byzantine Christians first encountered the Muslims in their worship in the Great Mosque of Damascus, they paused and said admiringly, you remind us of the disciples of Christ.

And there is no shortage of historical accounts to a similar effect. Sometimes, however, the familiar can cause a different reaction.

Personal Encounter: The Story of John

One Easter, many years ago, around the time when the movie The Passion of the Christ was released, that's when Mel Gibson was still okay, I held a series of Friday sermons on Jesus, peace be upon him, in Islam, and I invited the local community to attend.

We put an ad in the local newspaper, and 30 to 50 of our neighbors joined every single week for the Friday sermon for an entire month. And at the end of the last sermon of the series, I walked to the back of

the mosque, and I found a gentleman named John sitting alone. He was one of the last people left in the mosque, and he looked like he was about to burst into tears.

But as he was looking at the inner part of the dome, the look on his face wasn't one of contentment or even grief. It was actually one of frustration. And so when I put my hand on his shoulder and asked him if he was okay, he responded by saying, people who pray like Jesus to the Lord of Moses five times a day, and I'm supposed to believe you're going to hell? He went on to explain that it was the first time he felt like he had witnessed the biblical references of Jesus falling on his face in prayer in real life, and that now he had to seriously reassess his own convictions.

He was perplexed by us, because he always assumed us to be worshipping another god altogether, and following some sort of pagan religion with incoherent ideas. But what he saw in Islam that was familiar to him had now become a test to him, which brings me to another conversation of mine, which forms the basis of this address.

The Central Thesis: Islam as a Test

I was once asked by a fellow professor, after giving a 101 presentation on Islam, if I could honestly say to him with a straight face that Islam was not a threat to him.

I responded to him by saying, Islam is not a threat, but it is a test. In the case of John, Islam was a theological test to him. But in a much broader sense, Islam as a religion, and the Muslim community, provide a potent test to almost every political and social movement, trend, claim, or party in our Western societies today.

And if you don't reckon with this test, you risk not just alienating or oppressing Muslim populations, but robbing yourselves of the opportunity to appreciate the beauty of what has been made foreign to you before, and not remedying the gaps in your own thinking and practices.

Addressing Misconceptions and Stereotypes

First, we must start with the ugly. The demonization of Islam and the dehumanization of Muslims, based on manufactured fears, has led to all sorts of political and social problems.

Now there are two types of foreign to reckon with in regards to Islam and the Muslims. There is the exotic foreign, and there is the extremist foreign. The exotic foreign is the foreign which casts orientalist tropes on Islam and Muslims, with a lens that never allows them to be seen as part of anything other than their mysterious own.

And the extremist foreign that portrays Islam and Muslims as uniquely dangerous and suspicious, which has formed the basis of the colonization of the Muslims abroad and the securitization of the Muslims at home. At the onset, the two foreigns may seem unrelated, but they actually do feed off of one another.

Both lenses involve a charitable read of the quote-unquote West, past and present, and a scathing read of the quote-unquote Muslim world, past and present.

And it may be, perhaps, that much of this projection of Islam and the Muslim world is a lack of recognition of the ways in which Islamic civilization has already contributed to the very fabric of Western civilization as we know it today. Everything from the coffee that we drink, to our medicine, some would say they're the same thing, to our toothbrushes and combs, to our math and sciences, to the robes you adorn yourself with when you hopefully all graduate from this wonderful institution, to the legal traditions you study to get there, to the domes in your architecture and in many ways the university system itself, to the study of optics and psychology and surgery and the hospitals they're performed in, and the list goes on and on.

But you wouldn't know that watching the crude portrayal of Muslims over the years who seem hell-bent on destruction and unable to function outside of the harsh Arabian desert, a place where the women are all seductive and subjugated and the men are vicious and malicious.

And while these stereotypical constructs were brought to life through Western imagination onto Western screens, the very contributions of the Muslim world to Western human progress were erased. And even worse, the main contribution of the West to the Muslim world in return has been to tame and civilize populations by force to supposedly protect them from themselves and the world from their terror. And this is precisely how the exotic foreign lens plays into the extremist foreign lens that renders Muslim populations uniquely dangerous.

Western Interventions and Their Consequences

A mentality is forged of, we must liberate them out of mercy and benevolence, ironically, by bombing them mercilessly. So you effectively become our saviors in Hollywood but our tormentors in real life. Muslim men are inherently in need of being restrained and Muslim women are inherently in need of being rescued.

And so in the name of women's rights, women are droned and starved and left in utter desperation as their nations and families are spread to pieces. And in the name of human rights, human atrocities are committed far from the sight of those who unwillingly or unknowingly fund them with their tax dollars. And just as ignorance has led to a lack of appreciation for what Islamic civilization has meant to Western civilization, it has also led to a lack of acknowledgement for the many harms caused to the Muslim world through historical and ongoing projects of Western imperialism.

But as the saying goes, a history written in blood cannot be erased by lies written in ink. Fabricated lies see weapons of mass destruction by unrepentant global powers. That justify illegal invasions in order to steal the resources of Muslim lands long predate the Iraq war.

Virtually every attempt to arrogantly impose a Western conception of democracy on foreign populations has failed and left in its wake nothing but misery, destroyed civilizations, and civil wars. Rather than be held accountable for deliberate crimes to stunt the progress of some Muslim-majority countries, these advanced democracies add insult to injury by insisting that the very countries they ruined are in fact the authors of their own destruction. And that the solution to the liberation of these backward countries is, you guessed it, even more unsolicited, unwanted, and most importantly, utterly failed intervention by enlightened superpowers.

Self-Reflection and Responsibility

Now that is not to say that all problems that exist in the Muslim world are externally imposed and to be blamed on the West. Nor is it to say that there is nothing redeeming about Western civilization as it is celebrated today. It's to say that a sincere and inquisitive mind that is willing to be vulnerable in the pursuit of truths made so foreign will likely arrive at a very different conclusion about Islam and the Muslim world than what is mainstream today.

It's also true that the sincere and inquisitive Muslim is also self-critical and that Muslims should challenge themselves to live in accordance with their best examples despite the overwhelming obstacles. As Muslims, we should constantly seek to revisit the beauty of the pristine example of our Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and to revive the golden age of Islamic contributions inspired by that example. Our oppressors are not our teachers, and our obstacles are not our excuses.

So while we refuse to let others pontificate to us, we preach to ourselves and to our world simultaneously to be better.

The Authentic Appeal of Islam

Now some might say, even while acknowledging that Islamic golden age, that it's time to stop living in the past. Islam and Muslims today, they argue, are a shadow of their predecessors.

Most modern discoveries and progress take place outside of the Muslim world and often outside of faith communities altogether. The world's religions that remain relevant today have largely done so in spite of and not because of their actual teachings. And so religions have to constantly monitor societal trends and then rapidly undergo a rebranding exercise, which often entails renegotiating their core beliefs as a matter of pragmatic survival or aligning their beliefs entirely to secular and unholy pursuits of power.

And so Islam has to stop resisting reform of its core values and tenets if it wants to thrive in today's world. My answer to that is why is it that despite all the calamities and challenges that continue to plague many Muslim majority countries and the pressures and discrimination that come with being a Muslim minority, Islam remains the fastest growing religion in the world.

And while you may sneeringly say, we just have more kids, I'd respond with, we certainly have a lot more converts as well.

So how do we make sense of this? In my view, in one word, authenticity. From the preservation of its message and the historicity of the Quran, to the commitment and adherence of its followers to its tenets, to the simplicity and consistency of its message, to the intuitive yet uncompromising nature of its moral code, the core value proposition of Islam is so potent and robust that it connects deeply and profoundly with those seeking fulfilling answers to some of life's most perplexing questions.

The human inclination to worship is innate and impossible to overcome.

Whether the object of our worship and devotion is Allah, or technology, or progress, or human reason, or indeed our own desires, we are all in some way devout. Islam is so widely appealing because it places an unrivaled emphasis on submission to the only entity that is absolute, Allah, emphasizing that everything and everyone, by comparison and contrast, is relative. Thus the very essence of the Islamic faith begins with the act of ultimate humility in opposition to satanic pride, which is to dethrone oneself in recognition of one's fallibility and imperfection.

It is hard to imagine an expression more authentic or sincere, and this is what is so profoundly appealing about Islam to many who have embraced it. It is a striking, counterintuitive, and historic anomaly. By and large, Islam has resisted reinventing itself to align with the prevailing orthodoxies of society, and Muslims have insisted on the full practice of their faith in the face of much discrimination.

Though this seemingly stubborn refusal to relent should be costly, Islam, if anything, continues to grow exponentially. And so if the goal is to exert maximum pressure to make Muslims uncomfortable with their Islam as it is, I would argue that it will only make Muslims insist more on their faith. So we will remain, just by being ourselves as a result of that, a test.

Islam as a Test for Political Systems

A test for ever-evolving systems of thought and governance. A test for new trends. A test for new, worried populations that may see our insistence on our faith as a threat.

And we've already seen the impact of such a dangerous framing of our religion and community, not just abroad, but here at home. While anti-refugee and anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies rooted in ignorance and fear are on the rise, the Muslim refugee is not looked at merely as one who may consume some of a nation's resources or dilute its identity, but a threat to that nation's existence because perhaps they'll inflict terror or infect their populations with regressive ideologies.

The Muslim prisoner, jailed on false terrorism charges or for mere thought crimes, isn't afforded the same backing by rights organizations that otherwise fight for liberties in the end of mass incarceration.

Because to defend a prisoner accused of supporting ISIS or Al-Qaeda may end up costing you your own security or at the very least lead to your permanent social stigmatization, even though the accused may be entirely innocent. Muslims feel the double standards around them all the time. It's why Palestine not being given the Ukraine treatment despite seven decades of a sustained illegal occupation stings so much.

And let me state here, in unequivocal terms, anti-Palestinian bigotry is Islamophobia, even if not all Palestinians are Muslim. I say that because anti-Palestinian bigotry employs the same Islamophobic tropes. It employs the same framing and tactics to dehumanize Palestinians, Muslim or otherwise, and deprive them of their basic human rights.

Testing Political Claims

We get it. We're a test to the principles you claim, whatever they may be. And that's why no matter where you stand politically, we test you.

If you're a self-proclaimed conservative who believes in preserving religious freedom and religious values in society, yet somehow simultaneously seek to remove Islam and the ability of Muslims to practice or even exist in your society, you are betraying your own claims. There is nothing Christian about your cause, and you should know that white nationalism is no less secularizing than anything on the left.

And if you're a self-proclaimed liberal who fights for the rights of minorities to live in peace and without harassment, yet simultaneously seek to remove the rights of religious communities, including minorities, to practice their religion without fear of reprisal or legal repercussions, and to adhere to their own values of unchanging moral truths, even if that means challenging your liberal values, you too are betraying your own claims.

And so no matter where you fall on the political spectrum, Islam is a test to your political views and the elasticity of your claims to pluralism. As the great Muhammad Ali said about himself, My goals, my own, get used to me. The words I am America can easily be spoken as I am the United Kingdom, or I am France, or whatever other place that Muslims have found it difficult to live freely and faithfully.

Muhammad Ali, though, who initially posed a test to America's legal system, war machine, and understanding of itself politically, socially, and theologically, is now rightly recognized for enriching it and the world beyond measure. It is my hope that many will come to see today's Muslims today in the same way tomorrow, and maybe even today as well.

Crisis as a Catalyst for Understanding

I want to end with an observation, though, that it is often when we are all vulnerable that we're suddenly forced to work together.

It has been my experience that nothing brings us together like crisis. It's in crisis that we arrange our priorities to meet a common threat, and that we are reminded of our shared humanity. It's during that reminder that we can learn empathy for one another and be enriched by one another's presence.

Humanity faces the major threats of environmental degradation, increased political polarization through social media, potential nuclear wars, global hunger, and the advent of technologies that seem to make us less human and see others as less human. Muslims are used to being looked at as the threat, but we are a community of faith that loves to serve. If you lower your guard and see that beauty, you may understand us a bit more and the beautiful religion that we adhere to.

Stories from September 11th: Service in Crisis

And so as I started with the ugly, I'll end with the beauty that can arise out of the ugly. They both happen to involve the infamous date of 9-11 in the United States. All Muslims have grown up in the United States under the shadow of 9-11, and it has had global implications.

And I look not just at September 11, 2001. I actually look at September 11, 2005 and September 11, 2011. Allow me to explain why.

Hurricane Katrina - September 11, 2005

I'm from a city in the United States known as New Orleans, Louisiana, and we were struck in 2005 by one of the greatest natural disasters in the history of our nation. The same amount of casualties or close to the same amount of casualties as the 9-11 terror attacks and all types of property damage and so much more that happened to our city. And as a Muslim community, we came out to serve.

We went to shelter after shelter to bring people into our homes, to bring people into our mosques. We served. We rebuilt.

We gutted out homes. And suddenly, we were looked at entirely different. When we went to the largest shelter at the time of evacuees, the Astrodome in Houston, where there were thousands of evacuees, we asked for a date in which we could serve food to all of those who were there.

And the shelter management said to us, there's only one date available to you, September 11.

Now, we could have walked away from that and said it's not worth it. Imagine the optics of Muslims just four years removed from 9-11, walking into the Astrodome with their thobes and hijabs and kufis and beards, with boxes in their hands on that day when the fears of our community would be stoked in the way that they would annually, where most Muslims on 9-11 would stay indoors.

And in fact, till today, still do. But we took it as a challenge. We said, you know what? We renew our intentions.

Our goal is to serve. It may be for a divine wisdom that this is the only day that was given to us, and we will serve everyone in that day of 9-11. And what ended up happening was, as Muslims came out on 9-11, 2005, to serve the evacuees in the Astrodome, we were the only relief group to receive a standing ovation from all of the evacuees.

September 11, 2011 - Building Together

I fast forward to another 9-11 anniversary, the 10-year anniversary of 9-11, where, as faith groups who had now become more familiar with one another in New Orleans, Louisiana, after that disaster, we decided to do something positive and productive on that day rather than mourn and grieve. And so we decided to rebuild a section of the city that had never been rebuilt, Rivertown, to repaint, to redo the roads, to clean it up, and to completely transform it with hundreds of volunteers from our various faith communities to show what togetherness could look like. We did so.

And then we came together in the mosque at the end of the day, and we had halal and kosher gumbo. The halal gumbo tasted a little better than the kosher gumbo. That's just my opinion.

But you could see the tears in the eyes of the people that had once seen our community in a particular light. They sat there, and they all looked like John in the back of my mosque, frustrated but content, hopeful but at the same time regretful. And it paved the way for many difficult conversations that had to be had.

And as I say to people, when you complicate your worldview, it's a beautiful thing. And so I said to them, we have complicated things for you. You're welcome.

Conclusion: A Call for Understanding

As Al-Hajj Malik al-Shabazz, Malcolm X, once said, we need more light about each other. Light creates understanding. Understanding creates love.

Love creates patience, and patience creates unity. Lastly, I want to acknowledge that some of this may be difficult to hear and process for some. But I want to applaud those who relinquish their comfort zones and find growth in what may be initially uncomfortable and unfamiliar.

Difficult conversations form the basis of durable relationships. Durable relationships form the basis of healthy communities. Healthy communities form the basis of contributing societies.

And as I began with a verse from the Quran, I would like to conclude with another one as well. This one, a call to get to know one another.

O people, we have created you all from male and female, made you into nations and tribes so that you may get to know one another. Verily, the most honorable among you in the sight of Allah is the most taqwa of you. Verily, Allah is all knowing and all aware.

Thank you very much.