On September 9th, the NCRR (Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress) and the JACL (Japanese American Citizens League), in cooperation with the Japanese American National Museum and other groups held a vigil in Little Tokyo to show their support for Muslim Americans. Their timing couldn’t have been any more perfect as the day was also Eid Ul-Fitr, the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
I got there around 7:15pm and was quickly joined by swelling ranks of Asians and non-Asians who came to show their support. For this event, I wore my “This is what a Jihadist looks like” t-shirt, which was created by the W&M Muslim Student Association. This student organization and the truly amazing people I met there back in my college days have been one of my foundations of inspiration to not only be an activist, but understanding what Islam is all about). The beautiful thing about the t-shirt is that it is bold and proud in what they want to say, to take back the word “Jihad” from how Western scholars and the mainstream media defines it.
This t-shirt was created with the words written in the front and the Arabic term for peace written in the shape of a dove on the back with “I struggle for _________” on the top. It is this blank section that the individual writes in what they fight for. For me, I struggle for honesty: the struggle to always say what is on my mind and never hold back. These thoughts were in my head as I was standing there, holding the artificial candle in my hand along with dozens of others who were joining in. In this country we live in, we are in a struggle right now as the anniversary of September 11th approaches to fight back the ignorance and hatred of those who misunderstand Islam. It is one out of many struggles that we must fight to thwart the injustice and prejudice that we as Americans face here. It is because we struggle with these battles that I realize we are all fighters. We are all Jihadists.
Jihad does not mean what the media tells you they think it means. They translate Jihad simply as “holy war,” which is a grossly inaccurate translation that belittles the full broad scope of the word. At its base, Jihad means “struggle” and it can mean the struggle for one’s soul, the struggle to promote peace, harmony or cooperation, the struggle to find love within oneself, the struggle to treat people around you with kindness, and the struggle to not be overcome with hatred.
I cannot predict what will happen this Saturday, September 11th. It is safe to say that emotions will be boiling high, especially in New York, and such emotions are not to be trifled with. All I can hope is that those who fight for love and harmony will stand their ground for whatever comes on that day. All I can hope is that nothing stupid will happen this Saturday and if anything does, ignorance will be fought back with knowledge and hatred will be fought back with love. With that being said, show your support and solidarity to the Muslim American communities across the nation. It can be as simple as writing a Facebook status update saying “I support the Muslim American community” to writing a blog entry about it. This is a time when we need to show the world that we as Americans are more than just ignorant, hateful citizens but citizens who open their minds and take the time to understand the things we do not comprehend and love all the people around with us with compassion.
