From the ShoeBomber to the CrotchBomber….

Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim

Salaam Alaikum wa Rahmatullah

It seems like, just when things are settling down, along comes another “jihadi” willing to sacrifice his life, or at least his gonads, for the sake of Islam. As soon as I saw the breaking news coverage of the incident in the skies over Detroit, I knew that we would be in for weeks of wall-to-wall cable news coverage of the man, his motives, his training, and his choice of skivvies (boxers? briefs? Fruit of the Boom?). Indeed, every time I channel surf the cable news networks, I see a bevy of “experts” bloviating about this young man, a perfectly ordinary young man, a man of privilege, a son of a wealthy banker, a religious Muslim who had earned the moniker “the pope” from his friends for his conservative outlook on life.

So, what went wrong with this young man? He could have taken so many paths. He could have used his faith to propel him into charity work. He could have helped the poor in his own country, could have studied to teach Islam, could have volunteered in a medical clinic… could have, should have, would have. Instead, some twisted cleric whispered a mixture of truth and lies in his ears and influenced him to become a suicide bomber, to sew high explosives into his underwear and to go out in a blaze of glory, taking with him about 300 innocent men, women and children, many of whom on the flight were his Muslim brothers and sisters. This is wrong on so many levels that it just boggles my mind to think anyone can fall for such lies.

Thank God that the explosive mixture proved faulty. Thank God there were people on board the flight who took immediate action to subdue the young man and save people from injury or death. Thank God that this man proved to be just as incompetent as Richard Reid before him. From Shoebomber to Crotchbomber, we have been saved as much by the enemy’s idiocy as we have by the competence of our security forces.

Truly, it is nearly impossible to guard against a “lone wolf” nutbomb who is determined to give his life for whatever cause he espouses. Short of strip-searching each and every passenger who is getting ready to board an airplane, we cannot enact security measures that are tight enough to get each and every bad guy coming after us. All we can do is the best we can do, and some day that may not be enough. It only takes one to slip through. Only one….

As a Muslim, I react to this and previous terrorists attacks on several levels. I am shocked and horrified at the attacks themselves, dismayed that once again my beautiful religion is being hijacked by fools, and scared for myself and my family as Muslims living in the West. I go out to the grocery store, dressed in my distinctive long dress and headscarf, and can’t help but think, “Does that person think I’m a terrorist? Does she hate me?” I am incredibly pissed off at the misguided fools who espouse a point of view that is condemned by Islam, the ones who make my life harder as I spend my days writing and teaching about Islam. Before I can even begin to show what Islam IS, I have to spend time explaining what it is NOT. It is emotionally draining, this dance I do to show I’m one of the GOOD Muslims, and I am sick and tired of it. So let me say in no uncertain terms: You radical deviants who think it is permissible to teach young men and women to strap bombs to themselves and kill innocent men, women, and children are wrong, wrong, wrong, and I wash my hands of you. I hope you are hunted down and exterminated like vermin. I will speak out against you every day of my life, and I will pray to Allah that you are cut off from all that is good in this world and the next. Meanwhile, I will continue to share the teachings of Islam with everyone I can. I will try to undo your evil with the best weapon that exists – truth. The truth of Islam is not what you preach; it is what I teach.

We who strive to live according to the true teachings of Islam will continue to fight the good fight, and ultimately we will be the victors, because truth will always triumph over falsehood. So enjoy your infamy now. On the Day of Judgment, we’ll see which one of us was right…