Three Questions for American Muslims: G. Willow Wilson

Three Questions for American Muslims: G. Willow Wilson September 12, 2011

The Muslim Portal at Patheos  is hosting the “Three Questions” project for the month of September in conjunction with the tenth anniversary of the terrorist acts of 9/11.  We are asking American Muslims from across the nation three simple but important questions. Click here to learn more about the project.

G. Willow Wilson, an award-winning author, essayist, writer of comic books and author of the memoir, The Butterfly Mosque, offers her answers to the three questions:

1. What is the most pressing issue or concern for you as a Muslim in America today, 10 years after the tragedy of 9/11?

I’m concerned about the same issues that most Americans are worried about — pulling the economy out of a tailspin and getting out of two purposeless wars.

2. In what ways – inwardly /or outwardly – did 9/11 change you or affect you?

If not for 9/11, I probably would have converted to Islam that fall. But 9/11 was so horrific that I couldn’t stomach the idea of joining the religion the men who carried it out claimed to represent. It took almost two more years for me to become fully convinced that Islam in no way endorses the murder of innocents.
 
3.  What do you think non-Muslim Americans most need to know about Muslims?

Most people know Muslims in their community but don’t realize it. Not all Muslims wear headscarves or skull caps. In all likelihood you’ve been treated by a Muslim doctor or served by a Muslim waiter or worked beside a Muslim computer programmer. Even if you think “I don’t know any Muslims,” it’s probably not true. Muslims are ordinary members of the working public, just like you.


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