Watching the analysis of the 20th anniversary of
9/11, I was stuck by how many of the talking heads were Muslims. It looked like 9/11 and Osama bin Laden were
the best things that ever happened to American Muslims. Twenty years ago, you seldom saw women
wearing head scarfs; now you see them everywhere.
It was a rough few years for Muslims immediately after 9/11 as
suspicious minds tended to believe that all Muslims were terrorists. But then the reaction set in. American media and academia defended and supported
Muslims as good, ordinary people. As a
result Muslims and Islamic ideas have become much more important to American politics
and thinking. America has become more Islamic
and less Christian.
Islamists not only won the war in Afghanistan, they won the
war for minds in America. Osama bin
Laden did not “win,” but he should be proud of what he accomplished in terms of
promoting Islam.
In 2001, there were no Muslims in the American Congress;
today there are three. More and more
Muslims are running for office and assuming more important positions around the
country. The Los
Angeles Times reports that Muslims are becoming more politically active,
particularly in Michigan which has a large Muslim community. The PBS NewsHour, under Muslim Amna Nawaz’s
leadership, has been particularly active in lobbying for and promoting Muslims
and Islam in the US.
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