I've written previously of the compassionate Muslim Fayetteville businessman, Fadil Bayyari, and all he's done and continues to do for others. Fadil is the Palestinian-born American who several years ago used his successful construction firm to construct Fayetteville's Jewish synagogue at his cost. It's the kind of honorable man he is.
We've all watched with increasing concerns as radical Muslim terrorists have carried out random murders overseas and in our nation. Fadil has had concerns of his own for those within the peace-loving Islamic community who also oppose these jihadists.
I believe his views and concerns should be heard and understood in the face of this common threat. After all, while many Christians in the Middle East have been murdered and grossly abused (including a lot of females) most of those being slaughtered by ISIS and others are themselves Islamic.
In a recent exchange of views Fadil shared this: "One thing we need to keep in mind is to never live in fear, for that is the main objective of those radicals. Generalizing, stereotyping and painting all Muslims with a wide brush is not going to help us find out who is with us and who is not. It's just the opposite. It will antagonize, cause resentment and send many into isolation where some psychos will be an easy target to radicalization.
"That's music to the ears of al-Qaida, ISIS, jihadists and Wahhabis," he continued. "America needs its Muslim community to help identify those sick ones, for they can speak the language, understand the culture and can be an asset to count on in identifying radicals here at home or abroad. The political climate now with people ... on the right are causing unease and spreading feelings of insecurity among most Muslims more than at any time before. It takes a long time to build friendships and trust, but only take a New York minute to waste it all. The pen is mightier than the sword, Mike, and I pray you will use that talent in creating good will among people. My allegiance to the Constitution is firm."
In response today, I first say to this courageous man that I also always have believed our lives should be used for the betterment of this world and each other.
As to the matter of fear and radical Islamic terrorists, I've witnessed how unfounded fears sap our spirits and have a paralyzing effect on so many people. In this case, Bayyari is correct to say that generating terror is the objective of these lowest-functioning humans who use fear to control.
However, I also see a distinction between justifiable and unfounded fears in light of Muslim terrorist events across America during recent years. Perhaps "awareness" is a better word than fear when it comes to describing the concerns that prey upon our minds and spirits when we realize how even radicalized Muslim parents willingly abandon their child to commit mass murder. And we see how a U.S. Army major could suddenly become a mass murderer of his fellow troops. And we watch a married Muslim man in Florida murder dozens of innocents.
That said, it's only natural that non-Islamic Americans who can't begin to fathom the insanity of such a savage approach to life become wary of those who choose practice Islam. Yes, it's unfair, yet nonetheless true, particularly when the present administration has chosen to flood the U.S. with thousands of Muslims from Syria and elsewhere who can't possibly be properly vetted for our own safety.
How can we possibly know who among them are kind-hearted like Fadil Bayyari, and which are faking or prone to future radicalization?
I realize that also puts Bayyari and all the many others in an unjust and terrible position. As he so eloquently states, it takes a long time to build trust and friendships, but only an incident or two such as San Bernardino, Fort Hood or Orlando to waste it all.
The only feasible way I can see for this to work is for good and honorable Muslims in this country to put themselves at equal risk by being willing, even eager, to report those they sincerely suspect of being or becoming radicalized. Since Christians, Jews and Buddhists don't attend the mosques where so much radicalization occurs, the rest of America must rely on the good and decent Muslims to prove themselves and their loyalties to our Constitution and way of living freely under individual liberties.
Neither Bayyari nor I (or others like us) created the deadly serious situation. Today, there's no easy solution or way around it. American-loyal Muslims have a spiritual onus to bear in this conflict.
I agree that the pen is mightier than the sword. But for now, as refugees stream into our beloved country from the region of this planet historically filled with generational hatred and killing, far too few of my "politically correct" national colleagues are properly documenting or reporting on this calculated surge.
As with Bayyari, I express my honest opinion as another who's never believed my purpose is to murder, rape and maim.
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Mike Masterson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Email him at mmasterson@arkansasonline.com.
Editorial on 07/10/2016