Some years back, on a facility startup in the Los Angeles area, I had the opportunity to work with a guy whose parents have immigrated (legally) to the United States from Pakistan. I never met his parents, but the guy himself — I will just refer to him as "O" — was a great guy to work with. He was generous, careful and meticulous on his work, and he greeted every morning with a smile. When my part in the project was done, on my last day, he walked me to the door, and shook my hand repeatedly, with tears in his eyes. I still hear from him every now and then; he sends birthday wishes, or just checks in to see how I'm doing. My faith, or rather the lack thereof, didn't concern him, or if it did, he didn't say anything, and I give a lot of credit to anyone who knows how to simply mind their own business in these matters.
And, yes, "O" was a Muslim. He wasn't hardcore, to my estimation. I met his wife once; she was nicely dressed in Western clothing, and "O" treated her as you'd expect any man born and raised in the United States to treat his wife. They were lovely people, and I have little doubt that there are more Muslims like them around.
But here's the thing: Not all Muslims are like "O", and it's the ones that aren't that are a problem; and, to answer the question I raise in the headline, no, it's not unreasonable to be a wary of someone who refuses to accept the standards, laws, and norms of a country that they have immigrated to, of someone who instead seeks to impose his values on our country instead. There are Muslims like that as well, and they seem to be much more vocal than my old friend.
At present, there are 4.5 million Muslims in the United States, many of whom were born here to immigrant parents. That's about 1.3 percent of our total population. Most of them seem to live in our larger cities, although there are increasingly suburban and exurban enclaves in places like Texas. Some American cities, like Hamtramck and Dearborn in Michigan, have been almost completely taken over by Muslims. Now, the United States has had waves of immigration before, from places like Ireland, Germany, and Italy, but those waves of immigrants assimilated, took on the American values of liberty and property. Their values were already Western values, and they quickly adopted American values.
There are growing signs that many among our Muslim minority seem determined to do just the opposite. A recent piece over at Issues & Insights presented a list of reasons we should be concerned; here are a few key points.
- Shaykh Uthman ibn Farooq, identified by Wikipedia as an Islamic “preacher,” declared last month that “we love this country” and “we want good for this country,” so “that’s why we want Islam for this country, ’cause we think that’s the best thing.” He encourages other Muslims “to adhere to Sharia law,” even though it’s entirely incompatible with our law and our society.
Here's the thing that Farooq doesn't understand: He doesn't get to decide what's the best thing for the United States. He especially doesn't understand why his imposition of Islam on the United States would be actually opposed to the best thing; the best thing for the United States is the Bill of Rights, and what he proposes is forbidden by the very first item on those 10 amendments.
- Readers are free to decide for themselves if any, all, or none of these statements, all made in English, are an accurate and fair representation of Islamist ambition. They also need to ask themselves if it’s fine for Islamists to incite conflict by declaring that Islam must “enter every home,” “America will be a Muslim country,” “we’re not here to take part, we’re here to take over,” and telling us straight up that those who resist will become slaves.
While these statements come from a few isolated croakers, it sure seems like we are hearing and reading more like this. In the previous statement, I cited the First Amendment as forbidding what Farooq described; there's another item in the Bill of Rights that stands in the way of the statements in this second quote. Any attempt to impose Islam (or indeed, any religion) by force should be and would be met with, let's say, a vigorous response.
Finally, there's this:
- Linda Sarsour, a “Palestinian-American activist,” whatever that means, told the Islamic Society of North America almost a decade ago that Muslims’ No. 1 “priority is to protect and defend our community, it is not to assimilate and please any other people and authority.”
And there you have it; a statement from a prominent American Muslim, who insists that Islam should not assimilate, should not adopt Western practices and values, but should instead impose them.
That's not going to happen. But it is something to be aware of — and concerned about — that there are people who hold these opinions that are diametrically opposed to everything the United States stands for.
So, yes. I won't say I'm Islamophobic; for one thing, a "phobia" is an irrational fear, and I don't think it's irrational to be wary of Muslims who make statements like those noted above. Also, I'd say I'm more concerned than afraid, but then, I have the advantage of living in a place where this just plain isn't an issue.
With that said, we are right to be concerned. We are seeing a growing minority, many of whom are fundamentally opposed to American values: Liberty, property, freedom of expression, freedom of conscience. And that situation, well, to steal a term from the American far-left with whom the radical Muslims are making common cause, that's just not sustainable.
