Over the last 20 years, Muslims in America have faced unfair stereotypes across the country following the events of 9/11.
Archived footage of Muslim community members in the Quad Cities from September 22nd, 2001 echo similar statements from those living in the area in 2021.
We reached out to the following three individuals who shared their experiences during 9/11 and what they've gone through as Muslims living in America since then.
Tauseef Ahmed, Manager at John Deere
On September 11, 2011, I was working at the John Deere Moline office. One of my colleagues came to my desk and told me about the incident. Then I went to the cafeteria where we had TVs showing one of the World Trade Center towers hit by the plane.
I was shocked to see it. Other office colleagues started to gather in the cafeteria to watch the news. As we were watching the replays of the first tower being hit, suddenly we witnessed another plan approaching and hitting the second tower.
I could not believe it. It felt like as if I was watching a movie, however, it was for real. The questions came to my mind were how is this possible? Who did it and why?
I finished my work early that day and went to pick up my wife from the Bettendorf Library and told her about the incident – she could not believe me. At home we were glued to the TV watching the devastation. We felt very sad and shocked.
Later that day, we started to see news that the U.S. Government had started to figure out who was behind it. I was devastated to learn that the attackers were Muslim men.
I could not believe why a Muslim person would do such a heinous act. To me obviously, they were not following the teachings of Islam, because in Islam whoever kills a soul unjustly is as if he had killed all mankind, and whoever saves a life is as if he had saved all mankind.
As days passed and more news came, the focus shifted to the Muslims. The society in general became curious and skeptical of Islam and the Muslims. Here in the Quad Cities people started asking questions of QC Muslims: How it’s possible?
As a person of faith, I had to explain that Islam is a religion of peace and taking innocents’ lives is forbidden in Islam and the Muslims of QC strongly condemn this monstrous attack. Also, during that time, there were numerous people proactively reached out to the Muslim community to show their solidarity and love and ensured their support in case of any backlash.
9/11 surely has changed the world and impacted many, for me, it allowed me to reflect deep on my faith how I could share the true meaning and the spirit of Islam – which is peace and love for all.
I am fortunate to have caring people of all faiths in the QC who understand it and continue to stay as great friends and neighbors and work together on common causes to improve the lives of the people
Ferdaus Ahmad, Physics and Engineering Professor
As usual I had the TV running in the background while I was preparing for my evening classes that day. Suddenly the loud noise and consecutive events happening on the screen momentarily paralyzed me. It took a few minutes to comprehend what was exactly happening.
I then spoke to my husband on the phone who was at college and asked him if he had seen what had happened in New York. Then I sat there watching the horrific scenes from the Twin Towers and then saw that unbelievable collapse of the buildings.
My first reaction was, "What is happening?"
I felt scared, confused, helpless as tears rolled down my eyes. Who are these people? As the news kept coming, I heard they were Muslim terrorists. I was in shock and awe. What kind of Muslims do these kinds of horrific acts?
When I went to campus later, my students and I were terribly saddened during lecture that evening and just talked about how it is possible for people to do such horrific act. We all comforted each other and prayed for all the people and families affected by this incident.
As days went by, I knew the terrorist attacks of 9/11 would set in motion events that would change the course of my life, the lives of others in the US and the world.
There would be backlash incidents. People calling names, harassing women in scarves, a student on campus getting jumped just for having a Muslim name. In days to come I was nervous and scared since my classes ended late in the evening. I used the help of campus security to get to my car.
But soon friends, neighbors and other faith organizations came forward in support against any backlash. People and community came forward and shared grief and sorrow along with us on all levels.
Islam stands for peace and our teachings are for peace and solidarity. The Quad Cities community stood by us and understood this. Terrorism has no religion. Over time I've come to ignore the haters.
The first words any Muslim says before doing pretty much anything are, “In the name of God, the most compassionate, the most merciful." Thus, love and mercy are supposed to be central to our consciousness as a Muslim. As an American Muslim those words pave my life’s path towards peace and solidarity no matter where I live and whatever community I work with.
Matlub Ahmad, Physics and Engineering Professor
I was teaching my Engineering Graphics class at the time. When I came out to the hallway and saw lot of students glued to the hallway TV screen. By then the network was showing a replay of the first hit on one of the twin towers. There was a collective silence. I approached one of my colleagues and asked what he had seen.
The horror that was unfolding in front of us was unreal. I called my wife at home, and the first thing she said, "Oh my God, have you seen what happened in New York?"
For about an hour we were watching the horrific scenes from twin towers and then saw that unbelievable collapse of the buildings. As more news kept coming, I was beginning to feel sick to the stomach.
My first reaction was, "how could this be happening?"
As the day went by everything appeared to be like gloom and doom. In the afternoon I met my Astronomy class, and the collective mood in the class was of despair. We talked about personal stories of connections to loved ones who were in New York who worked in the proximity of the World Trade Center. We all tried to comfort each other. It was somber as if we all lost someone personally connected to us.
In the evening news, I saw more details of the terrorist identities. On the local TV I saw a reporter interviewing one of my Muslim friends about his reaction and opinion.
His first response was that this act was against the faith of Islam and more so against humanity. I knew that a wave would come for blaming Muslims and we may have to defend our positions against acts of violence. It was an act that nobody, no faith, no culture can accept. I just remembered all the things we learned in our Study Circle how we viewed oppression.
One phrase kept reverberating: If you kill one soul it is as if you have killed all of humanity and if you saved one soul it is as if you saved the all of humanity.
We held a meeting of the trustees of our Islamic Center in Moline. I was taking minutes, and we passed a resolution condemning in the strongest terms the terrorist attack against our country and denounced any act of terrorism using the name of Islam. We were not sure how the community should extend support for the victims, whether we should have a blood drive, raise funds, or send team of volunteers. We were a very small community then, but we all remained firm in terms of providing support to the best of our ability.
In the days that followed we were receiving calls from neighbors and other faith organizations expressing support for us against any backlash. We prepared to open our center to the wider community to come and share our collective grief and to let everyone know what the teachings of Islam is. The fact that Islam stands for peace, and despite all the noise in the media we did not let our voice be drowned. The community of the Quad Cities responded and understood that terrorism has no religion.
The events of 9/11 gave me the perspective to learn about myself and my connection to my faith. It deepened the conviction of what is to be an American, and to be an American Muslim.
It forever made the impression that we all must work together for peace and solidarity. We should speak and act for the goal despite the huge noises from many quarters.