'Dustian'

Daleen Berry
Cumberland Times-News

February 25, 2008 11:56 am

— CUMBERLAND - Seven years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a prominent Islam imam says people still do not know the truth about the Islamic religion.
Yahya Hendi, a Muslim chaplain at Georgetown University, likes to tell people who inquire about his nationality that he's a "dustian."
"I'm dust," he said, adding that members of the Islam, Jewish and Christian religions are all created from dust.
And, there are more similarities between the three religions than there are differences, Hendi said, which makes a strong argument for the three groups to coexist in peace.
While growing up in the Islamic faith, the people Hendi learned about are the same ones studied by Jews and Christians: Moses, Abraham and Mary. Proof of this comes at the conclusion of the five daily prayers Muslims, the followers of Islam, pray.
"We say a special prayer for Abraham and his offspring, the Jews and Christians, every time we pray," he said, adding that the prayer becomes "null" if the person doesn't include this.
In addition, Hendi said the mother of Jesus, Mary's name appears "34 times in the Koran, and 17 times in the Bible."
And, in answering a question posed by one audience member who attended Hendi's presentation Sunday, the Imam of the Islamic Society of Frederick told a surprised group that "only Jesus will return according to Islam."
Hendi's reply seemed to summarize his entire theme: The three religions all teach their followers to live by the Golden Rule that Jesus Christ set out for his followers. That principle is recorded in various forms in not just the Gospels, but in other holy books such as the Koran and the Torah, he added.
Citing several passages from all three books, Hendi said a "peace-building foundation" can be achieved by looking at the ancient Biblical account of Moses and the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt. The record of that people's freedom from enslavement is not only important to Christians and Jews, "it's also in my own (Islamic) tradition, as well."
Like the Jews who were enslaved under a harsh ruler, or Pharaoh, people today are enslaved to many attitudes and ideals. "We may have left Egypt ... but we are still enslaved," he said. "Militarism, extremism, terrorism and racism are still holding the key of freedom from us."
When asked how people can reconcile what they see in the news, such as suicide bombings, with the message of peace and justice that Hendi teaches, he said it is difficult when the media often highlights the atrocities committed by a minority of people who claim to be Muslim.
"The Koran says 'do not kill yourselves,'" Hendi said, noting that even smoking tobacco is considered "a form of suicide," and is forbidden by Islamic law.
While leaders of the Islamic faith have tried to publicize that religion's beliefs, the media has not always been receptive to their efforts, he said, citing an example from the days following the terrorist attacks. Within six days of that tragedy, 132 press releases were disseminated to the media in an effort to tell the public that true Islam does not teach such hatred and violence. "None of them found their way into the press, unless we paid for it," he said.
As an example of the lopsided publicity given to Muslim people, Hendi told the group about an incident that appeared right after Sept. 11. Referring to the coverage of 13 children marching in the streets of Ramallah, in the West Bank, cheering because of the terrorists' actions, Hendi said little to no coverage occurred to another equally important Ramallah incident.
That event occurred when President George W. Bush thanked the Egyptians and Palestinians for their prayers for the American people during an event in Ramallah that included 7,000 Palestinians. "What's wrong when 13 are on TV and 7,000 are not?" Hendi said.
But while he believes the media plays a role in what people believe about Muslims, Hendi admitted the followers themselves are to blame. "I live in America and I see Islam. I come back to the Muslim world and I see Muslim, but not Islam," he said, adding that "you cannot judge a religion by its followers. All (three religions) have committed atrocities."
In spite of popular misconceptions, Islam stands for many of the same principles as does Christianity. In particular, Hendi said, is women's rights. "One thousand years ago, women were leading Muslim universities in the Muslim world," he said. "Islamic law was formed by 38 scholars, 34 of whom were females."
Hendi was an invited guest of Christ Lutheran Church and the Church of St. Patrick. This is his second visit to Allegany County in five months.
Contact Daleen Berry at dberry@times-news.com.

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