We're All In This Together

(The authors of the following letter are 12 year olds in the Mahomet-Seymour public school system.)

On Sunday, September 16, five days after the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washingon D.C., five Muslims came to visit my church, Christ Unity in Urbana. Prof. Dr. Mujahid Al-Fayadh, the director of the Muslim Mosque, spoke to us. He told us the Mulims of this community were very, very sorry about the terrorist attacks that had occurred. He also talked about how we, as human beings, no matter our race, nationality, or religion, are all in this together. Really, we are all the same.

I decided it would be interesting to interview some members of the Muslim community, and share that information with you. I spoke to two girls who were very willing to share some information about their culture and themselves.

Roveisa Irsan was the first one I got to interview, and second I interviewed Mariam Sobh. The interview follows.

L: What school do you go to?
R: University High School
M: The University of Illinois

L: What grades are you in?
R: 7th grade
M: Junior in college

L: How old are you?
R: 12
M: 20

L: What are you interested in?
R: Basketball

L: What do you want to be when you grow up?
R: An architect or a teacher.

L: What are you studying?
M: Speech Communications and pre-journalism.

L: What do you call your religious services?
M: Jumuah

L: When do you go?
R: Fridays at 1:00pm.

L: What do you call your church?
R: The Mosque.

L: What is the appropriate dress when you attend the Mosque?
M: For girls, a scarf and 'modest clothing' that is not revealing.
R: Long sleeves, pants or skirt, and a scarf for girls, but boys can basically wear whatever.

L: What do you wear everyday?
R & M: The same as the Mosque.

L: What kind of things do you do in everyday life that relates to your religion?
R & M: Pray five times a day.

L: How do you feel about Tuesday's event's?
M: I couldn't sleep Tuesday night. I have friends of the family in New York, and I'm worried about them.
R: What those terrorist did was very bad. They were not religious in their ways. A common saying for us is "kill one human and you have killed all of humanity, save one human, and you have saved all of humanity."

Hopefully after reading this interview, you realize that it doesn't really matter what race, religion, or culture you are. It doesn't matter what friends you have or how 'cool' your clothes are. Just like Prof. Dr. Mujahid Al-Fayadh said, "We're all in this together." Don't you agree?

Diana Butler and Anon.

Not in Our Son's Name

(The following letter wa sent to the New York Times.)

Our son Greg is among the many missing from the World Trade Center attack. Since we first heard the news, we have shared moments of grief, comfort, hope, despair, and fond memories with his wife, the two families, our friends and neighbors, his loving colleagues at Cantor Fitzgerald / Espeed, and all the grieving families that daily meet at the Pierre Hotel.

We see our hurt and anger reflected among everybody we meet. We cannot pay attention to the daily flow of news about this disaster. But we read enough of the news to sense that our government is heading in the direction of violent revenge, with the prospect of sons, daughters, parents, and friends in distant lands dying, suffering, and nursing further grievances against us. It is not the way to go. It will not avenge our son's death. Not in our son's name.

Our son died a victim of an inhuman ideology. Our actions should not serve the same purpose. Let us grieve. Let us reflect and pray. Let us think about a rational response that brings real peace and justice to our world.
But let us not as a nation add to the inhumanity of our times.

Phyllis and Orlando Rodriguez