The following quotes are not from an ISIS propaganda post. They are from a junior high textbook published and distributed here in America. A textbook purchased on Amazon. And I’m shaking.
“The duty of Muslim citizens is to be loyal to the Islamic State… Once we become educated in the authentic system of Islam, we must try to establish it somewhere. This is our mission.”
A Muslim is a person who knows what Islam teaches and then follows those teachings. Anything else is just a name, and that really counts for nothing.”
Reading over the textbook brought me back to my first ever post on this blog three years ago. In it, I shared what happened to my daughter (and me) at the hands of extremist teachers. Both my daughter and I still bear scars from the damage inflicted on us by men we trusted as educators. Now I see the pattern repeated yet again:
Earlier this week my friend Asma called me in shock. She wanted me to come over to her place whenever I could.
Asma, a biochemist working for a big bio-tech company, was looking to deepen her 8th grade son’s understanding of Islam. He reads Harry Potter and zips around the neighborhood in his Tom Brady jersey and a football in hand. She wanted to also make him aware of the religion of his grandparents as she herself didn’t have much time to spend teaching him.
“It’s All About Islam” has smiling multicultural American kids on the cover, teens who look like Azhar and his friends. Asma was happy to have a textbook produced in America. Like me, she is allergic to the awful textbooks from back home or from Saudi that are full of mindless recitation exercises and dull facts. “It’s All About Islam” textbook was made in America for American teenagers.
When the textbook arrived last week, Asma glanced it over. It seemed thorough but approachable. So she handed it to Azhar and encouraged him to spend some time over the weekend reading though it.
Once at her place, Asma didn’t say much to me. She just opened the book, pointed to page 67, and demanded: “Read it.” Here’s what I found:
“Not everyone is a Muslim just because they have a Muslim-sounding name or come from a traditionally Muslim country. A Muslim is a person who knows what Islam teaches and then follows those teachings. Anything else is just a name, and that really counts for nothing.”
Oh, my god! Then Asma flipped to page 296 and insisted: “Keep reading.” I flipped through the section. It was all about… the need for an Islamic state.
“The duty of Muslim citizens is to be loyal to the Islamic State… Once we become educated in the authentic system of Islam, we must try to establish it somewhere. This is our mission…
“Our role in creating a real Islamic State: If we see a wrong being committed we must try to change it with our hands, If we cannot do it by hand, then we should speak out against it and if we cannot do that then at least we should feel bad about it in our hearts…
“If you want to establish a real Islamic state then we must first build our Emaan, to the level of being so motivated that we have no choice but to take action. Otherwise, we will continue to flounder and our communities will move aimlessly.”
This beautiful looking textbook was a poison pill. I looked up at Asma. She was visibly rattled.
What craziness had she just brought into her home and given to her children? How would Azhar – an impressionable teenager – react?
Like every Muslim mother living in America post 9/11 my biggest fear is something I can barely articulate: Might my child find common cause with those who use our religion to attack our country.
I’m not saying these textbooks would set him on this path, but I couldn’t help but worry that it planted a dangerous seed. At a minimum it taught my son to think of himself as better than other religions – something I reject. Would he go to school and view his Jewish and Christian friends as some less than him?