Originally Published in The Inquirer Daily News on March 8th, 2017
Get to know a Muslim
As an American Muslim attorney, I am aggrieved to see this revised executive order preventing migration from six Muslim-majority nations (“Travel Ban 2.0,” Tuesday). I support security measures that target extremism, but stigmatizing an entire group based on religion, ethnicity, or nationality is wrong and illegal.
Unfortunately, this executive order negatively influences the ignorance of the 62 percent of Americans who do not know a Muslim. It will cause them to believe Islam is a radical faith. It is more important than ever that we leave our comfort zones and meet each other. Because our world is now a global village and we depend on each other, we must also respect each other’s beliefs. This means we need to unite through education and dialogue.
This is an open invitation to “Meet a Muslim” and ask any question at our free, weekly coffee, cake, and True Islam meetups on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. at the Starbucks at 3421 Chestnut St. Together, we can erase extremism through education.