I Believe

• I believe in the one God of Abraham referred to historically as El, Yahweh, Jehovah, and Allah. I believe that Jesus is his living messenger and that Muhammad is his last messenger.

 

• I believe in Islam, my chosen way of life.

 

• I believe in the United States as a secular democracy and the U.S Constitution as its supreme law.

 

• I believe that all human beings share the same basic needs and aspirations.

 

• I believe in the importance of understanding the perspective of the other - including my adversaries - even if I disagree with them.

 

• I believe in self-accountability and self-empowerment.

 

• I believe that self-victimization is the greatest impediment against self-enfranchisement.

 

• I believe that terrorism is an unGodly, inhumane, and therefore unIslamic, evil.

 

• I believe that the so-called “clash of civilizations” is really a clash between extremists on both sides.

• I believe that violence begets violence, and compassion breeds compassion.

 

• I believe that religious minorities in Muslim-majority countries are entitled to the same civil and political rights as their Muslim counterparts.

 

• I believe that Islam affords women the same civic and political rights as men.

 

• I believe that intellectual stagnation, poor work ethics, and corruption are the root causes of poverty and disenfranchisement in the Muslim world - not colonialism, or a post-colonial Western conspiracy.

 

• I believe that extremism is a threat to any idealogy whether it be a faith, national identity, or political philosophy.

 

• I believe that justice is a necessary precursor to sustainable peace.

 

• I believe in the right of self-defense as a basic human right.

 

• I believe in open dialogue as the surest vaccine against mistrust and stereotype.

 

• I believe that the United States is constantly evolving and that the brightness of its future is conditioned upon its continued ability to self-correct.

 

• I believe in freedom of expression and that the best response to bad speech is good speech.

 

• I believe that incitement of hate against a people is an abuse of freedom of expression.

 

• I believe that the greatest Jihad is the Jihad against the self.

 

• I believe that strength is best measured as a function of self-control.

 

• I believe that God’s greatest gift to humanity is the mind, and that a healthy education is the greatest thanksgiving.

 

• I believe that God is the best judge of what’s in people’s heart, and that judgement is ultimately best left to Him.

 

• I believe that the purpose of my life is to leave the world better than I found it, starting with community and country.

 

• I believe that our youth are our hope and that the coming generations will do more for world peace than the previous generations.