9/11 inspired new interfaith action

In an article published on Sept. 12, 2001, Psychology professor Harvey Grill told The Daily Pennsylvanian that Americans reeling in the wake of the tragedy were unlikely to “direct our anger at ourselves.” It’s “easier [to direct it] at some amorphous, darker-[skinned] target.”

Ten years later, as countless ceremonies commemorate the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, interfaith relationships continue to evolve around the reactions the events provoked.

“Muslims are very clearly being scapegoated as part of a general need to hate someone and to blame specific groups — like immigrants — for economic, political or social problems,” Religious Studies Department chairman Jamal Elias explained, adding that scapegoating can lead to “very tragic consequences and should never be tolerated.”

The “painful hatred, fear, and cruelty aimed at Muslims and Muslim Americans during the days, weeks and months after 9/11 cannot be overlooked,” University Chaplain Chaz Howard wrote in an email.

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“A misplaced blame spawned a dangerous reaction to anyone who was perceived to be of Middle Eastern or Arab descent and anyone believed to be Muslim. I think it’s premature to say that we are past that … but we have made a lot of progress,” especially at Penn, he continued.

In Philadelphia, where a large part of the Muslim community is African American, the anti-Muslim prejudices that arose after 9/11 were not as easily discerned, Muslim Chaplain Marc Manley said.

African Americans who are Muslim “are not viewed as a foreign enterprise by the broader non-Muslim community,” whereas people of Pakistani or Arab background can be viewed as an “other,” Manley said.

The media has delegitimized the “African American [Muslim] experience as not being the true Islam … to them, the ‘true’ Islam is foreign, and a foreign problem,” Manley added.

The media has also hyped the portrayal of the prejudices against Muslims in the years following 9/11, Manley added.

While there certainly have been issues, “you can drive from South Carolina to San Francisco, stop anywhere along the way as a Muslim and find a place to pray,” he said.

The immediate aftermath of 9/11 sparked religious dialogue and interaction on campus.

“While discussions about Islam in the rest of the country were sometimes inflammatory and even dishonest, the atmosphere at Penn was less contentious,” 2003 College graduate Ben Herzig wrote in an email. He was co-chairman of communications for the Muslim Student Association at the time.

“I think that part of that has to do with the fact that the culture at Penn is very much nourished by critical inquiry and respect for diversity, while those values are probably not as present outside of a university setting,” Herzig wrote.

The MSA saw a rise in attendance at its educational events, as well as efforts by other student groups to shed light on many topics related to the 9/11 attacks, including conversations about Islam.

About two hours after the twin towers fell, there was a rumor going around campus that someone had called in a bomb threat to a local Jewish deli, Herzig recounted.

“I walked down in that direction to see what was going on,” he wrote.

After running into the assistant director of Hillel, he noted, “I told him that the Jewish community at Penn had the support of the MSA against anyone who sought to target them. In response, “he told me that Hillel was concerned about backlash toward the Muslim community and he assured me that we had their support as well,” Herzig wrote.

Other religious communities on campus also strove to contribute to interfaith dialogue.

Herzig explained that before 9/11, Jewish-Muslim student relations “had actually become a little strained” due to recent conflict in the Middle East, including the Second Intifada, a 2000 surge in Palestinian-Israeli violence.

“After 9/11, I think we all felt a greater sense of resolve to support each other and find common ground,” he added.

For Ameena Ghaffar-Kucher, a lecturer in the Graduate School of Education, 9/11 directly altered the course of research she had been conducting in a New York public high school, documenting the immigrant experiences of Pakistani-American students.

She said the attacks had mixed effects for the Muslim community: “There were some people who became more interested and wanted to learn more about [Islam], and it made Muslim kids more prominent in a way.”

However, this heightened visibility also brought about more stereotyping and misunderstanding, she added.

“I would ask non-Muslim kids to name words that they heard when others talked about Muslims … and words like ‘terrorist’ would come up,” Ghaffar-Kucher said.

At Penn, the time since 9/11 has seen a heightened dialogue between different religious communities, particularly between Jews and Muslims.

“In the ’80s and ’90s, the main focal point for interfaith relationships was in Jewish and Christian relations,” Hillel Rabbi Mike Uram said. “Now, the ‘hot’ interfaith relations involve Jewish and Muslim dialogue.”

Howard pointed to such initiatives like the CHORDS Interfaith Service Weekend this fall and the spring interfaith and interethnic Rwanda trip led by Hillel as signs of how Penn is “ahead of the curve” in regards to interfaith dialogue.

While Uram would like to see an even greater level of participation from students of different religions, events like ongoing prayer exchanges are incredibly valuable in terms of the social capital that Penn students and alumni have, he said.

“The work students are doing on campus is valuable to the rest of the world,” he added.

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