“The word Islam means peace. It forbids killing. Whoever kills someone deserves to die.”

Age: 20 Major: Pharmacy technician Nation: Sudan, moved to U. S. in 1997 Culture: Arab Religion: Islam

What do you want an American like me — unknowledgeable in terms of Arab culture — to know?

Most Arabs aren’t Muslims. Some Muslims don’t wear the scarf. Some come from different places such as Africa, Puerto Rico, Europe, America and others. The Quran is written in Arabic, that’s why most Arabs practice Islam. The Quran is the holy book of Islam. We believe it was sent from God through the angels to the messengers.

How does your religion impact your life differently from standard American religious practices?

The thing about Islam is that it’s the first thing in your life. You live for Islam. This is all you have to do. The whole life thing is a test, or challenge, for us. We practice Islam to make it to the next life. So basically we’re just living for Islam.

Would you say you practice your religion more intensely than Americans?

Definately. I don’t know about all Americans, but most seem not as committed as the Muslims. Because we believe in it so … uh, it’s hard to explain.

Would you say you believe in a truer sense of the word “belief”? As in there is no doubt — this is the word.

We believe that anyone who is Muslim will make it to heaven. “There is no God but Allah” and Muhammad is the messenger. This is a code that brings you back to the true essence of your religion. Even if (Muslims) don’t practice it hard, they’ll go to heaven. Say there’s a really bad Muslim who takes advantage of that sentence so they can do whatever they want. It doesn’t work like that. When you say it, you must say it from your heart — you have to really mean it. Then you have to follow the five pillars. The first pillar is to say that phrase with meaning. The second is to pray five times a day. Then third is to fast in the month of Ramadan. Then the fourth is to give to the poor. The fifth is to go to Mecca and do Haj — which is just you and God.

Americans think Islam is a strict religion. What do you think of this?

Most Americans think Islam is so strict — wearing certain clothes and praying five times a day. The prophet Muhammad says do everything with your heart, don’t just do it. Nobody’s perfect — you can’t do everything in the book. You have to focus on the main things like the five pillars. If you have a clean, or white, heart while doing something it becomes acceptable. Say I’m at my sister’s wedding, I’m not wearing my scarf, and I’m dancing. It’s wrong in the religion, but it’s OK to do it for the right reason. You’re doing it ’cause you’re so happy for your sister getting married, not because you want to show off to some guy. Prophet Muhammad said he doesn’t want it to be a forced religion. It’s a really easy religion — if you make it easy. All the forbidden things lead to bad things so it’s easy. He — being Allah — hasn’t made the good things forbidden.

9-11 had a great impact on American perception of Arab Americans. What should we know about this from an Arab perspective?

Since 9-11 the media have been putting everything on Islam — they’re bad people and now they’re terrorists. The word Islam means peace. It forbids killing. Whoever kills someone deserves to die. Why do Muslims do suicide bombings?

What should we make of the images of Arabs wielding AK47s screaming, “Allah!”

They’re actually saying “Allah Akuabr” which means, “Allah is the greatest.” Basically, it’s to believe that Allah is on their side. And no matter what Allah is going to back them up and help them.

What is the perception of Americans by Arab Americans?

Because Bush wins every time Arabs have bad ideas about Americans. I think you don’t know the truth. I think your media doesn’t show you everything. I wish you guys would know what was going on in the Middle East — Iraq specifically. I wish you’d try to find out and ignore the media. They’re not telling the whole truth. I’m not saying I want them to know the truth so Americans will do something about it — it’s just nice to know the truth.

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