Shooting makes military life difficult for Muslims, some say

A Muslim Army major who allegedly went on a rampage killing fellow soldiers and others Thursday, has made it more difficult, some say, to worship Islam and serve in the U.S. military.

Murder is incompatible with Islam, but Islam is not incompatible with service in the military, faith leaders said Friday. Muslims, like followers of dozens of faiths, have served honorably and sometimes heroically in eight years of war.

“These Army soldiers, they are here to protect our nation,” said Islamic Center of Colorado Springs treasurer Farouk Abushaban. “This shooting was a cowardly act.”

Several Muslim leaders in Colorado Springs who have counseled Muslim service members said soldiers view the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as fighting terrorism and nothing more.

Arshad Yousufi, spokesman for the local Islamic community, said Muslim soldiers sometimes struggle with general moral principles such as taking a human life, but not with fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, both predominately Muslim countries.

“A Muslim U.S. Army soldier views what he does as serving the country,” Yousufi said. “People forget Muslims have been victims of terrorists just as Americans have.”

The goal of Muslims in uniform, in fact, is to stop attacks like the one that happened Thursday.

“Their feeling is that they are fighting the extremists, those attacking the United States,” said Khurshid Qureshi, a former board member of the Islamic Society of Colorado Springs. “They are Army volunteers dedicated to protecting the land. They do not view what they do as a fight between Muslims and Christians.”

Dawud Salaam, a retired Army master sergeant, said fighting for and protecting America was his sole goal in the 1991 Persian Gulf War. As for Nidal Malik Hasan, who is suspected in the Fort Hood shooting, Salaam said, “This has more to do with the individual than with Islam.”

At the Friday service at the Islamic Center, Qureshi said a collection for the families of victims would be taken from the 80 or so Muslims in attendance.

Abushaban expected donations to be generous.

But for now, carrying an Arabic name or professing Islamic faith can lead to suspicion and discrimination, said Mikey Weinstein, who heads the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an organization that has made headlines by battling evangelical Christianity at the Air Force Academy.

Weinstein’s organization is working with about 100 Muslims in the military who have lodged discrimination complaints.

“There is an incredible amount of reprisal and humiliation,” Weinstein said.

Hasan apparently faced some of that in the military, according to Associated Press reports. His family told the wire service that he felt “disrespected” over issues of faith. A police report shows that his car was vandalized when someone defaced a bumper sticker on his car that said “Allah is love.”

Weinstein said his phone was ringing Friday with complaints from Muslim troops that the Fort Hood shooting was being used by comrades to ridicule their faith. Hasan reportedly shouted “Allahu Ackbar,” (“God is great!”) before the shooting began, sparking paranoia about Islamic terrorists in the ranks, Weinstein said.

Hasan’s acts demand justice, but not against Muslims, he said. “It is completely wrong on every level to paint all of Islam with the same brush.”

At Fort Carson, commanders have worked for years to stamp out anti-Islam sentiment among soldiers. Early in the Iraq war, soldiers commonly called every Arab they encountered “Haji,” much like many American troops in World War II called the Germans “Krauts.”

That stopped after commanders realized that it hampered the war effort in a place where Americans and a mostly-Muslim populace must cooperate to succeed.

Lt. Col. Jeffrey Houston, the 4th Infantry Division chaplain at Fort Carson, said the same teachings apply to religious differences in the ranks.

“We focus on common goals,” he said.

Chaplains of any faith must support all faiths. The Army has Muslim chaplains, too, he said.

“Our Muslim soldiers are accepted well,” he said.

Two of the post’s chaplains are headed to Fort Hood to assist with counseling and other needs in the wake of the shooting. Part of that may be helping people accept the diverse community of faith in the Army.

“It’s dangerous to stereotype,” Houston said. “This could have been done by a right-wing Christian group.”

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