Salam Poem by Alina Shah

We arrived in the United States when I was 8 years old.
The first thing we did was locate the nearest mosque
because my family was muslim and damn proud
and I told everyone about it on the first day of school.
But the kids zoned out after I said the word "muslim" and looked at me like I'd grown another head.
Because ever since 9/11, my religion rooted in history
my religion rooted in peace
my religion rooted in customs
has become a religion of hate.

It wasn't just those kids, though.
It became every person I talked to as I grew up.
My neighbors
my teachers
my friends' parents
all equated my religion to hatred and fear
Because they believed so firmly that all muslims were evil
and the Quran was only good for waging war.
my mother calls the plight of the extremists, "qital"
that's arabic for war.
The modern world and these terrorists have turned my religion into a mechanism for qital.

This qital, this war, became personal when we were learning about religion in school.
The entire unit was spent with kids raising their hands
asking my teacher why all Muslims are bad
and what part of Islam makes them bad.
What part of the holy book makes them bad.
But everyone seems to ignore the fact that the word "qital" is only written 36 times in the Quran, while the word peace, or "salam", is written 67 times.
At the heart, Islam is a religion of peace.
Salam.
Salam.
Salam.
We believe in peace.
Not war.

Because I don't care if Al Qaeda wages qital because they believe the Quran said so.
I don't care if ISIS uses the Quran to justify their extremist qital.
My Quran advocates for peace
not terrorism
or war
or hatred
the Quran wants peace.
Every surah in this recitation preaches a religion that practices peace, harmony, respect.
But no one shows us that respect.
We are instead shown hatred.
War.
Qital.

My Quran does not justify war.
It does not justify terrorism.
If we want to blame this hatred, we blame it on the people who perpetuate it.
Not their religion.
One of the core beliefs of the prophet Muhammad is that actions are judged by the intention behind them.



Terrorism is an intention.
Genocide is an intention.
Religion is not an intention.
It is time we stop treating it like one.