Sept. 11 has brought new levels of anger and fear to Greater Cincinnati's 10,000 Muslims because of misconceptions about their religion. Their faith, which is rooted in peace, is under the microscope and their appearance is suspect.

Shakila Ahmad, seen through a glass door at the Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati, is trying to help people understand Islam. (Tony Jones photos) | ZOOM |

        Their lives are challenged by mixed emotions: anger at Osama bin Laden for abusing the teachings of Islam; sorrow that so many of their fellow Americans died in recent terrorist attacks, and fear at the backlash that has wreaked havoc on their lives.

        “This is probably the most difficult period of my whole life,” said Shakila Ahmad, 40, of Evendale. “It's not something you can totally ignore. I feel part of America and I feel the hate because of what happened. The pain is doubled as a Muslim.”

        But, “the world around you goes on. You have to accept that it happened, look at what you can learn from it and do something so that it doesn't happen again.”

        According to the local Arab-American Association, fewer than 20 hate crimes have been committed against Cincinnati's Muslims. But most have implied terrific rage.

        A dead rabbit was tossed on a Muslim family's porch in the Montgomery area. Tires were slashed in a Northern Kentucky University parking lot and a woman's hijab — a symbol of her modesty — was pulled down her face.

Mrs. Ahmad answers questions about Islam at Guardian Angels School. | ZOOM |

        Cincinnati's Muslims also feel “stares and glares” in public places.

        Mrs. Ahmad copes by telling everyone she can about the Muslim religion and focusing on her three priorities in life — “My faith. My family. My community.”

        “I'm not atypical of other American Muslims,” she said.

        There are about 1.2 billion Muslims across the globe, making the religion of Islam the second-largest in the world, behind Christianity. Muslims believe in one God, all the prophets including Jesus and that all human life is sacred.

        Cincinnati's Muslim community was nascent until about 30 years ago. It has flourished, growing from about 6,000 in the last decade. The community is close-knit but diverse, hailing from many countries including Pakistan, Egypt and Lebanon.

        Many are professionals. They pray together at local mosques and often play basketball, study their faith and celebrate birthdays and weddings at the Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati in West Chester, which has about 1,000 members.

Mrs. Ahmad speaks to college students touring the Islamic Center. | ZOOM |

        Mrs. Ahmad was 9 when her family left Pakistan so that her father could teach at the University of Cincinnati.

        She attended Colerain High School and UC. She worked nine years as an IBM software consultant before “retiring” so that she could spend more time with her three children — Hinna, now 15, Naveed, 13, and Azeem, 9.

        Mrs. Ahmad is a board member at the Islamic Center, where she provides near-daily tours. She manages her husband Masood's medical practice and gives presentations for a local “Bullies & Victims” program that promotes mutual respect.

        After Sept. 11, she began spending more time teaching Christians about the Muslim faith. At every presentation, she stresses how its emphasis on kindness, compassion and treating others as you would like to be treated is incongruous with terrorism.

        She believes the shared dialogue will prevent terrorism and consequent hate crimes from recurring.

        “I'm not a scholar. I'm not a teacher. I'm not a learned individual in terms of Islam. I'm just a mom,” she said. “My perspective is of an American Muslim who is trying to sort things out.”

        This week, Mrs. Ahmad wore a red, white and blue pin as she talked to Kentucky Christian College students at the Islamic Center and elementary students at Guardian Angels School in Mount Washington.

        The children were an unruly crowd. They whispered and giggled as she talked. When she invited them to ask questions, they asked her the toughest one of all: “Do you think Jesus is the son of God?”

        Mrs. Ahmad has answered the question before. It makes her uncomfortable because she believes it provides a quick means of drawing lines between Muslims and Christians. There are many commonalities including the emphasis on mutual respect, she said, though Muslims believe Jesus is a prophet, but not the son of God.

        Susan van Amerongen, 43, lives across the street from the Ahmads. She has seen Mrs. Ahmad finesse some tough situations since Sept. 11, including a “coffee” of 20 ladies gathered to hear Mrs. Ahmad speak. A friend of Kelly Booms, a Blue Ash native who died Sept. 11, was in the audience.

        “I needed to publicly show that I support Shakila and I don't think of her as a threat,” Mrs. van Amerongen said. “It's kind of like that pebble in the water thing. I wanted people to spread the word that this is the Muslim that I know. That it's not something to be feared.”

        “It is a huge challenge for her. She still has to be true to her faith. It's when things are awful that you start calling on God. The fact that her faith is now being questioned ...”

        Mrs. Ahmad hasn't experienced a solid night's rest since Sept. 11. She seems weary and her eyes flutter when she discusses that horrible date. Like everyone else, she remembers the moment when she learned the World Trade Center was hit by hijacked planes.

        She was picking weeds in her yard. Her husband called her from inside.

        “Shakila, you have to come in,” he said. “You won't believe what happened.”

        She walked to the family room and, on TV, saw the World Trade Center on fire.

        “At that time, the second tower was hit,” she said. “It was the most numbing thing I have ever experienced in my whole life. Within minutes, I saw the towers col lapse. It was like a horror movie. I couldn't move. I couldn't function.”

        Soon, a thought raced through her mind: “Please God, don't have Muslims have anything to do with this.”

        Later, her son Naveed would tell her that a school friend asked him a disturbing question: “Oh, Naveed, did you call your relatives overseas and have them do this?”

        “It's so devastating,” Mrs. Ahmad said. “What's being discussed at homes to allow children to make comments like that?”

        The Ahmads know that their future is tied to the headlines. Mrs. Ahmad listens to public radio in the morning, watches television news and reads the newspaper.

        She wants to remain informed on issues that directly affect her life. The Ahmads already have canceled plans to visit Pakistan in December and Mrs. Ahmad is reluctant to accept her husband's invitation to vacation in Hawaii.

        But they plug on, trying to return to their normal lives. The family eats together every night and Dr. Ahmad makes sure to kiss his youngest son as he walks out the door.

        Like many Americans, they sport American flag stickers on their vehicles, pay rapt attention to President Bush's TV presentations and support the president's stance against terrorism.

        The Islamic Center has raised $60,000 for a victim relief fund. With their fellow Muslims, “The world has changed completely for all of us,” Mrs. Ahmad said. But, “God says that things happen for a reason. I have to be more vocal about what is bad and good. A true test for a good Muslim is how they handle adversity. How can I do that best is a constant struggle.”

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