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What occurred on that notorious day was the largest setback for Muslims all over the world, says Aasim Rashid, founding father of the Al-Ihsan Instructional Basis in Surrey.
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09/10/2021 • 59 minutes in the past • 4 minutes learn • Be a part of the dialog 
The Muslim neighborhood in Metro Vancouver remains to be feeling the results of September eleventh, 20 years later, says Mufti and Islamic scholar Aasim Rashid. Photograph by Francis Georgian /PNG
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Darwin Neher was showering at his house in Greenwich Village, about two kilometers from the World Commerce Middle, on the morning of September 11, 2001, when he was startled by a booming cacophony overhead.
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“I heard the planes fly over. I did not know what they had been then. And I heard the explosion and did not know what it was, ”the Vancouver native mentioned by cellphone from New York Metropolis on Friday.
Neher, senior vp at Cornerstone Analysis, a New York-based enterprise and monetary consultancy agency, walked exterior till the top of his block, the place individuals had been screaming and strolling round in chaos.
He appeared up and will see the World Commerce Middle, smoke billowing out of it.
“It was surreal,” he mentioned.
Then, like most individuals, Neher sat in entrance of the tv and watched the story unfold.
What meaning for him as we speak is troublesome to reply, he mentioned.
“It was actually one thing, an occasion, that I’ll always remember, and never simply because I used to be in New York, however as a worldwide citizen.
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“I am unsure we discovered a lot from 9/11 on condition that, and it is simply my opinion, however it appears like a number of the issues that occurred after 9/11 had been in our society not essentially so good solution to transpire.
“That is the a part of occupied with what the true impression was – and it is laborious to attach the dots – however it feels prefer it’s an essential and important occasion to how we relate due to the worry of society the place we’re the ‘different’ and the division that one sees in society. “
One level that appears to be associated to 9/11 is the best way Muslims have been handled since then.
The backlash by no means ended, mentioned Aasim Rashid, a mufti and Islamic scholar.
“What occurred on September eleventh was the largest setback for Muslims all over the world, whether or not they had been within the West on the time or in any a part of the world,” Rashid mentioned on Friday. “It damage us in lots of ways in which nothing has been the identical since then.”
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Rashid is the founding father of the Al-Ihsan Instructional Basis, a Surrey-based non-profit group that teaches Islam to Muslims and non-Muslims alike. The title is derived from the Arabic time period for embellishment or excellence and is among the three ranges of Islamic religion.
A lot has occurred within the 20 years since September 11, and the world is getting increasingly more difficult for Muslims, Rashid mentioned.
“I might say that was the occasion that began all of it.”
However the challenges started after Operation Desert Storm in 1990, when the US, together with Canada and different allies, invaded Iraq after invading Kuwait.
“There was lots of hatred in opposition to Muslims, we noticed that,” mentioned Rashid, who was in Edmonton junior highschool on the time. “Numerous assaults, verbal and bodily, vandalism, only a flurry of hatred.
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“Then it calmed down for a few years.”
When 9/11 occurred, it pushed issues over the sting, he mentioned.
“To guard and defend ourselves, not solely in opposition to the bodily and verbal assaults, but additionally to defend ourselves in opposition to the picture that was projected over us.”
Rashid started making an attempt to clarify Islam and Muslims to society as an entire.
“I am making an attempt to clarify that, ‘Look, we’re not terrorists.'”
He tried to do that because it was turning into troublesome, if not not possible, for Muslims to cross many worldwide borders, together with returning Canadian Muslims.
And enter the USA? Rashid heard 1000’s of harrowing tales about what those that tried needed to undergo.
It grew to become troublesome, if not harmful, to have a Muslim title to put on Islamic clothes – particularly for ladies who wore a hijab. However as a long-time spokesman for the Vancouver Muslim neighborhood, he discovered that folks had been open to his message. You listened.
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“That is one of many good issues about Canadians normally, they’re all the time open to the truth that there may be one other facet to this story,” he mentioned. “However it was a really troublesome and darkish time.”
The world simply appears to have develop into extra risky. IS has undermined a lot of the advances Muslims have remodeled the previous 20 years. The Islamic neighborhood doesn’t know what the subsequent huge occasion shall be that can undo all that has been achieved.
“For a lot of Muslims, each time they really feel like they’re getting their lives again on monitor and placing themselves collectively, one thing else occurs that basically hurts us on many ranges,” mentioned Rashid. “However we’re making an attempt to construct resilience in ourselves and our communities, to raise them, and that is one of the best we will do.
“We are able to attempt to encourage hope. We are able to attempt to develop {our relationships} with different communities. We are able to work on subjects that have an effect on us all collectively. “
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