KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — On July 22, 76 people died in a bombing in Oslo and an attack on a Labor Party summer camp on the island of Utoya in Norway. The Guardian labeled the event “one of the worst atrocities in recent European history.” The Norwegian Anders Behring Breivik stands accused of both attacks, and yes, he admitted committing both crimes while also labeling them “atrocious” and “necessary.” Though media speculation suggested early on that the bombing in Oslo was an act of Muslim terrorism,
When I moved to Egypt to study
Arabic in 2004, I was amazed how often Muslims there said alhamdulillah (i.e., praise God). When I asked
friends “How are you?”, they replied alhamdulillah (praise God). When I congratulated Mahmoud’s children for
their high marks in school, they replied alhamdulillah. Even when Haala cut her hand deeply with a sharp
kitchen knife, she repeated steadily alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, as we worked to stop the
bleeding. To my amazement, she was genuinely thankful, mindful her
Americans are stunned by the hatred, ignorance, and violence displayed by a motley assembly of white supremacists protesting in Charlottesville, Virginia last weekend. The “Unite the Right” rally claimed to have come in protest of plans to sell a park statue of Confederate Army General Robert E. Lee. Fully outfitted for street fighting with helmets, shields, and weapons, they marched with a different agenda. Friday evening, they carried burning torches while chanting, “Jews will not replace us. You will not replace us. Blood and soil.