A couple of months ago I received a call from Tim Townsend asking if I would be interested in taking part in the Post Dispatch ‘blog about religion’. I did not take me long to call him back and accept the invitation. I was not naive about the task at hand. In 2 short months before that, my personal blogging experience gave me a taste of what it means to share my thoughts with the public. I have already experienced some harassment and insults by some readers, but it was, and still is, a worthwhile experience.

With the Post Dispatch Civil Religion blog, the challenge for me was a bit different. Now I have many distinguished co-bloggers who have a lot more expertise in writing and most have formal religious training. But more importantly, I am the only Muslim in the group. I may even be the only Muslim voice many of the readers will encounter in their immediate environment.

There are many Muslims names on the news, but they are usually from far away places. And with how ‘selective’ most media outlets are, most of those Muslims have done or said something bad - otherwise no one would hear about them. So, being a face for the local American Muslims could be a lot of fun, but it also poses its own problems. If I am one of the few real-life Muslim voices you may hear, what should that voice be? Let me try to explain.

Muslims, especially the outspoken ones, are in a difficult situation these days. I frequently participate in public and small group discussions about Islam. The intent of my hosts is usually to know more about Islam. The sad truth is that the discussion almost always ‘degenerates’ into a discussion about terrorism, Islamic threat to Western Civilization and the Israeli Palestinian conflict. Fifteen hundred years of history and 1.3 billion living Muslims seem to be seen only through the thick cloud of Al-Qaeda, and through the fog of a territorial dispute with its multiple layers of historic injustices spanning across 25 centuries.

The Muslim voice that hoped to tell others about why Muslims think Islam is beautiful; why tolerance and mutual respect and coexistence are core values in Islam; and why democracy has very little to fear from Islam, is forced to be a voice that talks politics, economics, media tactics, history, and American foreign policy in the Twentieth Century. And, while I actually enjoy these discussions, I would sometimes rather just talk about my faith. Not to preach, and not to convert – but to share my thoughts about a force that influences my life, and upon which my conscience is founded.

So, which voice will I try to stick with on this blog?

My voice of choice would be the voice of an average Muslim, who strongly believes in Islam, and who is trying on his own to understand what God wants from him by studying what he believes, as a Muslim, to be the original Islamic scripture and the word of God. A Muslim that believes in democracy, universal human rights, and equality of Mankind regardless of gender, race of religion. A Muslim that is actually in the majority amongst Muslims in the world, but is in the minority amongst the Muslims you will read about in a newspaper, or see on TV.

This laity-to-laity (myself-to-readers) communication is, in my mind, the best way to make sure that our religions interact not from historical, theological or political point of view, but in the way religions are supposed to interact: a believer to a believer.

Religion is supposed to change and improve its adherents. That change shows best in one-on-one interaction. ‘Community-versus-community’ and ‘civilization-versus-civilization’ interactions and conflicts are the products of many other factors: history, economics, politics and clergy-driven theological dogma. In most cases, these elements have very little to do with what the warring religions are truly about.

I am certain that politics, war, violence and history will inevitably pop up every now-and-then. When this happens, I will do my best to talk about those from a point of view of fairness, universal justice and equality. Imposing on others one’s sense of religious supremacy, entitlement, and divinely-granted rights leads no where. I will not do that. But neither will I accept it from others, even my co-religionists.