Islam and 9/11 Terrorism
by Joseph Morris

On the Muslim sabbath, Friday, September 14, 2001, I spoke by invitation in the pulpit of a mosque in suburban Chicago. Here is what I said:

It is important for Americans to understand why some Muslims felt it necessary to attack and murder us.

If these attacks were in retaliation for America's opposition to aggressive wars waged by others, then the attacks were wrong; they must be condemned; and war must be waged on those who attacked us, because the attacks were an extensions of the aggression that we have rightly resisted. All Americans, including Muslim-Americans, should join in the condemnation and should join in the resolute prosecution of a just war of self-defense.

Perhaps, however, the attacks were motivated, not by our foreign policy, but by the character of our civilization. Perhaps those who attacked us are offended by our culture and our mores; they see that our culture and our mores are attractive to people in other lands, including those that are historically Muslim; they believe that the spread of our culture and our mores must be resisted; and they conclude that the only way to stop the spread of our culture and our mores is to attack us in our own land.

Now, if the aim of the attack was to move us to reform ourselves, then any logic and morality of the attackers' critique of America were entirely overwhelmed by the illogic and immorality of the attacks. Some aspects of our culture and our mores do, indeed, merit criticism, and among them are attitudes prevailing in important segments of our people regarding abortion, marriage, homosexuality, and sexual promiscuity in general. Those topics are worthy of debate among ourselves. Criticism of our culture and mores from persons whose views are grounded in other cultures may be useful and, by our own lights -- the vaunted openness of the Western mind to truth, regardless of its source -- it should be welcomed. Muslims, Christians, and Jews of goodwill would resolve to work together to prevail upon the world to reform itself. But warfare and murder are not acceptable modes of inducing reform, let alone of argument. As grave as I believe such sins as abortion and homosexual conduct to be, they pale in comparison with the sins of murder and aggressive war as committed by those who attacked us on September 11th.

What is more, some aspects of our culture and our mores are highly defensible and we should never apologize for them. Among these are our political liberties, our tolerance of all religion and of irreligion, our evolving mechanisms of interfaith consultation and cooperation, and our recognition and protection of the individual liberties of women. To the extent that those who attacked us reject these aspects of our civilization, it behooves every American, regardless of religion, to unite in defiance.

In the alternative, the aim of the attacks may not have been to stimulate us to repentance or reform, but to make our culture and our mores appear less attractive to people in Muslim or other lands by making us seem vulnerable or irresolute. If that is the case, then the grievance of the attackers is not really with us, but with their own people -- that is, with people whose cultures and mores they would presume to dictate, but who, it would seem, find aspects of our civilization more attractive than the worldview of the attackers and those who inspired and guided them. To commit murder and to wage war as a means of instruction is a profound offense against all logic, against all morality, and against God. All Muslims, all Christians, all Jews, all Americans, and, indeed, all civilized people must condemn such motives and must rally together in resistance -- armed resistance, as it appears will be necessary -- to those who perpetrate such extraordinary wrongs.

In the midst of all this, we must not lose sight of three things.

First, that the attackers of September 11th may have been critics of Western mores does not mean that Western mores are above criticism.

Second, that Western mores may deserve criticism does not justify the attacks of September 11th.

Third, war has been declared, and is being waged, upon our nation by people who claim to be acting in the name of Islam. If they are to be denied the right to fly the flag of Islam, then it is Muslims who must deny it to them. It is Muslims who must be in the lead in condemning the attacks and in showing their false logic and utter immorality. It is Muslims who must be in the lead in calling for the American people to unite and to defend ourselves.

Finally, all tools of national power must be applied to the work of self-defense. To the extent that the criminal justice system can bring perpetrators of these acts to account, it should be employed against them. To the extent that diplomacy and political means can rally other nations and peoples to our cause, then they must be pursued. To the extent that it is necessary to wage war in foreign lands against those who planned and executed these attacks and who may plan more of them, then war must be waged. These various means should not be confused with each other; neither should any be ignored. We may not know today the identities of all our enemies; they may be formless, shadowy movements; they may be nation-states; they may be coalitions of evil people who have little in common with each other, hating us for reasons that are contradictory but, all the same, and of ultimate importance, hating us more than they hate each other and hating us nonetheless.

The times ahead will not be easy. But we have made a good start today, joining together in this sacred space, Muslims, Christians, and Jews alike, Americans all, to remind ourselves that, in the spirit of the American founders, we have pledged to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.

Joseph A Morris is a partner in Morris & De La Rosa in Chicago and is a member of the American Conservative Union Board of Directors.