By Collin Llewellyn
A decade has now passed since September 11th, 2001, and as a nation, we remain changed by what happened in New York City, Washington D.C., and Shanksville. Among those whose lives became more complicated that day, and for the next decade, was Muslim-Americans all across the country. Many Muslim-Americans became victims of hate-crimes, profiling, and misconception.
Mohamed Al-Darsani is the President of the Islamic Center for PEACE in Fort Myers (PEACE is an acronym for Progress, Education, Awareness, Cooperation, and Enlightenment), he has been working since 1996 as part of the Islamic Center of Southwest Florida. He then became part of the Islamic Center for PEACE, which has been working in Fort Myers since 2005, and their main focus is spreading the true message of Islam and dispelling common misconceptions.
“One of the most obvious challenges we have been facing is how to respond in a constructive way to the fear-mongering perpetrated by different groups and fueled by biased media coverage,” Mohamed Al-Darsani said when asked about the changes that September 11th has inflicted on their goals as a community.
On the other hand, they have received some positive feedback from surrounding communities, “Many religious groups and educational institutions have been sincerely working with us to continue building bridges of understanding and cooperation. But due to our limited resources in this area and the fear of retribution, experienced by most Muslims, we have not been able to fully utilize this opportunity to enrich the community with the knowledge of the true Islam.”
On their web site, http://www.ic-peace.com, several pages are dedicated to basic knowledge of Islam, answering questions on matters of terrorism, fundamentalism, origins, and the basic belief system. The problem continues to be that most Americans still don’t know the difference between Muslim extremists and the 1.5 billion Muslims spread throughout the world.
Mohamed adds, “9-11 caused some extreme changes in the way most religious leaders of all faiths operate on daily basis. Personally I became more involved with interfaith education about the religion of Islam. Also it directed me to put more emphasis on the importance of motivating the Muslim community in the US to be more proactive and cooperative toward the community at large to dismiss the myth that Muslims are having a secret agenda for America.”
The FGCU Reporters 
Posted on September 5, 2011
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