Even with the September 11th Attack on America in hindsight, most Muslims have very quickly realized that it will take a long time for their image to improve.

Partly due to President Bush's repeated statements linking the religion of Islam with peace and other positive media coverage geared towards explaining the fundamental tenants of the religion, I personally do not think that the backlash against Muslims was as negative as it could have been. Still, I will not contest that there are probably many Americans who still hold deep prejudices against Muslims and consider the Attack on America a direct result of the teachings of Islam; this is where I reach a stumbling point. Living in this country for my whole life, I have seen a very slow but gradual improvement in the image of Muslims that live in this country. The Attack on America changed everything and this is what I have spent weeks on end thinking about.

To say that a couple of months will completely eliminate any form of aggression towards Muslims is foolish. What this country has experienced in the past weeks is a loss of innocence. We hear about wars raged in other countries, but I must naively admit that I never thought that it would come to this. When I asked friends what they experienced when they saw the plane hit the second Twin Tower, they replied that the picture was completely surreal. The tragedy of September 11th will forever be imprinted on the hearts of Americans everywhere.

The soul of the American people is wounded, and it will take a long period of time before it can recover. What does this mean for Muslims? Muslims now more than ever have to educate individuals about true Islam. I say true Islam because I am certain that there are people who parallel the doings of the attack to the definition of an Islamic Jihad. There are many different perspectives of what Islam is and what it is not. The more Americans learn about Islam the quicker they will begin to recover.

What is also equally important is that Muslims begin to show the other people living in this country the meaning of Islam through their actions and their character. This is what my thinking led up to. There is only so much that can be said through the media and other forms of public communication. The most important and beneficial thing that Muslims everywhere can do is to spread the true message of Islam which is in its most simplistic meaning is just peace and submission to the will of Allah.