I admit that I have had very little contact with Muslims.
Islam is not a prominent religion in my part of the country. However, I do know
one Muslim quite well.
When my son, Andrew, was very young we discovered his body
was not producing a sufficient amount of growth hormones. We ultimately ended
up taking him to a pediatric endocrinologist at Children’s Hospital in
Birmingham, Alabama. His doctor changed a couple of time, but eventually Dr.
Latif became his endocrinologist. Dr. Latif is from Jordan and is a Muslim. We
could not have asked for a kinder, more thorough doctor. Andrew quickly
developed a friendship with Dr. Latif since we had to travel to Birmingham twice
a year for checkups. We typically only talked to him about Andrew’s condition
and how he was faring health-wise and school-wise, but occasionally we would
talk about personal things.
At some point we found out that Dr. Latif was going to start
traveling to the Children’s Hospital’s satellite clinic in Huntsville, Alabama,
a couple of days each month. This location would shorten our travel time significantly.
So, we began to schedule Andrew’s appointments on a day when Dr. Latif was
going to be in Huntsville.
As Andrew got older, he began to be curious about other
religions and faiths. He would often ask people about their faith. This was how
we learned for sure that Dr. Latif was Muslim. We asked things like how
difficult it was to be a doctor and still be able to pray five times a day. He
said that it only took a few minutes each time and he was able to fit it in
during breaks and lunch. At one point Andrew actually bought the doctor a
prayer rug as a gift.
Dr. Latif was not an American citizen when we first met him,
but he is now. I can still remember the day we went to the clinic in Huntsville
for an appointment, and there were banners up in the waiting room. Was it a
party? Of sorts. The banners were up to celebrate Dr. Latif having just become
a US citizen. He was excited and we were excited for him.
Andrew remained under Dr. Latif’s care until he became an
adult. At that point he was told he needed to find a different doctor that
specialized in adult rather than pediatric endocrinology. He eventually did so.
But it was sad parting ways since Andrew, as well as Kathy and I, had grown close
to Dr. Latif and enjoyed our visits with him.
I am glad that I met Dr. Latif before the increased activity
of radical Islam. He let me know firsthand that there are indeed peaceful,
kind, and loving Muslims in the world that are trying to help people rather
than harm them.
One thing we need to keep in mind is that many religions
have a violent past. The Old Testament tells us of some pretty heinous things
the Israelites did, supposedly at the behest of God himself. But people can
grow past their violent pasts. I just recently read this statement from author
Edward Hudgins on the Atlas Society Web site: “A religion is to a great extent
a construct of its adherents. It consists of the beliefs, values, priorities,
assumptions, and expectations shared by those adherents and reinforced by their
culture and institutions.” In other words, a religion is what its practitioners
make it. Apparently Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is calling for
religious toleration in his country. He even set an example by becoming the
first Egyptian president to attend mass at a Coptic Christian church.
Let us hope that the forces of tolerance can uproot the
forces of hate in every corner of the Earth, whether they be Muslims, Jews,
Christians, another religion, or even agnostics and atheists. What the world
needs now is love, sweet love. Just as it has always needed.
Andrew at Age 12 with Dr. Latif
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