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Can a Muslim be a Good American?

A forwarded Email asks if Muslims can be good Americans, and then answers "no" in different ways. Some of the reasons are because their allegiances are to Allah, they believe their religion if the only true religion, hold allegiances is to Mecca, they are forbidden from making friends with Christians or Jews, have to submit to the mullahs who teach annihilation of Israel and destruction of America, and cannot accept the American Constitution since it is based on Biblical principles.

iRumorMill.com Determination: Our Observation and Commentary

Ever since the September 11, 2001 attack on America there has been a rash of viral emails discriminating against Muslims. Prior to the incidents at the World Trade Center, Pentagon and attempted strike on the White House by radical Muslim extremists, the average American knew very little about Muslims, their customs and the Islamic faith. Today, the information spreading on the Internet about Islam is vast but many ponder its credibility.

Without going into too much religious discussion, the iRumor Mill will try to address this question.

For those who desire to learn more about the religious details surrounding this warning , there are experts who have written books on the topic. Two come to mind, Dr. Robert Morey and Hal Lindsey. They look at Islam from a Christian perspective and discuss how it has developed and spread throughout the countries in Europe. Lindsey explains how it may run its course in end time Biblical prophecy.

The Islamic Invasion by Dr. Robert Morey
The Everlasting Hatred: The Roots of Jihad by Hal Lindsey

American History tells us that the United States of America was founded on religious freedom and has always been a safe haven for people who have suffered from religious persecution.

According to a timeline found on the website of Middlesex University in the U.K. America's early settlers came to the new world and set up colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries. The original thirteen colonies were mostly occupied by English and Dutch settlers. Virginia had members of the orthodox church of England and there were Puritans in the Northern New England colonies, as well as Dutch and Quaker Colonies set up in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey.

1481 marks the beginning of the Inquisition in Spain, who was aligned theologically, morally and culturally with the Catholic church in Rome. At first, the Inquisition focused only on Protestant Christian who were labeled heretics. Eventually, religious persecution began to spread against the Jews who had settled in Spain. In 1492, the Jews were exiled from Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella. The inquisition later spread briefly to Portugal, and it was not until the late 18th century that the inquisition was disolved.

According to an article found in MyJewishLearning.com, "America's Jewish community is largely Ashkenazic, meaning it is made up of Jews who trace their ancestry to Germany and Eastern Europe. However, the first Jews to arrive in what would become the United States were Sephardic--tracing their ancestry to Spain and Portugal." In 1654, the first group of Sephardic settlers made their home in New Amsterdam and traveled there from from Brazil. In the decades to come both "Sephardic and Ashkenazic merchants established homes in American colonial ports, including Newport, R.I., New Amsterdam (later New York), Philadelphia, Charleston, S.C., and Savannah, Ga."

According to an article found on the Center for Immigrations Studies (CIS) website, the "earliest Muslim immigrants came as slaves from Africa beginning perhaps as early as 1501." The actual number is disputed but it is estimated at about 40,000 in the U.S. alone. CIS reported that the earliest "free Muslim immigrants" may have settled in the the area where North Carolina is today and others areas to the South late in the16th century, "when captured Muslim soldiers were deposited on the coast." Close to 200 years later, "a decade or so after the Civil War, consisting mostly of Levantines but also a few from Yemen, South Asia, Indonesia, and elsewhere. For example, some 700 Punjabi farmers, some of them Muslims, emigrated from India to California."

By these accounts, Muslims are not new to America and they have been with here since the Nation's birth.

Today, around the world radical Muslims not only persecute Christians but other Muslims who may not hold the same views held by these radical Islamists. Currently there are news reports daily about the terror group ISIS is active in Syria and Iraq, killing and beheading those who do not subscribe to their form of Islam.

As for the question "Can a Muslims be a good American, because they put their religion above all else."

MMost American Christians and Jews prioritize their allegiance in the following order order, God, family, and country. So, why not ask the same question be asked about Christians and Jews?

Since rumor sites are all about the facts or hard core evidence the least we can do is cite at least on case of a good Muslim American and let our guest decide for themselves.

Meet U.S. Army 1st Lt. ohsin A. Naqvi, 26, of Newburgh, New York. Naqvi was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 11th Infantry, Fort Benning, Ga.
He died on September 17, 2008 while serving for his country during Operation Enduring Freedom in Gerdia Seria, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device. Also killed was Sgt. Joshua W. Harris, Capt. Bruce E. Hays and Staff Sgt. Jason A. Vazquez.

Mohsin A. Naqvi

This article was found on the Military Times Website:

Family recalls soldier’s patriotism, loyalty
By Greg Marano
Poughkeepsie Journal
WAPPINGERS FALLS — Nazar Naqvi’s son was not a Muslim soldier. He was a soldier who was a Muslim. “First he was American,” he said of his son, Mohsin.
“Then he was Muslim.” The regular Friday prayer service at the Mid-Hudson Islamic Association on All Angels Hill Road paid special tribute Friday to Mohsin Naqvi, 26, of Newburgh, a second lieutenant with the U.S. Army.
He was among a group of five soldiers killed while on patrol in Afghanistan Wednesday.
He leaves behind a 20-year-old wife, Raazia.
After Friday’s regular service, mosque members comforted Mohsin’s brother and father, and an imam led an informal prayer service specifically for the soldier.
Mohsin Naqvi had served a tour in Iraq before being deployed to Afghanistan, and family members said his Muslim faith was a constant source of taunting.
“He was being picked on any time they wanted,” his father said.
“He still wanted to be in the Army.”
But Nazar Naqvi said he never questioned the allegiance of his son, who emigrated from Pakistan with the family when he was 8 and became a U.S. citizen at 16.
“When he came to this country, he took an oath to be loyal to the United States,” Nazar Naqvi said.
Hassan Naqvi, Mohsin’s younger brother, knelt at the Friday afternoon prayer service, Mohsin’s dog tag hanging from a chain around his neck, and wiped away a tear.
He called his brother “the most patriotic person I know.”
Mohsin Naqvi joined the Army reserves days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Once in Afghanistan, he would converse with prisoners of war in his native language, Urdu, but his common ground with the captured Taliban fighters ended there.
The version of Islam they were preaching didn’t resemble his own, he told his family.
“As far as he was concerned, he wasn’t fighting against Muslims,” Hassan Naqvi said.
“Before he left for Af-ghanistan, I asked him if he was scared,” Hassan Naqvi said.
“He said he wasn’t, because that was where he was needed most.”
After the service, Mohsin Naqvi’s uncle, Anwar Naqvi, said his nephew died defending against acts of terror and a violent interpretation of Islam the vast majority of Muslims denounce.
“I am proud that my nephew, he basically ...” Anwar Naqvi said, pausing to regain his composure and fight his tears to speak, “he laid down his life in the line of his duty.
He was doing what he was supposed to do.”
Funeral arrangements have not been made, as the family doesn’t know when Mohsin’s body will be returned, but the funeral service is expected to take place in the Albany area.

Mohsin A. Naqvi

Two Associated Press Clippings were also found on the Military Times site:

Fallen soldier memorialized in upstate New York
By Richard Richtmyer
The Associated Press
ALBANY, N.Y. — Muslim prayers joined American military honors in upstate New York as family, friends and fellow soldiers remembered Mohsin Naqvi, an Army officer killed in Afghanistan.
About 350 people gathered Monday for a Shia funeral service before his burial with full military honors in a nearby cemetery. Naqvi, who was born in Pakistan and came to the U.S. with his family as a child, was one of four soldiers killed by a roadside bomb while on patrol last week.
An Army honor guard from Fort Drum’s 10th Mountain Division carried Naqvi’s flag-draped coffin into a prayer hall on the outskirts of Albany, where mourners remembered the 26-year-old, who had been married in the same mosque.
“He was married here a day before he was deployed,” said Shakil Virjee, a member of the mosque’s board of trustees and a friend of the family.
Naqvi was born in Pakistan and came to America when he was 8 years old. His family settled in the Hudson Valley city of Newburgh, where he grew up and went to school. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen when he was 16.
His wife, Raazia, and her family are from the Albany area, and the Naqvis frequently traveled from Newburgh to worship at the mosque, Virjee said.
Naqvi joined the Army Reserve a few days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and went on to serve in Iraq. He later re-enlisted for active duty and become a first lieutenant.
During part of his military service, Naqvi was assigned to the Headquarters and Headquarters Company at Fort Benning in Georgia, where he worked under the command of Capt. Carl Purgerson.
“Lt. Naqvi was my (executive officer) for about six months,” Purgerson said as he stood outside the mosque Monday. “He made it a joy to come to work, very dedicated and a true patriot to the core.”
New York Army National Guard Sgt. 1st Class Eric Hunt also knew Naqvi, though they never served together. They were next door neighbors in Newburgh for years.
“I’ve known him since he was a teenager,” Hunt said, fighting back tears as he spoke.
“Whenever he was home we’d get together and talk about Army stuff. We had that in common,” Hunt said. “He was always cracking jokes. We went to his brother Hassan’s high school graduation party last year, and he was the life of the party.”
Some who knew Naqvi said he hoped his Muslim faith and heritage could help bridge cultural divides, but often struggled against people who questioned his patriotism.
“We were really proud of him joining the forces,” said Aziz Ahsan, a Hudson Valley lawyer who survived the attack on the World Trade Center and is active in the area’s Muslim community.
“He’s the most patriotic person I’ve known, and he sacrificed his life for all Americans, not just Muslim Americans.”

According to a 2001 release by the Department of Defense, there are between 10,000 and 20,000 members of the American military who are Muslims. The release also said "All of the Muslim service members said they would have no problem going to war against terrorism." Marine Corps Capt. Aisha Bakkar-Poe. Bakkar-Poe, whose father immigrated from Syria stated the key reason why Muslims in the military have no problem to loyalty to the U.S. Military, it is not about Islam, it is about terrorism.

That may well be be 20,000 more cases of Muslims who are Good American.

Posted 10/18/14