Aftermath of September 11

In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, the mass media have supposedly been informing American about Arabs and Muslims. Published reports show that a certain amount of demonization of Arabs and Muslims has occurred on the part of "'experts' and polemicists on the Middle East" (Akram, 2002, p. 61). On the other hand, one Arab journalist describes as "absurd" the idea of not being vigilant about the ethnicity of "those who board their planes" (Mansoor, 2002, p. 33). Controversy over these issues is unlikely to die down easily, partly because Muslims in general and ethnic Arabs in particular are "other." Where counseling of people who fall within the "other" category might be a real possibility, therefore, it is important to bridge the gap of knowledge with reliable information.

What must be first understood about Muslims is that Islamic culture is not unitary. Nation-state differences are part of the reason, as the Iran-Iraq war or first Gulf War showed. Some nation-states, such as Turkey and Iraq, are secular, while Saudi Arabia and (especially) Iran are Islamic theocracies. There are three major modes of worship in Islam: Sunni, the orthodox/conservative mode, which has the greatest number of adherents; Shi'ite (Shia), associated with militant or "anarchic" Islam; and Sufi, which is a mystical faith strand (Campbell, 1978, p. 440). And there are further sectarian differences. For example, the Ahmadiyya Muslims, like the Sufi, are contemplative but also pacifist; they are per

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r family significance: ism (name at birth, or given name); laqab (nickname); kunya (a compound name--al-X, ibn-X, or bin-X for boys who are "son of" X--with ancestral significance); and nisba (name with tribal significance) (Beeston, 1971). In America, the family of my friend, like many Arab immigrants, adopted the Western practice of assigning an ism as first name, kunya as middle name, and laqab or nisba as the surname, depending on family decisions. The naming ceremony (aqiqa, according to Beeston, 1971) was like a Christian baptism, except that it was not held in a house of worship. There were both family and friends present (about 20 people), most but not all of them immigrants, and no children. This was for the most part a very educated and (it seemed to me) westernized group, although about half of the women at the gathering, including the wife of the head of the Shia mosque in Pomona, Calif., wore traditional scarves. The religious ceremony itself was very simple, quiet, and modest, even though the home was rather luxurious (my friend's cousin is a real estate lawyer); compare that to Greek Orthodox ritual, which is very strict and which can be elaborate. My friend said that, at least in America, there is no absolute rul

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