Almost two years ago, I made a big, life-altering decision when I decided to move to Abu Dhabi for a job.
I hopped on a plane and left behind my life in Boston for a leap into the unknown. I didn’t know a single person in the United Arab Emirates. I knew next to nothing about Islam. To be honest, I probably couldn’t even have located the country on a map.
However, it turned out to be the best decision I could have made and I would do it all over again.
But here’s the thing that I think most people who have not taken such a step into the unknown want to know: How does a person adjust to making the transition from someone living in a big city in the United States to living in the capital city of a Middle Eastern country?
To put it simply: people make it possible.
There were the people who offered me rides to the airport at 3am. The people who listened to me cry over the phone when I was upset. The people who invited me out. The people who invited me into their homes. The people who offered me kind words when I needed them most. The people who motivated me. The people who comforted me – and everything in between.
These people, strangers all, ended up becoming a really wonderful support group for me in a place where I was literally all alone.
While it might be surprising to some (but really shouldn’t be), most of those people are Muslim. Therefore it really breaks my heart to see how so many people confuse religion with a radical ideology, thinking it is the same thing.
Islam can be a beautiful religion and I’ve seen some of the best parts of it while here.
That’s not to mention the fact that some of the best friendships I’ve formed are with people who are Muslim.
And you know what else? My Syrian friends, whose own family members could be the refugees desperately trying to escape the same dangerous enemy that has become such a global problem and the focus of intense international attention? Well, they have not plotted against me or tried to brainwash me into doing something crazy. I’m still here. I’m still the same person I was in the US. I’m just a little wiser to the way the world works.
None of my Muslim friends have ever denounced the West nor judged me in any way for who I am or where I come from. So why should we judge them for who they are and where they live?
I believe the worst thing we can ever do is close ourselves off to something because of fear.
What happened in Paris was awful and scary – but what is even more scary is what will inevitably happen if we let that fear dictate and shape a world in which those who are in a position to offer help, simply stop doing so.
It would be a world in which fear keeps people divided when I think, in the end, all of us – with the exception of a tiny minority of extremists – just want the same thing: to live our lives in peace.
If I could send one message to the world it would be to not let the media or anyone else fool you into believing Islam is the problem because it is not.
I don’t have a solution to the ills of the world – but fighting and hurting other people who want the same thing as you certainly is not the answer.
elau@thenational.ae
