I know
for Muslims here, the mosque is neutral
ground,
a place where Saudis, Palestinians,
Kuwaitis and others leave political
difference behind
a place where Abdullah bin Laden of Saudi
Arabia. Here's the thing that is constant
for all of his faith, the theme of unity
among Muslims in keeping
Allah's laws.
You and your family and your children
are constantly being brainwashed
by a system which is totally non
Islamic in nature.
Islam is more
powerful today than just nationalism
or Arabism or whatever.
And if anybody tried to break that
that brotherhood, you should be candid
with Muslims. Muslim can handle
him.
Many here believe Saddam Hussein has
broken that Islamic tie, violated
a holy law forbidding aggression.
But they say U.S.
efforts to right Hussein's wrong makes us
aggressors, too.
And worse, aggressors who do not
understand their faith,
the will of the Arabs and the Muslims.
So all problems without
the politics espoused outside become
part of prayer. Inside, it's all one
way of life.
And one gets the feeling that if these
worshipers had to choose sides between
Hussein's troops and U.S.
troops, the tie of Islam might
prevail.
Shelley Kofler, Texas News 5.