The 14-year-old Muslim teenager who was arrested in Irving, Texas, for bringing a homemade clock to school that appeared to be a bomb is pulling out of his school district, according to NBC News.
Police arrested Ahmed Mohamed on Sept. 14 for bringing what appeared to be a hoax bomb to school. His parents recently announced they were withdrawing him after the false accusations, said NBC News.
Junior social science major Seth Jernigan said he believes that people rushed to judgment with Mohamed’s situation.
“Based on the young man’s name and his religious heritage, he was categorized and falsely accused,” Jernigan said. “I understand that the police were trying to do their job. In a post-Sept. 11 society, their intentions were not totally misguided.”
Kevin Klein, chairman of the history and political science department, said he thinks that after radical Islam events, people have a tendency to let fear control them.
“The current statements made by politicians and the situation with Ahmed Mohamed are all part and parcel to the problem we have of leaping to conclusions,” Klein said. “We leap to conclusions of assuming the worst because we’re afraid to assume the best.”
The political statement Klein was referring to was made by Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson. In an interview on Sept. 20, Carson said he does not believe a Muslim should be president.
Wissam al-Aethawi, Iraqi native and former Muslim, who spoke at Harding’s annual Bible Lectureship on understanding Islam, said he thinks there should not be a problem with a follower of Islam running for president.
“Even though (America) is one nation under God and it has a Christian character, it still promises freedom of religion,” al-Aethawi said. “It looks like the Constitution of the U.S. is okay with a follower of any religion to be in charge of the government.”
In Carson’s interview, he said that Islam is not consistent with the United States Constitution. Al-Aethawi believes that Muslims who do not abide by all of the regulations set forth in the Koran are shaped by where they live.
“The version of Islam that is followed by specific people has to do with the culture of that people,” al-Aethawi said. “Most Muslims in America are liberal. Some of them would say you do not even need to cover your head in Islam. Some people in the Gulf countries go to the other extreme. Muslims in different communities are different because of the cultural differences.”
Al-Aethawi also said that the U.S. needs to be more understanding of the Islamic ways found in the States.
“The prejudice against the Muslim people is something that is unacceptable,” al-Aethawi said. “It is wrong, it is sinful, it is non-Christian, and it does not help. The prejudice against the Muslim people does not help America’s struggle against the religion of Islam.”
Klein said he believes prejudice comes from fear. He said the best way to overcome that fear is to interact with people.
“If we want our culture to be able to integrate in this other great world faith, we’ve got to go out there and defend the parts that can be integrated,” Klein said. “There are positive aspects of Middle Eastern culture that are absolutely in harmony with aspects of Western culture … Try to find what you have in common, and then slowly move toward the parts where you might have disagreement. That’s what we have to do. We’ve got to reach out.”
