Source/Credit: Marion Star | News
By John Jarvis | September 18, 2011
Muslim-sponsored event marks 9/11, promotes the sanctity of life
MARION - First-time blood donor Tariq Arif bantered nervously but lightheartedly with the collection technicians monitoring his progress while his blood spiraled through a clear tube into a pint bag.
Arif, a chiropractor and Muslim from Cincinnati, drove more than five hours Saturday to pick up friends from Dayton on their way to Marion to participate in a Muslims for Life blood drive.
"Oh, I'm no hero; well, maybe a little bit in my own mind," he said, his jovial nature showing through his anxiety as he reclined at the Marion County chapter of the American Red Cross. "But I wanted to do something in memory of the 3,000 people that died in the 9/11 attacks."
Part of a nationwide drive to honor the memory of those who died in the terrorist attacks 10 years ago, the effort at the local Red Cross collected 23 whole blood units, each of which can help up to three patients, and 10 units of red cells. The total collection can help up to 79 people, said Mark Lawrence, community relations coordinator for the Marion County Red Cross chapter.
In addition to collecting blood, the purpose of the Muslims for Life drive is to uphold the message that Islam values the sanctity of life, said Dr. Abdul Shahid, a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community sponsoring the blood drive Saturday.
"We feel when 9/11 happened, that hijacked our identity, our faith," said Shahid, an anesthesiologist and pain management specialist at Marion Pain Clinic. "Faith is a very personal matter. Unfortunately, the horrific events of that day have left us with reason to explain who we are and what we are about."
The goal of the nationwide effort is to collect 10,000 units of blood in September to mark the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 tragedies, he said. The significance of the 10,000 units is that that's the number of units needed to save as many as 30,000 lives, about 10 times the number lost on that date.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is an Islamic organization that believes the long-awaited messiah arrived in the person of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, the website www.ahmadiyya.us states. Ahmad, who lived from 1835 to 1908, claimed to be the metaphorical second coming of Jesus of Nazareth and the divine guide, whose advent was foretold by the prophet of Islam, Muhammad.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community believes that God sent Ahmad, like Jesus, to end religious wars, condemn bloodshed and reinstitute morality, justice and peace.
"Our belief is whosoever killed a person, it is as if he killed all mankind," Shahid said. "Whosoever gave life to one, it's as if he gave life to all mankind."
Arif recalled the day of the terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington, D.C., and rural Pennsylvania.
"I was practicing medicine in Canada when I got a call from my brother in New York telling me to turn on CNN," he said. "I thought, 'Oh, my God, this is not what Muslims do.'"
He said others looked at him differently after the attacks.
"You know, as a doctor, I thought I'd be shielded," said Arif, a Canadian citizen married to a woman who is a U.S. citizen. "I can talk about racial profiling because I've seen it. But today I just want to contribute. I have to contribute."
Shahid said he works in Marion two days a week.
"I live in Dayton, but I travel," he said. "If I come here ..., I am part of this community and I need to do community work."
Ann Hill, a retired social worker and Christian, attended the blood drive in hopes of identifying Marion Muslims with whom she could develop a "faith club" by which to foster understanding between practitioners of all religions.
Listening eagerly to Shahid's words, she said, "I'm so excited about this. It's wonderful, because we are all one."
Dan Claborn, a blood drive trainee, said the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community-sponsored event was a worthwhile effort.
"Marion's a bit of a smaller town," he said. "I think any exposure of some group that it's not that aware of, I'm all for it."
Harshal Jethva, a third-year Ohio State University biomedical engineering student and Hindu, helped sign in blood donors, "I guess just because it's the right thing to do. I think people should strive to have a better community in general."
He praised the Red Cross for being an inclusive organization, welcoming people of all religious beliefs, races, nationalities, classes and political opinions.
Reporter John Jarvis: 740-375-5154 or jjarvis@marionstar.com
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