A loud boom startled Donn Monroe in his hotel room at a New York City Marriott. Looking out the window, he witnessed a scene of horrific devastation caused by two hijacked planes flown into the World Trade Center towers.
Despite what he saw across from his hotel, Monroe decided to stay put, never thinking the towers would come down.
But hotel employee Abdu Malahi intervened. "He said, 'Come on, you got to leave.' He took me to the stairs, told me to get out," Monroe, a 46 year old bussinessman, told the Deseret News. "I remember hearing him run back shouting for more guests."
Monroe's rescuer, Malahi, was killed approximately 20 minutes later when the collapse of the first tower destroyed the Marriot hotel. He was one of 32 Muslim-Americans who died as a result of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The Islamic-American community turned to its faith to help mourn their losses, and in some cases, cope with newfound suspicions in the U.S. about their faith.
"One young man from our community was going to college and he was moonlighting as an EMT. He was a first responder to 9/11 when he was killed. But they initially thought he was somehow involved in terrorism," said Dr. Faroque Khan, the former president of the Islamic Center of Long Island. "His name was (Mohammad) Salman Hamdani, and I still see his mother, Mrs. Hamdani, at the center; it's just so sad to see what she has gone through."
Though Hamdani's mother suffered from both the void of her missing son and persistent questions about him by media and police authorities, like many Muslims, her Islamic faith has helped her cope.
Much to her dismay, The New York Post ran an article titled, "Missing — or Hiding? Mystery of NYPD Cadet from Pakistan"; she and her family were questioned about Hamandi by the FBI, NYPD and Congressman Gary Ackerman.
The family's only option was to pray and wait, and they headed to Mecca. Eventually, DNA evidence proved that Salmon died while helping out as an first responder during 9/11.
"We will meet again in life. Not in this life — afterlife," said Mrs. Hamdani in an interview with journalist Rima Abdelkader.
"This is a transitory life on this Earth," concurred Khan. "When a child dies in the family, like Salaman, it is very, very devastating. But there is this belief in a reunion in the hereafter — after this life there will be a resurrection; there will be a reunion of all the families. So that gives a lot of strength to people."
Everybody faces trials, and if those trials are endured with patience and faith, Muslims believe they "will be rewarded both here and in the hereafter," according to Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
Nearly 50 percent of Muslim-Americans feel negative views about Muslims, or discrimination and prejudice against them, represent the most critical of trials currently facing Muslim-Americans as a whole, according to a study released last week by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.
"Islam teaches to have patience in times of both prosperity and adversity. We're taught never to lose hope; there are always better things in the future" said Hooper. "I believe these teachings help Muslims to cope with any discrimination, prejudices or trials they may be facing."
Believing in a better future for Muslim-Americans gives hope to Khan. Noting that the Prophet Muhammad suffered persecutions, he added, "Other communities in the past have gone through similar experiences in America. We are hopeful as time passes, this too will subside and the Muslims will make their contributions to the larger society as others have."
Khan himself contributed to developing an antibiotic, Ciprofloxacin, used by millions worldwide. He also mentioned that there are two Muslim U.S. Congressmen currently serving in the House of Representatives.
Earlier this year, one of those two, Rep. Keith Ellison (R-Minn), paid an emotional tribute to the contribution made by Mohammad Salman Hamdani in sacrificing his life as a first responder on 9/11.
"Mr. Hamdani bravely sacrificed his life to try and help others on 9/11. After the tragedy some people tried to smear his character solely because of his Islamic faith," said Congressman Ellison. "It was only when his remains were identified that these lies were fully exposed. Mohammed Salman Hamdani was a fellow American who gave his life for other Americans. His life should not be defined as a member of an ethnic group or a member of a religion, but as an American who gave everything for his fellow citizens."
Donn Monroe paid tribute to his 9/11 hero Abdu Malahi, who saved his life during that fateful September day in the Marriott hotel.
"Abdu took it upon himself to alert the remaining guests that they must leave. I was waiting in my room when I heard him shouting in the hallway. I opened the door, and he told me I must leave immediately," he wrote in a post dedicated to Malahi.
"He escorted me to the stairways before continuing on to save other guests. He is constantly in my thoughts. He is my guardian angel. I love this man whom I only met once. It is still hard for me to comprehend his sacrifice for strangers. Abdu was a very special man, indeed."
In awe of such heroics, Khan paraphrased a verse in the Quran, which reads, "Whosoever killeth an (innocent) human being ... it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and whoso saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind."
Email: hboyd@desnews.com