DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Many young Muslim Americans think their lives will be better without Osama bin Laden in the world.
Muslims across the country say they hope the al-Qaida leader’s death — along with the pro-democracy uprisings sweeping the Arab world — help erase the suspicion and fear many non-Muslims have viewed them with since 9/11.
Thirty-one-year-old Ali Shebley worships at the Islamic Center of America in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn. He says “the public has room to breathe now, away from the fear-mongering.”
Eighteen-year-old Umar Issa says bin Laden “corrupted my whole religion.” The freshman at Kansas Wesleyan University who grew up in Los Angeles says people in many countries are rejecting leaders they don’t believe represent them — much as Muslims are making it clear that they reject bin Laden.
