The best we can do to honor all those who laid their lives in these attacks is to fight terrorism instead of any particular religion, race, nationality, and color.

September 11^th is acknowledged as a ‘Black Day’ in all parts of the world not only due to the causalities on the day but also for the long-term effects it had on the global peace. Nearly 3000 people lost their lives while 6000 individuals were injured in this tragic incident which occurred on 11^th September 2001. In addition to that, the infrastructure of at least $10 billion was destroyed. This series of four coordinated terrorist attacks initiated a wave of violence and brutality, around the world, which has killed millions of people (primarily Muslims), since then. The association of ‘al-Qaeda’ with these attacks is the primary reason why the Muslim community had to suffer the most.

The first of these attacks took place at 8:45 am when a Boeing 767 of an American Airlines (Flight 11) smashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center. A few minutes later, another Boeing 767 from the United Airlines (Flight 175) flew into the south tower of the same building. Consequently, burning debris from the World Trade Center spread everywhere on the surrounding buildings and the streets below. Hundreds of people jumped from the buildings in order to save their lives but to no avail, as a significant number of people died in these attempts. While the World Trade Center was turning into a deadly inferno of rubble, Flight 77 of the American Airlines collided with the west side of the Pentagon. The last of these crashes happened in Pennsylvania when Flight 93 of the United Airlines crashed into a field to kill all the passengers.

The destruction of the World Trade Center and the nearby infrastructure dealt a massive blow to the economy of Lower Manhattan. Civilian airspace in the United States as well as Canada was put to halt for a couple of days. The Security Control of Air Traffic and Air Navigation Aids (SCATANA) was invoked for the first time in the entire history of the United States due to which tens of thousands of passengers were affected. All the international flights were either turned back or redirected to other countries. Similarly, the effect of this horrific incident on the global markets led to the closing of Wall Street until the 17^th of September. A lot of evacuations, closings, and cancellations were also observed for fear of more attacks.

The President of the United States, George W. Bush, was in Florida at the time of these terrorist attacks. Following security concerns, he was shuttled around the country and arrived at the White House at 7 pm in the evening. He condemned these attacks in his address to the nation from the Oval Office at 9 pm. He also indicated the military response that the state will carry out against terrorists. He said,

“Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve. We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them.”

Despite the fact that President Bush acknowledged the contributions of American Muslims, a substantial increment in hate crimes was observed immediately after these attacks. Within days, several cases of harassment and hate crimes were reported by American Muslims and other South Asians. A lot of religious buildings, including mosques and temples, were also targeted. The murder of Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh who was wrongly considered a Muslim due to his turban, led to considerable protests around the world. The tension between Muslims and non-Muslims grew significantly in a lot of countries which ultimately resulted in more harm than good.

We direly need to accept that terrorism has no religion, nationality, race, or color. The world has seen quite a lot of bloodshed of innocent people and things need to improve instantly if we want to achieve universal peace. Both Muslims and non-Muslims need to work together against this hideous issue of our societies in order to ensure the safety of our coming generations. It is high time to put aside our differences and work collectively against these terrorists as we approach the 17^th commemoration of the 9/11.