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Ahmed, the clock-maker

A 14 years old Muslim kid, an engineering enthusiast, brought to school his home-made clock to show to his teacher. Despite being applauded for his creation, he was arrested by the police because the teacher thought the device was suspicious. One glimpse of the device will not knock in your head what exactly it is. It is a tangle of wires, some boards and other electrical connections. It could have been a bomb, or a clock or any device that has not yet been invented.

Ahmed’s clock.

An electrical device made by a Muslim kid does not necessarily mean it is a bomb. The job the teachers had in hand was just a simple interrogation with Ahmed eliciting the device details and a meticulous assessment of the device. The obfuscating device would eventually turn out to impose no harm. But wait. There is another more important question here. Would the case have been different, had the inventing kid been white? I think straight ‘yes’ or ‘no’ will not make a good answer. While the frantic reaction of the teachers calling the police could have been no different, the fact that the kid was a Muslim might have rendered the device more suspicious than it would have with a white kid as inventor. So, as president Obama responded, Ahmed was failed by his teachers.
The police response was apt, however. Any suspicious thing would have to be hunted for the safety of the general public. So, the police had to make an arrest and interrogate with the kid. It is the general procedure. Ahmed would have been disgraced for getting handcuffed and arrested, but it was his teachers and school responsible for this. He made a right decision to change the school. Likewise, president Obama took a prudent decision to invite him to the White House.
This is a case more about the relation between Islam and terrorism than about the safety of American lives. It is yet another incident implying ‘Islam’ is not synonymous to ‘Terrorism’. America is benefiting from many Muslims and will continue to benefit from other smart Muslim minds. If it really is the free land of opportunities, why not let Muslims have their share of good times when they are gifting America wonders?
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