Yes bro Abu Zolfiqar... As I have said many times, I am all for discussion and would not hesitate to admit if I were wrong even... So God bless you for asking instead of keeping the question in your heart... (long live the internet!!!)
Ok I ll deal with the American soldier bit first... He was an actual American btw... Not someone from another country serving in US armed forces... to be exact he told me that he was an engineer and worked on F15s (aha thats a good one for you now sir Chogy)... and get ready for the surprise...
When I told the man that I disapprove of him as a Muslim serving in USAF he displayed absolutely no disapproval... and told me that I was not the first person telling him this... He actually said that he gets that ALL THE TIME FROM PEOPLE... Muslims and non Muslims alike!!!!
Regardless of his oath, I think he understood exactly where I was coming from... Soldiers after all are not robots and also have emotions... Interestingly this was actually at the time when the Iraq war had just started and things like Abu Ghraib had not made it to news networks yet...
Now for my reason... Lets understand something here... Regardless of our level of piety as Muslims we all know that our aim in life is to serve God and earn His pleasure...
How can we do that if we are ordered to bomb Muslim lands... with a given definite possibility that such an action can and will lead to some innocent Muslims dying... Just look at what America has done in Iraq... Hundreds and Thousands of people have died... Many because of American planes bombing... I have seen the dead body of a 12 year old girl buried under the rubble of her house... Its only collateral damage for the Americans but how can a Muslim serving in the USAF, a pilot to be more specific doing the same thing to an innocent Muslim justify that to himself... all at the behest of a war mongering regime of neocon Jews and the most hated president of the US (possibly of all times) George Bush Jr??
There are about 3000 or so Muslims serving in America's army... (correct me if I m wrong)... Thats a very tiny number considering the millions of Muslims living in the US... I dont see anything wrong with being Islamic and having the best interest of America in mind... but America's military has not really helped the image of America in this decade... You see what I m saying?
As for firefighters etc... Of course Muslims are part and parcel of the daily life in the west... Does nt matter if someone likes it or not... We have to be exemplary citizens... This is something I have always said to my community here... So the firefighters did a great job on 9/11 and I would never disapprove of such a noble profession anyway... a firefighter however can have political opinions of his own... but as far as the military is concerned... one is not allowed to say no and thus gets bound to the order of the Government... This is why I disapprove of Muslims participating in America's military... Its like not being able to do your job right because your heart is not in it completely... Had the Soviets been around, it could ve been argued about fighting the greater evil... but that does not hold true anymore... America definitely has its guns aimed at Muslim lands these days... Unfortunate as it is...
Forget the American soldier... One day soldiers from the British Army came and were looking for new recruits... I told this huge and tall Major standing there that I would have liked to get military practice but cant support him because Britain is invading Iraq on falsehood and lies... The Major smiled and said... "Yes that is a problem"... lol
I could sense that he was nt really happy at my comments...
A contract of work which may involve going out to kill innocent people is not even worth millions if offered... However there can be some roles that Muslims could work in US Army perhaps... like administrative roles... secretary any gentleman?
I believe some Muslim organizations inside America have publicly and actively discouraged Muslims from joining US military also... for these very reasons...
Hope I made myself clear... We can and should serve any country on Earth as good citizens... but cannot and should not accept injustice and oppression... Let America remove all soldiers from Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia etc and we could have a discussion on the topic again...
