12/30/2025
How War May Have Spread Islam to America: An Iraqi Refugee’s Story and a Religious Reflection by Hezekiah Israel.
I want to share with you the story of a man named Haitham al‑Shammari, whom I met at the MAS Convention in Chicago this past weekend. Haitham is from Iraq, and he was living there when terrorists hijacked airplanes and struck the World Trade Center in America on 9/11/2001.
After that event, the Bush administration was in a rush to respond, assign blame, and prevent future attacks. While they did not claim that Iraqis carried out 9/11, they used the post‑9/11 climate — and alleged Iraq–al‑Qaeda links — to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The reasons given in the resolution were:
To disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction
To end Saddam Hussein’s support for terrorism
To free the Iraqi people
What happened in Iraq
In reality, the invasion and subsequent occupation left Iraq in a state of deep turmoil. Haitham told me he was living a content life before the war. After the invasion, he says his country was left in ruins and chaos, and he felt the need to flee for safety.
His story fits into a larger picture:
The war caused the deaths of many Iraqis, including large numbers of civilians.
It destabilized the country, contributing to years of violence and the rise of extremist groups.
Millions of Iraqis were displaced, becoming refugees and seeking new homes in other countries.
Haitham applied to several countries as a refugee. Most denied him, but America accepted him. He believes this was partly because the American administration felt sorrow and responsibility for what had happened to people like him as a result of the decision to invade Iraq. That sorrow, by God’s permission, opened a door for him to receive legal residency here in the United States.
Haitham also shared an observation: he knows many Americans are uneasy about the rise of Islam in America, yet he believes one significant reason for this rise is that American administrations — past and present — have attacked Muslim‑majority countries. Those wars created refugees, many of whom were then granted entry or citizenship here, where they continue to practice their faith as Muslims.
I found Haitham’s story and perspective very interesting. I decided to dig deeper and offer you an objective religious reflection — to help us establish truth, understand consequences, and learn to make wiser decisions in the future.
Was the Iraq War a mistake?
For more than two decades, Americans have argued over whether the invasion of Iraq was justified. Today, a clear majority believes it was a mistake. A 2023 Axios/Ipsos poll found that 61% of Americans say the U.S. made the wrong decision in invading Iraq.
Why many say it was wrong:
Weapons of mass destruction were never found.
The central justification for the invasion turned out to be incorrect.
Civilian casualties and long‑term instability.
The human cost — in lives, trauma, and displacement — was enormous and ongoing.
Regional consequences.
The invasion contributed to regional instability and helped create conditions in which extremist groups could grow.
Why others still defend the decision:
Preemptive security.
Some believed, based on the intelligence at the time, that Saddam Hussein’s regime posed a serious threat.
Human rights concerns.
Many argued that removing a brutal dictator who oppressed and killed his own people was morally justified.
Geopolitical strategy.
Others viewed it as part of a broader effort to reshape the Middle East after 9/11.
While I’ve presented reasons from both sides, my main objective is not to re‑litigate the war itself. My goal is to share with you what we can learn from Haitham’s story and to reflect on these events from a religious and moral perspective.
Why did God allow the invasion?
First of all, it is true that the government of my country invaded Iraq, and I am sorry for that action and the suffering it caused. But as people who believe in God, we must ask:
If God is in control of the world, why didn’t He stop or prevent such an action from happening?
One possible perspective is to consider the actions of Iraq’s leadership at the time. According to research, Iraq under Saddam Hussein was officially designated a state sponsor of terrorism by the U.S. State Department. His administration:
Attempted to assassinate former U.S. President George H.W. Bush in 1993 using a car bomb in Kuwait.
Supported militant groups that killed U.S. citizens in the 1970s.
Backed Palestinian groups that carried out attacks against Israel.
We can ask:
Could these actions by Saddam’s regime have been part of the reason God did not prevent the American invasion from occurring?
We cannot speak for God with certainty, but it is something to consider and ponder.
God’s angels and national consequences
Even if God allowed the invasion for such reasons, that does not mean He was pleased with it or that it was the best choice. Scripture teaches that to whom much is given, much is required. America has, for a time, been the most powerful nation on earth. With that power comes responsibility: God requires us — first as individuals, and then on a broader national level — to be righteous and merciful toward others.
As I have taught before, God governs the world despite the dominion He has given to man, and through the beings and forces He has appointed. The angels of air, water, and sunshine are part of God’s design to sustain life and maintain balance in creation.
When there is an excessive amount of sin, violence, and injustice in an area, these angels, in a spiritual sense, grow weary or strained. The harmony they maintain can be disturbed, and this can open the way for destruction or disorder to occur in nature.
Not long after the invasion of Iraq in 2003, our own country faced major crises:
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, causing massive loss of life, displacement, and destruction.
In 2008, a major financial crisis hit in the latter part of President Bush’s second term, shaking the economy and prompting emergency measures.
Am I saying definitively that Hurricane Katrina and the financial crisis were direct punishments from God for the invasion of Iraq? I am not directly drawing that conclusion. But I am asking you to seriously consider whether these may be spiritual connections — especially given the closeness in time and the moral weight of the decisions involved.
At the same time, I also call upon Iraqis and people from other nations to consider the earlier reasons I shared regarding their leaders’ actions and why God may have allowed certain invasions or judgments to unfold.
How sin records in the soul and creates sorrow
Now I want to share a deeper spiritual principle.
Whenever we sin against God, against our fellow human beings, or even against animals who have cooperated with men, that action becomes recorded in the soul. The soul is not a blank space; it carries the imprint of our deeds. With sin, this imprint often shows up as sorrow, heaviness, or unrest within us.
This sorrow is not just “feeling bad.” It is a natural, built‑in consequence of wrongdoing — a kind of spiritual alarm system. It pushes us to recognize that something is off, that we have violated the order God established.
That sorrow can move us in one of two directions:
Hardness of heart, where we ignore it, justify ourselves, or double down on the wrong.
Or repentance and repair, where we seek to make things right, turn from the wrong, and act with greater mercy and justice.
In the case of Haitham, our government — and many Americans — felt some degree of sorrow and responsibility for the consequences of the invasion. Whether they recognized it spiritually or not, that sorrow contributed to a desire to at least partially repair the damage — for example, by accepting refugees like him.
Haitham, for his part, did not respond with bitterness or violent resistance. He complied with the legal processes, cooperated with authorities, and sought a new life. The government’s sorrow, combined with Haitham’s posture of compliance rather than resistance, helped pave the way for him to become a legal resident here. And with him came his Islamic faith.
This is how spiritual law works: actions leave marks on the soul, sorrow seeks repair, and sometimes that repair opens the door for the very people we once harmed to come into our midst.
Did war help spread Islam to America?
So, is Haitham correct that the rise of Islam in America is, in part, a result of U.S. attacks on Muslim‑majority countries?
From my perspective, in part, yes.
When wars displace people, those people seek refuge. When nations feel sorrow for the suffering they have contributed to, they sometimes open their doors more widely. Those who come bring their faith, their prayers, their scriptures, and their way of life with them.
The story of Haitham shows us something important:
Ideology and faith cannot simply be bombed or forced out of existence. In some cases, attempts to destroy or weaken a belief system through violence have actually helped spread it further.
What truly influences hearts is:
Respect
Kindness
Honest, open dialogue
Worship and spiritual experience shared without coercion
Consistent character and mercy
These are the means by which people are most likely to reconsider their perspectives or even change their beliefs.
A closing reflection
Haitham’s story is more than just the story of one Iraqi man. It is a mirror held up to America, to Iraq, and to all nations. It reminds us that:
*God is in control, yet He allows human choices and their consequences to unfold.
*The actions of leaders and nations can invite both blessing and sorrow.
*Our deeds are recorded in the soul and in history — and they will bear fruit, for good or for harm.
*Violence cannot uproot faith; often, it drives faith to new places and new people.
May Haitham’s journey move us to live more righteously, to act with mercy, and to think deeply before supporting any act of violence — knowing that what we do in one part of the world can return to us in another form.
Shalom. Salam. Peace be with you all.
