What do you think of when I say the word Islam? Terrorists? Don’t be fooled by these people who use my religion to justify the horrible things they do. I know their ways because I have lived through them. I used to be a fighter pilot for the Iraqi Air Force, but those days are gone now. My job was demanding and dangerous, both while soaring through the air and while working on the ground. I often had to work with the Americans, which ended up costing me everything.

It was March of 2005. The threats began with Al-Qaeda. I found little envelopes with giant bullets in the mail almost everyday, telling me and my family to get out. Before long, two other groups joined in, angry at me for what you Americans did to them. With three terrorist groups targeting me and my family, my commanding officers finally gave me orders to leave the country. I was bitter and angry when leaving because they thought they had won, but I had no choice. My friends began to disappear and stories started going around of unspeakable, gruesome acts done under the cover of Islam. Some tell me I’ve abandoned my religion, but I know that people who take my religion to this extreme are NOT Muslim. They are something entirely different, but they are not Muslim.

They pushed me out of my home and forced me into Egypt, but they can’t stop me. They were constantly trying to end my life and when their little plan failed, when I walked away from everything, they expected me to stop. But they don’t know me. That’s the thing about me, I never give up. So what if the Egyptians don’t let us Iraqis work? I pay off the inspector! No one thought I could open an Iraqi restaurant in Egypt, but so what? I did it anyways. So even if you take away every option from me, I’m still gonna find a way.

I have a family to look after. My son already can’t attend university. He’s smarter than most Egyptians, but we just don’t have the money. That’s the last thing that’s going to hold me or my family back. I’m sick and tired of people telling me I’m not religious. They ask "Amr, why do you shave your head? Why do you not grow out your beard?" Well I turn the questions around on them and ask are all the people who pray happy? Are they all healthy? Are they all rich? It depends on us. Allah gives us a brain and a mind to think. He will judge me and ask me, how did I use it? Islam is a religion of peace, and nothing more than that.

We Muslims do not stand for violence and we do not stand for terrorism. I remember this one time, an extremist came up to me and told me I was becoming one of them, one of the Westerners. So I stood there and I said look, you are driving a car made by Christians, you are sitting in air conditioning made by Christians, and the medications you use came from the Westerners. If you want to be against them, go and live in a tent in the desert. So I ask you again, what do you think of when I say the word Islam?

If my life were a book the title would be "Heat."