Source: Pakistan Observer
Sadia Khan
Islamabad
Since the attack on world trade centre, Islamophobia has taken height in the West which forces it to clinch away from the Muslims. Religious terrorism is not new to the world however it became prominent with the emergence of extremist groups during US-Iraq war. The emergence of groups such as ISIS, Al-Qaida, ISIL and many more further deeply rooted Islamophobia in the western society. The world today faces serious threat from the terrorists who openly declare their affiliation to extremist groups and use misinterpreted religion as justification for their acts of violence. “Terrorism has no religion” is a cliché which has been long forgotten by the world and particularly by the West. The Muslims living in West are treated with suspicion. They often find themselves insecure due to the biased opinion of the Western society towards them. The world must understand that a community, religion or nation must not be labelled for the acts of violence or terrorism by individuals. Oklahoma bombing by Timothy McVeigh did not label Christians as terrorists, Mass killings of Muslims in Burma did not bring a label of killers on Buddhists, atrocities committed by Indian Army in Kashmir do not label Hindus as killers Similarly Paris or Brussels attack should not label Muslims as terrorists. The world must not be manipulated by the terrorists who hide under the cloak of religion. Religions deliver the message of peace and Islam is a religion of tolerance. Labelling Muslims and their countries as terrorist would promote disharmony and insecurity which can become deleterious for peaceful societies.
Categories: Religion, Terrorism, The Muslim Times
@ Sadia Khan , there is some confusion .Since I am a Muslim and I know Muslim ideology and I am convinced that Muslim ideology opens the door for violence . When the Quranic teaching ” there is no compulsion in the matter of faith ” has been irrelevant after the permission of jehad , does it no open the door to use force ? This ideology says that if any Muslim leaves Islam , he is a murteed and he will be killed , then how can one say that this is the path of peace ? This ideology says that if anyone differs the majority in the understanding of the holy Quran , he is kafir and will be punished under the blasphemy rule . This ideology is waiting for a person who will make kafir- free world and for this he will use sword . There are many things which motivates enthusiastic Muslim youth to choose the path of violence . Sadia khan and many more are presenting that Islam which is of ahmadies but they are considered non- Muslim . Sadia khan should know that Islam which is the ideology of the majority of Muslims . When their Hazrat Issa kill the kafirs ( he will give give only two options to the kafirs , either embrace Islam or will be killed ) . In the presence of this how can one say that murder of the innocents is against the teaching . When Hazrat Issa would have the license to kill those who don’t accept Islam , how can those who are doing heinous and barbaric crime ( murdering the innocents ) be blamed ? If murder of the innocents is a crime , how can Hazrat Issa commit this crime ? If it is not a crime , should baghdadi or others be criticized ? If Sadia khan is sincere and seems sincere , she must reject the popular Muslim ideology , this is the only way to save zealous Muslim youths who are being motivated to become suicide bomber .
The West has never been at ease with Islam since the Crusades. It is unfortunate that huge oil supplies lie under the Arabian Deserts. It is the West that stirred the trouble that led to 9/11. That attack was a desperate act of by men prepared to lose their life. We need to get to grips on who is the terrorist? On 24 November 1963, Lyndon Johnson said, “the battle against communism… must be joined… with strength and determination. Some three million lives were lost in the consequential battles. The US had to pull out due to Public Opinion. Communism lived on. So who was the terrorist?
Donald Trump, in his inaugural address as President of USA, said that he would work for complete eradication of ‘radical Islamic terrorism’ from the surface of the earth.
What is Radical Islam he is referring to? Does it include ‘terrorism’, as he mischievously implies?
History is witness to an extraordinarily shining example of Radical Islam set by none other than Prophet Muhammad (peace on him) himself! For 13 long years, his own people at Makkah had relentlessly harassed the Prophet just because he declared, ‘There is no god but Allah!’ Then they – the Makkans – had sent armies to eradicate the nascent Islamic State at Medina, á la our Donald now, from the surface of the earth, but without success of course! And when the Prophet later marched triumphantly into Makkah, he pardoned all his arch enemies there!! There was no mass massacre, no raping of women on a massive scale, and no massive destruction of public properties, as routinely done by modern national armies when they conquer neighbouring territories!!!
That was the true exhibition of Radical Islam! Peace, mercy, goodwill, justice towards one and all!
But it is too much to expect Donald Trump to sincerely study what Radical Islam is! Like any Tom, Dick, and Harry, he goes by common perception. And the common perception among a large number of non-Muslims is that Islam is an evil religion!
It is true that terrorism in Britain is at the moment overwhelmingly a Muslim problem – of the 143 people in jail for terrorist offences in December 2015, 139 identified as Muslim – but it’s just as true and much more important that this figure represents less than one in 200,000 British Muslims, and the overwhelming majority have nothing to do with terrorism, and want nothing to do with it either. To study a whole religion through the lens of security policy damages both social cohesion and, in the long run, national security as well.
Every day, on average, one or more people are murdered in the UK. Many more are seriously injured. Ditto for auto collisions. If all lives are equal, everyday these awful deaths and injuries should be given equal media coverage. Is a life worth less attention because of the way they died? Tell that to the families, friends and loved ones of children killed on roads or murdered, injured, abused in other ways. So many more die each year on the roads; so many more are murdered; yet we calmly accept this as a risk worth taking, and worry little if at all about it. That should scare society far more than occasional atrocities like this.
Please tell me the difference between a bunch of Muslims killing innocent civilians, and drones sent by the West massacring entire families in Pakistan and Afghanistan. When ‘they’ kill, it’s terrorism, when ‘we’ kill, it’s necessary in order to ‘protect our way of life’. Blatant hypocrisy.
When a native Brit goes to Middle East, he is called a voluntary fighter. When a Muslim goes there he is called a terrorist. Double standard by the British society. Also lot of British Jews went to Israel to fight but on their return no action was taken against them.
I am sick reading that the world is unfair because we assume that terrorism is Muslim. Absolute and utter childish nonsense:
Please know that we are in the fight against terror, together.
IA
http://www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk