Terrorism, Part 3
I'd like write a bit about another kind of response some Muslims typically give when confronted with the possibility/likelihood of Muslims carrying out anti-Western terrorist acts. While accepting that it is wrong to kill innocent people, they turn that claim around with comments like: "Well what about the innocent people that are being killed (or have been killed) or terrorised by Americans/Israelis in Palestine/Iraq/Afghanistan/other places?"
The common sentiment is that the life of a Westerner holds more value here than the lives of people in Muslim countries, as evidenced by the extensive media coverage when Westerners are victims of terrorism (whether in the Western or the Islamic world) compared to what is considered the bare minimum reporting of civilian deaths due to American or Israeli military campaigns. Not just that, there is perceived to be a double standard when only Islamist groups like Al-Qaeda or its affiliates are classified as terrorist outfits. For some, the United States (and Israeli) governments are just as much deserving of the terrorist label as the groups behind 9/11, the Madrid train bombings and now the London attacks.
And herein lies another key step that needs to be taken if the polarization, fanaticism and anti-Western anger in the Islamic world (and among Muslims elsewhere as well) is to be reversed. I have written about the central role of Islamic scholars and intellectuals, plus the promotion of human rights in Muslim countries as the other two considerations in this regard. The political problems ailing the Arab and Islamic world - the Israel-Palestine issue (number one on the list), US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Kashmiri and Chechen struggles for self-determination etc. - need to be resolved, with solutions that are perceived to be fair by the majority of Muslims.
Unless that happens, there will continue to be a distrust (to say the least) among Muslims of the intentions of Americans and other Westerners, a sentiment that, in its extreme form, will manifest itself as acts of terrorism.
3 comments:
And another category of Muslims will say stupid things like: "Well, what are we supposed to do? They kill our innocent. We have to fight fire with fire" Well, we're definitely not supposed to kill their innocent. i had one Muslim tell me that because America (and Britain, etc.) don't have morals because they kill innocent Muslims, we should forego our morals as well. What??? Are you an idiot? Anyways, the London bombings have really upset me. i don't know what to think about anything anymore.
As for our scholars, not only are they not doing what they're supposed to do, they're not even capable of it (does that make sense). One respected, seemingly moderate scholar in a khutba a few weeks ago said the biggest problem Muslim youth have is that they wear jeans and t-shirts.... they just don't get it. How are these people supposed to lead us...... they don't know what the hell is going on in their communities.
sorry...... that last post was by me. i'm new to this blogging posting thing.
I was at the T-shirt and jeans sermon at IFT Omair. I agree the imam's comment about that surprised me as well, but I don't think he said that's the biggest problem our youth have. I think he said something like when you wear a T-shirt and jeans it's like you have no worries about anything - you're free of responsibility for tomorrow, living in the present, that type of thing.
Besides that one comment, I actually thought the rest of the khutba was not bad. Let's give credit where it's due.
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