Events in Paris last week were beyond anybody's imagination. No expression can capture the horror unleashed by weapons of war in the civil society of France. Murdering 12 French citizens including 10 journalists on Wednesday and killing four hostages later on Friday were acts of medieval butchery. Such carnages are unprecedented in the living history of France. It was an attack by extremists on the freedom of speech and an assault on the rights of democracy. It was a tragedy not only for France but also for the whole world. Terming these extremists as just radicalised Muslims is not sufficient to measure the degree of their venomous fanaticism. They should more aptly be termed non-Muslim nuts.
Once again, Islam and Muslims are in the global spotlight and a deep division is springing up between Muslims and non-Muslims. Once again, there is a probability of a backlash against Muslims in the West.
The whole world is reacting in shock and grief over the massacres. Muslim organisations and scholars along with the people of the world are, as usual, condemning the act of terrorism. But, much more needs to be said and done. Condemnations from the Muslim world are regrettably not loud enough. Silence or tepid condemnations from Muslims on the latest terror attacks in France will be viewed as tantamount to condoning the killings.
The attack on the innocent people in France is an attack on humanity. It must be condemned more strongly by Muslims the majority of whom claims that they have nothing to do with terrorism and that the barbaric acts are works of those who believe in their own twisted version of Islam. Well, if this is the case, then why some heads of Muslim states remain cautious and do not condemn the culprits strongly? Why do some Muslim states, in spite of their military strength, remain hostage to and in some cases collaborate with the barbaric fanatics? Why don't the imams of millions of mosques shout sermons at the top of their voice condemning the acts of butchery being committed by those lunatics in the name of Islam?
Poverty, discriminations and some western misadventures in the Middle East may create fertile conditions for the spread of extremism. But there are Muslim youths born in the west and not discriminated against in their societies who also became extremists and killed innocent civilians. It is regrettable that some scholars are still trying to contextualise the attacks by bringing issues like poverty, sense of alienation, and the marginalisation from the mainstream that Muslims in the West are often faced with.
It is somewhat true that some Muslims are oppressed in places like Palestine, some youths who lost their parents or brothers by unjust invaders get radicalised and some Muslims are reasonably aggrieved when their religion is caricatured. But, their grievances should not be expressed by splattering blood of the innocent like in the medieval times. Muslims, 99.99 per cent, are not represented by the demons killing people and tarnishing their religion. The latest string of atrocities is certainly not the will of the Muslims, and neither does it reflect their mindset. And it would be equally tragic if one vilifies Islam and blames all Muslims to counter the gory acts of medievalism by a few lunatics.
The extremists must be answered head on. They must know that they can never silence freedom of speech, for it is a stronger weapon than any they would dare to carry. Why couldn't they answer peacefully through the pen as our prophet likely would have? True Islam condemns such attacks, more so when they are ignorantly and violently carried out in its name.
The ignorance of these extremists is not limited to their failure to understand the culture in the West. These fanatics are blind to the compassion and care the last prophet of Islam had taught his followers to abide by as a cardinal principle of their religion. They do not know even the basic philosophy of the last prophet of Islam for whom they have claimed to kill the journalists. The Muslim world must not let these murderers to define Islam. These murderers have insulted Islam and Prophet Muhammad a million times more than those dim-witted journalists who caricatured Islam and drew cartoons on Islamic heritage without self-censorship.
The killing in Paris has not only been an attack on France but also an assault on Islam and the very freedoms that allow today millions of Muslims to prosper in the west. Had there been no freedom of speech, Muslims would have been deemed heretics and would be unable to flourish in the West. Islam and Muslims are protected in the West because of freedom of speech, liberty of press and independence of religion. Freedom of speech is not simply a western concept. It is a worldwide craving of the human soul. Freedom of speech is a lesson of Islam.
Back in the sixth century, it was Prophet Muhammad who fought for free speech to proclaim one God as the creator of life and worthy of worship while the local pagans were his violent persecutors. Prophet Muhammad was unable to preach Islam freely in Mecca, so he had migrated to Medina. At Medina, his first job was to build a mosque. An Arab man once entered the mosque and urinated in front of the prophet with no care for the sanctity of the mosque. How did the prophet respond to this insult to Islam and himself? He cleaned the mosque, stopped Muslims from expelling the man and explained to him the inviolability of a place of worship. The life of the last prophet of Islam is full of many such lessons of compassion, kindness and care. But, many of today's fanatics, especially those Jihadists, airbrush those lessons.
We Bangladeshis, irrespective of our religions, strongly condemn the attack at the offices of Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday and the killing of hostages in France on Friday. We are deeply grieved at the loss of innocent lives. Our prayers go out to the victims of the tragedies and to their families. We stand in solidarity with the people of France. May Allah give them the strength to bear their tragic losses! It is time we all Muslims woke up and exhibited our outrage at the butcheries of the terrorists in the strongest possible term. We must not remain mute. We cannot afford to be silent spectators of the massacres in the name of Islam.
maswood@hotmail.com
Image of Islam tarnished by violent few
Maswood Alam Khan | Published: January 11, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00
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