A baptist preacher from the US that I was having a conversation with (online) asked me this question and since the response seems relevant to many Muslims who live in the West that have to respond to similar questions I wanted to share it below. Q: Ive yet to see Islamic people protesting terrorism in the street. Cant see it whats the problem here. You should rally to protest the terroristic activity going on around the world. A: I am outside the US right now but dont mind answering your question. Since I converted 12+ years ago almost every masjid (mosque) I have attended has had some form of announcement that they are against terrorism and some go to further lengths then others to make that apparent. Sometimes it seems like pre-emptive apologizing for something you didnt do, especially since Islam or Muslims is the worlds largest demographic group of any kind so the ratio or percentage of terrorism from the few that do it is extremely low, but this is reactive to perceptions in the media. For the daily every day life of a Muslim we experience terrorism just as much as any non-Muslim, though I would personally attest to the profiling and back lash of the above mentioned perception against me and others without cause. As far as protesting against terrorism in the streets for terrorism, there actually has actually been many. In Muslim countries terrorist groups and events are hated by the people and pursued by law enforcement - similar to domestic terrorism in the US where some citizens protest certain groups, mourn certain events and the FBI along with maybe the ATF/DEA depending would respond to such groups also. Muslims are a minority in the US but a majority many other places so you will have selective reporting of what happens internationally compared to what you will know about your own country and such. I can only attest to where I stay currently, Indonesia, that all the above has happened. The people hate terrorism, have protested it in the past, mourned victims (of any and all races, religions, etc) and law enforcement actively fights militias and domestic terrorist groups - similar to the US in many ways. Much of the attitudes and opinions that are misconstrued as Muslims being less against terrorism than other groups is many times simply different political outlooks. The actions and role the US has is very polarizing through out the world where you either love or hate certain things. Therefor you find people who love America will support its causes and interpret events through that lens - those who dont like America will view the same events through a different lens. Example 1: America predator drone strikes a village killing one suspected terrorist (no trials so suspected is used), two women and a child. The pro-American will say this is collateral damage from a necessary war on terrorism, since it is viewed through a lens that America is by default doing the general greater good. Many Americans protest this even if they are some varying level of pro or anti American policy in general. Some will call this terrorism and others wont - one factor is usually that it is performed by a government. Example 2: A bomb blows up an American government building killing 10 government employees and 2 civilians. The anti-American will say America brought this on themselves and some who may have experienced something negative from America may be happy that some form of attack happened on America in general. In BOTH EXAMPLES above no one will ever say they enjoy the fact that innocents have died. Whether the American about the Yemeni and Pakistani children dying near daily/weekly OR the non-American about the deaths that happened over 12 years ago in the last terrorist attack they experienced. --- but you will have POLITICAL views on cause and effect, blame, necessity, etc. Finally, terrorism is usually defined when mass deaths happen from an individual or small group - whether Muslim or non-Muslim (though non-Muslim mass shootings are never called terrorist acts). While mass deaths from government actions are considered legal and less disputed. You will find a much greater consensus condemnation on terrorist groups (even if someone politically agrees with some of their ideas) than you will ever find of government endorsed legal terrorism such as drone strikes or Israel to Gaza and so on. So in summary Muslims have often protested and combated terrorism and to deny this is simply lack of information (ignorance) on the topic and basing an assumption on that lack of information.
Posted on: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 05:10:11 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015