A recent tragedy struck the City of Manchester, England, in the form of a terrorist attack at a concert, killing 22 people and injuring 59.
It is sad to say that these attacks are no longer unexpected. It has been released that the attacker who carried it out was a Muslim.
But why is it that, after these attacks, we enter a period where hate crimes are more prevalent against Muslims? The ignorance we display towards Muslims is almost as shocking as these attacks. *There are over 2.7 million people identifying as Muslim residing in the UK, and over 1.5 billion in the world. Less than 2% of the terrorist attacks in Europe in the past five years have been carried out by Muslims. Yet we still label all Muslims as terrorists after an attack carried out by a few purported (extremist) Muslims.
The Oxford Dictionary definition of terrorism is “the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims”, meaning there are many occurrences we could label as terrorist attacks. Several Western governments have ordered attacks on Eastern countries such as Libya and Syria in pursuit of helping to overthrow their dictatorships – a political aim – leaving innocent people as collateral damage, so why don’t we label Western governments as terrorists? Or the young white male with 'a troubled past' who commits a school shooting? Yet we are so quick to label someone with brown skin, purporting to be a Muslim, as a terrorist.
There is no denying the fact that terrorist attacks have been committed by Muslims and they have been devastating, but they make up very few of the terrorist attacks around the world.
The media has played a huge role in portraying the image of the radicalized Muslim male, who has committed a terrorist attack as a sign of commitment to a terrorist organisation, and in defiance of Western culture.
**F. A. Noor (2007) argued that “Muslim identity and the concerns of Muslims are increasingly being defined in terms of an oppositional dialectic that pits Islam and Muslims against the rest of the world”. This has created, over the years, an “us” and “them” divide, which many then seem to turn on innocent Muslims residing in Western countries, and they are attacked as being part of the “them” group, who hold those extremist values.
Hatred, in fact, drives away love. If we cave in to the aims of these attackers, laying the blame on the Muslim community as a whole, this gives extremists more ground on which to call upon ordinary Muslims into extremism, by enabling them to say that the West does not care about them, and calling them to take defence.
Yet, if we show a united front, we can stand against them far stronger and greater.
Love can ease a lot of tensions. And, I’m not going all hippy-dippy and saying that love can cure everything, because we need more practical approaches to a lot of the world’s problems. But, it’s a great start to show love to one another and this can drive forward discussions and solutions.
We should intentionally show love every day. Start with something as simple as smiling at someone, saying hi to a stranger, regardless of gender, race, religion, sexuality, or any other difference. We cannot remain fearful, as this drives hatred.
1 John 4:18 – “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
(Written 25/05/17. Updated 22/06/17).
Sources:
*http://www.huffingtonpost.com/omar-alnatour/muslims-are-not-terrorist_b_8718000.html
**http://www.globalresearch.ca/islamophobia-and-the-negative-media-portrayal-of-muslims/5440451
It is sad to say that these attacks are no longer unexpected. It has been released that the attacker who carried it out was a Muslim.
But why is it that, after these attacks, we enter a period where hate crimes are more prevalent against Muslims? The ignorance we display towards Muslims is almost as shocking as these attacks. *There are over 2.7 million people identifying as Muslim residing in the UK, and over 1.5 billion in the world. Less than 2% of the terrorist attacks in Europe in the past five years have been carried out by Muslims. Yet we still label all Muslims as terrorists after an attack carried out by a few purported (extremist) Muslims.
The Oxford Dictionary definition of terrorism is “the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims”, meaning there are many occurrences we could label as terrorist attacks. Several Western governments have ordered attacks on Eastern countries such as Libya and Syria in pursuit of helping to overthrow their dictatorships – a political aim – leaving innocent people as collateral damage, so why don’t we label Western governments as terrorists? Or the young white male with 'a troubled past' who commits a school shooting? Yet we are so quick to label someone with brown skin, purporting to be a Muslim, as a terrorist.
There is no denying the fact that terrorist attacks have been committed by Muslims and they have been devastating, but they make up very few of the terrorist attacks around the world.
The media has played a huge role in portraying the image of the radicalized Muslim male, who has committed a terrorist attack as a sign of commitment to a terrorist organisation, and in defiance of Western culture.
**F. A. Noor (2007) argued that “Muslim identity and the concerns of Muslims are increasingly being defined in terms of an oppositional dialectic that pits Islam and Muslims against the rest of the world”. This has created, over the years, an “us” and “them” divide, which many then seem to turn on innocent Muslims residing in Western countries, and they are attacked as being part of the “them” group, who hold those extremist values.
Hatred, in fact, drives away love. If we cave in to the aims of these attackers, laying the blame on the Muslim community as a whole, this gives extremists more ground on which to call upon ordinary Muslims into extremism, by enabling them to say that the West does not care about them, and calling them to take defence.
Yet, if we show a united front, we can stand against them far stronger and greater.
Love can ease a lot of tensions. And, I’m not going all hippy-dippy and saying that love can cure everything, because we need more practical approaches to a lot of the world’s problems. But, it’s a great start to show love to one another and this can drive forward discussions and solutions.
We should intentionally show love every day. Start with something as simple as smiling at someone, saying hi to a stranger, regardless of gender, race, religion, sexuality, or any other difference. We cannot remain fearful, as this drives hatred.
1 John 4:18 – “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
(Written 25/05/17. Updated 22/06/17).
Sources:
*http://www.huffingtonpost.com/omar-alnatour/muslims-are-not-terrorist_b_8718000.html
**http://www.globalresearch.ca/islamophobia-and-the-negative-media-portrayal-of-muslims/5440451
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