Amenakin pens her response to the aftermath of a violent attack on the streets of London.
One of many reactions in the wake of Woolwich: Kevin McDonald, former Arch-Bishop of Southwark, and Imam Ali Omar, Imam for the British armed forces, lay a floral tribute outside Woolwich Barracks following the murder of Lee Rigby. AFP Photo / Carl Court
A recent, horrific incident in Woolwich saw the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby, who was killed on the street in broad daylight. That day, I decided to address the event on my Facebook page. It was a simple message, reinforcing that Islam does not condone murder, and that our thoughts go out to the victim’s family. I, like most of the people who had seen the images in the media, was shocked and upset by the tragedy, not only because of the gruesome nature of the assault, but also by it having been wrongly associated with Islam.
Following the incident there was, unsurprisingly, a spectrum of reactions all over the Internet. Some people argued that media coverage unfairly outweighed the attention given to Palestinians who face horrors of the same degree (and often worse). Others weighed up how this event was given considerably more coverage than the racially motivated murder of 75-year-old Mohammed Saleem, who was stabbed to death as he returned home from his mosque just weeks prior to the murder of Lee Rigby. Let’s not ignore the emergence of more Islamophobic rants, with people demanding that the Muslims ‘go home’, or, rather chillingly, be given the same treatment as that experienced by Lee in his final few moments.
You would think that, of all things, the Islamophobic rants would have me angered or emotional. But they didn’t.
I’m of the belief that you can’t beat hate with more hate.
For those who assert that we can only beat prejudice with hateful rants on Facebook, Twitter or even in khutbas, I would reply that this is a futile effort, simply because you can’t eradicate ignorance from the world.
Ignorant attitudes will always exist to some degree and, whilst they are worse in certain parts of the world compared to others, they will always thrive because education, knowledge and love of others are not prioritised in mainstream culture.
Let’s not forget that ignorance is often imperceptible to the one possessing it. This is hardly surprising. Every single person on this planet is ignorant about something, because none of us ‘know it all’. Some people have no knowledge about the rules of football. Others don’t understand how politics works or how to work a computer. And others happen not to know much about the true Islam – the one practised by 99 percent of Muslims in this world – because they have been inundated with negative messages sent by the media about this religion.
It always makes me shake my head when I read ‘Islamic terrorist’ in a newspaper article or in the news headlines. Terrorism is not a part of Islam and therefore the use of these terms together makes the concept not only paradoxical but also, quite clearly, a deliberate and obvious attempt to associate Islam with violence. Ironically, the term ‘Islam’ is actually derived from the Arabic word ‘salaam’, which means ‘peace’ – I bet you’d never see that explanation on the BBC news!
That being said, the media does not hold full responsibility for the negative perception of Muslims, for this would exonerate Muslims who do commit violent acts. The question is: what does the actual religion, particularly when manipulated by people with ill intent, have to do with all of this? People aren’t perfect and belonging to any faith does not guarantee that one won’t go through mental and emotional problems. Islam is perfect. Its adherents, however, are not, and neither is any other human being belonging to any faith (if any) in this world.
My reflections over the events of the past few weeks have led me to realise that it’s okay to talk about these things. I’m not apologising for them; as Muslims, we need to be able to differentiate between different approaches that Muslims are taking to the incorrect portrayal of their religion, not only by the media, but also by those who commit heinous acts under the name of Islam.
Because we do need to accept that there are people who call themselves Muslims and do horrific things, warping the teachings of a beautiful religion to justify their actions. They might be disenfranchised, disconnected, disillusioned – we could discuss the possible underlying causes all day – however the fact remains that they label themselves with the same religion as people like me and most of the law abiding Muslims out there.
Therefore, like it or not, people with no knowledge of Islam (many times through no fault of their own) will associate us with terrorists. It’s unfair, yes, but it’s the way of the world. Ignoring it or refusing to comment upon incidents like Woolwich under the statement of ‘I’m not being apologetic’ causes us to miss a unique opportunity to educate people who don’t know any better about Islam. It’s da’wah. Forming calm, logical responses to hateful and ill-informed accusations against Muslims is such a powerful source of upholding the dignified and loving manner adopted by our beloved Prophet Muhammad (may God’s endless peace and blessings be upon him). Imagine a unified and patient ummah, carefully correcting misconceptions, always keeping our cool. Not only would this be good for the ummah as a whole, but also for us as individuals.
Because we can’t improve the situation until we improve ourselves first.
We need to be an ummah of calmness in these rough times. We need to show rida (contentment with the Divine Will) so that we don’t become resentful, constantly grumbling amongst ourselves and harbouring anger. Besides, ultimately, who are we angry against? Until we truly actualise ‘la illaaha illAllah’ – that there is no God but Allah – we will not be able to deal with the current situation because we will be too charged up and restless to realise that not even a leaf can move in this world without His Will.
May Allah – Great and Glorious is He! – give us the tawfeeq to behave in a manner befitting to the ummah of His beloved Prophet, salalaahu ‘alaihi wa-sallam.
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