Peace to you
Every religion has its bad apples. It is not right to blame its members at large for the actions of few. To be fair in these issues, we need to take a look at what the religion says about them. In Islam, the Quran states that “if any one slew a person it would be as if he slew the whole people. And if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people.” Islam is a religion of peace and submission to the will of God. There is no such thing as a peaceful terrorist. Therefore, these terrorist actions are not within the fold of the teachings of Islam.
May God guide us all on the right path.
You are correct that it is indeed bad to blame and entire religion for the actions of the few. However, let me try to break down for you what many in the West see that gives them such concern about Islam.
First lets start with the obvious things that anyone would be concerned about. Terrorist attacks, beheadings of civilians, Imam’s declaring rape a woman’s fault and now a boy being trained to execute innocent people. We’ve seen the enslavement of Christians and animist in Sudan. We’ve seen the persecution of Coptics in Somalia. Anyone in the West will be horrified by these things. Assumably you as a peaceful and enlightened person are bothered by these events as well correct?
Now all of the terrible things mentioned above do not in and of themselves mean that Islam is dangerous. We’ll come back to that but lets move on now.
We’ve seen riots over a cartoon with Muhammed, We’ve seen palestinians celebrating when 9/11 occured. We’ve seen riots in Pakistan when the government went against the religious leaders and tried to give women the right to accuse rapists without 3 male witnesses. What does this tell us? It tells us that muslims seem to have the courage to stand up and be heard when they feel that they have been abused or that their religion has been insulted. Would you agree that this is a reasonable assertion?
Now you yourself (and many other muslims) have declared the Islam is a religion of peace and that Muslims as a whole should not be held accountable for actions of a few knuckle heads. I’ll go on record as stating that you make a reasonable argument.
Here is the rub though. If something as trivial as a cartoon is seen as insulting enough to Islam that riots break in several nations. Then why don’t riots break out when people insult Islam by commiting murder, encouraging rape and pediphilia and destruction of property in Allah’s name? Is not murder in the name of Islam a greater insult than a cartoon? Is not an endorsement of rape in Islam’s name worse than some quote by a dead Greek (which was taken out context anyway)?
This is what Westerners don’t get. We know Muslims are vocal when they feel slighted (that’s understandable). Yet when they’re vocal about a newspaper comic but silent on murder we tend to think there is a reason.
It isn’t the type of reaction that is important it is a consistancy of reaction. The form of the outrage is really not what anyone is concerned about it is the outrage, sadness or embarassment itself of someone misrepresenting tarnishing your religion. Does this help you see the the West’s perspective on all of this?
