War on terrorism… or is it Islam?

Since Tuesday 11th September the blame for the Terrorist attacks in America has been placed on Islam and the Muslims. Muslims have been accused of being terrorist, violent and fanatics. Islam has been ortrayed as a religion that supports and promotes terrorism. As a esult Muslim individuals, Mosques and Islamic centres have been attacked, abused and humiliated throughout the World. So, have America and its allies, the media and the ordinary folk of the western world declared a war against terrorism or is it against the Muslims of the world and the faith of 1.2 billion followers worldwide?

One should ponder seriously over the following crucial points:

Firstly, the world's worst terrorist attack has been equally condemned by all walks of life, religions and nations from east to west. More significantly the whole Islamic world has condemned these attacks classifying it as a totally barbaric and in-humane attack on innocent people. It is worth mentioning that hundreds of those who died were Muslims. Such terrorism is totally forbidden by the Islamic faith. Perpetrators of this attack have nothing to do with Islam and the Muslims; rather they are enemies of Muslims.

Secondly, even in war, according to Islam a Muslim is still not allowed to harm or kill traders, merchants, and contractors if they do not take part in actual fighting. It is totally against Islam for a Muslim to kill non-combatants, women, minors, servants, the blind, monks, elderly, those physically incapable of fighting and the insane or delirious. Combatants are only those who are physically capable of fighting. Even prisoners of war are given protection and cannot be harmed. Now you tell me, are these the rules, laws and etiquettes of terrorists and fanatics?

We should not let our anger cloud our judgement and get the better of our reasoning. Even if the perpetrators of these heinous acts are proven to be Muslims it does not give us the right to hold the 1.2 Billion Muslims responsible. The ordinary Muslim in the UK and the rest of the world condemns the attacks and should not have to pay for the criminal acts of a few extremists.

Thirdly, we should all bare one crucial point in mind: the perpetrator of the Oklahoma City bombing was an American Christian, this does not mean all Americans and Christians are barbaric, inhumane and terrorists. The IRA and Loyalist terrorist organisations represent both Catholic and Protestant Christians, does that mean all Christians are terrorists? In early September 2001 a bomb was thrown by a loyalist-protestant at Catholic school children, should the world assume that protestants/Anglicans and Britons are totally barbaric and inhumane? There was no mention of war here. The followers of these religions and nations were never attacked, labelled or accused of being extremists and terrorists- so why the double standards?

The message is simple: Don't blame Islam or the Muslims- blame the terrorists.

Sajid Iqbal, Editor The Revival