Nowadays, one can’t go through any newspaper or turn on a television channel without coming across an article or a talk show discussing the latest terror attack that took place somewhere.
Those attacks are usually committed by few fanatic Muslims who had come up with their own version of the Islamic holy book, the Quran and the teachings of the prophet Mohammed, to justify their horrendous acts of terror.
The latest terror acts in Europe, particularly in Paris, France and the San Bernardino, California, USA that claimed the lives of many innocent people who did nothing to merit them the horrible fate of being murdered in cold blood, geared some opportunistic politicians to suggest extreme measures such as banning all Muslims from going their countries, to avoid future attacks.
Logic gears us to believe that when we are faced with complex dilemmas or hard to overcome crisis, we tend to lose our rational train of thoughts and become impulsive in taking regrettable and irreversible decisions that may harm innocent people. Following that path will make us similar or worse than those who pushed us toward it by their acts of terror.
As a result, we may ignore the fundamental human rights and the decency of being human to engage in trivial arguments in an attempt to put the blame on someone or some group or another.
Are Muslims partially responsible for the spread of terror? As a Muslim, my response to the previous question is affirmative. They tend to condemn the attacks and that is usually the extent of their actions.
Let us be honest, Muslims must come to the inevitable conclusion that Islam is in urgent need of a counter revolution to alter the perceptions of foreigners regarding its teachings and principles.
I do believe ignorance of the right teaching and principles of Islam may be responsible of the acts of retaliations against Muslims that are becoming more common in the USA and Europe. To combat the unfamiliarity with Islam, Muslims need more than just issuing statements of condemnation.
Muslims possess the financial means to go public with conferences, lectures, television commercials, newspapers advertisements, foreign groups’ visits to Islamic monuments and places of worships, to familiarize the Western societies with the peaceful and tolerance nature of Islam.
Foreigners, motivated by their receptiveness and willingness to accept the negative impressions and views pertinent to the violent nature of the attacks that are committed in the name of Islam, seem to acquire the destructive attitude of intolerance toward all Muslims who had done nothing except inheriting the Muslim names and traditions of their parents.
All Muslim nations should implement programs in their schools to teach the right principles of Islam to prevent their youth from being susceptible to being recruited by extremists and terrorist organizations.
Muslim individuals everywhere should be alert and report any suspicious activity that may take place in their neighborhood or mosque. Otherwise, we all will remain the targets of retaliations from few misinformed citizens of our host countries, for the horrendous actions of few of us who defy the teaching of our religion, which advise us to coexist in peace with others and be tolerant toward other religious beliefs.
Is it possible for the believers of various religions to coexist? I hope so because the current predicament can’t go on without turning our wonderful planet into a battle field of hatred, intolerance and resentment.
Holding an honorary professorship from China, Sava Hassan is a Canadian author, poet and educator. He had published three books and wrote numerous articles in various topics in Canada, USA and China. For a year, he was writing an advice column for a major English magazine in China. Sava, occasionally, writes articles for several Chinese English Newspapers. He won several writing awards including four from China.