True moslems must speak up
Recent events are causing the war against terror to be misconstrued as a religious war which it definitely isn’t. It’s a war between those who believe in consideration for others and those who don’t. The stigmatisation of Moslems owing to the activities of terrorists is worrisome. Terrorists have no respect for other people’s rights and […]
Recent events are causing the war against terror to be misconstrued as a religious war which it definitely isn’t. It’s a war between those who believe in consideration for others and those who don’t. The stigmatisation of Moslems owing to the activities of terrorists is worrisome. Terrorists have no respect for other people’s rights and quite perversely feel their opinions should hold sway even when the majority disagree with them. There is much to be admired in the tenets of the Islamic faith, yet scandalously Moslems in general are slowly but surely being negatively profiled as terrorists. The truth is that there are hundreds of millions of Moslems worldwide and only a handful engage in terrorist activities. Nevertheless the statement that Islam is a religion of peace and the vast majority of Moslems just want to live peacefully although true, has become a hollow mantra which neither makes victims of terror feel better, nor diminishes the menace of maniacs rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam. The reality is that these days the majority of atrocities committed against innocent peoples are perpetrated by individuals claiming to be Moslem. For example in addition Boko Haram carnages the US shoe bomber claimed to be Moslem as did the US black snipers; Nigerian underwear bomber; USS Cole bombers; Madrid train bombers; Italian nightclub bombers; London subway bombers; Moscow theatre attackers; Boston Marathon bombers; Beirut Marine barracks bombers; Russian school attackers; first World Trade Centre bombers; Bombay Hotel Mumbai India attackers; Libyan US embassy attackers; Kenyan US Embassy bombers and shopping mall killers; September 11th airplane hijackers; Sydney café kidnappers; and Pakistani school children killers. Stretching from Northern Nigeria all the way to Northern France unspeakable crimes against humanity have recently been committed by murderers claiming to be Moslem. It’s difficult to fathom what makes such people believe that killing themselves along with innocent victims (many of whom are true Moslems) serves any useful purpose. The majority of Islamic Clerics and Moslem political leaders quite rightly condemn the killing of innocent people as un-Islamic and not supported by any teachings of the Holy Koran. Regrettably their voices are not being heard and it’s fanatics who are deemed to be the voice of Islam at this moment in time. Falsely claiming to be Moslem, they are currently terrorizing almost 50 countries and slaughtering innocent people in horrific manners. Infiltrating mosque after mosque they zealously spread their readiness to commit human rights abuses and teach young people to kill and be killed. The peaceful majority of true Moslems have been side-lined and remain silent while the situation deteriorates. Tragically the sad lessons of history are in danger of being repeated. Back in the day the majority of Russians just wanted to live in peace, yet Russian communists murdered almost 20 million people. China’s huge population was also peaceful, but Chinese Communists killed a staggering 70 million people! Likewise prior to World War II Japanese citizens were not war mongers or sadists, yet Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the murder of 12 million Chinese civilians. Closer to home Rwanda and Sierra Leone both descended into unrestrained butchery and genocide, even though the majority of their people were “peace loving”. It’s been said that the lessons of history are mostly simple and blunt, yet for all our powers of reason we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points. In virtually all nations where atrocities have been committed the peaceful majority remained silent. In its 2015 Global Terrorism Index, the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) claims Nigeria is the third most terrorized country in the world after Iraq and Afghanistan. According to IEP Nigeria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria accounted for 78% of lives lost globally to terrorism in 2014, while nine of the 29 most fatal terrorist attacks in the world occurred in Nigeria. The truth is that in Nigeria as elsewhere, the peace-loving silent majority of Moslems are in danger of becoming irrelevant. They must continuously speak up and vociferously condemn those whose actions defame the name of Islam. If not it may become too late and terrorism will completely define the religion. The warning signs are already with us. Until recently non-Moslem western nations were quite willing to accommodate Moslem refugees from war torn Syria, but the increasing atrocities of terrorists has led to Islam phobia, prompting the refusal of 31 US State Governments to admit peace-loving Moslem refugees who are victims of violence not perpetrators. Innocent law abiding people will continue to suffer if the peaceful majority don’t speak up. It’s just as important for true Moslems to condemn those whose actions have caused Islam phobia as condemn those who practice it.