Muslims' Condemnation Is Vital, But Not Enough

Those responsible for the recent terrorist attacks in London presume support amongst Europe's Muslims. In this commentary, Aiman Mazyek calls for Muslims to actively distance themselves from terror.

"Celebrate, community of Muslims!" These words are from a note claiming responsibility which circulated on the Internet shortly after the attacks, probably attributable to the persons responsible.

This message, directed at Muslims, could not have been more vile and reprehensible, as it embodies exactly the opposite of that which the majority of Muslims feels, especially in these hours and days.

People everywhere are frightened. Muslims even a bit more than others. That's because they often find that the anger and frustration many others feel is now aimed at them.

This means that, in addition to having been victimized themselves on the underground and on the busses and streets of London, they now must once again live with the feeling of generalized suspicion.

A group of criminals operating worldwide, which pursues its shameful goals by abusing one of the world's great religions, now believes it can turn us Muslims into accomplices. We can not allow this to happen!

And still, we are bound to become the hostages and prisoners of this group if we do not stand up against it in a more vigilant manner than has been the case until now. We must oppose this hateful message and act with every means at our disposal.

The current situation demands more of us Muslims than merely to express our dismay and condemnation. The most important Islamic organizations in Europe, as well as representatives of the Islamic nations, did just that in clear and direct fashion. That's how it should be. But this is not enough in itself.

Calls for more intense debate within the Islamic community

We now need prayers for peace, quiet demonstrations, rallies, "a chain of light" demonstrations and clear messages in Friday sermons.

Furthermore, we need more intense debate within the Islamic community about extremism and how some are being seduced by this ideology and the sectarians and charlatans behind it. More than ever before, we have to play a part in helping to rid ourselves of the breeding ground for this nihilistic, self-destructive energy that some Muslims have fallen prey to.

We must come to realize that if we do not clearly distance ourselves from this "Fitna" (literally meaning "affliction," the word means "heretical belief" in this context) and fight it with every legal means, our lack of action can be falsely interpreted as solidarity.

This heretical belief, which aims to initiate change through totalitarian activities and by perverting the fundamentals of its own religion, currently has a great effect on the image of Islam, even though the overwhelming majority of the world's Muslims do not identify with it in any way.

Beware of false interpretations of Islamic Brotherhood

For this reason, there is absolutely no room for any direct or indirect connection with this ideological residue. We cannot, out of a false feeling of Islamic brotherhood, offer them any room in courtyards, clubs or anywhere else they might turn up. This is a lesson especially for Muslims at the current time.

Today, the courageous Muslim is one who finally calls this "Fitna" by name and takes the following, clear position in debate within the Islamic community:

Terrorism and suicide attacks have no basis in the Koran and played no part in the life of the prophet, and injustice cannot be paid back with injustice. The response to Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo cannot and must not be the slaughter of innocent civilians.

Each further terrorist attack harms the relationship between the Muslim minority and the rest of society. The perpetrators have also taken this into consideration. Because they possess neither the power nor the strength to campaign against "their" enemy, they want to drag Muslims into the whirl of events.

The worst thing that could happen to them is for a policy of trust and acknowledgement to develop.

We need measures that increase trust – for example, mosque visits by politicians. These are, after all, quite common in Spain and England. It is much more effective and clever to encourage and support politicians in taking action against extremist tendencies, not least of all because in the course of this dialogue, the opportunity arises to help those who may be undecided to take the right side.

Muslims expect an objective view

Media and politics should no longer open the door to speculation, conjecture, or any form of suspicion. Especially questions like the following: Isn't Islam at least indirectly related to these assassins? When Mladic and Karadzic received the blessing of the Orthodox Church before murdering the Muslims of Srebrenica, it had nothing at all to do with Christianity. In turn, Muslims expect the same kind of clear and objective view of events.

There are not two categories of terrorist: Islamic terrorists on the one hand and IRA or PKK terrorists on the other. Tightened security policy cannot be permitted to ultimately victimize innocent people (as often occurs, as in the case of pigeonhole manhunts and mosque searches). After all, you don't kill one snake in the grass by burning down an entire prairie. This would literally be a "scorched earth" policy.

Aiman Mazyek

Translation from German: Mark Rossman

Aiman A. Mazyek is editor-in-chief of Islam.de, deputy director of the Green Helmets and former press spokesman for the Central Council of Muslims in Germany.

Qantara.de

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