In light of the devastating events of Peshawar and Sydney last week and Quetta this week, many supporters of Islamophobia are standing up and voicing their opinions about these “Muslim terrorists”.
It’s funny how critics say that Islam is an outdated religion, that the events of Karbala fought by Imam Husaain (AS) and an army of 72 soldiers, where the purest and most innocent members of the Prophet’s lineage were being brutally killed, including a 6 month baby who was killed using a 3 pronged arrow meant for killing camels..
[pullquote]Have we really moved on from that time of jahiliyat?[/pullquote]So 1400 years later, when Yazid’s army in the shape of Taliban target an army school in Peshawar and indiscriminately and I humanely kill 141 children and inhumanely burn teachers in front of their very eyes because they are associated with the Pakistani army who have a different mission to that of their own…We must ask ourselves one vital question. Have we really moved on from that time of jahiliyat (ignorance)? Are we living in The Year of The Elephant? Are we living in The Year of The Elephant where a tyrant drove hundreds of elephants to destroy the Holy Kaaba or have we moved on from that ignorance to a civilised society? In a world of Malala’s fighting for education, is 2014 really that different? But moreover, is there any humanity left in the world?!It is very easy to say Islam is the problem here, however the fact of the matter is that groups such as Taliban and ISIS have no connection with Islam whatsoever. Islam teaches of a peaceful religion, a religion that never in its 1400 years of existence has preached anything but love and peace. The first Muslim, Prophet Muhammad was the epitome of what Islam is, his character was what brought thousands of idle worshipper a to turn to a mosque and follow the religion of Islam. He gave women their rights, taught men to respect them, taught the people a sense of right and wrong at a time of ignorance, whilst showing compassion and love to his own family, showing respect to women by standing up when his daughter Fatima would enter the room; The perfect example of not only a Muslim but as perfect as a human being would ever be.
So when you have the beautiful example of such a Prophet who’s light has illuminated the universe for 1400 years, how can a group of people call themselves Muslims whilst raping and killing women if they refuse to marry, killing children to prove a point, etc. this is NOT Islam! This is NOT jihad…
Despite the barbaric times we are living in, and the atrocities we have seen over the last few days, it is important to understand that we wouldn’t be any more illiterate than those holding a gun if we branded all Muslims under the same banner.
It is important to remember that “He is the best of judges” (The Holy Qur’an, 12:80) and sooner or later He will give us justice in this world or the hereafter.
Humanity is not dead yet….We find that there is always hope in every situation
I see hope in my mother’s eyes, I see hope in the love my parents have for each other even after all these years, I see hope in the miracle of birth, I see hope in the compassion a stranger has for a homeless person, I have hope when I see a baby smile when he sees his mother for the first time, but most of all I have hope that we will all stand together as a community, regardless of sects or religions or race and combat such barbaric events with our love for what is left in this world…
– Written by Fizzah Sayed
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