Even after all this there are some who choose to ignore historical facts and reality for that matter, and blatantly point fingers at America as the main catalyst behind Islamic borne terrorism. Noam Chomosky has penned a few articles describing and then analysing American imperialism, and is well recognized in Bangladesh and other Muslim dominated countries. On one instance he offers, “America itself is a terrorist infested country.
That is exactly why an attack the scale of 9/11 managed to land on their shores”. News host for CNN and editor for News Week International Mr Fareed Zakaria published a book in 2007 titled ‘Bhabishyoter Shadhinota’. There he goes on to state, “Should we strive to find the main reason behind Islamic terrorism, it would be the failure of American policies in the Middle-East”. Philosopher Sam Harris offered a rebuttal, “That may be, but if Muslim terrorism is an escalating problem, then the main problem lies within the fundamentals of Islam itself”.
One of the biggest problems of discussing matters related to religion, terrorism and fundamentalism is the fear of ‘stereotyping’. For if it’s seen that once a discussion about Islamic terrorism for example takes place, the believers tend to pose, “Why is that the greater Islamic community is looked down upon and branded as terrorists, due to the action of a handful of men such as Bin Laden or Mufti Hannan? Do you truly think they are true representatives of our religion?”
No, it’s true they are not.
As such, I have no qualms in stating that it is unwise to brand the entire Islamic community as a band of terrorists, and those who tend to indulge in such ‘stereotyping’ are making a big mistake. Actually I can go as far as describing this as another form of racism! Some however have come up with the clever term of ‘Islamophobia’, implying it to be a disease.
Be it a disease or be it contempt on the Western world’s behalf (the late Edward Sayd re-entitled this contempt into ‘orientalism’), after the events of 9/11 Muslims residing within the western world have been subjected to all kinds of psychological and physical abuse, a fact which is undeniable. We don’t need hear about ornate ideals to recognize that not every Muslim is a ‘terrorist’. Our common sense and personal experiences should suffice in this case. I myself have befriended many Muslims.
None of them are terrorists. None of them are Bin Ladens or Mufti Hannans. They tend to me whenever I am going through difficult times, we get together and spend time, we eat and drink together sometimes, and at times they ask me which way is east, so that they may engage in Namaz (prayer) even at this “Kafir’s” house. All in all they are decent human beings. For one they are not aware of the Quran’s more violent verses, nor are they interested in sifting through them. They practice something called ‘spiritual Islam’. See people like them were never the problem. They champion peace and love and believe in patience.
But the difference is these qualities have been cultivated in them from their childhoods some admittedly through Islam, but most of them through proper social grooming. There are countless examples of those who’ve never even seen the Quran nor have practiced in the ways of Islam but at the same time, are not devoid of these qualities. And then there are those who refuse to accommodate an alternative solution and tend to memorize the Quran and its directives by heart. They’re the ones who want to do everything according to the Quran and want to build a world based on Islamic ideology only. And that is exactly what the problem is. If a person completely refuses to learn from the social infrastructure and just blindly bases his faith on a limited set of instruction (that being the Quran) what will happen then? Let us take a look at one of the verses in Sura Al-Imran –
“Mumins (Muslims) are encouraged to only befriend other Mumins. Those who befriends Kafir’s or non-Muslims, Allah will cease all ties with them (3:28).”
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