Iâve been Thinking after I read a post this morning and I know Iâm gonna get hate. All I can ask is that you read the whole thing before sending me an anon to kms.
If youâre not Muslim or you have not been brought up with Islam, try to refrain from saying things like, âThose terrorists werenât Muslims! They did what they did for No Reason Other Than They Just Wanted People to Die.â Youâre actually hurting the nuances and finer parts of the Muslim community and conversation by separating terrorists from their personal ideas of faith. There are other ways you can support Muslims and oppose Islamophobia.
Yes, the Muslim community is largely a peaceful one and most Muslims are kind peopleâjust like any other large religious community. I love my religion and most Muslims do tooâyet I know religion is something that should be enjoyed responsibly and with the utmost care.
Homophobia, for example, doesnât come out of thin air in the Muslim community; it starts with an Imaam or Sheikh and a khutbaa about sodomy and Lut. Misogyny doesnât come out of nowhere; scholars who think hijab (the scarf itself, not the concept of hijab per se) is mandatory and try to enforce it on everyone and believe wives should be mum about their husbandsâ actions towards them are the roots of this. Child abuse is rarely addressed because the idea that parents are always rightâwhich isnât true to begin withâhas gone too far and been pulled way too much out of proportion. Killing ex-Muslims is justified by a theocracy that stifles dispute. The genocide of Shi'a Muslims is normalized by Sunnis who believe Shi'as should be punished for disagreeing with them on matters of faith. Child marriage was seen as acceptable during the time the Qur'an was compiled but we know today that it is absolutely unacceptable and incredibly harmful to the wellbeing of children.
You are free to interpret your faith how you will, but the moment one refuses to enjoy it responsibly and ascribe to blind perception and no critical analysis of what they are taught of their religion, they become a terrorist. A terrorist grows from a Wahabbi-sponsored Qur'an translation or an Internet sheikh who believes that all kafir are enemies of Muslims. Thereâs no other way to look at it; the terrorist believes he is Muslim and he believes he is right. The terrorist comes forth with the ideas he has internalised. He is not separate from his thoughts that instigated him.
Muslims interpret Islam each in all sorts of ways but ultimately many of us know we need to promote conversation about our religion and how it is taught and practiced and how to address the parts of it that might be quite simply outdated in todayâs world. To stop seeing terrorism that is inspired by Islamâwhich as a Muslim makes me heartbrokenâthere needs to be this vital discussion.
There are already so many scholars intolerant of minorities and innocent actions who try to stifle any sort of dispute within the community and any faith-based disagreements, and we kind of donât need random people on the internet to speak over us as well and thereby accelerate our struggle. You are hurting LGBTQ Muslims, ex-Muslims, non-Sunni (namely Shi'a and Ahmadiyya) Muslims, and Muslim women.
If you want to support Muslims as a whole and combat Islamophobia without repressing intra-faith conversation, emphasise positive statistics about the Muslim community, fight off bigots harassing Muslims, speak out about the Westâs role in ravaging the Middle East and how the US govât promotes radicalization, help refugees, and most importantly, talk about how Muslims are people too and are deserving of equal treatment just like anyone else. We have more to us than just our faith anyways.
