In the Name of Allah - the Beneficent, the Merciful...the Best Knower:
On Monday, April 15, 2013, it was reported in the news that two explosions devastated persons and property near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, leaving at least two dead, and several more injured, according to various reports.
Being a Muslim, myself, when I first heard the news - before there was any open speculation in the media about WHO may have done such a thing, and WHY - I must admit I became somewhat anxious, being keenly aware of the growing "Anti-Islam" sentiment in the United States of America. Aside from the natural concern for the victims and their families, I couldn't help but wonder "who will get the blame for this one."
Not long after I reluctantly acknowledged my own cynicism, it turned out that my anxiety was justified.
Report after report began to suggest that this was an act of "terror", which we all know, in America, is all but completely synonymous with "Islam", "Radical Islam", "Islamic Fundamentalism", "Islamism", etc. I wasn't terribly upset by these "rushes" to judgement, since I - along with countless other Muslims in America and around the world, no doubt - have been exposed to this kind of paranoid sensationalism too many times in the past to recall. I didn't like it...but it was nothing new, unfortunately.
Naturally, I wanted to follow the news reports to get an idea, not just of the impact of this terrible incident on the immediate victims and on that area, but also an idea of just "what direction" this coverage would take. Unfortunately, my expectations were not disappointed...but, again, it wasn't the first time.
Then, it happened. Something caught my attention that I never thought I would see in a situation so sensitive and potentially volatile. It was being put out on the internet that a certain FOX NEWS correspondent shared via his Twitter account that "Muslims are evil. Let's kill them all."
"Muslims are evil. Let's kill them all."
"Let's...kill...them all."
This was a first...for me anyway. Then, to add insult to injury, it was put out that the "Correspondnent" who allegedly made such irresponsible and "evil" remarks...is a BLACK MAN. The implications of this scenario soon began to make my head spin. Here is a Black Man in America (if the account is true), the descendant of Slaves and a by-product of the worst and most heinous treatment (slavery) ever meted out against another people in the annals of history, which has left Our people totally DEVOID of any knowledge of our True Identity, History and Destiny; and yet he ALIGNS himself with the very Architects of the Demise of his/our People, and never ONCE voiced any such sentiment as "Let's kill them all" in regards to the slavemasters and their children.
Yet, in the wake of a terrible incident, without a grasp or knowledge of all the relevant facts of the incident, he felt it appropriate to call for the MURDER of "ALL MUSLIMS". (And even if it was someone else POSING as this man, making such an incendiary remark, why do we not hear his voice CONDEMNING it?)
You don't have to be a "Muslim" to find such a statement reprehensible. Any person of sincerely Good Will towards his or her fellow man would be deeply insulted and hurt by such a vile expression...PARTICULARLY over the AIRWAVES where it was carried throughout the world.
"Muslims are evil. Let's kill them all."
In 2011, the global Muslim population was estimated to be around
2.2 Billion. That's approximately 2 Billlion, 200 Million...HUMAN
BEINGS - men, women, children; Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas, the
Middle East. Again, that is 2,200,000,000 HUMAN BEINGS - more than the
population of the United States - who Believe in Allah (God), His
Prophets (among them Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, and others),
His Revealed Word (specifically the Holy Qur'an), His Angels, the
Resurrection, and the Judgement. 2 BILLION, 200 MILLION HUMAN BEINGS
who, as MUSLIMS, BELIEVE in the Principles of PRAYER, CHARITY (in its
broadest sense), FASTING, HAJJ (Pilgrimage to the Holy City, Mecca), and
JIHAD (struggle against the inclination to sin); and who Believe and
Follow the injunction given by Allah in the Holy Qur'an to "be not aggressive, for surely Allah loves not the aggressor".
2.2 BILLION HUMAN BEINGS...who Believe in the sanctity
of MARRIAGE, the value of FAMILY, and the promotion of Good Will in the
Society.
"...Let's (let us)...kill...them all..."
To put things in perspective, consider this:
Count/Add
up ALL those "Muslims" deemed to be a "threat" to America, whether by
deeds COMMITTED, or by deeds THREATENED, add them up. WHAT PERCENTAGE
of the 2 BILLION, 200 MILLION would this "radical" element amount to?
Are there those who CALL themselves "Muslim" and yet do
EVIL in the NAME of Islam? Certainly...just as there are those who do
the same in the name of JESUS, or in the name of LIBERTY and DEMOCRACY.
Should WHOLE POPULATIONS be sentenced to DEATH for the alleged misdeeds
of a comparatively MINISCULE minority? Is that a SANE course of
action? Is that a RIGHTEOUS attitude? Or, is it EVIL?
Should we - Human Beings who have accepted Islam as our
way of Life - Our wives, our Children and our Believing Community be
"killed" (2.2 BILLION of us) simply because of the misdeeds of a
comparatively miniscule minority? We seek only Peace, Freedom, Justice
and Equality under the Banner of Islam. We assert our God-Given Right to
DEFEND ourselves if we are ATTACKED, but we do not SEEK to destroy the
Peace and Lives of any. We desire only to be allowed to Live the Faith
that we have accepted, to serve the God of Creation in Peace...and for
this, we should be "killed"?
For a Black Man in America, one of the children of the
slaves, to harbor such vile hatred and impudence toward a whole segment
(nearly 33%) of the Human Family is an affront not only to the decency
of his people whose suffering has made them ACUTELY sensitive to the
pain of others, but to the very sensibilities of Humanity.
"Muslims are evil. Let's kill them all."
No, Mr. Rush. Muslims are not evil; and the heart and mind which conceived such utterance is certainly not Righteous.
Perhaps God will have mercy on you. It could be of
great benefit to you to tune in, listen to, and deeply reflect upon the
Words of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan in His Weekly Series,
The Time and What Must be Done. (http://www.noi.org/TheTime)
Respectfully,
A Muslim.