Article: 'Using Islam as a stepping stone'
I wrote this 10 years ago on March 6th, 2006 and it got published in Financial Express. I lost the newspaper clipping and had actually forgotten I had written it. But life has a way of surprising you when you least expect it, I was searching for some material to read about and came across these familiar lines. I normally cringe at my old works but I am kinda proud of my young self for having the passion to write this piece. It was emotional, candid, and straight from my heart. I haven't written anything that's been published since then. Maybe because if I wrote it down and had them published then that would be indicative of what's in my heart. But now I know it's a crime to stop writing my thoughts even if no one else would read it but me. This came as a nice surprise to know that I am not completely hopeless after all. For those of you who haven't had the pleasure, here's my old article.
Using Islam as a stepping stone
LIFE! What exactly is that? Does anyone know the answer to that question? I honestly thought life is what you make it. But sadly it isn't that easy, I was extremely naïve to think it was. Life is not a bed of roses; it's not something you can go through with a rose-tinted glass on your eyes. Life is hard. The hardships in our lives make us the person we are, as we come to an end of our journey that is LIFE. Life is full of trials and tribulations. I don't think you will ever find anyone, and I mean you cannot find one single soul, who hasn't been through one crisis or another. It is just not this way. The Almighty does not give you life so that you can just enjoy through it. He sets up giant hurdles for us to cross, He waits, He watches. The Almighty has gifted mankind with intelligence and free will. He has endowed us with the ability to deal with our problems that life brings forth, and hopefully with these abilities we can reach at a rational and workable resolution.
Wait! Hang on there. Is that really true? Did the Almighty really give us the intellect and free will? If so then how is it that we, the oh-so-intellectual beings, stand aside and let ourselves be abused? A couple of weeks ago I heard it on the news that a Danish newspaper has published cartoons. Mind you it wasn't your everyday Garfield category cartoon; this was a very special cartoon. It showed our Prophet Hazrat Mohammad (SM) with a bomb ticking away in his turban. The moment it was made public there was a lot of controversy. The Muslim world was outraged. It was absolutely atrocious; heinous crime towards Islam. The Western world has struck at the heart of our belief. We have been accused of terrorism. ISLAM breeds terrorists.
And what do we, the oh-so-intellectual servants of the Almighty, do. We do exactly what they accused us of. We go and burn buildings, threaten to kill people, threaten to continue to wreak havoc unless an apology is given. I am just curious, did we have to prove to the Western world that we are what they say we are, TERRORISTS. Last August, our peace was shattered when some three hundred odd numbers of bomb went off simultaneously all over Bangladesh. What is this great evil that is stealing into the world? From what seed, what root did it spring? Who's doing this? Who's killing us? Robbing us of light and life; mocking us with the vision of what we might have known if only we could fight this evil. Last year's attack was the great deed of a lunatic organization which calls itself JMB. The aim in life of the members of this organization is to kill innocent people, but don't forget they, of course, have an agenda, Islam. The Al-Qaida has also targeted many foreign countries in their so-called crusade against justice, also in the name of Islam. What is that I can't figure out? Did these so-called crusaders, who have our best interest at heart by killing us, wake up one morning and said to them: "Today we use Islam to achieve our agenda". I think that pretty much sums it up. Everywhere I look, every wrong doing in the world today is being blamed on way or the other on Islam.
Islam does not ask its believers to go and murder innocent people. If so then please tell me where it is written. Tell me when the Almighty sent us the message that we can take life to establish our agenda -- our agenda being Islam. I ask you this. If you have read the Holy Quran, did you find in it any message for us to go on a killing spree? Because no self-respecting Muslim would every blatantly abuse his own religion in the name of justice, like the JMB and Al-Qaida have done. Nonetheless that is exactly what these crusaders are doing. They are giving the Western world an image of something that has been totally fabricated, that which is not true. Islam does not breed terrorists. Islam is not to blame for these insane crusades in its name. The people who are doing these heinous crimes are to blame. They are leading the world astray.
They are using Islam to fight for their own agenda which does not have anything whatsoever to do with Muslim belief. These people cannot even begin to understand basic humanity. How do you expect them to understand Islam. They don't have a conscience yet they are fighting in the name of the Almighty. Coming back to the insulting cartoons, I am in complete agreement with everyone that an apology should be made. I also agree that it was an insult, not just to us, but to our belief.
The newspaper should have showed some decency rather than showing indiscretion. Religion has always been a touchy subject. It shouldn't be ridiculed in any way by anyone. No one has the right to make you feel any less because of your religion. Everyone has his or her own beliefs. It is who we are, and we have as much right as the next person to be respected for our beliefs.
The newspaper acted tactlessly and we acted violently. We actually played into their hands. We gave them more ammunition to ridicule us even more, heck we presented it to them in a silver platter. Why do we forget the age old saying you catch more flies with honey rather than vinegar. In the past few years hasn't there been enough killing? Are we so compassionless that we cannot sit and discuss like normal, civilized people? Do we really have to be the monster that does not exist? We are all intelligent human beings; the Almighty has given us brain. Isn't it time we used it? Yes, they did hit us where it would hurt the most. But how we forget, when a dog bites we do not bite back? Why can't we show them that we are better than that?
Emotions always run high when one's belief is called into question, it is to be expected. Here the very core of Islam was wounded. We have every right to feel mad, and when we are mad, by we, I mean, human beings not Muslims, we strike out. The way we acted showed the whole world that Islam does breed terrorism. That in itself should be an eye opener for us. They did the wrong here, not us. However, our thoughtless action had the exact opposite effect. Instead of establishing to the world that we are in fact not terrorists, we just proved we are. Our lack of judgment just ruined any credibility that might in reality show that Muslims are peace loving people. I believe it also greatly disappointed the Almighty, because He does work in mysterious ways.
As I had mentioned earlier, life is full of ups and downs, He tests us to see how we can handle ourselves in times of difficulty. Sadly in this trial we failed miserably. But I have faith, I believe we learned something from this ordeal; the end does NOT justify the means. If there is to be a crusade, then let it be for peace, not mayhem.
We have no right to wound a soul by our actions or behavior. If we do act prejudicial to one's religion or one's color then we become racists. I'm not sure I've been able to convey my thoughts accurately, I don't even know if this will in fact have any impact on the world.
But I gave it my best shot and I would like to conclude with a quote. "We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies though passion may have strained. We must not break our bonds of affection; the mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched as surely they will be by the better angels of our nature."
