Manufacturing Fear

If I write a column arguing that Bernard Madoff, a Jew by birth, cheated mostly Christian investors of billions of dollars, you will rightly call me crazy.

If I argue that some Jewish religious organizations that received money from Madoff were thriving on the loot, you will rightly call me insane.

If I whisper that Madoff was a supporter of Israel and his intention was to financially help the Zionist land, you will call me an anti-Semitic.

If I say that Madoff was a family man who was trying to support his family and community that is always the victim of anti-Semites, you will definitely jump to my throat.

If I say that Madoff was reading the Jewish scriptures and using some verses that justify maltreatment of gentiles to launch his ponzy schemes, you will definitely call me a mad man and rightly so.

Similarly, If I argue that the gunman who shot 10 people dead in Alabama was a devout Christian and he killed all those who in his views were not practicing Christians, you would hate me for that.

If I write that he acted on the basis of his readings of the Bible where the Lord had condemned all those who deviate, you would call me ignorant.

If I say that several Biblical passages incite people to act violently you would ridicule me and rightly so.

Now if someone were to say the following:

Omar Hussein, a Muslim by birth, cheated mostly Christian investors of billions of dollars …

Muslim religious organizations that receive money from Hussein were thriving on the loot …

Hussein was a supporter of Palestine and his intention was to financially help the Muslim lands …

Hussein was reading the Muslim scriptures and using some verses that defile gentiles to launch his ponzy schemes …

The gunman who shot 10 people dead in Kabul was a devout Muslim and he killed all those who in his view were not practicing Muslims …

He acted on the basis of his reading of the Quran where the Lord had condemned all those who deviate …

Several Quranic passages incite people to act violently …

Reading the above most people would tend to nod their head saying that Islam promotes these kinds of acts and Muslims follow the Quran whose teachings are based on such deceptions. This is what many in North America and Europe have done for the last several years. Since, they do not allow any counter argument, and the voices of Muslims are weak in challenging their absurdity and the average people do not care much about these things, they get away without being called crazy, insane, ignorant, lunatic, anti-Muslim or Islamophobic.

You may say that this is a weak argument because those Muslims who are killing innocent people are calling it an Islamic act. So what? If 675 people are killed in the United States every week because we have the freedom to own gun under second amendment, and the killer calls it a constitutional freedom, will we give any credence to their statement?

Will we hold democracy responsible for this?

But when it comes to Islam and Muslims, many of our pundits and experts and analysts indulge in the most insane, bizarre and crazy analysis without being questioned. Instead they are often rewarded for their nonsense.

Their analysis or explanation is just another manifestation of their deep rooted prejudices against Islam regardless of what they say. They have the notion that Islam is a primitive and backward religion because most Muslims in the world today are illiterate or poor. They still have the idea that Islam is a false religion that promotes violence and immorality because that is what they have read in books written by their predecessors hundreds of years ago or said by their pastors, rabbis or religious leaders uninterruptedly for years.

This kind of analysis can only promote hatred and sensationalize an issue. But it would not solve a problem. For almost nine years, we are fighting a war on terrorism which in the view of right wing Christians, Zealot Hindus, and Extremist Zionists is a war on Islamic terrorism. In their analysis the world faces the danger of Islamic terror.

Now look at the reality.

In Europe, according to a European Council report, in the year 2007, 583 failed, foiled and successful terrorist acts took place. Out of that four were attributed to Islamists, 21 to left wing, 1 to right wing, and 532 to separatists. How come we never heard of those terror acts committed by separatists? How come there was little analysis of those acts? How come the Western intellectuals are silent on such terror related incidents?

EU Terrorism Situation And Trend Report (Click here to Download the PDF report)

Doubtlessly, our world faces a serious challenge from those who have used violence as a means to promote their political and even religious agenda. But we cannot simply hold an entire faith and community responsible for that. As long as we will continue to do that, we will never be able to understand the real motives behind such acts of terrorism. Consequently, we will promote hatred and prejudices that will never enable us to face the real problems and work towards establishing a more harmonious society. In the process, many innocent people would be condemned to torture, discrimination and even death.
Dr. Aslam Abdullah is editor of the Detroit based English weekly, Muslim Observer, director of the Islamic Society of Nevada, Las Vegas and the recently elected General Secretary of the World Council of Muslims for Interfaith Relation. He is also the vice President of the Muslim Council of America, MCA.