The Miseducation of the People

[Crossposted at the Underground Railroad]

It seems that every time I open the newspaper, click on a news website, or watch one of the major news channels, the flow of information is inundated with claims of Muslims not doing enough to prevent terrorists from committing evil deeds. From right-wing pundits such as Michael Graham to Democratic Senator Diane Feinstein of California to Thomas Friedman of the “liberal” New York Times, the consensus seems to be that terrorism would go away if only Muslims made it so.

Such sentiments are both myopic and unproductive. How many Muslims does it take to condemn terrorism before our misguided news sources and opinion leaders realize that a global religion of approximately 1.2 billion adherents is not the foundation for the murderous acts of comparatively few individuals? The Council on American-Islamic Relations has been issuing regular denunciations of murderous acts committed in the name of Islam for years. In addition the Fiqh Council of North America, the Islamic Society of North America, the Islamic Circle of North America, various Muslim scholars, and spiritual leaders around the world have issued numerous denunciations in the name of Islam. Unfortunately, this perspective is relegated to the deep inside pages of a few newspapers at best. To follow the logic that is so constantly displayed in the media, one must conclude that Christianity is the foundation for the actions of U.S. slave owners, the Ku Klux Klan, the Spanish Inquisition, Timothy McVeigh, and more recently Eric Rudolph.

Muslims around the world from Bangalore to Baltimore know and have stated that the terrorist actions of Osama bin-Laden, Al-Qaeda, and other hateful organizations do not represent the religion of Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad, peace be upon all of them. As followers of Abraham, Muslims share history and kinship with everyone who considers him or herself a Christian or a Jew. Yet it appears that this is either not known by the general public, or is simply neglected by the mainstream media. To label Islam a “cult of death” or a “terrorist organization” as some have done, is to deliver a horrendous smack in the face to the aforementioned messengers of God.

Let us join together and fight those who commit vicious acts of murder against innocents, and let us not be divided by the empty, so-called “religious,” excuses of the perpetrators.