Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
Message From Young Muslims (Sisters) |
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ahmer |
09/20/01 at 08:51:38 |
Message From Young Muslims (Sisters) Muslims Categorically Condemn Vicious Acts of Terror in America As an American Muslim, I wish to express my absolute and total condemnation in the strongest possible way, on the atrocious, and cowardly acts of terrorism that occurred in our great city of New York and in the capital of our country. Muslims of America give the government full support to hunt down all terrorists. However, we ask that President Bush not allow more innocent civilian lives to be taken in the process. A war against Afghanistan will not serve justice. A war against all terrorists will. Afghani civilians had no part in the destruction of the WTC. How will such a massive atrocity that the US will inflict on the Afghani people, with the support of the American people, in the name of justice, be any different from what we ourselves faced this week? We cannot fight terror with terror. Directly after the attack, in what can be described as shameful, irresponsible, biased reporting, television networks showed over and over again the reaction of a small group of Palestinians as if to say that those Palestinians celebrating the attacks on America happened to be the collective reaction of all the Palestinians of the world. The footage that now automatically plays in the minds of American people is not representative of all Palestinians. No attempt was made by television networks to warn viewers of this fact. We have to be careful not to judge the actions of a small group of people as representative of a whole population. The American media however, is responsible and guilty of doing just this. It is most unfortunate that television networks did not show footage of a massive Palestinian vigil that was held in front of the U.S. consulate in East Jerusalem holding signs that read, “Americans: Terror is our common enemy” or “We can feel your pain, We are victims too!” or, the one million Palestinian school children who observed a moment of silence after the attacks for the victims of Tuesday's attack in NY and Washington D.C. Doing so would not have only been reasonable, but also extremely fair. To me, the medias’ bias is becoming very apparent. This type of manipulation of the facts is dangerous and very disturbing because it only encourages some people to go out and harass or even commit hate crimes against fellow Americans who happen to be Muslims. When a Christian American, Timothy McVeigh, carried out the Oklahoma City bombing, neither Christianity nor even the Christian world was accused of the attack simply because a Christian masterminded it. Rather, directly after that, the American media across the nation quickly and prematurely pointed their fingers at Muslims as being the culprits. Every single Muslim ethnic community in America has taken their turn in condemning the cowardly and barbaric acts carried out by people who called themselves Muslims. Regardless of this, Muslims across the nation, and in fact all over the world, have had to face the consequences of it. In a serious backlash, the members of our communities are being harassed, sometimes physically assaulted, and our masajid are being desecrated and destroyed. The terrorists who masterminded this attack deserve the worst kind of punishment for their action and for using the name of a peaceful world religion, Islam, whose root word literally derives from the word “peace” to justify their insane actions. In the Holy Qur’an, Allah (SWT) clearly warns mankind that life is sacred and that murder is a grave sin. “Who-so-ever kills a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he has killed all mankind, and who-so-ever saves the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind," (Al- Ma'idah: 32). The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said “A believer remains within the scope of his religion as long as he doesn't kill another person illegally." What may be astounding to some to know is that the Prophet (PBUH) even in time of war forbade the killing of trees! The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said, ``Do not kill women or children or non-combatants and do not kill old people or religious people,'' and he said, ``Do not cut down fruit-bearing trees and do not poison the wells of your enemies.'' What more proof do we need to convince the masses that Islam is a truly magnificent and peaceful religion? After one week of this tragedy, the fact still remains that terrorists took the name of our beautiful religion to justify their actions against humanity. We, as Muslims must take this personally. Amid severe ant-Muslim backlashes, we must stand tall, and our Iman must be strong. We must be proud of who we are in this hard and trying time. We must realize that this is our time to work harder than ever before to dispel the myths with our gentle words and actions. Instead, we are afraid to look like Muslims and we are afraid to say that we are Muslims. We must not rid ourselves of our Muslim identity. This is what Shaytaan wants. I urge my sisters to keep their hijabs on! Let us benefit from the rewards of being mujahiddah’s. When the Prophet (saw) and his companions were tortured (this harassment that we are encountering is nothing like torture) they didn’t act like cowards and cease to “look” Muslim. We should take note of that and be proud that our hijabs show that we are Muslim. As a Muslim Ummah, we must unite and be strong like never before. We must do this in order to survive in this increasingly hostihe environment. May Allah (swt) help us and protect us in this time of need and may He unite our community out of His mercy, Ameen. It is not the job of our president to make our fellow citizens understand our religion as he did in his address to the nation. The time to do something is now. We must seize this opportunity and reach out and teach the American people of our religion of peace. Fatimah Beig is a National Shura Member of Young Muslims Sisters branch. To learn more about YM activities in your area, please email: info@ymonline.org |
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