Muslims through the Traumatic Prism - Essay Example

All Muslims (or Khans) Are Terrorists Most Americans view Muslims through the traumatic prism of 9/11 World Trade Centre attacks, which has probably accentuated the widespread (mis?)belief that the Qur’an (the religious text of Islam) promotes violence. Muslims hold the Qur’an sacrosanct and perceive it as a scripture compiled by Abu Bakr from the writings of Sahabas (Muhammad’s companions), based on verbal divine guidance from Allah (God) to Muhammad (the Prophet), through Jibrīl (Gabriel) the angel, from 610 CE to 632 CE, which emphasizes the moral significance of actions. The Qur’an professes good relationship with the Torah (the Hebrew Bible), the Gospel (written account of the life of Jesus) and the New Testament. The Qur’an talks of both peace and violence. Therefore, individual perception and interpretation is crucial. Jihād (holy, or religious, war) is waged by the mujahideen (‘strugglers’ or Muslim fighters). Jihād is now commonly linked with terrorism Terrorism (anti-state, state-sponsored, religious, etc.) has existed in every nation, state and society in some form or the other (physical, emotional, psychological, economic, biological, etc.) since times immemorial. It is inherently latent in basic human nature, only it varies in degree and form from individual to individual and situation to situation. Terrorism can be traced back to the ‘Before Common Era’, a non-religious alternative to the use of BC in designating the first period of the Gregorian Calendar. According to Encyclopædia Britannica Online, “The ancient Greek historian Xenophon (c. 431–c. 350 BC) wrote of the effectiveness of psychological warfare against enemy populations. Roman emperors such as Tiberius (reigned ad 14–37) and Caligula (reigned ad 37–41) used banishment, expropriation of property, and execution as means to discourage opposition to their rule.” The thread of terrorism relentlessly stretched and “In the summer of a.d. 82, three Roman warships were hijacked. The pilots of two were murdered; the third pilot decided to obey his captors” (Bolich 2006). Thereafter, between “1865-1877: Over 3000 Freedmen and their Republican Party allies were killed by a combination of the Ku Klux Klan and well-organized campaigns of violence by local whites in a campaign of terrorist violence that overthrew the reconstructionist governments in the American South and re-established segregation” (Bryant 2002) and in “1898, 10 September, Empress Elisabeth of Bavaria of Austria-Hungary (commonly called "Sisi") was stabbed to death by a young Italian anarchist named Luigi Lucheni, in Geneva” (New York Times 7). Terrorist and destructive activities have been perpetrated by almost every sect and culture, be they in the garb of the Crusades (One to Nine), activities of the Jewish Zealots known as Sicarii, anti-colonial conflict between Ireland and the UK, Algeria and France and Vietnam and France and the United States, conflict between national groups such as Palestinians and Israelis, fighting between religious denominations such as Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, internal conflicts between revolutionary forces and established governments such as the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Peru, fundamentalist religious ideological strifes such as Ḥamās and al-Qaeda, suicide bombing tactics by Ḥamās and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam, terrorist activities of the Japanese Red Army, Puerto Rican FALN, Palestine Liberation Organization, among others. It is amply evident that terrorism is not an exclusive trait of any particular socio-religious group, sect, nationality, etc. It is the manifestation of the frustrations of disgruntled maniacal or brainwashed minds which have been cunningly manipulated to serve the interests of terrorists in carrying out destructive acts. Terrorist has no face, persona, religion or morals. His only identity is terror. He is a misguided and misdirected, indeed mentally captivated, ‘victim’ primed for misuse for vested interests. He is devoid of any rational and/or emotional feelings. He is a remote-controlled zombie programmed to kill, even himself. He is, in fact, a pliable ‘manufactured’ murderer. Some people are more susceptible and vulnerable to brainwashing than others. A journey down the history lane would reveal that there have been phases in the history of terrorism and violence in which some races, sects, nationalities, denominations, etc., have been more pronounced in their nefarious, destructive activities than others. Therefore, it would be a logical and justified inference that all Muslims are not terrorists – some terrorists are Christians, some are Jews and some are Hindus. One thing common among them is that they are all demented and incapable of rational and humanitarian thinking. “There is no “terrorist personality”, nor is there any accurate profile – psychologically or otherwise – of the terrorist” (Borum 2004). A case in point would be the insane carnage perpetrated by the Columbine High School students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, when they went on a mindless shooting spree, killing 12 students and one teacher, wounding 23 others and finally shooting themselves – for what? It would be pertinent to reflect that Mahatma Gandhi was killed by Nathuram Godse, a fundamentalist Hindu. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald, who, in turn, was killed by Jack Ruby, perhaps to hide the motive of the assassination. They were both Caucasian Christians. Martin Luther King, Jr., a civil rights activist and Nobel Laureate, was killed by James Earl Ray, a fugitive from the Missouri State Penitentiary, also a Caucasian Christian. Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India, was brutally assassinated by her own guards, who were Sikhs. Who in his right mind would have imagined even for a moment that the very protectors would turn murderers of their charge! Air India flight 182, operating on Montreal-London-Delhi route, was ruthlessly blown up by a bomb in Irish airspace on 23 June 1985 by members of the Sikh separatist group Babbar Khalsa, killing 329 unsuspecting passengers. The horrendous multiple attack on the World Trade Centre in New York (Bezalel 2006) was allegedly perpetrated by Osama bin Laden, through fundamentalist Muslim groups, killing almost 3000 innocent people. There has been a quantum increase in terrorist attacks in Pakistan, implying intra-racial attacks. On the flip side, an American diplomat, Raymond Davis, allegedly opened fire at two men – identified as Faizan Hayder, aged 22, and Faheem, 20 – at a traffic signal of Qartaba Chowk in Pakistan and fled from the scene, which raises some serious and fundamental questions. An objective evaluation would prompt one to conclude that, on balance, all Muslims are not terrorists or perpetrators of violence, though terrorist tendency in them has, no doubt, increased in recent years. There is no cogent reason to single them out. Just because a person’s name is ‘Khan’ does not mean he should be treated with suspicion. It would appear that unfortunate incidents like the 9/11 have perhaps evoked justifiable paranoia in people about all Muslims and discrimination against them has increased, particularly at airports. There is need to view the whole thing in the right perspective with equanimity and endeavor to foster global peace, amity and tolerant co-existence. Communal harmony can be negotiated only when like-minded people collaborate and make sincere and diligent efforts to disseminate the objective truth, as it exists, so that people stop equating every Muslim with Osama bin Laden. People also need to realize that there are extremists in all religions and they give their religions a bad name. The real enemy in our world is IGNORANCE. Works Cited 1. Bezalel, Brian, Creator. “Skyracer90.” YouTube. 28 Jan 2006. Web. 30 April 2011. 2. Bolich, Gregory G. “Terrorism in the Ancient Roman World.” The Quarterly Journal of Military History June 12, 2006: 1. Print. 3. Borum, R. Psychology of Terrorism. Tampa: University of South Florida, 2004. http://knol.google.com/k/randy-borum/psychology-of-terrorism/1tgrw19q7jfhp/2#. Accessed 24 April 2011. 4. Bryant, Jonathan M. Ku Klux Klan in the Reconstruction Era, The New Georgia Encyclopedia, 3. October 2002. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_terrorist_incidents. Accessed 24 April. 2011. 5. “FOR KILLING THE EMPRESS; The Fate of Luigi Luccheni, the Italian Anarchist, Who Assassinated Elizabeth of Austria”. New York Times: 7. 11 November 1898. Print. 6. "terrorism." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web. 29 Apr. 2011. . Accessed on 24 April 2011. Read More