How far will violence go before someone takes responsibility? Zeynab Ladak reflects on when she distanced herself from the blanket of generalization and violence of her culture.
—
After the recent Islamophobic attack on two Muslim women on a bus in London, where they were called “ISIS Bitches” by a fellow passenger, I realized there needs to be a discussion about the generalization of all Muslims being somehow connected to ISIS (Islamic State) and having to apologize for their actions. It is clearly unfair to label a whole group of about two billion Muslims in the world with the actions of a minority extremist group that justify their terrorist actions on the pretext of religion but are also influenced by the political environment in the Middle East.
♦◊♦
Tony Blair recently admitted that the foreign invasion led by the West actually helped the rise of ISIS in the Middle East because it destabilized the region even further, which is proof that it has to do more with politics than religion. For argument’s sake, let’s say ISIS was only driven by religious motives and no political aims, even then, there are so many different sects in Islam, and ISIS is just one of them.
In fact, many of the victims killed by ISIS’s atrocious attacks are Muslim civilians, as a United Nations report stated. This shows that the vast majority of Muslims too, are the victims of fundamentalists like ISIS who are driven by their own selfish agendas that they hide behind religious reasoning.
Also, a lot of Muslims have spoken out publicly against ISIS, such as the Secretary General for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which is an organization that represents 57 countries and 1.4 billion Muslims, who blatantly mentioned that ISIS have got nothing to do with Islam.
So to stereotype the whole Muslim community is not just unfair, but inaccurate.
♦◊♦
But unfortunately that is what has been happening, as the bus passenger who accused the two Muslim women of being part of ISIS made this mistaken assumption. Do all Christians have to apologize for the Ku Klux Klan’s racist assaults on black people because they declared themselves to be a Christian group? Do all Jews have to apologize for Israel’s occupation in Palestine? Do all American citizens have to apologize for the American invasion of Iraq that led to thousands of Iraqi civilian casualties? No, they don’t because they did not all collectively commit those crimes.
The crimes do not reflect them as a whole, but only a defected fraction of them. The same should be applied to Muslims when one hears of terrorist attacks committed by extremist groups. In these cases, those particular groups are to be blamed for it, not all the followers of Islam because that is an unjust generalization that has led to countless Islamophobic attacks and racial slurs towards moderate Muslims living peacefully in the West. In fact, there has been a 70 percent rise in Islamophobic attacks in Britain alone.
This has affected me too, as I am a Muslim, born and bred in Tanzania. One day, while I was walking down the street in my hometown, one stranger just called me “Al-Shabab” referring to a Somalian extremist group that has threatened some parts of East Africa. I was so shocked because this was my hometown where my family and I have lived all our lives without any troubles. But that day, I was no longer seen as a fellow countryperson, but affiliated with a terrorist organization when I had nothing to do with them.
♦◊♦
This made me question as to why I should feel guilty about seeing a news story about an extremist group that killed people when I am not in any way supporting them, nor do I have anything to do with them. It does not relate to me just because I am Muslim. Otherwise that would mean every time a Christian, Jew or Atheist committed a crime, then the whole community should apologize for it.
To apologize for something is to admit that it is something you have been a part of, and something that you are responsible for. But I am not responsible for the politics that occur in the Middle East, nor am I a part of it. Yes, I am against all acts of terror, whether committed by a Muslim or a Non-Muslim. But I do not have to be put in trial and generalized for the acts of others, acts that I always condemn and despise because I believe it is not part of my belief and is in fact, distorting my faith.
Photo Credit: Liv Unni Sødem/Flickr
Please come back after you’ve read some comments and respond to your thoughts. This is dialog that can help. Many authors on the gmp just dump their thought out and never return. They get a monologue the responders get a monologue and no dialogue ever occurs. That’s sad really.
No, Zeynab, you do not have to apologize for being Muslim. You are only responsible/guilty of what you yourself do or do not do. But as intelligent citizens of the world, we can CHOSE to feel some responsibility. I am a white Englishman. I am NOT responsible for the slave trade and colonization, for the situation in Ireland or the Middle East. But I can CHOSE to know and study the history of my nation, and accept that others may have feelings towards me just because I am a white English male. Unfair? Yes, but normal, natural. We’re human beings… Read more »
What I said above is also supported by the fact that many many Muslims in their new host countries are demanding that their customs be integrated into ours. Their beliefs are to be included in the way we conduct business and our holidays and laws and customs. This tells us they want not to integrate but merely move and continue their way of life to a nicer place. But it to me shows an appalling lack of respect for the generosity of the host nation. You of course have a point about our military actions destabilizing the middle east. Would… Read more »
I second Richard’s comment. We not only do apologize for our versions of the extremists but even more so we are expected to do do do otherwise we’re called haters too by default. So do you think that aspect may be behind the attack in Britain? It is NOT anywhere near sufficient to instill trust by having a leader speak for a group of people. What we do not hear is a group of people speaking out against their extremists. So what are to believe about the group? Of course many maybe even most Muslims are peaceful people. But because… Read more »
No, of course you do not have to apologize for the actions of others just because they are demographically similar to you in some way (for a lack of better phrasing)
Now, seeing as I am a white male, I wonder if you or the other writers at the GMP would grant me the same?