Muslim Prayers Can't Be a Substitute for Action
The carnage in Mumbai has brought the menace of global terrorism center stage. For three agonizing days a handful of fanatics paralyzed a thriving metropolis of 18 million and inflicted an enormous physical and psychological blow to India.
As the dust settled a few facts became evident. The terrorists came by sea from the southern Pakistani city of Karachi. They knew their targets well and with the help of local accomplices they carried out an intricately choreographed and thoroughly rehearsed script that left 171 people dead, many more injured and some of the signature buildings of Mumbai in ruins.
The blame game began soon after the first shots rang out. An accusing finger was pointed at Pakistan and that in turn elicited a knee jerk response from Pakistanis. A bizarre array of other possibilities was floated that included Israeli secret police Mossad and the ultranationalist Hindu political organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) that in 2002 was responsible for a pogrom that killed 2000 Muslims in Gujarat, India.
Amidst the cacophony of charged and contradictory voices here are a few sober observations.
Pakistan is as much a victim of terrorism as is India. The country is engaged in a fierce struggle with the Taliban in its tribal areas. The Taliban have been increasingly challenging the authority of Pakistani government in areas that were in government’s firm control just a few years ago. The assassination of Benazir Bhutto two years ago and bombing of Marriott Hotel in the heart of the capital Islamabad underscores the reach of the terrorists. The Taliban have also been looting at will NATO supply convoys passing through the Khyber Mountains on their way to Kabul.
Sanity has prevailed and the loud voices of ultra nationalist Hindus demanding a revenge attack on Pakistan have been muted in favor of a coordinated effort against the common enemy. After all, a destabilized Pakistan would be more dangerous for the world than the one that cooperates and coordinates with India. A confrontation between the two nuclear tipped adversaries will throw the entire South Asia and the world in tailspin.
Each time a Mumbai-like incident happens there is a chorus of demands that moderate Muslims should condemn such atrocities. In all fairness they do. Soon after Mumbai carnage almost all leading social, political and religious Muslim organizations in this country (and in Europe as well) have categorically condemned the attacks.
What they have failed to do is to isolate terrorists and their evil philosophy from mainstream Islam. Unless they do this they will not be able to convince the American people that Islam has nothing to do with terrorism. As I had argued in one of my previous columns (Muslims should stand up and denounce Al Qaeda, The Blade, October 6, 2008) the Muslims should not only denounce terrorism masquerading as religion but should also declare the perpetrators outside the pail of Islam.
It is contradictory that on the one hand Muslim religious leaders tell the world that Islam is a peaceful religion but on the other hand they hesitate to excommunicate those who violate the basic principles of religion. In Mumbai, according to some reports, Muslim clergy made a definitive statement by refusing to conduct funeral services for the terrorists. Unless a clear distinction is made and a rigid separation is created between functional religion of the majority and dysfunctional religion of the terrorists the whole edifice is liable to be tarred as dysfunctional.
Two years ago Mahjabeen Islam, an activist Muslim writer from Toledo, proposed Project Friday Khutba that implored imams to address the subject of terrorism in their Friday sermons. The idea was ridiculed by some leaders and imams with the refrain that they already do that.
So how do we, the Muslims, convince American people that Islam is a peaceful religion?
Start organizing seminars and symposia on religious terrorism. Have a frank and candid discussion of why the terrorists interpret the same text of Qura'n differently than the majority of Muslims.
In this country except for advocacy organizations like Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), most other organizations whether of national reach or local mosques and Islamic centers are in a perpetual reactive mode. After every crisis they react by calling a press conference or issuing a statement of condemnation and then look for the nearest water spigot to perform ablution and pray. Unfortunately for many of our leaders prayers have become a convenient substitute rather than an adjunct for action. There are doubts and preconceived ideas about Islam in general public that will not go away by simple condemnation of terrorism.
