By
Dr.
Mahjabeen Islam
Toledo, Ohio
Shared Blame Needs Joint
Action
Within minutes of
9/11, the Madrid train blast and the
London terror attack American Muslim
organizations and Muslim governments
the world over issued condemnation.
There is a definite sense amongst American
Muslims that their religion has been
hijacked and after such tragedies there
is a flurry of explanatory activity.
Whether the rest of the Muslim world
feels this sense of outrage is point
for pause.
Mentally speaking the definition of
normalcy can reach the sphere of semantics.
By the DSM IV Criteria used to define
mental illness, it is my conviction
that a large number of patients remain
undiagnosed. The man in the checkout
lane ahead of you may well have a compensated
psychosis, appearing normal only to
the untrained eye. Mass killers in history
fall most likely in the bipolar category
of mental illness and need only latch
onto a distorted firebrand interpretation
of their respective religions to wreak
mass havoc.
These psychotic ideologues by virtue
of their magnetism are able to ensnare
the young and unsure and we now have
a spine-chilling network of those willing
to give the ultimate sacrifice.
The West as well as the terrorists that
kill in the name of religion contextually
misinterpret the verse alluding to the
killing of infidels in the Qur’an.
The verse that states that the killing
of one is akin to killing all of humanity
and saving one as saving it all does
not have a contextual burden; it is
fairly direct. Additionally a central
tenet in Islam is to promote good and
forbid evil and based on this, inaction
or anemic action is not an option. The
Muslim world must organize to collectively
condemn and chalk out effective ways
to prevent future destruction, for by
that very faith that is for us a way
of life, we will be held accountable
on the Day of Judgment for standing
silently while the carnage continued.
Imperial Hubris by Michael Scheuer should
be mandatory reading for all policy
makers and all members of Congress.
He explains how the US needs to graduate
from the delusional Bushism that the
terrorists are envious of our lifestyle.
Newton’s Law of action and reaction
being equal and opposed is working on
the world political stage. America groomed
the Taliban and has now invaded a sovereign
nation to crush them. Saddam posed no
threat to the US and with the greed
for oil thinly veiled as finding WMDs
and bringing democracy to Iraq it has
now invaded yet another sovereign nation.
How does America get to decide that
every nation is to follow its brand
of democracy? Why is this self-righteousness
not applied to the monarchy of Saudi
Arabia and the dictatorship of Pakistan?
America is so far off course that the
only method it recognizes as making
attempts to root out terror is to pass
the USA Patriot Act and put away thousands
into prisons on the mainland or else
the innards of Guantanamo Bay, without
right to legal representation and on
dubious or non-existent charges.
It is the religious duty of imams and
sheikhs the world over to make condemnation
of terrorism a mandatory part of all
Friday sermons with appeals for help
to exterminate it. Suicide is a ticket
to hell, taking others with you is akin
to a confirmed reservation. Not only
are Muslims individually accountable
for all the good and evil that they
do, there is the concept of collective
responsibility as well. The imam of
a Friday congregation is credited for
the good that the congregants do due
to his exhortation with consonant debit
for the evil that emanates thereafter.
And God’s justice He says is finer
than the weight of a mustard seed. The
planned joint fatwa of 500 British imams
condemning terrorism as un-Islamic is
a powerful step, especially since there
are a segment of overtly educated Muslims
who justify suicide bombing.
Whilst it is easy to blame the carnage
perpetrated by mass killers on their
psychosis, what excuse does one find
for a secular democracy? The economic
blockade of Iraq after 1991, the use
of depleted uranium that has caused
deformities and cancers for generations
of Iraqis, the abuse of prisoners in
Iraq and Afghanistan and American troops
occupying the two countries elicits
worldwide Muslim anger. And deadly retaliation
by a few extremists.
Condoleeza Rice, Bush and Blair repeated
the chest-thumping chorus that they
were not cowed down by the terror attacks
and the fight to root it out would continue.
And therein lies the root word. To root
it out one needs to know its root cause;
probably the sole truism ever uttered
by Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf.
It is not capitulation to revisit and
revise American foreign policy, it is
irresponsible not to. For the stakes
only get higher.
(Mahjabeen Islam is a physician practicing
in Toledo Ohio. Her email address is
mahjabeenislam@hotmail.com)
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