Download In the name of Islam? - English 102

Asma Ahmed Hashmi
Professor Teddy Chocos
English 102
In the name of Islam?
We have stepped in an era where islamophobia is the new phobia that has gripped the
attention, the focus and the fear of the world. The perception of Islam as a religion whose
teachings dictate to cleanse the minds and purify the hearts of its believers called Muslims has
been replaced with a supposedly more redefined, pronounced and modern approach that attach
Islam with violence and labeled its believers as fanatics. Terrorism is now linked as the new face
of Islam and its believers declared as vicious perpetrators. But the question that still remains
unanswered is that have we declared a war against Islam or terrorists? And then what fears us
more, Islam or terrorism?
The chain of Talibanistion and terrorism has sophisticatedly interlocked to hound Pakistan.
Pakistan might have added more years to its independence birthday but it has not made the
country any wiser to grapple the problems of internal conflicts, corruption, bribery, illiteracy,
lawlessness and worse still the talibanisation- the influence and the terrorism of Taliban and alQaeda that is wreaking havoc in the country. It is not only actively working to debilitate Pakistan
and endangering the peace of Pakistani citizens but also plotting to establish their strong base
and overpowering influence in the country. While American soldiers are sitting in Afghanistan to
hunt terrorists there; some or most of the Taliban followers has infiltrated across the borders of
Pakistan and has gone on a rampage to recondition the minds of people with their version and
vision of Islamisation.
The new face of Islam or more precisely the ‘Taliban version’ of Islam is not that rhapsodize
about peace, love or to care for the entire humanity. Perhaps, that might be too feminine for these
inhuman freedom fighters. They exude their masculinity by bombing, killing and harassing the
entire humanity of the world; Muslims or non-Muslims, westernized or non-westernized. The
physical and emotional suffering is much severe and painful for those people, whose fragile nests
they have burned to form their permanent abode. They have not only demolished the nests but
the whole clan of inhabitants that once resided there. Taliban’s are nobody’s sons, fathers,
husbands or brothers; they are Satanic and come with their band of boot-lickers followers. They
are astraying the young minds of Pakistan. The youth who should be burdened with the light of
education and knowledge, thanks to the Taliban, who have administered to grind their minds in
the blender of filth of fundamentalist views. They brainwash the young minds and made them
commit horrendous atrocities in the name of religion. The religion, the faith and the Lord that
will promise them to grant them Jannah (Heaven) if they are successful in their tiring efforts to
kill humanity? How utterly deceptive are the magnitude of their beliefs. Such are the aspirations
and motivations of Taliban in their vicious struggle to poison the young breed. They are killing
some in the name of religion and paralyzing the rest with the deception of what they believe the
religion proclaims.
Pakistan is crisscrossed with the blood of its own citizens, which include the innocent citizens
who have no sketch of hands in terrorism and even those who were trapped to be detained a part
of it. Such is the calamity that is chasing the world and even more forcefully and viciously, the
fate of Pakistan. The supporters and allies of Taliban have infiltrated the teachings and
ideologies of Taliban in the educational curricula of one of the religious school in Pakistan,
known as the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque). The incident of Lal Masjid took place in Islamabad in
the year 2007. Lal Masjid is a very prominent mosque and religious school of Pakistan. For years
it has maintained close ties with the government of Pakistan and played an important role in the
Soviet war in Afghanistan. According to a documentary of Dawn news about the history and role
of Red Mosque in Afghan war against the Soviet, they (Red Mosque’s imams) recruited and
motivated the Pakistani mujahideen (freedom fighters) to help their Afghan
Mujahideen(Freedom fighter) brothers in the war to save the country from Soviet invasion. Years
later, and especially after 9/11, the imams (leaders) of the Red Mosque started to oppress and
publicly criticize the government’s pro American policies and sentiments. What galled them
more was the war that the Pakistani government has declared a war against the Taliban. This led
them to showdown some major uprisings against the government. They believed that the Taliban
are fighting a noble war against America. Therefore, the administrators of the Red Mosque,
Abdul Aziz Ghazi and his brother Abdul Rashid Ghazi declared a fatwa, as reported by Dawn
news, “No Pakistani Army officer could be given an Islamic burial if died fighting the Taliban.”
This fatwa caused stirring in the ranks of the Pakistani army and decided to remove the Ghazi
brothers from the picture. The action by the Pakistani army propelled the Ghazi brothers to
showcase some physical opposition. They even pushed the children and students of the Red
Mosque as the main instigators in the pro-Taliban and anti-government movement. Children,
boys or girls, younger or older, went on a rampage against government. They closed down many
audio and video cassette shops, ripped of the posters of movie actresses from shops and other
places; stormed in a home of two women and alleged them of running a brothel; and to make
matters worse they even took a Chinese ambassador or government official hostage. The
violence started to storm across the capital city of Pakistan. This triggered the state police to take
action against the students of the Red Mosque. So they charged and imprisoned a female student
of the Red Mosque, Jamia Hafsa. This action of the state police frustrated the Red Mosque
officials to the extent that they decided to declare a Jihad against the government. They even
threatened that they would unleash the wrath of suicide bombers on the government and its
citizens. All this was again reported in the leading newspaper of Pakistan, Dawn news, “Our
youth will commit suicide attacks, if the government impedes the enforcement of the Sharia and
attacks Lal Masjid and its sister seminaries.” This gave the government no excuse but to attack
the uprisers of the Red Mosque. Negotiation were tried to make between the government and the
Red Mosque administrators. The government declared to give amnesty to the administrators and
students who would surrender to the government. Many students came out and surrendered
themselves. One of the brothers and administrators of the mosque, Abdul Aziz Ghazi was
captured by the soldiers when he tried to escape clad in a burqa (veil). The army then cut down
all negotiations and marched inside the mosque. The second brother, Abdul Rashid Ghazi and
the rebel students were killed inside the mosque. It was reported that there were some over 100
casualties. The writ of the government that was challenged then restored.
The post 9/11 generation of Pakistan is born to grow up and live in the realm of new fears; the
fears whose seeds were sown more than three decades ago. Sara Ruddick outlined this in the
Moral Horrors of September 11, that three decades ago when Pakistan became the staunch ally of
America in the war to protect Afghanistan from Soviet union invasion that would hence also
curb the expansion of communism not only in Afghanistan but also in Central Asia. To achieve
that the so called ‘mujahideen’ rebels were trained and supplied ample arms supplies, which
ultimately led them to drive the communists out. The mujahideen were praised for their valour
and ferocity and gained prominent and prolonged American support. How prolong? That is the
question. The question was soon answered in the 9/11 attacks when American policy was back
fired. Now the fear was no longer communism. There is a more profound fear of terrorism that
has gripped the world ever since. Not only America was burning in the fire but it has caught the
whole world in its flames. The 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon did not just
shake America, it shook the whole world. It did not just hurt America’s pride and strength. It also
hurt the pride of Muslims, Pakistanis, and Pakistani Muslims. And again, it did not just affect the
lives of American citizens but also the lives of millions of Muslims living in America and
outside the world. Muhammad Safeer Awan narrated a bitter reality in his essay Global Terror
and the rise of Xenophobia/ Islamophobia, “America was gripped by a growing and selfrighteous rage in those weeks of September and October as I cavorted..Pakistani cabdrivers were
being beaten to within an inch of their lives; the FBI was raiding mosques, shops, and even
people’s houses; Muslim men were disappearing, perhaps into shadowy detention centers for
questioning and worse.”
Whilst it is true that the casualties of Americans were far greater when the attacks happened,
some even had to jump from the towering burning Twin Towers in an attempt to save their lives.
Their innocence was most horrifyingly victimized. Muslims, however, were no less sufferers in
the aftermath of the attacks. And those Mulims immigrants who were residing in the United
States when the fateful event took place, their survival became ever most daunting. There was a
massive crackdown to hunt terrorists and unfortunately, every Muslim was seen as a potential
terrorist. Muslims suffered emotionally and psychologically. Their Muslim name draw
suspicions and their faith convince the people of them being terrorists or allies of terrorists. If the
question is who sowed the seeds or who showered the first rains to mushroom the growth of the
buds; the answer lies in the bearing that it is not Islam but terrorists-terrorists who have no
rapport with religion, even if they proclaim to do it in the name of Islam.
The recent Boston bombings were another terrifying and utterly inhumane terrorist attack that
happened on the place where an internationally recognized event, marathon Olympics took place.
The enthusiastic, chirpy, sportive and also unfortunate people who thronged the place to witness
and participate in the grandeur of the event were brutally victimized. Little did these people
know that they would become the victim of the hatred of love and peace. And little did they also
know that this hatred has started to breed in their own neighborhoods. According to Elizabeth
Taylor, who reported in Washington Post, To bury, not to Praise, about the marathon attacks, the
Tsarnev brothers who masterminded the Boston attacks were originally from Chechnya, but
migrated to the United States of America in their youth. While the younger brother Dzokhar,
who was much popular and appreciated among his friends and acquaintances lot. The elder
brother however, started to become more radical. He became a devout Muslim and started to
pray five times a day. There are rumours that Dzokhar might have been influenced by his elder
brother and therefore assisted him in plotting the terror attacks. Why Tsarnev brothers did what
they did are the answers that still need to be extracted. But it became clear that they were
terrorists and moreover they were Muslims. And oddly enough, being Muslims justified that they
were terrorists. While many Muslims living in America and outside America were praying that
these terrorists be not Muslims, but as it turned out later their worst fears came true. The Muslim
community fears that they too have to pay the price not for being terrorists but for being
Muslims.
There has been much talking in media about the faith the Tsarnev brothers followed. The
reason of their eccentricities seemed to made more sense when evidence of their Islamic faith
became known. Muhammed Safeer Awan outlined this delusional perception of the society in
Global Terror and the rise of Xenophobia/ Islamophobia: An analysis of American cultural
production since September 11, “…Muslims have been presented as a threat to the world
because they carry the scourge of terrorism engendered in them by the radical ideology that their
faith presumably promotes.” The perception that Islam harbours terrorism is most misleading.
Islam neither conceived terrorism and nor promotes it. The ideology of love, compassion and
peace that it preaches concurs with what all other religions preach. Furthermore, there is no such
division of radical and peaceful Islam. Islam has only one face value which clearly and
concretely intersects with peace. A devout Muslim is not a terrorist but terrorists can claim to be
devout Muslims. There are and will always be a band of miscreants who would try to exonerate
the prick of their conscience by trying to justify their heinous acts in the name of religion or
other things. That was how the Germans justified their horrendous Holocaust against the Jews;
that was also what gave an outlet to the Whites to believe and make others believe in the nobility
of Black Africans slavery; and that is also the skin in which they tried to justify apartheid.
Religion and other institutions have no subscription in such depraving gamble. President Bush
tried to convey the same message in the aftermath of September 11 attacks, “How shall we speak
of Islam after September 11? As a religion practiced by human beings. No more. No less.”
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Awan, Muhammed Safeer, “Global Terror and the rise of Xenophobia/Islamophobia”
Ruddick, Sara, “Moral Horrors of September 11”
Taylor, Elizabeth, “To bury, Not to praise”
Dawn news-documentary