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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