by Dr. Ali Shehata
Why does Islam Always Seem to be Associated with Violence?
Here we come to the issue of the media, and its ability to effectively focus the attention of people. Moreover, this question raises the issue of how should one judge a religion?
In regards to how well the media can focus people’s attention both onto and away from something, consider the following facts:
· Latin American and Caribbean countries have lead the world in terms of crime and violence for much of the past two decades. The five countries reporting the highest homicide rates internationally in 2017 were El Salvador, Honduras, Jamaica, St Kitts and Venezuela. In 2016, 43 of the 50 most violent cities in the world were found in Latin America and the Caribbean. (Muggah, R. et al. (2018, Mar 14). Latin America is the World's Most Dangerous Region. But there are Signs it is turning a Corner. Retrieved from: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/03/latin-america-is-the-worldsmost-dangerous-region-but-there-are-signs-its-turning-a-corner/)
· Most people polled think that the problem of child molestation and sexual abuse is confined primarily to the Catholic diocese, whereas in reality, it is a problem involving every denomination of Christianity in America, as well as other religions. (N.A. (n.d.). Soul Betrayal. It's not just priests who abuse youngsters. Clergy of all faiths are guilty of sexual misconduct with children and adults. Retrieved from: http://www.beliefnet.com/story/101/story_10199.html )
· The US has by far the highest number of privately owned guns in the world.( Americans make up less than 5% of the world’s population, yet they own approximately 45% of all the world’s privately held firearms). Estimated for 2017, the number of civilian-owned firearms in the US was 120.5 guns per 100 residents, meaning there were more firearms than people. The world’s second-ranked country was Yemen, a Muslim majority quasi-failed state torn by civil war, where there were 52.8 guns per 100 residents, or less than half that of the US! (http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/weapons-and-markets/tools/globalfirearms-holdings.html). In fact, there are only two Muslim majority countries in the top twenty civilian fire-arms per resident nations. (Lopez, G. (2018, Aug 29). America is one of 6 countries that make up more than half of gun deaths worldwide. Retrieved from: https://www.vox.com/2018/8/29/17792776/us-gun-deaths-global).
· For every one American killed by an act of terror in the United States or abroad in 2014, more than 1,049 died because of guns. (Bower, E. (2016, Oct 3). American deaths in terrorism vs. gun violence inone graph. Retrieved from: https://edition.cnn.com/2016/10/03/us/terrorismgun-violence/index.html).
· According to a report by the US National Counterterrorism Center (https://fas.org/irp/threat/nctc2011.pdf ), in cases in which religious affiliation of terrorism causalities can be determined, Muslims suffered between 82 and 97% of fatalities over the past five years and Muslims are seven times more likely than non-Muslims to be the victims of terror.
· The Global Terrorism Index reports that between 2001 and 2015, 75% of the fatalities from terrorist attacks occurred in Muslim majority countries. Almost all of the attacks, 98%, occurred outside the US and Western Europe—despite these dominating the news cycle. (http://economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Global-Terrorism-Index-2015.pdf )
Although one can easily ascertain the truth of what was just mentioned, people have held the other, often opposing, opinions because of the attention given to certain issues on the media over others.
From another aspect, the question of how a religion is judged needs to be asked. Are we to judge a religion or idea based upon the actions of a small, extreme minority of its followers, or based upon its primary scriptures? Consider the following questions:
Should Baptist Christians be branded terrorists because some members of the Baptist denomination twisted their scriptures to support and carry out numerous abortion clinic bombings wherein many innocent people were killed?
Should Christianity be branded a racist ideology since the Ku Klux Klan would burn crosses and use the Bible to support their racially motivated violence and murders?
Since hundreds of thousands of innocent children had their youth forever shattered through the rape, sexual abuse and exploitation that they experienced at the hands of clergy; should we then say that Christians are mostly child molesters?
Hitler was known to be a devout Christian acting out on what he believed was God’s plan, as when he said, “I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator. By defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord.” (Hitler, A. (1998). Mein Kampf (R. Manheim, Trans.). Houghton Mifflin Company.)
Should we then blame the religion of Christianity for the countless deaths and war crimes he ordered?
From a more secular standpoint, are all Americans responsible for the death of the 200,000 innocent women, children and men who were annihilated by the nuclear bombs dropped upon Hiroshima and Nagasaki? As Americans, we repeatedly say that war should be between armies and that innocent civilians should never be targeted. Yet, in this very notable case, some people decided that killing such a large number of people might break the Japanese will and cause them to submit. (Kuan, E.K.P. (2010, Aug 10). Was the dropping of the atomic bombs necessary? Retrieved from: https://japantoday.com/category/features/opinions/was-the-dropping-of-theatomic-bombs-necessary)
Most religions and even cultures have the concept of “people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones”. So now consider for yourself, have you been throwing stones at Muslims, while ignoring the condition of your own house?
But, some people will say that the people mentioned above acted on their own, whereas often times when you see Muslims on television after some act of violence, they seem to be using verses from the Quran to support their crimes. Again, this is no different than abortion clinic bombers using the Bible to support their actions, or the words of the successive Popes during the Crusades, or the ideology of the Ku Klux Klan.
Consider the following quote taken from the book The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eye Witnesses and Participants. In November of 1095, Pope Urban II initiated the first European attempt at colonizing the Muslim world, known in the West as the Crusades. He is recorded to have said (words placed in italics are only for emphasis):
For you must hasten to carry aid to your brethren dwelling in the East, who need your help, [for] which they have often asked. For the Turks, a Persian people, [referring here to the Muslim nations] have attacked them. I exhort you with earnest prayer—not I, but God—that, as heralds of Christ, you urge men by frequent encouragement, men of all ranks, knights as well as foot soldiers, rich as well as poor, to rush to exterminate this vile race from the lands of your brethren, Christ commands it.
And if those who set out thither should lose their lives on the way by land, or in crossing the sea, or in fighting the pagans, their sins shall be remitted. Oh what a disgrace, if a race so despised, base, and the instrument of demons, should so overcome a people endowed with faith in the all-powerful God, and resplendent with the name of Christ. Let those who have been accustomed to make private war against the faithful carry on to a successful issue a war against the infidels. Let those who for a long time have been robbers, now become soldiers of Christ. Let those who fought against brothers and relatives, now fight against these barbarians. Let them zealously undertake the journey under the guidance of the Lord. (Krey, A.C. (1921). The First Crusade: the Accounts of Eye-Witnesses and Participants. Princeton, Princeton University Press )
So in this disturbing passage we see many statements that, when spoken by people of other religions or cultures, have been utterly condemned. Pope Urban II herein calls Muslim people infidels and barbarians, and he commands the Christian people of Europe to empty their lands to go and exterminate them in the name of Christ, moreover as a command of Christ. The book goes on further to describe the scene at the end of the battle of Jerusalem when the Crusaders had achieved victory.
And, if you desire to know what was done about the enemy whom we found there, know that in the portico of Solomon and his Temple [the area known as the Temple Mount], our men rode in the blood of the Saracens [derogatory term for Muslims] up to the knees of the horses.
When Jerusalem was conquered on the 15th of July 1099 by the Crusaders who were also known as the Christian Knights, more than 60,000 inhabitants, both Jewish and Muslim, were slaughtered in cold blood. In the words of one witness:
...there [in front of Solomon's temple] was such a carnage that our people were wading ankle-deep in the blood of our foes, and after that "happily and crying for joy," our people marched to our Savior’s tomb, to honor it and to pay off our debt of gratitude.
It should be further understood that no one survived this carnage on the side of the Muslims, or the Jews who were under the protection of the Muslims at that time. Babies, children, women, and the elderly—all fell under the swords of the Christian knights who then went to say “thank you” before the tomb of Christ. Should Christianity be judged by such events? Of course no Christian, not even a just non-Christian for that matter, would agree to that premise! So then, it can only be fair that Islam not be judged for the far smaller minority of extremists who kill innocent people in the name of God.
Another point, which is worth remembering, is how the killing and pillaging in the name of Christianity has in most cases been initiated, instituted and supported by governments and the Church alike—what would be termed “institutional terrorism”.( Riley-Smith, Jonathan. (1999). The Oxford History of the Crusades. New York: Oxford University Press) On the other hand, the acts carried out in the name of Islam are most often the work of individuals without the support of any recognized or established government, and more importantly, without the support of authorized Muslim leadership.
What Did the Prophet Muhammad Say About Combat?
I would like to summarize this section by mentioning only one reference—the statement of the first Muslim caliph (ruler), Abu Bakr, who, upon dispatching an army to the territories of the Levant, gave the following command to his General. This command undoubtedly originates from the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad pbuh:
Do not kill a woman, nor a child, nor a weak old person; do not cut down a fruit-bearing tree; do not destroy a dwelling [home]; do not kill a sheep or camel, unless [you need to kill it] for food; do not set bees on fire, nor drown them; do not misappropriate the spoils of war; and do not be cowardly. [Malik]
From this one statement, containing ten commands, one should see that the Muslim is obliged in warfare not only to show mercy to innocent and non-combatant humans, but even to the environment and to the animals. If all armies would only follow this advice today, then the wide spread destruction that war brings with it today would certainly not exist, no matter the combatants involved.
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