Do Muslims perpetrate the vast majority of terrorist attacks around the globe?
Pull most people aside on the side of the road and they’ll either explicitly respond with a ‘yes’ to that question, or if they’re politically correct, will give some wishy-washy response to cover up the answer they consider to be true.
Whether you like it or not, that is the answer now ingrained as an indisputable fact in the collective Western psyche. How so? This is because in current colloquial use, the word terrorism has effectively been defined to be acts of violence committed by Muslims against non-Muslims. More generally, in Noam Chomsky’s words, it describes ‘their’ violence against ‘us’, not ‘ours’ against ‘them’. Ergo, by definition all terrorist acts are committed by Muslims.
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I don’t mean to say this as a cynical remark; I am trying to point out a linguistic reality that we haven’t quite come to terms with yet. It’s time we stop constantly complaining about the hypocritical use of the term by media outlets; it’s a lost battle and we’re better off employing other strategies. For starters, that means to avoid using the term and replacing it more descriptive words such as ‘political violence’ or ‘indiscriminate killing’. ‘Terrorism’ is a propaganda term used with the intent of spreading fear and advancing political agendas; by simply using the term we are unintentionally helping advance those goals.
Is it conceivable in the current climate that a US drone strike or a shooting by a Christian radical will ever be described as a terror attack? Of course not. The general public has been propagandized into believing that Muslims alone commit terrorism, and thus Muslims will continually be expected to condemn, apologize and assume responsibility for anything described in the media as a ‘terrorist attack’. The recent CNN interview of a French activist is just another ugly manifestation of this reality.
In the wake of any attack on Western soil, our default reaction has been one that is defensive. After going through the obligatory condemnation exercises, we wonder in awe why none of it works and we’re put in the spotlight again when another attack happens.
It doesn’t work. You can keep saying terrorism has nothing to do with Islam for another 15 years and it won’t matter. It’s a lost battle because terrorism is a word now reserved for violence committed by Muslim criminals; its only used to perpetrate hysteria and a myopic understanding of a complex global problem. Just by using the term we are implicitly admitting we had something to do with the attack. The more we condemn, the more we’ll be asked to condemn. It’s the media’s game, and we play right into its hands.
And here’s the kicker. Muslims too have internalized this de facto definition of terrorism.
That impulse and urge Muslims feel to be extra vocal about condemning any ‘terrorist attack’ stems from internalizing the popular narrative which has created a subconscious collective guilt; we feel we had something to do with it despite being completely innocent. Why aren’t we ever concerned about defending our faith when these extremist groups attack Muslims? Why does the media never bother asking for condemnations when a suicide bomber blows up a mosque? Because attacks on Muslims, despite being perpetrated by the same militant groups, don’t qualify as terrorist attacks and by extension don’t have anything to do with Islam. Hence, Muslims never feel the need to need to apologize for it.
Us Vs. Them
Our failed public relations strategy over the past decade is predicated on not really understanding the root of the problem. No one’s actually interested in what Islam has to say about terrorism, no one cares about well written condemnations or conferences about peace; no one actually reads those boilerplate fatwa’s.
The root of the problem is the ‘Us Vs Them’ psyche. The public demands condemnations from Muslims not because they actually want a condemnation; they demand it because they fear us, they don’t know us and they want reassurance that we won’t harm them. We are presumed to be guilty until we declare ourselves to be innocent; the condemnation is the avenue through which that declaration takes place. The condemnation request is a litmus test – are they with ‘us’ or with ‘them’?
No matter how many times Muslims offer elaborate defenses of their faith, the expectation and persistence from the media, and public at large, to condemn will remain so as long as Muslims are viewed as ‘the other’. Muslims alone will be associated with ‘terrorism’ as long as there remains an active interest in dehumanizing this minority by selective use of the term. The suspicion we are under now is very much akin to that experienced by Japanese Americans during World War II. Much like their situation, there’s little that a declaration of innocence will accomplish unless the culture perpetrating the hysteria changes in the first place.
Most faith groups and minorities are not expected to apologize for the crimes of individuals from their community because they aren’t viewed as outsiders. When a bigot attacks another minority openly, the public calls them out and they are socially punished for their prejudices. There is a social policing that takes place which ensures abominable views are kept in the private sphere due to the repercussions of airing them publicly. However, bigots can openly air racist views about Islam with impunity because the general populace, a big chunk of it anyway, still sees Muslims as subjects that are alien to America and ought to be feared.
Researcher Dalia Moghed’s recent interview is a rare instance of a thought provoking response to the standard condemnation request. Instead of responding affirmatively and giving the audience what they want to hear, she makes them ponder by effectively asking ‘why do you think that Muslims, or any people, would condone the indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians’. In other words, think of Muslims as people like you and I – is it conceivable that millions of people living in the US consider mass killing to be acceptable? This strategy highlights the critical response needed when our leadership is bombarded with demands for those boilerplate condemnations. We need responses that challenges the status quo; not ones that further propagate simplistic and false narratives.
The Cultural Imperative
Racist stereotyping and xenophobic rhetoric will remain in the political and media sphere as long as there is an audience for it. As long as there is a significant enough population which holds Muslims to a different standard, so will the media. Television hosts can get away with repeatedly demanding ridiculous apologies and condemnations from us because that is what the public wants to hear. The only way to prevent future explosions of anti-Muslim bigotry is engagement at a grass roots level which focuses on normalizing Muslim presence in the US and other Western countries. We need to dismantle the ‘Us Vs Them’ mindset; we need to make it clear that we are ‘them’ and they are ‘us’ – we are in this together.
As a recent study published in the NY Times indicated, the primary way minimize anti-Muslim bigotry is to humanize Muslims in the public sphere. This is primary accomplished by making cultural contributions to the societies we live in. We need Muslims athletes, film makers, artists and novelists now more than ever. The positive image of Muslims in the 60’s and 70’s can be attributed to iconic individuals like Mohammad Ali who was looked up to as a hero by a generation of Americans.
Our public relations organizations need a new strategy; a strategy that actively invests in cultural institutions which are currently non-existent. We need fundraising not just for scholarships for Islamic studies, but also for those aspiring to attend film school or those wanting to study the dramatic arts. Dr. Umar Farooq Abdullah has masterfully outlined the need for this cultural revolution in his paper, Islam and the Cultural Imperative. The recent eruption of widespread bigotry, despite the decade of PR exercises, clearly indicates the vitality of Muslims establishing a cultural presence in Western societies. Unless that presence is established, Muslims will continue to be vulnerable to these cycles of bigotry and hysteria.
The recent viral video of a Canadian school children singing Tala al-Badru Alayna is a prime example of power of culture. The video unintentionally accomplishes far more than the standard approaches we take of trying to educate people of what Islam says – it gives them a rare glimpse of what Islam is. Muslims have a rich cultural heritage that extends back a millennium. Sharing this beautiful gift in the societies we live is a moral imperative; and withholding it is cultural injustice.
Announcements2 weeks ago
Kent Bayley
December 15, 2015 at 11:42 PM
The problem is the book you follow. It preaches hate and violence so that’s what happens so why are you surprised. Your so called scholars try and explain away the violence but really they can. NO.
naomi
December 17, 2015 at 1:50 AM
Have you read the bible?!
Nicholas Bodley
December 17, 2015 at 6:55 PM
Fine article.
You can find some shameful, primitive, and very prejudiced text in the Christian Bible, notably in Leviticus. (See another message about this!)
Point is that both Holy Books contain advocacy of barbaric violence, but neither Christians nor Muslims generally follow such advice.
Remember Oklahoma City, and the Murrah building? Timothy McVeigh was, afaik, nominally a Christian. Many kids were killed suddenly…
Deaths from such violent events are more rare than those from lightning.
I’m fanatically “unpatriotic” — I refuse to be afraid of this certain category of public violence.
The local masjid is concealed — that’s a real disgrace.
I’ve known several Muslims personally, and have found them to be gentle, very decent, and civilized people.
Go back about a century or more, and Catholic immigrants were despised.
Bigotry is chronically part of our culture, and that’s a great shame. We seem not to learn.
The downside of free speech is that it permits hate and bigotry to flourish.
Why do we ignore what Geo. W. Bush said, much to his credit, quite soon after 9/11?
(There’s an automatic spam filter here, which rejected my first text. It misinterprets irony…)
Nicholas Bodley
December 17, 2015 at 6:57 PM
Fine article.
You can find some shameful, primitive, and very prejudiced text in the Christian Bible, notably in Leviticus. (See another message about this!)
Point is that both Holy Books contain advocacy of barbaric violence, but neither Christians nor Muslims generally follow such advice.
Remember Oklahoma City, and the Murrah building? Timothy McVeigh was surely no Muslim.
Deaths from such violent events are more rare than those from lightning.
I’m fanatically “unpatriotic” — I refuse to be afraid of this certain category of public violence.
The local masjid is concealed — that’s a real disgrace.
I’ve known several Muslims personally, and have found them to be gentle, very decent, and civilized people.
Go back about a century or more, and Catholic immigrants were despised.
Bigotry is chronically part of our culture, and that’s a great shame. We seem not to learn.
Nicholas Bodley
December 17, 2015 at 7:02 PM
Sorry about the duplicate post. Had to revise my text several times to avoid rejection as spam. I did not submit twice.
Aafia
December 19, 2015 at 5:05 PM
There is abolutely no problem with the Book we follow because you are Speaking this out of Ignorance.You have Simply heard about some cherry picked verses of Quran quoted without tafseer(discription) of the context in which the verse was revealed.Quran condemns killing and corruption.Take a look at these Verse:http://islamhashtag.com/why-islamic-terrorism-is-not-islamic-at-all/
Kent Bayley
December 19, 2015 at 11:07 PM
Thank goodness you cleared that up for me as I feel so much safer now.
M.Mahmud
December 20, 2015 at 3:56 PM
Thank goodness Kent is finally saw the light. We were all shaking in our shoes worried Kent and his buddies will think Islam is violent.
Sarcasm aside, Islam IS the most peaceful religion in the world because
1) It is the ONLY way to Paradise and thus, peace forever.
2) It prescribes war for just ends, to help the wrong and oppressed
3) It in fact has a stunning level of restrictions in war not found in the Old Testament(which claims God commanded the massacre of women and children. Since Christians believe Jesus Christ is God they believe Jesus Christ commanded those massacres of women and children. We Muslims are skeptical of the corrupted Old Testament in the first place.) Muslims are commanded to refrain from harming noncombatants, even trees should be avoided in war.
Now compare that to the barbaric and savage Western slaughter in Vietnam where Napalm was spread onto forests and the Mai Lai massacre whose criminals were SUPPORTED by the American public!!!!!!!!!!!! And in Japan where they literally NUKED two cities despite having chance after chance to avoid it. When we compare the Muslim ideal to the Western ideal, those with sense see the Muslim ideal is far, far superior while the Western ideal seems to be inspired by Satan himself. That DAESH and Al Qaeda and other criminal groups exist is not an indictment on the only acceptable religion to God but to the weak faith of those who engage in crimes, following the sunnah of Western disbelievers and abandoning the sunnah of Rasulullah sallahalayhiwasalam and the imitation of the Sahaba RA. Al Qaeda and DAESH are probably not Western inventions but they are certainly closer to the ways of the West then the ways of the earliest Muslims. That is an indisputable fact.
Polls show, Muslims are LESS LIKELY to justify killing civilians than others!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What group could reach the high standard of civility and nobility of Muslims let alone surpass them? No group at all and this poll is evidence. Muslims, in the worst condition they have ever been, are still an example to humanity.
http://www.loonwatch.com/2011/08/surveys-show-muslims-in-every-country-less-likely-to-justify-killing-civilians-than-americans-and-israelis/
Kent Bayley
December 21, 2015 at 2:04 PM
Madness and this type of thinking is exactly what is wrong with Islam. If you people actually believe this type of nonsense then God help you. No proof, no peace and no hope.
Zubayer
February 10, 2016 at 9:14 AM
You dont even know about our book that we are following so why mess around? If you know the actual meaning of our book than you wouldnt be rebelling now…..you should stop blaming our religion and view the terrorist in the perspective of an ordinary human……..a terrorist can be a christian or any other religion ,so why dont you blame theirs too?
Sule
December 17, 2015 at 3:50 AM
The Qur’an experiment in Netherlands (where the Bible was disguised as the Qur’an):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEnWw_lH4tQ
M.Mahmud
December 20, 2015 at 4:03 PM
Allah alternates the days and makes the truthful and the liars known. Our day will come.
mojo
December 21, 2015 at 1:35 PM
The bible is not believed to be the actual word of God, unlike the koran.
Christians view the bible as some stories put together by obscure persons in history whose reliability is dubious.
The koran is what you must obey as it is the actual word of God.
Kent Bayley
December 21, 2015 at 2:03 PM
Madness and this type of thinking is exactly what is wrong with Islam. If you people actually believe this type of nonsense then God help you. No proof, no peace and no hope.
mojo
December 21, 2015 at 2:35 PM
Kent, you misunderstand me.
As a Christian you can believe or not believe in what the Bible tells.
As a Muslim you MUST believe the Koran is the word of God, no discussion, no doubts and certainly no questioning what the Korans tells you.
To question the word of God (the Koran), is Apostasy and we all know what you get for that.