Author: Jay Jina
Publication:
Date:
The Muslim leadership's sincere
condemnation of terrorism in the name of Islam is universally welcomed
and supported, and all communities, agencies and individuals, whether
of faith or secular, need to work together to root this evil out
and allow our plural, civilized society to flourish.
It is insufficient, however, to
merely condemn acts of terror. Even Britain's highest ranking Muslim
police officer, Tarique Ghaffur, said that Muslims and their leaders
must do more than just condemn the bombings.
Tony Blair said at the weekend,
it is time to stand up to the "evil ideology" and that it would be
a "misunderstanding of a catastrophic order" to think that if the
developed world changed its behaviour, extremists would change theirs.
The Prime Minster further stated:
"If it is the plight of the Palestinians that drives them, why, every
time it looks as if Israel and Palestine are making progress, does
the same ideology perpetrate an outrage that turns hope back into
despair?
"If it is Afghanistan that motivates
them, why blow up innocent Afghans on their way to their first-ever
election?
"If it is Iraq that motivates them,
why is the same ideology killing Iraqis by terror in defiance of
an elected Iraqi government?
"What was 11 September 2001 the
reprisal for?"
Adding to the Prime Minister's list,
but leaving the long and bloody history and roots of the very same
terror aside, are: the genocide committed on black Muslims by fellow
Arab Muslims in Darfur, the near silence of the Muslim community
to atrocities carried out over several decades by Saddam's regime,
and the acquiescence over the mass persecution of religious minorities
in various Islamic countries, to name but a few.
So, how to move forward?
First, it is vital that all civilized
societies recognise that this evil of terrorism is a universal phenomenon.
Its underlying causes and effects are the same everywhere: it is
driven by a hate filled, inhuman ideology that maims and kills. No
longer can political duplicity of the western media and governments
in reporting such crimes be allowed to continue. The BBC, for example,
needs to be challenged as to why the bombers in Iraq and Turkey are
"militants" and those who killed in Ayodhya are "gunmen", whilst
those in London are terrorists. Is the blood of Londoners worth more
than those who live in Bethlehem, Baghdad, or Bombay?
Second, the rule of law and the
democratic traditions of the British constitution, as determined
by parliament, must be paramount. There cannot be separate laws for
different communities based on religion. The will of God, of whatever
persuasion, in the determination of socio-political legitimacy is
irreconcilable with democracy. Contrast the shambles that is the
Indian civil code and the injustice meted out to Muslim women victims
of divorce and rape.
Third, the nation has to be the
basis of political loyalty; religious belief has to remain a private
matter. The political institutions of the state provide civil liberties,
protection, social welfare, and the right to religious freedoms and
therefore, allegiance to the state over and above any ambitious trans-national
religious supremacy is the least a plural, democratic society can
expect of all its citizens.
Fourth, it is time for religious
leaders of those communities whose members commit terror and violence
in the name of their religion, not simply to condemn such acts, however
strong and sincere such condemnation, but to take the right steps
as leaders and pass religious injunctions against all terrorist acts,
whilst respecting the validity of other belief systems and recognising
the primacy of democratic institutions using the most clear religious
language such that it is incontrovertibly understood within the community
and also by wider society. After all, religious edicts have been
and continue to be issued for lesser matters than terrorism.
