PARIS ATTACKS: SOME REFLECTIONS

-by DR RIFAI (NALEEMI). UK-

           Much has been said and written about recent attacks on innocent people in Paris. No doubt that any civilized person will abhor such attacks on innocent people in this modern world. These revenge attacks by both side have been going on for some times. Western countries have been attacking Muslims nations in the name of so called a war on terror since G. Bush time in power. Muslim radicals have been attacking innocent People in revenge. This vicious circle of attacks have been going. Where will these attacks take the humanity? Will it lead into a third world war in this modern time? Some sceptical people ask such question.  I ‘m not justifying any of these attacks by both sides. Both sides have indeed killed innocent lives in these vicious circles of attacks. If these attacks are not stopped by both sides this world will never get peace.  I’m not going to discuss the arguments of both sides on these vicious circle of fighting between Muslim radicals and western politicians. There have been many conspiracy theories about these attacks. It is not my objective to analyse those theories rather I would like to see the implications of these attack on Islam and Muslims who live in Europe. 

      Today there are more than 30 million Muslims live in the western countries. I think that the repercussions of these attacks on innocent Muslims in Europe will be enormous.  Islam was introduced into Europe in modern time by these Muslims who live in Europe. These Muslims are witness to Islam in these countries. Today, European Muslim community has got a golden opportunity to reach out European people with the peaceful message of Islam. In the past, Muslims met European nations in battle fields. The crusades between Muslims and Christians lasted more than 8 centuries and then Ottoman Empire encountered Europe with long wars. Yet, today, Islam is introduced to Europe by innocent Muslims not through wars or fighting but rather through vast migration of Muslims. Most of them are illiterate or semi-skilled migrants. Allah has made this a golden opportunity for Muslim community to take this peaceful message of Islam into hearts of European people through our day to day interaction with them and through our good exemplary life. It is our behaviours and good moral contacts attract more people to Islam than our speeches or books. Many studies have shown that many EU people embraced Islam through the exemplarily contacts of Muslims.

          Today Islam is portrayed as a religion of violence and extremism by some radical Muslim groups and consequence of such exposure is that we are preventing millions of people from reaching the message of Islam or reading the message of Islam.   We are preventing them from becoming Muslims. These radicals give negative perceptions about Islam and Muslims. Today, Muslims are labelled as terrorists and extremists because of these radicals. It is the message of Islam that has been victimised with these attacks on innocent people. How the message of Islam is victimised by these people? 

          In recent study it has been revealed that more than 90% of public in Europe have not read the Holy Quran, more than 90% have not read the biography of our prophet? Most of people in Europe do not know about Allah and his prophet. Basically, Islamic message has not been reached out to these people. Only some academics, priests, journalists and politicians have learned about some distorted form of Islam. Although there have been lot of literature about Islam in European languages namely in English, French, Spanish and German languages most of them are written by academics sometime with academic bias to the pure message of Islam.

             A little have been written about Islam by Muslims in these countries. Although there have been some books written by Muslims in Europe the quality of those books are very much poor. Or those books have been written by different camps and some of them are in very poor English or local European languages. What do I mean by poor European languages? It is not a secret most of European people are highly educated. They read the high quality materials in all these languages. The books and materials produced by EU universities and publishers are high quality in contents and argumentation. They write books in rational and logical way as we see oxford university press or Cambridge university press. 

            It will take at least another 50 years for Muslim community in Europe to produce such quality books on Islam by Muslim professionals. There has been a big vacuum in this area to present Islam to non-Muslims in Europe. Moreover, our speakers on Islam have not developed that quality speaking skills with solid Islamic knowledge. There are a few good speakers such as Nourman Ali Khan, Yasir al-Qadi, Dr jamal Badawi, Hamza Yousef and some others who could convince non-Muslims with the message of Islam. There are some a few good institutions as well to reach out Islamic message to non-Muslims such as IIIT, MIHE and some other institutions but only with limited resources. But in term of academic scholarship, Muslims in Europe have not yet developed that much of materials as non-Muslim academics have done. 

           The point I’m trying to make is that Islam has not been conveyed to the last majority of people in EU. These attacks on innocent People by these radicals will further isolate the message of Islam from reaching out these people?  Thus, these radicals become barriers between EU people and reaching Islam to them? In that sense they do more harm to Islam than more good. People should have the scope and leverage to listen, read and understand the message of Islam first and foremost. Our prophet gave such opportunities for Arab pagans to listen to him and listen his message.  Have we created such scope and opportunities for these people to listen to Islamic message? Have we given the true message of Islam to these people? How dare we are to call them with disbelief and hypocrisy while we have not reached them out with message of Islam? 

          I think we have done little in this aspect of reaching out with the message of Islam to humanity.  While we have failed in our duty these radicals have given negative impact to the message of Islam by these attacks…I shall inshallah continue…next week implications of these on Muslims in EU..