By: Mamata Tharima
Montgazette Staff Writer
September 11th and the media’s coverage of radical Muslim activities lead some anti-Muslim protestors to publicly burn copies of the Quran and vandalize
mosques to show their hatred for Muslims worldwide. On top of this, the media continues to focus on critical stereotypes of Muslims and documenting violations of
their rights. The controversial and misused term of Jihad is one of the roots of this hatred. This Arabic word means “struggle or strive for a noble cause with determination without causing any harm.” Many non-Muslims use the word Jihad to mean “Holy War,” which was first used to describe the Christian Crusades from the ninth to twelfth centuries. “The misuse of Jihad contradicts Islam,” Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, Chairman of the Islamic Supreme Council of America writes in his article “Jihad: A Misunderstood Concept from Islam – What Jihad is, and is not.” Shaykh Kabbani points out that the Quran and Islamic law do not define Jihad as just killing. The concept of Jihad has been hijacked by many political and religious extremists to commit violence and terror against many innocent people. According to Cosmas Akuta, a communication professor at Montgomery County Community College, “We should not require people in terms of proselytizing or get people in your religion to do evils whether in deeds or speech…I think we should use religion for good and to uplift people.” The media and news channels cover stories that interest them and appeal to a mainstream audience but sometimes the coverage can be biased. In 2015, there was a shooting of three young Muslims in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. All of them were shot in the head by their neighbor who was an atheist and made antiIslamic statements on social media. The parents of the victims reported that their children were harassed because of their appearance and felt threatened by their neighbor on multiple occasions. Several organizations, educational institutions and interfaith services, taking full advantage of the freedoms from the United States Constitution, express brotherhood and respect of Muslims. Julie Sullivan, the president of St. Thomas University, a Catholic university in Minnesota, offered a statement of support for Muslim students and staff. She said, “At a time of deeply troubling anti-Muslim political rhetoric in American society, we at the University of St. Thomas reiterate our welcome to Muslims as members of our community, our gratitude for the many contributions that Muslims make to our community and our unwavering support especially for our many Muslim students.”
President Barack Obama visited a mosque in Baltimore, Maryland to send a strong message of support to Muslim-Americans and to defend religious freedom in America. In his speech, he said, “If we are serious about freedom of religion—and I am speaking now to my fellow Christians who remain the majority in this country—we have to understand an attack on one faith is an attack on all our faiths.” We as humans should continue to work collaboratively to fight against violence and terrorism to make the world a better place to live in harmony with one another.
Mamata Tharima Courtesy of the author.
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