Not All Muslims are Jihadists! In UAE a Mosque is Renamed as ‘ Mary, Mother of Jesus’?
When America was attacked on 11 September 2008 by Muslim terrorists, many Americans started their hate against the Muslim community, but slowly days later, they realized that it was only a part of the Muslims who call themselves Islamists/Jihadists turned TERRORISTS who committed the cruel act by destroying the World Trade Centre twin towers. And recently the serial attacks in Sri Lanka on Churches and hotels by Jihadists had once again resulted in hate and anger against the Muslims worldwide, with comments posted on Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter, etc criticizing and condemning the Muslims. But that’s not right to do- to blame the entire Muslim brethren for a cruel and merciless act done by certain Islamic radicals.
In Mangaluru
Yes, every time an attack is carried out by Muslim militants, people see collective blame rear its head after an act of terror committed by a member of the Islamic faith. “Maybe most [Muslims are] peaceful, but until they recognize and destroy their growing jihadist cancer they must be held responsible. There’s nothing logical about condemning millions of people — who are spread across the globe and are unrelated to each other except by religious tradition — for the actions of a few. You wouldn’t blame all white people for the actions of Dylann Roof, who walked into a church in Charleston, South Carolina, and killed nine African-American worshipers. You wouldn’t blame all Christians for that act of one Christian.
In New Delhi
Similarly, in India, Lynchings and so many riots, have marked communal violence in the last few years, in a political atmosphere that emboldened the assailants and ensured they got away with it. A month after Narendra Modi was sworn in as the Prime Minister of India, promising to live up to the election slogan of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas”, Mohsin Shaikh, a technocrat in Pune, was lynched by activists of the Hindu Rashtra Sena, a local body espousing Hindutva. The nation, in the middle of a honeymoon with the new political dispensation, was only too willing to treat the lynching as an aberration. The dream of inclusive development, job creation and smart cities was too precious to be allowed to die with the death of one individual. Or so it seemed. Shaikh was soon forgotten as collateral damage.
During the press meet, leaders Mysuru chapter of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind appealed to Muslims to stand outside St Philomena’s Church, Mysuru on Sunday 28 April while Church service was underway to offer solidarity to Christians following the terror attacks in Sri Lanka that killed over 350 people.
Things changed in 2015 when on September 28 Mohammad Akhlaq was dragged out of his bedroom on to the veranda of his house and then out on to the street to be lynched by a mob in Dadri, an agricultural township in Uttar Pradesh. Accusing him of cow slaughter, the assailants killed Akhlaq blow by blow, breaking one bone, then another, a rib, then another. As Akhlaq’s mutilated body was returned to his family, the nation was horrified. It was beyond the comprehension of civil society how a man sleeping in his bedroom could be dragged to the street and lynched in full public view and the video of the abominable act shared online. As civil society, and some political parties, notably the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Communist Party of India and the Aam Aadmi Party, called for justice, Modi’s silence screamed the loudest. Yes, we have heard about many such brutal acts by Hindutvas, but we can’t blame and hate the entire Hindu community.
“Mary, the Mother of Jesus” Mosque in Abu Dhabi-UAE
People who engage in collective blame of Muslims are more likely to agree with statements like, “We should ban the wearing of the Islamic veil,” and, “We should ban the opening of any new mosques in this country.” If you collectively blame an entire group for the actions of individuals, it makes it totally reasonable to exact your revenge from any person from that group. You get a cycle going on where each cycle is motivated to commit violence against totally innocent members of the other group. Again, the key to this exercise is that you can’t start by calling someone a hypocrite outright. You have to lead them to that thought. So people should think before criticizing a particular community, just because of a few perverts, hypocrites, and terrorists in that community.
Ever since the attacks in Sri Lanka by Muslim Islamists, many Muslim organizations, leaders from Muslim countries have condemned the act, and have assured full support to the Sri Lanka government and Srilankans. Even in Mangaluru, a Muslim organization had a silent protest condemning the brutal attack in Sri Lanka. Today (Sunday, April 28) hundreds of Muslims have gathered outside St Philomena’s Church, Mysuru as a mark of solidarity with Christians, because after the serial bomb blasts shook Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, members of the Muslim community aim to impart a powerful message to the world that ‘hate cannot divide unity’. JeIM Mysuru president Munawwar Pasha in an audio message which has become viral has given a call to Muslims and members of other communities to stand by Christians at this hour of grief.
Pasha is also heard saying that when a similar attack happened at a mosque in New Zealand, people from various communities stood with Muslims in solidarity. “Mosques in various parts of the world saw Christians, Jews, Sikhs, etc offering protection and in solidarity with the Muslims. Sri Lanka suffered an appalling attack on Easter Sunday. Churches were attacked while their congregation was in worship, just as those in New Zealand were,” he is heard saying. While around 253 people lost lives in Sri Lanka’s bomb blasts, it may be recalled that fifty people were killed when a gunman fired at two mosques at Christchurch in New Zealand during Friday prayers on March 15.
In the video, in this report, you could hear the eminence Archbishop in Sri Lanka expressing his thoughts and gratefulness to the leaders of the Muslim countries for their support and encouragement during the time of distress and sadness among Srilankans. Here is yet another story that I would like to share is about the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) capital,, now renamed Mariam Umm Eisa “Mary, Mother of Jesus”. In 2017, Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Abu Dhabi crown prince and deputy supreme commander of the UAE armed forces, had ordered that the mosque be renamed to “consolidate bonds of humanity between followers of different religions.”
LET THERE BE PEACE & UNITY AMONG ALL RELIGIONS
Mary plays a prominent role in the Christian and Islamic traditions. In the meantime, Rev Canon Andrew Thompson of St. Andrew’s Church, an Anglican parish near the newly renamed mosque, had expressed his gratitude in an interview with Gulf News. “We are delighted that we are celebrating something that we have in common between both our faiths,” he said. Rev Thompson also said that Mary “symbolises obedience to God” in both faiths and that he looked forward to “growing in deeper understanding” with members of the Islamic faith.
The move to rename the mosque – which was formerly known as the Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed Mosque – reflects the UAE’s efforts to appear as champions religious tolerance in the region. Although the UAE’s official religion is Islam, the nation’s constitution includes a clause guaranteeing the freedom to practice any religion. The International Institute for Management Development in Switzerland also ranked the UAE first regionally and third globally for religious tolerance. In 2015, the Roman Catholic Church in Abu Dhabi opened its second church, according to the State Department of the United States. The UAE also granted land to construct the first Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi.
So with all these examples we see and hear, wouldn’t it be nice to “STOP” HATING, CRITICIZING & showing ANGER against a particular Community just because of the disharmony, hatred and attacks created by a small group from that community. I hope that you all will agree with me on this subject!
Watch the message on video by his eminence Archbishop of Colombo-Sri Lanka: