By Ahmed Wetaka
Dear Editor,
Following the twin city bombings, a number of Muslims have been stigmatized. Some sections of the public have failed to differentiate between the activities of rogues using Islam to further their agenda and innocent Muslims struggling to practice their faith to the best of their abilities.
We have heard cases of Muslim women being forced to remove veils or Muslims being turned away from some public offices probably on suspicion of being suicide bombers. Some fanatics have gone to the extent of quoting verses of the Holy Quran without context to paint Islam as a religion of terror, which means all Muslims are terrorists.
They forget that every verse in the Holy Quran has a story behind it. It can’t be taken at its face value without understanding the reason behind its revelation. Those quoting the verses of the Holy Quran out of their context are not better than the terrorists. Trying to paint all Muslim as a terrorist is playing down right into the hands of terrorists and extremists.
Their agenda is to cause terror and drive a wedge between people who were hitherto co-existing peacefully. The acts of terror committed in the name of Islam are shocking to Muslims just like they are none to Muslims. No sane Muslim, can pride themself in killing other people in the name of religion. Eminent Muslim scholars have issued verdicts distancing Islam from all acts of terror no matter the reason or goal.
Bombing innocent people regardless of their religious beliefs goes against the teachings of Islam, which preaches non-compulsion in religion. A number of Muslim critics have attempted to equate the terror acts to Jihad, which they wrongly refer to as holy war. First and foremost, the word holy war is alien to Muslim vocabulary because holy war would be translated as Al-ħarb al-muqaddasah. Jihad on the other means effort or endeavors against man‘s own self.
According to Dr. Abdulmajeed Hassan Bello in his paper titled “Concept of jihad and its nature in Islam,” Jihad is a duty in Islam, which may be summarized as the fight for good against evil in every connection and in every field, beginning with a man‘s own heart and mind. Thus, today it can be used to describe the personal struggle to keep the fast of Ramadhan and guide people to the common good. Based on this, my appeal to all Ugandans of goodwill and hearts is to join the majority of Muslims to condemn all acts of terrorism, which neither has faith nor color.
The writer is a Muslim and practicing journalist
