Understanding Islam
We see very often in the news Muslims being labeled as terrorists. The recent Paris shooting, the Sydney standoff and various other events around the world portray Muslims in a negative light. They are often called “extremists” or “radicals” or “fundamentalist” Muslims. The media point the finger at Muslims as if they were the root cause of the incident. And it seriously affects us Muslims, especially those living in the western world.
The media portrayed the Paris incident as two gunmen who shot 12 people at the Charlie Hebdo magazine office in what they called revenge for repeatedly producing cartoons depicting our beloved Prophet Muhammed (saw) in a bad light. Similarly, the Sydney event was portrayed with hostages being forced to hold a black flag with the Muslim declaration of faith (shahadah: “There is no God but Allah and Muhammed (saw) is his messenger”) written in Arabic on it.
In the aftermath of the Paris incident, one recent report on Al Jazeera showed a Muslim woman being too afraid to confront the camera due to feared backlashes. When asked about it, she said that people now look at her as a suspect behind the shooting. She feels like she is being watched wherever she goes, especially as she wears the hijab, the Muslim headscarf.
This now raises a very important question: how should we handle insult and abuse? Do we lose our temper? Do we fight back: “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”, as the Bible says? How should we react? Sure, revenge is sweet; however what does Islam say about this? How did our beloved Prophet (saw) react to such insult and violence? What does the Quran say about this?
If we believe that humans are the best of creation, why then, when someone insults our religion, do we take it personally? We react with violence, thereby giving into our lower self (nafs). The prophetic way is to look beyond the lower inclinations within us. The prophetic way is to look to our hearts, and show others the good and hide the bad.
When the Prophet (saw) visited Taif (100km southeast of Makkah), he faced stiffed resistance from the people, who told their children to throw stones at him. He was abused verbally and physically to a point that blood started dripping from his body and stuck to his sandals. He even lost a tooth in that mission. So how did our beloved Prophet (saw) react to such bad treatment? Did he resort to violence in revenge for their actions? No. Rather, the opposite occurred. When the Angel of Mountains appeared and asked if he should destroy the people of Taif, our bruised and battered Prophet (saw), with blood dripping from his feet and his body suffering from utmost pain, replied, “No”, in the hope that maybe one day the children of Taif would become Muslims. Subhanallah! How eloquent was his reply. And we know that the inhabitants of Taif are Muslim today.
At the early stages of Islam, we remember how the Makkans tried to kill the Prophet (saw). Under the command of Allah (swt), he migrated to Medina. Our Prophet returned to Makkah, this time with a strong army and the upper hand. Did he kill all those who had opposed him in the beginning? No. Rather, he forgave them. As a result of his kindness, a lot of them embraced Islam. This is the way of Islam, the noble way.
Cast your minds back to yet another prophetic example. We all know the story of the woman who left rubbish on the doorstep of the Prophet’s house. Without any complaint, remorse or ego, our Prophet (saw) cleared it every day. Then one day, he noted that there was no rubbish on his doorstep, and found out that she was ill. He visited her, comforted her, and provided food for her. Allah (swt) turned her heart towards Islam. The kindness that our Prophet (saw) showed won her heart and she became a Muslimah. This is the Islamic way.
And there are many other examples where people who fought against the Prophet (saw) later accepted Islam. For example, Khalid ibn Walid and Amr ibn As. Khalid fought against the Muslims in the battle of Badr. Later he became a Muslim, led many battles on the side of the Muslims and earned the title “Sword of Allah”. Similarly, Amr fought with the Quraish against the Muslims in several battles. Then he saw Muslims praying, learnt about Islam, and converted.
We don’t know. Someday our worst enemies might accept Islam and stand shoulder to shoulder with us. That is Allah’s secret. We all remember Arnoud van Doorn, the Dutch politician and producer of a film insulting Prophet Muhammad (saw). What did he do? After reading and learning about Islam, he became a Muslim!
The Quran says in Surah Al Ma’ida verse 32 that “whoever kills one innocent life, it’s as if he has killed all of mankind; and whoever saves one life, it is as if he has saved all of mankind”.
We see many youths heading to the Middle East to fight over there. More often than not, it is a battle with Muslims against Muslims. How do we know that we are right? How do we know that we are not going there to kill innocent life, or even someone who is beloved to Allah (swt)? As the famous saying goes “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions”. Therefore we must be careful in what we do.
Our Prophet (saw) has said that this is a time of fitna (trial). People are being killed and they don’t know why they are being killed. People are killing and they don’t know who they are killing.
On the other hand, have we thought about the good we can do over here? There are many relief efforts taking place around the globe. Many people are donating clothes and other essentials, and are volunteering their time to help those who are affected. Why not join them?
As the idiom goes, “Don’t add fuel to the fire.” We as Muslims should be fire fighters, not arsonists!”
This article is an excerpt from ‘Rocket Science’, the newsletter of Mount Albert Islamic Trust & is reprinted with their permission. www.mtalbertislamiccentre.org.
We see very often in the news Muslims being labeled as terrorists. The recent Paris shooting, the Sydney standoff and various other events around the world portray Muslims in a negative light. They are often called “extremists” or “radicals” or “fundamentalist” Muslims. The media point the finger...
We see very often in the news Muslims being labeled as terrorists. The recent Paris shooting, the Sydney standoff and various other events around the world portray Muslims in a negative light. They are often called “extremists” or “radicals” or “fundamentalist” Muslims. The media point the finger at Muslims as if they were the root cause of the incident. And it seriously affects us Muslims, especially those living in the western world.
The media portrayed the Paris incident as two gunmen who shot 12 people at the Charlie Hebdo magazine office in what they called revenge for repeatedly producing cartoons depicting our beloved Prophet Muhammed (saw) in a bad light. Similarly, the Sydney event was portrayed with hostages being forced to hold a black flag with the Muslim declaration of faith (shahadah: “There is no God but Allah and Muhammed (saw) is his messenger”) written in Arabic on it.
In the aftermath of the Paris incident, one recent report on Al Jazeera showed a Muslim woman being too afraid to confront the camera due to feared backlashes. When asked about it, she said that people now look at her as a suspect behind the shooting. She feels like she is being watched wherever she goes, especially as she wears the hijab, the Muslim headscarf.
This now raises a very important question: how should we handle insult and abuse? Do we lose our temper? Do we fight back: “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”, as the Bible says? How should we react? Sure, revenge is sweet; however what does Islam say about this? How did our beloved Prophet (saw) react to such insult and violence? What does the Quran say about this?
If we believe that humans are the best of creation, why then, when someone insults our religion, do we take it personally? We react with violence, thereby giving into our lower self (nafs). The prophetic way is to look beyond the lower inclinations within us. The prophetic way is to look to our hearts, and show others the good and hide the bad.
When the Prophet (saw) visited Taif (100km southeast of Makkah), he faced stiffed resistance from the people, who told their children to throw stones at him. He was abused verbally and physically to a point that blood started dripping from his body and stuck to his sandals. He even lost a tooth in that mission. So how did our beloved Prophet (saw) react to such bad treatment? Did he resort to violence in revenge for their actions? No. Rather, the opposite occurred. When the Angel of Mountains appeared and asked if he should destroy the people of Taif, our bruised and battered Prophet (saw), with blood dripping from his feet and his body suffering from utmost pain, replied, “No”, in the hope that maybe one day the children of Taif would become Muslims. Subhanallah! How eloquent was his reply. And we know that the inhabitants of Taif are Muslim today.
At the early stages of Islam, we remember how the Makkans tried to kill the Prophet (saw). Under the command of Allah (swt), he migrated to Medina. Our Prophet returned to Makkah, this time with a strong army and the upper hand. Did he kill all those who had opposed him in the beginning? No. Rather, he forgave them. As a result of his kindness, a lot of them embraced Islam. This is the way of Islam, the noble way.
Cast your minds back to yet another prophetic example. We all know the story of the woman who left rubbish on the doorstep of the Prophet’s house. Without any complaint, remorse or ego, our Prophet (saw) cleared it every day. Then one day, he noted that there was no rubbish on his doorstep, and found out that she was ill. He visited her, comforted her, and provided food for her. Allah (swt) turned her heart towards Islam. The kindness that our Prophet (saw) showed won her heart and she became a Muslimah. This is the Islamic way.
And there are many other examples where people who fought against the Prophet (saw) later accepted Islam. For example, Khalid ibn Walid and Amr ibn As. Khalid fought against the Muslims in the battle of Badr. Later he became a Muslim, led many battles on the side of the Muslims and earned the title “Sword of Allah”. Similarly, Amr fought with the Quraish against the Muslims in several battles. Then he saw Muslims praying, learnt about Islam, and converted.
We don’t know. Someday our worst enemies might accept Islam and stand shoulder to shoulder with us. That is Allah’s secret. We all remember Arnoud van Doorn, the Dutch politician and producer of a film insulting Prophet Muhammad (saw). What did he do? After reading and learning about Islam, he became a Muslim!
The Quran says in Surah Al Ma’ida verse 32 that “whoever kills one innocent life, it’s as if he has killed all of mankind; and whoever saves one life, it is as if he has saved all of mankind”.
We see many youths heading to the Middle East to fight over there. More often than not, it is a battle with Muslims against Muslims. How do we know that we are right? How do we know that we are not going there to kill innocent life, or even someone who is beloved to Allah (swt)? As the famous saying goes “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions”. Therefore we must be careful in what we do.
Our Prophet (saw) has said that this is a time of fitna (trial). People are being killed and they don’t know why they are being killed. People are killing and they don’t know who they are killing.
On the other hand, have we thought about the good we can do over here? There are many relief efforts taking place around the globe. Many people are donating clothes and other essentials, and are volunteering their time to help those who are affected. Why not join them?
As the idiom goes, “Don’t add fuel to the fire.” We as Muslims should be fire fighters, not arsonists!”
This article is an excerpt from ‘Rocket Science’, the newsletter of Mount Albert Islamic Trust & is reprinted with their permission. www.mtalbertislamiccentre.org.
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