LONDON, 11 July 2005 — Four explosions on trains and a bus in London left more than 50 people dead and many more injured, disrupting life and causing countless numbers of people pain and sorrow. Once the news broke out, accusing fingers pointed at Muslims generally, as though any terrorist action could only be perpetrated by Muslims. True to form, a self-styled group that attaches the word “Islam” or “Muslim” to its name and claiming affiliation to the so-called Al-Qaeda network was quick to claim responsibility, glorifying the heinous crime and claiming that it did it to serve the cause of Islam.
It must be stated in the clearest of terms that Islam views such acts as crimes of the worst type, because they are aimed at defenseless civilians, causing indiscriminate killing irrespective of nationality, race, color, sex or age. Islam condemns such an operation without hesitation. We always look to the practices of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) throughout his mission for guidance as to what is acceptable in Islam. We find numerous examples of clear rejection of killing defenseless people, even though they belong to the enemy. The clearest of these is the fact that the first Muslim community in Makkah suffered a sustained campaign of brutal persecution that continued for 13 years, but they were forbidden to retaliate. There was no shortage of young, able and resourceful people among them who could have organized some operation against their tormentors, but divine orders made it clear that they were not allowed to do so. The reason was that such actions would inevitably claim some innocent lives, and Islam will never approve of that. Besides, such tactics are always counterproductive.
Moreover, when the Prophet as head of the Islamic state sent out forces to fight against enemies who started wars against Islam, he gave them specific orders not to kill women, children, elderly men, or any noncombatant person. In Islam, war is waged only against an aggressor who tries to suppress the message of Islam, or the Muslim community, or against tyrannical powers that perpetrate injustice against humanity. Thus, nothing can justify the perpetration of the heinous crime committed in London last Thursday, and no argument can be put to justify it under the name of Islam.
Yet, when the initial reaction to such a catastrophic event begins to subside, some questions need to be answered. Why is it that the first reaction always moves in the direction of blaming Islam and Muslims? Western media immediately speak about Muslim involvement, and some politicians are quick to toe this line.
They have not learned from the Oklahoma lesson, when there was a huge explosion in a government building, and the media immediately laid the blame at the door of Muslims, only to be ascertained a few days later that not a single Muslim had anything to do with it. This is merely the result of Islamophobia, a phenomenon that has been nurtured over many years and has now taken root in many Western societies, with the result that Islam is instinctively associated with practically every terrorist attack anywhere in the world. Certain governments in some Muslim countries have helped this phenomenon as they have tried to paint opposition to their dictatorship as coming only from Islamic terrorism.
Worse still, certain Muslim groups have done their best to confirm this trend. They have a vision of continuing conflict between Islam and unbelievers that justifies the killing of innocent people, giving the pretext that such people aide the fight against Islam by being passive, or simply because they pay their taxes. When they issue their statements justifying or claiming responsibility for such attacks, they do not fail to use inflammatory language that could only increase hostility to Islam among ordinary people.
The result is that Islamophobia is on the increase, pushed forward by hostile governments of all shapes and colors, racist groups, and the lunatic fringe of Muslim extremism. This takes the debate concerning terrorism in the wrong direction. In the aftermath of the London bombings, practically all news comments and analyses in all press and electronic media, have been speaking about Islam and how to curb “Islamic terrorism.” Unfortunately many Muslims who contributed to such analyses practically confirmed the presence of the alleged relation between Islam, jihad and terrorism, even when they were at pains to deny such a relation.
Common human wisdom tells us that when we need to find the culprit who committed a crime, we should first of all look for the one who benefits by such a crime. Needless to say, no one would commit a crime unless they hope to gain something out of it. Why would they expose themselves to the risk of being caught and punished unless the benefit outweighs the risk? The investigator should also identify motives for the crime.
In a heinous crime like the London bombings there seems little benefit for any Muslim group, even for the lunatic fringe who may think killing non-Muslims to be acceptable in Islam. I must emphasize that this is totally wrong, but some Muslims claim it to be the case. Not even such people can imagine that their cause could be advanced by such tactics. Even if their motive is simply to avenge the thousands of Muslims killed in different Muslim areas, including Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine, they realize that such an action is totally unlikely to bring about any change in the fortunes of the suffering people in these countries. But even if we assume that they see a benefit helping their cause, is it not right to ask whether they are the only ones who may have a motive?
Dictatorial governments have always used some fabricated or isolated incidents to justify their tyrannical actions. In recent years, Western governments have shown that they are always willing to borrow a leaf of dictators’ book. Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and David Blunkett’s measures that were ruled unconstitutional by the British House of Lords are examples of such readiness. Do we see in the London bombings an act that will play into the hands of Tony Blair’s government? This is not to suggest that the government has any hand in the planning or execution of this crime. It is only likely that in the aftermath of the bombings, the Blair government may find it much easier to introduce some draconian measures of the type that was ruled unconstitutional, without encountering much opposition.
The real sufferers will be the Muslim community in Britain and in other European countries.
An important factor that supports this view is the outcome of the recent general elections in Britain, when the Blair government lost much of its parliamentary majority, and the Muslim community was for the first time more selective in how it votes. The first steps toward shaping a “Muslim vote” factor that influences election results were seen to have taken place. In order to prevent such a factor taking firm roots, something needs to be done now to send the Muslim community back into its long political slumber. What can bring this about better than alienating it from British society?
It should be acknowledged, however, that the possibility is that some Muslims belonging to the lunatic fringe might have been behind the bombing. Muslims have endless grievances against the West, dating back to the colonialism of past centuries. Yet Muslims are always ready to forget past injuries and injustice. They will be the best friends when they are treated on the basis of equality. Today there are large Muslim communities in all European countries and they are grateful for their host or adopted countries. But the continuing injustice that is abetted by the foreign policies of some Western countries, particularly the US, and Britain, does not help to improve relations. Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan, and the great silence over Chechnya are open wounds that do not promise solution in the near future. It is not surprising that they make some Muslims think that they are targeted because of their faith.
So far, Western governments, particularly the US, have sought to address the problem of terrorism by security measures. These have not been largely unsuccessful. Terrorism can only be defeated by addressing its deep causes. Its main cause is the sense of injustice that is keenly felt by Muslims everywhere. It is redressing this injustice that is certain to prevent future tragedies of the sort that took place in Madrid and London.
