This past week has been unfortunately a sad one. In Saudi Arabia, terrorists on the frontiers killed two Saudi border guards along with their commander.
The self-ascribed Islamic State (IS) claimed the attack on the Saudi soldiers along the borders with Iraq. The menace of IS is sweeping across the world. This militant group use Islamic terminology but is far from the true teachings of Islam. As a matter of fact, its actions only bring a bad name to our faith and to us. We pray for the souls of our martyrs.
The IS is proving to be more deadly than its predecessor, the Al-Qaeda. The entire world has become insecure. It seems that no country or no city is safe any longer. In the wake of any dastardly attack anywhere across the world, we Muslims switch to a defensive mode and start offering apologies for those actions by clarifying that such attacks are not at all sanctioned by Islam and that these terrorist organizations should not be considered the true representatives of Islam or Muslims.
We all pray for the families of the victims of such terrorist attacks, wherever they take place. Our hearts go out for all the bereaved people. We pray that God give them strength to bear with the irreparable loss.
We Muslims condemn all terrorist activities taking place in the name of our beautiful religion. These barbaric elements are not from us. They are following their own skewed interpretation of Islam, which Muslims across the world vehemently reject and oppose tooth and nail.
However, I would like to urge my fellow Muslims no to offer apologies for the crimes of those who don’t belong to us. I see no reason for defending our great faith with hollow words.
There is a fine line between sympathy and weakness. Sympathizing with victims and condemning terrorism is the minimum requirement of being a decent human being. While feeling guilty and offering apologies for such incidents just because the perpetrators happen to be the so-called followers of the same religion, is nothing but a display of weakness.
I have said it before on various occasions and would like to repeat myself that we are living in the age of information technology. Today, information about any ideology or religion, country and people is just one click away. If somebody adamantly continues to hold negative views about any religion or people, it is his/her personal problem. Why should we bother about their biased opinion?
Our role as Muslims is just to spread and promote the true teachings of Islam by carrying ourselves in a dignified manner, which is the basic requirement of our great religion. It is said: Actions speak louder than words. Our actions should reflect the teachings or ideals of Islam. The manner in which we deal with others should serve as a testimony to the greatness of our faith. We should not feel obliged to clarify ourselves for the wrongdoings of others. Similarly, we should also not offer apologies for the ignorance of others.
I have always believed that people may sympathize with the weak but they never respect them. And as a proud Muslim I wish to be respected.
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@HatoonKadi
