No one on this planet accepts injustice, bloodshed, or taboo acts. Whoever accepts this is certainly far from all the divine religions of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.
Likewise, those who carry out these actions are definitely not aware of what is stated in the sacred book of Muslims (the Qur’an), and its great messages that guide to the right path and try to advance the human soul.
Unfortunately, at present, we see those who exploit the Islamic religion to achieve political goals, under the slogan of jihad. But in reality, they strive to achieve material and personal interests, as terrorism does not recognise a religion or a homeland. A good example of this is ISIS.
Indeed, what the terrorist organisation ISIS has done against humanity, including crimes, murder, and bombing, without discrimination, proves that these people do not belong to Islam. They also do not recognise any other religion as well, and they only know the language of bullets, bombs, and killing innocent people.
The killing of an innocent person is a crime by all standards, no matter how the perpetrator tries to hide themselves behind religious, sectarian, or national slogans. Societies cannot be changed by bloody violence and the killing of innocents, just as extremism cannot be eliminated by extremism.
The widening circle of bloody violence in the name of Islam has become a phenomenon that is dangerous for the image of Islam itself, and for Muslims in all the societies in which they live.
This has led to the emergence of Islamophobia, and has also led to the saying “You are a Muslim, then you are a terrorist” being increasingly repeated in the Western media.
This has made all Muslims in the US and Europe targeted or threatened with death by extremists. What is more, the killers of Muslims in the West are all afflicted with madness, racism, xenophobia, but unfortunately, in the opinion of the security authorities and the public opinion in the West, they are not terrorists.
Here, this reflects a double standards suffered by all expatriates, and Arab immigrants, in Europe and the US, as they are always under threat because of their religion.
Supporters of this biased theory claim that whoever plays the role of murderer and rapist, is in the eyes of the world a “Muslim terrorist only”, neither Christian, nor Jew, or even Yazidi, despite the presence of intolerance in all religions.
The truth is that the teachings of our Islamic religion, as is the case in all religions, urge us to respect humanity, help the weak and be kind to them. The teachings also encourage us to treat people with the utmost degree of mercy and righteousness, regardless of religion, colour or race.
Our honourable Messenger also calls us to have mercy on animals, for they are also creatures of God. This is the concept of dealing with animals, the irrational, in Islam, so what is the position of man in this noble religion?
This religion respects a person, even if he adheres to a religion other than Islam, and also respects the right of the individual to choose, protects rights and freedoms, and calls for peace. This is true Islam that terrorist groups that have no religion try to distort and exploit to achieve their goals.
This double standard of norms suffered by Muslims in Western countries is completely contradictory to the language of world peace that all countries of the world are currently promoting.
It also does not take into account that Arab Muslims are the first victims of terrorism, including “Islamic terrorism”, as these terrorist groups do not seek to control Western countries. Rather, they seek to control third world countries to establish an empire that threatens world security.
Kadry El Haggar, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Al-Gomhoria newspaper, and director of the Alexandria Festival of Francophone Cinema
