Paris Attacks and Islam

For the first time since 1889 Eiffel Tower was switched off as a sign of mourning on November 13, 2015.

Written By: Komal Aziz.

What happened in Paris this Friday was devastating, not just for France, but for the entire world. It was an unfortunate and inhumane incident which should be and is being condemned by almost every human being on this planet. And honestly, coming from a country like Pakistan where these incidents are more than common, i can explicitly say that we feel your loss, Paris. We feel what you're going through because we have lost innocent lives the same way, because of the same monsters. But instead of uniting against such a monstrous group of individuals, blaming an entire religious community for such acts will do no good. We, Muslims, condemn these monstrous acts. No human being can do this. They are not people, let alone be part of a religious group. They are monsters and should be referred to as monsters. How would the people of Paris feel if they are called terrorists today, or if France is called a terrorist country? Their innocent people died because of these terrorists and to be called by their titles would make them feel terrible. We, Pakistanis, feel the same way. Not just Pakistanis, but the people of every Muslim country feel the same. What the world needs to understand is that we are not part of this group, we are the victims. And we want to end this brutality as much as you do. So instead of playing our favourite blame game, if we unite and try of understand each other's pain and loss, we might be able to defeat this common enemy.

I do not understand why people are blaming Islam for this. Instead of claiming that Islam is a violent religion, if you look into the main essence of this religion, you'll find that we are instructed not to kill innocent people.

 “Whoever kills a person [unjustly]…it is as though he has killed all mankind. And whoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved all mankind.” (Qur’an, 5:32)

Additionally, it is heartbreaking how the world has been awoken by this Paris attack and has started posting about how they feel for the people of Paris, but have been turning a blind eye to all the brutal attacks in Muslim countries like Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Is Muslim blood not as important as the blood of the people who lost their lives in the Paris attack? Is our life not equally important? Do we, Muslims, not have the equal right to live peacefully as do the people in the West? We are losing innocent people every single day, yet no one speaks a word against the violence against us? Is this what you call justice?

We are fighting the same war as you, against the same enemy as you. Stop considering us threats, because we are not. Stop punishing an entire community because of what a group of individuals do. They are our enemies more than they are yours because they are portraying a wrong image of our religion. We hate and despise them more than any of you can ever imagine to. Please stop making it hard for us to fight this battle by calling us the monsters we are fighting it against. It hurts.

Lastly, our hearts go out to all those who lost their loved ones in Paris, and in all other countries of the world including Syria, Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and all the other countries facing these attacks. Every person matters, every single life, may it be of a Muslim, Christian, Jew, Hindu, Buddhist or of someone belonging to an ethnic minority, matters. Every life matters. May this world stop generalisations, and use common sense to understand that the vast majority of Muslims throughout the world are facing the same problems. And we need not your blame to make matters worse for us, instead your support.