Mumbai

Bismillaah-hir-Rahmaan-nir-Raheem
In the name of Allah (God), the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Headlines across the world report of the unimaginable numbers of deaths occurring in one city over a time period of a few days in the face of a few men. It is undoubtedly a sad and difficult moment for the families of the victims, who, according to some reports, consisted of Hindus, Jews, Christians, and Muslims. The world over expressed its condolences and empathy for the Indian people suffering the ordeal. The Muslim nations and people extended their support to and also shared in the grief of the people of Mumbai. Although the situation in itself is devastating beyond imagination, the sad reality is that this carnage of human lives is not the first of its kind.

Human history is wrought with similar incidents -some of a greater and some of a lesser scale, and yet year in and year out we learn nothing from it. We pride ourselves of being advanced and civilized people; we pride ourselves in being well-read in our history and thus informed enough to not let our descendants repeat the mistakes of our predecessors. Yet, we continue to falter. It is, therefore, this lack of growth, this lack of change that is the real devastation -the crux of the sorrow.

In the modern day, the issue of this violence has been taken a step further; after witnessing such loss of life we consume ourselves in the "blame game," and Muslims are usually put at the brunt of it all. In defense the Muslims, and some people of other faiths aware of the values and ideals of Islam, tell the world that Islam condemns such violence -the taking of innocent lives. The frequently quoted verse of the Qur`an is put forward: " if anyone killed a person without due right (not in retaliation of murder) or to spread mischief in the land - it would be as if he killed all mankind, and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of all mankind" (5:32). This is, indeed, a very beautiful verse of the Qur`an which eloquently provides the basis for forming a humane society. However, what we tend to forget and/or fail to point out, is that this is a rule laid down by Allah (God) for all humankind. The verse quoted is only a portion of the entire verse and a look into the context of the verse reveals an important message for all of humankind.

After describing the first murder in human history -the story of Habil (Abel) and Qabil (Cain), Allah (God) says in the Qur`an, "Because of that, We ordained for the Children of Israel that if anyone killed a person, not in retaliation of murder, or to spread mischief in the land - it would be as if he killed all mankind, and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of all mankind" (5:32). This was, then, a decree first to the Jews, the Christians, and then also now to the Muslims. Undeniably, then, it is a collective duty of humanity to end the spilling of blood of the thousands and millions of innocent people around the world -from Indonesia, Thailand, Chechnya, Afghanistan, Kashmir, Iraq, Sudan, Nigeria, to Palestine, Georgia, and the rest of the world. This is the the fitrah (the innate nature) of humans upon which we were created.

It is no wonder we have a detestation for terrorism and are working hard to bring an end to it. We must ask ourselves, though: Are we really working hard to end terrorism? If we are, then does that mean we are indiscriminately targeting all kinds terrorism, whether it be institutionalized, nationalized, or even in the name of security?

Just some food for thought.

'Alal-Liqaa
Until the next post,