Those who think themselves Muslims but do not endorse the brutality of
ISIS should not condemn the acts of barbarity by the latter as only
apologies for being Muslims. It should not be an apology. Also, the
verbal condemnation is not enough. Such Muslims owe it to the world and
to their claim that Islam has nothing to do with such madness of
violence and brutality that they should make their version of Islam
triumphant over that of ISIS and capable of stopping this madness. It is
primarily the responsibility of such Muslims because those madmen in
the group come from Muslim societies and are using Islam and plight of
Muslim societies to justify their madness.
The sense of this responsibility should not come from any sense of collective guilt or as a collective punishment. This responsibility comes from you being true to your claims about your faith and ideology and the claimed commitment of your faith promote well being of humankind and prevent harms to them (al-amr bil-ma'roof wan-nahyu a'n-al munkar) and also because the harm is coming from your house.
Some may ask why single out ISIS only when killings and atrocities are being committed by many others far more in numbers. They may cite killings of civilians by USA and NATO drones in Pakistan, Afghanistan and other West Asian countries, Israeli killings in Gaza, executions in Iran, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries, atrocities of China in Tibet and Xinjiang etc. This argument does not hold ground because two wrongs do not make a right. Atrocities any where in the world are unacceptable and condemnable. All should work to prevent them. Every killing is brutal and tragic, whether it is crude beheading or surgical droning. But killing of people like British aid worker Alan Henning is more tragic. He was there trying to save people. Killing of children in their sleeps are also more tragic. Those who claim to be Muslim and also claim that their Islam does not allow such killings should work more to stop this barbarism being committed in their name.
The sense of this responsibility should not come from any sense of collective guilt or as a collective punishment. This responsibility comes from you being true to your claims about your faith and ideology and the claimed commitment of your faith promote well being of humankind and prevent harms to them (al-amr bil-ma'roof wan-nahyu a'n-al munkar) and also because the harm is coming from your house.
Some may ask why single out ISIS only when killings and atrocities are being committed by many others far more in numbers. They may cite killings of civilians by USA and NATO drones in Pakistan, Afghanistan and other West Asian countries, Israeli killings in Gaza, executions in Iran, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries, atrocities of China in Tibet and Xinjiang etc. This argument does not hold ground because two wrongs do not make a right. Atrocities any where in the world are unacceptable and condemnable. All should work to prevent them. Every killing is brutal and tragic, whether it is crude beheading or surgical droning. But killing of people like British aid worker Alan Henning is more tragic. He was there trying to save people. Killing of children in their sleeps are also more tragic. Those who claim to be Muslim and also claim that their Islam does not allow such killings should work more to stop this barbarism being committed in their name.
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