The differences between Islam and the West seem to be increasing. Currently, it has reached its peak. Is it really impossible to bring the two to understand and accept each other? Who is to blame for this increasing mutual dislike, even hatred in some cases? What can we do to from our small positions to make the sharply contrasting ideologies come together?
Even the West, at one point of time, considered women’s voting rights a taboo until some time back, but now it is as natural as breathing. So, why can’t the West embrace Islam the way it has readily accepted many ideas that they considered taboo once. May be the West needs to open its doors a little wider. Let their fellow Muslim brethren breathe a little. It might help to stop the harassment of anyone with a Muslim name such as Ahmed, Mohammad, Hossain or Abdullah at every airport. It might also help if increasing regions in the UK did not ban the use of burqa or hijab by Muslim girls. If someone has the right to show their body, as the West claims, then it is only fair that others have the right to cover theirs. If it is fair that the Japanese women wear kimono while walking on French streets, then why can’t an Iranian Muslim wear hijab to school? If we stare at a black person because he is black then it is labeled racism. Then why isn’t it considered racism when a Muslim is stared at for being a Muslim?
Would it be too much, to ask of the West, to not look at each Muslim as if they were all Osama bin Laden reincarnated? All Muslims are not terrorists, contrary to popular belief.
I am a Muslim. I can see that the extremists of Islam have gone so far out of the Islamic way of life that it is impossible to call them Muslims any longer. If a Muslim kills an innocent human being, it is as if he had killed all of the humans on earth. If a Muslim saves an innocent human being then, it is as if he had saved all of the humans on earth. This is a verse from The Quran itself. Notice here that it says “innocent humans,” it does not say innocent Muslims. But do the people bombing hospitals or schools or any other establishment give value to this one simple verse alone? It doesn’t seem so. Then can they be called Muslims? Yet, Quran-abiding Muslims all over the world have to carry the burden of their sins. It is true that the extremists have stemmed from Islam, but they are Muslims no more.
I have seen people say hateful things against the religion I follow. While I admit that these extremists are no less, in fact more perhaps, to be blamed for the prejudice the West bears against Islam, the West is not exactly helping either. What we need is to understand each other: the West and Islam. The West should try to find out what true Islam is, and Muslims should get back to their original religion which teaches nothing if not tolerance.
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