Where there’s hope, there is a way. There’s nothing in this whole world that cannot be achieved by human beings if they really want to. This last phrase is of more importance; “if they really want to”. This is important because I see the reason why the West and the Muslims of the world are not at an unambiguous peace ever is because they have never actually wanted to. This stands true for most of the western countries and most of the Muslim countries –if not all.
We know that Muslims make up around one fourth to one third of the world’s population, which means that every third or fourth person that a westerner meets will be a Muslim. Similarly, the term West if considered in the usual, broader context includes nearly 80 percent of the world’s developed countries. The aforesaid means that either the West hating Muslims unsuccessfully try to confine Islam and Muslims to the other 20 percent countries, or be at good terms with the West!
That being said, let’s also refute the exaggerated picture of animosity that the media depicts between Islam and the West. Although there are factions that would never want a truce between Muslims and the West, but that is not all! If we try to do some calculations, we would find that the extremists among Muslims would represent such a small percentage of the whole, and that would never put them in a position to call the cards for all the Muslims. But since the media gives rise to everything that can turn their TRP up, they only show the alarming dangerous and negative sides of the Bearded Men. Let me refer to a few examples just to show that a contrasting image exists to what the media shows. Have a look at Turkey, a completely Muslim dominated country that has nothing to do with all that goes on the TV about Muslim extremists. Look at the people of Egypt, who fought for a revolution within, and it had no extremist element in it. Look at Pakistan, whether you accept it or not, the country is giving up a lot for the war on terror, having lost thousands of people and billions of dollars they still stand in alliance to those fighting the war against terror.
Things are not as bleak as they seem, we just need to look again. Yes, there are disquieting elements among us; both of us, but the peace seekers are in a dominating number. Don’t we see thousands and thousands of Muslims and Christians living together as the best of friends in the US or the UK or Canada? Can they even image to be on as stringent terms as the media portrays about the relationship between the West and Muslims? If the Muslims are all bad how can a certain British MP named George Galloway have a soft corner towards Pakistan and Muslims, why don’t he and the rest of the world simply detest Muslims? There are people who do so too, but even in the west, the peace seekers are in a dominating number. When people get killed in the Oklahoma Tornado, Muslims pray for them. When die in the Boston Bombing, Muslims around the world and in Islamic Cultural Center north Frenso pray for them. When innocent children get killed in the Connecticut shooting, Muslims from the Newtown Islamic Center pray for them. Although it might come as a surprise to you, but recently a commendable group of Imams from all India, Indonesia, Jordan, Bosnia and Palestine visited the Auschwitz Wall of Dead and prayed for the Holocaust victims.
Islam is not all bad; on the contrary it is the world’s most peaceful religion with a balance to keep it survivable practically. I don’t deny the existence of extremist elements among Muslims, but I will purport till my last breath the fact that they are not the true example of a Muslim, they are people who have gone astray from the path of God and by doing that, they have nothing to do with Islam what so ever. The West and Muslims can work! You simply cannot expect more than 55 percent of the world’s population to take up arms against each other –23 percent of the world population are Muslims and 32 percent Christian. Neither they should, nor will they.
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