After what had happened on 9/11 the world changed quite abruptly. There were quite drastic changes in the foreign policies by America, and it was felt by other nations of the world that America seems to indulge into torture activities. There have been quite different views about this fact, but many think that a high number of people were taken to detention after 9/11. There is a difference between torture and taking the person into custody without being involved in a crime. But who should be held responsible for such kind of activities after 9/11. Obviously, there would be some well-known names behind these kinds of activities.

The American president and his administration members are directly involved in all of those brutal killings of the innocent people that were murdered without any reason in the form of war against terrorism. A report said that the President George W bush also crossed the lines defined for interrogating the people in the constitution. It was also mentioned in the same report that the task forces were not given an access to the classified information, but there were signs, and found proofs during the investigations that the task forces were given illegal access to the classified information.

The report emphasized on the fact that, as far as the finding goes it is absolutely true that America has been involved in torture activities one way or another. There were no solid evidences found, that the task forces use torture and killing to have their operations done so they still continue to be involved in illegal killing. The report also added that the number of people that were held in detention by the task forces has divulged any kind of information to the force, but there is a high probability that the information provided by the person held in detention is 100% correct. All of the records are also not shown.

The detention centers are quite highlighted by the media as it was shown that how prisoners were treated in those detention centers. At some places, it was also written that these detention centers were worse than hell. One the navy men - from Navy department - who was on duty during the treatment of the prisoners in Guantánamo Bay said that the way with which the prisoners were treated was quite unethical. The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel made it clear in its statement that the way the prisoners were treated during the detention was quite under the defined interrogating laws. Many media organizations have held debates on this hot issue as lots of people are convinced with the fact that these kinds of killings should be stopped. Human activists are also playing their part regarding this issue.

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Few days back, I tumbled upon an article on a western website, which alighted upon growing concerns regarding the alleged trend of inducting anti-Christianity content in children’s readers and flicks. My mind instantly flashed back to not so remote past, when amid mass protests and violence Muslims throughout the globe were lashing out against one such film based on an anti-Islamic theme. Yes, you must have guessed that I’m pointing to the September 2012 catastrophe, when outrageous anti-Islamic movie and caricatures in flared and enraged the Muslims so much that they resorted to violence against others, and themselves to make their point. Whether or not the message was understood at the other end is another thing, it made me ponder if the rise in anti-religious sentiments is a common issue. I surfed through the archival sources in search of any evidence and came up with certain conclusions, which I would like to share in this article.

During my humble research, I got to know that history is replete with assaults on faiths by believers of some other faith or the faithless ones. What distinguishes faithful from faithless is the “belief “in some “super being”, which the former clings to and the later scoffs at. An interesting fact is that in most of the cases of anti-religious assaults, Faithfull are at loggerheads with each other.

History testifies that every rising faith has had to face antagonism from the dominant belief system, check the Roman history, wherein the last of Romans tried in vain to curb the rising influence of Christianity and had to yield themselves at the feet of Christian altar (though not without causing some serious damage to the original Christian teachings).

Islam seems to may be facing same kinds of challenges, where the status quo force is unyielding and vindictive. The essence of “faith” is unwavering loyalty, and any challenge is not less than an alarm of war. When the last spate of emotions and anger among Muslims took a violent turn, the local and foreign media started streaming with a multitude of views and responses. The film in question “The innocence of Prophet” was dubbed to be the most cheap outrageous movie, which heated the internet with its 14 minutes trailer and with it burned to ashes the faithful souls of the millions of Muslims world over.

Media went abuzz with speculations and theories about the motives of the movie director and producer Sam Bacile aka Nakoula Basseley-the alleged U.S snitch. It was asked again and again as to what a snitch would aim to achieve from provoking Muslim sentiments, was he doing so to seek some hidden agenda? was he having C.I.A’s backing or Israel’s? was Al Qaeda using him to firm the ground for its upcoming attack on the American Embassy in Bin Ghazi? which was to leave dead 4 U.S nationals in its wake? or was it orchestrated to divert the Pakistani’s from more pressing issues at hand (like American intervention, exasperating War on Terrorism, Afghan War, NATO excesses, NATO containers etc.) to mere issues of faith. Whatever the ulterior motives of that enraging anti-Islamic movie may be, it for sure proved one thing that Muslims can easily be distracted by inducing matters of religion and that the so-called open-minded and pragmatic Western media can continue to be not- so-open minded in matters concerning Islam. Films questioning Christianity or Zionism or holocaust may be unwelcoming and alarming, but the blasphemous caricatures of a Muslim prophet or unbelievingly outrageous film against Islam can get a shut eyed response in the name of “freedom of speech”.

The Muslim world has the right to question whether freedom does not entail some amount of responsibility. The same question may be asked of the ever so emotional Muslim ummah, does not faith require us to be more patient and sage in the matters concerning faith. In a frenzy of a moment, we start burning and killing each other lest the enemy. Islamophobia may be a reality or our delusional attempt at concealing our weaknesses, because where faith in Allah ends there starts the infinite chaos. Trust me; the entire Muslim ummah appears to be in chaos right now!

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Islamphobia

Islam  is a balanced religion. It believes in respecting all sects, all cultures and all civilizations. All laws relate to Islam are meant for Muslim benefits . It is true that in the recent years, Islam has become a victim of extremism. The purpose of Islam has never been to spread Islamophobia. Islamic ideas have been exploited  to give them the shape of Islamophobia. Islam does not define a mosque and state as distinctive. A mosque is there, to provide a forum to the Muslim to unite and pray. The gesture is to promote congregational prayers, which is also an aspect of Christianity. Islam does not believe in forcing its concepts upon Non-Muslims. Unethical Jehad has never been an Islamic thought. It is just that some extremist groups are trying to manipulate Islam and use the Ideals to their benefit. Islam believes in respecting all religions. That is what the Holy Prophet (PBUH) taught the Muslims. Islam does not preach unkindness to any. May it be your enemy  or slave. These are not the aspects of Jihad. A woman can legally have a physical relationship with her husband only. It is definitely no concept of Jihad. Islam believes in respecting a woman, not exploiting her dignity and respect.  Islam does not allow illegal confiscation of property during Jihad. Islam does not promote destruction. Taxes does not mean degrading. Taxes are defined to establish a system and maintain a proper division of wealth. If Christian and jews had to pay Jiziah, Muslims had to pay Zakat .Brutality is not a custom of Islam. A Muslim derives so much contentment from Islamic values, that they do not need to run away from the religion. Anything , which drives a person from sanity is not liked in Islam. The reason being that all wrongs can be committed, when a person is drunk and is not in a normal state of mind. This is human nature, that we cannot drive contentment until we avenge someone for the bad they have done to us. However Islam prefers forgiveness. Sometimes a harsh punishment is necessary to end the evil. Islam has not imposed any extremism on any sex. Exile has never been an Islamic principle. Most of the harsh punishments mentioned are not a part of Islam. They are again manipulated thoughts. Regarding the inheritance law, a woman inherits half of the man . Well there is a reason behind it. For example a man earns all his life. He might have sons and daughters both.  This law is established so that Whatever a man has earned should circulate in his family rather than going completely  to outsiders like the son-in-laws. Women usually think from an emotional perspective and might be carried away in situations where strength is required. That is the reason for the court law. Divorce is a condemned action by Islam. However three times means three chances, so that  both the partners have a chance to think and start on a new note, before a breakup. Divorce is not a game and if a husband and wife misuse this right. The law, that a woman has to marry someone else first to go back to the first guy. Well that is a punishment for both for disrespecting their relationship. Four marriages are not for fun. In the pre-Islamic days when the women got widowed in wars, they needed male support. That is why four marriages are allowed in Islam. Islam does  not allow the mistreatment of your partner. Well marriage is an aspect, where the consent of both the girl and the boy is needed. If they consent, then they can marry. Only valuable items are hidden and trash is exposed. Covering  the head is the symbolic of a woman’s dignity. The above are responses to the Shariah laws. My main thought was to reveal the actual truth and present a proper picture of the reality. We as Muslims, do not intend to promote animosity . We believe in live and let live thought.

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Samad Aslam Khan

Samad Aslam Khan is C.E.O at SKYS Web Solutions. He has the writing bug which is forcing him to contribute for Muslim Academy. He's serving for the Muslim Academy with all the skills he have or he can have. . .

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