SHAFAQNA- Every time I hear of an attack by these religious fanatics my heart breaks into a million pieces – and we owe it to the victims to live in peace in a tolerant society.
When I see the pictures of the Belgium bomb victims and the bodies of children and women killed in the blast in Pakistan, tears run down my cheeks.
I imagine if my brother, husband or kids were innocently caught up in a terrorist attack or murdered by a
religious fanatic.
The pain would be indescribable. My life and the lives of their friends and the rest of their families would be devastated, and our faith in humanity shaken. So every time I hear of a terrorist attack, my heart breaks into a million pieces.
But less than 24 hours after last week’s atrocities in Belgium, a businessman tweeted: “I confronted a Muslim woman yesterday in Croydon. I asked her to explain Brussels.”
He went on to say: “She said, ‘Nothing to do with me’. A mealy mouthed reply.”
If that businessman, Matthew Doyle, had asked me to “explain Brussels” I’d have said: “Haven’t you seen the news? All those people died in terrorists attacks. It’s devastating, isn’t it?”
I actually feel very sorry for Mr Doyle because to me he represents the uninformed, ignorant and downright stupid people who think being Islamophobic is a badge of honour and believe people can understand his emotions running wild after what happened in Belgium.
But what gives this man the right to think a Muslim woman would not be touched emotionally in the same way I hope he was when he heard the horrendous news?
As a British-born Muslim woman I can tell you that every time I hear of terrorist attacks I want to scream, “why? why? why?”
I think of all the innocent people who will have died. I think of all the repercussions that occur on innocent Muslims directly after the attacks.
I think of all the innocent families on both sides devastated, their lives affected for ever. And I know I speak for the majority of British Muslims when I write this.
Why can’t people like Matthew Doyle see that Islamophobia is exactly what these despicable, evil, moronic terrorists want to spread throughout our communities?
Many Muslims around the world have been the casualties of Isis terrorists calling themselves Muslim.
I don’t get any special protection just because I’m Muslim. They are indiscriminate in who they kill. Women, children, black, white, Muslim or non-Muslim, they just want to murder innocent people.
The ultimate goal for Isis and terrorists like them is to divide people, communities and societies; for non-Muslims to take out their anger and frustrations on innocent Muslims and for carnage to take over.
I’m angry by what is happening, but my overwhelming emotional reaction is to love – not to lash out and hurt. Otherwise I would be no better than those murderers or terrorists.
I look around my local community and see the diversity of people getting on. That’s what most of us experience on a daily basis in Britain.
And that’s what makes our country so special and successful.
That’s what makes Brits so respected around the world.
There is no other country where so many different people from different backgrounds live shoulder by shoulder so peacefully.
We owe it to those who died in Brussels, Lahore and around the world at the hands of terrorists to continue living peacefully in our tolerant, liberal, democratic and civilised societies.
Source: Mirror.co.uk