RickInOz

I mean as an ethnic group rather than as a competition, of course!

There is an insidious increase in suspicion and phobia associated with the Muslim faith. It doesn’t take a genius to work out the trigger was the 9/11 plane hijackings, and this wave of resentment seems to be increasing in volume. The global population used to see Islam as a religion with a billion or so followers that started in the 7th century AD. Generally the perception was that Islam taught consideration for fellow humans and other sound tenets in a similar fashion to many other religions.

However almost overnight the name of Islam was blackened. Commentators started highlighting less desirable aspects of the cultural norms in Muslim dominated countries whether they had anything to do with the religion or not. One example is the covering of the head, which is practised by many Muslims. This is not strictly endorsed by the Koran but many Muslims feel it is a way of showing respect to Allah (God). Far-right zealots claim that women are subjugated by men because they are forced to cover their heads. A recent very public trial showed that in most cases this is entirely voluntary. In reality most men wear a small skull cap too as a sigh of respect.

Now the word “Muslim” seems to have become synonymous with the word “terrorist”. While it is true that members of Al-Qaeda claim that they are acting uder the auspices of Islam, they are not representative of the silent majority who live their lives peacefully. The Koran specifically states that murder or the taking of lives is forbidden. Therefore these radicals are not carrying out the acts of a true Muslim. It is a great pity that the media spotlight shines on this extreme fringe rather than reporting the philanthropy and beneficence of others acting under the name of Islam.

Another worrying convenience is the use of the word Muslim as a racial descriptor by the Western media. What they mean is a male of Middle-Eastern to Asian-subcontinent descent, but calling him a Muslim attracts more attention and hysteria. These people seem to have overlooked the fact that Islam is practiced by residents of many nations from Morocco to Indonesia, yet these two examples could not be more different in cultural and socio-economic terms. It is a great tragedy that supposedly intelligent and knowledgeable people play to the bandwagon in order to gain a few more sales/ratings.