The right wing Islamist group “Muslims Against Crusades” who burned poppies on Armistice Day planned a protest to disrupt the Royal Wedding. They backed out at the last minute, but their website stated that the protest would have been ”intended to highlight the many atrocities which have been and are being committed against Muslims in Afghanistan and now in Libya by the British regime, its army and the British royal family, who have supported such crimes verbally and even physically by their active involvement including by prince William”
It’s interesting then, that these individuals have been silent when Muslims have committed atrocities against Muslims. The voices of MAC and others of their ilk were silent when Saudi Arabia’s religious police murdered 15 Meccan schoolgirls back in 2002 by preventing them from leaving a burning building because they were not wearing correct Islamic dress.
Where was MAC’s outrage when just last year in August, a Saudi couple punished their Sri-Lankan maid for complaining of a high workload by hammering twenty four hot nails into her body?
“But these were isolated incidents right?” Wrong.
Can anyone explain why Western Muslims have nothing to say about the Shia apartheid and violence against Shias in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Pakistan and countless other Muslim majority states?
Graves of Algerian massacre victims. SOURCE: BBC News
Why do so many Muslims have so much to say about Palestine (6,537 Palestinians killed since 29th September 2000) yet nothing to say about the fact that between 150,000 and 200,000 Muslims were brutally massacred by Muslims in the 1990s in the Algerian Civil War? Thousands of women and young girls were raped and the country was left traumatised.
Arguing that these are not “proper Muslim states” or “it’s not in the Qur’an etc” is great for you, but when the clerical establishments (Muftis, Imams, Mullahs) vociferously support such brutal oppression of Muslims by Muslims across the Middle East and remain silent (for example) as they did in the case of Bahrain, Algeria and countless other occasions, it becomes accepted as part of the religion.
Why was there no outrage from Muslims before Western powers intervened militarily in Libya? One would think that 32 years was quite enough time for Muslims outside Libya to find some courage to speak up about their [Muslim brother] Gaddafi brutally oppressing their Muslim “Ummah” ? Not to mention the violence and brutality against minority faith groups and Berbers in Libya.
Now I hear Muslims from the Indian subcontinent repeatedly complaining that the West was propping up Gaddafi. That the West is to blame for the oppression of the Libyan people and that the current intervention is apparently a crusade. Really? If you thought Gaddafi was such a monster, why were you renaming stadiums in his honour in Lahore, Pakistan (1974)?
There is a finer line between extremists like MAC and Muslim “progressives” than we’d all like to admit. Pointing out the moral failures of Muslim leaders automatically gets one labelled an Islamophobe or “self hating Muslim”. If only more Muslims would read beyond the literature that confirms their bias. If only they would open their minds to a genuine history of the world as opposed to a myopic, re-written one. How do Muslims keep a straight face when harping on about Israel and Western Imperialism (forward to 3 mins 50 of the video) whilst completely failing to address the oppression of Muslims by Muslims. Why doesn’t that matter and why do non-Muslims never question this double standard?
It’s too easy, too fashionable for Muslims to speak out about oppression when the oppressor isn’t a Muslim, yet whether it is extrajudicial executions, disappearances, use of torture, rape, deaths in custody, you name it, Muslim countries are head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to cruel, dehumanising treatment of their citizens. Algeria, Egypt, Pakistan, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Yemen, all of these states have managed to maintain horrendous human rights records with the support of Muslim nations the world over (as well as non-Muslim states). Some of these countries have been oppressing their citizens long before any hint of Western ground-troop interference. MAC and along with Muslims posing as “progressives” are disingenuous in speaking nothing of the truth of Muslim oppression of Muslims whilst happily blaming all of the world’s woes on Western powers. It’s intellectually dishonest.
MAC’s discourse of emotive propaganda appeals to impressionable minds who have a narrow vision of world history and are easily recruited to MAC’s misinformed cause.
Regularly I will hear Muslims from the subcontinent referring to their Muslim “brothers and sisters” in the UAE and raving about what a wonderful place Dubai is in particular. Yes, it may be wonderful if you’re completely oblivious to the enslavement of labourers from the very subcontinent you hail from, or if you can ignore the customary rape of Filipino maids who are deported if they try to bring their perpetrators to justice. How is it that one can regard himself as morally superior by virtue of being a Muslim yet possess such little conscience and regard for humanity when the oppressor is a Muslim?
Many Muslims desperately need to engage in critical thinking about their own local and global communities. No-one is innocent in the world of politics. I do not for even a millisecond plead ignorance to the imperialism and moral failures of Western powers. I do not ignore the impact of this on weaker nations including Muslim majority states. However, it’s time for Muslims to take some responsibility ask themselves why they are deafeningly silent on oppression of their co-religionists by their co-religionists. If the West is really so morally redundant, why is it that so many Muslims live there and not in their country of origin? Could it be because of the economic benefits? The freedom to practice ones religion? Freedom of speech? All of the above?
Quran 2:177 “We must fulfil the contracts that we made.” (I.e. we all make contracts as immigrants or citizens to follow the law of the land)
Quran 4:97 “The angels of death will say ‘Why did you make trouble?’ They will say: ‘We were oppressed.’ The angels will reply ‘Was the earth not wide enough for you?’ “
Despite bailing out at the last minute, I doubt that “Muslims Against Crusades” (MAC) are truly aware of how foolish their endeavours are. A Muslim well versed on the holy book would know that the Qur’an 2: 177 and 4:97 direct all Muslims to follow the law of the land and contribute positively to society, or essentially, to sling their hook (no pun intended). Since MAC seem incapable of practicing what their own religion preaches and despise so many values that the UK stands for (the country that pays their Job Seekers Allowance and allows them the freedom to spread their hateful idiocy), I would suggest that MAC invest in a one way ticket to Saudi Barbaria. I’m sure that once they are faced with the brutal reality of how they would be treated in many Muslim majority states, they might reconsider their position.
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