Sameer Khan,
Our lives are shattered once again upon hearing the news of Boston Marathon Bombings and the casualties they caused. There was endless speculation among Muslims worldwide about who may or may not have been responsible for the bombings.
The first reaction I got was from my mother: “This cannot be done by a Muslim,” she said. “This time it won’t be Muslims.” When I asked her why she thought so, she replied, “How can Muslims be so foolish?”
My focus shifted to the social networking sites. Some of the Islamic leaning Muslims tweeted about the number of deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq on the same day as the Boston Marathon Bombings, to which they attempted to draw some kind of analogy comparing the Marathon deaths. I could not help but feel utter disgust at the fallacy of their logic.
Some moderate liberal voices tweeted “Let just hope it’s not Muslims,” and some of the liberal Pakistanis tweeted “we pray there is no Pakistani connection to the Boston bombings.”
Such have been the diverse and at time nebulous views from within the Muslim community to the heinous crime of the Boston Marathon bombings. Some Muslims have prayed that the killers should not be Arabs; few wished the killers should not be Pakistanis, while others prayed the killers should not be Muslims.
How many actually thought about the three innocents victims who were killed and hundreds others maimed by the diabolical act? Or did they deserve to die or lose limbs because a marriage party in Afghanistan was caught in a bombing? How nebulous and ludicrous is that logic?
And when the truth was finally out that the two young men responsible for the terrorist attacks were young Chechen (Caucasian) Muslims, there was a great deal of embarrassment within the Muslim world. Still, the Pakistanis were breathing easier, and some said, “Oh thank god at least they are not Pakistanis.” Others said, “Oh we are glad it was not an Arab.”
How long are Muslims going to be apologetic and try to salvage some morbid pride out of such mass killings?
The two accused Muslims apparently had a death wish and wanted to kill as many Americans as possible as a revenge for some injustice they may have felt being perpetrated upon their co-religionists in other parts of the world.
These two young men came from Chechnya, a war ravaged tiny republic of Russia that was virtually reduced to rubble by the Russian Army. The eldest of the two killers who is already dead had married an American girl. She was so much in love with this young man that she changed her faith and accepted her husband’s religion and culture and wears Hijab. They also had a child, and the man was a budding boxer who practiced boxing freely in the USA.
The younger brother was a student who got a scholarship from an American university and got every opportunity of the world in the US, which many of the unfortunate children in their war ravaged motherland and many other parts of the world and conflict zones can only dream about. Would the brothers have gotten the same opportunities in many of the Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia where Muslim immigrant workers are treated like dirt?
What kind of anger were they expressing and revenge were they seeking? What did these two young Muslim men achieve by maiming and killing innocent people in Boston? We do not yet know what made these young men take this course of destruction. Was it the indoctrination of some religious head? Or was it their solitary act of violence for some perceived injustices rattling in their minds?
If these young Muslims really sought some justice in society, why didn’t they – or many others so called angry Muslims – seek justice within their own communities and families?
Did they think about helping the Muslims who live in the squatters in many parts of the world? Or seek to reform millions of Muslims who are involved in drugs or other criminal activities? Or help the families of those Muslims who live in abject poverty? Isn’t helping such fellow Muslims a better way of doing justice than killing and maiming others?
What about the girl who was married to the now deceased elder brother? She married this man for love, and her innocent child will grow up to be called the daughter of a dead terrorist.
Did Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older brother, do any justice for his own wife and child? Or for his family members who are now either denouncing or defending them?
It’s not just this particular incident. Does an angry Islamic fundamentalist young man seriously believe that by attacking innocent civilians he is going to end the misery of thousands of Muslims who are suffering the brunt of feudalism under their own fellow Muslim feudal lords? What about the sectarian violence or gang killings, which are happening within Muslim communities in various parts of the world? Why doesn’t he instead work for his community to improve such situations in which he lives and are easier to address within his own community?
And last but not the least, did these so-called justice seekers realize the huge injustice they do to the millions of other honest peace loving Muslims that would be under suspicion as a result of their acts? Justice seekers kindly do justice to your own family. Do justice to your parents, wives, husbands, children, families, and communities before seeking to hurt others.
(Sameer Khan is a writer and Playwright)