By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net,
Whosoever killeth a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and whoso saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind. [Surah Al Maeda : 32]
If killing one innocent person is like killing the entire humanity then Osama Bin Laden has killed the humanity many times over. Since his 1998 fatwa against the United States till his death in 2011, the organization that he established or people that he inspired have killed thousands all around the world. Majority of his victims have been Muslims, people that he was supposed to be helping.
Thanks to Osama Bin Laden, Afghanistan and Iraq lay in ruins and Pakistanis are not safe in their own country. Hundreds of thousands of innocents were killed and continue to be killed by either Osama followers or armies in pursuit of his followers. He wanted to do armed jihad to get rid of foreign armies from Muslim countries but ended up causing “fasad” and helping Western media create the impression that followers of Islam are a violent people.
In the post-9/11 world, Muslims became a target of suspicion and victims of harassment. And this was not just inconvenience of airport security or denial of visa. Al-Qaida- inspired terrorism claimed innocent lives from Indonesia to London. Suicide bombing was introduced in Pakistan and Afghanistan by Bin Laden followers and now it has become a weapon of choice of the terrorists causing much mayhem.
In India, what post-Babri Mumbai serial blasts of 1993 could not do was achieved easily after the 9/11 attacks. SIMI was banned in the wake of 9/11 without any evidence of their involvement in any terrorist activities. Western media’s lead on stereotyping Muslims as terrorists was followed enthusiastically by Indian media in cooperation with law-enforcement agencies. Hundreds or perhaps thousands of Muslim youths continue to be arrested and harassed in the name of terrorism and some unfortunate ones killed in cold-blood by what we know as “fake encounters.” Yes, we do fault Indian agencies in killing Indian citizens but the sins will also go in Osama’s amaal-nama (book of deeds) as unintended consequences of his actions and rhetoric.
Osama’s mindset just like his rhetoric was medieval. He did not understand that in this modern world you can win a war but still lose politically. He did understand the power of media but failed to appreciate how the economy can play a bigger role than the fire power. Wall Street investment bankers and speculative traders have done more damage to the United States than what Osama could ever imagine.
A section of Muslims do have soft spot for Osama Bin Laden for what they think was his tough stand against the United States. They think that like Saddam Hussain, he stood up to the American injustice and hence consider him a hero forgetting that in Islam the end does not justify the means. His track record of killing mostly Muslims proves that an enemy’s enemy is not necessarily a friend.
It will be better if Muslim leaders instead of subscribing to conspiracy theories or saying that Osama was CIA creation, which serves no purpose; start dialogue within the community on dangers of extremism and the threat that path of violence poses to the world in general and Muslims in particular.
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Closer Look is a monthly column by TwoCircles.net editor Kashif-ul-Huda. For publication permissions please contact [email protected].