Editorial: 'Fear leads to hatred, hatred to anger'
In Paris, a Muslim man wearing a blindfold, asks for hugs from those around him near a memorial site to last week's victims.
“I'm a Muslim, but I'm told that I'm a terrorist” says one sign held by the man. “I trust you, do you trust me? If yes, hug me,” says the other.
And the mourning Parisians do just that.
“I did this to send a message to everyone. I am a Muslim, but that doesn't make me a terrorist. I never killed anybody,” said the man after taking off his blindfold. “I want to tell you that 'Muslim' doesn't necessarily mean 'terrorist.' A terrorist is a terrorist, someone willing to kill another human being over nothing. A Muslim would never do that. Our religion forbids it.”
Closer to home, another Muslim man — an imam for one of Chicago's oldest mosques, has the same message. It's one that all of us need to hear, to process, to believe.
“We condemn any act of violence, any act of terrorism, and I, as an imam, condemn it vehemently,” said Azam Akram at a lecture at College of DuPage. He was speaking as part of a Ahmadiyya Muslim Community campaign called Stop the CrISIS, aimed at clearing up misunderstandings about Islam.
In a week when fear has led to questions about Syrian refugees in America and in an era when xenophobia is on the rise, it's important that misconceptions about Muslims be addressed.
“In this day and age, we don't need to be divided — Muslims, Christians, even among ourselves within the Islamic community. There's no room for division anymore, because what groups like (ISIS) play off is the us-versus-you mentality.”
Indeed, those who are not Muslim need to know that the people carrying out these barbaric acts follow a radicalized theology that most Muslims abhor. And the more moderate Muslims like Akram need to continue to speak out and condemn these acts.
“You have to eradicate the ignorance that is within us because ignorance leads to misunderstanding,” he said. “Misunderstanding leads to fear. Fear leads to hatred. Hatred leads to anger. And anger ultimately leads to violence.”
Franklin Delano Roosevelt famously said “the only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.” While he was speaking of the Great Depression at the time, his words resonate today as we gauge our response to these monstrous acts of terrorists.
Zak Malik, a student at Lisle's Benedictine University, wants to help people understand, to ease their fear of people like him.
“We've been taking steps to stop this radicalization. When people ask, 'Where are the moderate Muslims?' we're right here. We're trying to do our part and hopefully it brings some change.”
Clearly, stopping ISIS is complicated. But we should join Malik and Akram and that Muslim man in Paris and do our part to foster understanding and to form a united front against terrorism abroad and here at home.