The lost souls of Tashfeen and Rizwan

Some questions to both of you dead souls: what were you thinking? What was your agenda? What did you hope to achieve? What twisted version of Islam were you following? Were you dead when you were alive? Because you had to be dead inside to want to knowingly abandon your six-month-old baby, massacre and injure dozens and leave a heartbroken family behind; siblings who are left to face the wrath of your madness, and an entire religion left to explain the unexplainable. Do you know what you have done? You have made our worst fears come true.

Millions of Muslims live as immigrants all around the world. In the US alone, Muslims are believed to number anything between five to 12 million, according to PBS Frontline News and 99.9 per cent of these Muslim Americans are law-abiding, taxpaying and patriotic. Muslim immigrants are grateful for the opportunities that this land has given them, gracious in their appreciation, and honest in their love for America.

They say the following to the San Bernardino killers: “Our motherland keeps us humble and rooted, and we love it instinctively, but our adopted land is adored; it gives us wings to fly and nourishment to grow; hence we love it and that too, with a passion. I hate you for making people doubt my love for my adopted homeland and for maligning the name of Muslim immigrants the world over. The people you killed were among those who welcomed you to their country and invited you to make your home next to theirs. Because of your actions, hardworking individuals will now be viewed with suspicion. Immigrants will feel compelled to voice their loyalty to America, which is genuine, but is an emotion that Muslim immigrants should not be forced to wear on their sleeves. You chose to orphan your six-month-old daughter and left her stranded in the face of harsh scrutiny. She will now have to learn to survive alone.”

Today a non-Muslim friend of mine put forward this question to me: “As an intelligent, rational Muslim American immigrant, whom I respect, can you please give me your thoughts on recent world events, and the likes of the San Bernardino attackers as it’s hard to sort through the chatter?”

As a law-abiding, hardworking and practicing Muslim, I put thought into answering this question. I spoke to a scholarly representative of my community and religion, and sought his help in further understanding the twisted version of religion that inspires people to massacre. Here is what I, the immigrant, said to my friend: “These groups and individuals claim that they represent Islam — they do not. They pick and choose parts of the holy scripture and scholarly writings to serve their political agenda. Their problem is simple. They tend to view everything in the context of power, and not faith. In their view, every part of holy texts makes a political statement, while in fact every verse is a statement of faith. Muslim intellectuals and scholars have consistently questioned violent views and arguments, but tragically the political elite have successfully used violent groups to serve their own agendas. Majority of the recruits of these groups hardly have any intellectual exposure to the Holy Quran. They have been given a twisted interpretation of it by their leaders. The followers are unable to challenge their leaders’ ideology because they are ignorant of the truth and live in their own restricted world. Hence they remain unmoved by the critique offered by the rational population of the world, including Muslims. In their opinion, those critical of their world view are deviants and should be dealt with harshly.

“In their complete misunderstanding of religion, they resort to violence and bloodshed, and ignore some of the most essential teachings of Islam. They ignore the idea of free will and freedom of choice. They ignore the idea of the unity of humanity. They ignore the ideals of dignity, and the value of human life, mercy, compassion and justice. Who are these people, you ask me, and what does the peaceful Muslim majority call them? We call them what you call them: criminals, murderers, terrorists, who happen to be Muslims and cannot be stripped of their claim of belonging to their religion unless they renounce it themselves. Since mainstream Islam does not have a titular head, like the Pope in Christianity, there is no authority that could disassociate Muslims at large from the acts of these terrorists. I rest my case, with a broken heart, but a strong will to protect my religion of peace and my country. I am an American and I am a Muslim.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 11^th,  2015.

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