Mohammad Jamil
A New Zealand court sentenced the terrorist to life in prison without parole who had killed 51 Muslim worshippers in New Zealand’s deadliest shooting. It is the first time such a sentence has been handed down in the country. White supremacist Brenton Tarrant, a 29-year-old Australian, admitted to 51 charges of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder and one charge of committing a terrorist act during the 2019 shooting rampage at two Christchurch mosques, which he live-streamed on Facebook. High Court Judge Cameron Mander said in Christchurch on Thursday that a finite term would not be sufficient. Tarrant, who represented himself during the hearings through a lawyer in Court, said that he did not oppose the prosecution’s application for a life without parole sentence; hence he did not make submissions.
In March 2019, political and religious leaders from across the world had expressed their condemnation at the deadly shooting at two mosques in the New Zealand city of Christchurch. The US, European and African countries, UN and Arab world had condemned the heinous act. New Zealand’s 39-year-old Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was hailed for displaying compassion toward Muslim families after the terrorist attack. When US President Trump called Ardern to offer his sympathies and ask what assistance the US might provide; Ardern replied she would welcome sympathy and love toward Muslim communities. It was a disapproval if seen in the backdrop of Trump’s perception of being anti-Islamic. She had expressed a deep empathy with families of the victims and the Muslim community. The question is whether Islamophobia will subside with her pronouncements and the verdict by the court?
The answer is “no”. The fact remains that Islamophobia is not mere the product of 9/11 incident as pedaled by some analysts, and it has been created through a persistent propaganda against Islam which has been going on in the West for quite a long time. The Time magazine (April 16, 1979 issue) had reported that “over 60,000 (sixty thousand) books have been written against Islam by the Christian West’ during the last 150 years. Since then, the number has multiplied to a great extent. With the popularity of internet and social media, this negative propaganda has exacerbated so much so that hundreds and thousands of anti-Islam and blasphemous websites as well as think tanks have been created by the opponents, as if maligning Islam is the sole aim of their life. This hate literature is actually a major source of widespread Islamophobia all over the world.
For instance, the mass killer Breivik had excessively quoted anti-Islam literature in his manifesto. According to The New York Times, ‘the accused Norway murderer Anders Behring Breivik cited the work of anti-Jihad activist Robert Spencer 64 times in his 1,500 page manifesto’. It actually manifests that such propaganda war waged against Islam is not only creating thousands of Breiviks in the West but also producing millions of Osamas in Muslim world in retaliation. This dangerous trend has brought different religious communities to perilous confrontational paths putting the entire world on the verge of disaster. Now the question arises: Is Islam really responsible for this state of affairs? Anyone who has studied this religion with deep understanding and unbiased mind would give the answer in the negative. The problem is that Islam is one of the most misunderstood religions of the world whose real spirit is being intentionally concealed and distorted.
It is deplorable that some Muslims are also contributing to the flawed perception of Islam due to their ignorance and limited knowledge. To begin with, a general misconception in the West about Islam is that it is the religion revealed for Muslims, belongs to Muslims and articulates for Muslims’ rights ignoring the rest of the world. The fact of the matter is that Islam is revealed for the guidance and betterment of humanity which safeguards the rights of all human beings. Moreover, it forbids all those acts that are detrimental to human existence and ordains to carry out those which could contribute to the benefit of the mankind. So far as the matter of faith is concerned it has been ordained in the Holy Qur’an: “The truth is from your Lord, so whosoever wants let him believe and whosoever wants let him deny,” (An-Nahl: 29).
Hence, the one who accepts the universal message of Islam and submits to the dictates of Allah is called Muslim. Islam is universal in its approach and presents a grand human rights charter. It not only forbids unjust killing of a human being (Al-Qur’an 17:33, 6:152) but also defines the gravity of this crime by calling it akin to kill the whole humanity (Al-Qur’an 5:32). The perfect philanthropic approach of Islam lies in the second part of the above verse in which saving the life of an innocent person is equal to saving the entire mankind. Unfortunately, the western world conceives Islam and peace as two opposite poles which is sheer manifestation of their disregard for the real spirit of this peaceful religion. Before comprehending Islamic concept of peace, one must not be oblivious to the moral condition of the pre-Islamic Arab society where people were in a habit of settling their scores by waging centuries-long wars. They, indeed, were blind to the idea of peace and used to take pride in continuing their enmity through generations. It needs to be mentioned here that the pagans of that time had rejected Islam not only because of its concept of unity of God but also because Islam had revolted against the inhuman practices and cruelties of that society. Islam had challenged the status quo, and stood for socio-economic and court justice for the welfare of the people.
—The writer is a senior journalist based in Lahore.
