On Friday morning I woke up to the news that 49 brothers and sisters died in the hands of a white supremacist in Christchurch. I was appalled, shocked, disgusted and felt an aching pain in the pit of my stomach. Throughout the day at work, I was unable to concentrate. Pictures of the victims, some young children, played in the back of my mind. I echoed the thoughts of many other Muslims living in the West: “That could have easily been me.” Feeling very vulnerable and raw, I texted A to be extra vigilant at the mosque today at Friday prayers. Despite the horrors of what had happened, never did it cross both our minds that he would not attend Jumaah prayer that day at the mosque that he goes to every week like clockwork - the same mosque that experienced its own version of a terror attack a few years ago.
As time passed, I have had the opportunity to process what had happened and how I feel about it. Trying my best to piece my thoughts together, this is what I managed to come up with.
Racism and Superiority
As disgusting as the event in Christchurch was, unfortunately it has many precedents dating back to the first ever event of racism - Iblis and our Prophet Adam a.s. Racism is the reduction of the other and the inflation of oneself. And even in the beginning of human history, this was the case when Iblis refused to bow down to Adam as he thought fire was more superior to clay. Self superiority (may it be race, religion, sex, nationality, etc) is always coupled with the reduction of others - sometimes, as in this case in New Zealand, the complete reduction of human beings to nothing but the label “Muslim Immigrants”. An inflated ego has no place for nuance or complexity - anyone who isn’t him or her, is by default inferior, and sometimes deemed not suitable to the basic right of life itself.
We have seen this is in the expulsion of Bani Israel in the era of Firaun, we have witnessed this in WW2 Germany and in pre-civil rights America. And we are frustratingly still seeing this in Syria, Palestine and Burma today. Painting a group of people with the same brush and the reduction of human beings to mere labels are dangerous things to do. When the tables are turned, the media has been quick to ask the Muslim ummah as a whole to denounce the act of a few. But using the teachings of our faith, one that hold no prejudices and one that teaches us that no one person is better than another, this time, we refuse to play the same game. We are not asking for all white people to burden the faults of a few white terrorists - but we do want recognition that there is a systemic problem at play. There are double standards that are hard to ignore, especially when leaders of powerful countries are not openly admitting to this matter themselves.
How should we react?
There is a Prophetic saying, “The parable of the believers in their affection, mercy and compassion for each other is that of a body. When any limb aches, the whole body reacts with sleeplessness and fever.” As our brothers and sisters in New Zealand are left in pain and grief, the ummah as a whole feel wounded. Being a Muslim in the UK, I feel connected to the community in Christchurch - in them, I see myself, in their families, I see my family.
However, if it was the perpetrator’s intention to divide us or for us to denounce our faith, he has failed like the many that have tried before him. In the light of tragedy, our ummah unites - as we did on Friday where in defiance, millions of people turned up at their local mosques for Jumaah prayer in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Christchurch. In tragedy, we turn to one another and we turn to God. And at a personal level, I feel even more drive to wear my Islamic identity on my sleeve and to be a representation of my beautiful religion in my community. At work, at home, in public and in private, I am a Muslim immigrant living in the UK. Say it loud, say it proud.
But ultimately, we should emulate the Prophet (saw) and spread good and forgiveness. In the Battle of Uhud, Hind was a woman whose blood boiled against Islam and Muslims. She had hired a hitman to kill and mutilate the beloved uncle of the Prophet (saw), Hamza. She gouged his liver and made his ears and nose into a necklace. Upon seeing the body of Hamza, the Prophet saw weeped like he never weeped before and bade farewell to someone that he loved whole heartedly. Five years later, after failed attempts to resist the surrender of Makkah to the Muslims, she pledged allegiance to the Prophet saw. Instead of seeking revenge for the heinous acts that she had done to his uncle, the Prophet (saw) said, “By Allah swt, there was no household that I wished to destroy more than yours, but now there is no household that I wish to honour more than yours.”
Hatred drives hatred. The cycle can only be broken with love, forgiveness and kindness. So in times like these, let us continue the legacy of those who had come before us and continue to spread light. Let us hold strong to our faith and take comfort in the fact that they will never hate Islam as much as we love it.
