What a horror the massacre in Mumbai was a year ago. Rampaging gunmen moved through several hotels, killing everyone in sight. A great evil in the name of religion.I saw an interview with a Turkish couple who speak excellent English and are quite sophisticated in their ability to express themselves and ponder what unfolded in the midst of the chaos. The husband was herded into a stairwell with other guests by the gunmen and he pleaded with them for his life, telling them that he too was a Muslim. They asked him to recite a prayer and he began the prayer for the dead, the only one he knew by heart. The terrorists stopped him abruptly and told him to lie down. Then they massacred the rest of the captives. With emotion he recalled the shell casings raining down on him and being soaked in the blood of the others.
Later he was reunited with his wife and held in a room with three Indian women. The terrified women, including his wife, held hands for support. Then the gunmen came in, separated them from the three Indians, whom they then executed. The wife decided that despite the risk she must recite the prayer which had saved her husband's life over the three victims. They went to the bodies and did so together, wondering if this would be their death sentence, but the young men watched in silence before departing once more.
It was obvious that this brutality made no sense to them and was antithetical to their understanding of their faith. I wish Muslim leaders and the heads of Arab nations were more vocal in their opposition of violence, but I am convinced that the majority of Muslims decry harming others in God's name.
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ReplyDeleteA moving narrative to help us understand the wrong in what can be a fear based assumption that all Muslims beliefs and actions are connected to the "bad" of their religion that fills the media. What a profound image for me of the Muslim couple risking their own lives to pray over the dead of another faith.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Arab and muslim leaders alike need to be more vocal in their opposition to violence.
ReplyDeleteI feel sorry for muslims who are racially victimized and suspected of being terrorists simply for who they are.
I have to admit that I have racially profiled in the past. Several weeks after 9/11, I was boarding a short canadian domestic flight. As I was boarding the plane, a gentleman in front of me, who appeared to be of middle eastern origin, hesitated at the doorway. He uttered something in his language, which included "Allah". He would not board the plane. I asked him if he was a nervous flyer, to which he responded that he was waiting for a friend. I thought it was odd that he and his friend would be separated between the departure lounge and the plane. I walked past him and sat in my seat - the very last row of a large Airbus.
I was watching the front, awaiting his entrance, and he was one of the last to board. You know where he sat? In the front row, closest to the cockpit. And guess what? There was nobody with him.
So...lying about the friend, uttering "Allah", nervous, sitting in the very front, and of course his race. It all made me feel very suspicious.
Long story short, I had a hushed meeting at the front with the pilot and flight attendant, and they agreed to speak further with him before taking off(they never did). I watched him the entire flight and had formulated a plan that if he had so much as stood up on that one hour flight, I would be racing up the aisle to him.
It's a good thing he didn't take any bathroom breaks. Obviously nothing happened, but the point is, not withstanding the other suspicious behaviours he was exhibiting, many people do not trust muslims. It's unfortunate, because as you say David, the vast majority denounce violence.
Saying muslims are all terrorists(which believe it or not, I have heard) is as outrageous as saying all Catholics are terrorists because of the IRA. Sheer lunacy.
David, I had left a comment here but when I read it later it made no sense. God only knows what I was trying to say. Must have been tired, or delusional, or something. But I did discover that little garbage can and deleted it.
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