A Call To Good Muslims

Some Pope’s quotation on a recent speech from a 14th-century Byzantine emperor as saying, “Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.” unleashed a fury of protests against the maximum figure in the Catholic world on Friday. While the Pope, according to his spoke-person after the demonstrations, was only trying to demonstrate the fallacy of imposing on others religion by force, the Muslim community took it as an attack on their religious beliefs.

I can understand those sentiments somehow, given the fact that most Muslims are peaceful people and not aligned with terrorists, thugs and suicide bombers. In fact, many Muslims are themselves the victims of the attacks. At the same time, I truly believe the Pope’s intention was not that of accusing Muslims wholesale of those despicable acts, since the religion he represents has been in the distant past doing exactly the same. The Inquisition and the Crusaders were not the best guys around.

I wonder however: Where is the Muslim community today, with all their massive number of good people, when some criminals elements from within are wreaking havoc all over the World? Why are not they doing more to combat their own evil? Why do they have to allow others the task of getting rid their own bad apples?

In any society, it’s a natural reaction to protest when outsiders critize our own people, the same as when anyone may offend a member of our family, but, at the same time, we all have a moral obligation to correct the mistakes and bad behavior of those who are our brothers. In a micromode level, if one of our kids misbehave in public, should we get outraged if strangers get upset, claiming that the rest of our family is not causing any trouble? Shouldn’t we try to prevent and correct the bad actions of the culprit instead of just being passive witnesses of his or her actions?

I think the good Muslims ought to take a more active role in this situation. So, Muslims go out and protest, the news people will be there to show your outrage, but after that please go home and discuss what actions are needed to avoid being shown in a negative light and don’t just ignore those bomb makers and suicide-prone fanatics in your midst.

We all have to take action to stop this madness. I often critized the policies of the Bush administration for unleashing the war in Iraq and increasing the anger of those who view the West as a threat to their way of life. On the other hand, you, Muslims, the good ones, also have a responsibility, and that is to demonstrate your willingness in stopping the carnage. Terrorists, bomb-makers, suicide bombers and other assorted whackos, no matter what religion they belong to, don’t live in a vacuum. The TV crew is gone, now go home and do something positive. The World would appreciate it.