For instance, any time you turn on the news (even the BBC) to find a story regarding a terrorist act or sell, these individuals will be referred to "Islamic extremists" or "Muslim terrorists" or "Jihadists". To say that one is extreme about something, implies that they follow it or link themselves to it in some extreme manner. That is, to say that these people are extreme about Islam, implies that they follow Islam in an extreme way. In actuality of course, it is quite the opposite - by committing acts of violence targeting innocent people, they sharply deviate from the teachings of Islam - any sane Muslim, be they ultra religious or barely practicing will tell you that. These acts of terror that are committed are in no way "Islamic" - not in principle nor in objective. Terrorists are not seeking to convert more people to Islam - their agendas are purely political and territorial. They merely use the concept of God as some kind of twisted justification for their horrific acts. But equating "Islam" with "extremism", and "Muslim" with "terror" leaves a certain taste in people's mouths, especially those who have no other references for Islam.
It is bitter sweet for me that over ten years after 9/11 when we began this active miseducation about Muslims and Islam, I am starting to see a few campaigns attempting to combat these misconceptions. For instance, there's this one, targeting the misunderstanding of the word "Jihad": http://myjihad.org/
Here's the 7 minute video: https://vimeo.com/16696682
But unfortunately these campaigns, though certainly worthwhile (every individual you educate is a victory), have small voices in contrast to the constant barrage of media headlines feeding these stereotypes.
The most recent one that inspired this post - coverage of current events in Timbuktu with headlines like this:
Islamists’ Harsh Rule Awakened Ethnic Tensions in Timbuktu
(The above is a link an article from the New York Times).
Also from the NY Times:
I was actually watching the BBC (which is typically the only news I find worthwhile) when they referred to the former regime in Mali as implementing "harsh Shariah law". Here is a BBC article headline in print:
So what do these headlines say to you about Muslims when you come across them? I imagine that if I had to no other education on the subject, I would without a doubt learn to associate "Islamists" (people who believe in Islam, right?) with harshness and cruelty. And "Shariah"? What's that? Sounds like some kind of Muslim martial law meant to oppress people. Funny that Muslims here are painted as oppressors, when in fact the word Muslim means "submission".
So regarding this situation, what you had here was a case of a group of people trying to impose one ultra-conservative, very narrow interpretation of Islam upon others in an effort ultimately to control those they were oppressing. This in no way represents the mainstream teachings or generally accepted wisdom within Islam. In the same way that Taliban rule does not represent the mainstream thinking in Islam, nor do female circumcision practices. But from reading these headlines, you wouldn't know that.
Secondly, "Shariah" is a term that refers to Islamic law or the law of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). When the Prophet was alive, the Muslim community that followed him invited Islam to permeate every part of their lives. Their was no separation between private lives and religious lives. And there was no separation between church and state. And this worked for everyone because all the people were fervent believers. They created a community based on love of Islam, which was entered into by choice. And a life lived by (not under) the Shariah, was a happy and fulfilling one. Islamic law, the Shariah, is a path to God, not a set of harsh rules to oppress people. It includes everything from frequency of one's prayers, to the injunction to give to charity, and the commands like this to be a "true servant" to God directly from the Qur'an: ‘The true servants of the Most Merciful are those who behave gently and with humility on earth, and whenever the foolish quarrel with them, they reply with [words of] peace.’ (al-Furqan 25: 63)
So where is the sense of responsibility from media publications and individual journalists not to perpetuate and augment such inaccurate and hateful stereotypes? Why is it we hold our pop stars more accountable for what they project to our youth, then our media who is addressing things of much deeper significance?
