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Belize Muslim Responds To Mass Killings In Orlando

LettersBelize Muslim Responds To Mass Killings In Orlando

Just when the world collectively was celebrating the legacy of one of the world’s greatest human beings, who was a practicing Muslim, we are shattered by the tragedy of Orlando, Florida.

As a human being and a practicing Muslim, I condemn the senseless killings and maimings that took place in Orlando this past weekend. This was an act of evil and cannot be countenanced by any moral and civilized person.

Having said that. There is clearly a concerted effort on the part of many people, including the mainstream media in the US, to associate the religion of Islam and all Muslims as being responsible for the motivation behind this gruesome act. There is a systematic narrative that follows every act of violence where persons with Muslim names are involved. For this reason, Muslims are scapegoated as being indirectly, and some say directly (Trump), responsible for all acts of terror in the US. But the history of mass killings in the US just doesn’t bear this out. The fact is that the majority of cases of terrorism in the US have not been perpetrated by Muslims.

There is a rush to judgment in this case as it has been in most such cases where conjectures and innuendos are used by the media to have us come to the conclusion that this is a part of a “Muslim holy war against the West.” When sick individuals commit such atrocities as in Aurora, Newport, Oklahoma and the list goes on, no one asks what the religion of the killer is. But if the killer has a Muslim name, somehow his religion becomes a factor in understanding his deranged actions.

No doubt, from what we have heard, this was a man with a lot of rage. Even his father had to rescue his wife from his violence. It was not his religion that made him a furious character but rather something deeper was obviously troubling this individual. Even the FBI after three separate investigations could not find anything to hold him on. Yet his faith is blamed for his insanity. This is wrong reasoning, and every right thinking person knows this, but we are bombarded hour after hour with narratives designed to lead us to that conclusion before all the facts are in. And this narrative is specifically directed at demonizing Islam and Muslims.

The Qur’an, like the Old and New Testament, condemns the act of sodomy but the Qur’an does not prescribe death as the punishment for this behavior. Read for yourself. There is no sanction in the Qur’an for what was perpetrated in Orlando.

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