Some Muslims Struggle With Condemning Paris Attacks

Muslims all over the world are speaking up and condemning the Paris attacks, claimed by Islamic State, which left almost 130 people dead and more afraid that such violence could be sparked in their own cities.

However, there are some Muslims who feel as though they are forced to condemn actions of others in public or on social media to make others who are not Muslim feel safer. These Muslims believe having to condemn every action that occurs is like apologizing for something which they did not do nor support.

Shehzad Poonawalla wrote an article about his own experience as a Muslim during times of highly publicized coverage of Islamic extremism violence for IBN Live. Poonawalla explains that each time a terrorist group like ISIS takes action, he feels pressure to make sure he lets everyone know that he is with the right side and not with the terrorists.

“Would it seem equally sound and legitimate to ask every Christian, over 2.2 billion of them, to denounce the brutalities committed in the Iraq War and the subsequent occupation of Iraq by American forces led by George W Bush, launched on the false premise of the existence of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) that did not exist and eventually led to the rise of ISIS — a fact that has been quite candidly admitted to by the former British PM Tony Blair who allied with Bush in leading this ‘war on terror’ in the first place?”

Other Muslims took to Twitter to educate others about what Islam is really about and said they would not apologize. One Twitter user did not come out and directly condemn the Paris attacks, but seemingly did condemn terrorism.

According to New Straits Times Online, Muslims must openly condemn the violence that Islamic extremists perpetuate. Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Dr Salleh explained that “as long as the large silent majority remain silent and do not condemn such terrorist acts then it would be perceived that the silence means tacit support.”

Although only a very small percentage of Muslim extremists commit such horrible acts of violence, the West still perceives the Islamic faith as a very violent one. There are billions of Muslims all over the world, and most will never act violently.

Salleh acknowledges that the Islamic faith is a victim of the terrorist acts, too, but the fact is that Muslims, although extremists, have committed these atrocities.

Many Muslims took to Twitter to say they are Muslims, not terrorists. Many explained they stood with Paris and supported the city during this time of tragedy, and did not support the terrorists at all. Some took the opportunity to say the West is a hypocrite for only caring about Western interests and not caring about the rest of the world.

#MuslimsAreNotTerrorist We need to break the silence and react the same when we see atrocity anywhere pic.twitter.com/AD6l3IFzKw

— Farhan Khan Virk (@FarhanKVirk) November 14, 2015

According to Bustle, at least one person felt disturbed to see so many Muslims having to condemn the Paris attacks in order to distinguish themselves from terrorism.

“It really disturbs me to see so many Muslims hav[ing] to preemptively repudiate terrorists, when they make up the bulk of their victims,” the person said.

While some Muslims may feel tired of having to condemn terrorist attacks when they happen, it is important to note that many Muslims around the world are uniting to support Paris while openly denouncing terrorism under any pretense.

[Photo by Sean Gallup / Getty Images]