Too Little Too Late, or Just in Time?

Abdel Rahman al-Rashed, general manager of Al- Arabiya news channel, wrote an article entitled, "Innocent religion is now a message of hate" in the September 4, 2004 pan-Arabic newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Awsat. It is a strong statement that there is a worm at the core of the Islamic world, and its rot is terrorism. He opened thus:

It is a certain fact that not all Muslims are terrorists, but it is equally certain, and exceptionally painful, that almost all terrorists are Muslims.

This sort of recognition by a Muslim who speaks publically and loudly is a first step towards excising the worm and cutting away the rot. But is it too little and too late?

While we can hold up the page on which this is printed and point to it, the questions remain:

Where was this voice one year ago? Three years ago? Ten years ago?

Where are the other voices that should be shouting in harmony?

Where is the chorus that should be loudly chanting "Yes, yes! The terrorists are not true Muslims and they do not speak for us! And we will root them out?"

He concludes:

We cannot tolerate in our midst those who abduct journalists, murder civilians, explode buses; we cannot accept them as related to us, whatever the sufferings they claim to justify their criminal deeds. These are the people who have smeared Islam and stained its image.

Here, I fear, I must disagree. They can tolerate in their midst those terrorists, for they have. It would be better stated, "We must not tolerate in our midst" those elements, for if we non-Muslims are stung badly enough by those, we will in the end burn the whole hornet's nest. It is not only the lives of non-Muslims you must protect by refusing tolerance to terrorists, it is your own.

We cannot clear our names unless we own up to the shameful fact that terrorism has become an Islamic enterprise; an almost exclusive monopoly, implemented by Muslim men and women.

We cannot redeem our extremist youths, who commit all these heinous crimes, without confronting the Sheikhs who thought it ennobling to re-invent themselves as revolutionary ideologues, sending other people's sons and daughters to certain death, while sending their own children to European and American schools and colleges

Clearing your names and redeeming your youths are the least of your concerns now. Already you have singed the feathers of the eagle and smoked the great slumbering bear from its hibernation with your failure to kick sand over these loose embers. You must now extinguish the fires, not worry about how this will look in the morning's light. If you allow the fires to continue burning while your beat your breasts, there may be no morning for you.

Only mourning.

Update: And if you need an example of the problem, here you are:

Cleric Supports Targetting Children

Omar Bakri Mohammed, the spiritual leader of the extremist sect al-Muhajiroun, said that holding women and children hostage would be a reasonable course of action for a Muslim who has suffered under British rule.

Posted by dan at September 5, 2004 04:09 PM | TrackBack