Dear Readers,

Following the Manchester incident, I wondered, how this would affect the Muslims in the world. There’ll be some young boy getting bullied in school because he’s a Muslim. There’ll be some Muslim woman told horrible things in the road. Blamed for something which even she herself hates. And the worse part? No one is going to stand up for them. Because everyone is scared of Muslims. Everyone hates Muslims. Everyone thinks ‘Oh well! He/she deserves it. They brought it upon themselves.’ Do they really deserve that? Would you? Given you were in that position? No. You don’t, they don’t, no one does.

First off, this is the most risky post I’ve ever posted upto date. I have been considering it for a while, I thought maybe I shouldn’t do it because of all the hate towards Muslims these days. But I came to realize, if not now, when? This hate just seems to grow day by day. I might never be able to get through to people in a months time. Who knows? Also, death is as unpredictable as it is inevitable. I don’t want to die without saying something which could save someone else’s life.

Secondly, you are AMAZING! Seriously. I’m not just saying it because I want you to be on good terms with me. You are beyond amazing! Blogging has connected me with so many wonderful people. In my previous blog about ending terrorism, Let’s End Terrorism, One Step At A Time, I received so much of positive feedbacks from people that I hardly knew. It was honestly better than I expected. I was anticipating atleast one bad comment about how my religion is to blame for it or something, but none did I get. That made me realise that this world is a not so bad place after all, and that there were plenty of loving, non-judgmental people.

Now, I’m off to my point. While speaking for Islam, I speak for all the other religions when I say,

Here’s why Islam is not a religion of terror,

1. According to Islam, religion is a matter of choice –

The Holy Qur’an states (Ch – Chapter, V – Verse),

There is no compulsion in matters of religion. (Ch.2:V.257)

There is nobody on Earth who can in anyway compel anybody or force anybody to accept the religion of Islam. The Holy Qur’an declares that the freedom of belief is the basic right of all human beings. They can believe in any religion they like and they can become the member of any faith they choose.

This ofcourse proves that ‘Punishment for Apostasy is Death’ and ‘All Non-Muslims must be Killed’ is a myth. (This is something which extremists use and manipulate to have their way.)

Islam teaches us to love both our Muslim and Non-Muslim brothers and sisters.

2. Islam does not promote violence, war or even hatred towards other people –

Islam allows war only if other people take the initiative and start the aggression. The permission to fight back is a basic human right.

And fight in the way of Allah against those who fight against you, but do not transgress. Surely, Allah loves not the transgressors. (Ch.2:V.191)

Note – ‘And fight in the way of Allah’. What may this way be? Here’s a few war ethics in Islam.

3. You are not a Muslim if you don’t follow the religion properly –

Just because a person is born to a Muslim family doesn’t make that person a Muslim. Only when you die are you determined if you are a Muslim or not depending on your belief in God and how righteous you are.

If a person kills someone else (except abiding the war ethics) in the name of religion or otherwise, that doesn’t make that person a Muslim. Infact, it makes that person exactly the opposite. So is it fair that we label Muslims (the true ones, not the ones who claim to be Muslims) as terrorists? Just because a certain person with a Muslim name or a person who says “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) and kills someone? No, we don’t. We shouldn’t. That’s not right, is it?

A terrorist is simply, exactly what you get when you Google it, ‘a person who uses unlawful violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims’. This can be any person. But that’s all it is, a derailed person with no love and compassion for human beings. Come on people. We are smart enough to understand this aren’t we?

It’s time we end the stereotype Muslims have been given. Go on, set your example. Love everyone!

With Love.