Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, April 19th, 2024

Restricting Muslims’ Rights?

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Restricting Muslims’ Rights?

U.S. Republican Politician Donald Trump has capitalized on Orlando’s episode and talks with more serious tone against Muslims. In response to the mass shooting, carried out by an American murderer Omar Mateen, who happened to be Muslim, Trump said that the attack was the work of a “radical Islamic terrorist” — and attacked both Obama and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton for refusing to say the words “radical Islam” in their responses. He aired that the U.S. President Barack Obama should step down from presidency and if Hillary Clinton, after the attack, could not say the two words “Radical Islam” she had to get out of that race for the Presidency.
Following the Brussels attack on March 22, Trump elaborated on his suggestions for how to deal with radical Islam in the US, including banning Muslims from entering the U.S., weatherboarding and torturing suspects, and patrolling highly-populated Muslim neighborhoods.
Mr. Trump, who has been airing these views throughout his year-long campaign, further sharpened his attacks on Muslims after the weekend attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, where an American Muslim gunned down 50 people.
Mateen entered the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, on June 12, 2016, and shot 50 people dead and wounded 53. He called that he pledged allegiance to the self-styled Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Following the attack, Mateen’s ex-wife, Sitora Yusifiy, said that during their marriage, Mateen was mentally unstable and would beat her and keep her completely separated from her family and also had a history of using steroids. His father is cited as having said, “This had nothing to do with religion.” He said that he had seen his son get angry after witnessing a gay couple kiss in front of his family at the Bayside Market Place in Miami months prior to the attack, which he suggested might have been a motivating factor.
Mr. Trump will have to notice that Muslims are the scapegoat of terror and bear the brunt of violence and bloodshed carried out by religious extremists such as ISIL, Taliban, Boko Haram and other warring factions. Since Muslims are the sacrificial lambs in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc. they are not responsible for terrorist acts. Oversimplifying Islamic tenets and attacking against a whole community on the basis of an individual’s act, does not seem rational.
Moreover, killing a particular group or a single person based on their race, caste, color, etc. is never justifiable in Islam. Respecting the rights and freedom of the public is a universal principle and, perhaps, all religions support them. Therefore, people’s rights and dignity will have to be respected and protected in any corner of the world regardless of their accidental backgrounds.
We believe in the statue of liberty, an icon of freedom and of the United States in New York City which was a welcoming sight to immigrants arriving from abroad.  The seven rays on her crown are for each of the seven continents. This statue represents a democratic administration – where all citizens have equal rights regardless of their beliefs, race of sex. This torch-bearing statue intends to lighten the world, to greet people from all the seven continents with open arms. Hate mongering and banning a nation from the U.S. for an individual’s acts will not be only against the spirit of democracy but also a slap on the face of the statue of liberty.  
Moreover, the U.S. Declaration of Independence, which was adopted in July 1776, points out the natural and “unalienable rights” of the individuals which are bestowed by the Creator and the basic ones mentioned as “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”.
After all, the U.S. President Barack Obama has urged Trump not to make Muslims across the world feel the West hates them, as doing so would have very dangerous consequences. He said it would be a mistake to make “young Muslims in this country and around the world feel like no matter what they do, they’re going to be under suspicion and under attack.”
It is believed that sarcastic rhetoric and emotional statements rather than rational words will be counterproductive. A politician has to avoid prompting sensations in public. It should be noted that violence is against the soul of Islamic sharia and all Muslims do not follow inflexible ideology. Unjust labeling will create a rift among the ethnic groups and does more harm than good. Hence, Trump has to eschew from sowing the seeds of hate and discrimination in the heart of younger generations. A vitriolic attack on Muslims or restricting their rights in social and political arena will put the America’s democracy under question.
If one considers Afghanistan, streams of blood are spilt every once in a while and Afghan police and civilians are widely sacrificed. It is believed that a large number of the militants are mercenary fighters rather than practicing upon an ideology. However, some lose their lives on the basis of his/her ethnicity or creed the same as some Black Americans are sometimes targeted by White ones for their dark skins.
In short, I am seriously outraged when the blood of a Black is spilled for the dark skin of their color in South Carolina of America by a White gunman, when a number of civilians are shot dead in Paris or California by ISIL insurgents and when Muslim women are spat on for wearing hijab or a Muslim taxi driver being shot in the back on Thanksgiving by Christians.

Hujjattullah Zia is the permanent writer of the Daily Outlook Afghanistan. He can be reached at zia_hujjat@yahoo.com

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