Answer
Salam (Peace) Dear Questioner,
Thank you for writing and for contacting Ask About Islam.
I wish you had indicated what part of the world you’re from so I could better understand the context and offer you information relevant to your environment. As it is, let’s address your question:
Your question is based on a generalized assumption that “Muslims are going around the world killing people” then you draw a conclusion deciding how I should feel as a result. I should be “ashamed of being Muslim” and should find it hard to tell people I belong to my faith. This is faulty logic.
Let me use your same logic for a moment and assume that your question was about my being a woman: “I don’t want to offend you but can I please ask you a question? It must be hard being a woman; I mean women are the ones going around the world seducing men. Aren’t you ashamed of being a woman?” How does this question look to you? Would you even dare asking it in a Western environment and still be politically correct?
My being Muslim is an integral part of my identity, just as being a woman is also an integral part of my identity. I’m equally proud of being both. In fact, I don’t even have to tell people either fact because they can already see it from a mile away. I wear a headscarf, so people can clearly see that I’m a practicing Muslim without even asking.
I do this out of pride of my identity, just as an Indian woman, or an African woman, or a Japanese woman would wear clothes that declare to the world who they are culturally and religiously. Needless to say, I demand the same respect for my cultural and religious identity that any of these women are granted. These are some of the ideas in my book explaining how I relate to the world as a modern Muslim and a global citizen.
Now let’s address the assumption that Muslims are “going around the world killing people”. I’m wondering: where did you get this information? Do you have numbers, facts and statistics to back it up, or are you just echoing what you hear and read in the media or from online discussions?
In fact, I’m wondering if you have ever had a Muslim friend, neighbor, classmate, or work colleague? And whether you have personally confirmed that they’re going around the world killing people? If so, how many of them did you personally report to your local authorities as a good citizen?
After all, there are roughly 1.8 billion Muslims in every corner of the world, so wherever you are, you must’ve been in contact at least with one of them? If you didn’t notice it, then perhaps they didn’t fit the stereotypical image you hold of them? Perhaps they were too similar to yourself that you didn’t see them as “the enemy” when you interacted with them?
But if you’re sure you’ve never met a Muslim, then I must also wonder how active socially are you? Are you reaching out to your larger diverse community or are you staying close to your own kind? Are you participating in activities with your neighbors and colleagues of different backgrounds? Do you travel to other cultures and meet local people to learn about their way of life, however different it is from yours?
Perhaps you won’t give me the answer to those questions, but I hope you’d find the time to discuss them honestly with yourself.
Are Muslims going around the world killing people?
On the FBI’s official website, there’s a chronological list of all terrorist attacks committed on U.S. soil from 1980-2005. It has some eye-opening data. For example, only 6% of terrorists were Muslims!
All Terrorists are Muslims…Except the 94% that Aren’t!
Additionally, religion has nothing to do with terrorism, genocides, or ethnic cleansing. These horrors happen across history in the name of every religion imaginable, but there in no religion that commands its followers to kill innocent people on a whim just because they’re different. Therefore, those who commit such crimes in the name of any religion are in fact the people who understand that religion the least!
A Gallup analysis of more than 130 countries, a decade after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, suggests that religious identity and level of devotion have little to do with one’s views about attacking civilians. Almost all residents surveyed in the Middle East, North Africa, Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa who reject attacks on civilians say religion is an important part of their daily lives.
Gallup survey: Religion doesn’t color views about violence
In comparison, how many countries and regions are there where Muslims are being killed everyday? How many innocents were killed in school shootings in the US alone in the past 2 years? How many women and children were killed in drone attacks? How many innocent teenagers were killed in a single shooting by Norwegian right wing fanatic Anders Behring Breivik?
Who launched the Crusades, the Armadas and the Inquisition? Who destroyed Native Americans and the unique cultures of the Mayas and the Incas to steal their wealth and occupy their lands?
Who destroyed the aboriginals of Australia and New Zealand? Who kidnapped and enslaved entire African nations -many of them Muslim- to work as slave labor on plantations in the New World? Who started the two World Wars that killed millions worldwide? Who is still killing Palestinians everyday?
So, to be fair, either we attribute all these atrocities to their respective religions, or we put religion aside, and take a more objective look at the people who caused all this bloodshed, who probably only used religion as a cover to serve their purposes.
Fanatics, greedy tycoons, blood-crazed politicians and corrupt media exist across history and around the world. They manipulate gullible people into serving their purposes and fighting their battles on their behalf.
In parallel, good, honest, God-fearing humans also exist everywhere, in every era, culture and religion on earth. It’s up to us to inform ourselves to be able to choose the side of humanity to focus on and believe in.
We could see diversity as a threat, or we could choose to see it as a blessing to enrich our lives. No doubt evil and corruption exist, but they’re always a small part of the whole big picture of our beautiful, diverse world. Otherwise, you and I wouldn’t be communicating now.
I’m proud of my religion for teaching me the sanctity of human life. That to save one life is as saving all of humanity. Islam also teaches me to reach out to others in peace and compassion, to exchange knowledge and human experience with them with respect to our differences.
My work in cross cultures allows me to travel and meet people so different from myself. I found that the similarities we share as humans are far more than the differences of faith, culture and color. I just practiced these values here to answer your question.
Thank you for the opportunity to share these thoughts with you and other readers. Hopefully this encouraged you to research a bit about the teachings of Islam from a credible, objective source, and maybe even meet a Muslim friend soon.
Salam and please keep in touch.