In the Name of God, the Merciful and Compassionate...
We Muslims tend to start with the above "Bismillah Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahim" which all but one of the 114 surahs in Quran begin with. It is like our compass that tells us to always focus on God who cherishes most the qualities of mercy and compassion. Whenever we say it remember God and we are reminded that we have a God who believes in mercy and compassion. If more non-Muslims knew this, there would be no such thing as islamophobia, correct?
Bismillah Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahim
The Fort Hood tragedy has been the main topic of the news the past couple days and for obvious reasons. An army sargent and added to that, a psychiatrist, opened fire at Fort Hood killing many and wounding many people. This is a horrific crime and I know the 99% of the Muslims out there feel saddened by it. Muslims and non-Muslims alike have a lot to sort out to make sense of this horrible act committed by a man who was obviously suffering from mental illness.
My Muslim brothers and sisters, let us pray together as a community about this. Let the ummah turn to Allah in prayer about this. Pray for the victims, for their families and loved ones, for the entire world as it tries to understand such a senseless act. Pray for healing.
And pray for patience to deal with the backlash it brings to the Muslims. Sadly, we have to endure islamophobia. Part of our struggle as Muslims is to lessen the fear of non-muslims by being patient and understanding. Before you jump on the wagon and start defending Islam, spend a great amount of time praying about how you can respond to help soothe the wounds left by the sargent. Not just the physical wounds, but the emotional ones. And know that sometimes people are never able to find serenity and healing after horrible tragedies like this. Put yourselves in their shoes. Try to understand this with compassion as your compass.
I know we all see the media focusing on Hasan being a Muslim and we all know it is unfair. We want to yell out that this Islam doesn't condone such actions. We want to inform the world that our Quran teaches us that killing one person is like killing all humanity! Yet the media is insinuating the massacre happened because Islam allows it.
Just a few minutes ago, I watched yet again the video clip of Hasan wearing his kufi in a store as the reporter states that Hasan was "obviously very troubled". The media, possibly because of their ignorance, makes the prayer clothes he is wearing look like a sign of extremism. I am angry about it and I want to rant and complain, but then I realized this would be a horrible way to respond when so many are mourning and confused and struggling to understand.
So how can we help as Muslims? Let's pray together. Let's be compassionate together. Let's show the world how Islam condemns tragedies. Let people vent their pain and then let's educate. I see alot of bickering on the internet between Muslims and non-muslims. That doesn't do anything to educate. I guarantee you Allah is not looking for people to bicker with each other. That just feeds into the problem.
Prove to non-muslims that Islam is a beautiful religion by responding with compassion and mercy. Imagine how quickly islamophobia would end if we all said, "I am sad and I am praying to God to help us all live in a way that tragedies like this no longer happen." Pray not only for yourself and your Muslim ummah. Pray for all humanity and for all creation in a way that proves you value mercy and compassion as much as Allah does. Peace is the only way to peace.
We have yet to learn what actually caused Hasan to shoot. Was he mentally ill? Did the army allow him to continue to treat soldiers as a psychiatrist because they were so short staffed? The media doesn't care about the real story. We know that. The media is a business and it cares about ratings. Sad but true. So we must be the ones who demand the truth about this. Muslims and non-muslims must care more about virtues than sensational stories. This tragedy proves that there is not enough mercy and compassion in the world. Will you be a Muslim who values your opinion more or will you respond to Allah's call for a merciful and compassionate world.
Amin, Amin, Amin
VOANews
