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Texas attack shouldn'€™t affect interfaith ties

We are all aware of the recent tragedy that occurred in Texas, the US, on the evening of May 3, when two gunmen opened fire outside an event dedicated to depictions of Prophet Muhammad, a practice considered offensive to practitioners of Islam

Mochamad Asri (The Jakarta Post)
Texas, USA
Fri, May 22, 2015

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Texas attack shouldn'€™t affect interfaith ties

W

e are all aware of the recent tragedy that occurred in Texas, the US, on the evening of May 3, when two gunmen opened fire outside an event dedicated to depictions of Prophet Muhammad, a practice considered offensive to practitioners of Islam.

The event was arranged by the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI), known for its history of anti-Islam rhetoric. The shootings injured one police officer, and many people presume that the incident was launched as a direct attack against the anti-Islam event.

I have lived in Texas for one and a half years. People here respect me as a Muslim; likewise, I respect them as Christians, Hindus, Buddhists or even atheists. Female students are free to wear a hijab.

We are also provided with a spacious on-campus prayer room. Muslim students and non-Muslim students often engage in academic and social activities and in the interfaith community network. One Ramadhan we invited communities of all faiths to dinner in the mosque.

Thus the recent shootings during the cartoon contest of the Prophet Mohammad deeply disturbed the Muslim community, as it somehow wiped out all the hard work done to build a peaceful interfaith community in Texas.

As always, there is no smoke without fire. First, the shooting itself was clearly unacceptable. Some may say that the gunmen were offended because they thought the event was meant to spread hatred toward the Prophet. No Muslim would agree to any party mocking Prophet Muhammad.

Similarly, no Christian would accept anyone making fun of Jesus. But some people express disagreement in a barbaric way; people whom scholars refer to as disengaged citizens that are unable to provide adequate justifications for their attitudes.

For instance, if a friend says your father is stupid, you could choose to fight him, debate with him or instead invite him to dinner to meet your father.

In the cartoon case, it would have been much more acceptable to hold a seminar on Prophet Muhammad, where misleading issues could have been clarified. Or Muslims could have sued the AFDI, claiming it was spreading hatred toward Prophet Muhammad.

 Violence in any form in the name of Islam is more destructive to Islam than any caricature '€” the word Islam originally means peace. It is time for Muslims to reaffirm our commitment; to learn how to maturely argue and disagree in an intelligent manner as well as to combat extremism.

Second, while AFDI founder Pamela Geller and her group claimed that they held the event as an expression of freedom, one has to wonder why one would dedicate their life to promoting hatred and bigotry. Geller and co. have consistently conducted anti-Muhammad events.

It is indeed guaranteed in the US constitution that everybody is free to voice an opinion without fear.

However, freedom of speech should make society better through establishing justice, not fostering hateful discourse and further marginalizing the marginalized.

After all, we are mature enough to understand that freedom should not be confused as a '€œfree'€ and '€œacceptable'€ act to spread hatred and create riots. Rather, it should be based on respect, tolerance and responsibility.

While some parties would like to take the advantage of Muslims and non-Muslims not being able to coexist in peace, faith communities should not be easily incited by actions that could destroy all the peace and understanding nurtured so far, within and beyond the US, including in Indonesia, which has the world'€™s highest population of Muslims.

After all, the purpose of all religions is arguably to spread peace. No matter what our religion, we need to understand what we can do to constructively achieve this ultimate goal.
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The writer studies computer engineering for his PhD at the University of Texas in Austin.

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