BBC Radio 4 2016-03-30

BBC Radio 4 2016-03-30

Good morning

We’ve heard this news many times before, too many times. In these last weeks I have felt pain, anguish and heartbreak when hearing of the terrorist attacks in Lahore, Brussels, Istanbul and Ankara. For terrorists who use religious justification to decide on who should live or die these things are simple – and simplistic.

If you’re the kind of person who will commit unmentionable acts of devastation for a warped sense of belonging and purpose then the likes of Daesh approve of your ideology and existence. However, if like the rest of us, the majority of sensible people who live in peaceful coexistence and care enough about those in our neighbourhoods and in our nation to wish them nothing but good, we are legitimate targets for terrorists. Those who fall into this category, as lovers of humanity, share in our hatred and heartbreak when we are touched by events such as Lahore. Contrary to popular belief millions of Muslims fall into this category and are therefore also treated as targets by terror groups, in fact more Muslims are killed – as in Lahore – than any other group because we won’t follow an extremist ideology. Our philosophy values human life and dignity as decreed by God who tells us in the Quran how He created different communities so that they will come to know one another and gives us examples of how we should live our lives through Prophets Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad.

Language is a powerful tool which can be misused to make people believe their lives don’t matter. History has shown us many examples of where one group feels a sense of superiority over another based on skin colour, religion, gender or even a piece of land. Muslim extremists are no different; they have used words such as kafir to describe all those who don’t believe in their version of Islam, and words like takfir to excommunicate Muslims who see something wrong with the terror they spread. Whether Arabic or English, extremists will use language to tell us about appropriate values, beliefs, ideology and even behaviour. My values come from where I live and those around me; my faith inspires me to share nothing but good and to not allow ignorance to be my guide but to seek knowledge in order to be a better person. A verse from the Quran that has oft been quoted, and comes to mind this morning is “He who kills a soul on the earth will be as if he had killed all humankind; and he who saves a life will be as if he had saved the lives of all humankind.” (Q 5:32).