Not in His Holy Name!

The attack on Charlie Hebdo’s office in Paris is heinous. It’s gruesome. It’s murderous. It’s cowardly. It’s all of these. United Nations – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed his rage at the shooting. He referred to it as “despicable”, “horrendous, unjustifiable and cold-blooded crime.” And there is much more to it.

It’s the hardening of some hearts. It makes me question – how could they? How could they claim to love the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and yet murder a dozen people in his name?

7th Century Arabia

Whenever Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) used to pass through a particular street in Arabia, a woman used to throw garbage at him from her rooftop. She continued this for days but the Prophet did not respond to her. One day, the Prophet again passed from that street but there no one threw dirt on him. So he knocked on the door of the woman and asked her how she was doing and whether everything was fine with her!!

The Prophet was concerned about the well-being of the woman who made it a point to throw garbage at him every day. There was no anger. No retaliation. No hatred.

The woman was sick and the Prophet’s gesture greatly moved her.

21st Century, Paris

Do such people, so full of venom towards the other have any right to claim that they are the followers of the Prophet?

These people’s hearts have become calloused to an unimaginable extent.

I am sure of one thing. They have crossed the territory of Islam. They live in some desert where compassion, peace and mercy have no place. Oxford academic Prof Tariq Ramadan has rightly noted that “it is not the Prophet who was avenged, it is our religion, our values and Islamic principles that have been betrayed and tainted.”

As a believer in the Holy Prophet, as a lover of the Prophet and as a follower of the Prophet my head hangs in shame at this act. The Prophet wanted his ummah to be the torch bearer of truth, compassion and honesty. The Prophet was a symbol of honesty mercy.

When people in 7th Century Arabia slit the throats of their girl children – wasn’t it the Prophet who said “Mercy”?

When Arabia was under the shadow of ignorance – wasn’t it the Prophet who said “Go even to China to Study”?

When people committed indescribable atrocities on slaves and prisoners of war – wasn’t it the Prophet who said “treat them with compassion”?

I knew a Paris where my Algerian – French friends would enter the little mosque near Cite’ Universitaire De Paris, offer their prayers and would later head for classes at 27 Rue Saint-Guillaume. It was three Ramadans back. In the mosque everyone was welcome to join the Iftar. They served couscous – an Algerian rice and meat dish which has become as much a part of French cuisine as Balti chicken a part of Birmingham’s cityscape. They served it in a huge dish with some 40-50 forks injected in the mound. This was followed by Algerian Mint tea.

Everyone regardless of their status or faith was welcome. I have known this Paris. The same Paris where I celebrated Eid-ul-Fitr with fellow students at Sciences Po. I knew a Paris where Eid was an event filled with love and feasting. The French police stood alert as the people prayed. The mosque was filled with people of Algerian, Moroccan, Tunisian origin.

France is home to the largest number of Muslims in Western Europe. 5-10 % of its population is Muslim. Now this attack has the potential to jeopardize the lives of so many Muslims who have nothing to do with this attack. North African Muslims have made France home.

They work hard, many run kebab shops and other small business. Many of them are refugees from conflict torn nations forced to flee home countries in order to survive. Afghans, Iraqis, Malians among others. In the wake of the attack several mosques were vandalized. In Le Mans grenades were thrown at a mosque. A kebab shop in the vicinity of el Houda mosque in Villefranche-sur-Saone, near Lyon was blown up.

The French nation must continue to zealously guard the values of liberty, fraternity and equality. And Muslims must step up; raise their voices against the use of the Holy Prophet’s name by these calloused extremists. They should not, cannot and must not be allowed to carry on with their murderous agenda, defiling the name of Islam. Indian Muslims are a shining example of reason and moderation before the world. India’s 180 million Muslims — the world’s second largest Muslim population — have stood the test of time with their enduring belief in democracy, peace and voicing concerns through the ballot not bullet.

Je te aime Prophète Muhammad. Peace Be Upon You.

A graduate of the University of Oxford, Department of Contemporary South Asian Studies, Ilma Afroz was the recipient of IFMR Scholarship. She also attended the Institut d’études politiques de Paris and interned with the United Nations in Indonesia and the Clinton Foundation, New York. She tweets @Afroz_Ilma

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