Opening a can of worms or any other creatures was not my intention, but I found the can already open, now what is left is to simply pour down and examine the putrid contents of the can.
We all know the drill when members of a community exhibit behaviours that are contrary to what is widely accepted by the society as normal. And it is never sufficient for their leaders to come out shedding crocodile tears, denying and denouncing the culprits with statements like “we are peace-loving, those are not our people but just a small number that is out to malign our community…” Excuse me, what are you talking about? You can go tell that to the birds. Don’t you, as leaders ever get tired and ashamed of coming out every day to say the same thing over and over again? Especially when there is nothing tangible that you are doing to address the root cause of bad behaviour among the so called “few” people who are definitely among you?
Lets’ jump straight to the point, I have had Muslim friends and acquaintances at almost all stages of my life right from my early schooling days at Thika Road Primary. Many Muslims are indeed very good people, my first friend in primary school was a boy called Noordin, I bought my first computer from a Muslim friend called Moha, one of my best friends in my previous job was a guy called Hakim. Even in my current job, I have numerous Muslim colleagues whom I consider as very close friends. That is to say that I know a bit about Muslims and their way of life, but what I fail to understand is the fundamentalist mentality among some Muslim youth and I have a few examples to illustrate my dilemma.
Terrorism has been a nuisance to the whole world; Kenyans witnessed it first hand during the US Embassy bombing of August 1998 that left many innocent Kenyans dead or badly injured. Numerous subsequent attacks have occurred sporadically in other parts of the country especially in Nairobi, Coast and the North Eastern provinces. The attacks have been attributed to Al Qaeda and lately by their affiliates Al Shabaab. I will not sugar-coat my words; both Al Qaeda and Al Shabaab are purely hardcore Muslim fundamentalists, Muslim Jihadists and not Christians, not Hindus and certainly not Buddhists.
Muslim clerics and the wider Muslim community have all failed to tackle terrorism head-on, instead employing all manner of tactics to frustrate efforts to enact the proposed anti-terrorism laws. It has been argued that the proposed laws were targeting Muslims, but where is the proof in that? What does a suspected criminal’s religion got to do with their criminal acts? Intelligence reports have previously indicated that some Muslim religious leaders have active links with Al Shabaab and have been either recruiting youth for the terror group or inciting them through cryptic teachings.
The clerics are also quick to cry foul whenever suspects are arrested or fast-tracked for their appointment with the Almighty Creator. And all you can do is to talk about police targeting Muslims? And why should innocent Christians bear the brunt for things that they know nothing about? If you suspect extrajudicial killings by the police, are you assuming that the Kenya Police is under the command of Jesus Christ? You all know that the Kenya Police is not a preserve of any single religious group; in fact my last spot check recently revealed that there were many Muslim officers serving in our security forces countrywide. Kenya Police and the church are not connected in any way, even a fool knows this.
Is the Muslim community trying to start a religious war in Kenya? My answer would be “YES” but they want to be seen as victims rather than the perpetrators. Attacking Christian worship places and places mainly frequented by Christians is one sure way of planting seeds of religious intolerance. Having lived and worked among Muslims, I can confirm the deep-rooted hatred that Muslims have not only towards Christians but also other religions too.
Time has come now, for genuine Muslim clerics and leaders to come out strongly… seize this opportunity and redeem the waning image of Islam globally. Teach your rogue teenagers how to live and let live, teach them that fundamentalism has no place in our modern society; Killing is a sin; teach your youth that there are certainly no virgins waiting to entertain Jihadists and terrorists in paradise. Every single chance you get to address your young men, reinforce good behaviour and rebuke terrorism and speak firmly against violence. If you fail to do this then don’t ever appear on telly with the all too familiar line of “Muslims are peace-loving blah blah blah… those were not part of us…” Nonsense, we know better. Oh, and while your congregation is still attentive, be sure to address the issue of hypocrisy – where many Muslims speak ill of the West but still want to flock European and American cities.
Meanwhile, the security forces must do their work in accordance to the rule of law and in full regard to human rights. Infiltrate the terror gangs to learn their modus operandi, investigate and arrest terrorists, charge them in court and have them serve time in a maximum security facility. The country urgently needs a dedicated border security force that will secure our notoriously porous borders once and for all. The fellows at immigration should also make their contribution by doing their work with due diligence so as to avoid issuing travel documents inadvertently to suspected terrorists.
Related articles
- Deadly riots in Mombasa, Kenya after police kill imam (dnaindia.com)
- Dont Disregard Religious Factor in Kenyan Mall Attack, Say Experts on Radical Islam (cnsnews.com)
- Critical Commentary: Kenyan Riot Pivots Religious Conflict (worldreligionnews.wordpress.com)
- Did ‘White Widow’ spy on Kenya mall? (edition.cnn.com)
- AL SHABAB ATTACK: How do we counter this extremism ? (chriskinyanjuikamau.wordpress.com)
- Christian-Muslim Tensions Still Linger In Kenya (jewishterrorism.com)
- We’re All Witnessing Terrorist Group Al-Shabaab’s Coming of Age, And It’s Downright Savage (businessinsider.com)
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