Young Muslim talks about the pain, speaks out against ‘anti-Christian terrorism’
The number of deaths in the series of attacks against three churches and as many hotels has risen to 310. Muslims condemn the obscurantism of a backward Islam. "They want to divide us and sow war between us,” says young Muslim scholar.
Paris (AsiaNews) - The explosions that sowed death and destruction on 21 April, Easter Sunday, in three Sri Lankan churches and as many hotels in Colombo are the latest acts of barbarism that make Christians the most persecuted religious group in the world. Increasingly, investigators are leaning towards Islamists as the perpetrators. However, many Muslims are raising their voice against such violence, rejecting the ideologies of a "backward and absolutist" Islam. We publish the thoughts of a young Muslim scholar, Kamel Abderrahmani. (Translation by AsiaNews).
On Easter Sunday, the holiest day in Christianity, the day that commemorates the resurrection of Jesus, which the New Testament places two days after the Passion, that is, on "the third day”, anti-Christian barbarism brutally struck in Sri Lanka. A series of attacks caused the death of more than 290 people and wounded more than 500 people. That day, bloodthirsty Islamists targeted hotels as well as churches where Catholic worshipers celebrated Easter Mass. Such barbarism operates in the open. I am not saying this group does not represent Islam; indeed, it faithfully represents one vision among several of Islam, an Islam inspired by conflict-ridden historical contexts and spatiotemporal texts that are no longer valid.
If such acts are committed in the name of their Islam, nothing will surprise me because this shallow and superficial religiosity is a disease, a plague and a machine of war. I really mean their Islam, because mine and that of those who are like me is different. The latter is about faith and is spiritual and remains in the private domain. Moreover, we are the first victims of this medieval, uneducated and obscurantist vision of Islam.
As the saying goes, we must “call a spade a spade," that is to say, we must give things their real name. What has just happened in Sri Lanka is an Islamist anti-Christian terrorist act. I say anti-Christian and this is not the first time that Christians have suffered such atrocities because they are simply Christians. We have seen this before with the Yazidis and Copts who were executed and driven into exile by the devil’s own obscurantist State called the Islamic State. We must not be silent anymore.
Today, we live in a sick world, a suffering world that does not inspire peace or coexistence, a world where all the different communities are targeted: yesterday Christians in Sri Lanka, before that Muslims in New Zealand, and further back Jews in Pittsburgh. I have spoken out against such acts and I speak out firmly and unconditionally against what has just been done in Sri Lanka.
For those who did not know, Christians were the most persecuted religious community in the world in 2018. If things continue like this, obviously things are not likely to calm down in 2019 with all Christianophobes around, people from other religions or even no religion who continue to insult them or attack their religious assets.
As a Muslim, I see Christians as they really are, that is, believers who have a culture of forgiveness and love, especially at Easter. Despite the fact that the Sunday of resurrection turned into a Sunday of death, I am sure that Christians will keep their faith and love whole, and that hatred will have no place in their hearts filled with the grace and love of God.
I add my humble voice to that of those Muslims who think like me and I express my solidarity and extend my condolences to Christians. May God’s love bring us together despite those who want to divide us and sow war between us. When I say between us, I mean those who are like me and you, who believe in coexistence and work to build bridges of friendship and fraternity between different religions and cultures.
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01/06/2019 13:07
