Most of the attacks had one common link among them: a ghastly and grotesque interpretation of Islam which no sane human being in the world would approve of. For this, Muslims, the whole 1.6 billion of them, are asked to answer uncomfortable questions. Questions that the person does not deserve.
What must be pointed out is that most of the victims of the 'jihad' are Muslims themselves. Muslims are also victims of retaliatory attacks. At the same time, they're fighting these extremists on the ground as well. But sadly, this fact is overlooked and common Muslims are cornered to take a vocal stand against extremism. The underlying assumption here is, and I will say it bluntly, that Muslims either support terrorism or are sympathetic to it.
The fact is, most Muslims have no influence over how their faith is interpreted by criminals, who shall remain criminals with or without religion. A common man who is fighting hunger, poverty, illiteracy, trying to earn a living for his family, a man who is tired with the burden of life already, is held accountable for someone slaughtering people in the name of religion thousands of miles away. He can neither assist them, nor stop them. Just like the Christians in India can’t stop a mentally-deranged man in the United States of America from shooting inside a school in broad daylight. He is as helpless as you are.
In numerous social gatherings anywhere in the world, whenever the topic of terrorism comes up, a Muslim is expected to denounce it. He's awkward, people around him are awkward, but the discussion goes on, with curious eyes on him, suggesting that his input is not a choice but a necessity. His disapproval is almost always not good enough, he is expected to do more. Every single time. And God forbid, if he is too troubled to talk about it or just irritated due to the scrupulous eyes and chooses to remain silent. Interpretations of his silence become the whisper talk of the night and beyond.
Muslims do need a debate within the community; in all certainty the reforms, if any, have to come from within. There are several challenges that Muslims face today and intolerance is one of them. They need to ask why so much intolerance has burgeoned in their society. Why is such a perverse version, which is largely condemned in the Muslim world, getting support across the world? Should they not question doctrines or falsified hadiths that are easily misused by extremists? Why have the countries they reside in failed to give protection to religious and ethnic minorities? They need to stand up and speak for their own self and no one else. What they don't need, is to defend themselves from people bullying them for an explanation.
To the surprise of many, they do stand up. They don't do it to get approval from the people who judge them, they do it because they know it's their fight. The house needs to be cleaned up from within and they have not given up on their struggle. Their voice, however, gets ignored in the mainstream discourse. The judge with deaf ears keeps asking them to shout louder and louder, shaking his head that the person is not loud enough or worse, there is someone else speaking on their behalf, who varies from an authoritarian dictator to a corrupt political. The common Muslim voice is shouted down to oblivion.
Today, common Muslims are torn between having to defend themselves from closed, prejudiced minds as well as saving their faith from terrorists calling themselves Muslims. They are helpless victims of both the Islamophobes and the extremists. They have a voice which is sad and angry, but is sincere and not apologetic. The question is, are you listening to them?
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