Chapter Nine

CHAPTER NINE Anti-Islam in the Name of Islam h Some time ago, I met a Muslim who lives in America. In the course of our conversation, he mentioned that these days the image of Islam has become so negative in America that he hesitates to tell anyone that he is a Muslim. ‘If anyone asks me my religion,’ he explained, ‘I say that my religion is Humanism. If I tell them that I believe in Islam, they will at once say, “Then you must be a terrorist!”’ The man accused the media of manufacturing this image of Islam. But I replied, ‘No. Rather, this image of Islam has been created by Muslims themselves. The fact is that in various places Muslims are engaged in violent movements in the name of Islam, which the media reports. Because Muslims spearhead these violent movements in the name of Islam, the media also attributes them to Islam. When Muslims themselves are engaged in such movements in the name of Islam, how can the media call them by some other name?’ The man responded by saying that only just a few Muslims were engaged in such violent movements. Hence, he protested, it was wrong to create a negative image about all Muslims based on the actions of these few. My answer to him was, ‘It is true that relatively few Muslims are engaged in such movements.