9/11 is fast becoming (in)famous for another reason; some group has chosen it as a 'Burn a Koran Day'.
This is scheduled to take place in Gainesville Florida, timed to coincide with the date of the WTC Bombings nine years ago. It has long been on the news, but I chose to refrain from commenting on it. Mainly because it arose as part of a larger discourse; the growing islamophobia of America.
When President Obama spoke in favor of religious freedom, I pointed out to Americans that it was futile to expect him to pander to the rising tide of domestic islamophobia, even though it was bound to cost him political points.
The position of the President of the United States I argued, transcends the local underpinnings of mainland US, hard as this might be for the locals to accept. There are US interests in almost all corners of the world, with substantial assets, human, military, industrial and economic domiciled in Muslim countries.
I have also personally excused Terry Jones, because I believe no enlightened person will take it upon himself to attack any of the world religions so brazenly in this day and age.
However America's biggest freedoms are also often the sources of its biggest liabilities, and today Gen. Petraeus corroborates my claim, when he states that Quran burning could endanger US troops in Afghanistan.
Well, not only in Afghanistan, I can imagine the fate of an isolated American in many Muslim enclaves in the Middle East, South East Asia or North Africa after the images of the event hit the screen, if ever.
However, I do not intend to stoke the embers any further, nor indulge in reverse hate-speech. A few points need to be raised though;
The first of which is that while I concede that the proposed act is and will be highly provocative to Muslims, I cannot help but admit that this is in itself an ill-conceived concession to people who are unduly emotionally agitated.
Proceeding from the premise that nobody can upset us unless we give them the permission to do so, I dare say that it is within the capacity of the Muslim Ummah to call the man's bluff.
He has stated that his desire is to reveal the face of Islam for its inherent evil and violence, and ironically his act of provocation by itself would suffice to stir pockets of the Muslim community to violence, whether or not violence is inherently a part of them!
I know at this point that some would seek to question my allegiance, as with all Muslims, I was raised to hold the Quran in reverence, handle it with utmost care and preserve it to the best of my ability. It is not even permitted to tear out a portion of the bound book, so burning it is obviously the most dastardly thing that could be done to the Quran.
Still, I persist in asking? What is in burning a Quran?
On the backdrop of the fact that Muslims have been fore-warned about attempts to destroy the Book, leading to the encouragement of devotees to memorize its entire content...
On the backdrop of the fact that Muslim factions (Shi'ites and Sunnis) in Baghdad have at numerous times willfully bombed each other's mosques...
On the backdrop of the fact that Terry Jones is not engaged in a clandestine act of subverting Islam, but rather seems bent on gaining fame and publicity...
On the backdrop of the fact that Terry Jones and company do not speak for anyone other than themselves, and have no significance in the lives of Muslims the world over...
I think it is time that Muslims rode the high horse on such issues, and stop being reactionary. It is high time Muslims set their agenda, and stuck with it. To threaten fire and brimstones, to attack Mr. Terry Jones or much worse, innocent Americans over this issue is to demean the faith, and to drag Muslims to the base level of Jones's pack.
If I had the clout, I would organize Muslims to witness the event, to celebrate the exercise of his freedom, to make it known that the essence of the Book transcends its paper medium and to let Mr Jones know exactly what his act constitutes: a demonstration of the same kind of intolerance and indignant righteousness that Islamist terrorists are guilty of...
