Dr. Khalid Al-Shafi
The fever of Islamophobia has returned to European cities, and has not subsided weeks after the killing of a British soldier in broad daylight with a cleaver by two Muslims in London. Muslims have been the targets of numerous attacks in Britain since then, despite the fact that the Muslim community in the country denounced the incident.
The Independent newspaper recently reported that Islamophobia-induced hate crimes have increased 15-fold in Britain. The kinds of assaults against Muslims are varied. For example, Muslims are subjected to insults and defamation. Some veiled Muslim women are spat upon and mosques face attacks with petrol bombs. In addition, some people put pork at the doors of mosques while others draw graffiti on their walls or on cars. Also, there are those who try to enter mosques carrying knives. The characteristics all these assaults share are violence and determination.
How can we face all this hate? The mission is certainly difficult. But some initiatives can make a big difference.
An initiative by a group of young Muslim women in Britain has managed to attract the attention of the Western media. The women distributed a thousand white roses to passers-by in London’s streets. Attached to the flowers were pieces of paper with some of the sayings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) written on them.
The idea for the campaign took shape on the social networking website Facebook. Its aim, as its organisers put it, was to defend Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) with the language of peace and love, the language the Prophet always recommended to mankind, and not protests.
The young women wrote the sayings of the Prophet to send to the world a positive message about Islam and its messenger, who met the abuse of his enemies with forgiveness, tolerance, love and guidance.
Moreover, the Muslim women who participated in the campaign bought the roses with their own money and distributed them free. They did not receive any support from any organisation.
Islamophobia as a phenomenon will be eliminated when the international media broadcasts images of Muslim men and women distributing love and peace, and carrying roses in their hands instead of cleavers and knives.
The fever of Islamophobia has returned to European cities, and has not subsided weeks after the killing of a British soldier in broad daylight with a cleaver by two Muslims in London. Muslims have been the targets of numerous attacks in Britain since then, despite the fact that the Muslim community in the country denounced the incident.
The Independent newspaper recently reported that Islamophobia-induced hate crimes have increased 15-fold in Britain. The kinds of assaults against Muslims are varied. For example, Muslims are subjected to insults and defamation. Some veiled Muslim women are spat upon and mosques face attacks with petrol bombs. In addition, some people put pork at the doors of mosques while others draw graffiti on their walls or on cars. Also, there are those who try to enter mosques carrying knives. The characteristics all these assaults share are violence and determination.
How can we face all this hate? The mission is certainly difficult. But some initiatives can make a big difference.
An initiative by a group of young Muslim women in Britain has managed to attract the attention of the Western media. The women distributed a thousand white roses to passers-by in London’s streets. Attached to the flowers were pieces of paper with some of the sayings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) written on them.
The idea for the campaign took shape on the social networking website Facebook. Its aim, as its organisers put it, was to defend Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) with the language of peace and love, the language the Prophet always recommended to mankind, and not protests.
The young women wrote the sayings of the Prophet to send to the world a positive message about Islam and its messenger, who met the abuse of his enemies with forgiveness, tolerance, love and guidance.
Moreover, the Muslim women who participated in the campaign bought the roses with their own money and distributed them free. They did not receive any support from any organisation.
Islamophobia as a phenomenon will be eliminated when the international media broadcasts images of Muslim men and women distributing love and peace, and carrying roses in their hands instead of cleavers and knives.
