Associating Muslims with crime, a habit that many Kenyans have, is misguided and unfair.
I vividly remember the harrowing experience my friends and I faced after the Al-Shaabab attacked and killed people at the Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi.
For weeks, it was difficult for my friends and me to walk to Madrassa. Friends and associates deserted and avoided us.
We were called names by fellow children and even by grown-up men and women. They used to call us “criminals”, “terrorists” and the dreaded name— “Al-Shaabab.”
With recent happenings in Afghanistan, I overheard a by-passer talking maliciously about Islam. With a heavy heart, I walked away. Just, why would anyone assume that since someone is a Muslim, they either have contact with criminals or are capable of committing crime?
It is indubitable that Al-Shaabab has attacked and killed many innocent people, the majority non-Muslims, in the name of Allah. However, some Muslims have been killed and injured too. Al-Shabaab are criminals and do not distinguish between Muslims and non-Muslims.
Islam is a religion of peace and does not condone, encourage or sponsor terrorism and war. In any case, Sharia, the Islamic law, condemns killing of innocent people.
While many think Al-Shaabab and Al-Qaeda terrorists kill in the name of jihad— holy war waged on behalf of Islam as a religious duty— this is not always the case.
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What many non-Muslims don’t know is that there is so much to jihad than senseless killings— including personal struggles to become a better person. -Nation Africa
