Sultan Al Qassemi is a Sharjah-based businessman, a graduate of the American University of Paris and the founder of Barjeel Securities in Dubai.He has written a superb reflection on the recent Mubai terrorist attack and he concludes with a multi-pronged challenge for Muslims and for us all. Here is a taster:
“It is not enough for moderate Muslims to be revolted by the attacks in Mumbai as we have been revolted by the attacks on the New York office towers, Amman wedding, London transport system, Madrid trains, Beslan school, Jerusalem pizzeria, Baghdad markets and numerous other places. It is time to take a serious stand against these perpetrators and reclaim our religion.”
“Muslims must be more vocal in their sentiments regarding such criminals, and Islamic states must counter this behaviour proactively. To borrow from an unpopular phrase, the Islamic states must launch a psychological pre-emptive strike against these terrorists and more importantly those who encourage them. Muslim preachers who fail to condemn terror must either be re-educated or discredited completely, and those who excuse terror using certain conflicts as a pretext must be silenced because the poison that they spread today will come back to haunt us all tomorrow.”
To read the entire article at:
Sultan Al Qassemi, It’s Not Enough for Muslims to be Revolted by Terror, The National, 29 November 2008.
Dr Geoff Pound
Image: People read a newspaper carrying reports of the shootings in Mumbai, in the northeastern Indian city of Siliguri November 28, 2008. (REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri). Courtesy of The Big Picture at Boston.Com. Check out this photographic gallery of thirty-five pictures at Mumbai Under Attack.
