The Islam of Peace, Love and Brotherhood

By: Saadia Malik

First Paris, then Brussels and now Pakistan; it seems that the ceaseless threat of terrorism no longer has any borders. This is a fear that resonates with everybody, all at once; nobody is safe anymore. The latest attack in Lahore shows us just that; innocent women, children and men, who were celebrating Easter at a theme park in Pakistan, were within seconds subject to one of the most horrific terror attacks the world has ever seen.  Our hearts grieve for the loss of these innocent souls. Sadly, for many people, this grief turns into anger, which is directed towards Muslims; towards Islam. This anger is soon after followed fear, which is evident in the growing trend of Islamophobia. We may not be able to do as much as we would like in the face of such attacks, but what we can do; we should. We must not give these terrorists the satisfaction of representing Islam; they represent only hate, intolerance and violence. Bernie Sanders, Democratic presidential candidate of the United States has said it best,  “It’s important we not succumb to bigotry. We are fighting a terrorist organization killing innocent people. We are not fighting a religion.” So let us do just that, as we stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters who have been victims of such terrorism, let us unite against the evil and not let it divide us. Let us attribute these atrocities to the evil people who orchestrated them, and not to the millions of innocent Muslims who are repulsed by Daesh and their relentless efforts to represent Islam; a religion which embodies only peace, love and brotherhood.

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