By Mahmoud El-Yousseph
Muslims in France fear for their lives as they are being constantly under assault. Their religious rights violated (women are banned from wearing hijab or niqab, or burkini in public,) their faith is maligned, and above all their beloved prophet is mocked. President Macron can not throw a snaked into a cradle and then act surprised if the baby gets bit.”
As a result, I read today about the sad and shocking news of the horrible attack in France where a woman was beheaded by an attacker with a knife who also killed two other people at a church in the French city of Nice. The mayor of the city described the attack as an act of terrorism. The knife attack took place near Notre Dame and that police shot and detained the attacker.
One week earlier, two Muslim women were stabbed repeatedly under the Eiffel Tower by two white women who called them “dirty Arabs” according to reports. The French police arrested two attackers. One of the Muslim women was stabbed six times and ended up with a punctured lung in the hospital. The other victim had to undergo surgery on her arm according to foreign media reports. Surprisingly, the police released the information only after three days and there was no condemnation expressed by either the French media or by President Macron. Macron fanned the flames of anti-Muslim bigotry in France and around the world by claiming, ‘Islam is a religion that is in crisis all over the world today.’ Since the beginning of 2020, Monsieur Macron has shut down 73 mosques and Muslim religious institutions under the pretext that they promote extremism.
Not so fast. France has a long and bloody history against Muslims. France has, along with the US and the UK, carried out a series of military strikes involving aircraft and ship-based missiles against multiple targets in Syria during the Syrian Civil War that killed many innocent people. The same happened in Iraq and Libya. Let’s not forget that the French soldiers were recently engaged in gang rape against Muslim women and girls of all ages in Mali and the Central African Republic, not to mention bombing mosques inside Mali while worshippers were inside. France is equally guilty of imposing a sanction on Iraq following the first Gulf War that killed one million children.
Saying ‘Bismillah’ (in the name of God) before eating pork does not make it permissible for Muslims to eat. Shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is great) before killing innocent people does not make it permissible either. Muslims say the beautiful phrase “Allahu Akbar” all the time. They say it during the five daily prayers and when anything good happens, along with phrases like ‘Alhamdulillah’ (thank God) to show that they credit God with good things. That said, invoking Allah’s name during murder is despicable and killing innocent people is pure evil.
It should be noted here that mutilation is forbidden under Islamic law. It is also forbidden for a Muslim to mutilate a Muslim and a non-Muslim A Muslim must not, therefore, mutilate another person or participate in such acts in any other way, such as by witnessing the event or approving of it.
On April 23, 2019, a California man Isaiah Peoples, 34, deliberately plowed his car into a crowded intersection sending bodies flying through the air. He targeted the victims because he believed they were Muslim according to Sunnyvale Police Chief Phan Ngo said after the incident. He was arrested after his car slammed into a tree. A news report said peoples suffer from mental illness and forget to take his medications. According to Don Draper, 72, a witness at the scene, he heard the perpetrator saying over and over again, “Thank you, Jesus, thank you, Jesus’ again and again. After this tragic incident, not one Muslims put the Bible or Christians on trial. Muslims should not be a fair game. Does saying, “Thank you, Jesus” while trying to kill innocent people mean the Bible sanctions the murder of Muslims? Of course not. By the same token, uttering, “Allahu Akbar,” before killing anyone clearly violates Islamic law. After this tragic incident in California, not one Muslim puts the Bible or Christians on Trial. Muslims should not be fair game.
