Canadian Muslims must help fight the ‘enemy within’
Toronto Star
Ahmed Sahi 4 hrs ago
“When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.”
Last week’s terror attacks – in which a soldier was run down by a radicalized Canadian named Martin Rouleau in Quebec, and another soldier was shot dead in Ottawa by another radicalized Canadian – turned my thoughts to these words of Winston Churchill.
While our combat mission in Iraq has begun and is ongoing, we know the greatest danger to Canadian security lies from the threat within. We must now go back to the drawing board and really re-examine what we are doing domestically to deal with the rising tide of radicalization.
And I don’t mean just enhanced surveillance and security. Though necessary, defeating the menace of radicalization will take more than that.
Surveillance and security are essentially band-aid solutions that only protect us from those who are making clear indications that they are soon about to commit harm. For them, the internal battle in their mind is already lost. They have already been radicalized. Besides, how much can you really beef up security? There’s always a limit imposed just by sheer resources.
Ultimately, this really is a battle for the mind. We can only truly win this battle in the minds of these young, and would-be, Muslims.
ISIS and this entire radicalization movement in general are most dangerous not because of the firepower or soldier count they are amassing in Iraq; the greatest danger they pose is the ideology they are continuously spreading to people all over the world, including Canada.
And ultimately, an ideology cannot be beaten with guns, bullets and surveillance. We will need to counter that ideology with an powerful counter-narrative that disarms these ideas before they can take root.
The only way to do that is to wage a massive awareness campaign exposing how far-removed these radical jihadists are from the true teachings of Islam.
And in case anybody is unclear, I’ll just say that what radicalized converts Martin Rouleau and Michael Zehaf-Bibeau did were indeed utterly un-Islamic acts.
In Islam, there are only two sources of knowledge upon which the faith is based – the Quran, which is the scripture of Islam, and the practice or sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. No jihadist website or Twitter feed or old recording of Anwar al-Awlaki is a source for Islamic learning – period.
And as a devout Ahmadi Muslim, I’m proud to say – although I am saddened that I have to actually say it – that in neither the Quran nor the life and teachings of the Prophet will you find anything even remotely condoning the acts of Rouleau or Zehaf-Bibeau.
On the contrary, it was the Prophet who taught “loyalty to one’s land of residence is part of faith.” Was this ever stressed to Zehaf-Bibeau, who committed the antithesis of loyalty to Canada when he shot Cpl. Nathan Cirillo as he stood guard at the National War Memorial?
A woman sits in silence while paying her respects to Cpl. Nathan Cirillo of the Canadian Army Reserves, who was killed while standing guard in front of the National War Memorial in Ottawa. © Andrew Burton A woman sits in silence while paying her respects to Cpl. Nathan Cirillo of the Canadian Army Reserves, who was killed while standing guard in front of the National War Memorial in Ottawa.
And it is the Quran which teaches that “whosoever killed a person…it shall be as if he had killed all mankind,” and that we should “create not disorder in the earth” because “God loves not those who create disorder.”
So we can’t ever forget that these radicalized jihadis are not basing their actions on the true teachings of Islam, but rather on a twisted politicized version shared by some other like-minded individuals, either online or in extremist circles.
And we also can’t forget that such people are a minutely small number in comparison to the overwhelming majority of Muslims who are peaceful, normal people living normal lives.
It’s easy, in the midst of all the chaos and negativity surrounding Islam right now, to get carried away and think that this is what Muslims – or at least a sizeable portion of Muslims – really are about. But don’t forget, there are 1.8 billion Muslims on earth.
In Canada, out of the nearly 1 million Muslims who live here, there are about 90 currently being investigated for radicalized tendencies. This is less than a drop in the bucket, compared to the 99 per cent of Muslims who are law-abiding, peaceful, loyal and proud Canadians.
Now, more than ever, is a time of great reflection and vigilance for Muslim communities in Canada. In a world in which the menace of ISIS has raised its head and is reaching out to vulnerable, impressionable Muslim youth all over the world through Internet chat-rooms and social media, Muslims in Canada need to recognize that we must influence our children with the right form of Islam, lest somebody else gets to them.
But as Muslims in Canada embark on this battle of vigilance against the scourge of extremism in our youth, let’s remember that this something they can’t do alone.
From the authorities, to our neighbours, they will, more than ever, need the help of their fellow Canadians.
And together, there’s nothing we can’t achieve. This is the promise of Canada; nothing can change that.
Ahmed Sahi is a GTA-based writer and journalist.
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