Khaled Hroub Speaks Out Against Islamist Terrorism

Dr. Khaled Hroub
Alarabiya.net (July 7, 2011)
MEMRI

We need more Muslims to speak out against Islamist terrorism, as has Dr. Khaled Hroub, described as a "Muslim Researcher At Cambridge University [Who] Calls For Establishing [An] Islamic Fund To Aid Victims Of Islamic Terrorism" (Special Dispatch No. 5656, Memri, February 24, 2014). I notice that Dr. Hroub has no qualms about calling this sort of terrorism "Islamic," but I'll stick with the more PC "Islamist." Anyway, here are some selections from Memri's selections of Dr. Hroub's remarks:

Where is moderate Islam . . . and . . . [where are] moderate Muslims, in light of the actions of a criminal minority that affiliates itself with them and carries out shameful terror acts in the name of . . . [Islam]? We have lost track of the terrorist acts carried out by [Islamist] groups that morphed into multiple other [Islamist] groups. Terrorist acts . . . carried out in the name of [Islam] . . . are staining all those with ties to Arabs or Muslims [such that the] . . . . image of Arabs and Muslims in the world is black, ugly, and terrorist . . . . [A]ll we have done [against this] so far is to say . . . they represent neither us nor our true religion. We hasten to cry out against the Western media . . . but there is no need for Western . . . plots against us or for distortion of our image . . . . [A]ll that is needed is . . . [to film] the actions of the groups that affiliate themselves with us . . . . Defending ourselves . . . [by insisting on Islam's] tolerance, its [capacity for] coexistence, and its past . . . will neither convince nor compensate any mother who has seen her children murdered in front of her by mujahideen bullets. They will also neither convince nor compensate any orphaned child, or any of the dozens of wounded, or any of the families of those murdered or tortured, or any of the [men or] women violated . . . . Words cannot contradict action, and we cannot put out the fires caused by the terrorism of these groups . . . with statements stressing that we are [actually] good. [Such statements] are meaningless [in the face of] slaughtered innocents. [Such statements] are a naïve, even . . . impudent . . . attempt to alleviate the pain . . . . The Muslim majority . . . must respond to Islamic terror in a concrete way, not just with words. This majority, the intellectuals and shapers of opinion, must . . . come up with ways for presenting . . . moderate Islam . . . to the world, to people, and to the casualties of . . . terror . . . . [One] duty [is] to establish an Islamic Public Fund for Compensating Victims of Terror. It . . . would . . . reach out to all those harmed by the criminal actions attributed to . . . Islam, to provide them with moral and humanitarian support, to show solidarity with them, and to compensate them monetarily for their loss of life and property . . . . [Of course, we] cannot [truly] compensate a man who has lost a son, brother, father, or mother . . . by evil terrorism -- but solidarity and material compensation can soften the blow and can also send an important and urgent message that these murderers represent neither Muslims nor . . . [Islam] . . . . [T]errorist slaughter by the Islamic Somali Al-Shabab movement [at the Nairobi mall in September 2013] must be considered . . . terrorism against defenseless civilians peacefully shopping with their children . . . . Where is . . . heroism and bravery, or . . . manliness[,] . . . when women and children are abducted, terrorized, separated out, and asked about their religion -- and when the Muslims are released and the Christians are murdered? . . . . [What] religious precepts did these criminals read to justify their rape of abducted children? . . . . What is the magnificent achievement of the mujahideen in murdering dozens of innocents, and wounding and crippling hundreds more? All they are doing is fomenting resentment and hatred against all those connected to Islam and Muslims, in Kenya and anywhere people witnessed such slaughter and saw it on television and in the media . . . [In] Pakistan[,] . . . terrorists . . . wage unnecessary war against churches or Shi'ite mosques, shouting religious slogans, in their madness and moral bankruptcy, as if they had won a tremendous victory . . . . Closer to home, in Syria, the mujahideen of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS] continue with their heroic deeds -- smashing church symbols and crosses and terrorizing all those who do not obey . . . . [Or consider] the heinousness of the mujahideen in Iraq, who are immersed in the blood of innocents. Since the terror of 9/11, the image of Arabs and Muslims and their religion has deteriorated. In the age of instant media[,] . . . . [Islam] has come to be associated with violence, terrorism, and extremism. The deeds of . . . terrorist groups . . . carried out worldwide in the name of [Islam] . . . bring destruction upon all Muslims . . . and cause all the others to unite against them . . . . [We must be] honest with ourselves and acknowledg[e] . . . that most terrorism aimed against defenseless civilians has Islamic sponsorship . . . . [Our complaint] about the crimes of the West . . . is aimed at [allowing us to] shirk [our] responsibility . . . . [Will] this help stop the deterioration of the image of Islam and Muslims among ordinary people, say, in Kenya? . . . . [No, it won't, so the Muslim] majority must awaken and . . . strike out against these simpleminded groups . . . scuttling our own ship -- for if we do not, the ship will go down drowning all its passengers and erasing them from history.

Quite starkly expressed. I hope that Dr. Hroub's words find resonance in the hearts of Muslims. Beyond the charitable actions that he advises, moderate Muslims also need to actively oppose Islamists, proactively expose them, and investigate their plots. Moderate Muslims also need to cooperate with non-Muslims against Islamist terrorism, particularly cooperating with police and governmental investigations, and to speak out against Islamist groups like CAIR that discourage cooperation with such investigations.

Such actions might generate some good will for Muslims in these dreadful days of so much Islamist terrorism . . .