Jaipur blasts have once again let down Muslims. Today, Islam is under scanner as according to a section, that religion advocates violence. Not all of them can be wrong as people judge by what they see and today these terrorists speak and act violently in the name of Islam.

Like many others, Jaipur, Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad are global cities and the terrorism that struck these, too is a global phenomenon. As a human being and an Indian Muslim, I literally wept over the needless deaths of those who died or were maimed while shopping during the beginning of the summer break.

Kafeel in Glasgow, Mumbai blasts by Memons and others in India, the jehadis in Kashmir, 9/11, 7/7 (London), 13/12 (Delhi), 29/10 (Delhi) and the al-Qaeda at a global level — all these make my head go down in shame as a Muslim.

Muslims must come out openly against terrorist outfits like Hu-JI (Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islam), Lashkar-e-Taiba, al-Qaeda, Harkat-ul-Ansar, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Sipah-e-Sahaba and others, all committed to desecrate peaceful coexistence and harmony.

The jihadis have been slaughtering innocent lives at railway stations, bus stops, trains, airplanes, temples and markets. The ideologically networked jihadis kill without mercy, specialise in suicide attacks and when cornered fight to the finish. They derive their strength from al- Qaeda. These radical jihadis are part of an intricate web of nationalist insurgent groups that act autonomously and are difficult to track down. From 9/11 US to 29/10 and 13/12 Delhi, theirs is a bloody tale of hate and kill.

Many of these terrorists who act in the name of Islam cite Kashmir, Palestine, Chechnya, Iraq and Afghanistan to justify the killing of innocent lives. They have lost their moral compass. For them, anyone who does not agree with their point of view is an infidel and should be eliminated.

They are able to misinterpret verses from the Quran to justify their heinous designs. Muslims must separate themselves from terrorism.

The word jihad comes from its Arabic root jahada meaning “to struggle”. This word has been so badly misused both by some wayward Muslim terrorists and Islam-baiters that it has completely lost its meaning.

Jihad is essentially a struggle against evil, both within and beyond us. Jihad-e-Akbar (The Greater Jehad) is a complete surrender to the Will of Allah. It calls for a total subjugation of ego and anger.

The SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India), Shahi Imam Bukhari, fanatics in Coimbatore and Maharashtra, the calls for jihad and the distribution of inflammatory posters have enraged middle class Hindus.

Minor issues like a few Muslim leaders opposing the singing of the Vande Mataram on national occasions add fuel to the fire increasing animosity between the two communities over the years.

Those who kill innocents have nothing to do with Islam. Sura Al-Baqr (Verse: 114) in the Quran states that Allah dislikes those who indulge in arson, loot and killings. Sura Al-Kafirun (Chapter: 30) mentions: You follow your religion; let them follow theirs.

Islam rejects violence in all its forms, but the jihadis take the terror path without bothering about the impact it can have on a common Muslim by making him the usual suspect.

They don’t read those verses that declare that taking the life of even one innocent individual means killing the whole humanity. The jihadis use those verses from the Quran that are “contextual” and by twisting and bending them they act self-deceivingly as human bombs. Islam has no room for suicide.

There are many verses in the Quran that are “contextual”, in the sense that they are the verses used during a war and are not of a general nature. Frankly speaking, to a common Muslim, it is abhorrent to attach such acts to the teachings of Prophet Mohammed, who is known to be merciful not only to Muslims but the whole humanity.
The so-called jihadis have no right to misinterpret the verses to suit their dastardly machinations.

Muslims are at a crucial point. It has been observed that ordinary Muslims have turned away from militancy after they witnessed what was done in their name and what it did in turn to their communities. We have seen this in Egypt and in Algeria.

The need of the hour in cities like Jaipur, Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai is that the moment the community observes any suspicious people living in their neighbourhood, they must, without delay, inform the police.

It is also important that the Muslim community itself develop a broad range of tactics, from traditional counter-terrorism methods to more sophisticated strategies, to destroy the jihadi trend.

A liberal Muslim must check a communalist Muslim and a communal Hindu be checked by a liberal Hindu. Muslim voices of sanity aren’t loudly heard. There shouldn’t be “ifs”and “buts” while condemning terror acts. We have to agree to the principle that killings of innocents cannot be justified irrespective of race, religion, place or ethnicity.
(The writer, a grandnephew of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, is a commentator on social, educational and political issues.)