There have been many instances of violence in our world throughout history. Recently, a segment of violent actions that has garnered a lot of attention are terrorist attacks. Many of these carried out by Muslims around the world.
I often hear the familiar outcry from sources on the internet and in my life - Why don't more moderate people denounce these actions? I also read a lot of jokes regarding Islam, the Holy Prophet and other aspects of my faith which I find sacred in attempts to satirize the terrorists or to in some cases to inflame passions even more.
My response is simple. When I apologize for something, I own it.
People who perform acts of stupidity, terror, anger, violence, etc... are not ones who practice my faith. Now granted, no one can tell anyone else what faith they belong to. I cannot in good conscience say that a person who wants to be Muslim is or is not a Muslim regardless of their actions, no matter how heinous. That decision lies in God's hands alone. However, the practice of faith and the expression of faith are different. Many Muslims act in ways that are contrary to their faith. This is the true dilemma. In Islam, there is no orthodoxy, there is no proclaiming that your faith is not mine - there is supposed to be no compulsion in religion.
This means that moderate Muslims can denounce the actions of radical Muslims, yet we cannot separate our faith. We cannot truly say, "those people are not Muslims" because no one has the authority to do so.
Now as a Muslim, a part of my identity is intertwined with the 1.5 billion other Muslims around the world. We are a brotherhood, but I'm also linked with the other 4.5 billion people who are not Muslims. We are all tied together. Whether we accept it or not. We are a large brotherhood of people with differing opinions and differing passions.
When we give terrorists a platform, we are giving into their demands. When we ask innocents to defend terrorists by accusing a faith followed by billions peacefully, we are giving into their demands and letting them control the conversation.
The death of any innocent must be met with outrage, but the aftermath cannot pigeonhole a large, global problem into a simple black or white decision.
