The European media has tagged Muslims with the notion of extremist and terrorist.

Also there
has been quiet debate our religion that Islam promotes these concepts.
Being a student of mass communication considering the brutal attacks of terrorists on Army
Public School Peshawar how will you de-alienate the claims of European media tagging
Muslims as terrorists? Give your point of view by stating strong logical arguments.

Today the topic of our discussion is Islamo-Phobia. The European media claims that Islam is
the religion of terrorism and the Muslims are terrorists. Keeping in mind the attack of terrorists
on Army Public School Peshawar, we have to de-alienate these claims and allegation of
European media. Let us now start our discussion.
The root of the word Islam in Arabic is SALAMA which is the origin of the words peace and
submission; a submission to God and peace to all humanity. It is thus no wonder why the
salutation in Islam is Assalam o Alikum (peace on you). Unfortunately more and more often,
Islam has been associated with terrorism and violence due to the actions of a few extreme
individuals who have taken it upon themselves to do the most heinous crimes in the name of
Islam. Tragic events such as the attack on the twin towers in New York, the bombings of Bali,
Madrid and London are assumed to be justified by Islam in the minds of some people. This idea
has been fueled further by many media channels which defame Islam by portraying these
bombers as Islamists or Jihadists, as though they were sanctioned by Islam, or had any
legitimate spoke men ship on behalf of Muslims. The actions of a few extremist individuals who
happen to have Muslim names or assign themselves to the Muslim faith should not be a standard
by which Islam is judged.
To understand Islams stance on terrorism, one must refer to its original sources i.e. the Quran
and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) which are clear in their prohibition of any form
of injustice including that of violence which seeks to inspire fear, injury or death to civilians. Not
only is human life sacred in Islam but the property, wealth, family and dignity of all individuals
in society are to be respected and protected. Centuries before the Geneva Convention was drawn
up, Muslims were bound by a code of conduct which the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) set. He
forbade the killing of women, children and elderly in war. In an authentic narration the Prophet
(SAW) warned that he who kills anyone who has a covenant of peace with the Muslims will not
smell the scent of Paradise.
The message of the Quran is clear as we have seen that the sanctity of any human life is to be
respected and any violation in that regard is paramount to the worst crime. Talking about school

attack on Peshawar; the terrorists claimed that they are the Muslims but actually they are not. No
Muslim can kill another Muslim without any reason especially the innocent children and women.
They all are those terrorists who claimed that they studied from the madrassas; and by doing this
they are not only violating the concept of Islam but also the concept of Islamic and religious
schools i.e. madrassas. There are some extremists in Islam but Islam has nothing to do with such
terrorists. They only mislead the teachings of Islam and refused the wordings of Quran and
sayings of Holy Prophet (SAW). The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said:
Do not kill women or children or non-combatants and do not kill old people or religious
people. Suicide is haram in Islam. It's prohibited, like a mortal sin. And murder is haram. And
to kill civilians is murder."
The Prophet (SAW) also said that:
There are people who kill in the name of Islam and go to hell.
And when he was asked why, he said,
Because they were not fighting truly for the sake of God.
Islam is the religion of peace, love and mutual respect. Islam is the religion of moderation. Islam
is the religion of human value and dignity. And now the time has come when the European media
has to understand this and accept Islam as the religion of peace and harmony.
This brings us to the end of todays discussion.