Muslims and the Struggle for the Image of Islam

By Ikrame Chibani

Rabat – While scrolling down my newsfeed on one of the popular social networks, I was astonished by the number of articles that focus on tarnishing Islam as a religion. It is annoying to see how the media has cleverly succeeded in shifting people’s attention to this religion, as if there is nothing left to tackle as a real danger menacing humanity as a whole. This matter sadly demonstrates how the field of media is increasingly used to create wealth for its owners instead of doing the noble job that it was once supposed to do, namely making people aware of what is really happening worldwide without pointing fingers at certain ideologies, doctrines, or groups of people.

Today, a woman who is decently covering herself is described by some media outlets as an oppressed woman who manifests lots of principles and values which are ironically considered as a barrier to women’s liberation. Another dreadful example of the way stories about Muslims are presented in the media is an article about a Muslim man saving an Italian person from an inevitable death. The article implies that a non-Muslim person is supposed to react as follows: “Oh, a Muslim man saves a life! How surprising is that. They only kill and torture people.” Well, let me assure you that killing one soul in the Islamic religion is highly prohibited and considered as a major sin.

While some of these negative portrayals of Muslims are simply a matter of journalists trying to increase readership, others are targeting higher goals. Indeed, one of the candidates running for the presidency in one of the most powerful countries across the globe has based his large campaign on his unreasonably negative perceptions of Muslims. To further aggravate matters, this candidate has curiously gained massive support across many categories of voters. This, along with the growing anti-Islam propaganda, is frighteningly ringing the alarm for Muslims all over the world.

With all the fuss made over Islam, Muslim people are under terrible pressure to act perfectly as all eyes are directed towards them, waiting for them to make the tiniest mistake so that they will be blamed along with their Islamic affiliation. As previously mentioned, the media is profiting by selling news concerned with Islam, however there are plenty of topics that deserve to be reported instead.

Dealing with this topic without speaking out about the shameful position the Muslim world is taking nowadays would be a form of duplicity. In my opinion, the dilemmas the Muslim world has faced in recent decades are part and parcel of Muslims’ ignorance of the ethical pillars and principles of the Islamic religion. As a case in point, Muslims worldwide are being killed on a daily basis and most of the Arab rulers would not object or mention a thing about it. Does the Islamic religion state we should not care for our dear brothers’ and sisters’ matters?

This continuous debate over Islam calls into question the truthfulness of the Muslim community. Aren’t we the ones to blame? As we are the holders of this divine religion, aren’t we supposed to represent this religion and stand for it as the Prophet (PBUH) would? As a Muslim, I shall say it is frustrating to be in the middle of this accusation circle, to feel the need to constantly defend your religion and to be helpless regarding the hardships Muslims all over the world are facing, Muslims are not perfect, neither are Christians, nor are Jews… Let us not forget that we are all… Humans.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Morocco World News’ editorial policy