THE TRUE ENEMIES OF ISLAM

October 11, 2012

There are different types of blasphemy and the shooting an innocent child in the name of God must certainly be one of the most sacrilegious. When assassins from Tehrik Taleban Pakistan (TTP) shot the 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai and a couple of her companions for advocating girl's rights to education, their insult to to all things holy by far surpassed the cheap, petty and insulting video that resulted in so many violent protests.

Malala, who lived in Mingora, in the volatile Swat Valley of Pakistan , was on sitting on a bus, on her way home after having sat an exam, when the gunmen shot her at close range in the head and neck. The incident happened on Tuesday and Malala is still in a critical condition, as is one of the other girls. Many in Pakistan have united in prayer, but TTP is unrepentant and is threatening to "finish her off".

Where are the demonstrations? Where are the heated protests? Where is the frothing outrage? An enemy's insults on the other side of the globe are far less damaging than this devious cancer within Islam that is trying to highjack all that is good in the religion and taint it with hate, ignorance and violence. Combating these cruel and sinister operatives would be the real concern of those who are truly devoted to their religion. Their priority should be putting their own house in order rather than being the pawns of second rate politicians with agendas of their own.

On this occasion, the real faithful have taken to prayer. They have not opted to riot or cause mayhem. They are clearly very different from the ones on our television screens not that many days ago. I wonder what those people are doing now.