Although the Western world is celebrating the death of Osama bin Laden, with cheers in every bar and American flags waving, I didn’t participate in the celebration. We have to acknowledge the fact that for the last couple of years, Osama took a back role, which means that someone else was in the leadership position. Moreover, the ideologies of Osama will be perpetuated by his followers, so killing him doesn’t mean that the terrorist attacks are over. In fact, it might spur retaliation attacks. Therefore, instead of spending millions on military troops, the leaders of the Western countries should use the money to counter the terrorist ideologies by opening their gates to the respected scholars of Islam. In that way, they could deal with the Muslim community from within through sharing of knowledge and intellectual debate.
I personally had an experience with some of the deviated Muslims in the UK that demonstrated the potential of the Muslim scholar to transform a problem through learning. These were youngsters and middle-aged men who were filled with hatred for everything Western¾even though they had been born, raised, and fed by the UK taxpayers, who welcomed their forefathers as immigrants or refugees and, in some cases, illegal immigrants. My role was passing the authentic teachings of Islam to the Muslim community; this information was appreciated by the mainstream, but for the fanatics it was bad news. Therefore, they were exposed and the rest of the community rejected them. These achievements couldn’t have happened if the Muslim community didn’t accept me as a brother. On the other hand, they wouldn’t have been as cooperative with me as opposed to government officials. That’s why the scholar’s role is crucial for the prevention of any misinterpretation of Islam.
My concern is for any coming attacks that would be from the white converts to Islam. The terrorists are aware that a person with dark-coloured skin with a Muslim name will be monitored by the intelligence agencies. As a result, recruiting a white person is ideal for three reasons: first, it wouldn’t be expected that an indigenous white person would fight his or her country. Second, it would be extremely difficult for Homeland Security to identify his or her faith. Third, it would be easier to brainwash such a person due to his or her ignorance of Islam.
In conclusion, the Western governments tried the approach of military intervention to prevent terrorist attacks, yet they witnessed in the London bombings on 7/7 that it is an ineffective strategy. Their second approach was by forming anti-terrorism legislation, which had disappointing results. The third approach was spying on the Muslim communities by means of hidden cameras, as Dispatches disgracefully did, which provoked everyone. The final approach was by closing the borders to the Muslim scholars under the ridiculous accusation of their support for Al Qaeda. I wonder sometimes how they came up with this conclusion, especially given the fact that the scholar runs a TV station under the name of “Peace.”
Yet my advice to the Western governments is to open their eyes and ears to the Muslim communities, which number 20 million people in Europe. According to the United States’ Migration Policy Institute, residents of the Muslim faith will account for more than 20 percent of the EU population by 2050. For that reason, the Western world should listen to their concerns and let them feel that they are part of the peaceful process rather than the source of evil.
Abdullah Al Saleh
abdullahalsaleh.com