Best way to defeat Isis
Afew weeks ago, a video showing the Maute group destroying a cathedral and its religious statues in its siege of Marawi City became viral on Facebook. The video, which was one minute and 36 seconds long, was shared more than 16,000 times and viewed more than 700,000 times as of June 11, 2017.
It showed armed men going on a rampage inside the St. Mary’s Cathedral, stomping and destroying the Holy images of Jesus Christ, Mary, St. Joseph and even tearing up a poster of Pope Francis. The church was also seen being burned by the perpetrators.
As a Muslim, I felt really bad about what happened. I was angry because this terrorist group is destroying not only the St. Mary’s Cathedral but also the true image of Islam and the Muslims all over the world. Isis-inspired and sympathizer groups like the Maute, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Forces (BIFF), and Abu Sayyaf are violent extremists who are a minority in the whole Muslim Filipino population in our country.
According to a fellow peace advocate and internal mediator, Atty. Naguib Sinarimbo, “Their goal is simple: to drive a wedge between Muslims and Christians in our society by provoking the hatred of Christians towards their Muslim brethren in this country. The targeted killing of Christians and the desecration of their places of worship are all aimed towards creating this divide.”
Unfortunately, most Christian Filipinos are carried away by their emotions. They spread negative comments posted on Facebook about the actions of the Maute. Some even call for the revival of the Ilaga or para-military groups to fight not only the terrorists but also to hurt and destroy Muslim minority groups in their areas.
Reacting this way is one of the main goals of Isis. They want us to bow down to their evil plan. They want us to fill our minds and hearts with hate rhetoric and divisive tactics. They will also encourage our Filipino brethren, especially those in the government, in the Senate and Congress to end the Bangsamoro peace process. They will also want us not to support and ratify the Bangsamoro Basic Law.
The best way to defeat the Isis and its followers is by showing to them the unity of the Filipino people. Our unity can defeat them by rendering their terror attacks impotent and meaningless. We need to show to them, and those who are being manipulated by their fear and divisive tactics, that tolerance, love, peace, freedom, and respect for human dignity are far more powerful than their ideology that promotes bigotry and hate.
To defeat the Isis, we must understand that violent extremism affects Muslims even worse than any religious groups. Muslims are victims of this vicious cycle of violence feeding violence and hate feeding hate. We need to work together in order to stop this from happening. Our imams and ulama have a bigger role to play to condemn violent extremism at all forms and educate our Ummah or community. (to be continued) --
We must understand that violent extremism affects Muslims even worse than any religious groups