I personally find this topic quite interesting though because its a double edged sword. You’re darned if you do, and you’re darned if you don’t.

Here’s why.

From a Muslim’s point of view, on viewing current mainstream media, it means that we have to constantly keep saying….whoops..sorry..er…darn..those evil people…oh and again sorry…bad people those…and again…and again….

Do we really need to be apologizing as Muslims or do all people in the UK, Europe, US, the whole world need to condemn every life that is taken unfairly every day??

Personally I feel very sad that any life is taken anywhere whether it is a Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Jew or any other denomination.

I see another angle to this too.

namely that when someone stands up and says they are a Muslim and then commits a crime it is made to appear by media that its a crime by Islam.

Take for example the recent Glasgow Airport bombers. Yes, its true that they were Muslims, but there is also the point that if one ignores the religion for a second – One can see that there was an Iraqi national involved. So, was that an Islamic crime or a retaliation by Iraqis and Iraqi sympathisers against a country that is part of the dubious occupation of Iraq? Is that Terrorism or War then?
I meant in Glasgow?

There is a risk that Muslims are being turned into apologetics.

Actually the list of reasons offered is rather incoherent, and I am surprised that you would support it, considering your usually spot-on, articulate commentary.

1) Does it really matter who was involved in the attacks before we choose to condemn it? As Muslims, we stand up for justice wherever injustice is served, regardless of who is responsible.
2) What information should we await before condemning barbarianism? Is there really any possibility that some new information could come out that would make us eat our words (and let’s be specific to this case)?
3) Should we really care about the politics of how India is perceived in the media? Should we be that callous about our words when a human tragedy unfolds in front of us?
4) How is supporting Kashmiri resistance against government entities, which are DIRECTLY engaged in brutality against civilians, have anything to do with the killing of other innocent civilians in other parts of India? When did condemning and expressing outrage over a human tragedy somehow preclude supporting the Kashmiri right to self-determination? That is the strangest logic I have heard.
5) Finally, what does geography and politics have to do with this? We are in a age of globalization. We are all connected, like it or not. I don’t need to be in India to have a pretty good feel of what’s going on.

Ultimately, I think there is more good to be had in Muslims continuing to speak out against injustice of all forms (against them and against others). And at MuslimMatters, we will continue to do so inshallah.

The results speak for themselves, such as this one

There it is, right there. That is the heart of it, after you strip away all of this ridiculous rhetoric about how we’re not responsible, so we should not *condemn.* And then people wonder why non Muslims think Muslims condone terror, or that we talk out of both sides of our mouths?