folio

Do I say there are no crimes? Of course not. I have been a victim myself.

What I say is that we shouldn’t smear whole communities for the actions of individuals.

When I was once set upon by a gang in North East London and kicked to the ground, it shook me up for quite some time.

However, I never took that as an opportunity to hate all people who looked like my assailants. I just adjusted my behaviour.

Sometimes, you cannot help your natural aversion based on unfortunate experiences in your life.

But that’s called taking precautions, not blind contempt. People are of every kind, good, bad, and everything in between.

Do I say that all Muslims are people of peace, sorely misunderstood. Of course not; they too are of every kind. Some are good, some are very bad indeed.

But this too applies to all people. The lovely grocer at my local corner shop is not the same as the feared gangster, famous for chopping people’s fingers off.

Do I treat that shopkeeper with contempt because of a negative experience of a person who looked a bit like him in the distant past? Absolutely not.

Society disintegrates when we stop seeing people as individuals and instead resort to collective punishment.

Let those guilty of a crime be held to account for their actions. Leave those who are innocent be.

Say, ‘Should I seek a Lord other than God, when He is the Lord of all things?’ Each soul is responsible for its own actions; no soul will bear the burden of another. You will all return to your Lord in the end, and He will tell you the truth about your differences.

Quran 6:164