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02.11.2014 Feature Article

On ISIS, David Cameron Speaks our Collective Rage

David CameronDavid Cameron
02.11.2014 LISTEN

At exactly 10:00am on Friday, a respected Muslim entrepreneur walked into my office for a business discussion. He is a veteran journalistwho helped shape one of the most influential best-selling newspapers in Ghana. A well-read and intelligent man, he counts Cambridge and Yale among his Alma Mater. We started talking–about newspapers, labour strikes, corruption in Ghana and religious extremism. In the USA, a parent had threatened a school for giving his daughter homework on the Muslim faith, as part of the world history curriculum of the La Plata High School in Maryland.

History teacher Katie O'Malley Simpson expresses her discomfiture: “wehave given the same assignment to students every year…” After making “ominous threats” to disrupt lessons in the school, Principal Evelyn Arnold issued a No Trespass order to Kevin Wood, a former marine, banning him from entering the school, reports BabyNet.com.

My guest was quick to join me to condemn the behaviour of the Christian parent, which we both resolved to describe as religious extremism. “That is what it is”, I emphasised, adding that “we Christians do not help the situation when we move to muddy the religious waters with suspicions and intolerance of other faiths around us.” When hear 'God bless you' and 'Thank God Almighty' at the end of popular speeches, we don't ask whether the speaker is Christian or Muslim. Well, if the same speaker had said 'Thank Allah or 'Insha Allah', we are immediately transported onto a religious turf where all we see are Muslims who are seizing the moment to flaunt their faith needlessly.

My guest and I also discussed Beyonce's latest Instagram post, where the superstar quoted the fifth and sixth verses from the Surah ash-Sharh “For indeed, with hardship [will be] ease.” Suddenly, Americans picked up their religious or perhaps their anti-religious cap, questioning whether the singer was contemplating becoming a Muslim. AlBawaba.com reported that Beyonce had made the statement in reference to her official tour photographer, Yosra el-Essay, who died of cancer very recently. Yosra was a good Muslim, and sources say he served the singer very well over the years.

If Beyonce became a Muslim, she would be joining other famous American Muslims who are loved and adored by most Americans. The Pew Research Centre for Religion and Public Life reports that while Islam is the third largest religion in America (about 2.5 million), 62% of Americans do not personally know a Muslim. Apparently, Muslims account for 0.8% of the American population. The 0.8 figure includes famous Americans like Shaquille O'Neal, Fareed Zakaria, Mehmet Oz of Dr. Oz fame, actress Ellen Burstyn, actor MandviAasif, rapper Akon, comedian Dave Chappelle and Ice Cube. We loved Ellen Burstyn for her phenomenal role inRequiem for a Dream.

In Ghana, I count my guest amongsome of the many good Muslims I know. In my line of business, I come across many great and selfless patriots who would pour rose water on a toad every day to keep Ghana going. Some are devout Muslims anda few are Christians who converted to the Muslim faith. There arealso others who do not believe in any of the Abrahamic faiths, and yet do not appear to be freethinkers because of the conviction behind their principles and philosophies. I have made some fantastic friends in the media who are Chartered Christians, if there was ever such a thing.

In England I shared apartments with some great guys from Iraq, Somalia and Pakistan. The Pakistani, Abdulahi Shah, became a great pal who would occasionally invite me for dinner in his house. His kids would follow me for ice cream and play in the park opposite my house, where I would play in-loco parentis, keeping watch over the kids, as though they were mine. One of them, Omar, was practically my son. I had made even greater Muslim friends in Canada and even during my brief holiday in Amsterdam.

My idea of the Muslim religion, the kind practiced by Shah, Saani Mohammed and Sekina, is one of peace, progress, love and 'faith'. Unlike me, when it's time to pray, nothing stands in their way. In transit and at quick stopovers during long journeys, they would seize the moment to go and pray while the rest of us wait or simply sleep. As a Christian, I wish I had the same discipline and commitment to prayer and fasting. This is the Islam I know, so I would complete the thoughts of Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron any day,when he says that the extremists who kill in the name of religion are “not Muslims; they are Monsters.” In those powerful words, Mr. Cameron has summed up the collective rage of humanity (well perhaps not quite all humanity) against ISIS.

In its September 2014 edition, the authoritative TIME Magazine reports of Mr. Cameron's determination to restore peace and harmony in a troubled world after a video emerged of the heartless execution of British aid worker, David Haines, by the Islamic extremists ISIS. Just like the senseless beheading of American journalist James Foley, Haines's life taken in the most imaginably wicked manner for helping people in need. And shouldn't we be savingourselves the celebrationof the first anniversary of the murder of Professor Kofi Awoonorwhen the genius would still be writing poetry?

These are some of the 'standing rebukes' of times. Did I say 'some'? No, they are actually the most insane moments that continually assail our world. So Boko Haram fooled all of us when we thought they had agreed to return more than 200 young girls they kidnapped on 14th April this year. Incidentally, that was my birthday. Instead of succumbing to evil (my wife is uncomfortable that I am writing about ISIS), we should agree with the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel that “It's our national and civic duty to fight anti-Semitism,” and I would add, religious extremism. Well, my guest thinks so.

Kwesi Tawiah-Benjamin
[email protected]

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