Muslims which was the initial cause of the retaliation by the non-
Muslims.
The Muslims do not tell of how their own actions affect others.
They only tell of the reaction by the other party. In such matters,
they defend their case by asking, if a thief breaks into your home,
what ought to be your response? This is a one-sided argument,
because it labels the opposite party a ‘thief ’ without there being any
genuine reason to do so. The truth is that Muslims provoke others
into reaction and retaliation. First of all, such provocation has to be
stopped. There is no use in weeping and crying out against others
when one’s own behavior is provocative. The Prophet of Islam once
made an observation on how to deal with such situations: Fitna (evil)
is dormant, God’s curse is upon those who awaken it. (
Al Jame As
Saghir
Lis Suyuti , Hadith No. 5975)
Due to the baneful result of this one-sided reporting, Muslims all
over the world have come to regard themselves as the oppressed and
others as the oppressors. It has made theMuslims develop a negative
cast of thinking. They hold those belonging to other communities to
be their enemies and so they hate them. Their lives are full of hatred
rather than of love.
The evil of biased reporting is not simply that it is not factual. It
lies rather in the fact that it has turned the Muslims of present times
into hypocrites. It is not possible for Muslims to build their lives by
separating themselves from other communities. They have to make
compromises again and again to further their material interests.As such
, in spite of their negative thinking based on hatred, they are compelled
to establish social and economic relations with other communities. In
spite of harboring hatred in their hearts, they have to extend the hand
of friendship to others. This is undoubtedly living by a double standard,
and another name for this double-standard is hypocrisy.
One-sided reporting, that is, describing only one aspect and
hiding another, is not to be glossed over. It is indeed very harmful in
that it encourages shallow thinking, to the point where the ability
to differentiate between truth and falsehood is lost. The reader of
such reporting comes under the influence of communal prejudice.
He is no longer a realist in judging matters of moral importance. He
becomes devoid of any feeling of well-wishing for others. He suffers
fromnegative thinking. In the first stage, he voices complaints about
others but, at a later stage, this develops into hatred. In the ultimate
stage, he comes to regard violent activities against others as lawful. If,
The Guidance of the Prophet
37
