Muslims around the world are fighting back against the perception that Islam is the cause of the Paris attacks.
Once again the #Notinmyname hashtag has popped up on social media as Muslims distance themselves from the horrific attacks on Friday 13 November that have so far claimed 132 people.
The campaign began in 2014, after the death of two British aid workers in Syria. It was launched by London’s Active Change Foundation, which uses social media to fight the spread of radicalisation.
Another hashtag #MuslimsAreNotTerrorist has also been popular on Twitter.
In the wake of the attack there is fear and anger in the Muslim community.
Australian singer Darren Hanlon has posted on Facebook his own exchange with a Sydney Uber driver that brings home what many Muslims are feeling.
Hanlon wrote that the driver brought up the Paris attacks, describing them as “killing other people… in cold blood”.
“‘I’m a Muslim,’ he said almost as a confession, ‘and this is not what I was taught as a child’.”
“I just sat quietly and listened. It felt like he needed to talk. He said he was praying at a mosque in Zetland when he got my ride request. He’d been praying for most of the day,” Hanlon continued.
“These people say they act under the name of Islam,” he says the driver told him. “I’ve studied religion, theology. The etymology of the word Islam comes from a word that means Peace.”
“I didn’t wanna write this as some kind of statement. I just want to tell you about my brief random conversation with a sad Muslim Sydney Uber driver, who’s religion is being taken from him,” Hanlon said.
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Most polls I have seen indicate a significant minority of muslims(20-30%) are somewhat sympathetic to islamic extremism though. They feel that the "well the west has done this" or "what about colonisation" It is conditional sympathy to the victims of terrorism. And too many muslims support islamic law too. But most muslims are peaceful though. I agree with that.
In suggesting Islamophobia is a causative factor for terrorism, Australia's Grand Mufti didn't seem to think these attacks weren't Islam.
And one wonders, if this is what he preaches publicly, what on earth does he preach behind Mosque doors?