WHITE NATIONALISM IS A TERROR THREAT
By Muhammad Solaiman
Far-right racists believe that non-white immigrants and refugees are “invaders” who pose an existential threat to the white race. Their targets have included Muslim worshippers at mosques; black Americans in churches; Jews in synagogues; and left-wing politicians and activists in the US, UK, Greece, New Zealand, and Norway.
Norway also witnessed one of the deadliest mass shootings in recent years. On 22 July 2011, Breivik, Anders Breivik, who espoused white-nationalist views, killed eight people in an attack on the tower block housing the office of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg in Oslo. He then travelled to a youth summer camp on Utøya Island to kill killing 69.
The Christchurch attacker of New Zealand wrote that he was inspired by Breivik and travelled from Australia to kill the Muslims in two mosques in New Zealand.
On the 3rd of August there was another massacre in El Paso, on the border of Mexico where more than 80% of the residents are of Hispanic descent, Patrick Crusius, came from the faraway Dallas to shoot and killed 20 people and wound 26 before surrendering to the police.
Thirteen hours after the El Paso attack, another white man was accused of spreading terror in the Midwestern city of Dayton, Ohio, the US, killing nine people including his sister.
The white supremacy claims
White supremacy is the racist belief that white people are superior to people of other races and therefore should be dominant over them.
White supremacy was used by the Western Europeans countries in 16th to the 19th centuries to justify the enslavement of Africans from central and western Africa and their transport mainly to the Americas. The Africans slaves provided the labour for European countries to create their overseas empires.
On the other hand, the Apartheid in South Africa and South-West Africa established state based on the repression of Black Africans, Coloured, and Asian South Africans for the benefit of the white minority.
This spirit of white supremacy was justifiable by Winston Churchill last century and is propagated today by the US president, Donald Trump.
The British historian Richard Toye said that “Churchill did think that white people were superior“[1].
In 1937, Winston Churchill said: “I do not admit for instance, that a great wrong has been done to the Red Indians of America or the black people of Australia. I do not admit that a wrong has been done to these people by the fact that a stronger race, a higher-grade race, a more worldly-wise race to put it that way, has come in and taken their place.”
The US president, Donald Trump, directly or indirectly has been propagating white supremacy and hate speech through his statements.
“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems… They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.”
“The overwhelming amount of violent crime in our cities is committed by blacks and Hispanics”.[2]
“I think Islam hates us”.[3]
The president Trump has often denounced an “invasion” of migrants. In addition, he refused to explicitly condemn the far-right demonstrators at the violent 2017 protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, and he has recently asked the four young coloured members of Congress, to “go back” to their countries of origin.[4] The four Congress-women meant are Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts.
The FBI data show that since Trump’s election there has been an anomalous spike in hate crimes concentrated in counties where Trump won by larger margins.[5]
Although the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that hate speech is legally protected free speech under the First Amendment, we should recall the fact that the master race and the hate speech of the Nazi German regime led last century to the Second World War in which more than 70 million people perished.
No place for racism in Islam
Islam teaches that all people are equal. The diversity of colours and languages are signs of the magnificent creation of God, the Mighty Creator. The only difference between people is their level of piety and God-consciousness.
“Oh Mankind, We (God) created you from a single pair of a male and a female (Adam and Eve) and made you into tribes and nations so that you may know one another (not so that you despise each other). Verily, the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah (God) is he who is most righteous of you”
(Qur’an 49: 13).
“And amongst his signs is the creation of heaven and the earth, and the diversity of your language and colours; Verily, in these are signs for those who have knowledge” (Qur’an 30: 22).
The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said:
“Allah does not look at your appearances or wealth but looks at your actions”.
In his last sermon during pilgrimage (Hajj), he stated:
“O people, Remember that your Lord is One. An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a black has no superiority over white, nor a white has any superiority over black, except by piety and good action (Taqwa). Indeed the best among you is the one with the best character (Taqwa)” (Narrated by Baihaqi).
In pilgrimage, Muslims dressing in the same simple dress perform their rituals for several days side by side, no matter to their colour, race or social status.
Islam as a faith is for all people there is no place of selected people or race. Islam unifies people on love and brotherhood and puts an end to the hatred of racism.
[1] The 10 greatest controversies of Winston Churchill’s career”. BBC News. 26 January 2015
[2] Keneally, Meghan (January 12, 2018). “5 times Trump was accused of making racially tinged comments about immigrants, people of colour”, ABC News. Retrieved July 9, 2018
[3] Donald Trump: ‘I think Islam hates us’, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-Zj0tfZY6o
[4] Donald Trump: @go back@ tweet: https://www.vox.com/2019/7/15/20694616/donald-trump-racist-tweets-omar-aoc-tlaib-pressley
[5] Rushin, S., & Edwards, G. S. (2018). The Effect of President Trump’s Election on Hate Crimes. Available at SSRN 3102652