It was really unfortunate that America was shamed on Sep 11 through the sacrifice of so many innocent lives.
Assuming that the US secret services had done their homework and every single factor incriminates terrorists of Arabic descent with links to Osama bin Laden, the world could do little but fear backlash by the Bush administration.
The West has been conditioned to think that terrorists were born Muslims and Muslims in certain countries were brought up to hate the West, especially protagonist America.
The backlash is not only emotionally driven but also smack of a need for political legitimacy of an erstwhile fragile administration. Alas, when no one can see the fine line between politics and religion anymore, any level-headed ditch to reason will prove futile.
At this point of time, to avoid a worldwide catastrophe, Muslims must unite to make others see their political and cultural distinctions. Muslims,like the Jews and Christians and followers of other religions of the world, truly feel the pain of lost lives.
The blood of Muslims is as red as the others. The tear of Muslims is as salty as the others. They must unite to condemn the lost of lives. They must unite to help those injured. They must unite to comfort those who had lost their loved ones.
Muslims unite in their obeisance to Allah but it was unfortunate that for centuries, political as well as cultural and ethnic conflicts were seen along religious lines. Any political entity would invoke religious solidarity to muster its strength in numbers.
Many a time religion is used as a galvanizing tool because it is convenient and proven. Many a time too, the followers of the religion die not for their religious beliefs but for their blind faith in a political orgy of strengths.
The slogan “our might will make us right” is indeed a political capital. It should not be seen as a religious call.
At this critical moment, Muslim leaders must engage the American leaders in constructive diplomacy instead of brandishing warheads. It is times like this that I hope Prince Otto von Bismarck could rise to authoritatively decide the future of the world with level-headedness and magnificent diplomacy and not give in to popular demands driven by emotions.
It is heartening to know that certain Muslim leaders, who had been foes and staunch critics of America, have joined the world to assist America to hunt down the perpetrators of the New York disasters and other terrorists-in-waiting.
This shows that they do not share the terrorists‘a(chǎn)genda though they share the same faith. America must understand this.
There is a Malay saying：“It is easier to teach a stupid person than a stubborn one”。 America must not be stubborn and Muslims must use persuasion rather than contention to deal with the situation.
When someone is angry, we should cool him down. If need be, Muslims all over the world should carry big buckets of ice and when they are in front of the White House, announce, “Bush, let‘s chill！”。
（The writer is a project manager with an international market research company. He is an active member in Malay organisations.）
回教徒也譴責恐怖主義● 沙亞法林。沙里夫
恐怖分子在九月十一日襲擊美國本土,奪走了許多無辜的人的性命,這不幸的事件對美國無疑是奇恥大辱。
全美各地哀悼的人,不分種族、不分宗教。
假設美國的情報組織能夠搜集到足夠的證據(jù),而每一項證據(jù)都指向和奧薩馬有聯(lián)系的阿拉伯裔恐怖分子,那世界上其他國家所能做的便非常有限,只能擔心美國的反擊會帶來怎樣的強烈沖擊。
西方國家一向來都認為恐怖分子都是回教徒,而一些國家的回教徒甚至從小就被灌輸憎恨西方國家的心理,尤其是美國。
美國的反應不單是一種報復的心理,也是一個脆弱的政府尋求政治支持的手段?，F(xiàn)在,已經(jīng)很少人能夠清楚劃分政治和宗教之間的界線,任何理性的分析都將徒勞無功。
如今,要避免一場全球性的大災難,回教徒就必須團結起來,讓世人了解他們的政治和文化特色,和*人,基督教徒及信仰其他宗教的人一樣,回教徒對于在襲擊事件中喪失的無辜生命,也感到無比的痛心。
回教徒的血和其他的人一樣鮮紅,回教徒的眼淚也和其他的人一樣真摯?；亟掏奖仨毬?lián)合起來譴責造成人命損失的襲擊行動,他們也必須合力幫忙受傷者,安慰遇難者的家屬。
真主是回教徒信奉的對象,不幸的是長久以來,政治,文化和種族沖突都被歸咎于宗教。政治組織更不惜利用宗教來招兵買馬和團結人心。
宗教時常被當成鼓動支持者的工具,因為它既方便又有效。另一方面,許多追隨者不是為他們的宗教信念奉獻生命,他們的死是政治力量的盲目表現(xiàn)。
“強者有理”是一種政治口號,不是宗教上的感召。
在這個關鍵時刻,回教領袖應該通過建設性的外交而不是武力,處理和美國的關系。我真希望能有一個像“鐵血宰相”俾斯麥一樣的人,不受群眾情緒的左右,通過冷靜的思考和高超的外交手腕,果斷的決定世界的未來。
一些視美國為敵人,長期批評美國的回教領袖,已經(jīng)和其他國家聯(lián)手,協(xié)助美國緝拿紐約慘劇的兇手,這點讓人感到非常鼓舞。
很明顯的,這些回教領袖雖然和恐怖分子有共同的宗教信仰,卻和他們沒有一致的目的。美國必須明白這一點。
馬來俗語說：“教一個愚蠢的人比教一個固執(zhí)的人容易”。美國不應該一意孤行,回教徒也應該通過勸說而不是爭執(zhí),來應付眼前的局面。
有人感到怒火沖天的時候,我們應該幫助他冷靜下來。如果有必要,所有的回教徒應該每人提一大桶冰塊,在白宮前高喊：“布什,冷靜下來！”
（作者是一家國際市場調查公司項目經(jīng)理,他也是馬來團體的活躍青年。葉琦保譯。）
《聯(lián)合早報》
Assuming that the US secret services had done their homework and every single factor incriminates terrorists of Arabic descent with links to Osama bin Laden, the world could do little but fear backlash by the Bush administration.
The West has been conditioned to think that terrorists were born Muslims and Muslims in certain countries were brought up to hate the West, especially protagonist America.
The backlash is not only emotionally driven but also smack of a need for political legitimacy of an erstwhile fragile administration. Alas, when no one can see the fine line between politics and religion anymore, any level-headed ditch to reason will prove futile.
At this point of time, to avoid a worldwide catastrophe, Muslims must unite to make others see their political and cultural distinctions. Muslims,like the Jews and Christians and followers of other religions of the world, truly feel the pain of lost lives.
The blood of Muslims is as red as the others. The tear of Muslims is as salty as the others. They must unite to condemn the lost of lives. They must unite to help those injured. They must unite to comfort those who had lost their loved ones.
Muslims unite in their obeisance to Allah but it was unfortunate that for centuries, political as well as cultural and ethnic conflicts were seen along religious lines. Any political entity would invoke religious solidarity to muster its strength in numbers.
Many a time religion is used as a galvanizing tool because it is convenient and proven. Many a time too, the followers of the religion die not for their religious beliefs but for their blind faith in a political orgy of strengths.
The slogan “our might will make us right” is indeed a political capital. It should not be seen as a religious call.
At this critical moment, Muslim leaders must engage the American leaders in constructive diplomacy instead of brandishing warheads. It is times like this that I hope Prince Otto von Bismarck could rise to authoritatively decide the future of the world with level-headedness and magnificent diplomacy and not give in to popular demands driven by emotions.
It is heartening to know that certain Muslim leaders, who had been foes and staunch critics of America, have joined the world to assist America to hunt down the perpetrators of the New York disasters and other terrorists-in-waiting.
This shows that they do not share the terrorists‘a(chǎn)genda though they share the same faith. America must understand this.
There is a Malay saying：“It is easier to teach a stupid person than a stubborn one”。 America must not be stubborn and Muslims must use persuasion rather than contention to deal with the situation.
When someone is angry, we should cool him down. If need be, Muslims all over the world should carry big buckets of ice and when they are in front of the White House, announce, “Bush, let‘s chill！”。
（The writer is a project manager with an international market research company. He is an active member in Malay organisations.）
回教徒也譴責恐怖主義● 沙亞法林。沙里夫
恐怖分子在九月十一日襲擊美國本土,奪走了許多無辜的人的性命,這不幸的事件對美國無疑是奇恥大辱。
全美各地哀悼的人,不分種族、不分宗教。
假設美國的情報組織能夠搜集到足夠的證據(jù),而每一項證據(jù)都指向和奧薩馬有聯(lián)系的阿拉伯裔恐怖分子,那世界上其他國家所能做的便非常有限,只能擔心美國的反擊會帶來怎樣的強烈沖擊。
西方國家一向來都認為恐怖分子都是回教徒,而一些國家的回教徒甚至從小就被灌輸憎恨西方國家的心理,尤其是美國。
美國的反應不單是一種報復的心理,也是一個脆弱的政府尋求政治支持的手段?，F(xiàn)在,已經(jīng)很少人能夠清楚劃分政治和宗教之間的界線,任何理性的分析都將徒勞無功。
如今,要避免一場全球性的大災難,回教徒就必須團結起來,讓世人了解他們的政治和文化特色,和*人,基督教徒及信仰其他宗教的人一樣,回教徒對于在襲擊事件中喪失的無辜生命,也感到無比的痛心。
回教徒的血和其他的人一樣鮮紅,回教徒的眼淚也和其他的人一樣真摯?；亟掏奖仨毬?lián)合起來譴責造成人命損失的襲擊行動,他們也必須合力幫忙受傷者,安慰遇難者的家屬。
真主是回教徒信奉的對象,不幸的是長久以來,政治,文化和種族沖突都被歸咎于宗教。政治組織更不惜利用宗教來招兵買馬和團結人心。
宗教時常被當成鼓動支持者的工具,因為它既方便又有效。另一方面,許多追隨者不是為他們的宗教信念奉獻生命,他們的死是政治力量的盲目表現(xiàn)。
“強者有理”是一種政治口號,不是宗教上的感召。
在這個關鍵時刻,回教領袖應該通過建設性的外交而不是武力,處理和美國的關系。我真希望能有一個像“鐵血宰相”俾斯麥一樣的人,不受群眾情緒的左右,通過冷靜的思考和高超的外交手腕,果斷的決定世界的未來。
一些視美國為敵人,長期批評美國的回教領袖,已經(jīng)和其他國家聯(lián)手,協(xié)助美國緝拿紐約慘劇的兇手,這點讓人感到非常鼓舞。
很明顯的,這些回教領袖雖然和恐怖分子有共同的宗教信仰,卻和他們沒有一致的目的。美國必須明白這一點。
馬來俗語說：“教一個愚蠢的人比教一個固執(zhí)的人容易”。美國不應該一意孤行,回教徒也應該通過勸說而不是爭執(zhí),來應付眼前的局面。
有人感到怒火沖天的時候,我們應該幫助他冷靜下來。如果有必要,所有的回教徒應該每人提一大桶冰塊,在白宮前高喊：“布什,冷靜下來！”
（作者是一家國際市場調查公司項目經(jīng)理,他也是馬來團體的活躍青年。葉琦保譯。）
《聯(lián)合早報》