Editor,
Treachery is abhorrent in any culture or religion. One has to be blinded by hate to find anything decent about the heinous crime and treacherous act of Maj. Nidal Hasan’s mass shooting at Fort Hood. Hasan violated many constant Islamic principles.
“No direct or indirect act of harm is permissible.” His lunatic rampage actually harmed Islam, Muslims and his own family. If he meant to weaken Americans, it actually helped strengthen their resolve and united them against whatever Hasan is standing for. He betrayed his medical oath to protect and safeguard human life, a noble Islamic principle. “And whoever safeguards a life, it is as if he saved all humanity.” (Quran 5.32). Muslims are once again tormented by the shameful act of a fellow Muslim, who helped to injure the reputation of Muslims and distorted the image of Islam.
All this raises the question of what is wrong with Muslims that an educated man like Hasan resorts to a mindless act of savagery by shooting unarmed colleagues of his who trusted his care as a medical doctor. It is a complex problem but there is one major cause that torments Muslims and reminds them of their impotence almost daily. That issue is the Palestinian problem. As long as the Palestinians are humiliated and deprived of their basic human rights, the average Muslim will feel the throbbing pain of shame and the frustration of helplessness and irrelevance. For young men, this kind of mental anguish drives them to dark areas of the human mind where some might turn to demons. If the world does not help resolve this human tragedy for which both Palestinians and Israelis are paying the price, there will always be weak people like Nidal Hasan who will be vulnerable to the preaching of hate mongers like the terrorists who use Islam as the currency for their demented ideologies or Jewish extremists who preach violence against Palestinians, or Christian hate mongers who preach nuking the Muslims. If we care for the Palestinians and Israelis, we need to step in and enforce international laws on all, because the rest of the world is becoming a victim in this tragedy.
Sami Shakir
UNM alumnus
