The death of Glasgow shopkeeper Asad Shah last Thursday was alleged to be related to his background. But once the news emerged that the perpetrator may well be a Muslim the reaction was a little more muted from many Muslims. Why?.
Quite clearly this was a horrible killing and one which has shocked Scotland and many members of the Asian community.
The normally vocal Muslim commentators and Muslim groups who tend to take to Twitter and Facebook to condemn actions against Muslims were strangely silent.
There is a sense that one can’t say anything that might inflame people’s passions when it comes to Ahmadis.
For example if this had been a crime committed by a non-Muslim against a Muslim we may well have had a stream of Imams and Muslim advocacy groups lining up to condemn the actions. Where were these Imams, Muslim groups and political commentators this weekend?
It is a widely held belief privately that many Muslims do not like the idea that Ahmadis call themselves Muslim in any way. This deep-rooted hatred of the community using this term is one which goes back over a century since the community was established.
We took a close look at the opinions made by some commentators in the past 48 hours.
The Lahore bombings took place on Sunday and users were quite rightly active in expressing their disgust.
The Asad Shah murder took place 48 hours earlier and strangely enough it didn’t seem to warrant a comment from the familiar groups and individuals.
There is a no hard or fast rule as to what one should or should not comment on. But it is quite clear that to comment on anything almost Ahmadi related is sure to bring about abuse from all sides.
I have even been told posting an article on this website was frowned upon by some readers who felt it wrong to call 'these people Muslims'. Thankfully this website was one of a few which has ignored such advice for many years.
The Muslim Council of Britain for all its criticisms by the government over the years was an exception.
Murder in Glasgow: @MuslimCouncil Condemns Religiously Aggravated Attack https://t.co/cigqutpvMy
— MCB (@MuslimCouncil) 26 March 2016
Some have suggested Maajid Nawaz may well lack credibility within the Muslim community but he was more than vocal on this death.
Disgusting intra-Muslim extremist hatred #NotMuslimEnough https://t.co/Xth00PEOWI
— maajid nawaz (@MaajidNawaz) March 26, 2016
Muslim MP’s who are normally vocal on crimes seemed not to want to comment on any alleged crime on a member of the Ahmadi community.
Bradford West MP Naz Shah was amongst a handful of MP’s who did not mix her words in ‘daring’ to condemn the killing.
The death of Asad Shah was driven by the same hatred and intolerance that we have seen in Lahore yesterday.
— Naz Shah MP (@NazShahBfd) March 28, 2016
So... https://t.co/rQC0qFB6dJ
Imam Qari Asim of Leeds Makkah Mosque was one of few imams to condemn the death. Familiarly though the very religious leaders and imams who had so vocally argued over whether or not to celebrate the birth of the Prophet on social media were silent on this.
No matter how much one may disagree with another's views, murder can never be justified#AsadShah https://t.co/nwplTg4i6W
— Qari Asim MBE (@QariAsim) March 26, 2016
The group Tell Mama maintained their stance in reporting all hate crimes,
Julie Birchill forgets that Asad Shah was Muslim himself. 'Beautiful man - disgusting religion' she says. pic.twitter.com/KiujtNYtGS
— TellMAMAUK (@TellMamaUK) March 27, 2016
Of the articles written on the issue Sunny Hundal’s in the Independent seemed to resonate a view that few really wished to discuss.
The brutal murder of Asad Shah requires we talk about hatred against Ahmadis, in Britain https://t.co/CjwjhoGD2U pic.twitter.com/A0fASnNX9p
— Sunny Hundal (@sunny_hundal) March 27, 2016
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