In a summit President Obama has said that the “War on Terror is not War with Islam“. To ascertain whether his claim are factual or deceptive one needs to do some analysis on the political situation in the Muslim world to come to a conclusion. Before we embark upon current affairs we need to look into the history of western colonism. Over the last two centuries the Muslim world has been under transformation from the West. The Europeans who came in the 19th and 20th centuries to militarily colonize the Muslim nations politically subjugated them. It replaced their educational, legal, and economic institutions and challenged the Muslim faith and altered the geographical map of the Muslim world to make them defenseless and true Islamic democracy was never allowed to gain grounds and suppressed wherever it took roots. Egypt is a classics example of this.
The Muslim world’s centuries of long struggle with Western colonial rule was followed by authoritarian regimes installed by Western imperialist powers. The absence of stable states has led many to ask whether there is something about Islam that is antithetical to civil society and rule of law. The answer to this question lies more in history and politics than in religion.
When one looks into current affairs, one cannot help but to note that the Muslim world is distraught with unrest and violence and Western interference has played the primary role in forming this state of affairs and the blame ingeniously has been shifted on Muslims and Islam. In this background we can ask few questions. If it is “war on terror and not with Islam” as claimed by Obama than why a systematic propaganda is been carried out by the West in maligning Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh) and Islam in the guise of freedom of speech? Secondly is it really war on terror or war to have control on resources? Thirdly, do we require war? If yes than, what was the outcome of wars fought in Afghanistan and Iraq, has the situation there changed for better after America’s exit or were they better before America’s invasion?
