{"id":998,"date":"2017-03-25T18:54:53","date_gmt":"2017-03-25T23:54:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/?p=998"},"modified":"2017-03-25T18:54:54","modified_gmt":"2017-03-25T23:54:54","slug":"london-terror-attack-why-do-they-hate-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/london-terror-attack-why-do-they-hate-us\/","title":{"rendered":"London Terror Attack: Why Do They Hate Us?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the Name of God: The Eternally and Extremely Loving and Caring<\/em><\/p>\n

“Why do they hate us?”<\/p>\n

This question is perpetually asked by us Westerners regarding the terrorist savages who attack us. Now, the issue of terrorism is much more complicated than simply the terrorists “hate our freedoms.” Nevertheless, when someone decides to mow down innocent people walking on Westminster Bridge, the question is a natural one. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nYet an equally natural question that can be asked is, “why do the terrorists hate us (the Muslims)?”<\/p>\n

Every time a terrorist savage kills innocents in the West, it increases pressure on the overwhelming majority of innocent Muslims living in the West. It causes an inevitable backlash against them, which causes even more hurt and pain beyond the attack. How can this possibly “help the cause of Islam and Muslims,” as they commonly claim they are doing? <\/p>\n

What’s more, this backlash may cause some Muslims – already suffering from alienation – to think that the West is at “war with Islam,” which feeds right into the savages’ false narrative. They use it as a recruiting tool, pointing to the backlash that they created <\/i>to say, “See, Muslims? The West hates you. You need to join us.”<\/p>\n

Beyond this, it is an undeniable fact<\/i> the vast majority of the victims of “Radical Islamic Terrorism,” as our President is wont to call it, is ordinary Muslims themselves<\/b>. <\/p>\n

My heart bleeds for London<\/a>, and Paris, and Brussels. It’s terrible what the savages of ISIS have done. <\/p>\n

Yet my heart also bleeds for Baghdad<\/a>, which suffered an attack on March 20. My heart bleeds for Pakistan<\/a>, which has seen horrific violence committed by ISIS in February. They attack and kill any Muslim who doesn’t agree with their sick and twisted version of our religion, and there is no shortage of misery that these so-called “holy warriors” have caused all over Muslim-majority countries. <\/p>\n

In fact, a good deal of the refugee problem is due to the fact that Muslims would rather die trying to get to Europe than live under ISIS. This is the clearest rejection and condemnation of ISIS<\/a> by Muslims for which people keep calling. <\/p>\n

So, yes, when ISIS attacks London, it makes sense to ask, “Why do they hate us (the West)?” But it makes equal sense to ask, “Why does ISIS hate us (the Muslims)?” This shows that ISIS and the other terrorist savages are enemies to all of us, and we need to stand together against their evil. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When terrorists attack, we ask “Why do they hate the West?” We can also ask, “Why do the terrorists hate Muslims?”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":175,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[601,534,834,18,835],"class_list":["post-998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-common-word","tag-attacks","tag-isis","tag-london","tag-terrorism-2","tag-westminster"],"yoast_head":"\nLondon Terror Attack: Why Do They Hate Us? - Common Word, Common Lord<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"London Terror Attack: Why Do They Hate Us? - Common Word, Common Lord\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When terrorists attack, we ask "Why do they hate the West?" We can also ask, "Why do the terrorists hate Muslims?"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/london-terror-attack-why-do-they-hate-us\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Common Word, Common Lord\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-03-25T23:54:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-03-25T23:54:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/files\/2017\/03\/img_4279.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hesham A. Hassaballa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@GodFaithPen\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"London Terror Attack: Why Do They Hate Us? - Common Word, Common Lord","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"London Terror Attack: Why Do They Hate Us? - Common Word, Common Lord","og_description":"When terrorists attack, we ask \"Why do they hate the West?\" We can also ask, \"Why do the terrorists hate Muslims?\"","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/london-terror-attack-why-do-they-hate-us\/","og_site_name":"Common Word, Common Lord","article_published_time":"2017-03-25T23:54:53+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-03-25T23:54:54+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/files\/2017\/03\/img_4279.jpg"}],"author":"Hesham A. 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Hassaballa","description":"Hesham A. Hassaballa is a Chicago doctor and writer. He has written extensively on a freelance basis, being published in newspapers across the country and around the world. He has been a Beliefnet columnist since 2001, and has written for the Religion News Service. He is also a columnist for Patheos. His articles have been distributed worldwide by Agence Global, and he was also a guest blogger for The Chicago Tribune and has blogged on ChicagoNow\" . In addition, Dr. Hassaballa has appeared as a guest on WTTW (Channel 11) in Chicago, CNN, Fox News, BBC, and National Public Radio. Dr. Hassaballa is co-author of The Beliefnet Guide to Islam (Doubleday), and his essay, \u201cWhy I Love the Ten Commandments,\u201d was published in the award-winning book Taking Back Islam (Rodale). His latest book, Noble Brother, is the story of the Prophet Muhammad told entirely in poetry, and it is now published in its second edition. In 2007, his blog \"God, Faith, and a Pen\" was nominated for a Brass Crescent Award for a blog that is \u201cthe most stimulating, insightful, and philosophical, providing the best rebuttals to extremist ideology and making an impact whenever they post.\u201d \"God, Faith, and a Pen\" has also received an award for being one of the \"Top Muslim Blogs for 2010\" by Awarding The Web. In addition to writing, Dr. Hassaballa helped found the Chicago Chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations and currently serves on their board of directors. He also co-founded the Bayan H. 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