Last night, we sat glued in front of the TV again, more bomb blast in London again. There were many speculations, some said they were copycats, other said that was an act from the same group. Whatever it is, the name of Islam has been grossly tarnished. And it saddened me a lot. Maybe this is the biggest challenge Muslims have to overcome, that it, the perception that terrorism, violence equates to Islam.

We may never know the truth. We may never know whether those act of terrorisms were actually done by Muslims. Only Allah knows. If those acts of terrorisms such as the London blasts, the 9/11 incident and even the plot made by JI in Singapore were actually carried out by so-called Muslims, I just don't understand WHAT were the objectives. And I think they are doing it out of selfish reasons NOT for the honorable causes that they claimed. Because we all know that Islam does not encourage any act of violence, not even to animals.

If they want their ideologies to be heard, isn't there an amicable and peaceful way of doing it? It is said that the terrorists are fighting for the people of Palestine, for the people of Iraq, et cetera et cetera and yet, the violence cause innocent people; men, women, children to perish. Their abhorence act of terror caused families to be broken where children lost their parents, wives lost their husbands, Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Their acts of terror caused Muslims around the world to be viewed with suspicious. Muslims around the world suffered the backlash where mosques got burnt and cans of beers thrown at Muslims. So whose cause are they fighting, when what they did was just to make more Muslims suffer.

Islam is a religion of peace, a religion of love, a religion of consideration. Our prophet Muhammad s.a.w showed us that being compassion, gentle, kind, considerate, patient, polite are main virtues of a Muslim. He abhorred violence. Even when his enemies threw stones at him till he bled, he never retaliated. Even when his enemy threw dirty water at him and hurled words of detest, he came to see her when she was sick and dying. Even when he was constantly challenged and provoked by the Quraisy, he never fought back. Instead he left quietly and peaceful out of Makkah into Madinah.

Our prophet Muhammad s.a.w taught us that getting a peaceful solution is the best solution. Peace is a much treasured commodity. Without peace, we are in constant fear and we may not be able to carry out our duties as a Muslim with a peace of mind. I pray that Allah swt give us strength, wisdom, patience in handling challenging times ahead of us. Amin.