Letter to the Muslim Youth

By Razeena Omar Gutta

The Horrific Tragedy

On the first day of Hanukkah, Bondi, an iconic Australian suburb, became the site of violence. Innocent people were harmed and the entire community, locally and nationally, are left reeling. We mourn for those killed and injured, and their families and community, who will likely never be the same.

Sadly, as the names of the perpetrators came to light, Muslims across the world felt their horror at the actions and sympathy with the people affected, become tied up with a familiar and exhausting feeling – now that a Muslim name has been mentioned, what does this mean for us, our visible Muslim-ness and our communities.

Immediately, we know that we should not be centering ourselves here – and we are not – our sincere condolences and thoughts are with the Jewish community. But history has taught us that when something like this happens by someone with a Muslim name, retribution in way of words or actions are almost guaranteed.

Atrocities like these also tend to bring up certain unresolved debates among the Muslim community regarding a number of issues. In this essay, we hope to analyse some of the discussions and provide some reflections. 

The Media Mania about Muslims

For many Muslims, this moment feels familiar.

Since 9/11, Muslim communities have lived under an unrelenting spotlight. The rise of ISIS, a group that violated Islamic teachings at every level intensified suspicion and surveillance. Media cycles blurred the line between reporting and fear-mongering. Entire generations grew up watching their faith distorted, politicised, and blamed.

Young Muslims today are inheriting that legacy.

But it is important to understand that this scrutiny was never about Islam and its teachings or theology.

It has always been about power.

Politicians across the Western world have learned that fear is effective and insecurity can be monetised. Migrants and minorities can be turned into symbols of everything a society is anxious about whether it’s the economy, crime, or local politics.

Blaming religion or minorities is easier than addressing systemic inequality, mental health failures, or social fragmentation.

This is a reflection of a deeper societal issue, power dynamics and control. It is not a religious one.

Between 2001 and 2015 - The 9/11 to ISIS period - events like this would be all too familiar. It has been several years since an attack of this scale has been committed by a Muslim. So many of you reading this are young. For some, this may be the first time you are consciously noticing the pattern where an individual commits an act of violence and an entire community is placed on trial. 

Those of us who’ve seen this cycle happen before can acknowledge that this time mainstream Australian media reporting has been somewhat fairer and less biased than in the past. But of course, right-wing media and echo chambers that exist online have used this incident to further their political agendas. Hence, one person's perception of the situation can be very different to others.

Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and the politics of language

In moments like this, young Muslims are often pulled into debates that are less about justice and more about optics.

Is the crime antisemitism?
Is the reaction Islamophobia?
What do these even mean? Which one carries more weight?

These are not neutral questions. The words we use shape responses, urgency and even decision-making.

Antisemitism is widely recognised, historically grounded, and unequivocally condemned, as it should be. By contrast, islamophobia is often diluted, or reframed as discomfort, or questioned in politics and media.

But Islam does not require us to compete in hierarchies of suffering. We don’t downplay one injustice to make room for another.

We stand against antisemitism and against Islamophobia, racism and dehumanisation. That is the principled thing to do.

Islam is not a reactionary faith

Islam is often spoken about as an anomaly, something incompatible with others’ values or with modern life and politics. Remember that Islam did not begin with headlines, nor does it survive by public approval. It is a faith that emerged to restore human dignity in a world that had forgotten it. It centred the poor, restrained the powerful, protected minorities, and demanded justice even when it was inconvenient. We are taught compassion, not rage, justice that is not selective and humanity not tribalism.

It is within this tradition that Ahmed Al Ahmed acted.

The Quran tells us that saving one life is like saving all of humanity. Justice in Islam is not selective, which was so courageously illustrated by our brother Ahmed, who single handedly disarmed one of the shooters. He did not need a press release to prove anything. He lived justice. 

Choosing who you become

If you are young and feeling overwhelmed, angry, or confused, know that these feelings are normal. This may be the first time you are fully aware of media power, and how politics might work. You get to choose how you respond.

You can be pulled into endless online arguments that drain your energy and stress your soul

My advice to you is this. Stay rooted in Islam not as a defensive identity, but as an ethical framework. Know how the Prophet SAW responded in times of extreme difficulty, and in times of ease too. Remember that a believer is always optimistic, compassionate and just.

Islam is not a faith of despair. It is a faith that insists on hope even when the world feels heavy.

Moving forward with integrity

We mourn Bondi. We mourn every innocent life lost to violence anywhere.

We also honour courage where we see it and reject collective blame.

We refuse to allow our faith to be reduced to headlines or hijacked by those who benefit from division.

To the young Muslims reading this, stand firm with confidence, your faith is beautiful. You do not need to change or bend to anyone else’s rules to fit in. You do not need to apologise for crimes you did not commit. And you do not need to abandon your principles to belong. Belonging begins with knowing who you are. Muslim, community member, human.

Community Response

By Zohair Abdul-Rahman

The Burden of Condemnation

You may have noticed an almost reflexive posturing of community leaders and organisations that have been habituated to feel the strong expectation from the wider community to issue public statements of condemnation. This has been ingrained into multiple generations as they witnessed the media hysteria that would be drummed up against Islam and Muslim following attacks like these. The paranoia and suspicion that would be seeded into the minds of fellow citizens would certainly be palpable. And so we all learned that in order to absolve ourselves from the collective guilt that came with these attacks, we had to issue these statements.

There has always been push-back against these statements, arguing that it legitimizes the framing that, (1) These attacks are connected to the Islamic faith and (2) If one member of a faith community commits a crime, then everyone in that group has to bear the moral indictment. They will argue that white christians or churches are not expected to issue statements after KKK protests or acts of violence. Further, no right-wing nationalist groups issued any statements after the Christchurch massacre or the Quebec Mosque shooting. 

So then why should the whole Muslim community stand trial when a rogue individual decides to do something that every single Muslim scholar, imam and community leader would unequivocally condemn? 

Whilst the above argument is certainly sound, I think that there is an important perspective that needs to be added. It is not about the burden of condemnation or collective guilt. Of course, we accept that such expectations shouldn’t be the case. But from a pragmatic point of view - it does. There is always a difference between what ought and what is. The gap between the two is in fact the very purpose of life.

There are then two angles that we need to consider. The first is shifting what is to what ought to be. This is done through political advocacy, raising awareness regarding anti-Muslim sentiment and media bias. I must say that over the past few decades, we have certainly seen a significant shift in a positive direction regarding media coverage on attacks like these. Very few headlines in the mainstream media in the immediate aftermath even mentioned the attackers religion. 

The second angle is about minimizing harm (tadfaʾ ad-ḍarar) based on what is. We cannot simply say “They shouldn’t be suspicious of us…that's on them” and move on. Whilst this statement is certainly true as a should statement, it does not capture the current reality. There is a responsibility of Muslims to minimize harm for everyone - Muslim or Non-Muslim. What greater harm could there be than a spoiled reputation of Islam and Muslims in the eyes of your neighbours? 

Clarifying doubt before it can arise is a prophetic principle as witnessed in this incident,

Safiya bint Huyai, the wife of the Prophet ﷺ, came to visit him in the mosque. When she got up to return home, the Prophet ﷺ accompanied her. It happened that two men from the Ansar passed by them as they were walking. Allah's Messenger ﷺ addressed them, saying "She is Safiya!" Those two men said, "Glorified be Allah! O Allah's Messenger ﷺ (You are far away from any suspicion)”. The Prophet ﷺ explained, "Satan circulates in the mind of a person as blood does (in his body). I was afraid that Satan might put some (evil) thoughts in your minds." (Bukhari, 3101)

Minimizing harm is a legal maxim, “La ḍarar wa lā dirār” (there is to be no harm and no reciprocation of harm). The harm to the reputation of the Muslims is a very important factor that should motivate us to mobilize actively to educate our neighbours and clarify doubts. 

In an ideal world - you shouldn’t have to. In an ideal world, people don’t have a lazy cognitive instinct to stereotype a minority group through the actions of a few. In an ideal world, people would actively search to learn about Islam themselves with the wealth of resources available at their fingertips. But we don’t live in an ideal world - this is the world of testing, trial and tribulation. One of the tests Allah describes,

“You will surely be tested in your possessions and in yourselves. And you will surely hear from those who were given the Scripture before you and from those who associate others with Allah much abuse. But if you are patient and fear Allah - indeed, that is of the matters [worthy] of determination.” (Quran, 3:186)

It is not about apologizing for Islam or showing ‘performative’ acts of morality. Taking any opportunity to tell the world what Islam stands for and what it doesn’t stand for when the eyes of the nation will be keen to read what you have to say is the very essence of da’wah. Furthermore, as a community we must be consistent and introspective. Showing solidarity to minority groups targeted on the basis of their group identity is an act of compassion that is part of the compassion of Islam itself and not a ‘PR move’. 

Sahl bin Hunaif and Qais bin Sa'd bin 'Ubadah said: 'A funeral passed the Messenger of Allah and he stood up, and it was said to him: It is a Jew. He said: 'Is it not a soul?"' (Nasai, 1921). If that is the case for a single soul who died of natural causes. Then what about when more than a dozen who were killed brutally?

Internalized ‘Islamophobia’

When clips on social media go viral without context and algorithms reward hot takes, suddenly things can seem very overwhelming, especially in comments sections. The constant exposure to the talking points, verses and hadith out of context along with the amplification of incidents like these can even lead to a phenomenon known as ‘internalized Islamophobia’. 

Seeded in the minds of Muslims can be the associations of Muslim, terrorist, violence. You may even find some Muslims start to think that we do have a unique problem of violence, extremism or terrorism in our community. They may start to target immigrants, refugees, those who come from different cultural backgrounds and are not ‘assimilating’ to ‘Australian culture’. These are examples of Muslims drinking the kool-aid they have been exposed to for so many decades.

Does the Muslim community have a unique problem with violence? This is a question that we need to answer without bias either way. Muslims are those who stand for justice and truth even if it is against us. The Prophet said that even if his own daughter were to steal, he would implement the penalty against her. (Sunan Nasai, 4891)

It isn’t ‘internalized islamophobia’ to be vigilant for any problems our communities may have that may lead to social harm. Our communities are very diverse in Western countries and the problem never lies in Islamic practice or worldview. If there is a problem that exists within our community, it would be due to non-Islamic factors like socioeconomics, politics, culture or a grossly false understanding of the religion. 

The balance between self-accountability and internalized islamophobia is a difficult one. Suffice it to say - the religion is divine, but the followers are human. 

Political Hijacking of a Tragedy 

We are genuinely heartbroken of the horrors that the Jewish community faced on December 14th. Judaism is the closest theological faith to Islam on the planet. We share the same prophets and many practices including ablution, prayer, dietary rulings and purity. The Quran mentions the Jewish people as the historical chosen people and dedicates several passages to their chronicles and the prophets sent to them. 

The Prophet himself married Safiyyah, who was from Jewish lineage. When a slur was used to try and defame her, he defended her Jewish ancestry and said,

“Verily, you are the daughter of a prophet (meaning Moses), your uncle is a prophet (meaning Aaron), and you are married to a prophet (meaning Muhammad), so how can she boast over you?” (Tirmidhi, 3894)

Historically, Muslims have been a safe haven for the Jewish people as they faced European anti-semitism. The Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II and the Sultan of Morocco both helped Jews escape the Spanish inquisition that sought the ethnic cleansing of Muslims and Jews in Andalus. Bosnian and Albanian Muslims helped Jewish people during World War II escape Nazi persecution. There are many historically documented stories that speak to this Muslim-Jewish solidarity that existed in the face of European anti-semitism.

This is why we are also outraged that political opportunists are using this moment to further their agenda to enable foreign states to commit war crimes, genocide, ethnic cleansing (as determined by several UN human rights organizations and the ICC). They do this by: (1) Connecting the atrocities to the ‘Pro-Palestinian movement’, even though both gunmen had no ties to any national advocacy group and (2) Fabricating an ‘anti-semitism’ problem in the Muslim community. The latter point has been addressed above. The reality is that anti-semitism is a European phenomenon, not a Muslim one. As for the first point, this is a moment for healing, for unity between Australians and a strengthening of the Muslim-Jewish relationship that has been hijacked by political ideologues for decades. The ‘Pro-Palestinian movement’ is not faith-based but represents diverse racial and faith communities - including many prominent Jewish voices. 

Those who march against ethnic cleansing, war crimes and killing innocent children and civilians would of course feel outraged about what happened at Bondi. It was never about race or religion - but about human beings who should be free to live with dignity and safety. This is why our community remains consistent and we call out the killing of innocent civilians and children wherever they happen and whoever does them - even if they happen to share the same faith identity. 

Responding to Abuse

The Quran is very clear on the way we are meant to respond to verbal abuse, vandalism and provocation,

“Then declare what you are commanded and turn away from those who associate partners with God. We are sufficient for you against the mockers” (Quran, 15:94-95)

“We already know that your chest becomes tight over what they say. So exalt with praise of your Lord and be of those who bow in prostration. And worship your Lord until there comes to you the certainty (i.e. death)” (Quran, 15:97-99)

“The servants of the Most Merciful are those who walk on the earth with humility and when the foolish address them they respond with ‘peace’” (Quran, 25:63)

This is a time of worship, prayer and patience - not responding to provocation.