TO MY FELLOW MUSLIMS – SHOULD WE CELEBRATE OR COMMEMORATE?

During these last few days at the end of Ramzan, I contemplated sending out Eid Greetings as I always do. And it is during these odd nights in the last ten days of Ramzan that we as Muslims are supposed to reflect and see ourselves in the spiritual mirror.
So I reflected on what greetings I should send.
Should I send greetings to the families of Orlando victims who suffered mayhem and murder? Should I send greetings to the family and friends of Amjad Sabri in Pakistan? Should I send greetings to the injured of the Istanbul massacre? Or should I send greetings to the victims of Dhaka, Baghdad and now Medina?
Or are we too busy waiting for the Eid moon to be sighted by different sects so that we will never agree on one Eid and will end up celebrating two days?
What should we tell our children when we lavish them with Eidee and presents?
Should we tell them all’s well in the Muslim world or for once in our lives, having reflected, we build up the courage to tell them the truth? Should we tell them that going into the bedroom of an innocent 13 year old girl and murdering her in cold blood is not what Ramzan is about and neither is it the Islam of our Prophet (pbuh).
Upon deep reflection, this is where we stand today:
• This Ramzan is the bloodiest in my lifetime. Mostly Muslim upon Muslim violence.
• We are despised and ridiculed causing anger and frustration among the masses
• We don’t have the luxury of hiding behind Islamo-phobia, denial, conspiracy theories and political correctness. Rest assured this is OUR problem which we have created by more than three decades of deflection and defence, giving the extremists control of our faith and our narrative.
• We have two choices: either 1.6 billion Muslims, or even half of them or even a quarter – stand up solidly and reject violence and killing in the name of our faith OR
• We continue the denial and victimology that we have become masters of and let the mayhem and murders continue
If you are celebrating Eid, then Eid Mubarak to you and yours. I wish to commemorate the lives of those innocent people that have been lost during this holy month of Ramzan in acts of terror and murder.