By Abdullah Sheriffdeen –
Abdullah Sheriffdeen
I’m a Muslim by religion. Australian by nationality. Sri Lankan by ethnicity. Human by nature.
The recent terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka that claimed over 350 precious innocent lives and injured many more did not only disrupt the period of peace that the country was experiencing. It has also caused irrevocable damage to peaceful faith communities for generations to come. These attacks also challenged the core values that many of us in this room hold dear to ourselves.
When I first heard about the news on Sunday, I received a shock that was imbued with a deep sense of heartache, sympathy and sadness. The majority of victims were those congregating on an auspicious religious occasion in their holy place. The other victims were almost exclusively composed of civilians, locals and tourists, who were either at work, or simply enjoying their breakfast on what was a beautiful sunny day. I, or any one of you, could have been one of those victims. The thought of being killed in either setting is one that would have never crossed our minds.
This barbaric act of terrorism resonates with a tragedy that occurred within my family history on the 3rd of August 1990. On that fateful day, 145 worshippers were massacred by the LTTE terrorists in two mosques in a small town called Kattankudy in the east of Sri Lanka. My grandfather, Mr Seyed Sheriffdeen, a dedicated teacher and community worker of many decades, along with his little 10-year-old son, were mercilessly gunned down whilst in communion with God at one of these mosques.
After 20 years since this event took place, I visited this mosque. I stood in the same corner of the mosque where my grandfather’s blood flowed, and I prayed, and still pray, that another human being should never be killed in cold blood. Mass massacres of this nature should NEVER be repeated again in history.
When my dad first heard about this Easter Sunday’s terrorist attack, he penned the following words:
Please do not insult me by asking if my family is safe. They are not safe. Each victim of this barbaric attack is a family member of my great human family. So, I’m also a direct victim of this atrocity. My family’s death toll exceeded 350 already. For what sin were they killed for by this cult, and for whose benefit?
So these terrorists have killed my father, my mother, my siblings, my grandparents and my own relatives. They have orphaned me, so I am speechless.
My initial sentiments of misery and grief slowly transformed into anger and disgust, once the identities of the perpetrators were revealed. These people outrightly betrayed the teachings of Islam, or any other faith for that matter, in doing what they did. They do not belong to any religion, other than the poisonous ideology of TERRORISM.
I cannot imagine how a human being can be capable of wreaking such havoc and carnage. One has to disassociate him- or her- self from the Divine given attribute of humanity in order to stoop down to such lowly levels.
It is also does not make sense how this murderous cult claimed that they were Muslims. The teachings of Islam are clear cut when it comes to killing innocent people. The Quran (5:32) is clear, in saying that killing a single innocent person is tantamount to killing the whole of humankind, with the converse applying for those who salvage a life.
Further, the Quran (60:8) elaborates on how the Muslim should “do good and deal justly” with those who do not fight against them on the basis of their religion. This very verse concludes in saying that God Almighty “loves those who maintain justice”.
The perpetrators of these attacks blatantly disobeyed the scriptures that they apparently abided by, and clearly defied their intrinsic role of being a moral human being. Like any other right-minded person, I, from the depths of my heart, condemn these attacks as an outrageous abomination on humanity. I extend my heartfelt condolences to those affected by the calamity, Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, religious, non-religious, local, foreigner, alike. May we all remain calm and united in these pressing times, and allow peace and love to pervade and prevail. Thank you.
thamizh / April 26, 2019
it is nice to wear the ‘terrorist’ label and evade any responsibility and answering. violence is only a tool. the attackers on easter sunday carried out their mission in the name islam. the attack on mosque in new zealand was carried out in the name of white supremacy. but these days if you make any sort of criticism against the religion of peace, you will quickly be tagged with islamophobia.
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Mark Wije / April 26, 2019
ISIS or anyone harm others are NOT Muslims because Islam NEVER accept or support harming others.
This is exactly like BBS are NOT Buddhist as they are NOT following the real teaching of Buddha.
LTTE were NOT Hindus or Christians as they were NOT following teachings of their religions.
Any lunatic can carry or claim names related to particular religions, BUT that will NOT make them adherents of that religion. OR their acts considered endorsed by their religion.
SL Muslim community has rejected this terrorist act and even refused to do funeral rituals to those cowards who committed this heinous crime.
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Shivaji / April 26, 2019
All the suicide bombers were Muslims.
They carried out the attack targeting non-Muslims.
Muslims have carried out similar attacks elsewhere.
Muslim community failed to stop them.
Face facts.
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Amarasiri / April 26, 2019
Shivaji,
The Muslim community has been warning the authorities for years, and they fell on deaf ears. The Indians have been throwing specific information about the terrorists, and they slept on it. The terrorists were specifically pointed out by many Muslims, and the authorities did nothing . The President did not want to appoint the proven war hero Sarath Fonseka for any defense post and did not share the Critical information,
Do not Blame the innocent Muslims, for the lapses of the security and the deviants who call themselves, “Muslims”. The Wahhabi-Salafis, primarily killed Muslims, by re-branding them apostates.
They want to kill, Sufi, Shia and Ahmedia Muslims. They have scaled up this killing to include other non-Muslims.
However, there is a big geopolitical component here due to the excesses of modern Western Impeialism.
A 2016 Pew Research Study found that 23 percent of Muslims completely opposed to terrorism on religious grounds., and 7 percent supported it on political grounds, to oppose Western Impetialism and hegemony.
The balance 70 percent did not know .
So, one may infer that 23 percent of Muslims know their religion, and the balance 77 percent do not know the religion, and 7 percent is political.
What percentage of Buddhists, Hindus and Christians know their religions?
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Amarasiri / April 26, 2019
Shivaji,
“All Bombers are Muslims”
All Bombers are Wahhabies.
All Bombers are Sri Lankan’s.
All Bombers are Paras.
All Bombers are terrorists.
Therefore, all Paras, Sri Lankans and Muslims are Bombers and Terrorists.
The sun rises from the east and sets in the West, and therefore the Sun goes around the Earth.Tell that to Sirisena and the Pope.
The mean IQ of Sri Lankan’s is 79. So, they have different theories.
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Amarasiri / April 27, 2019
Thamizh,
“The attackers carried out the terrorist attacks in the name of Islam” – Yes, but do they follow Islam? Have you read the Quran, the Old Testament and the New Testament completely, cover to cover? The Tripitaka or it’s condensed version caver to cover?
Just because somebody says they are Muslims, Christians, Jews or Buddhist, it does NOT necessarily mean that they follow the core teaching of the faith.
The attacks on Tamils in Sri Lanka over the years, perhaps millennia by the Sinhala “Buddhists”, who call themselves Buddhists , does not mean they are Buddhists. Just count the number of Tamil dead at the hands of these “Buddhists “.
Similarly, you can also count the number of Muslims dead at the hands of the Wahhabis and their clones. Are the Wahhabis Muslims or Satanis? Just Google the Wahhabi sack of Karabala.
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Amarasiri / April 26, 2019
Abdullah Sherifdeen,
Thank you for your well articulated narrative of the tragic death of your grandfather, his son and 250 others, 19 years ago, and what happened this week on Easter Sunday to 350 others. Both tragedies are shocking for all, but most shocking for the loved ones who lost their family and friends, and for those who were injured and have to live the rest of their lives, feeling violated.
Only, time will heal their psychological and physical wounds.
Now, getting back to the Terrorists, Tauheed Jamat and the clones of Wahabi-Salafis, ISIS etc., are clearly not following the teachings of Islam in these matters. They have given their own interpretation, the interpretation of the Wahhabi-Salafi Devil Followers, per the Prescient Hadith of Najd. Just Google.
LTTE terrorism, is terrorism, whatever ideology they had.
So, they are not Muslims, but Satanis, Iblisis per prescient Hadith of Najd. So, you need to fight intellectually, those brainwashed idiots, who wants to die killing others in the process, expecting to get 72 virgins, when their bodies are decaying here in Earth. What are they going to do with the virgins, when there is no body?
Do the terrorists believe that the world is flat and that the sun goes around the earth?
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Jay Chambers / April 26, 2019
My friend, don’t try to bamboozle us with this mumbo jumbo. The face of hatred is the face of Islam. We know it, everyone knows it. There is no terror greater than Islam itself, and the Quran is the basic fundamental catalog and handbook of hatred towards non-Moslems.
We were nor born yesterday. Stick up your nonsense up your posterior. The Sinhalese and Lankans will come to their senses some day and take their vengeance on radical Islamic terror.
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Perera Dias / April 26, 2019
Hey Jey
Why you are so hatred. Hatred will breed many murderous. Islam will NEVER support terrorism. People misinterpret Islam and people like you take quotes out of context with superficial readings and fool yourself with your utter ignorance.
Read the Quran or Bible deeply to clear your black glasses and blood thirst revenge racism. Did your religion of ego and racism taught you to take vengeance on innocents because some other idiots carried out terrorist acts.
If your argument is true, each Buddhists should be killed for what BBS did for Muslims in Digana and what the SL government did in 1983 for Tamils. All Tamils should be killed for what LTTE and other Tamil terrorist groups did for Sinhalease and Muslims.
Hey, wake up.
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whitewashing Ester attackers / April 26, 2019
well said JAY CHAMBERS…….Like we the non-muslims do not know crap.. there is indeed a Legitimate RADICAL Aspect with in KURAN to PERSECUTE all who do not BELIEVES in ISLAM [ Great Prophet have waged WAR on non believers because they would not adjoin to ISLAM ]
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this article Completely attempts to whitewash just about everything behind Ester Attacks CT should be ashamed to Post a such an Article……The BOMBERS are–all of them from wealthy super-rich families…most have went abroad ..some are graduates….
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Buhari / April 26, 2019
Well said!
Thank you.
Muslim community must not try to cover up this barbaric act of Islamic terrorism. We must condemn it.
Face it and fix it before others fix it against the consent of Muslims. When that happens it will be painful.
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Thassim / April 26, 2019
These were islamic state of Iraq and Syria ISIS Muslim terrorists. They are Muslim; they may not be good muslims but pigs. but they are Muslim and they need to be eradicated so that the 99.9% of the Muslims can co-exist safely in a Buddhist-Hindu majority nation. Alternately, they can move to Saudi Arabia from where Wahabi-Salafist fascist pig ideology comes.
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Sri Lankan Christian / April 26, 2019
I assume you don’t live in Sri Lanka and so aren’t concerned about your own extremist ideas in this response to the article.
Usually, this is a sign of a lack of education, but given the profiles of the bombers, we realize that the so called educated are not immune to extremism.
Sad.
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Ranjith(SPRRW) / April 26, 2019
We have number of moving fully loaded garbage bags in our streets.That garbage bags may contain deadly dangerous explosives in them. As such every citizen has every rights destroy them at sight.That is not violation of human rights. Self defense is every body’s right.If government allow moving garbage bags to move in our streets with deadly dangerous explosives in it. citizen have every rights to carry weapons to destroy them at sight for their self defense. Muslims do not have special rights here or anywhere although none believers are branded as vile animals by their so called almighty in his so called revelations in so called Koran. It may be Holiest thing for so called Muslims or slaves of that book. But for none believers it is mad ones book. as such none believers have every rights to expel them to Mad dogs countries like Saudi Arabia & Somalia. otherwise peaceful life in this land is impossibility.
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Lenonard / April 26, 2019
Abdullah Sheriffdeen
One simple question for you what is the punishment for Apostacy in Islam? by the way if you want to bring Crusades in to justify this is 2019 not 1905.
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Ad / April 26, 2019
AS there are many unanswered questions. All of us are designed to die one day. Nature is the commander. Killing itself is against nature whether as a punishment, war or crime. There are many weaknesses in human thinking. The worst affected are those who live highly religiously and feel guilty even to question the religious teachings. Those moderate believers are not so vulnerable. The extreme radicals are formed from deep rooted faithfuls, even if they are educated or not as you have witnessed. What these radicals fail to understand is that without a body, virgins are useless, tasty food is useless, there cannot be any enjoyment. To enjoy life one must have his or her body intact. That is what is destroyed by the suicide bombers who by thinking that they are going to receive virgins from god. Pathetic teachings. Maybe it is time faithfuls start questioning the logic of the faith if it does not fit common sense. Such teachings could be regarded as inciting crime against humanity.
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Siva Sankaran Sharma / April 26, 2019
There is no such ethnicity called Sri Lankan ethnicity, it is a nationality and Muslims in Sri Lanka are of Tamil ethnicity . Indian origin Tamil by ethnicity to be precise. Learn to post the truth and not lies . You are from Kattankudi, the epicentre of Wahhabi Islamic fundamentalism . Out of the 63 mosques in this very small area, seven openly preach hard core Salafist extremism and 53 are Wahhabi , only three mosques are now preaching the traditional Tamil Sufi Islam and they are constantly under attack by the Wahhabis to confirm. The Kattankudi mosque was attacked by the LTTE or Karuna now a darling of the Sinhalese and Muslims, as it was the evil headquarter from where Muslim home guards who were heavily armed by the Sri Lankan state , used to plan and attack the surrounding Hindu Tamil villages and civilians . It was also used as an arms depot. They use to pray to Allah for his blessing, before they started their attacks on the Tamil Hindu villages. These Muslim home guards were very cruel and brutal , they killed, raped and ethnically cleansed thousands of innocent Tamil Hindus and Christians and destroyed many Hindu temples. The attack by the LTTE was in retaliation for this. The suicide bomber who killed many people inside the church in Battlcaloa , was from Kattankudi. The bombs were all originally tested around the Kattankudi area. Please post all these truths too and not half truths as you are fond of the truth. Don’t worry we Tamils will never attack innocent Muslims only Wahhabi/Salafist Iblisis and the Shaitan politicians and businessmen and elite who support them. Sleep well in Australia.
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Amarasiri / April 27, 2019
Diva Shankaran Sharma,
Glad to see your usage of the words, Wahhabi Salafi Iblisis.
Amarasiri uses Wahhabi-Salafis and their clones such as ISIS, who follow the Devil, Satan, Iblis, per prescient Hadith of Najd, from Islamic Sources.
The Muslims accept that but the Wahhabi-Salafies and their clones, don’t, insisting that they are Muslims. Their parents were Muslims, but due to Wahhabism, they became Satanis, Iblisis.
ISIS is referred to as Daesh, by the Arabs, but ISIS, I is not Islamic, but Iblisic. Therefore, non/Arab media should refer to them as Iblisic State of Iraq and Syria.
Islam was introduced to Sri Lanka by the Sufi Muslims. There was no Wahhabism at that time. Sufis love God, by the Heart, and the Wahhabis and clones love the Devil, Satan, Iblis and death.
So, they want to kill the Shia, Sufi and Ahmedia Muslims, and now non-Muslims as well.
Perhaps, the theology of Satan following Wahhabies is that, when all others are killed, only they are left, following Satan, and Satan believes in Tawheed, monotheism, per Islamic Sources
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dayan / April 26, 2019
mr. sherif, you can say all these things. pl. note the terrorist interpretation of islam is correct for them . for you it is a matter of survival. whatever you say they are muslims. no escape from that fact.
-dayan
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SJ / April 26, 2019
Dayan
Then one can also say based on various contexts:
Whatever you say they are Hindus, no escape from that fact.
Whatever you say they are Buddhists, no escape from that fact.
Whatever you say they are Christians, no escape from that fact.
Terrorist interpretations are possible for almost anything.
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Rtd. Lt. Reginald Shamal Perera / April 26, 2019
Hi Abdullah.
How are you? Are you carrying a Backpack with you?
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Galahad / April 27, 2019
When a group of people try to kill others in the name of their religion quoting verses from their religious books, while others from the same faith try say otherwise, again quoting from the same book, one must go to their source and check. In this case the Qur’an. When I read their scripture, of course, all this “peacefull verses” and also “the extremist verses” can be found. But Qur’an it self gives a comprehensive guide to interpret it when such contradictions occur.
Let’s read this article and understand:
http://www.answeringmuslims.com/p/jihad.html?m=1
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Nathan / April 27, 2019
Brother this is not ordinary terrorism but exclusively an Islamic terrorism that is spreading round the world like a very malignant cancer. They are beyond any reasoning. It is so laughable that MY3 combo were in total darkness while all these things were happening under their very noses. This MY3 appointed a Muslim who lost the last election into the nominated list and worst still sent him as the CM of the East. His past record was appalling and there were numerous allegations against him about Islamic extremism and upsetting and undermining the other communities in the east. Then there are guys clearing Wilpatthu sanctuary and settling Muslims there illegally. Who is responsible? No point just sacking the defense secretary or the IGP and they have no say except bum sucking the higher ups in the government. The fault is entirely on MY3 and Ranil.
It is mere excuse excluding them from Islamic extremism and calling them just terrorists. For whom they are doing this? Who are behind this? It is very true that all Muslims are not a party to this but all who support them are Muslims and it is in the name of Islam and that is the danger here. The Muslims certainly have an issue but who does not have? When these guys went against the Tamils did they understand that? They thought that undermining Tamils will propel them further into prosperity and political power but Sinahlese seems too smart for them. Once LTTE was out they went on the Muslims in order to make this a Sinhala Buddhist country. Muslims did not anticipate this and they forgot that we are a land of deception and broken promises. Now they are facing their very karma. It is unbelievable what was happening in the east and now mostly the innocent will suffer as usual. Our policy is racial and religious extremism and there is no place for righteousness or fair play or decency. We will use religions to utmost extremism and ruin ourselves.
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Nathan / April 27, 2019
High time the crowded Islamic ghettos in Kathankudy, Oddamavady, Sainthamarudu, sammanthurai etc have to be dis-banned and dispersed. They have made it a no go zone for other communities thanks to Sinhala racist governments that pampered them to destroy tamils and to gather votes. No one knows what happen there. Just see Sainthamarudu, from ancient times it was a Muslim ghetto and no one other than Muslims can enter the village. They have chased all the Tamil communities living around there and now only Karativu survives somewhat. Sammanthurai same fate. Even the names have been changed to Arabic names. This is not freedom but invasion and intruding. Some say that LTTE under the traitor and killer Karuna had sold these explosives etc to the Muslim extremists when they were on the run. It is certainly possible. It was only a Batti Muslim who transported this ruthless Karuna to colombo and then Gotta sent him to UK as Kolitha Dharmawardena on a diplomatic passport with loads of money. All these guys have to be taken in and questioned. Arrest Karuna at once. He is a traitor and double crossing is nothing for that fellow. He is responsible for the Kathankudy Mosque attack. he is responsible for executing the surrendered policemen in the south under Premadasa. But he is a darling of MR and Gotta and my foot he is a minister too once. What a shame. Tragically the Sinhala politicians have played this game too long and too much and too far and unless they reform no way out. In the east Muslim only villages ought to be separated and and otherwise it is going to be an islamic terrorists and extremist haunts. Islam does not allow the poor Muslims to change their views or attitudes as they are so blind in their faith and questioning or even even thinking is a sin and sacrilege.
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