Shaikh Ibrahim Mogra writes, “[. . .] No matter what grievances Muslims may have, Islam does not allow us to take the law into our own hands. The London bombers left behind videos showing their anger about ‘Western’ intervention in ‘Muslim lands’, particularly the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They chose a path of murder and destruction, committing haraam and ending their own lives along with 52 other precious and innocent lives. There was also a heightened sense of fear of further attacks, tragically leading to the police mistakenly shooting an innocent man – Jean Charles de Menezes.
Rather than serve the cause of their fellow Muslim brothers and sisters, the bombers caused irreparable damage, especially to the safety of their fellow British Muslims. Attacks on Muslims and mosques increased, and Muslims felt particularly vulnerable.
Furthermore, the government introduced counter-terror laws which made Muslims feel like outsiders, constantly under police scrutiny. Muslims living their daily lives had to contend with regular police stop-and-searches, categorising Muslims into binaries of ‘good Muslim’ and ‘bad Muslim’. The government engaged with Muslim communities through a lens of counter-terrorism, whilst refusing to accept that British foreign policy played a part in the bombers’ motivations [. . .] click here