“Mahmoud stepped in and was able to convince the mob to stop the violence and simply restrain the man until the authorities arrived.”
It seems like the world has gotten used to news of yet another terror attack. While politicians bicker and social media users battle in comment sections, fear and hatred grows. As news unfolded about the latest act of violence in London—where a man plowed a van into a crowd of Muslims near a Mosque—I saw quite a few justifications for the act. Everything from blaming the mayor of London to saying the act was done in retaliation. Regardless of political beliefs, the world shouldn’t become numb to acts of violence against any group of human beings.
Out of the shadows, I read about an Imam named Mohammed Mahmud, whose actions are important to highlight. After the vicious attack, it was reported that a mob descended on the suspect and begun to physically assault him for what he had done. After the suspect had been pulled from his vehicle, the crowd began to kick and punch the man as he was held down. Mahmoud stepped in and was able to convince the mob to stop the violence and simply restrain the man until the authorities arrived. He successfully deterred the angry mob, and no doubt saved the life of the suspect.
It took an incredible amount of bravery for the Imam to speak up. Things could have gotten out of hand and he executed his duties as a spiritual leader with courage that is not often found in such situations. He reminded the crowd of Muslims celebrating Ramadan how they shouldn’t be behaving in the manner in which they were.
While it shouldn’t take being reminded of their faith during Ramadan, these folks were understandably emotional and angry. It’s slightly troubling that the response to this attack would have been lynching, but it’s the world we currently live in. The community would have faced much more criticism for murdering the suspect had they not been stopped.
While terrorism and jihad rages on, the world is left to wonder when and where it will happen next. The misguided and extreme actions taken by individuals do not necessarily reflect widely shared sentiments. No one deserves to be slaughtered in their place of worship. There is no justifying the killing of innocent people, even if they are Muslims.
I don’t subscribe to the “kill them all and let God sort ‘em out” mantra. I have encountered Muslim translators in a theater of combat operation who regard US service members as brothers (not so much the females for obvious cultural differences).
While it could certainly be argued that the Imam only acted because it’s Ramadan, or to spare the Muslim community in London further scrutiny, it should also be acknowledged that it took a great amount of courage to stop the assault on the suspect.
Justice must be allowed to run its course and too often, people take matters into their own hands. The world needs healing stories such as this to illustrate that not all Muslims will stand idly by and watch their community members murder or condone violence.