When I heard that Usman Khan had stabbed and killed two people before he was shot dead by police on London Bridge, apart from my concern for those who had died so tragically, my other concern was that the words ‘Muslim’ and ‘terrorist’ were bound to be linked closely together in media coverage the morning after.
Having looked at the Saturday morning papers and news websites, I am pleased to report that I was wrong. Thankfully as a community we Muslims escaped the immediate aftermath of being blamed for a terrorist attack. Mainstream media seem to have moved on from making this association directly. And about time too!
Unfortunately this does not mean that Muslims will never again be tarred with the ‘terrorist’ brush. Instead of the ‘Muslim terrorist’ terminology, news platforms now prefer the word ‘Islamist’. By this I’m sure they mean to indicate an extremist who is a million miles away from what most Muslims believe – at least, that is what I am choosing to think they mean.
Nonetheless, the word ‘Islamist’ is just three letters added onto the word Islam; only three letters away from the name of my religion. Regardless of what’s intended by the use of this word, it is – literally – too close to Islam for me to be comfortable with.
Using the word ‘Islamist’ can still have negative effects on the Muslim community. To avoid this, what’s wrong with simply saying ‘terrorist’ and ‘extremist’. That’s what Usman Khan was, so tell it like it is. Let him be defined by his odious actions, rather than the religion which his actions betrayed.
