Originally published in News & Record
Both our Wolfpack and Tar Heel families mourn the tragic deaths of Deah Barakat, a dental student at UNC-Chapel Hill, his wife Yusor Abu-Salha, and her sister Razan Abu-Salha, a sophomore at N.C. State. As an Ahmadi Muslim, I am deeply hurt by the loss of my brother and sisters in faith, and my prayers go out to their family and friends.
As I looked out to the media for support and information, I was bewildered to find silence for hours after the incident. It was social media and the voices of Twitter and hashtags that brought the most support. This attack has revealed an unfortunate double standard within the mainstream media. When a Muslim perpetrates violence, the foremost aspect of the incident that is brought to light is the religion of the perpetrator, and every news channel reports on it repeatedly.
The moment a clear anti-theist such as Craig Hicks commits such an act, the perpetrator is given the protection of doubt, dubbed mentally unstable, and the media go silent. This horrible act deserves the media’s respect, not their double standards.
Sir, in every nation where Islam is the majority religion and Muslims the majority citizens, that is where there is the greatest subjugation of women, sex crimes against children, and unfathomable violence against non-Muslims and non-perfect Muslims. Those nations aren’t more peaceful, they have the most Socio/economic problems as well as terrorism. Why is that?