I can’t see why the media have to make such a fuss on Muslim leaders’ opinions regarding the burial of Osama bin Laden into the sea.
Most of the headlines (I’ve no time to read all the contents) highlight Muslim ulemas/clerics’ criticizing of the US’ decision against using the traditional Islamic ritual of handling Muslim corpses.
I can guess what the international public (outside the Muslim communities) think upon reading those headlines; they most probably think the quoted opinions are those of the Muslim communities at large, and that it means that most Muslims respect bin Laden enough to demand that his dead body should have been handled with respect, i.e. by handling it in accordance with Islamic traditions; which then means that most Muslims likely support terrorism.
I’m honestly irritated with such reckless conclusions. I tell you what, I can assure you, most Muslims, even the fundamentalist (excepting maybe the so-called radical ones), also celebrate or at least welcome bin Laden’s death as he had been the cause of why we Muslims have become such a black sheep in the global relations. Although, really, personally I think the US government has been stupid enough to announce and flaunt his death; an act which can very potentially trigger retaliations from bin Laden’s followers.
Nevertheless, what I want to comment here is my similarly irritations with the cited ulemas, or those media reports, or both.
Regarding the ulemas, if it’s true that they do demand the body of bin Laden to be handled Islamically, I completely think it is preposterous. C’mon, it was a fire fight, what happened between the US Navy Seals and bin Laden and his followers. Like in any other firefights happening elsewhere, who would be silly enough to expect the troop of a party to handle the corpses of the enemy soldiers respectfully, in accordance to the latter’s traditions? Most I guess would either abandon the corpses, or, worse, do something awful to those corpses, such as mutilating them, out of pure hatred or with revenge motives. So, honestly, why should anyone make a fuss about the US throwing bin Laden’s remains into the sea?
Secondly, I’m suspicious the media are just blowing up the issue. Having been a journalist for four years now, the last two years of which I spent mostly covering politics and other equally controversial issues, I know exactly how journalists often shower a source person with questions regarding an issue or two, when the person doesn’t even proactively voice his opinion, only answering (in many cases lightheartedly) because he/she has been asked; to see that the media reports later on have either of these headlines written with large block letters, “A (the source person) demands the government bla3x…”, “A urges lawmakers to bla3x…”, “A warns B party against…”, or “A condemns B for bla3x…”
I can imagine that the quoted ulemas were reading leisurely at their homes, or were just leaving a seminar or a discussion, when the journalists called them for interview or suddenly door-stopped them, asking, “Good day (or good evening, whatever), Mr. Ulema, I wonder what do you think about the US’ burying of Osama bin Laden’s remains into the sea? Do you agree on the burial?” – which the ulemas would of course answer with (more or less), “Well, if you ask me, of course whoever the Muslim was, either he was a criminal or a saint, he should be buried according to Islamic way …”
Ha! See what I mean? ’Coz it is much less likely that a source person, let alone some Muslim clerics, suddenly calls or sends a text message to a journalist, saying that he thinks this or that about a matter. That is a very rare case, I tell you.
More probable is that the source persons speak of their opinions regarding a matter in a public forum, which happens to be attended by a journalist, who then quoted the source persons, and even headline stories based on that statements made in the forum. I doubt, though, that there was a forum discussing bin Laden’s death just a few hours after his death in which the Muslim ulemas were quoted as saying that they criticized the US’ handling of bin Laden’s remains.
Well, that is just some insight of a Muslim journalist, who may be a little bit too paranoid or defensive, but is basically only tired of being made a black sheep, being accused or suspected of being intolerant or supportive of terrorism or maybe even being one of the terrorists, just because she, like quite many of her fellow Muslims, are more inclined to conservatism (which is very different from terrorism, mind you, although most terrorists are perhaps conservative) than liberalism.
There & (Never) Back Again 