Thanks to the true bad boys in the Muslim world standing out to be counted as separate, the rest of the Muslims around the world are now starting to be seen in a better light. One bad apple does not spoil the whole bunch most certainly applies.
Over the past few months, there have been a series of events that have both been news worthy, and face saving for Muslims as a whole. They very clearly show what was known but was rarely highlighted in the news.
In no particular order, US President Obama was widely received in the Muslim world, not only for his roots, but for his stand. He started to remove the wedge of division that was being driven by the Muslim hardliners A.K.A. ‘Bad boys’ to serve their own agenda. It goes without saying Osama bin Laden most probably heads that list.
The next significant news item was in Iran where a genuinely false democracy was exposed when the hardline leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei simply overrode the election results looking to reinstall his own man. That made world news in that would clearly never happen in a democracy. When the people of Iran stood up to this hardliner and the rest of the world saw, it changed a lot of minds about Iran as well as the Muslims as a whole.
The next news Item is from Pakistan where a poll showed 80% of the people felt a threat by the hardline Taliban that were invading the country. Although Pakistan tends to be a bit synonymous with terrorism and other such undesirables, the poll showed there was a clear dislike of Muslim extremists.
It is very clear the wedge being driven by the Muslim extremists was taking its toll. Muslims generally distrusted the west, and the west generally distrusted Muslims to such a point that there was clearly visible discomfort when around Muslims dressed in clothing associated with the Muslim faith. The concern if they were suicide bombers was genuine.
However if you look at the recent rash of suicide bombings, you will see that the selection of victims is indiscriminate and often Muslims are killed in the attacks. Attacks on specific non Muslim targets has been muted at least for a while. Because the attacks are going on with Muslims killing Muslims, that also shows that the extremists are not accepted within their own religion.
So over all there are enough dots now to show a picture to the world, that all Muslims are not the same, and the Muslim extremists wedge of division has been extracted a bit for now.
