Leadership

By now much has been written and said about the terrorist attack on March 15 in Christchurch, New Zealand that claimed the lives of 51 innocent Muslims as they worshipped in their mosques on a Friday. Victims ranged from a three-year-old child to men and women well into their 70s.

As Muslims across the world felt a deep sense of angst – this was hardly the first attack against them – a beacon of light arose giving us all hope and pointing to a way out of this despair. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern took the moral high ground, denouncing the attack as terrorism and refusing to give any ground to haters. Importantly, she embraced the small, grieving Muslim community in New Zealand with her words and actions.

In response to the criminal attack, the government and people of New Zealand have shown the world what moral leadership looks like. They have set a high standard for how a country should treat its marginalised minorities by embracing them as their own. No amount of praise can do justice to what the people and government of New Zealand have shown the world.

Additionally, Prime Minister Ardern showed conviction and leadership by moving swiftly and banning the kind of weapons that were used in this carnage. Within days, her government had moved to put legislation in place that would outlaw military-style weapons of mass killing that have no place in the hands of civilians.

Contrast this with what has been taking place in the United States over the last several years, and particularly in the last two years since the current administration came into office. President Trump has continued to incite hatred against all Muslims with his acts of commission and omission. In light of the New Zealand bloodshed, he could not come up with two words of sympathy for the Muslim community, even after being urged to do so by Prime Minister Ardern. Could leadership so devoid of morality actually claim the mantle of being “leader of the free world” as is often said in American media? Could the president not be aware how his words and actions are endangering the lives of innocents not only in America but across the world?

The 70-plus page manifesto left by the New Zealand killer clearly states Trump was one of his inspirations. And he’s not the first anti-Muslim terrorist to claim having been inspired by President Trump.

So what other lessons are there in these events for Muslims and for governments of Muslim-majority countries? First and foremost, we must ask ourselves why hardly any leaders of Muslim majority countries are speaking up against the words and acts of US leadership that endanger all Muslims. Why is it that none of them can show the moral courage and leadership that their people deserve? I think the answer is staring us in the face.

The leadership and courage shown by the people of the small country of New Zealand and Prime Minister Ardern also leads us to ask some other questions. She set a really high bar for how a civilised society must treat its minorities; even the marginalised and maligned that may represent only a tiny percentage of the populace. Could the people of Muslim-majority countries even come close to that standard when minority religious and ethnic communities are attacked in their own countries? I am afraid the answer to this question is also staring us in the face.

The writer is a freelancecontributor based inWashington DC.

Twitter: @SQS12

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