Bewilderment, horror, disgust, helplessness, frustration, anger and disbelief sum up Canadian Muslims' feelings about the mayhem in Boston and the attempted terror in Canada. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested two Muslims saying they planned to derail VIA Rail to cause death and destruction. An imam had tipped off the RCMP enabling it to foil the alleged plot. Muslims know that hurting innocent people violates Islamic teachings, sullies Islam's image, promotes Islamophobia and imperils Muslims in North America who are productive citizens. Long before 9/11 Canadian (and American) Muslims were embracing their fellow citizens through interfaith dialogue. In Ottawa almost all Muslim organizations invite politicians, clergy, the media, RCMP and police to their functions. Ottawa's imams admonish Muslims, through Friday sermons, to be kind to neighbors, families and fellow citizens. Almost all Muslim organizations have youth programs that assert that living in a democratic and welcoming country like Canada is a blessing. The media reported that the two Chechens behind the Boston blasts were brainwashed by the Internet and by extremists with distorted views about Islam. The FBI reported that the two were infuriated by the US invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, which was also said about the Toronto 18 who were nabbed in 2006 and some of whom were found guilty of plotting terror. Most Canadian Muslims find unjust wars abhorrent. But they find harming innocent people for the policies of their governments equally repulsive. Millions of people around the world demonstrated against the attack on Iraq. But this does not justify terrorism. This country offers refuge, security and a new chance to those who face or suffer persecution, unusual treatment or punishment or torture. Canada also attempts to treat all citizens fairly and generously. So why would two long-time residents scheme to unleash pain, suffering and death on innocent people? The answer, partly, lies in our disturbed times. Ours is an imperfect world as news reports show every day. In Canada a 14-year-old committed suicide after suffering abuse and humiliation. Her family reported that four boys raped her at a party and flashed the act on the Internet. Another girl who was pictured topless and whose photo went viral on Facebook also killed herself. Ottawa courts are grappling with allegations that girls lured or threatened underage girls into prostitution. The United Nations is discussing human rights abuses in Canada, particularly among the Aboriginals. Hundreds of Aboriginal women have disappeared in the last few years. In Chile, it was reported, a young boy was burned alive because people saw him as anti-Christ. In Nepal some women were accused of being witches and burned to death. In India women are raped with impunity and this includes even five-year-olds. From the US, reports come almost daily about murders and violent crimes. Such reports emphasize that our world, for all its progress, remains brutal and unjust. No wonder some people embrace compassion while others become human monsters. Stress overwhelms them. Technology and globalization improve lives but also fracture them. Some businessmen rake in millions of dollars a year while many find it hard to get jobs, or to subsist on meager wages. In Canada one in five persons is treated or hospitalized for mental illness or depression. In the United States, one in four suffer from mental illness and the disease costs the US $100 billion every year. The World Health Organization reports that four of the 10 leading causes of disability in developed countries are mental disorders. Dr. Ingrid Mattison, former president of the Islamic Society of North America, says mental illness among Muslim youth in the US became an epidemic after 9/11. The Chechen bombers lived in the US for years but success eluded them. They took their revenge on society. If they had not been Muslim and had opened fire in a school, market or church, they would have been portrayed as average American criminals. The two in Canada who were accused of plotting the derailment of VIA Rail were losers too. Raed Jaser's family was Palestinian and they lost their home. They went to the United Arab Emirates and later received refugee status in Canada. Jaser, 35, was denied that status but had no country to return to. In Canada he tangled with the law, was convicted and put on probation. He turned to such weird thinking that an imam reported him to the RCMP. Chiheb Essaghaier, 30, came from Tunisia in 2008. In 2010 he began working for his PhD at the National Institute for Scientific Research near Montreal. But loneliness or other difficulties overwhelmed him. His loud prayers disturbed his neighbors and got him evicted. The Center for American Progress says that 88 percent of terrorist plots in the US since 1995 involve white groups and that seven of the past 10 Al-Qaeda plots in the US were foiled by tips from American Muslims. But Muslims are blamed when a stray Muslim becomes destructive. That's the burden North American Muslims have to bear. — Mohammed Azhar Ali Khan is a retired Canadian journalist, civil servant and refugee judge
