OnIslam.net

CAIRO – In the decade from the 9/11 attacks to the Arab Spring, the image of Islam in the eyes of the Western world has been greatly shifted from the faith hijacked by terrorists to that of Arab heroes who stood against their tyrant regimes.

“The Arab Spring did not change how we view Islam, but how people, particularly the Maltese, view Arabs,” Mario Farrugia Borg, a Muslim convert, told the Times Of Malta on Sunday, September 11.

Seeing thousands of Arab youth protesting against their regimes in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria and Yemen, the Maltese people were impressed by the newly-discovered facts about their southern neighbors.

“The Arabs are now seen as heroes,” Borg said.

“The more I talk to people, the more I realize how their support is genuine, especially towards Libyans.

“The Maltese want them to succeed, find democracy and have a good standard of living.”

This new image was not the same over the past decade.

Ten years after Al-Qaeda movement attacked New York and Washington, Muslims face hostile sentiments around the world.

Borg himself spent the past decade trying to explain to fellow Maltese that Islam does not encourage terrorism or extremism.

“Before they caught Osama bin Laden I remember colleagues asking me if I knew where he was,” he said.

“They were joking and I didn’t take offence. But it shows that the terrorist attacks will always be associated with Islam.”

According to Wikipedia, the present-day Muslim community in Malta is a minority of around 6,000.

There is one mosque, founded in 1978 by the World Islamic Call Society.

Against Violence

Borg reiterates that all faiths are against terrorism practices, saying that the anti-Islam sentiments, which popped up after 9/11, were either moved by extremists or anti-Islam commentators.

“As someone who practices Islam faithfully, I knew this was a grave misunderstanding of the religion.”

Borg said he was angry when Norwegian right-winger Anders Breivik was labeled a Christian fundamentalist.

“I know Jesus Christ never preached violence... just as the prophet Mohammed did not,” he said.

Maltese-Palestinian Sanaa El Nahhal, who gained fame in 2009 when she singlehandedly collected and transported aid to Gaza, is also optimistic about the changes she has witnessed throughout the decade.

“I think people noticed that even if change is slow, everyone is human and eventually things that need to change will change,” El Nahhal said.

“We all aspire to have better lives, we all have love to give... it doesn’t matter if we are Muslims or Catholics.”

She is particularly pleased with the renewed interest in the Arab world thanks to the revolutions.

“Before, many Maltese saw Arabs as ignorant people coming from backward countries,” she said.