#OO1O #IStandwithAhmed - A Youth Opinion Piece
im.prof endeavours to develop young writers who will form an intellectual society. Along this line, we welcome the youth to submit opinion pieces and articles that are internally reviewed for suitability of publication while retaining the originality and opinions of the writers.
This article is contributed by Asyraf, a graduate of Raffles Institution (JC) aged 18.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any members of im.prof
#ISTANDWITHAHMED
News of a young Muslim boy in Texas, Ahmed Mohamad’s arrest and subsequent acquittal over bringing a “suspicious” object to his school in Texas, USA has been spreading like wildfire on social media. The object in question was a DIY electronic clock. An uproar rose accordingly across platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, with a tremendous spike in appearance of the hashtag #IStandwithAhmed. Accusations of Islamophobia against the school were levelled, especially upon the revelation that the clock was a harmless toy built by Ahmed in his home based workshop.
This episode can be summed up in the simplest of terms: a complaint was lodged, an investigation was carried out, and the charges were dropped. Now the speculation is completely focused on what triggered the complaint. Did the object cause reasonable enough alarm and suspicion because of its appearance? Did the fact that Ahmed being the son of a Sudanese muslim politician had a hand to play with the school’s decision to call in the police? We do not know this for sure, and perhaps we shall never.
We are not denying that Islamophobia is a real issue in the Western countries, and this might have triggered the school’s response. As much as we like to stand up against unfound prejudice, we will not be able to know if indeed there was an element of bigotry being practised. Perhaps what the school needs to do is calibrate their response to students who bring in objects resembling hoaxes of dangerous items. When the school issued a memo reminding parents and students of its responsibilities towards the safety of students and staff and that ‘dangerous’ items are prohibited on the premises (hoaxes are not tolerated either it seems), it gave some insight into the school’s motivations, though it does not completely absolve any of its actions.
It is also fair to say that because Ahmed is a Muslim that this has been turned into an issue surrounding Muslims and Islamophobia. Many, including Ahmed himself, are of the opinion that nothing would have happened if it were a Caucasian who brought the clock to school. Again, we do not know this for sure, and perhaps we shall never. The question now becomes: Is it responsible for our brothers and sisters to continue sharing and retweeting speculations that are without clarity of evidence and reason, adding fuel to the notion that Islamophobia as a growing threat to the safety of Muslims in Western countries?
Shouldn’t we be ushering in messages of peace and brotherhood at times like this? Mr Barack Hussein Obama, the American President, tweeted to the now famous 14-year-old, “Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science (emphasis added). It's what makes USA great.” We can also see that he has made a conscious effort to steer the conversation away from divisive topics such as Islamophobia. This episode has in fact turn out to be much more beneficial to Ahmed than he could have possibly imagined by drawing sympathy as well as encouragement from the likes of Facebook, Microsoft, MIT and even the White House.
What sets this #IStandwithAhmed piece apart is that we spent just ten minutes out of our busy lives to think critically. #0010.
About The Author: Asyraf has completed his A levels at Raffles Institution (JC) and is now currently in National Service. His ambition is to set up a social enterprise and his interests include community service and travelling. In his free time, Asyraf enjoys cooking and practicing Muay Thai.