Islam is Perfect, Muslims Aren’t

“Islam is perfect, Muslims aren’t.” These are the words of 19-year-old Adam Bersanov who moved to France from Chechnya. On the heels of the Charli Hebdo attack in January of this year, anti-Muslim incidents rose 281 percent when compared to January 2014, one year earlier. As you might suspect, there was a significant spike in anti-Muslim activity following the attack in Paris earlier this month. The door of a Mosque was tagged with the phrase “France, Wake up”, and a halal butchery was similarly tagged (halal is the eating code of Muslims—like the Word of Wisdom for Mormons or Kosher for Jews). Phrases such as “Death to Muslims” and “Suitcase or Coffin” are examples of other anti-Muslim phrases tossed around Paris specifically and France generally. Many Muslims in France, on the other hand, have responded with phrases like “Terrorism has no religion” and with a particular emphasis on the French national anthem and other expressions of French nationalism.

I find it interesting that the phrase employed by Adam Bersanov (“Islam is perfect, Muslims aren’t”) is so strikingly similar to a phrase used by Mormons. In the face of minor or gross misrepresentations through the words of actions of one of their own, Mormons will often say, “The Church is perfect, but members of the Church are not.” I’ve heard it throughout my life. Understandably, Mormons yearn to be clearly understood and represented as a faith tradition that is upright and respected at least–admired and joinable at best. So it continues to trouble me that I am confronted over and over again by clearly expressed anti-Muslim phrases and attitudes by some Mormons. Shouldn’t we understand that a faith tradition stands independent of her adherents?

The following article from the Washington Post was drawn from for this post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/11/16/frances-muslims-fear-fresh-backlash-after-terrorist-attacks/