Muslims Are Labeled Terrorists Despite Being Mass‑Violence Victims.. Why?

The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: An Unprecedented Human Catastrophe

As the world marks the 81st anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it is important to remember the immense human suffering caused by those attacks and to examine how history, terrorism, and crimes against humanity are discussed today in recent political discourse and media coverage.

On August 6 and 9, 1945, the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The bombings caused enormous civilian casualties, with total deaths commonly estimated in hundreds of thousands.

The bombings followed a warning issued by U.S.President Harry Truman, who declared that if Japan did not accept the Allied terms, it could expect “a rain of destruction the likes of which has never been seen on this earth.”

Hiroshima and Nagasaki remain enduring symbols of the catastrophic human consequences of nuclear warfare, and one of the darkest chapters in modern human history, while the United States remains the only country to have used nuclear weapons in warfare.

Whatever historical judgment is made about the decision to use such weapons, the killing and suffering of the victims can never be justified or denied.

Double Standards in Attributing Violence to Islam

A troubling question deserves serious consideration: Why are terrorist attacks committed by a relatively small number of individuals so often described through an Islamic or Muslim identity, while the religious identities of perpetrators responsible for mass violence or crimes against humanity are frequently omitted or treated as irrelevant?

Terms such as “Islamist terrorism” and “Islamic extremism” are common in political and media discussions. Yet expressions such as “Christian war criminals” or “Jewish war criminals” are far less or never used when discussing atrocities committed by individuals or states associated with those religious traditions.

The issue is not to deny that religiously motivated violence has occurred among followers of diverse faiths. Rather, the concern is whether religious identity is applied justly and consistently when it comes to Islam.

History Contains Atrocities Committed by Actors belonging To Christianity

Human history contains countless examples of slavery, genocide, colonial violence, ethnic cleansing, and mass killing. These crimes have been committed by governments, armies, political movements, and individuals representing different religious and ideological backgrounds.

The transatlantic slave trade subjected millions of Africans and their descendants to kidnapping, enslavement, forced transportation, and brutal exploitation. European colonial expansion across the Americas resulted in the dispossession, forced removal, warfare, and killing of Indigenous peoples.

The Holocaust demonstrated the devastating consequences of state-organized racial persecution and extermination. Nazi Germany and its collaborators murdered approximately six million Jews, along with millions of other victims.

Under Stalin, the Soviet Union experienced extensive political repression, executions, forced labor, deportations, famine, and other forms of state violence. Historians debate the precise number of victims, but the scale of human suffering was enormous and affected people from numerous nationalities and religious communities, including Muslims and Jews.

These atrocities are generally discussed in terms of colonialism, Nazism, Stalinism, state repression, or political ideology. They are not normally presented as evidence that an entire contemporary religious community is inherently responsible for them. Then why is Terrorism associated with Islam?

Muslims Have Been Victims of Mass Atrocities Rather than Preparators

The history of violence also demonstrates that Muslims have frequently been victims rather than perpetrators.

During the conflicts surrounding the breakup of Yugoslavia, Muslims in Bosnia were subjected to ethnic cleansing, mass killing, and forced displacement. The Srebrenica genocide of July 1995 resulted in the murder of more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys.

Muslim populations also experienced persecution, dispossession, and forced migration under Russian imperial and Soviet rule. One of the most devastating examples was the mass deportation of the Crimean Tatars in 1944 under Stalin.

The Crusades and the Principle of Consistency

The Crusades provide another historical example of religiously framed violence. Christian armies committed massacres and other atrocities against Muslim and Jewish populations during the medieval campaigns. Following the capture of Jerusalem in 1099, large numbers of inhabitants were killed.

Recognizing these historical crimes does not justify blaming Christians today. Contemporary Christians are not collectively responsible for the actions of medieval Crusaders.

The same principle must apply to Muslims. Muslims today cannot be held collectively responsible for crimes committed by individual extremists.

Genocide in Gaza

More recently, the ongoing genocide in Gaza that has led to over 65,000 deaths, hundreds of thousands of civilian casualties and mass destruction. In September 2025, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry concluded that Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

Language Shapes Public Understanding

Terrorism, war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity are distinct legal concepts.

An act of terrorism does not automatically constitute a crime against humanity, while conduct that constitutes crimes against humanity may involve acts of terror without necessarily being legally classified as terrorism in every context.

Precise language matters because it shapes public understanding and influences how responsibility is perceived. When terrorism is repeatedly presented primarily as an “Islamic” phenomenon, while the religious identities of actors responsible for other crimes against humanity are omitted, minimized, or treated as irrelevant, the distinction between individual perpetrators and an entire religious community can become dangerously blurred. Such framing can contribute to Islamophobia, generalized suspicion of Muslims, and deeper social divisions.

The above historical experiences challenge simplistic narratives that associate Muslims primarily with violence. Muslims are and have themselves been victims of genocide, ethnic cleansing, forced displacement, and state repression. The fundamental principle is simple: justice must never be selective.

No Religion Should Bear Collective Guilt.