Survivors' accounts from a bus in northern Kenya attacked by Al Shabab militants last week included reports that Muslim passengers saved their Christian counterparts from death by dressing them in Islamic clothing. Quite apart from showing how true Muslims act – in stark contrast to the twisted ideologies driving extremist groups such as Al Shabab – their intervention was just one of many incredible acts of bravery this year in which Muslims came to the defence of followers of other religions.
When gunmen attacked the office of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in January at the start of a series of coordinated terror attacks, one of the police officers who gave his life protecting the journalists was Ahmed Merabet, a Muslim. When other gunmen in the group attacked a kosher delicatessen in Paris two days later, it was a Malian-born Muslim member of staff, Lassana Bathily, who shepherded 15 customers into the safety of a cold storeroom then helped them escape to safety via a lift.
When terrorists targeted Paris again in November, killing more than 130 people, it was a Muslim security officer who stopped the death toll being much higher by challenging suicide bombers who tried to enter the Stade de France, where a France-Germany friendly match was being staged. The bombers detonated their explosives vests outside the stadium, killing only themselves and a solitary bystander instead of hundreds of football fans.
This month, when a knife-wielding man screamed “this is for Syria” as he attacked passengers on the London Underground, one of the police officers who arrested him was a Muslim. As the knifeman was restrained, he was derided by an eyewitness who said: “You ain’t no Muslim, bruv. You’re a disgrace.”
Ignorant voices always respond to these incidents by calling on all Muslims to denounce the extremist few. If they looked closely, in almost every case, they would find Muslims showing the reality of their faith by risking their lives to save others, regardless of their religious affiliation.