Alwaght- While Saudi Arabia has pinned the blame for the Mina tragedy that saw more than 3000 people killed last Thursday on the pilgrims, many western media outlets are using the incident to once again pinpoint faults in Islam that don't even exist.

It has been established that the catastrophe that marred the annual Hajj season in which millions of devout Muslims from around the world flock to Mecca to perform one of the five pillars of Islam was the result of Saudi mismanagement despite attempts to divert the real cause by accusing pilgrims of not following instructions.

The West and its media have jumped at every opportunity to distort the image of Islam. An example of this is the generalization that every Muslim is a terrorist because minorities of people who claim to represent Islam carry out terrorist attacks. Painting Muslims as terrorists serves the purpose of spreading Islamophobia in the West.

Newspapers such as The Independent chose to publish the history of accidents that marred Hajj in a piece headlined: "Hajj stampede: History of disasters affecting annual Islamic event in Mecca" giving rise to the notion that Islamic rituals incur disasters.

A CNN report commented: "The journey is physically grueling enough on its own," suggesting that the pilgrimage is too difficult.

Instead of investigating the role the Saudis played in the occurrence of the catastrophe, western media reported that Riyadh launched a probe into the Mina tragedy, turning blind eye to many eye-witness reports of deliberate route change and closure, police inefficiency, and so on.

Those who are not familiar with Islam and those who are, will both be appalled by the tragic incident. Yet there will be a difference in the perspective. Those who truly understand the peaceful principles of Islam will understand that the causes of the deadly incident are not even remotely related to Islam and the Hajj rituals because many a time have these rituals been performed without bloodshed. On the other hand, those who have not been authentically informed about Islam will begin to grow fear and hatred toward Islam, the main components of Islamophobia triggered by the media which is surely working with a hidden agenda.

By AlWaght