THERE is an Islamophobe come lately in the world. And he has a very French name.
Not that he wasn't one before, but he has now made his phobia public. French President Emmanuel Macron finally became an open book on Friday when he told a gathering in Les Mureaux, a town northwest of Paris, that Islam is in crisis everywhere.
Apparently, it will cease to be so if it is "Islam of France". Call it a Freudian slip. You can't hold down your prejudice for too long. It is bound to surface sooner or later. So much for Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite, the French national motto that acted as a backdrop for his speech of hate.
Little wonder he came out very quickly in support of Charlie Hebdo's blasphemy against Islam. Let's be brutal. Macron, you are so wrong.
Islam is not in crisis. France is. Here is why. Firstly, Islam is a religion that is 1,431 years old and there are close to two billion Muslims around the globe.
Think of any skin colour, there is a Muslim under it. And it is the fastest growing religion in the world. If terrorism is the concern of Macron, as his Friday speech seems to suggest, then terrorism is what Macron should be after. Neither terrorism nor suicide bombing was invented by Islam. They are of recent making, and not even by Muslims.
True, there are some Muslims who engage in terrorist activities. So are members of other faiths. Even atheists blow people up. The Christchurch killings were perpetrated by a Christian. Can we fault Christianity for the wrongs of a wayward believer?
Or Buddhism for Buddhist brutalities against the Rohingya? Or Hinduism for Hindu hackings of Muslims in India? Secondly, Macron must be reminded of what he told China of Beijing's persecution of Uighur Muslims. Repression, he labelled it.
And quite rightly, too. France's treatment of Muslims in France is repression as well. We are not excusing China for the persecution of Uighurs. We want the world to condemn not only China for repressing Muslims, but also other countries around the world for persecuting their people. And the world must go a step further and end all forms of repression. Not like Macron, start another one against the Muslims.
Like people of other faiths, all Muslims want is to be good adherents of their religion. How is this against Liberty, Equality and Fraternity? Macron cannot customise Islam for France like China, which wants an Islam with Chinese characteristics. France and China must be told, Islam is a religion of revelation. It is not a boutique faith, custom-made by men for a culture.
Men must not play god. Of all people, the French should know history well. Old texts tell us how hubris destroyed powerful generations of the past. Macbeth or Macron, hubris comes before the fall.
Thirdly, Macron must remember that the world has not forgotten France's crimes against humanity. Muslims didn't cause them.
France and its jingoistic soldiers did. Muslims were the victims. Three hundred thousand Algerians to be exact. Macron can't pretend not to know.
France's apology is still due. So is one for Macron's speech on Friday. Two billion Muslims are waiting.