#blamethemuslims is trending hard on twitter right now, but the majority of people who are using the hashtag don’t know why it started.

Strange_Sanum was the first one to use the tag in a series of satirical, light-hearted tweets, which included the following:

‘Spilled beer down your shirt? Blame the Muslims. England losing the World Cup? Blame the Muslims. Your wife left you? Blame the Muslims.‘

‘My internet is slow #blamethemuslims‘

and (my favourite) – ‘ ‘Wheres your homework?’ ‘I made it into a paper aeroplane and it got hijacked.’ #blamethemuslims’

As of right now the tag is the number one trend on twitter and Sanum was receiving, as she stated about half an hour ago, 200 @mentions every 10 seconds. She’s also been receiving death threats, despite being a Muslim herself, and despite explaining clearly on her TL just why she started #blamethemuslims in the first place. It’s a nod to the tendency of media groups and social bias to jump aboard what is now a very boring bandwagon – that of laying blame for violence and religious bigotry (amongst other things) at the door of the Muslim people – which in turn highlights an even larger concern – that of scapegoating in general.

Why do I love this trend? It’s funny, witty, self-deprecating and intelligently ironic. Of course the moral of the story might have been very different if #blamethemuslims had been started by anyone other than a member of that particular faith group, but when a person feels comfortable enough in their own skin to indulge in gentle self-mockery, whilst simultaneously holding up a mirror to media bias, one can’t help but laugh alongside.

Unfortunately it seems as though rather a lot of people just aren’t getting the joke. There have been many calls for Twitter to ban the TT (and a strange amount of people who consider twitter’s allowing of the trend to be particularly unfair in relation to the recent banning of #justinbieber) and a number of people have voiced fears concerning possible repurcussions. However the majority of the people who have utilised the hashtag seem to have done so purely to vent their anger about the perceived racism of the trend, without researching its origins before forming an opinion. Irony upon irony; the very thing Sanum seems to have been satirising has been replayed by millions in their misguided attempts to rid the (Twitter)world of an ‘evil’ that is no more than a product of misinterpretation.

Strange_Sanum herself stated, ‘I started the #blamethemuslims trend to highlight how ridiculous it is to blame Muslims for every problem in the world.’ She has a youtube account:http://www.youtube.com/strangesanum91, which she uses to speak eloquently on related matters (The Language of War, London protests and Muslim faith topics). Go check it out before jumping on the bandwagon – this is one trend that most definitely should be about solidarity and humour, not chucking misguided stones.

This post was written by Clare Neruda  on July 24 2011 and reposted by Muzlimbuzz.sg on July 28 2011.