They Said What???

I have posted and will again post using the words of radical Islamist/Jihadist. But since I have had so much feedback from people who haven’t seen/heard any/enough of response from Muslims in general over Bin Laden and terrorism, I am going to post a list of quotes from Muslim scholars in regards to this subject. Hopefully you will see something you haven’t seen before.

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Grand Sheikh Mohammed Sayed Tantawi of the Al-Azhar mosque of Cairo – which is seen as the highest authority in Sunni Islam – said groups which carried out suicide bombings were the enemies of Islam. “I do not subscribe to the idea of a clash among civilizations. People of different beliefs should co-operate and not get into senseless conflicts and animosity.” “Extremism is the enemy of Islam. Whereas, jihad is allowed in Islam to defend one’s land, to help the oppressed. The difference between jihad in Islam and extremism is like the earth and the sky.”Sheikh Tantawi said Muslim suicide attacks, including those against Israelis, were wrong and not be justified.

His comments echoed those by Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohammed who said, at the opening of the conference on Thursday, that salvation could not be achieved through the killing of innocent people.“I would rather live in America under Ashcroft and Bush at their worst, than in any “Islamic state” established by ignorant, intolerant, and murderous punks like you and Mullah Omar at their best.” A thought provoking, controversial, pre-war article by Muqtedar Khan, Ph.D. 

Prominent Muslim scholar Dr. Youssef Al-Qaradawi has condemned Al-Qaeda for their fuel tanker suicide bombing of a centuries-old Jewish synagogue on the Tunisian island of Djerba in April 2002.

On June 23 in a statement broadcast on the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television channel, Sulaiman Abu Gaith, a spokesman for the Al-Qaeda network, claimed responsibility for the explosion that killed 14 German tourists. Five local Jews also perished.

Dr. Al Qaradawi said that in Islam it is not permissible to attack places of worship such as churches and synagogues or attack men of religion, even in a state of war. “Civilians, such as the German tourists, should not be killed, or kept as hostages. Jews, not in conflict with Muslims, must not be killed either. Anyone who commits these crimes is punishable by Islamic Sharia and have committed the sin of killing a soul which God has prohibited to kill and of spreading corruption on earth.”

When asked whether the killing of Jewish women, children and men is permissible, Islamic scholar Muhammad Al-Hanuti said that no one may be persecuted or tortured because of their religion. “The only one who could be killed is the murderer or the one who commits a crime punishable by the law. In war, when people are fighting for a certain cause, Muslims are not allowed to kill the elderly, women or children. The only legitimate target is the one who is involved in combat against Muslims.”

Dr. Al-Qaradawi said that the conflict with the Jews is over land and not about their Judaism, because they are people of the Book (i.e. they believe in a revealed religion). “We are allowed to eat their food and marry their women. Accordingly, social intercourse, including inter-marriage, is permitted with the People of the Book. The Jews lived under Muslims’ protection for many centuries.

Over the attacks on 9/11, Al-Qaradawi said, killing hundreds of helpless civilians who have nothing to do with the decision making process and are striving hard to earn their daily bread, such as the victims of [9/11], is a heinous crime in Islam. The Prophet, pbuh, is reported to have stated that a woman was qualified to enter Hell because of the cat she locked up to death. If such is the ruling applied in protecting animals, no doubt, aggression against human beings, a fortiori, deserves greater protection, for human beings are honored by Allah Almighty and are His vicegerents on earth.” “Hurt no one so that no one may hurt you. Remember that you will indeed meet your Lord, and that He will indeed reckon your deeds” From the last sermon of Mohammed

“It is time that we Muslims acknowledge that the freedoms we enjoy in the US are more desirable to us than superficial solidarity with the Muslim World. If you disagree, then prove it by packing your bags and going to whichever Muslim country you identify with.” Dr. M.A. Muqtedar Khan

Ed Bradley: Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t it the responsibility…Does not Islam, does not Allah require that Muslims police their own religion and rid themselves of extremists?

Hamza Yusuf: Yes, absolutely. It’s an obligation for Muslims to root them out. And I think it is a jihad now for the Muslims in the Muslim country to rid themselves of this element. (CBS’s 60 Minutes Sept. 30, 2001)

“Who has the greatest duty to stop violence committed by Muslims against innocent non-Muslims in the name of Islam?? The answer, obviously, is Muslims.” Ingrid Mattson, Vice President, Islamic Society of North America

“Hijacking Planes, terrorizing innocent people and shedding blood constitute a form of injustice that can not be tolerated by Islam, which views them as gross crimes and sinful acts.” Shaykh Abdul Aziz al-Ashaikh, Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia and Chairman of the Senior Ulama, on 9/15/01

“The terrorists acts, from the perspective of Islamic law, constitute the crime of hirabah (waging war against society).”
September 27, 2001 – Fatwa, signed by:
Shaykh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Grand Islamic Scholar and Chairman of the Sunna and Sira Council, Qatar
Judge Tariq al-Bishri, First Deputy President of the Council d’etat, Egypt
Dr. Muhammad s. al-Awa, Professor of Islamic Law and Shari’a, Egypt
Dr. Haytham al-Khayyat, Islamic scholar, Syria
Fahmi Houaydi, Islamic scholar, Syria
Shaykh Taha Jabir al-Alwani, Chairman, North America High Council

“Neither the law of Islam nor its ethical system justify such a crime.” Zaki Badawi, Principal of the Muslim College in London. Cited in Arab News, 9/28/01.

“It is wrong to kill innocent people. It is also wrong to praise those who kill innocent people.” Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai, Pakistan. Cited in the NY Times, 9/28/01.

“What these people stand for is completely against all the principles that Arab Muslims believe in.” King Abdullah II, of Jordan; cited in the Middle East Times, 9/28/01. (The above statements by high ranking international Muslim scholars and leaders appeared in an advertisement placed by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, in the New York Times, 10/17/01)

“I’m a Muslim, I’ve been a Muslim for 20 years. I want the world to know the truth about Islam. I wouldn’t be here to represent Islam if it were the way the terrorists make it look…Islam is for peace.” Former World Heavyweight boxing champion, Muhammad Ali, at the telethon benefit concert, 9/21/01

“Those terrorists must be reading a completely different Quran than the rest of us. This isn’t about Islam. It’s about terrorism.” US Marine Corps Captain Aisha Bakkar-Poe.

“Terrorists claiming to act in the name of Islam is like a knife through my heart – that people would practice Islam, but do deeds like what they’ve done. It’s not true faith. Some people twist religion to the way they think.” US Army Captain Arneshuia Balial, a convert to Islam since 1987.

The country’s top cleric told 2 million hajj pilgrims Wednesday that some of Islam’s own sons had been “lured by the devil” to conduct violent attacks on the kingdom and charged that non-Muslims were conspiring against people of the faith. Sheik Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah al Sheik, speaking at a mosque near Mt. Arafat, lamented the violence waged by Muslim militants against Saudi Arabia.

“The greatest affliction to strike the nation of Islam came from some of its own sons, who were lured by the devil,” the cleric said. “They have called the nation infidel, they have shed protected blood and they have spread vice on Earth, with explosions and destruction and killing of innocents.”

He pointedly asked of Muslim youth: “How would you meet God? With innocent blood you shed or helped shed?”

A leading Saudi cleric issued a plea today for Muslims not to heed calls to wage terror attacks in the name of Islam. Sheikh Abdulrahman al-Sudeis, the state-appointed preacher at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, told pilgrims in a sermon marking the feast of Eid al-Adha that scholars must preach moderation to confront militants, who were using “misguided and void” interpretations to justify violence. His sermon, dedicated to the 2.5 million Muslims performing the hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, echoed comments made yesterday by Sheikh Abdul-Aziz al Sheik. The kingdom’s grand mufti said the greatest test to the nation of Islam came from its sons who were “lured by the devil” to carry out acts of violence.

Sheikh al-Sudeis said militancy was not a valid interpretation of Islam. “Because Muslims have strayed from moderation, we are now suffering from this dangerous phenomenon of branding people infidels and inciting Muslims to rise against their leaders to cause instability,” he said.

“The reason for this is a delinquent and void interpretation of Islam based on ignorance … faith does not mean killing Muslims or non-Muslims who live among us, it does not mean shedding blood, terrorising or sending body parts flying.”

The preacher warned that extremism would ruin the Muslim nation: “This phenomenon has expanded so much that scholars must confront it with concrete proof from Islam to protect our youth from its stench and putridity.”

A a quick browse of Muslims Condemn Terrorist Attacks will show, every major Muslim group in every English-speaking country (since I don’t speak other languages, my collection is limited in this regard) has issued statements condemning terrorism. All the major scholars and schools of thought in Islam have issued statements condemning terrorism. Political and community leaders from across the Muslim world have issued statements condemning terrorism. Many ordinary Muslims have written articles condemning terrorism or posted condemnations to their websites. What more do the critics want? A sworn affadavit from each of 1.2 billion Muslims?

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There is so much stuff out there in this same vein, that it is hard for me to put it all in one post.  Or even decide which ones I want to use and how much of it.  I don’t want to bore you with positive things.  Some of it comes out of the most surprising places when you consider their past.  

I am going to post some website links at the bottom of this post.  Some are source links but within them are all kinds of information.  You can see a mutitude of Muslims who have condemned terrorism, Bin Laden, and all his practices.  You can find info on those pesky verses in the Quran that seem to say to kill everyone.  You can get some insight from Muslim scholars as to why the terrorists are wrong in their interpetation of the Quran.  If you have doubt in your mind, please check it out.  Seriously, 1.something billion Muslims are not out to kill you, if they were, you would already be dead. 

Muslims become just as frustrated when they feel people are wanting day to day demonstrations of apology, protests, and begging of forgiveness for a crime that they didn’t commit.  How many times must I say, just because the crime was commited by a Muslim, does not mean that all Muslims are criminals.  

http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/muslim_voices_against_extremism_and_terrorism_part_i_fatwas/0012209

http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php

http://www.muhajabah.com/otherscondemn.php

http://freemuslims.org/

http://www.islamfortoday.com/terrorism.htm

http://www.rayhawk.com/classics/matusa/home.html

http://www.islamdenouncesterrorism.com/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3059365.stm

This is a link to a friend where he has a poll of Muslims in various countries.  It shows that the majority of Muslims disagree with the tactics of al Qaeda.

http://towelianism.wordpress.com/2007/05/29/islam-muslims-the-world-a-brief-paradigmatic-analysis/

 

Memo To Osama Bin Laden

 

I saw this and thought that since we are on the subject, you might be interested in seeing it.  Basicly it is a letter to Bin Lyin, from Muqtedar Khan, Ph.D. This is an American Muslim’s response to the tape recorded message dated 2/11/03 by fugitive terrorist Osama Bin Lyin.  

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Mr Bin Laden,

In the name of Allah, The Most Merciful, the Most Benevolent.

I begin by reciting some important principles of Islam to remind you that there is more to Islam than just a call to arms.

1 Islam was sent as mercy to humanity (Quran 4: 79).  2. Do not make mischief on the earth (Quran 29:36).  3. People, We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes that you might know one another.  The noblest of you before God is the most righteous of you. (49:13)  4. There are among the People of the Book (Jews and Christians) upstanding nations that recite the message of God and worship throughout the night, who believe in God, who honor and forbid dishonor and race in good works.  These are the righteous. (3:113-114). 

I am writing this to make it clear that there are Muslims in America and in the world who despise and condemn extremists and have nothing to do with Bin Laden and those like him for whom killing constitutes worship. 

Islam was sent as mercy to humanity and not as an ideology of terror or hatred.  It advocates plurality and moral equality of all faiths (Quran 2:62, 5:69).  To use Islam, as a justification to declare an Armageddon against all non-Muslims is inherently un-Islamic – it is a despicable distortion of a faith of peace.  One of Allah’s 99 names in the Quran is “Al Salam” which means Peace.  Thus in a way Muslims are the only people who actually worship peace.  Today this claim sounds so empty, thanks to people like you, Mr. Bin Laden.  You and those like you are dedicated to killing and bringing misery to people wherever they are.  God blessed you with the capacity to lead and also endowed you with enormous resources.  You could have used your influence in Afgahanistan to develop it, to bring it out of poverty and underdevelopment and show the world what Islam can do for those who believe in it.  You chose to provoke and bring war to a people who had already been devastated by wars.

Yes many innocent people lost their lives in America’s war on Afghanistan and many more might lose their lives in Iraq.  This is indeed regrettable.  But we must never forget as to how the West is divided over this and how nations and people within nations are agonizing in Europe and in America over this decision to go to war in Iraq.  While many Americans and Europeans oppose the war, Muslim nations have already agreed to cooperate in this war.  No Muslim leader has tried to play the role of a statesman on this issue.  It is a tragedy that there is not a single Ted Kennedy, Jimmy Carter or Nelson Mandela in the entire Muslim world who would stand up and speak for justice!

Before we rush to condemn America we must remember that even today millions of poor and miserable people all across the world are lining up outside US embassies eager to come to America, not just to live here but to become an American.  No Muslim country today, can claim that people of other nations and other faiths see it as a promise of hope, equality, dignity and prosperity. 

Yes, we American Muslims will continue to challenge the Bush administrations’ proposal to wage war against Iraq.  We think a regime change in Washington is as necessary as a regime change in Baghdad, but that is an intramural affair.  Once the war is declared, make no mistake Mr. Saddam Hussein and Mr. Bin Laden, We are with America.  We will fight with America and we will fight for America.  We have a covenant with this nation, we see it as a divine commitment and we will not disobey the Quran (9:4) – we will fulfill our obligations as citizens to the land that opened its doors to us and promised us equality and dignity even though we have a different faith.  I am sure Mr. Bin Laden, you can neither understand nor appreciate this willingness to accept and welcome the other.

Sure at this moment out of anger, frustration and fear, some in America have momentarily forgotten their own values.  I am confident that, God willing, this moment of shock and insecurity will pass and America will once again become the beacon of freedom, tolerance and acceptance that it was before September 11th.  On that day Mr. Bid Laden, you not only killed 3000 innocent Americans, many of whom were also Muslims, but you signed the death warrants of many innocent people who will die in this war on terror and many more who will live but will suffer the consequences, the pain and the misery of war.  Before September 11th, the US was giving aid to Afghanistan and was content to wait for the Iraqi people to free themselves and the rest of the world from their dictator.  On that day you changed the rules of the game and Muslims in many places are suffering as a direct consequence.

When the Prophet Muhammad (saw) and his companions fought in the name of Islam, Allah made them victorious and glorified them in this world.  They made Islam the currency of human civilization for over a millennium.  You and your men on the other hand face nothing but defeat, global ridicule and contempt and run and hide like rats in caves and dungeons.  You live in the dark.  Your faith neither enlightens you nor enables you to live in the light and you have made Islam the currency of hate and violence.

Let me tell you that I would rather live in America under Ashcroft and Bush at their worst, than in any “Islamic state” established by ignorant, intolerant and murderous punks like you and Mullah Omar at their best.  The US, Patriot Act not withstanding, is still a more Islamic (just and tolerant) state than Afghanistan ever was under the Taliban.

Remember this:  Muslims from all over the world who wished to live better lives migrated to America and Muslims who only wished to take lives migrated to Afghanistan to join you.

We will not follow the desires of people (like you) who went astray and led many astray from the Straight Path. (Quran 5:77)

I conclude by calling upon you Mr. Bin Laden and your Al Qaeda collegues and Mr. Saddam Hussein to surrender to International Courts and take responsibility for your actions and protect thousands of other innocent Muslims from becoming the victims of the wars you bring upon them.

Muqtedar Khan, Ph.D.  Muqtedar Khan, Ph.D.
Director of International Studies, Adrian College, MI
Director of Muslim Social Scientists
Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy.

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Just so there is no misunderstanding. I agreed with President Bush in going into Iraq. Knowing the history of Saddam, and after what had happened on 9/11, we couldn’t take the chance. I do NOT believe that Saddam had any ties to what happened on 9/11. He had plenty of time to cooperate with the UN before we invaded. He even had the chance to leave Iraq. Why he did neither, I will never understand.

Though some people have changed their mind on this subject I have not. As to the US still in Iraq, I don’t think we should leave unless the leaders of Iraq asked us to, and to date, they have not. Whether you think it is right, wrong or indifferent, we stay until Iraqi’s can defend themselves, to leave before that, would cause a bloodbath.

Some of you may disagree with me on this, and that’s OK, I am merely telling you my views on the manner.

 

 

In Memorial, Never Forget

As we approach the anniversary of 9/11/2001, I want to leave a simple message of tribute to those who died then (on 9/11) and now, serving in the military. May God bless and comfort their families. Never forget that day, or the days that followed, when we as a nation stood hand in hand together. Not Republican and Democrat, but Americans. May we get back to that.

I have been doing a series of posts on bigotry, because some people think all Muslims think alike. Below is a letter from a Muslim, in regards to 9/11, I think its important for us all to read. It was printed in Time one year after 9/11.

As an Egyptian, I find myself compelled to apologize to the American people for what happened to them on Sept. 11. I apologize because one of those involved in that horrible disaster was Egyptian. As a man of letters, I declare myself innocent of having any part in the creation of the culture that spawned these individuals.

A long time before New York City’s Twin Towers were destroyed, many towers in my country were brought down by this same brand of perpetrators. They killed President Anwar Sadat, who initiated peace with Israel and liberalism in Egypt; they killed the Egyptian writer Farag Fouda, a defender of freedom and secularism; they stabbed our Nobel laureate, Naguib Mahfouz, when he was 82 years old, after discovering that 30 years earlier he had written a novel they considered the work of an infidel. They said they had not read the novel. Who told them it was sacrilegious? Someone living in a cave in the mountains of Afghanistan, or sitting in a London café or a mosque in New Jersey, told them so. In Egypt alone, these fundamentalists have killed more than 1,000 policemen and ordinary citizens, Christian and Muslim alike. In one of the most beautiful places on earth, the temple of Queen Hatshepsut in Luxor, they slaughtered nearly 60 tourists in 1997. In Algeria their sickles endlessly harvest the souls of the poor and helpless. They have committed all these crimes with the purpose of establishing the kingdom of God on earth and have succeeded only in turning our lives into hell.

In my country, art, education and the economy have all been leveled to a ground zero. I’m convinced, though, that the problem we face is not religious but political. And so it will never be solved with a religious summit. If you hold a meeting of Muslim sheiks, Christian pastors and Jewish rabbis, they inevitably come out with blissful smiles and report that they have found their values to be mostly identical, and they are right.

Extremism may claim God as its redeemer, but it’s really the selfish product of lunacy. In America, the most free and modern nation of our time, you see it too. You saw it with Jim Jones, who told his flock in Guyana to follow him into death by drinking poisoned Kool-Aid, and you saw it when David Koresh created his own small hell in Waco, Texas.

In my part of the world, the Arab Middle East, a great tragedy results from our governments’ well-intentioned attempts to cure society of extremism through education. These leaders, however, don’t teach what they should to produce the values they want. They seek moderation and enforce piety. They seek citizens who value life, yet their school curriculum’s exalt the value of science and ignore philosophy and history and the liberal, humanistic values they embody. That is why those who excel in such a system are no less immune to the call of extremism.

Our governments assume that people need to understand Islam in its purest form to stay religiously moderate. The result is the mass production of true believers, not good citizens. Because people initially welcome the imposed piety but then gradually realize it doesn’t equip them to meet the challenges of getting through life, life becomes a morbid burden. To shake off this burden, some of them, usually young men, can’t wait for natural death and decide instead to take a short cut to heaven.

Before ascending, they must have a cause that’s canonized by their community—the greatest cause on earth, capable of justifying their sacrifice in the eyes of their kin. It’s not enough to die fighting for their country; they must be fighting for God. Once they have secured that cause, they search for a way to ennoble it in the eyes of ordinary people who do not share their holy delusion but whose admiration they crave. They know that most people respect logic and reason. So they go looking for a nationalistic cause: this is what Osama bin Laden did when he claimed the Palestinian cause as a justification for the destruction of Sept. 11.

But beneath their claims is a sadder truth: these extremists are pathologically jealous. They feel like dwarfs, which is why they search for towers and all those who tower mightily. We must admit that we failed to teach these people that life is worth living. These extremists exist now, and will exist forever, so the question before us must be, How can we defend both our lives and theirs? We in the Arab world love freedom and want the chance at a decent life. We are not different from you, as it sometimes seems. We may be just temporarily backward. Working together, our governments must decide how, with what culture and by what actions, they will combat the influence of those who hate life.

—Ali Salem is a playwright and the author of several books, including “Journey into Israel.” He lives in Cairo

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Never forget my friends, never forget.  And thank you to Ali Salem and other Muslims and Arabs who have spoken out against extremism.  Thank you to all people who have sent their respects to our nation and to the families of the fallen.  Thank you to all the troops, both foreign and domestic that fight for the cause of freedom.  The troops who are volunteers, knowing that we are at war, but still raise their right hand.  Thank you to our brave fire and police personnel, who when others are running out, you are running in.  Thank you to those nations who send their young men and women to fight beside ours.

If I missed anyone, please accept my apology.  I can never say thank you enough for all those mentioned.  They are the new hero’s of our time.  All of us would do well to fashion our life like theirs.  May God bless them all.  There is one more thing I would like to say to our fine young men and women in our armed forces.  It is a little prayer I pray daily.  I would ask us all to say this little prayer.  That goes out to our Muslim soldiers as well.

May God keep you safe, never too hot, never too cold, never too hungry, never too lonely, always thankful, always enlightening, may He shield your eyes from the things that would haunt you.  May He shield your body from the enemy.  May He wrap His loving arms around you at all times. May He remind you at all times, that His love and grace is sufficient. May He heap blessings upon you and your family, and keep them from worry.  May He bless the people of Afghanistan and Iraq, and free them from al qaeda and the Taliban.  
 

We all know that freedom is never free.  I would ask my readers to go up to a veteran, a police officer, any fire personnel, any current service member of our armed forces; Buy them a cup of coffee, or dinner, or even just shake their hand.  Let them know you appreciate their service.  Remember it is because of these men and women, that you are free, safe, and live the way you do. 

We seldom think of it, but we should.  How many police and fire official’s die in the line of duty every year??  How many are retired because of injury in the line of duty??  Do you know??  Have you ever thought about it??  What about our military personel, how are their families taken care of if they die in battle??  Are they provided for??  What about their children, is there money for them to go to college??  What can we do to help?? 

These are important questions, that you should be asking.  You should be trying to assist where you can.  We get calls for this charity, and that charity, but these people never call out for help.  We are a generous nation, there are charities you could donate too that helps with the above.  Please consider donating to them.