American Muslim Tells Muslims to Speak Out

Below is a letter to the Florida Times Union opinion webpage on 12-17-09 from an American Muslim on the issue of Muslims speaking out against terrorism in the name of Islam. (Hat tip to Frontpage and Jihad Watch)

Muslims, take a strong stand against terrorism worldwide

Story updated at 8:01 AM on Thursday, Dec. 17,

It is high time for moderate American Muslims to speak out against those who commit terrorism in the name of Islam.

Maj. Nidal Hassan, who killed innocent Army and civilian personnel, should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.

If he was a conscientious objector and had concern going to Afghanistan and Iraq, he should not have joined the military.

When a person signs to join the armed forces, he or she takes an oath to fight domestic and foreign enemies. It does not say if the enemy is a Muslim, Hindu, Jew or a Christian.

Muslims killing Muslims

I would like to remind those conscientious objectors, whether they are in the military or civilians, that Muslims are killing Muslims in Pakistan, Iraq and other Muslim countries.

Almost every week, suicide bombers are killing innocent Muslims in Pakistan. A Taliban suicide bomber recently attacked a mosque in Pakistan and killed dozens of innocent worshipers, including women and children.

They justify innocent killings as martyrdom. The suicide bombers believe they will go to heaven, rivers of honey and milk will be flowing, and 70 virgins will be waiting for them.

They shall have a rude awakening when they find themselves burning in hell fire.

According to the Islamic faith, killing innocent people is wrong and, by any definition, cannot be classified as Jihad or martyrdom.

In the Islamic faith, it is forbidden to kill innocent people, whether they are Muslims, Jews, Christians or Hindus.

The Islamic faith clearly states that killing an innocent human being is just like killing the whole of humanity.

Islam has a very strict code of conduct during war. It clearly states they are not allowed to destroy crops, kill domestic animals, destroy buildings, kill an enemy who is running away, or kill women, children and old people.

Be loyal to America

I have a message for Muslims who immigrated to the United States on their own free will — adhere to the laws of the United States and be loyal citizens.

No one forced them to come here, and they are free to leave if they don’t like our system and culture, or won’t offer loyalty to America.

The United States offers freedom of choice and freedom of religion. Most American people are very tolerant, but most Muslims are not.

When I immigrated to the United States some four decades ago, we did not have a mosque and a place of worship.

The Christian churches offered us a space to worship and to celebrate the Eid function. They did not charge us a single dime.

I openly ask Muslims in the United States and around the world, especially in the Middle East, if they would allow Christians and those of other religions to worship in their mosques.

The answer would be absolutely not.

Tolerance

Islam teaches tolerance toward other religions, but my question is: Are Muslims tolerant?

When I went to Pakistan, and my Catholic Christian wife accompanied me, my friends and family members asked me the same question: Did she become a Muslim?

I told them that she did not.

They asked me why, and I informed them that, according to the Quran, Muslim men can marry a woman of faith who believes in God. A Muslim man can marry a Christian or a Jewish woman without forcing her conversion to Islam.

Now, I have a very clear and concise message to Islamic clerics: Denounce suicide bombing as the evil act that it is, against the norm and values of Islamic law.

This message could be delivered during a Friday sermon.

Imams in American mosques who don’t denounce terrorist acts should not be allowed to deliver sermons, their visas should be revoked and they should be deported.

Basit H. Ghori, Fleming Island, is retired as chief of the Air Force’s Environmental Department.
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I applaud this gentleman for taking a stand. There are too few like him, but they are the true heroes in this issue that concerns all of us as well as our children and grandchildren. I am not qualified to critique his analysis of the Qu'ran, but his general attitude is correct.

We hear a lot of talk from organizations like CAIR about the "strong stances" they take against terrorism. There is this from the CAIR website:

"The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has consistently and persistently condemned terrorism and the killing of innocent civilians." (Who exactly are innocent civilians and who is not innocent?)


Personally, I think it is a sham. CAIR's own founders and leaders have made statements in the past that open them up to question. In 1998, CAIR co-founder Omar Ahmed was quoted by a reporter as telling a Muslim group the following:

"Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant The Koran, the Muslim book of scripture, should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth." (Ahmed denies he ever made the statement.)


CAIR is also using itself as a buffer between individual Muslims and law enforcement agencies that wish to interview these people. They have spread the belief within the Muslim community that the FBI and other police agencies should be viewed with suspicion. If you go to CAIR's own web site, it is clear that they are acting in an adversarial manner to law enforcement. While they give the obligatory statement about assisting law enforcement, they go to great lengths to inform Muslims that they don't have to talk to those same agencies or allow them into their homes without a warrant. The message lies between the lines; keep your mouths shut.

Here is an example in a page entitled; If law federal enforecement contacts you:

http://www.cair.com/CivilRights/KnowYourRights.aspx#9

Apparently, CAIR never got to the gentleman who wrote the above letter.