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Houston Chronicle - May 12, 2004, 10:04PM Muslims: Judge us not by un-Islamic acts of few By PARVEZ AHMED and ARSALAN IFTIKHAR From the Abu Ghraib prison torture scandal by American soldiers to the brutal beheading of Nicholas Berg in Iraq, it would be a gross understatement to say that the situation in Iraq is spiraling out of control. As time progresses, any silver lining to the Iraqi saga slowly wanes away. The "shock and awe" of the battlefield has now given way to the "shock and awe" of gut-wrenching pictures and videos that will resonate in global memory for time immemorial. Were it not for the powerful photographic archives of both atrocities, they would have probably been relegated to footnotes in history books. However, this war could now be perpetually defined by the despicable footage of humiliating torture and cold-blooded murderous executions. Each side may be tempted to use the others' injustices to justify their own barbaric actions and only continue the cycle of violence. For obvious reasons, the Abu Ghraib torture is inflaming Muslim passions around the world. The passions are being inflamed domestically as more Americans are viewing the gruesome, despicable and everlasting images of Berg's execution on Internet video feeds. The potential for continued misunderstanding between the Muslim world and America is reaching troubling proportions. Just as a handful of American soldiers committing torturous war crimes do not represent the sense and sensibilities of the vast majority of Americans, it is important to judge Muslims by the same standards. Just as America cannot be judged through the lens of its often misguided foreign policy or torturous acts of American soldiers, the world of Islam should not be held accountable for the un-Islamic and barbaric deeds of a minuscule minority of more than a billion Muslims. America is a signatory to both the torture and Fourth Geneva Convention, and thus, any citizen of ours who violates international law must be held accountable for their crimes. The barbaric tortures also constitute gross violations of the U.S. Code of Military Justice, the paramount domestic legal and ethical guidelines for our men and women in uniform. Muslims are also bound by a hallmark ethical and moral code. A Muslim who violates the commandments of God in the Quran or those of the prophet Muhammad must also be held accountable. When outlining the rules of engagement for wartime, the Prophet Muhammad said on numerous occasions: "Do not kill any old person, any child or any woman;" "Do not kill the monks in monasteries;" "Do not kill the people who are sitting in places of worship;" "Do not attack a wounded person;" and "No prisoner should be put to the sword." Prophet Muhammad also prohibited the killing of anyone who is in captivity and also ordered people not to pillage residential areas or cultivated fields during war. He also outlawed the mutilating of the corpses of enemies. These clear and concise statements make any violation of these edicts during wartime a clear violation of core Islamic principles. Islamic scholars also assert that war in Islam is purely defensive in nature (Quran 22: 39-40). Also, the Quran prohibits of killing non-combatants (2:190-192), and it advocates kindness to people of other faiths who do not have open hostilities with Muslims (60: 8). Despite such clear injunctions, some Muslims who claim to be killing in the name of Islam are, in fact, completely defiling its essence. The extremists and militants who attempt to hide behind the veneer of Islam are, in reality, openly violating many of its core teachings. Just as their ends do not justify their criminal means, the same can be said of the criminal American soldiers and their commanders who consign human beings to leashed animals. Just as the cruel torture of Iraqis has been universally condemned by people of all faith, the overwhelming majority of Muslims worldwide are sickened and condemn Berg's horrific death as inherently shocking, against all teachings of Islam and universally deplored by all spiritual, caring and decent human beings. Unspeakable and appalling acts perpetrated by followers of any religion should be unanimously condemned as fundamentally irreligious and unpatriotic crimes. Ahmed is a national board member for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Iftikhar is the director of legal affairs for CAIR in Washington, D.C. BBC: US Muslim petition rejects terror By Jane Little A leading Islamic advocacy group in the US has launched an online petition designed to dissociate Islam from the violent acts committed under its banner. The Council on American Islamic Relations' petition, called "Not in my Name", follows the beheading in Iraq of a US hostage by a group said to be linked to Al Qaeda. The move reflects a growing defensiveness among American Muslims who feel they are being forced to prove their patriotism. The message could not be clearer: "We hope this effort will demonstrate once and for all that Muslims in America and throughout the Islamic world reject violence committed in the name of Islam." The tone, bordering on exasperation, betrays the deep sense of unease among American Muslims who have increasingly felt alienated by what they feel is a "with us or against us" mood that has deepened after the beheading of US hostage Nicholas Berg. 'Misperceptions' Talk shows have revealed the pain and sometimes the ignorance of Americans who have associated the brutal execution with Islam. And so the Council on American Islamic Relations has launched the petition and circulated a commentary in nationwide newspapers to correct what it calls the "misperceptions of Islam." It quotes from the Koran to back its assertions that the killing of anyone in captivity is prohibited. CAIR urges Muslims to sign online May 13, 2004: The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group today launched an online petition drive designed to disassociate the faith of Islam from the violent acts of a few Muslims. The petition on the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) web site (http://www.cair-net.org), called "Not in the Name of Islam" allows Muslims around the world to help correct misperceptions of Islam and that faith's stance on religiously-motivated terror. The "Not in the Name of Islam" petition states: "We, the undersigned Muslims, wish to state clearly that those who commit acts of terror, murder and cruelty in the name of Islam are not only destroying innocent lives, but are also betraying the values of the faith they claim to represent. No injustice done to Muslims can ever justify the massacre of innocent people, and no act of terror will ever serve the cause of Islam. We repudiate and dissociate ourselves from any Muslim group or individual who commits such brutal and un-Islamic acts. We refuse to allow our faith to be held hostage by the criminal actions of a tiny minority acting outside the teachings of both the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. "As it states in the Quran: 'Oh you who believe, stand up firmly for justice, as witnesses to God, even if it be against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be against rich or poor; for God can best protect both. Do not follow any passion, lest you not be just. And if you distort or decline to do justice, verily God is well-acquainted with all that you do.'" (Quran 4:135) CAIR's petition drive comes following the videotaped beheading of an American civilian in Iraq that shocked television viewers worldwide. A CAIR commentary published today in a number of newspapers nationwide reinforces the point that Islam should not be associated with terrorism. SEE: "Judge Us Not by Un-Islamic Acts of Few," "We hope this effort will demonstrate once and for all that Muslims in America and throughout the Islamic world reject violence committed in the name of Islam," said CAIR Board Chairman Omar Ahmad. "People of all faiths must do whatever they can to help end the downward spiral of mutual hostility and hatred that is engulfing our world." CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has 26 regional offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. San Francisco Chronicle – May 13, 2004 Local Muslims respond to horrible images from Baghdad Don Lattin Souleiman Ghali, the president of the Islamic Society of San Francisco, had just seen the entire video of the beheading of Nick Berg, a Jewish American civilian in Iraq, by Muslim extremists chanting "God is Great. " Before that, he'd seen the photos of the nude Iraqi prisoners degraded and humiliated by jeering U.S. soldiers. They were all horrifying images, and sickeningly reminiscent of the days Ghali lived through the civil war in Lebanon, where he saw alleged spies burned alive in the streets of Beirut and dogs feeding on human remains. "Each one accuses the other of terrorism,'' said Ghali, sitting at a table in his second-story mosque. "Where does it all end? Humanity has reached a level so low, so sad, so horrendous. May God have mercy on us.'' Sharing the table at his Tenderloin mosque on Wednesday (May 12) were a rabbi, a Methodist minister and three other political activists. Before the images of Berg's execution shocked the nation, they had scheduled a news conference at the mosque to call for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Ghali was the fifth speaker to address the media, but the first to mention the beheading of Berg. When the sixth and final speaker finished her remarks, the reporters were asked if they had any questions. "Where is the outrage in the Muslim community over Nick Berg?" one of them asked. Jess Ghannan of the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee, one of the speakers who hadn't mentioned Berg, took the microphone. "Of course there is outrage at what happened to Nick Berg,'' Ghannan replied. "But why is this happening? It is happening because of the occupation. The occupying forces are responsible for the chaos in Iraq." Joining Ghannan and Ghali at the news conference was Rabbi Michael Lerner of Beyt Tikkun Synagogue, the Rev. John Oda of the United Methodist Church, Muslim activist Samina Faheen, and Medea Benjamin of the human rights group Global Exchange. Several speakers saw a connection between the abuse of prisoners in Iraq, the treatment of alleged terrorists at U.S.-run prisons from Afghanistan to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the detention and deportation of many Arab and Muslim immigrants in the United States. "There is systematic torture of Arabs and Muslims both here and in Iraq, '' Ghannan said. His comments come on the heels of a new state report examining the impact of Sept. 11 and the U.S. Patriot Act on Muslims in California. The 60-page report, released Tuesday (on May 11) by the California Senate Office of Research, summarizes "instances of cruel and illegal treatment of Muslims by federal authorities." It was undertaken at the request of state Sen. Liz Figueroa, D-Fremont, whose district includes several large Muslim communities in the East Bay and San Jose area. Relying largely on previous investigations and media reports, the study concluded that many Muslim, South Asian and Arab immigrants in California have faced "humiliation, embarrassment and intrusions of privacy." It blames these incidents on the sometimes overzealous enforcement of the Patriot Act, including indefinite detentions, secret searches and surveillance and the monitoring of computer traffic. Passed by Congress and signed by President Bush just 45 days after the events of Sept. 11, 2001, the controversial Patriot Act gave federal agents broad new powers to investigate those it suspects to be terrorists. Those investigations have focused on citizens, immigrants and foreign visitors of Arab, South Asian and Islamic descent. Los Angeles Times - May 14, 2004 U.S. Islamic leaders’ campaign to counter anti-Muslim diatribes on radio talk shows and the Internet By Larry B. Stammer Alarmed by resurgent anti-Muslim rhetoric in the aftermath of the beheading of an American in Iraq, U.S. Muslim leaders launched a new campaign on May 13 to disassociate their faith from terrorism. |