Muslim leaders and organizations often are among the first to condemn violence when it is linked, or thought to be linked, to terrorism (domestic or foreign).
This includes the Dec. 2 shootings in San Bernardino, California, carried out by a Muslim couple.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) issued a statement the evening of the attacks, condemning “this horrific and revolting attack” and “repudiating any twisted mindset that would claim to justify such sickening acts of violence.”
Hussam Ayloush, director of CAIR’s Los Angeles branch, told CNN, “There is absolutely no justification for such horrendous behavior. … All American Muslims share with the rest of the country our sorrow … our shock, and our agony for what happened.”
Muzammil Siddiqi of the Islamic Society of Orange County, said, “I want to condemn this action, this action of violence. … Our faith is against this type of behavior.”
Ingrid Mattson, former president of The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), tweeted on the afternoon of the San Bernardino shootings: “Mass shootings, bombings, executions. What a waste of life, resources, & energies. Please people, use any means necessary to foster peace.”
Another former ISNA president, Mohamed Magid, tweeted a similar response: “We stand with the people of San Bernardino and the victims and their families. We condemn all violence regardless of the motive.”
ISNA, the largest Muslim organization in the U.S., regularly issues formal responses following terrorist attacks, as they did following the Nov. 13 Paris attacks, for example. Other instances can be found here, here and here.
As the world mourned with Paris, global Muslims took to social media to condemn the terrorism using the hashtag #NotInMyName.
Before the Islamic State had publicly claimed responsibility, “Several Muslim religious and political leaders officially denounced the attacks before the group took responsibility,” Time magazine reported.
EthicsDaily.com has consistently emphasized the positive role Muslims play in condemning and countering extremism.
This has taken place through a documentary film, “Different Books, Common Word,” focused on Baptists and Muslims finding common ground to advance the common good as well as video interviews about Muslim leaders condemning terrorism and Baptist-Muslim relationships (here and here).
In addition, numerous articles (see here and here) have appeared on the site condemning hatred and bigotry toward Muslims, often called “Islamophobia,” and highlighting the instances in which Muslim leaders have spoken out against violence and terrorism conducted in the name of Islam.
Martin Accad, director of the Institute of Middle East Studies (IMES) at the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary in Beirut, busted the myth that global Muslim leaders don’t sufficiently condemn Islamic extremists and their terrorism in a column appearing on EthicsDaily.com on Nov. 12.
“More than 12 conferences and consultations have already been organized by international Islamic bodies in order to condemn the behavior of ISIS in the year following the group’s emergence in the summer of 2014,” he wrote. “Even though their lists of conclusions and recommendations are extensively available online, they have received very little, if any, coverage in the media.”
