Posted by Ahmed Mirza on October 2, 2001, 2:15 pm >>Faisal: IT'S PAINFUL. WHEN THIS THING FIRST HAPPENED, EVERYBODY IN >>Bradley: WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY WHO, LOOKING AT >>Faisal: FANATICISM AND TERRORISM HAVE NO PLACE IN ISLAM. THAT'S JUST >>Bradley: THERE ARE NOW MORE THAN SIX MILLION MUSLIMS IN THE UNITED >>Congregant: WHEN I THINK TROUBLE... THE AVERAGE? THE AVERAGE >>Bradley: EXPLAIN FOR SOMEONE WHO DOESN'T KNOW, WHO DOESN'T UNDERSTAND >>Congregant: IN THE SIMPLEST TERM, ISLAM SAYS THAT HUMAN LIFE IS THE >>Congregant: ISLAM MEANS A SUBMISSION TO GOD. IT ALSO MEANS PEACE TO A >>Bradley: BUT MUSLIM TERRORISTS, IN THE NAME OF ISLAM, HAVE STRUCK >>Wahaj: NO, JUST FROM THEOLOGICAL PROCESS, ISLAM DOESN'T ONLY TALK >>Bradley: IMAM HAMZA YUSUF OF CALIFORNIA: >>Yusuf: IT'S PROHIBITED IN ISLAM TO TORTURE ANIMALS. IT'S PROHIBITED
>>Bradley: WHEN THE SUSPECTS IN THE SEPTEMBER 11 BOMBINGS WERE
IDENTIFIED AS MUSLIMS, PEOPLE WHO FOLLOW THE TEACHINGS OF ISLAM,
PRESIDENT BUSH WENT TO GREAT LENGTHS TO POINT OUT THAT THE OVERWHELMING
MAJORITY OF THE WORLD'S MORE THAN ONE BILLION MUSLIMS ARE DECENT, LAW-
ABIDING CITIZENS. HOW THEN IS IT THAT A RELIGION THAT PROMISES PEACE,
HARMONY, AND JUSTICE TO THOSE WHO FOLLOW THE WILL OF ALLAH CAN HAVE IN
THEIR MIDST THOUSANDS COMMITTED TO TERRORISM IN THE NAME OF ALLAH?
TONIGHT WE'LL TRY TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION. EVERY FRIDAY AFTERNOON AT
1:00 P.M., IMAM FAISAL ABDUL-RAOUF LEADS AN ISLAMIC PRAYER SERVICE AT
THE AL-FARAH MOSQUE. THIS IS NOT IN CAIRO, NOT BAGHDAD, NOT RIYADH.
THIS MOSQUE IS IN DOWNTOWN NEW YORK CITY, JUST 12 BLOCKS FROM WHERE THE
WORLD TRADE CENTER ONCE STOOD, WHERE THE U.S. GOVERNMENT SAYS MUSLIMS
PERPETRATED THE WORST ACT OF TERRORISM IN OUR COUNTRY'S HISTORY. THIS
AREA HAD BEEN CORDONED OFF BY POLICE BECAUSE IT WAS SO CLOSE TO GROUND
ZERO, SO UNTIL FRIDAY, IMAM FAISAL AND HIS CONGREGATION HAD BEEN UNABLE
TO PRAY HERE. HOW DO YOU FEEL AS A MUSLIM, KNOWING THAT PEOPLE OF YOUR
FAITH COMMITTED THIS ACT, THAT RESULTED IN THE LOSS OF 6,000 LIVES?
THE COMMUNITY SAID, "OH, GOD, LET THIS NOT BE A PERSON FROM OUR FAITH,
TRADITION, FROM OUR BACKGROUND."
WHAT HAPPENED IN THE MIDDLE EAST, WOULD ASSOCIATE ISLAM WITH FANATICISM,
WITH TERRORISM?
AS ABSURD AS ASSOCIATING HITLER WITH CHRISTIANITY, OR DAVID KORESH WITH
CHRISTIANITY. THERE ARE ALWAYS PEOPLE WHO WILL DO PECULIAR THINGS, AND
THINK THAT THEY ARE DOING THINGS IN THE NAME OF THEIR RELIGION. BUT THE
KORAN IS... GOD SAYS IN THE KORAN THAT THEY THINK THAT THEY ARE DOING
RIGHT, BUT THEY ARE DOING WRONG.
STATES, MORE THAN THE NUMBER OF EPISCOPALIANS, OR LUTHERANS, OR
METHODISTS, OR PRESBYTERIANS. ISLAM IS NOW THIS COUNTRY'S FASTEST-
GROWING RELIGION. AFTER FRIDAY'S SERVICE, WE TALKED WITH SOME MEMBERS
OF THE AL-FARAH MOSQUE. SO THE AVERAGE AMERICAN, IF YOU SAY "ISLAM,"
WHAT DO THEY THINK?
AMERICAN, THEY THINK TROUBLE, TERRORISM. TERRORISM, YES. FEAR. AND YOU
KNOW WHAT? I THINK ALL OF US WISH TO SPEAK TO ALL... EVERY AMERICAN AND
TELL THEM, HEY, WE ARE AMERICAN, AND WE'RE MUSLIMS. WE'RE NOT TERRORISM.
YOUR RELIGION IN THE SIMPLEST TERM.
MOST SACROSANCT, AND THERE IS NO WAY THAT ISLAM WOULD ALLOW A SUICIDE
MISSION, AND WOULD ALLOW THE KILLING OF INNOCENTS.
LOT OF PEOPLE, WHICH IS WHAT IT MEANS TO ME. "ISLAMIC TERRORISM": I
MEAN, THOSE TWO WORDS HAVE NO MEANING TO ME AS A MUSLIM.
AGAINST THE UNITED STATES TIME AND TIME AGAIN. OSAMA BIN LADEN, THE
PRIME SUSPECT IN THESE LATEST ATTACKS, IS ALSO THOUGHT TO HAVE BEEN
RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CAR BOMB ATTACK IN SAUDI ARABIA THAT KILLED FIVE
AMERICANS; THE ATTACK ON THE U.S.S. "COLE," WHICH KILLED 17 SAILORS; THE
DEATHS OF 18 U.S. ARMY RANGERS IN SOMALIA; AND THE BOMBINGS OF TWO U.S.
EMBASSIES IN EAST AFRICA THAT KILLED 224 PEOPLE. WE MET WITH FOUR OF
THIS COUNTRY'S LEADING ISLAMIC RELIGIOUS LEADERS TO TALK ABOUT THIS
WAVE OF TERROR, INCLUDING THE MOST RECENT ATTACK AT THE WORLD TRADE
CENTER AND THE PENTAGON. IMAM SIRAJ WAHAJ OF BROOKLYN, DID YOU THINK
MUSLIMS COULD HAVE COMMITTED THIS?
ABOUT THE ENDS, BUT ALSO THE MEA; THAT HOWEVER ANGRY YOU ARE, YOU
COULDN'T DO ANYTHING LIKE THIS. YOU COULDN'T KILL INNOCENT PEOPLE.
TO KILL ANIMALS WITHOUT JUST CAUSE. SO THE IDEA OF KILLING HUMAN BEINGS,
INNOCENT HUMAN BEINGS, IS ANATHEMA TO MUSLIMS. THEY'RE DEEPLY SHOCKED BY
IT.
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