Do You Even Hear Muslims When They Condemn Violence?

[UrbScotty]

So let me start with the standard roll call: As an American Muslim, I condemn all violence in the name of religion. Terrorism has no religion and Islam is no exception. If the Tsarnaev brothers are guilty of the Boston bombings, then I hope they are brought to justice.

Is that condemnation clear enough? Because I'm pretty sure a whole lot of people instead read blah blah blah blah blah.

Here's the deal. It is a shame that we had to employ 9,000 officers, put our lives on hold for five days, and sacrifice $1 billion in Boston revenue to catch these culprits. It is a shame that Muslim women were assaulted in retaliation, and that's even before we knew who the suspects were. And it is a shame I received threats of anti-Muslim violence and that even my non-Muslim but non-white friends called me, fearing for their safety.

And now the public lynching and double standards against Islam begin. Mental illness was the culprit during Newtown, Conn., Oak Creek, Wis., and Aurora, Colo. More than 70 percent of America's 64 previous mass shooters were white American men. But not one pundit, nor any politician, nor any Muslim has ever asked why White Americans or Christian Americans are not aggressively condemning these acts of terror. After all, why ask such a ludicrous question? Anyone with a functioning cerebrum could comprehend that these terrorists represent only themselves.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/qasim-rashid/do-you-even-hear-muslims-when-we-condemn-violence_b_3125564.html?utm_hp_ref=tw

[dballance]

1. I Hear You!

I'm sad that the condemnation by so many Imams that has happened in wake of the bombings has not gotten as much play as Lindsey Graham wanting to make them enemy combatants.

You do have friends here on DU that know the overwhelming majority of Muslims condemn violence and are just peaceful people wanting to live their lives just like everyone else wants to.

[grantcart]

2. This is what I have heard Muslims say:

You will not enter paradise until you have faith; and you will not complete your faith, till you love one another.

Faith is a restraint against all violence, let no Mu’min commit violence.


Of course the Sufis have more non-violence than the Sunnis and the Shia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacifism_in_Islam

Prior to being exiles the Prophet was largely non violent.

"‘Forgive him who wrongs you; join him who cuts you off; do good to him who does evil to you, and speak the truth although it be against yourself.’


From my personal experience the average Muslim in a normal living situation is less violent than their American counterpart but I don't attribute that to theology as much as I do: less alcohol, more family cohesion and the fact that they are less mobile and people tend to be more peaceful when they are living in multi generational communities that have stable populations.

[azurnoir]

3. Speaking for myself it is the almost constant implication that if Muslims or a Muslim

does not condemn the act of any other Muslim it obviously means they condone it, that's a standard rarely applied to any other group

[lovemydog]

4. so true

I'm glad the large majority here at du aren't this way.

[okasha]

6. My regional newspaper has carried stories literally on the same page

about local Muslim leadership condemning violence in the strongest possible terms and stories condemning Muslim leaders for not condemning violence. Catch 22.

[RyanThomas]

7. Sadly a lot of Americans aren't sensible with this....

There was one person I saw on a fairly right wing site... but still with some liberal/democratic presence... who put up a thread after the Boston Bombing asking if you trust any Muslim. I'm not kidding you, he declared them all to be terrorists... and more than 50 percent of the people agreed with him. Now, I'm not a fan of say their middle eastern societies, which have lowered civil, and political rights, less advanced economies, lack of effective democratic government and are mostly dependent on oil, but I don't blame every single Muslim in the world for the actions of a few loons.

The people who do that are the real lunatics, and in a rational society they should be treated as such.

[MADem]

8. There will always be people who "mouth off" in the name of religion,

and they give the rest of the people in that religion a bad name.

It's unfortunate.

I think if people who are afraid of or suspicious of Muslims lived among them, they'd lose their fears. People fear that which they don't understand.