Sunday, September 14, 2014

Here we go again...

So I woke-up this morning to this op-ed written by Jonah Goldberg (@JonahNRO on twitter):
Let me focus attention on a few things written here:



Because don't we all demand our "moderate, decent" friends of various religions stand on soap boxes and condemn each and every offensive act perpetrated in the name of their religion?

No. No we don't.

I don't feel the need to call my "moderate, decent" Christian friends every single time Westboro Church protests a funeral, to ensure they demonstrate the appropriate level of disgust. Nor did I call them when Terry Jones threatened to and then did burn a Quran. "Why not?" you may ask. Because I consider them decent people and friends and I assume they are disgusted. Maybe they've expressed their agreement about the stupidity of these actions at some point in the past and, frankly, that is enough for me.

And while we are on the topic, who defines "moderate" here? I don't ask my Christian or Jewish friends if they are moderate Christians and Jews. I don't consider myself a "moderate Irish woman" or a "moderate atheist." Why do we feel Muslims must identify as moderate or not moderate, and who sets those guidelines?

Anyway, there's more:

Seriously? Every single Muslim must publicly and loudly express disgust or what? We label them an ISIS-sympathizer? Guilty until proven innocent? There's something in the Bill of Rights about that.



Yes, why haven't we heard more Muslims speak out against the terrorists giving them a bad name? It's almost impossible to find even one. A google search for "moderate condemn isis" hides these voices as the... wait for it... 3rd and 4th entry! No, seriously, it would take a genius to find them.


But I understand the dilemma. Clicking links is hard work. So here I've gathered some screenshots of Muslims (they'll have to tell you if they consider themselves "moderate") condemning ISIS:

From the 3rd link above:


"The most explicit condemnation came from Iyad Ameen Madani, the Secretary General for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the group representing 57 countries and 1.4 billion Muslims."

Imams Online, a UK portal for current and aspiring Muslim leaders, released a video and an open letter condemning ISIS:


The video is worth watching. Alot of value is said in only four minutes.


Here are the quotes specifically concerning ISIS:

"Brothers and sisters, if I could tell you one sentence about ISIS, I would say they are evil, they're corrupt, they are self-seeking, self-centered, vicious people. Don't get mixed up with them." - Dr. Abu Muntasir, Chief Executive of JIMAS, a UK-based charity that supports educational and charitable activities for Muslims and non-Muslims

"I think the best way to describe ISIS is that they're cowboys. They don't represent the religion. They're not qualified to represent the religion." - Sheikh Sayed Ali Rizvi, Majilis Ulama-e-Shia, London

"ISIS is not justified. We condemn them. There are ten conditions in the Khalifa. In theology it is important that without them or in the absence of one of them, the person is not a qualified person for Khilafat. None of these conditions exist in [Abu Bakr] Baghdadi or other people that claim that." - Ayatollah Dr. Seyed Fazel Milani, Director of Al Milani Foundation [Ar]

"As a Sunni Muslim, I do not accept the Khilafat of ISIS. I consider ISIS as a terrorist organization and they are trying to create corruption... within the Muslim world." - Maulana Shahid Raza OBE, Leicester Central Mosque

The open letter, released in July, was signed by more than 100 Imams from across major theological backgrounds and cultural groups urging their followers not to travel to Syria or Iraq to fight. Here, an excerpt:


Lebanon's The Daily Star reported in August that Egypt's top religious authority, Al-Azhar's Grand Mufti Shawqi Allam, condemned ISIS here:


Al Arabiya reported in August that Arab League Chief Nabil al-Arabi condemned ISIS here:


The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) - America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization - has released multiple statements condemning ISIS:


The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) - the largest Muslim organization on this continent - has also condemned ISIS on multiple occasions:


I checked out the feeds of some Muslims I follow on twitter and found these:




(and, honestly, I didn't spend much time on that, nor do I feel I need to)

So my question is: how many Muslim voices do you need to hear, Mr. Goldberg? Must every single Muslim around the world send you an email or tweet to express outrage in order to escape suspicion? (I actually think this would be hilarious)

Why are "we" spending so much time telling Muslims to publicly reject ISIS when we should be telling our government officials to pressure certain allies to stop funding terrorist groups?

Why all this demand for Muslim outrage when U.S. journalists and a U.K. aid worker are murdered, but none when ISIS killed hundreds of Muslims?

To those who say "Muslims should..." I say, they are! They are not the problem, you are. You are not listening. I hear them loudly and clearly, and if you spent less time making demands and more time looking for answers, you would see many are out there condemning ISIS now and since their reign of terror began.

When I see Muslims react to ISIS, this is pretty much their universal response:

Please feel free to add additional statements in comments, or corrections to any of the above, if you see them. And please feel free to forward this on to anyone who needs to see it.

Also, sorry for the awkward sizes of my screenshots. I wanted to be certain everything was legible.

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