Muslim leaders condemning terror to deaf?

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The Florida Times-Union
July 13, 2005

MUSLIM LEADERS CONDEMNING TERROR TO DEAF?

Why don't we hear Muslim leaders condemning terrorism? In the wake of
the London bombings, I called Parvez Ahmed, a Jacksonville resident who
three months ago became chairman of perhaps the best-known Muslim
organization in America, and asked him that.

And there was silence.
Well, just when the phone cut out.
Once I got him back on the line, the University of North Florida professor
who is the new chairman of the Washington-based Council on American-
Islamic Relations, did what he has been doing ever since he woke up
Thursday, logged onto his computer and saw the news.

He condemned the bombings.
He condemned the people behind them.
He did it immediately and unequivocally.

"This is just absolute madness," he said. "It does not make any sense
whatsoever. No ideology can even remotely justify what's going on."

You want a Muslim condemnation of terrorism?
How would you like it delivered?

In the past week, Muslim groups have been condemning the attacks via e-
mail blasts to the media, through news conferences, during a personal
meeting with the British ambassador, in prayer services all over the country
and, coming soon to television stations, with a public service announcement.

This hardly is new. After Sept. 11, Muslim leaders issued statements,
prayed for the victims, encouraged relief efforts and, in some cities, took out
a full-page newspaper ad signed by 40 groups that said: "We condemn in
the strongest terms possible the use of terror to further any political or
religious cause."

Nearly 700,000 Muslims have signed a "Not in the Name of Islam" petition on
CAIR's Web site that begins: "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."

Yet when Ahmed speaks in public, the most common question is: Why don't
Muslims denounce terrorism?

This has been a persistent drumbeat on talk radio, one that was echoed last
year by syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin after CAIR took on a radio host
in Boston.

The organization, she wrote, "won't condemn Muslim fanatics, but it has
declared war on outspoken Americans who will."

Just last week, following the London bombings, New York Times columnist
Thomas Friedman wrote, "To this day, no major Muslim cleric or religious
body has ever issued a fatwa condemning Osama bin Laden."

Juan Cole, a University of Michigan history professor, quickly compiled a list
of such condemnations. Not that people remember them.

They remember that some kids danced in the street when the towers came
down.

"There always will be lunatics who will try to justify the unjustifiable,"
Ahmed said.

There certainly are legitimate reasons to question some Muslim groups (not
to mention some Christian and Jewish groups). But to say that Muslims have
remained silent after attacks not only is inaccurate, Ahmed believes it fuels
Osama bin Laden's Sept. 11 goal of a religious battle.

"That trap needs to be avoided," Ahmed said. "The breadth of Muslim voices
against Al-Qaida, against Osama bin Laden, against 9/11, against such
terrorism, is as broad as it can be, from the most conservative to the most
liberal voices and everything in between."

So why don't we hear Muslim leaders condemning terrorism?

Maybe we're not listening.

mark.woodsjacksonville.com, (904) 359-4212

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