Muslims condemn Paris attacks on social media

Leaders of New Jersey Muslim community groups gathered Tuesday at the Rutgers University Visitors Center to condemn the recent attacks in Paris, as well as those in Beirut and Bagdad.

This was the simple, straight to the point message posted on the bullet hole riddled window of the Le Carillon bar, where jihadist gunmen mowed down several young people enjoying a night out on November 13th. And often Islam is misinterpreted by those extremists committing heinous crimes but this time Muslims around the globe have taken a stand against terrorism and extremists misinterpretation.

In his book Beyond Fundamentalism, religious scholar explains that the chief goal of radical Islamist groups like ISIS is to create a “cosmic war” in which human beings act out a religious war they believe is simultaneously occurring in heaven: Fundamentalist Islam on one side and that Western Christianity on the other.

The tragedies that Londoners have faced in the past, such as the London 7/7 bombings, have demonstrated that this great city is more powerful than any tragedy that can befall it and will remain united, cohesive and strong.

I would like to add our voice to the voices of everyone else around the globe in condemning the barbaric and savage attacks committed by ISIS against innocent civilians in Paris, Lebanon, Sinai, Syria, Iraq, Nigeria and everywhere else where they have displayed their inhumane and senseless brutality. They just take economic life as they find it, ignoring the whole question of dependency on the west for the use of the world market to sell oil. Conservative leaders and media personalities seem to be well aware of this when talking about terrorists claiming to be Christian, yet they seem to conveniently forget it when dealing with “radical Islam”, a name that’s ipso facto offensive, because of how little it actually has to do with Islam.

But statements like this may not be enough to quell the anger of a few, especially those on the far right in France, who are resistant to the influence of Islam in the country. After the Friday attacks, a Canadian mosque was set on fire. Only the perpetrator of such attacks should be held accountable for their actions. To say ISIS is un-Islamic is an understatement. “ISIS will be able to say, ‘I told you so”.

A video of a blindfolded Muslim man in Paris asking for hugs from strangers has also gone viral. It happens after each and every terrorist attack. It was a box of chocolates, and her police colleagues had placed it there.

Leaders of the mosque don’t know the motive of the shooter or shooters, said Salaam Bhatti, a spokesman for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in NY, to which the mosque belongs. “This is about Syria”. But when you import people who can’t assimilate, they self-detonate. “But it’s hard to accept anything when 129 people have been killed”. The attacks have rightly outraged ordinary people everywhere. “Daesh (Isis) are terrorists with a fascist ideology”, said Mraizika from the UMF. Now, more than ever, Britons must not allow themselves to be divided.

“There are politicians in France who will seek to exploit these attacks and to attack Islam and social cohesion”, the secretary general of UMF said. One can avoid or ignore the reality of the Islamic reasoning and interpretation of ISIS, but we all will be affected by such avoidance and ignorance. Are we just sticking our heads in the sand?

Mraizika and his organisation have thrown his support behind those measures. “Preachers of hate should be expelled and mosques closed, France has the powers to do this”, he said.

We should focus attention on these so-called moderate Muslims.

Mraizika’s call was echoed, albeit in slightly different language by the French Muslim blogger Chronic 2.

“You came because you believe the judiciary here gives you protection, because the laws here give you protection”. And it is undeniable that there are multiplied millions of devout Muslims who are radical and who espouse violent Islam.