Islamic State and terror attacks

Mufassil Islam, 49, published a video attacking IS (formerly ISIS/ISIL) after the jihadist group killed 130 people in Paris last week.

“I want to tell the French they are not alone”, chemistry teacher Andalib Aftab told AFP tearfully this week. What doubts have I raised about Islam and Muslims?

Participants later marched back and forth in front of the White House. But then it would just be an attack ad on Donald Trump, with a brief cameo from Ben Carson.

There are billions of Muslims in the world, the vast majority of which are peaceful, ordinary people and of no threat to the United States. With all due respect, the President has been proven wrong. In sentence number two, I state the obvious. In fact, ISIS had credibly warned the West of future attacks, claiming that Paris is just “the first of the storm”.

And the inspiration for all our work – and the basis for our beliefs – is Islam. This decision, clearly, is not about denouncing the acts of violence: they require nothing less than a patent renunciation. Unfortunately, they have proven to be effective at carrying out their evil intentions. Entitled “Inciting fear isn’t presidential”, the ad argues that the use of the term is offensive to Muslims.

Abdallah Zekri, the head of France’s National Observatory of Islamophobia, said on Friday that while the group usually records four or five weekly attacks on Muslims, 32 such incidents had occurred in a single week since November 13. To not recognize this group for what it is will feed the Islama-phobia, which could consume our nation.

Many Muslims also rallied in the heart of downtown Greenville Sunday to take a stand against ISIS. It was a helpful way to encourage dialogue between myself and fellow students at Providence College, many of whom did not know a Muslim personally. Yet while it is heartening to see solidarity for Paris – as anyone deserves in the face of terror – I’m also disheartened that non-Western victims of the same terrorism in Lebanon, Kenya, and Nigeria have not been recipients of that solidarity. It is crucial that our leaders embrace this obvious distinction. Their worst nightmare is Muslims playing an equal role as citizens in Western countries, because it shows we aren’t that different and that we can all get along in peace.

After the recent attacks in Paris, many Muslims have been posting on the web lists of crimes against humanity or wars done by people of other faiths, but they were seldom identified or linked to religions. The wrongful association of Islamic terrorism with all Muslims impairs their ability to practice their religion freely and instills unnecessary fear in the eyes of misinformed Americans. Nasir Husain, general secretary of the center, said Muslims in central American cities are afraid.

“We come in peace and we believe in peace and our religion talks about love and peace”, said Sana Elyas.

The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.