Message of Islam is not jihad fatwahs

[Dracos]

By JAMAL MIFTAH

I moved to the United States in March 2003, with my four kids and wife from Pakistan bordering Afghanistan. There was a call by a local jihadi organization to fight the coalition forces in Afghanistan. One of my dearest friends, Mirza Kohistani, fell prey to that call and joined the group, despite my advice and that of his wife to him.

All the leaders of that organization returned safely after the fall of the Taliban empire, but they left behind the body of my friend and hundreds of other innocent people like him.

I am obliged to respond to Ayman al-Zawahri's recent video message, portraying himself as champion of Islam and others as liars.

My message to Ayman al-Zawahri and Muslims of the world: "Islam" means submission and is derived from a word meaning "peace." Islam, Christianity and Judaism have the same origin, the Prophet Abraham. The prophet of Islam has said that God has no mercy on someone who does not have mercy for others.

I ask that al-Zawahri look at his deeds and those of his master, Osama bin Laden, and other so-called Islamic jihadists.

Because of lack of knowledge of Islam, Muslim youth are misguided into believing by the so-called champions of the cause of Islam that the current spate of killings and barbarism, which has no equal in the recent civilized history, is jihad in the name of Islam. They are incited, in the name of Islam, to commit heinous crimes not pardonable by any religion and strictly forbidden in Islam.

Cowards like al-Zawahri and bin Laden are inciting the ignorant and innocent youths to commit suicide bombings to kill innocent civilians including children, women and the elderly, while they hide in spider holes and caves. They never send their own sons and daughters, born out of half a dozen of their wives, to get killed in the name of Islam. They are themselves hypo crites, cowards, thugs and liars. For 12 years they misappropriated aid received from the U.S. and the West to fight Russia. Now they are ensuring smooth flow of petro dollars from Arab countries in the name of jihad against the West.

Even mosques and Islamic institutions in the U.S. and around the world have become tools in their hands and are used for collecting funds for their criminal acts. Half of the funds collected go into the pockets of their local agents and the rest are sent to these thugs.

They are the reason for branding the peaceful religion of Islam as terrorism. The result, therefore, is in the form of Danish cartoons and remarks/reference by the Pope.

I appeal to the Muslim youth in particular and Muslims of the world in general to rise up and start jihad against the killers of humanity and help the civilized world to bring these culprits to justice and prove that Islam is not a religion of hatred and aggression.

I appeal to the Muslim clerics around the world that, rather than issuing empty fatwas condemning suicide bombing, they should issue a fatwa for the death of such scoundrels and barbarians who have taken more than 4,267 lives of innocent people in the name of Islam and have carried out more than 24 terrorist attacks on civilian installations throughout the world. This does not include the chilling number of deaths because of such activities in Iraq and Afghanistan, which is well over 250,000.

I appeal to al-Zawahri and his band of thugs to hand themselves over to justice and stop spreading evil and killing innocent humans around the world in the name of Islam. Their time is limited and Muslims of the world will soon rise against them to apprehend them and bring them to justice.


Salaam/Shalom
http://jewsandmuslims.tribe.net/thread/05d5ad3c-0442-490c-ab24-cd8912683eaa

[Solo_in_MD]

1. "You shall know a tree by the fruit it bears" and Islam's fruit seems to be dominated by Whabbi

islam, fatwas and Sharia absolutists.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. Of course it is

just as we know that all America is 100% behind GW Bush and liberals are branded as traitors here. After all, isn't that what the news media says? And we know we can trust FOX and the rest of American MSM to only tell the unbiased truth. :sarcasm:

The real problem is that Muslims who are working for peace in a non-violent manner (which is the only way to stop violence, imho) are ignored or only given a passing nod by the media. Did you hear of the 3 MILLION Muslims who rallied for peace and against the extremists? The only place I saw it posted was right here on DU. Have you attended one of the many many ecumenical conferences in the US designed to work on teaching tolerance to the youth of the many different faiths? Probably not, because they are usually mentioned after the fact on page 36 of the Sunday newspaper (as happened in Dallas). You have to realize that the MSM has an agenda, and it is not a peaceful one. They wish to set all different faiths against one another, and promote the extremists (do you think Phelps's "church" would still be picketing funerals if they received zero publicity?).

Every day I go on boards giving out urls for websites for the majority of peaceful Muslims. I give urls for searchable online Qur'ans with the three major English translations so that people can see if the "citations" given in hate-filled emails are correct or (as they often are)if they are distorted or even non-existant. And what do I get for all this? The same old same old garbage about Muslims not being peaceful, that they have some sort of hidden agenda, etc, etc. I've noticed now that very few of my Muslim brothers and sisters are posting here. Perhaps I'm just missing their posts; I hope it is the case; but from some of the posters here, I wonder if it is even worth it to go on. It appears that the MSM and its distorted message have won. Islam is the new bogeyman, and nothing I or anyone else can say or do will stop the overgeneralizations, hate, and lies. There are times I think I understand how Jews in Germany felt in the 1930s.

[JCMach1]

5. Exactly, if you want to meet some, I give every DUer an open invitation

to visit with me in the UAE.

[JCMach1]

4. Sheesh get a grip and come visit me for a few days

:)

I will show you around.

[Possumpoint]

2. I Thank You

for standing up and speaking out against the extreme wing of the Islamic faith. I pray that your words are heard and headed. However, until evidence of the wisdom of your words taking hold is shown, I shall continue to be very Leary.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

6. How would the wisdom taking hold be shown in your mind?

I really sincerely want to know. Does the peaceful demonstration of thousands of Sufis in Qum Iran against oppression count? Oh, you never heard of it, did you. Does the meeting of three million Muslims in Bangladesh to pray and work for peace and to condemn the extremists count? Oh, you didn't know about that either, I bet. The MSM has an agenda. Islam is the new bogeyman. Only show the most extreme branches of Islam. Villify all Muslims whenever possible. NEVER let people know that progressive/moderate Muslims are working for peace all over the world. NEVER talk about the ecumenical counsels taking place worldwide to discuss how to solve the problems of extremism.

My brother in the post above has rightly expressed his frustration--but I think the reason that the fatwas for peace have not been heard is because they support peace and condemn violence. By advocating violence against the extremists, his writing fits in neatly with the stereotype of Islam as a violent religion. The way to get rid of extremists is not with violence (which only feeds violence) but with stopping the funding of extremism. The US supports Pakistan and has close ties with Saudi Arabia-the latter is one of the main exporters of Wahhabism. How about starting there?