06/15/2016
Response of Mississippi Representative to Florida attack of ISIS
Once again, we have lost all of Humanity with the terrorist attack of ISIS in Orlando, FL. "Regardless of perpetrators of violence and their purpose, act of terror is murder and deserves nothing but condemnation in the strongest terms." On behalf of the Mississippi chapter of the Dialogue Institute SW, I do condemn in the strongest term this shockingly cruel and inhumane attack targeting the peace, love, and friendship in the United States.
I would like to reassure everyone that Islam does not approve of terrorism in any form. Terrorism cannot be used to achieve any Islamic goal. As Fethullah Gulen, Turkish Muslim Imam and Schoolar, stated in his condemnation message against September 11 terror attack that "no terrorist can be a Muslim, and no true Muslim can be a terrorist. Islam demands peace, and the Qur'an demands that every true Muslim be a symbol of peace and work to support the maintenance of basic human rights. If a ship is carrying nine criminals and one innocent person, Islam does not allow for the ship to be sunk in order to punish the nine criminals; doing so would violate the rights of the one innocent person." Gulen believes that Muslims should do more than just denouncing the terror. He states that "We Muslims have a special responsibility to not only join hands with fellow human beings to save our world from the scourge of terrorism and violent extremism, but also to help repair the tarnished image of our faith." (Gulen, 2015)
I call everyone especially Muslims to stand firmly against this "extremist cancer" by condemning the extremely cruel and violent terror act of ISIS in Orlando, FL in the strongest terms. Denouncing terror is necessary act but not enough to prevent future terrorist activities. We as Muslims need to answer those important questions : "Do our communities provide recruitment ground for groups with totalitarian mindsets due to unrecognized authoritarianism within ourselves, domestic physical abuse, neglect of youth, lack of balanced education? Did our failure to establish basic human rights and freedoms, supremacy of the rule of law, and pluralist mindsets in our communities lead those who are struggling to seek alternative paths?" (Gulen, 2015)
After answering these questions, there are urgent steps that need to be taken by Muslims. Initially, Muslim parents must put more emphasis on internalizing democratic values, gender equality, and freedom of speech and educate their children accordingly as a member of society. It is equally important to increase awareness of children about the danger of religious extremism and their use of social media for recruitment.Secondly, Muslim organizations including mosques must put more afford on the theological and scholarly struggle against misuse of theological terms. Danger of religious extremism must be brought to attention of people during Friday sermons, weekend schools, and Quran study classes to educate their elders and children more often. Finally, as Gulen (2015) pointed that cooperation of Muslim organizations, families, and individuals with security enforcement is important to prevent terror before act of terror happens.
I appeal to everyone for calmness and restraint. We shouldn't let a violent terror such as the one targeting the LGBTQ community in Orlando, FL to divide our community. Last Sunday, the LGBTQ community was target. Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindus and others were targeted before. Becoming one voice against extremism and standing with victims of terror is much more needed for peace and harmony in our society. Additionally while responding to any terrorist act, innocent masses shouldn't be targeted. Please remember that terrorists do not represent any society or religion other than extremely small minority within any community.
I call everyone to try to mutually understand and respect each other. Therefore, we can prevent such violence in the future.
Once again, on behalf of the Mississippi Chapter of the Dialogue Institute SW, I condemn the Terrorist attacks of ISIS in Orlando, FL, in the strongest terms. May God provide health to those who were injured and patience to the relatives of the victims. As the Quran states in chapter 5:32 that "killing one person is equal to killing all humanity and saving one person's life is equal to saving all humanity."
May God provide patience to all of us because we lost all humanity 53 times with the attack of ISIS in Orlando, FL.
Sources:
Gulen, Fethullah. (2015) La Monde, retrevied from http://rumiforum.org/gulen-lemonde/
Gulen, Fethullah (2001) Washington Post, retreviewed from http://www.guleninstitute.org/…/97-gs-condemnation-message…/
Fatih Ozcan
Mississippi Representative
The Dialogue Institute SW
Sources:
Fethullah Gulen’s Op-ed in Le Monde: Muslims, we have to critically review our understanding of...
Fethullah Gulen’s Op-ed in Le Monde: Muslims, we have to critically review our understanding of Islam Categories: In the News Words fall short to truly express…
RUMIFORUM.ORG
