A group of American Citizens sent a letter today challenging Islam on
“Terrorism”
January 7, 2015
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Today letters were issued to several Islamic organizations in the United
States by a Coalition of concerned citizens to get their official response
to recent comments by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
The organizations contacted for their response included the Council on
American Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Islamic Society of North America, the
Muslim American Society (MAS), and the North American Islamic Trust.
The Coalition sought responses for the following questions:
* Is it the position of your organization that the imams of Al Azhar
have a responsibility to renounce the “mindset” of jihad, conquest, and, as
suggested by President Sisi, genocide of the world’s non-Muslims?
* Is it the position of your organization that the time is right for a
“religious revolution,” as President Sisi stated?
* Is it the position of your organization that jihad is a holy
obligation for all Muslims?
On New Year’s Day, President Sisi
the “Vatican” of Islam, Al Azhar is a major center of Sunni Islamic thought,
one of the most important scholarly institutions in the Islamic world.
President Sisi urged the imams (religious leaders) at Al Azhar to denounce
the violence and revolution that has defined the Middle East since the Arab
Spring. He urged the venerable institution to condemn the idea that “1.6
billion people [Muslims] should want to kill the rest of the world’s
inhabitants-that is 7 billion-so that they themselves may live? Impossible!”
Since the Arab Spring, the moderate and stable regimes have been under
sustained assault by terrorist groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, Al
Qaeda, the Islamic State, and other affiliated networks. President Sisi
came to power in Egypt following the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi, who
is himself a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.
President Sisi’s speech is seen as a direct challenge to the Muslim
Brotherhood and the idea that jihad, or war against non-Muslims, must define
Islam. According to the Muslim Brotherhood, jihad is the duty of all
Muslims, and the highest honor for Muslims is actual death fighting jihad.
(The motto of the organization states, “God is our objective; the Qur’an is
the Constitution; the Prophet is our leader; jihad is our way; death for the
sake of God is our wish.”)
In November, CAIR and MAS were
Emirates.
Brotherhood, an Islamic umbrella organization operating around the world,
including in the United States, as a terrorist organization.
The Coalition, which includes retired military leaders, journalists, and
citizen activists, will publicly release any and all responses from these
organizations.
Below is a copy of the letter sent to the Islamic Society of North America
(ISNA). Identical letters were sent to the Council on American Islamic
Relations, the Muslim American Society, the North American Islamic Trust,
and various chapters of the Muslim Students Association.
LETTER TO THE ISLAMIC SOCIETY OF NORTH AMERICA
January 7, 2015
Mr. Azhar Azeez
Islamic Society of North America (ISNA)
P.O. Box 38
Plainfield, IN 46168
Dear Mr. Azeez:
This is a request for your organization’s official response to the speech
given by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
On New Year’s Day, President Sisi stated (in part) before an audience at Al
Azhar University in Cairo:
“I am referring here to the religious clerics. We have to think hard about
what we are facing-and I have, in fact,
before. It’s inconceivable that the thinking that we hold most sacred
should cause the entire umma [Islamic world] to be a source of anxiety,
danger, killing and destruction for the rest of the world. Impossible!
That thinking-I am not saying “religion” but “thinking”-that corpus of texts
and ideas that we have sacralized over the years, to the point that
departing from them has become almost impossible, is antagonizing the entire
world. It’s antagonizing the entire world!
Is it possible that 1.6 billion people [Muslims] should want to kill the
rest of the world’s inhabitants-that is 7 billion-so that they themselves
may live? Impossible!
I am saying these words here at Al Azhar, before this assembly of scholars
and ulema-Allah Almighty be witness to your truth on Judgment Day concerning
that which I’m talking about now.
All this that I am telling you, you cannot feel it if you remain trapped
within this mindset. You need to step outside of yourselves to be able to
observe it and reflect on it from a more enlightened perspective.
I say and repeat again that we are in need of a religious revolution. You,
imams, are responsible before Allah. The entire world, I say it again, the
entire world is waiting for your next move. because this umma is being torn,
it is being destroyed, it is being lost-and it is being lost by our own
hands.”
In light of President Sisi’s comments, we ask for public clarification on
the following points:
* Is it the position of ISNA that the imams of Al Azhar have a
responsibility to renounce the “mindset” of jihad, conquest, and, as
suggested by President Sisi, genocide of the world’s non-Muslims?
* Is it the position of ISNA that the time is right for a “religious
revolution,” as President Sisi stated?
* Is it the position of ISNA that jihad is a holy obligation for all
Muslims?
Please note that this letter will be made public and published. We look
forward to your prompt response.
Sincerely,
Wallace Bruschweiler
Data Security Holdings
Leslie Burt
The Counter Jihad Report
Mark Kohan
Conservative Party USA
Trevor Loudon
New Zeal Blog
Gary Kubiak & Dick Manasseri
S.E. Michigan 9.12 Tea Party
Terresa Monroe-Hamilton
Noisyroom.net
Charles Ortel
Washington Times Columnist
William Palumbo
Qatar Awareness Campaign
Brent Parish
The Right Planet
Thomas E. Snodgrass, Colonel, USAF (Ret)
Right Side News
Hannah Szenes
Journalist
Paul E. Vallely, Major General, US Army (Ret)
Stand Up America
