American Muslim Groups Band Together To Call Out Extremists
CAIR hardest hit
“The time for press releases, the time for simple condemnations of the acts of violence is over,” said Dr. Zuhdi Jasser speaking on Fox News.
At a two-day summit held in DC, the Muslim Reform Movement released a declaration of principles that condemn what Dr. Jasser referred to as “operationalism.”
The Washington Examiner reported:
The Muslim Reform Movement grew out of a summit this week of leaders of groups that were already fighting extremism. Organizers said deadly terrorist attacks by Islamist extremists in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif., added new urgency to the effort.
“Let’s get rid of political correctness and grab this problem by the root,” said Naser Khader, a conservative member of Denmark’s parliament, in a panel discussion Thursday at the conservative Heritage Foundation. “It is important to draw a line between the Islamic religion and Islamism.”
Khader and other members of the group on Friday released a declaration of principles calling on Muslims to reject violent jihad and endorse religious freedom for all and secular government, and saying they will call out those who reject it.
Groups that do not sign the Muslim Reform Movement’s declaration of principles are, “part of the first three or four steps of radicalization and American’s need to realize that,” Jasser continued.
Reporting from the summit in D.C. last week, the Catholic News Agency wrote:
“Too much deflection has been happening on this issue,” said Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, founder and president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy. Muslims must acknowledge the fact that radical Islam has fueled human rights abuses and must push for a reformation that involves a “separation of mosque and state” with religious pluralism and respect for human rights, he said.
When Islamist extremists commit acts of violence, Muslims must resist the temptation to simply say the extremists “are not Muslims,” emphasized Naser Khader, a member of the Parliament in Denmark of the Conservative People’s Party. Simply denying that the extremists are true believers excuses the moderates from having to advocate for reform in Islam, he explained.
“We cannot say that the Islamic State are not Muslims. That is what they call themselves,” he said. ISIS has a state built on a “jihadist vision of Islam,” he said, murdering and enslaving other people “with the Koran in their hands.”
“If we the Muslims do not face the problem of violence that links to Islam in our time, how will we ever succeed in ripping Islam out of the hands of these destructive powers and lift our religion into the 21st century?” he asked.
Jasser condemned the Council for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) calling it the “101” course on the radicalization education spectrum.
“The enemy are Islamopatriots that believe in the Islamic State. Muslims that stand against that idea are our allies. Those that apologize for it are our foes. That individual, the Council of American-Islamic Relations, proves that it should register as a foreign agent as part of the foreign agency registration act because it is giving the narrative of ISIS.
If ISIS is 601 in classes, CAIR is class 101, 201, as they get radicalized.
I would almost want America to stop using the term “radicalization” and talk about “operationalization.” ISIS operationalizes Muslims at that last step. The radicalization in mosques and organizations like CAIR that tell Muslims that America is anti-Muslim, that they’re bigoted, gives the narrative that prevents us from reforming with these principles that we need to have.”
[h/t Katrina Jørgensen at Independent Journal]
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Comments
That’s a good start. But I want to hear from hundreds of Muslim Imams who say they condemn Islamic terrorism followed up with names of terrorists using their mosques for cover. They know who they are.
If you DO hear it, it will likely be taqiyaa or however they spell “lying” in Koran-ese.
I respect Dr Jasser but…too late.
islam is not compatible with western society.
until a huge reformation takes place we cannot trust its adherents and good people will suffer.
Reformation is impossible in Islam simply because the koran is considered to be the literal word of god. If ISIS and other Islamists are using the koran for justification for terrorism, then you will never convince them otherwise.
Moderate Muslims like Jasser are not following Islam the way Mohammed taught or the way the koran tells them. In practicing only peaceful parts, Jasser is ignoring much of the koran, particularly those verses that abrogate the peaceful ones. By mohammed’s teachings, Jasser is an apostate.
1. Denounce Sharia
2. Denounce Jihad
3. List the radical Islamists you have reported to LEO.
4. List the radical mosques you denounce.
Otherwise, get out of my country.
I trust those people about as far as I can throw a pickup truck.
Interesting. Today on Pacifica Radio,, Letters and Politics via KPFK about 10:40 am, I heard an interview of a young woman (Raffia? a writer on Al Jazeera) talking about the pernicious effects of madrassas funded by Saudi Arabia in Pakistan (and the rest of the world).
The Saudis offer to educate poor kids, take them from their parents, and teach them to be cannon fodder.
She said the US refuses to call them out on what they teach in these schools.
The teaching of religious bigotry, and hatred and murder of others has been part of the Saudi education system for a very long time, and Muslims in the US (it might have been Dr. Jasser I first saw) have been trying to get our government to pay attention for years.
It seems we have some common ground with the lefties, now. We should make use of it.
Does this reform group have anything to say about hatred of Jews and slander of the state of Israel??
If not, then they are not truly fighting evil and confronting extremism.
If violent extremism is too powerfuly ingrained, they won’t touch it.
Too little?
Too late?
There’s one positive, though.
They call themselves Muslim, and they don’t seem to have a problem with terms like ‘islamic extremist’ or ‘radical islam’.
It kind of makes the PC crowd’s acrobatics to avoid the terms a bit sillier.
Islam needs a pope and a central authority. Now all mosques are independent, so there is no definition of what is Islam.
They do. His name is Abu Bakr al Baghdadi.
Sorry, pal, I’m not buying it. With regards to Islam, the radicals are the ones shooting people, slicing their heads off, and setting off bombs. And the so-called moderates? Where are they? They are the ones on the sidelines cheering them on, giving them support, and calling for Sharia law. I say our battle is with ALL of them.
Islam is NOT a religion. It is a fascist ideology combined with a death cult that is only disguised as a religion with religious trappings after being invented out of whole cloth by a bloodthirsty paedophile. We have to face the facts. We are at war with a fascist and hostile ideology. At least, they are at war with us. We apparently have a problem recognising that and fighting back. Islam is completely incompatible with our way of life and our constitution. And there is no way for it to be made compatible. This is a struggle of ideologies and belief systems, and this administration doesn’t seem to be willing at all to defend ours, and that enrages me.
The enemy is inside the gates. And we keep letting more in.
To “reform” Islam into anything peaceable would require:
* rejecting Mohammed as any kind of moral exemplar;
* throwing out the 60% or so of the Koran that’s devoted to condemning “unbelievers”;
* throwing out the doctrine and obligation of jihad;
* throwing out the death penalty for apostasy and blasphemy;
* throwing out the division of the world into “Dar al-Islam” and “Dar al-Harb” (the “House of War, considered to be at war with Islam by virtue of its refusal to submit);
* throwing out the regimented daily prayers in which “unbelievers” are cursed many times a day;
* etc.
So what would be left of Islam, then?
There, Rade, is why Jasser is lying. He cannot do those things and remain alive, much less remain Muslim.
I think rather than criticizing Dr. Jasser and his group we should be applauding and hoping he convinces more of his co-religionists to listen to him. He’s a sincere modernist Muslim and has taken considerable criticism including threats from radical Muslims.
I was encouraged to see a public comment from the president of the Islamic society in Raleigh saying that Muslims need to take responsibility in their mosques and homes to teach their children that the radical ideas are bad and to prevent them from radicalizing.
Benjamin Netanyahu has recently called the Islamists “primitive medievalists.” That’s probably as good a term as any. American Muslims need to aim to be modern people sharing the modern ideals of respect for life and freedom, not primitive medieval people drenched in blood and death.
This outlook obviously will call for major changes to the traditional interpretations of the Muslim traditions.
Dr. Jasser is a courageous man and a badly-needed voice of reason in the American Muslim community. He deserves credit and admiration for his stance. Problem is, he’s been ostracized and marginalized by Muslims who reject his calls for reform within Islam. Unless others join him, en masse, he will remain a lone voice of sanity in the wilderness.
Who told you Jasser has been ostracized for his stance? Jasser? Have you not heard of taqqiyah? Lying to advance the cause of islam. Every time Jasser is on tv, he seduces someone like you into believing there is a reasonable face to Islam. If Jasser is serious about Islam, and he is, he believes the same things Al Qaeda, ISIS, and every Muslim does. Jasser is a very good advocate for a misguided view of Islam, th same view of Islam sold by Obama and Hillary. Believe him at your own peril.
Zuhdi Jasser is one of the biggest taqqiyotomists in the country. He will NEVER denounce shariah, Koranic teaching on jihad, or hadith. Instead, he will parrot the lie about jihad being a spiritual struggle. He’s got a nice thing going. Whenever Fox needs a “moderate Muslim”, they call Jasser and he spins for them. Listen to him lie to advance the cause of Islam. It’s a wonderful thing.
Why wouldn’t Dr. Jasser be given the benefit of the doubt for now? If sincere, he’s set an immensely difficult task for himself, one that’s likely to make him extremely unpopular with many Muslims. He was articulate in his condemnation of CAIR, the Saudis, similar mosques, and particularly the Obama administration which he described perfectly: afraid, ignorant, and lazy; not wanting to take sides or get involved in the battle within Islam, finding the problem too complicated, wanting the problem to be tidy, wanting it to fit in their partisan narrative; they, don’t want to unify America, want to divide us. That perfect description is one that would have liberals and Democrats everywhere seething with rage.
He says he and his organization are against the Islamic state, for equality of men and women, against the institutionalism of Sharia, and against violent jihad. There seems no mincing of words in any of those things; they are crystal clear, nothing cute or clever and frankly, they might have been written by almost anyone who posts regularly to LI. He may just provide the rallying point that seems so badly needed now; one liberals in particular are constantly calling for. Moderate Muslims that the left constantly tells us exists and asks us to understand are certainly not getting it from the administration: Few things would give him more credibility than being rejected and attacked by them and it. Two gigantic problems inherent in his goals are Israel and the black Muslim community, but alone, what he outlined is a monumental task. It will be interesting to see if he gets any support and from whom.
He gets my vote for more visibility, professor.
Here is why i believe Jasser is engaged in taqqiyah: he claims to be a Muslim in good standing. All the things he allegedly believes in contradicts the teachings of the Koran and Hadiths. He cannot invent his own Koran. He cannot reform Islam because of the Islamic doctrine regarding the Koran and its text. The contradictions between what he says and what he is permitted shoukd have begun to be clear to you, Owego. If he is a good Muslim, then he must believe in the Koran as writ; he must accept it quia, because it is the word of their god. He is not allowed to have a quatenus, in so far as it is the word of their god, relationship with it.
Therefore, either Jasser is lying, is no longer a Muslim, or is a deeply conflicted man. Since he says he is a Muslim, and since he has no conflict with Koranic teaching but only with some interpretations of it (big lie right there: there is only ONE interpretation of the Koran, and you can ask the Saudis, Iranians, and ISIS about it.), then Jasser must be lying. If lying, then taqqiyah to advance the cause of Islam.
When the book which contains what you believe says its okay for you to lie to advance the cause of your belief system, you should not and don’t get the benefit of the doubt.
Your argument is understood, and it seems to rest upon absolutist interpretations of the Koran which are required for one to “be” a Muslim. Perhaps though, just, perhaps, some of these absolutes are beginning to be questioned, thoughtfully, by some, somewhere. Might that be possible? Though he gives no appearance of it (which may make him a tremendous asset to Islam) might he be your “deeply conflicted man?”
The problem is –Islam here; it can’t be ignored or wished away (or Trumped away-sorry, couldn’t resist). It has to be addressed. Undeniably it includes terrorist elements – those who are, would be, and/or support them. But it also certainly includes as well many more I suspect who not only do not condone terrorism, but condemn it. Reaching these people by any means available seems reasonable, so why not Jassar? I suspect that if his motivation is taqqiyah, the simple fact of public questioning and visibility of actions will flesh it out and besides, what other choices do we have? There seems little to lose by seeing what he might accomplish.
Make no mistake, where the Constitution is concerned I am a traditionalist: I understand the conflict between the Koran and the Constitution and Ben Carson was on to something when he said a Muslim could never be President of the United States. (And, to succumb again to temptation, will simply note my avoiding a discussion of the current administration.) It is vitally important that the Constitution remains the guiding beacon and controls life and law in the United States – no document must ever be permitted to supersede it. But here, the one-worlders who would subordinate us to the likes of the UN are as big a threat, perhaps greater, than Muslims and I don’t hesitate to include the likes of Hillary Clinton among them. So, I’m back to my original position, why not give Jassar a chance? There are few other options and some good may come of it. Take a chance on your “deeply conflicted man,” if he’s disingenuous, it will come out soon enough.
May we live in interesting times. Indeed.
Owego, I am not about to trust the lives of my countrymen to what ifs. Zuhdi Jasser will have to convert himself and his entire family to Judaism before I believe anything he says. Why Judaism? Whom do Muslims hate more than they love life and their children?
This sounds like a diversion to me. He wants organizations to sign a pledge? Well sure, they will all sign it, won’t they? Then we will believe that they are all peaceful and now we can stop worrying. Sorry, I don’t believe for a second that a Muslim’s signature on a pledge means anything. I want to see actions and people being denounced and revealed and turned in.
I say, burn the mosques and cover the ashes with pig entrails. Kill their leaders and convert the remainder to Christianity.
I have heard over and over for the past number of years how Muslims need to rise up and condemn what is happening. Dr. Jasser has been speaking out for years but the media has ignored him. This is not something new for him or the other groups. Heritage Foundation sponsored that meeting so it has credence to me. Now that they finally seem to be getting some publicity, everyone is telling them to stfu. What exactly to you want? If you won’t support this, what will you support? And please don’t say expel them from the country because that ain’t happening. Be practical. These groups need our support because there is no alternative at this time.
That was my point above, but it’s not popular here. People, there are 1.6 billion Muslims in the world. Their numbers in the US now are about equal to the numbers of Jews here. Jasser has a consistent record over a number of years of public statements rejecting Islamist extremism. This kind of thing should be encouraged. Worldwide and here, the problem can only be eventually resolved if Muslims reject the Wahhabi/Salafi interpretations and attempt to construct a modern Islam. They can’t all be killed, even if we could contemplate such a thing, and much as I (a conservative Christian) wish they’d all convert, that’s not going to happen either. As gasper says, be practical.
As a Christian, I can only counsel Jasser to repent and be converted to Christ. Were I to counsel him to act in a way that makes palatable the error he believes, the blood for his soul would be upon my head if he dies in Islam and unreconciled to God. Knowing what Scripture teaches, it us our duty to preach Christ and Him crucified to Jasser; it is not our duty to mitigate a demonic ideology. Preach to Jasser and leave his conversion, and that if all Muslims, up to God. You must have a highly limited view of God if you think the conversion if all Muslims is impractical. I recommend to you the texts of Isaiah and the Lord’s Prayer so you can comprehend fully the power and might of God who is able to do all things.
I normally enjoy your posts, but your call for everyone to convert to your religion is no different than Muslims calling to you to convert to theirs. I am agnostic so have no favorite religion. As a former Catholic I remember the fundamentalist view when I was young, and as a charismatic, how fanaticism can be learned. Yes, I am practical – you are not. You are intractable and are pleased with yourself for being so. Jasser spent 10 years in the Navy serving our country and has fought against the extreme element of his religion for many years. And you simply dismiss him with your limited understanding of his religion and beliefs. Please do not respond to this. Your view is nauseating.