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Your place of worship and learning
IONA in the News
Fort Hood Attack Unrelated to Islam, Local Muslim Leaders Say (November 13, 2009)
Southfield — Leaders of Metro Detroit's Muslim community gathered this morning to
urge all Americans to view the Fort Hood shooting as a criminal act and unrelated to the
faith of Islam.
"Islam opposes such actions as committed by Maj. (Nidal Malik) Hasan. The Qur'an
considers human life sacred," Imam Steve Elturk of the Islamic Association of North
America said Friday morning at a press conference called by the Council of Islamic
Organizations of Michigan.
Army officials have said they believe Hasan acted alone when he jumped on a table
with two handguns, shouted, “Allahu akbar,” a common Arabic expression meaning
“God is the greatest,” and opened fire inside a building at Fort Hood, Texas.
The 13 people killed included a pregnant soldier and at least three other mental health
professionals. On Thursday, Hasan was charged with 13 counts of premeditated
murder.
“We called this meeting to discuss the heartbreaking event of a sick doctor who took
innocent lives with his treacherous act. We are shocked, saddened and disturbed by
these events”; said Victor Ghalib Begg, chairman of the Michigan council.
Begg said Muslims find themselves in a defensive position whenever a person related
to the Muslim faith commits an act of violence.
“These sick people go out and shoot people down. When it happens and a Muslim is
involved, the focus is on Islam. We have to defend our faith. Wouldn’t you?”; Begg said. It sounds like we are tried and convicted when people say Muslims don’t denounce
terrorism and we are called terrorism sympathizers. We are pushed into a corner.”
Dawud Walid, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the
Fort Hood shooting has been the most traumatic event for Muslims since the Sept. 11
attacks.
“Many of us are on edge,” Walid, a U.S. Navy veteran, said. “;We get hate e-mails every
day at our organization, and we've gotten more the last couple of days.”
The group said the thousands of Muslim men and women who wear the U.S. military
uniform must not be tarnished due to the act of one.
"We don't know why Maj. Hasan did what he did," Elturk said. "We don’t know all the
answers yet."
jchambers@detnews.com
About IONA
IONA's objective is to help the Muslims of North America understand and fulfill their divinely ordained obligations, in order to please Allah (SWT) and thereby achieve success and salvation in the Hereafter.
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