New Jersey, (IINA) - Muslim faith and community leaders from across New Jersey decried the bombing attacks in New York City and Seaside Park in New Jersey, and pledged their cooperation with law enforcement authorities.
Addressing a press conference outside Elizabeth City Hall on Tuesday, they said that the alleged crimes by Ahmad Rahami, an American of Afghan descent, go against their faith and are not reflective of their community. “In Elizabeth, which is our city, we don’t have a radical problem and we don’t have imams who teach radicalism,” said Hassem Abdallah, attorney and president of the Dar ul-Islam mosque in the city, MyCentralJersey news reported.
“It’s important to us that the country understands that in our city, we have law-abiding Muslims who love America, who served in the military, who go to schools, who are police officers and law enforcement.
“We want our residents to know we are the same Muslims that they have grown up in grammar school, went to high school, went to college, and to football games,” said Abdallah. “We are this Muslim community.”
For the officials and clergy who gathered on Tuesday, the sentiment resonated beyond the borders of the city. They noted that they regularly meet with and coordinate with law enforcement officials on all issues, including how to detect and reach out to troubled youth who embrace extremist ideologies.
“New Jersey Muslims have a very good working relationship with New Jersey law enforcement and will do everything possible to assist in any way to help in the investigations and weed out terrorists,” said Mohammad Ali Chaudry, reading from a statement from the New Jersey Muslim Coalition, made up of more than 120 organizations.
The press conference would be one of several that Muslims groups in NJ have held in the past two years following attacks inspired by extremist ideologies of terrorist organizations such as ISIS group. There is some trepidation at having to speak out or address the actions of individuals who act alone, isolated from their communities, and who they feel have nothing to do with them. But they are compelled to do so, they said, because of negative messages in media and from politicians who cast them as a suspect population.
In their statement, they cited a familiar passage from the Qur’an that’s been read aloud at previous press conferences. It reads: “Whoever kills a person, it is as though he has killed all mankind. And whoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved all mankind.”
“This individual perpetrator of these terrorist attacks does not represent Islam or Muslims in any sense,” Chaudry said. “The Islam we know and practice calls for peace, mercy, love, tolerance and helping others.”
In their statement, the officials and imams also expressed their thanks to law enforcement and concern for those who were harmed.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the 29 innocent people who were injured in the blast in New York City and those in New Jersey who were put at risk of injury,” they said. ”We also pray for the quick recovery of the Linden Police officers who were injured during their prompt and heroic actions to capture the suspect.”
In response to terrorism inspired by extremism, some political figures have called for banning Muslim immigration or for more profiling by law enforcement. Coalition members said they’re wary of people seizing on the incidents “for political gain or media ratings.”
“In times like these, all Americans need to stand together and avoid inflammatory rhetoric,” Chaudry said. “We are stronger when we are united.”
No comments:
Post a Comment