Recently, Hassan Shibly gave a talk at a church on Islam which was very warmly received. The talk highlighted the peaceful and just nature of Islam. In response an extreme right wing online magazine published an article claiming that Shibly was deceiving the American People. The author cherry-picked verses from the Quran taken out of context and meaning in order to show that Islam is really a violent evil religion and the presentation was deceptive by saying otherwise.

It is quite ironic that Islamophobes who are proud of their Judeo-Christian faith cherry-pick verses from the Quran to try to say that Muslims are liars when they support peace and justice, because the Quran has verses relating to war, when in fact, the Bible has many more and much harsher verses relating to war, and yet the are still proud of their faith!

It is time we stop being dishonest and stop hypocritically cherry-picking verses to say the Quran advocates violence, when similar verses are found in the Bible. Not to mention the verses taken within context offer a completely different meaning than what is portrayed. 

Islamophobes do not think Christians are evil deceptive people despite violent verses in the Bible and despite slavery, the inquisition, the crusades, which hunts, and so on. Why then do they claim Muslims are evil deceptive people because of a few war verses in the Quran and criminal terrorists attacks committed by a few?

***

People should stop cherry-picking warlike quotes from the Quran

Leonard Pitts, Syndicated columnist | • Published March 29, 201

Below are four quotes. Each is from one of two sources: the Bible or the Quran, although, just to make things interesting, there’s also a chance all four are from one book. Two were edited for length and one of those was also edited to remove a religion-specific reference. Your job: identify the holy book of origin. Ready? Go:

 • “...Wherever you encounter (nonbelievers), kill them, seize them, besiege them, wait for them at every lookout post.”

 • “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

 • “If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let us go and worship other gods’ ... do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him. You must certainly put him to death.”

 • “Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.”

All right, pens down. How did you do?

If you identified the first quote as being from the Quran (9:5) and the other three as originating in the Bible (Matthew 10:34, Deuteronomy 13:6-9, Numbers 31:17-18), I congratulate you on that degree in theology. If I have guessed correctly, most people will not have found it easy to place the quotes in their proper books. If I have guessed correctly, most people will have found a certain thematic similarity in them.

Yes, there is a point here: I wish people would stop cherry-picking warlike quotes from the Quran to “prove” the evil of Islam. You see this stuff all over the web. Just a few days ago, some anonymous person, angry with me for defending “Fascist/Nazi Islam” the writer says is trying to kill us all, sent me an email quoting Quranic exhortations to violence to prove that Islam is a “religion of hate and murder.”

As rhetorical devices go, it is a cheap parlor trick, a con job to fool the foolish and gull the gullible and for anyone who has spent quality time with the Bible, its shortcomings should be obvious. [READ MORE]

Harvard Law Expert Explains Sharia and Islam

Rising Islamophobic Rhetoric in the US?: Hamza Youssef Interview

Interesting to note that more people in the US have died due to dog bites last year than due to terrorist attacks.

Anti-Muslim hearing is an affront to patriotic Americans

Opinion: Anti-Muslim hearing is an affront to patriotic Americans

By Judy Chu

Special to the Mercury News

Posted: 03/10/2011 08:00:00 PM PST

This week, Republican Rep. Peter King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, held a narrowly focused hearing on the supposed radicalization of American Muslims and homegrown terrorism.

After watching the devastation of the Oklahoma City bombing and Sept. 11, we must protect our citizens against terrorism originating from both within our borders and abroad. But I want to make clear to Peter King that Islam is not a terrorist organization, it is a religion. And Muslims living in the United States are not terrorists, they are Americans.

Muslims in America are from every background. They come from every corner of the world. They are white, black, Asian and other. They have immigrated to the United States, and they have been born here. They have traveled the world, and they have never left the United States. And while they may all share common beliefs, as a group, they are also patriots.

The committee's witch hunt for Muslim radicals will do little to make our nation safer. That's because it chose to target Muslims without evidence that there is a legitimate threat. The result is a conviction in the trial of the public arena, giving some in our society a chance to deepen their prejudices against Muslims....

[READ FULL ARTICLE]

....But many Americans remember a time when freedom was not something you took for granted. Over the past century, minority groups have seen their freedoms curtailed for political purposes. Let us not forget that the words "national security" were used to send 120,000 Japanese-Americans to internment camps in desolate parts of the country, causing them to lose everything they had. They were convicted in the trial of the public arena and put into prison camps with guns pointed at them. This is despite the fact that three-quarters of them were U.S. citizens. To this day, not a single act of espionage was proven.

King's hearing broadly targets an entire community solely on their faith and runs counter to the core values and beliefs that our nation was founded upon. While our nation has not always lived up to the promise of freedom, we as Americans must unite around the core belief in freedom for all our people.

JUDY CHU (D-32nd Congressional District, including East Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley) is chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and is the first Chinese American woman elected to Congress. She wrote this for this newspaper.

Court Case At Center Of Muslims' Stereotyping Fears

"That kind of thing makes Muslims angry and it should make all Americans angry," he said. "Because again, this is just not what law enforcement should be used for ... something that amounts to, or looks like, nothing more than garden variety profiling." 

[Listen to Full Story on NPR]

Response to the King Hearings: Debunking the Myths

Read "The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and that Community's Response" submitted as testimony to Congress in response to the King Hearings.

"Is Islam a Religion of Peace" Lecture Monday 2/28/11 at First Presbyterian Church of Youngstown

Join us on Monday February 28th at 7:00pm at the First Presbyterian Church of Youngstown, 100 Church St, Youngstown, NY for a complimentary lecture: "Is Islam a Religion of Peace?" by CAMU Director, Hassan Shibly.

The tragedy of a dream unfulfilled: In Memory of Aasiya Zubair

By Denise Jewell Gee

NEWS COLUMNIST, Buffalo News

"...Mother to two. "Amma" to two of [Mo] Hassan's children. She was an architect in her native country. In America, she was a force behind the country's first English-language Muslim American television network.

Her life has been overshadowed by the sensational trial that followed her death, but her efforts to erase misconceptions about Muslim Americans are still needed today.

"She really wanted to promote a world where people of all different faiths and cultures could just work together and understand one another and not stereotype each other and not hate each other," Hassan Shibly, a former Bridges producer, told reporters after the second day of the trial.

Mo Hassan hijacked that dream when he brutally stabbed Aasiya Hassan in the Orchard Park offices of Bridges TV. He did more to tarnish the image of Muslim Americans than the media stereotypes he said he wanted to counter when he and Aasiya started Bridges TV.

In the days after her murder, there was speculation that the crime was some sort of "honor killing." But the details of the years leading up to her death and the final days of her life portrayed by prosecutors couldn't have been clearer. This was classic domestic violence.

Mo Hassan was just one man. It was just one cruel murder. His bizarre and tragic actions represent nothing but himself -- not a culture or a religion.

One of the "tragedies" of Aasiya Hassan's death, Shibly said, was that people tried to use what happened to her "to counter what Aasiya dedicated her life to."

"I don't want to see her life go in vain," Shibly said.

The sad thing is that the misconceptions of Muslim Americans continue to pervade American culture.

From unwarranted concerns that Sharia law will take over the United States to the uproar over a planned Islamic community center near ground zero, anti-Muslim sentiment continues to overshadow real discussion of many issues.

Aasiya Hassan wanted to change the discussion. She lived a nightmare but wanted to make the world a better place for others. Let's remember her life for that." [READ FULL COLUMN]

....

US Government Terrorism Expert: Religious Muslims Least Likely to Become Radicalized

Important NPR story below highlighting the need to support and work with traditional Muslim scholars and imams, not to target, harass, and alienate them. Religious Muslims are in fact a great ally in the "war against terror," and we need to work with them, not target them for harassment. By targeting and harassing religious Muslim leadership and practitioners in the US, we may lose great leaders that promote the authentic, beautiful peaceful message of Islam. 

Because some FBI tactics have eroded trust between Muslims and the FBI, many religious Muslims justifiably may feel uncomfortable engaging in outreach with the FBI. The fear (right or wrong) is that instead of working against real threats to protect our security, some agents are simply looking to entrap innocent people to gain a promotion or other self-interest. However, even Muslims uncomfortable working with law enforcement are still a great ally in protecting our security because they nonetheless promote a message that is against violence. Thus we need to ensure such important leaders and allies are not subject to needless harassment resulting from ineffective and counterproductive security tactics.

Such law enforcement tactics, which engage in wide fishing expeditions harassing religious Muslims, are counterproductive. Such tactics are based on the completely false notion that religious Muslims are likely to become radicalized. Studies show the complete opposite is true however. Religious Muslims are the least likely to become radicalized and the most likely to resist radicalization. Religious Muslims call others to practice the authentic teachings of Islam which condemns the taking of innocent life. We need to base our security efforts around that reality.

----

New Terrorism Adviser Takes A 'Broad Tent' Approach

by DINA TEMPLE-RASTON

NPR, January 24, 2011

EXCERPT:

..."A number of years ago, before he [Quintan Wiktorowicz] went into government, he did some of the most path-breaking work not only on who was susceptible to being radicalized, but most importantly, who was the most resistant to being radicalized," says Christine Fair, an expert on terrorism and radicalization at Georgetown University. "And the findings that he came up with based upon his work really shattered some of the stereotypes we have about Muslims and radicalization."

As part of his research, Wiktorowicz interviewed hundreds of Islamists in the United Kingdom. After compiling his interviews he came to the conclusion that — contrary to popular belief — very religious Muslims were in fact the people who ended up being the most resistant to radicalization...

"One of the important things about counterradicalization is that about perhaps 10 percent of it is law enforcement and intelligence, 90 percent of it are things that have relatively little to do with that," he says. "Counterradicalization also has to include things like politicians visiting Muslim communities, messaging" and beefing up education about Islam among Muslims themselves, so they can better resist radical recruiters.... [LISTEN/READ FULL STORY]

-----

Four Reasons Why Religious Muslims Are Against Violent Radicalization.

1. It is against Islamic teachings. The killing of innocent civilians and all acts of injustice to anyone, regardless of their faith, is clearly against the teachings of the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The Islamic rules of when fighting is permissible and what conduct during fighting is permissible is very similar to accepted principles of Western Just War Theory. Simply put Islamic law is absolutely clear that a Muslim is "One from whom peoples blood and wealth are safe." (Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him). There is no room for killing, hurting, or even insulting an innocent person in Islam, regardless of their faith. Thus religious Muslims strive to live by Islam's peaceful and just message. To engage in wanton violence, to destroy property, and take innocent life, is against the explicit commandments of Islam.
2. Human Nature. A sane, rational human being would never accept harming a brother or sister in humanity.
3. Self-Protection. Muslims statistically are amongst the greatest victims of terrorism. Muslims are often double victims of terrorism. First, Muslims are often the targets and victims of terrorist attacks. Many American Muslims have lost their lives or lost loved ones and friends due to terrorist attacks. Then these same Muslims who are victims of terror, often face the backlash, when people in turn attack Muslims in response to a terrorist attack.
4. Self-Preservation. Religious Muslims are often deeply involved in the community. They may be frequent attendees of their local mosques, Islamic schools, charities, and other institutions. They value the freedom they have in America to practice their faith and recognize that terrorist attacks will impede the freedom they have to practice their faith and enjoy the liberties America offers. They value American freedom and would never want to do anything that could impede it. 

An important note: Law enforcement and the public must realize that American Muslims, as well as people of many faiths who are against war and violence, may sympathize with the suffering people in the world including: Egyptians, Iraqis, Kashmiris, Afghanis, Palestinians, Chechens, and many others. However, sympathizing with suffering people, and even voicing support for an individuals right to self-defense, in no way amounts to support or the condoning of violent acts of terrorism. 

For Example: The overwhelming majority of Muslims who are sympathetic to the Occupied Palestinians, and the hardships they face, in no way support violent acts of terrorism committed by some Palestinians, just as  devout Christians who are against abortion, in no way support the killing of an abortion doctor or bombing of an abortion clinic carried out by some Christians.  Similarly, a patriotic American who supports peace keeping efforts of the US military abroad, in no way supports incidents like Abu Ghuraib and other war crimes committed by some soldiers. 

Thus we cannot label Muslims who may be sympathetic to the plights of some suffering people as condoning the violent acts of terrorism carried out by a minority fraction of such people. Being sympathetic to suffering people abroad in no way equals supporting acts of terrorism. Rather the same people who are against the oppression and killing of innocent Palestinians are often the same people who are against the oppression and killing of innocent Jews or Americans, or people of any faith or country. 

Two Misconceptions

Two major misconceptions that fuel the debunked notion that religious Muslims are inclined to radicalization is that: 1. Most Muslims are terrorist, and 2. Most terrorists are Muslim. However many US government and academic studies show that the overwhelming majority of Muslims are against terrorism and the overwhelming majority of terrorists are not Muslim.

CAMU Director Speaks to Prominent Attorneys Regarding Islamophobia and Protecting Civil Rights

Muhammad Shareef
CAMU Director, Hassan Shibly was invited to speak today with the Human Rights Committee of a major Bar Association regarding challenges faced by American Muslims. The meeting was attended by several prominent attorneys.

Shibly explained that there is a concerning growth of Islamophobia in the US. He noted that such Islamophobia was primarily the result of ignorance and misunderstanding, which has created a political climate where bigoted remarks, discrimination, harassment, and even violence is sometimes tolerated against religious minorities in the US. He went on to say that such bigotry is contrary to American values.

Shibly gave examples of recent violent attacks against American Muslim places of worship and noted that unfortunately, public figures are able to get away with saying bigoted inflammatory remarks against Islam and Muslims, and that such remarks would not be tolerated had they been made against any other minority group.

The committee expressed deep concern for the growth of Islamophobia. Shibly explained that the best way to counter the roots of Islamophobia and prevent discrimination, harassment, and violence is through education and dialog. He noted that Islamophobia tends to result from two misconceptions:

1. That most Muslims are terrorists.
2. That most terrorists are Muslims.

However, Shibly pointed out that it is easy to dispel those two myths by pointing out US Department of State, FBI, and Gallop Pole studies which statistically prove that:

1. The percentage of Muslims that say it may be justified to kill of civilians is actually smaller than the percentage of Americans of other/no faiths that say it may be justified to kill civilians. The overwhelming majority of Muslims who condemn the killing of civilians explained that to harm civilians is unacceptable according to the teachings of the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The extremely small percentage who said it may be justified to target civilians during conflict did not use religion to justify their views, but political grievances. 
2. The overwhelming majority of terrorists worldwide and in the US are secular and not religious. Only a small minority of terrorists are religiously affiliated, and only a small minority of that minority are Muslim.

However, Shibly went on to further explain that presenting the true peaceful message of Islam to the public is sometimes made difficult by Islamophobes who purposely twist and distort the words of mainstream Muslim speakers in order to further their own agenda at the expense of the American public. The following is a quote Shibly has said on previous occasions:

The problem is, when we say the truth which is backed by academic research- that the Quran forbids the taking of innocent life and a true Muslim [who practices the teachings of Islam] would by definition never take an innocent life- then the Islamophobes claim we said that "9/11 was not committed by Muslims," which is not what we said at all!

When we say that according to US government studies, terrorist attacks are not motivated by faith but by political reasons, and are nonetheless never justifiable, the Islamophobes distort our words and claim we said "9/11 was rightly justified due to political grievances." So no matter how much we explain the teachings of Islam and condemn violence and terrorism, nothing we say will satisfy the extreme Islamophobes: They will twist our words to make it appear that we support acts we clearly condemn. And if they cannot do that, then they say we are dangerous because we deceive the American people by making Muslims appear peaceful. Although they have no academic evidence whatsoever to support the notion that Muslims are more supportive of violence than other groups, on the contrary- they ignore the glut of mainstream data that proves otherwise! For such Islamophobes, the only statement that will please them is that Islam is inherently evil and its millions of American adherents must be placed in internment camps!  However the good news is that the majority of Americans we interact with are goodhearted and open minded and are quick to point out that the claims made against us by professional Islamophobes are completely baseless and are filled with nothing but hate and prejudice and only serve to divide our communities.

During the Human Rights Committee meeting, Shibly went on to note that while much progress is being made to counter Islamophobia through education and dialog, Islamophobia has led to a climate where the FBI has harassed innocent law abiding Muslim American US Citizens.

This harassment has included threats with filing false charges, extortion, and entrapment. Such FBI tactics have broken down what was once a healthy relationship between the American Muslim Community and law enforcement and has also hurt local economies and communities by causing  Muslim leaders, business owners, and students to leave the US to more religiously tolerant countries.

Shibly noted that it is important for all communities to have a healthy relationship with law enforcement but that tactics such as entrapment or threats to file false charges, do more to hurt American interests then benefit, by alienating important allies in the fight against extremism.

Some lawyers have expressed deep concern that some of the FBI tactics appear to be motivated by blatant racism and the desire for agents to seek fame and promotion and seemed to be aiming at setting up innocent individuals.

Shibly noted that some of the FBI tactics have resulted in questionable civil rights violations and un-Americana practices. He explained that the civil rights violations are possible when:

1. Muslim Americans are not fully aware of their rights.
2. FBI agents think no one is aware of their questionable tactics.

Thus, Shibly proposed that the solution is:

1. To educate Muslim Americans regarding their rights and how to deal with law enforcement.
2. To establish strong ties between the legal and American Muslim community.
3. To make law enforcement aware that the legal community is keeping watch over their actions and is ready to take legal action to uphold the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Shibly noted the good news that incidents of harassment and civil rights violations have gone down as the community has become more aware of their fundamental American rights.

The meeting served as an important step in establishing a healthy relationship between the Muslim and legal community and as a step to forming a committee which will collect information regarding civil rights violations, advicse on courses of actions to protect American liberties, and take legal action when necessary.

The Muslim community thanks the legal community for its continued efforts to protect the rights and liberties we hold dear as Americans and that make this nation so cherished.

CAMU Director Addresses Media, Condemns Violence Against Women

Click here to listen to CAMU Executive Director Hassan Shibly addressing the media regarding the murder of his former Bridges Tv colleague, Aasiya Zubair, and condemning violence against women:

Excerpt from interview:

"Your family is supposed to be that which you love the most. The Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) made it very clear that the best of people are those that are best to their wives, best to their children, and best to the families. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), he never once struck a women or hit a child. [Domestic Violence] is unacceptable and there is never an excuse for it." -Hassan Shibly, January 19th 2011.

[Listen to full media address]

Study: Threat of Muslim-American terrorism in U.S. exaggerated

(CNN) -- The terrorist threat posed by radicalized Muslim- Americans has been exaggerated, according to a study released Wednesday by researchers at Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.


A small number of Muslim-Americans have undergone radicalization since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, the study found. It compiled a list of 139 individuals it categorized as "Muslim-American terrorism offenders" who had become radicalized in the U.S. in that time -- a rate of 17 per year.


That level is "small compared to other violent crime in America, but not insignificant," according to the study, titled "Anti-Terror Lessons of Muslim-Americans." (MORE)

Retired Justice Stevens defends plans for Islamic center

By Bill Mears, CNN Supreme Court Producer

Retired Justice John Paul Stevens expressed support Thursday for a planned Islamic community center near the site of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York, urging religious and ethnic tolerance.

"American Muslims should enjoy the freedom to build their places of worship wherever permitted by local zoning laws," the retired Supreme Court jurist said at a luncheon where he was honored by the National Japanese American Memorial Foundation. (MORE)

Law professor: Ban on Sharia law 'a mess'

..."Many of us who understand the law are scratching our heads this morning, laughing so we don't cry," he said. "I would like to see Oklahoma politicians explain if this means that the courts can no longer consider the Ten Commandments. Isn't that a precept of another culture and another nation? The result of this is that judges aren't going to know when and how they can look at sources of American law that were international law in origin."...(MORE)

OBAMA ADVISER DECRIES ANTI-ISLAM SENTIMENTS

OBAMA ADVISER DECRIES ANTI-ISLAM SENTIMENTS 
Niraj Warikoo, Detroit Free Press, 10/31/10

Speaking to about 400 people in Livonia, President Barack Obama's envoy to the Muslim world said there is a "disturbing rise in anti-Islamic sentiment" that may be caused in part by the poor economy.

"The things you can say about Islam you can't say about any other faith," Rashad Hussain, Special Envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference, said Saturday night at the annual fund-raising dinner of the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, a Muslim-founded think tank based in Clinton Township. "During tough economic times, groups that are seen to be the other ... the scapegoating can increase."

Hussain travels the world on behalf of the U.S. government to improve outreach to the Muslim world. Metro Detroit has a sizeable Muslim population.

Hussain said he's concerned about the increasing vitriol directed at Muslims, which he said may be due to their increasing visibility in the U.S.

It's a "reaction to a lot of progress made by Muslim communities," he said. (More)