Muslim American Society's Campaign to Combat Terrorism
Date Posted: Monday, July 25, 2005
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, Most Merciful
<<July 25, 2005>
MUSLIM AMERICAN SOCIETY'S CAMPAIGN TO COMBAT TERRORISM
Faith Over Fear and Justice for All
In the wake of a second series of blasts to hit London just two weeks after the July 7 bombing, the Muslim American Society renews its condemnation of such evil acts and commitment to exonerate Islam from such acts in order to deny terrorists any religious, ideological or political legitimacy.
MAS categorically denounces all terrorism regardless of affiliation or national origin.
Given the intricacies of such phenomena, MAS Freedom believes that strengthening intelligence and security measures, while vital and crucial, will not solve the problem, especially since we are dealing with groups and individuals who are religiously misguided, erroneous, and socio-politically desperate.
Thus we are committed to the intensification of our effort to proactively combat terrorism.
As America's largest grassroots religious, educational and civic organization, consisting of 50 nationwide chapters, including religious schools, youth centers, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America programs, civic departments and members who provide leadership for hundreds of mosques across America, we, at the Muslim American Society (MAS) are uniquely equipped to provide a comprehensive and multifaceted approach to proactively combat terrorism.
Recognizing this reality, we are compelled to intensify our effort to thwart violence and extremism. Thus, we are implementing the following action items within the American Muslim community:
1. MAS will intensify its youth and scouts work, and step up its campaign of building youth centers to inculcate in our youth the proper understanding of Islam, help them fulfill their potential, and keep them away from the voices of extremism and temptations of moral vices, together with expanding its programs in order to train our youth in civics, civic engagement, volunteerism, community service, and active citizenry.
2. MAS will work with Imams and Islamic Centers to consolidate and solidify the prevailing moderate and mainstream orientation of our community, and do whatever it takes to leave no chance for terrorists and their views to creep into our community, leaving no ambiguity when it comes to the Islamic position on terrorism and the killing of innocent civilians. Indeed, for us, terrorism is not only a crime of mass murder that threatens our safety, but also a blow to perceptions concerning Muslims, not to mention also a disruption to our daily lives as it fuels bigotry, racism, Islamophobia, and various forms of extremism. So, while MAS longs for the eradication of the scourge of terrorism, we need to exonerate our religion and our community from such tendencies.
3. MAS will also step up its outreach efforts in order to speed up the integration of our community in the U.S., demystify Islam and Muslims, and deny terrorists the opportunity to hijack our religion, or speak on behalf of the one and a half billion Muslims worldwide.
4. MAS will continue its relentless efforts to advocate justice as the precursor for social harmony and world peace. We are aware of the rampant injustice in the world causing real and legitimate grievances. However, in Islam, ends do not justify the means, and just causes have to be advocated through legitimate means. The senseless killing of innocent people in
5. MAS will continue to boldly advocate for a positive and constructive role for the American Muslim community in the national discourse concerning war and peace, social and economic justice, and human rights.
6. MAS will also continue to resist backing corrupt and oppressive regimes in the Muslim world, the alienation of mainstream Islamic groups and the curtailing of civil liberties for Muslims at home and abroad. Ignoring these measures play into the hands of terrorists. Engaging moderate mainstream Islam here and abroad, and promoting human rights and democracy in the Muslim world, is instrumental in defeating terrorism.
7. MAS will facilitate a national summit on combating terrorism to include major Muslim organizations and national Muslim leaders for the purpose of assessing the progress we are making in combating terrorism, hate and violence, in addition to pursuing a well-coordinated strategy addressing these issues. The summit will also be used to plan an international conference on global terrorism, which will include Muslim organizations and leaders from the
In conclusion, MAS believes that nations and groups should maintain relationships on the basis of universal brotherhood, fairness, mutual understanding and respect, and that people should pursue their interests through civic engagement within the boundaries of national and international laws.
MAS rejects the dualistic concept of ‘us’ and ‘them’, and the simplistic diagnosis of “they hate us because of our freedom" or "envy us because of our prosperity”. We refuse to be boxed in between extremist ideologies combating one another, with one providing justifications for the other, creating a vicious, self-fulfilling cycle of destruction. We should all seek commonalities among one another and shun what tears and divides. We draw upon our faith to combat the dark forces of division, hatred and violence. Thus, we continue to embrace "Faith Over Fear and Justice for All".
To view a Photo Gallery of MAS' Press Conference on July 25, 2005, click here.
The Freedom Foundation is the public affairs arm of the Muslim American Society (MAS), a national grassroots religious, social, and educational organization. MAS is
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MAS Freedom Foundation
Tel: (202) 496-1288
Fax: (202) 463-0686
URL: http://www.masnet.org/index_publicaffairs.asp
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