Saturday, September 15, 2012

Reaction to world events

As salaam alaykum to the Columbus Sufi Circle-

 I've been wanting to say something about events in the Muslim world since Tuesday when the U.S. consulate in Benghazi in Libya was attacked by protesters reacting to protests in Egypt reacting to widespread internet distribution of a small mean-spirited anti-Muslim movie. Since then similar dire things have occurred in Tunisia, in Lebanon, in Palestine, in Indonesia, in Sudan, in Yemen, Bangladesh, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, India, Pakistan, Iraq, in Malaysia, in Nigeria, in Syria .......
As a convert, I have felt I might lack the standing to say what I feel about this - but others who have far more experience than I have said much of what I would. So I copy here what they have said.
Peace and Blessings, Hilal

(from the Niagara Foundation)
"The Niagara Foundation condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the mindless and brutal attack of a mob of extremists against the U.S. Diplomatic Mission in Libya. We abhor and deeply mourn the resulting deaths of four American civil servants, including the widely respected U.S. Ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens.
As an organization founded by Muslims and inspired by the teachings of M. Fethullah Gülen, we feel a profound sense of revulsion and betrayal whenever even a few people claiming to be Muslims become so misguided that they fail to realize that, by engaging in acts of violence against innocent fellow human beings, it is they who are disgracing the legacy of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, far more than the hateful and equally misguided people who seek to incite violence by denigrating, in the crudest and most provocative of ways, what is sacred to others.
In the immediate aftermath of the eleventh anniversary of the attacks of September 11th, 2001, our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those whose lives were lost in Libya, as well as the victims of violence in other places in the world where ignorance and fear blind people to the divine gift of our common humanity." 
 http://www.niagarafoundation.org/ohio
  
(from CAIR Ohio)
"The Ohio Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Ohio) will host an interfaith candlelight vigil on Friday, September 14 at 6:30 p.m. at the intersection of Broad and High Streets.  The vigil is in response to killings of American diplomats in Libya.
"There is a great deal of sadness today in the American Muslim community regarding these attacks, which are in no way reflective of the American Muslim community or of the Islamic faith," said Jennifer Nimer, CAIR-Ohio Legal Director.  "We offer our support and condolences to all victims of these violent acts, but hope that through tragedy we can forge constructive dialogue and mutual understanding.                                                                                                                                       CAIR yesterday called on Muslims in the Middle East to ignore the distribution of the "trashy" anti-Islam film, clips of which are circulating online, that resulted in the attacks. "                                ohio.cair.com/ohio-chapters/columbus-a-central-ohio.html

(from Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan mentioned in The Washington Post)
"In a speech Friday that a senior administration official described as “really strong,” Erdogan said that “both the mentality and the organization behind this movie and those perpetrating terrorist actions exploiting Islamic symbols and discourse” were equally to be condemned. "

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