RNA - Leaders of San Diego’s Muslim community denounced Islamic State in Iraq and Syria Thursday, saying its brutality and extremist ideology has nothing to do with true Islam, U-T San Diego reported.
“My heart bleeds to know that there are those who would use my religion and commit atrocities,” said Hanif Mohebi executive director of the San Diego chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. “It is not an Islamic group.”
Mohebi’s comments came a day after Muslim leaders gathered in Washington, D.C., and released a lengthy letter penned in Arabic that refutes the claims of the Islamic State and its philosophy that justifies killing those who refuse to adhere to its hard-line tenets.
The letter signed by more than 120 Islamic scholars from around the world cites two dozen examples of where they say the Quran, the Muslim holy book, is at odds with what Islamic State has been espousing, including the killing of journalists and aid workers and persecution of Christians.
“We hope it reaches Islamic State and its followers and anyone who is thinking of joining it,” said Mohebi, whose group estimates 120,000 Muslims reside in San Diego County.
The open letter released a day earlier is addressed to the fighters and followers of the self-declared “Islamic State,” and asks that journalists stop referring to the group without using quotation marks.
“There is nothing new about the Muslim community saying this is not our religion,” Mohebi said. “We do ask that we try to understand that this group has nothing to do with Islam or Muslims, so when we use the name ‘Islamic State’ we should put it in quotations. When we don’t do that, we are part of the problem by telling young people who have no knowledge that this is an Islamic group when it is not.”
He also said referring to its military campaign as a “jihad” or defense for good purposes is a misuse of the term.
Joining with Mohebi in denouncing Islamic State were Imam Sharif Battikhi of the American Islamic Services Foundation, an outreach group. The Jordanian native condemned it as “evil group that kills innocents.”
“These people are not against political policies but against Islam itself,” said Battikhi, an Islamic scholar. “They may be Muslim by name, but by practices they are against Islam.”
Battikhi also said that solving the underlying problems in the Middle East that gave rise to Islamic State is critical.
Adib Mahdi of Pillars of the Community in San Diego said it was unfortunate that Muslims around the world are having to defend their faith in the wake of Islamic State beheadings, kidnappings and other brutal acts.
“We would hope that those that are participating in this philosophy will read the open letter and bring this to an end,” he said.
Wali T. Fardan, resident Imam of San Diego’s Masjidul Al-Taqwa mosque, said any notion that Islamic State is a true revolutionary organization is mistaken.
“Our challenge for in these times is for Islam to be represented by the average person,” Fardan said. “We can’t condone those who seek power in the name of religion and have no concern for their fellow man, their property and their freedoms.”
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