Mosques and Islamic Schools are the Wrong Targets

Category: Americas, Life & Society Topics: Madrasa, Mosque Views: 7727
7727

According to a recent report in the Newsweek, FBI has been asked to count local mosques to determine the goals of counter-terrorism investigations and secret wiretaps. Soon thereafter, a prominent national civil rights and advocacy group, the Council of American-Islamic Relations called on the government to rescind this senseless directive.

Mosques are a place for Muslim prayer, supplication, reflection, and study of the Islamic holy scriptures, just as a church and synagogue are for a Christian or Jew. It is not a place for useless or ill talk of any kind.  The rights of worshippers, in or outside of it, must be protected and its sanctity must likewise be guaranteed.

Similarly, Islamic schools and mosques in Muslim countries are often accused as a breeding ground for "terrorism." It is a flawed conclusion because it negates an established tradition of Muslim people. And, it wrongly looks at these as the basis for "terrorism."

Islamic schools teach the Islamic faith - its ethical and moral principles, and its scholarship, just as is done by Christian or Judaic schools for their faiths. Their curricula encompass, from the primary reading of the Quran and essentials of faith to the advanced Tafsir (Quranic exegesis), provided by a respected scholar, along with Hadith (sayings of the Prophet of Islam) and Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence).

These schools have been traditionally following the same curricula, over several generations and hundreds of years. And, there is nothing in the courses that could be remotely associated with terrorist teachings. In fact, the incidences of violence are very low among graduates from these schools.

This is because religion is the fountainhead of morals, providing incentive towards that which is good and a deterrent from that which is bad. Wherever religion is restricted, lax morals, crime, and corruption become widespread. Fanaticism and intolerance result from a misguided approach to religion: and pre-eminent Islamic scholars worldwide decry terrorism as a grave violation of the sanctity of life principle, especially of the innocent.

Actually, it is the secular schools, colleges, and universities where armed groups exist and incidents of terrorism occur. The miscreants involved in the 9/11 terrorist attack were all products of the secular, and not Islamic schools, including their leader, Osama bin Laden.

Often, a case against religious schools is made, by giving the example of Taleban. One could reasonably ask such critics, "Where did they learn this art?" It was actually during the war with the USSR, and they received this training with the active assistance of the United States.  Since this fact is generally acknowledged, the question, therefore, is, why should unrelated others be accused of it?

It has been concluded time and again by all concerned with Muslim countries - those who know better, that the cause of terrorism lies in the policies adopted by the West, and in particular the US towards the Muslim countries. Terrorism is an act of desperation by those deprived of their rights; all it needs in order for it to end, are just and fair solutions.

Muslim frustration with the United States is largely due to its unjust alignment with Israel against Palestinians, while Israel violates agreed upon accords and continues the occupation, raiding Palestinian homes and killing civilians and children with US supplied tanks, gunships and F16s.

It has instituted mindless cruel sanctions on Iraq, which, in a decade, have caused the death of 500,000 adults - mostly elderly, and more than 500,000 children with another 50,000 added annually, according to the UN reports.

And yet the advocates of neo-imperialism plan to annihilate them in an unprovoked pre-emptive war.

Siraj Mufti, Ph.D. is a researcher and free-lance journalist.


  Category: Americas, Life & Society
  Topics: Madrasa, Mosque
Views: 7727

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Older Comments:
ADAM FROM USA said:
i must endorse amins comments
wylie you are a bigot and consume alot of anti-islamic thougths. you have no sense in your common sense. good we dont have people like you running the country or we'll be doomed. all terrorists are muslims...was tim mcveigh excluded from your deduction. stop using anti-islamic thinking to blanket all muslims. it is absolutly true there is bad elements in every society but u go overboard. i have verbosity to define your ignorance. read and expand your "mind"
2003-03-24

KELELAWAR FROM MALAYSIA said:
'Israel is the right target, right to be killed and the right enemy'... sources of all evils.
2003-02-17

AMIN FROM USA said:
Mr. Wylie,
you obviously woke up on the wrong side of your history book this morning.
I guess you forget that communist terrorist groups supported by Russian were attacking American and western targets for years, the only reason we didn't make a war on terror can be summed up in three words "Mutually assured destruction"
Drug lords and organized crime bosses have used "terror" as a way to get money and political for years. South American rebels regularly take part in kidknappings high jacking, etc. Often the IDF bulldozes houses and shoots into the street and buildings to scare people into not supporting terror. Or sometimes just to abandon their villages.
I guess you also never heard of the Jewish Defense league, an American organizion that was caught trying to blow up a mosque at Ramadan and the office of an Arab Senator.
How about columbine? The Japanese cult that used chemical weapons, Tim McVeigh?
Not all terrorists are Muslim, just the ones they choose to dwell on right now.
2003-02-14

MAZINGER FROM USA said:
David Wylie, how about we target Churches and Synangogues where millions are collected for illegal settlements and other acts of supporting terrorism and occupation ? A scumbag like you just wants mosques targetted for humilation and racial profiling. Speaking of which....the 9/11 hijackers went out of their way to avoid contact with Muslims and Islamic institutions in order to keep their malevolent plans secret. I guess simply forgot that minor detail....
You're a lying peice of garbage David, and a bad one at that.
2003-02-14

KELELAWAR FROM MALAYSIA said:
'they made the wrong targets, killed wrong people, created wrong enemies, ...???'
2003-02-14

DAVID WYLIE FROM US said:
Who wrote this nonsense article? Mosques and Islamic school are the correct targets. That is where many of the 9/11 terrorist met each other. Certainly not all Muslims are terrorists and not all Muslims are bad people, but all terrorist are Muslims. They feel that blowing themselves up in areas where many people will die is the will of Alah, and they will receive 72 virgins for what they did in haven. If the US wants to decrease the frequency of terrorism in their own country, mosques and Islamic schools are starting place it investigate. That to me is common sense.
2003-02-13

SHIRLEY THOMAS FROM USA said:
thanks mazinger, for saying muslims aroung the world condemed the 9-ll incident.they are the true muslims, and fox news didnt even give that muslim lady(wife to one held on suspicion of activity) a while back a chance to give her side,even though, i guess they invited her own, she showed great patience(in true muslim form),although they were very biased as to his guilt without a trial,.they often do this when they want to bring someone on only to railroad them, whether this guy was guilty or not is up to trial a fair one, and they shouldnt bring anyone on to constantly interrupt, how rude Fox news,
2003-02-09

SHIRLEY THOMAS FROM USA said:
sadly to say,both churches and mosques have leaders that sometimes lead others to hate.this is an abuse of power.i was christian,attended church-anti muslim,and now am muslim.isee the hate from some of the best christian friends and family that i had,Its a shame that sometimes,churces and mosques are used for such as that,
2003-02-09

MAZINGER FROM UK said:
Oh shut up "John Adams" you flaky ignoramus. Muslims condemned 9-11 well and good, just because you looked the other way and ignored their statements doesnt mean they didnt do so. Mosques dont preach hatred, YOU Do with false and inflammatory rhetoric spoon fed by FOx, Cnn and other "free" press. Wahabees preaching hatred ? How do you explain millions of latin, Asian, African and European folk who are against US foriegn policy ? I guess the wahabees got to them first huh ? Oh maybe they read history and figured out fact from fiction.
Your lame claptrap is nothing but a rationalization for desecrating mosques and attacking Muslims. YOu're not fooling anybody.
2003-02-09

ZAFAR MOHAMED FROM USA said:
Slogan-spouting Islamists like the author lead mosques to be viewed as centers of subversive activity.
2003-02-08

JOHN ADAMS FROM USA said:
While many mosques are good and decent community centres serving their parishners, there are several in North America who are spreading hatred. Many mosques, world-wide are controlled by the Wahabis and in countries like Pakistan, these mosques blatantly preach hatred against Christains, Hindus, Jews, Shiite Muslims and anyone who defers from their literal and intolerant brand of Islam.

Since 9/11, Muslims have been at the recieving end of discrimination in the United States. However, I see very few of them coming out against the extremists who have hijacked their religion and whose actions have hurt the largely peaceful 1.3 billion muslim populace worldwide.

Have muslims, overall, developed such an Ostrich mentality that they cannot see what is so obvious!
That thanks to 9/11, a right-wing Govt. in Israel has become unfettered to carry out excesses against the Palestinians and the saffronized extremist Hindus in India went unnoticed internationally, whilst conducting a pogrom against its muslim population in Gujrat.

Unless Muslims cannot develop a sense of introspection, their decline and subsequent global ghettoization is inevitable.
2003-02-08

GMAX FROM USA said:
CC's contempt for Muslims is quite transparent, obviously this poor peon knows little and says a lot. Get an education kid.
As for Churches and Synogogues, they are houses of God, and should be respected, this is not to say that they have been used for other purposes.
Watching Israeli terrorists run their fund raising telethons from select synogogues is not nearly as amusing as the exploits of Trinity Broadcasting Network run by backward trailer park Christians who also use funds from their gullible viewers to fund illegal settlements and try their hardest to jump start their little Armageddon.....all done in Churches.
2003-02-08

AMIN FROM USA said:
Mr. Norman,
you caught me red handed that is ritght I don't have any proof that churches are being specifically used for such purposes or synagogues on that note.
I do know the JDL a organization that is strongly religious and Jewish plotted bomb attacks. I do know that Pat Robertson is saying Muslims needed to be liberated from the plague that is Islam and that they (muslims) should be irradicated from the planet. I know that there are hate attacks on Muslims and mosques regularly by conservative Christians in the US, whether this is staged out of churches is unknown this police are monitoring Mosques and not spending enough time searching out the culprits their organization or so on. By the way for militant Christian groups keeping weapons in Worship places, look where Jim Jones and David Koresh came from.
Most Christians and Jews are good, as are most Muslims, but the other two groups have their hidden dark sides (or not so hidden dark side in Israel) but then everyone (including Arabs) like to finger point.
You are right however Mr. Norman it seems every time my comments are short they are incomplete and do not fully express my thoughts. (not to meention my pou Speeling and me Grammmar)
2003-02-07

CC FROM USA/MEX said:
Dino: According to most current Islamic "Scholars" that post in this website anything that does not prove true their religious politics is a lie, part of a Crusade, and American propaganda to kill all Muslims in the world and control, because the USA is the Imperialist Satan, all the oil in the world.

In any case one of the few points that we should agree with them is to fight for a Free Palestion.
That is Free from Israel and Muslims Extremist that do more hurt then good to our Palestinian Brothers.
2003-02-07

DINO DEMARS FROM CUBA said:
Amin:

I believe you are correct in stating that similar activities occur in churches and synagogues, but that isn't the point of the article. The author seems to be taking the stance that these activities do not occur in any mosque, as mosques are '..not a place for useless, or ill talk of any kind'. This is clearly not the case for every mosque..

Whether or not some, all or none of the above religious institutions should be 'staked out' never entered into my comment.

Gmax:
'Doing a Google search is not how one learns basic facts on any issue'. That's funny - doing a search on Google is how I found this site. I think that most would argue that this exactly what Google is for. Would you care to suggest how someone should learn 'the basic facts on any issue'?
2003-02-07

JOHN NORMAN FROM UK said:
Amin: shouldn't your sentence read :"maybe there are mosques that do that and maybe there are churches and synagogues that do it also". Unless you have proof that churches and synagogues are stockpiling phony passports and credit cards and mini-arsenals, then you shouldn't spread wild rumours on the internet. It does Muslims no good to be both in denial and asserting untruths.
2003-02-07

CC FROM USA/MEX said:
oh! and what about this one. And I wonder how anti Islamic the good old USA is.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20030207-69320890.htm

How about a good reality check MR. IVIEWS.COM
2003-02-07

CC FROM USA/MEX said:
And you say they don't hide in Mosques and Schools?

Read this.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2735219.stm

If they are willing to disrupt the holiest of Islamic centers what will prevent them (Missed Guided Muslims) from perverting any other site including Mosques and Islamic Schools.
2003-02-07

GMAX FROM USA said:
Dinos comments are not nearly as funny as they are imaginative.
Abu Hamza is a paper tiger who is a magnet for anti-Muslim propogandists. Giving notariety to fringe and unknown elements as if they represent the majority is an old and abused tactic designed to forment hatred and hostility.
Doing a Google search is not how one learns basic facts on any issue, especially one demonstrating yet another mirage of hypocrisy and maliciousness by those who claim to be democratic.
2003-02-07

AMIN FROM USA said:
Dino,
maybe there are mosques that do these things, but there are churches and synagogues that house similar activies in America and no one is staking all of them out
2003-02-06

DINO DEMARS FROM CROATIA said:
I suppose propaganda is used by both sides of every issue, and that is exactly what this article is - propaganda. The article is conveniently ignoring what has been happening in the UK for the last month or so.

On January 21 anti-terror police found a mini-arsenal of weapons when they raided a London mosque linked to a number of key terrorist suspects inlcuding Zacarias Moussaoui and Richard Reid. A large number of passports, identity cards and credit cards were also found. Can anyone explain why these items are needed to '...study the Islamic holy scriptures'?

Just do a Google search on Abu Hamza, to see what sort of a link mosques -can- have to terrorism. Of course, the vast, vast majority of mosques and schools are as described in this article, but both sides have to realize that there is at least some truth in the other sides point of view.
2003-02-06