‘You Do Not Speak For Us,’ American Muslim Leaders to ISIS
American Muslim leaders have warned ISIS about not speaking for them in the wake of a mass shooting in a gay club which left 50 dead.
Nihad Awad, speaking for the Council on American-Islamic Relations told reporters that the shooting was “a hate crime, plain and simple.”
The organisation has, since the attack, urged the Muslim community to donate blood after a shortage due to the high number of victims.
“We condemn it in the strongest possible terms,” Awad said.
“It violates our principles as Americans and as Muslims. I have a word for Isis and their supporters. How would you stand before God and answer for your crimes against innocent people – thousands of innocent people – Muslims, Christians and other minorities?”
“You do not speak for us. You do not represent us. You are an aberration,” he added.
“They don’t speak for our faith. They never belonged to our beautiful faith. They claim to, but the 1.7 billion people are united in rejecting their extremism, their interpretation and their acts and senseless violence.”
The All Dulles Area Muslim Society, in Washington DC, who is on the board of the Islamic Society of North America, said the mass shooting should “not be used to vilify or stereotype peaceful, law-abiding Muslims in America.”
“We were outraged by this horrific shooting,” he added.
50 people were killed and 53 injured on Sunday in the shocking terrorist hate crime attack, which saw a gunman open fire inside The Pulse gay bar in Orlando, Florida. ISIS has since claimed responsibility for the attack, which was perpetrated by US citizen Omar Mateen. The majority of the victims were Latino.
In a statement, President Obama mourned the victims of the homophobic hate crime attack and called for greater restrictions on arms sales.
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20 Comments
Mandy
June 15, 06:06These Muslim Americans are sha facing a dire future should Donald Trump (God forbid!) win the election.
Shuga chocolata
June 15, 06:35You’re right Mandy, DT will show them pepper….
He has said it in all his campaign.
I pity all my Muslim friends shaaa.
Canis VY Majoris
June 15, 06:37As if they’d have said anything other than that. All these predictable open statements and speeches are so boring and unimpressive. However, I was privileged to watch Donald Trump’s CNN speech in light of the Orlando Shooting and I must admit listening to someone who doesn’t care about being “politically correct” or “mass appeal” was quite entertaining and I think I enjoyed it more than I should have. I personally look forward to what he’d do IF he wins the election. The next 4 years will be very entertaining.
pete
June 15, 08:20Thought I was the only one who enjoyed his post-Orlando speech
Truth
June 15, 08:31anyone who supports Donald Trump is just as clueless as he is.
If he ever wins that election, and that’s a big “IF”, the world as we know it will end.
pete
June 15, 10:38One thing peculiar with online comnents’ sections is leaving substance to throw insults. Trump’s post-Orlando’s speech was centered around tackling radical Islam which accounts for a high proportion of terrorist attacks.
Saying anyone one who supports Donald Trump is as clueless as he is is not only wrong, it doesn’t give room for intellectual discourage. The world as we know it will not end whether Trump wins or not.
Canis VY Majoris
June 15, 11:07Thank you! I’m yet to identify the one tangible thing the Obama 8 years Administration has done for me as a Nigerian living in Nigeria. So whether or not Donald Trump wins or not, I could care less. USA can vanish off the earth’s surface tomorrow and I’d still have to endure the annoying Lagos traffic that same day, although I hope it’ll be declared a work free day at least.
Truth
June 15, 11:46@Canis, you do realize that US has a nuclear arsenal capable of decimating this entire planet? With the way Mr Trump is going, he’s most likely to make enemies very quickly if he becomes president, enemity causes war, war brings about pain and suffering and the use of weapon of mass destruction. It’s convenient to sit in the safety of your house cheering a clueless man, but when the chips are down, Lagos traffic would be the least of your worries. The shitty country you live in depends on the western world (US being a major one) for alot of things.
It’s quite amusing that you’d choose to support a man who wouldn’t have you marry the love of your life, a man who still think that something is fundamentally wrong with you.
Francis
June 15, 22:57You may think Trump winning doesn’t affect you but what of foreign aid? The man is fiercely against dumping money in Africa and our useless leaders are doing shishi to get us to stand on our own.
HIV funding don drop immensely with drug scarcity hitting us wella at the moment. Wait till Trump comes in and we’d have a calamity on our hands.
Truth
June 15, 11:37Donald Trump is a die hard homophobe, if that’s not enough reason for you to despise him, then I don’t know what else.
Tiercel de Claron
June 15, 11:44Trump a homophobe?.That’s a new one.
You have proof,links?
Truth
June 15, 11:48@Tiercel, Trump’s homophobia is something that shouldn’t even be up for debate, it’s just like asking if Niger Delta Avengers are really destroying oil platforms. Kindly use Google wisely.
Thank you.
Tiercel de Claron
June 15, 12:56Dude,Trump is widely known to be pro-gay n abortion rights when he was a Democrat.Not bringing it up now in order not to offend his base doesn’t change that.I’m no Trump supporter,u can accuse him of many things but not that.
Its you who should stop being ignorant and make good use of that Google.That you think being republican equate bigotry don’t make it true,that’s what we call conflation,a product of conscientious stupidity.
Canis VY Majoris
June 15, 12:17@Truth, you’ve made valid points, but they are all circumstantial, especially the bit about him not allowing me marry the man I love, because there are closer anti-same sex union advocates who are less whimsical and more oppressive. That being said, I am not a supporter, even if I were it is of no consequence as I haven’t the power to put him in the white house.
Also, the world is due for another world war and it will happen with or without Donald Trump.
Lorde
June 15, 13:12I’m sure you have no plans to visit the US in the nearest future (5years future to be exact). Cause if you do, you won’t be given a visa if he wins.
ambivalentone
June 15, 10:47I laugh, I snort, and I ignore. Frankly their kind have shed so much blood wantonly and even recently they can never speak truth. I am only thankful Jesus gave Christianity a semblance of civility (hypocrisy???) or else, this world would be even less bearable than it is already with the Judaism we practise.
Delle
June 15, 10:47Oh please! I’m not falling for this sham. What about Boko Haram? Al Qaeda? Muslims may be very true to their faith, but they are cold-minded monsters. Is Awad saying his faith doesn’t disapprove of two-men kissing?
Muslims are to be blamed. Their dehumanising methods of passing across info, it’s obvious. A muslim killed those 50 people and injured the 53.
ISIS kor. Mtcheew.
Truth
June 15, 11:53I havn’t seen a religious group display such propensity for violence in my time as Muslims. I’m still trying to find a connection, I know it’s somewhere in the books, but die hard followers of the faith wouldn’t agree with that correlation.
Terra
June 15, 12:26I may catch some flak for this. Here’s the thing though. I hear Islam is a religion of peace and all that, and I hear that most Muslims would not do this. They say that the like of IS are misinterpreting or whatever. The way I see it though, if your doctrine is so easily and so often misinterpreted to mean “kill lots of innocent people”, there is something fundamentally wrong with the doctrine. How many Hindu practitioners have blown themselves up? How many Buddhists have beheaded people or mowed people down with assault weapons? That’s the problem I have with Islam
Duke
June 15, 20:35The words i have earnestly always said in my head, but political correctness wouldn’t let me.