I have been sent a statement from Imam Talib Shareef, leader of "The Nation’s Mosque", Masjid Muhammad, located in Washington, D.C.
He released the statement in response to the recent murder of Jim Foley and all inhumane acts of ISIL.
As I am a Buddhist, not a Muslim, the views expressed do not necessarily reflect my views. As a practitioner of Nonviolent Communication (NVC), I do not condemn anyone, however much I oppose their actions. I do appreciate this and all statements in support of ending violence and I have reproduced part of the statement, with which I broadly agree, below.
Please join us for the Live Web Stream of the International Summit on Nonviolence tomorrow, Saturday the 23rd of August. For details, see: Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence.
The statement reads as follows:
"We join President Barack Obama and the world in offering heartfelt prayers and condolences to the family of Jim Foley and commend his life of service and sacrifice for humanity; and we stand with the world in strongly condemning the group ISIL for the inhumane, barbaric, cowardly, murder of all innocent life and their countless acts of extreme violence against humanity. We are continually outraged and bothered by senseless acts that do not uplift or bring peace to our souls and lives collectively."
The statement goes on to say, with reference to ISIL, "their 'state' is far from Islamic as their actions are not the actions of Muslims, the followers of Prophet Muhammad (saw) who taught and lived that we are never to the take the life of the innocent, that we are to respect and protect religious freedom and the houses of worship for Christians, Jews, and others, that we are to always seek peace over aggression and never be the aggressor, and that we are not to let the hatred of others cause us to swerve from just behavior. The Holy Qur’an states: O you who believe! Be upright firmly for Allah (G-d), as witnesses to equity and justice, and let not the enmity and hatred of others cause you to result to wrong or criminal behavior and depart from justice.
"Any person, no matter how desperate their situation, no matter how much their hearts are paining because of wrong that has been done to them, whether real or perceived, there is no justification for them to make innocent people the target of their terror or the target of their violent inhumane acts.
".... Prophet Muhammad said, 'The best of you are those who bring benefit to others, to society'; Jim Foley’s life of service puts him among the best."
IMAM TALIB M. SHAREEF, CM Sgt, USAF-Retired
President, Masjid Muhammad (The Nation's Mosque)
Imam/Chaplain, National Muslim American Veterans Association
Media Contact: Fitrah Muhammad, Executive Assistant
202-425-5815
imam@thenationsmosque.org
Fitrah@msn.com
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