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Attack on America
Converts to Islam denounce the atrocities, disown those who carried them out and their fellow travelers.

Attack on America Editorial

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"When you see an evil act you have to stop it with your hand. If you can't, then at least speak out against it with your tongue.  If you can't, then at least you have to hate it with all your heart.  And this is the weakest of faith." - Prophet Mohammed (Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Number 79:)

"If anyone slew a person - unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people. Then although there came to them Our apostles with clear signs, yet, even after that, many of them continued to commit excesses in the land." - Quran 5:32

"The American flag symbolizes all of our Islamic values: freedom, civil liberties, and respect for human life." - Secretary General of the Muslim Society, USA, Shaker Elsayed.

USA
TODAY AWARD

 

Attack on America Editorial

The True Soldiers of Allah
Muslim Americans at the Crossroads: Reflections on September 11, 2001
Saraji Umm Zaid, Muslim, American, New Yorker shares her experiences of the past days and vents her rage at those Muslims who espouse the ideological agenda of those who inflicted such carnage upon her city.

On the Hijacking of Islam
If the terrorists that struck the USA last week were indeed Muslims, they have not only committed murder, which carries the death penalty, but have also committed a physical attack upon Islam by the damage they have done to its image. 
By English convert to Islam, Ruqaiyyah Waris Maqsood.

The Islamic Rules of Warfare
Michael Young details how the attackers of the World Trade Center, if indeed they were Muslim, flagrantly violated the most basic Muslim conventions of war.

Recapturing Islam from the Terrorists  
"Muslims cannot deny forever that doctrinal extremism can lead to political extremism. They must realise that it is traditional Islam, the only possible alternative to their position, which owns rich resources for the respectful acknowledgement of difference within itself, and with unbelievers."
by English convert to Islam, Abdal-Hakim Murad.

It's Time to Look in the Mirror  
"The anger being vented at Muslims in the west is the anger that Muslims should have toward the murderers that crashed into those buildings. We should be the ones so incensed and sad. We should be the ones putting together military forces to hunt them down and find them, then dispense justice - Islamic justice - toward them. They attacked our religion - Allah's religion!"
by American Convert to Islam, Abdul-Lateef Abdullah.

Yusuf Islam on September 11
Britain's first government-funded Islamic school closed temporarily last week amid a wave of anti-Muslim feeling. Its chairman of governors, Yusuf Islam - formerly the pop star Cat Stevens - explains why his adopted religion is the home of tolerance and not of fanaticism.
September 18, 2001

American Muslim Leaders Condemn Terrorism, Defend Muslims' Civil Rights
By Susan Domowitz, Washington File Staff Writer 19 September 2001

Taliban have "hurt Islam and distorted the reputation of Muslims throughout the world".  
Full text of the Saudi Arabian Government's statement on the breaking off of diplomatic relations with the Taleban
IslamForToday.com Tuesday, 25 September, 2001

 

External Links

Islam Hijacked
Rabbi Reuven Firestone, author of "Jihad: The Origin of Holy War in Islam" and Professor of Medieval Judaism and Islam at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles, offers his insights into the events of September 11.

Mainstream Muslims Condemn the Attacks

Islamic Scholars Call September 11 Attacks a Distortion of Islam
By Laurie Goodstein, The News York Times, 30 September 2001

Muslim clerics say attacks in US are un-Islamic  
Sheikh Mohammed Sayyed al-Tantawi of Al-Azhar, the highest institution in Sunni Islam, warned that those who attack innocent people will be punished by Allah.
Irish Times, September 14, 2001

We Need Spiritual Doctoring
Muslim American ER doctor Faiz Khan, M.D., on duty in New York on September 11, reflects on the incomprehensible suffering of that terrible day.

Islamic world deplores US losses 
BBC News, 14 September, 2001

Mohammed Ali defends Islam on tour of New York devastation  
Ananova, September 21, 2001

American Islamic scholar, Hamza Yusuf: Terrorists are mass murderers, not martyrs "It's politics, tragic politics. There's no Islamic justification for any of it."
The Mercury News (San Jose), September 15, 2001 

Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi Condemns Attacks Against Civilians: Forbidden in Islam
Islam Online, September 13, 2001

UK Muslims disown 'lunatic fringe'  
Members of Britain's Muslim mainstream majority yesterday rounded on the "tiny lunatic fringe" supporting the terrorist attacks on America.
By Richard Alleyne, Daily Telegraph (London) September 20, 2001

Ali's sorrow at terror attacks  
Boxing legend Muhammad Ali has made a morale-boosting visit to rescue workers in the rubble of the World Trade Center.
BBC News, 21 September, 2001

Australian Islamic Council Condemns Attacks in US  

Why?

Memo to Americans
In the wake of the September 11 attacks, Americans are asking, why are some Muslims so angry at the US that they would perpetrate such an inhuman act? And how could Islam be a source of motivation or justification for such an act?  Muqtedar Khan, Ph.D. offers some insights.

Looking for answers
What explains the hatred behind the worst terrorist attacks in US history?  And why has radical Islam sprung from Egypt and Saudi Arabia, two of America's key Middle East allies?
A PBS Frontline and New York Times co-production, October 12, 2001.

They can't see why they are hated
Americans cannot ignore what their government does abroad
Seumas Milne, The Guardian (London), September 13, 2001

Symbols of oppression
Faisal Bodi asks who and why
The Guardian, September 12, 2001 

Reaping the whirlwind
George Galloway (British Labour MP), The Guardian (London), September 12, 2001

Terror has come home
Rana Kabbani, The Guardian (London), September 13, 2001

We share your grief. You must share our concerns
'So may we not even say thoughtful things about the US without being branded in this way'
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown,  The Independent (London), 15 September 2001

 

What now?

"Some Muslims, and others, believe that the U.S. has seemed, at times, to link terrorism with Islam. This is not United States Government policy. It is important to recognize that terrorists are criminals. They are not identified by race, nationality, ethnicity, or religion."
U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC, December 2000

We Muslims must decry the Taliban
'If Muslims really believe that Islam can be a force for good, why do they choose to ignore those who corrupt this potential?' Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, The Independent (London), 10 September 2001

The best defence is justice
America's best defence against terrorism originating from abroad remains the existence of governments and societies more or less satisfied with American even-handedness on issues which are important to them.
Martin Woollacott, The Guardian (London), September 12, 2001 

It is not terrorism we are fighting - it is hatred
'The cliché about being tough on crime and the causes of crime must now be applied to international terrorism'
Fergal Keane, The Independent (London), 15 September, 2001

In the heart of darkness
When God seems all too distant, what’s the right response?
By Ira Rifkin MSNBC, 13 September, 2001

The lesson of history: Afghanistan always beats its invaders
By Robert Fisk, The Independent (London), 14 September, 2001

America should not squander its sympathy
Simon Jenkins, The Times (London), 14 September, 2001

Broken skyline, broken world
America awakens to a new reality: balancing security and freedom
Michael Moran, MSNBC, September 12, 2001

Don't inflate the size of the enemy to fit the crime
As in the Cuban missile crisis, the president still has choices
Martin Woollacott, The Guardian (London) September 14, 2001

YES, WE ARE AT WAR
A poem by Shahid Athar M.D.

 

The Backlash

Bush at Islamic Center Urges Tolerance towards American Muslims
"Americans who mistreat Muslims should be ashamed.  In our anger and emotion, our fellow Americans must treat each other with respect." - President George W. Bush
By Wendy Ross, Washington File White House Correspondent

Adding insult to nation’s injury
The anti-Arab backlash is decidedly un-American — and quite American
By Robert Jamieson Jr., SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER

This fireball of fear and loathing
All Muslims are now terrorists and, it seems, fair game. So we brace ourselves again for a period of bile and beatings and hate mail'
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, The Independent (London), 14 September 2001 '

Islam: Faith under fire
By BBC correspondent Mike Wooldridge, 14 September, 2001

Hiding in Brooklyn
Security patrols notwithstanding, Arab-Americans fear reprisals
By Fariba Nawa PACIFIC NEWS SERVICE, 12 September, 2001

 

Other Aspects

Personal accounts of both horror and humanity
Moving stories from survivors... and victims
The Guardian (London), 14 September, 2001

Terror in America: Muslims in Britain
Law fails to keep extremists at bay
London is still a haven for Islamic extremists preaching global terrorism, despite tough laws passed last year to curb their activities.
By Michael Binyon and Daniel McGrory, The Times (London), 15 September, 2001

Rule of Law Vs. Rule of War  - Are media missing the lesson of Oklahoma City?
"It's appalling how little mainstream media have discussed relying on the rule of law -- international law -- to pursue the foreign terrorists", says Jeff Cohen, founder of FAIR, the national media watch group based in Manhattan.

Death and Destruction - Why the story of the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty in 1967 has been suppressed
On June 8, 1967 during the Six Day War between Israel and the Arab States, the American intelligence ship USS Liberty was attacked for 75 minutes in international waters by Israeli aircraft and motor torpedo boats. Thirty-four men died and 171 were wounded.
Winning essay in the 1987 National Contest sponsored by the USS Liberty Veterans Association
By Sandra L. Sullivan.

The USS Liberty - America's Most Shameful Secret
On 8 June, 1967, Israeli jets and torpedo boats repeatedly attacked the USS Liberty, which was flying a large American flag. They killed 34 US seamen and wounded 171 out of a crew of 297, the worst loss of American naval personnel from hostile action since World War II.  Eric Margolis investigates the cover-up conspiracy.

Let level heads prevail
Attack coverage should stick to the facts
By Dan Fisher, MSNBC

Mainers studying tenets of Islam
Baptist theology students learn about Islam in the wake of September 11.
Judy Harrison, Bangor Daily News, September 22, 2001


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About this Site Basic Islamic Beliefs What's New
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