Profiling Muslims

Submitted by Wes Landen (United States), Jan 27, 2003 at 00:25

Your observation that "singling out a class of persons based on their religion feels wrong" may apply with religions which clearly oppose terrorism. However, Islam does not leave us with that assurance.

We have heard too many reports of Imams and Muslim teachers who speak in favor of Muslim terrorist and terrorism. Until we know that Muslims will no longer tolerate such from their leaders, but rather will strip them of their authority when they advocate such evil, we will look with distrust on the Muslim community.

So long as leaders of Islamic groups fail to condemn, uniformly and unequivocally, acts of terrorism, Islam takes a black eye. We expect those leaders to condemn terrorism without qualification. When we hear statements from those leaders which include such weasel words as "except for the Palestinians in their just cause against Israel," we hear an Islamic endorsement of terrorism.

Islamists may be the small and extreme subgroup of Islam. Nevertheless, the remainder of Islam is suspect so long as they or their leaders continue to embrace terrorists or terrorism, or to excuse such behavior or teaching. The rest of the world has a reasonable right to expect a clear repudiation and renunciation of terrirism, backed with unequivocal action to excise such cancers from their religious body.

I have known some delightful Muslims who are truly a peaceful and peaceloving people. I would love to think that all Muslims were such people.

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".