Boston Imam: We suffer 'double hurt'
http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2014/09/boston_imam_we_suffer_double_hurt
Atrocities
by ISIS terrorists and a report attempting to link an Oklahoma
beheading at a food plant to the Islamic Institute of Boston had the
founder of the Hub religious center telling the Herald
Atrocities by ISIS terrorists and a report attempting to link an Oklahoma beheading at a food plant to the Islamic Institute of Boston had the founder of the Hub religious center telling the Herald yesterday it’s a “double hurt” for his faith.
“Our situation is very bad,” said Imam Talal Eid. “Every time the word ISIS is mentioned, and it’s mentioned hundreds of times, Islam is being pushed into the middle of that. They are abusing Islam. They are not Islam.”
Eid’s comments come on the heels of reports that a “resident scholar” here in Boston was previously the leader of the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City — formerly attended by Alton Nolen, the man accused of beheading a co-worker in Oklahoma Thursday.
“Religion has nothing to do with that,” said Eid of the Oklahoma beheading. “In Newtown, nobody spoke of religion.”
Police say Nolen beheaded a woman and stabbed another at his former place of work, an Oklahoma food processing plant in Moore, an Oklahoma City suburb. Nolen reportedly had recently converted to Islam.
Eid said of Nolen, “He’s alive and will go to trial. If he says he was influenced by Islam, I will regret it.”
If Nolen proves to be radicalized, the mosque will suffer a similar blow dealt by the recent spate of ISIS beheadings, Eid said, calling those actions “barbaric.”
“We American Muslims are suffering a double hurt, and at the same time people are abusing our religion,” Eid said of all the gruesome attacks aimed at the U.S.
Eid said people should not judge Islam “based on the acts of people,” because those acts are not consistent with the religion.
“If I went to Iraq or any area controlled by ISIS, they will kill me,” Eid said, adding a female attorney was recently slain by ISIS in Iraq for her moderate beliefs.
Eid’s plea for humanity in the name of Islam echoed a similar sentiment from President Obama’s address to the United Nations in New York Thursday, where he encouraged religions and cultures to break away from dangerous extremism.
“As we look to the future, one issue risks a cycle of conflict that could derail so much progress,” Obama said. “And that is the cancer of violent extremism that has ravaged so many parts of the Muslim world.”
In Obama’s speech — which coincided with the launching of airstrikes against ISIS by the U.S. — he called the terrorist group a “network of death.”
He said America would not act alone, noting more than 40 countries have joined efforts to fight ISIS. He reiterated he won’t put boots on the ground.
The Pentagon said yesterday that it carried out its first strikes in a Kurdish area of Syria. Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates joined in the raids.
Atrocities by ISIS terrorists and a report attempting to link an Oklahoma beheading at a food plant to the Islamic Institute of Boston had the founder of the Hub religious center telling the Herald yesterday it’s a “double hurt” for his faith.
“Our situation is very bad,” said Imam Talal Eid. “Every time the word ISIS is mentioned, and it’s mentioned hundreds of times, Islam is being pushed into the middle of that. They are abusing Islam. They are not Islam.”
Eid’s comments come on the heels of reports that a “resident scholar” here in Boston was previously the leader of the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City — formerly attended by Alton Nolen, the man accused of beheading a co-worker in Oklahoma Thursday.
“Religion has nothing to do with that,” said Eid of the Oklahoma beheading. “In Newtown, nobody spoke of religion.”
Police say Nolen beheaded a woman and stabbed another at his former place of work, an Oklahoma food processing plant in Moore, an Oklahoma City suburb. Nolen reportedly had recently converted to Islam.
Eid said of Nolen, “He’s alive and will go to trial. If he says he was influenced by Islam, I will regret it.”
If Nolen proves to be radicalized, the mosque will suffer a similar blow dealt by the recent spate of ISIS beheadings, Eid said, calling those actions “barbaric.”
“We American Muslims are suffering a double hurt, and at the same time people are abusing our religion,” Eid said of all the gruesome attacks aimed at the U.S.
Eid said people should not judge Islam “based on the acts of people,” because those acts are not consistent with the religion.
“If I went to Iraq or any area controlled by ISIS, they will kill me,” Eid said, adding a female attorney was recently slain by ISIS in Iraq for her moderate beliefs.
Eid’s plea for humanity in the name of Islam echoed a similar sentiment from President Obama’s address to the United Nations in New York Thursday, where he encouraged religions and cultures to break away from dangerous extremism.
“As we look to the future, one issue risks a cycle of conflict that could derail so much progress,” Obama said. “And that is the cancer of violent extremism that has ravaged so many parts of the Muslim world.”
In Obama’s speech — which coincided with the launching of airstrikes against ISIS by the U.S. — he called the terrorist group a “network of death.”
He said America would not act alone, noting more than 40 countries have joined efforts to fight ISIS. He reiterated he won’t put boots on the ground.
The Pentagon said yesterday that it carried out its first strikes in a Kurdish area of Syria. Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates joined in the raids.
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