Have muslim leaders critized terrorist groups?

Shellie13

Just came up in a conversation the other day that rarely has a muslim leader been heard publicaly critizing acts of terrorism by some members of the faith (in britain esp)...Now obviously the vast majority of muslims and muslim leaders are not terrorists and dont condone this behavior! Why dont they speak out against it strongly and publically? Surely this would improve the general public image of Muslims and perhaps provide an alternative religous outlet for some youth who seem to fall prey to terrorist organisations?!

Any ideas on the subject??? Has any one of significance publically denounced this?!

Dirk Gently

As far as I know most Muslim leaders do condemn acts of terrorism, with the exception of a very small number of hardliners.

I would be more worried about language used by Bush / Blair such as "Islamic fascists" and "islamofascists". Such language associates all Muslims with terrorism and polarises opinions into a with us or against us mentality. After the recent scare a few weeks ago the TV. was full of Muslim spokespeople condemning terrorist actions and promising to do all they can to turn people away from extremism. Unfortunately Muslims are now seen as the enemy, caused in part by poor use of language by Bush in particular and this acts to make Muslims defensive and angry at how they are been portrayed without distinction from the terrorists.

Most of the Muslim speakers I've seen condemn terrorism and also speak out against the foreign policy of Britain and America because they see it as terrorising Muslims throughout the middle east and fueling extremism at home. I largely agree with what the Muslim leaders had to say after the recent airport plot. They can condemn terrorism all they want but until the root cause of terrorism is addressed there will always be extremists willing to use force. Western countries dropping bombs on innocent muslims in the middle east doesn't exactly do much to help the situation.

Frank Grimes

I posted some links on another thread (link) that has some examples of Muslim condemnation of terrorism.

Zombrex

Shellie13 wrote:

Just came up in a conversation the other day that rarely has a muslim leader been heard publicaly critizing acts of terrorism by some members of the faith (in britain esp)...Now obviously the vast majority of muslims and muslim leaders are not terrorists and dont condone this behavior! Why dont they speak out against it strongly and publically? Surely this would improve the general public image of Muslims and perhaps provide an alternative religous outlet for some youth who seem to fall prey to terrorist organisations?!

Any ideas on the subject??? Has any one of significance publically denounced this?!

This seems to be a common myth on Boards.ie this month, not sure where it is coming from.

People seem genuninely surprised when they find out that nearly all Muslim leaders, including those in Palestine and Iran, have roundly criticied events such as 9/11 and 7/7.

Candle light vigals were held in Iran and Palestine after the 9/11 attacks, and hundreds of thousands of students held 5 minute prayers for the victims across the middle east and in Iran.

The simple fact is that terrorism in the west is not supported or condoned by the vast majority of Muslims and Muslim groups.

fly_agaric

Shellie13 wrote:

Why dont they speak out against it strongly and publically?

They have AFAICR. But those krazy terrorist kidz! They just won't listen because they've got a direct line to the Big Man upstairs!:(

freddyfreeload

You might find this link interesting...

Koranic duels ease terror

It's about a Yemeni cleric who has successfully "turned" Al Qaeda members away from violence.

ff