Muslims must stand up to extremists

Followers of Islam face a growing threat of becoming a pariah community in the United States, as a consequence of now frequent acts of mass-murder committed by co-religionists here and abroad.

Horrified by the war in Syria, violence in Africa, and in about 50 areas around the world, where Muslims interface with non-Muslims, and Muslims of different sects, disgust and fright at the rise of the Islamic State, cause otherwise tolerant Americans to set aside natural instincts for acceptance of others and their religion. Widespread violence in the name of Allah causes increasing numbers to perceive Islam as a religion of violence rather than a religion of love, as we have been told to believe by well-intentioned political, lay and religious leaders, in a misguided effort to avert an impending social disaster. This shift of popular opinion can no longer be prevented by misleading assurances from our leaders. To change the course of current events, at least in the United States, the problem must be addressed at its root.

The root is Muslim hatred—blind, bitter, persistent, mindless hatred, ancient in its origins, stemming in part from 109 verses in the Koran calling Muslims to war with non-Muslims, including:

Koran 2:191 “And kill them wherever you find them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out.”

Koran 3:56 “As to those who reject faith, I will punish them with terrible agony in this world and in the Hereafter, nor will they have anyone to help.”

Koran 8:12 “I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore, strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them.”

Koran 9:73 “Strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be unyielding to them; and their abode is hell, and evil is the destination.”

According to the website TheReligionofPeace.com, there is no place in the Koran where Muhammad commands Muslims to love people of other religions. By contrast, there are at least three-dozen verses that tell Muslims to fight against non-Muslims and about 500 that speak of their place in Hell. They are from each period in Muhammad’s life, scattered across 87 of the Koran’s 114 chapters.

These passages justify this hatred, communicated daily to Muslims from mosques, media, and most effectively to Muslim children via a world-wide network of schools, largely financed by Saudi Arabia, which are enormously successful in creating a culture of hatred which is roiling the world in violence.

There is still time to halt, and even reverse the trend of negative feelings for the American Muslim community by attacking the root of the problem. For this to happen, the following must take place: The Muslim community must become an engine of change. Muslims must acknowledge awareness of the antipathy which threatens them. They must openly agree to become assimilated Americans and abandon allegiance to Sharia law, which subjugates women, advocates honor killing and female genital mutilation and violence against gay people, and which is clearly incompatible with our Constitution and its concept of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The Muslim community must publicly condemn acts of violence committed by their co-religionists wherever they occur.

Muslim leaders must join the several Muslim groups such as American Islamic Forum for Democracy, which are actively attempting to reform Islam by ridding it of its advocacy of violence, and world domination.

Muslim terrorists pray in mosques around the country, many of which incite and recruit terrorists. Muslims must find the courage to cleanse their mosques of these violent elements.

To encourage these measures, our political, lay, and religious leaders must insist that the Muslim community adopt them, and themselves face and acknowledge reality, cease characterizing Islam as a religion of love, and cease the misguided practice of denying the use of terms such as “Islamic terrorism.”

In December of 2014, President Al Sisi of Egypt, in a display of extraordinary courage, called on the Islamic world to abandon its objective of achieving world dominance, and to reject violence as its way to settle differences. It is incumbent on our political, lay, and religious leaders to embrace and support President Al Sisi in his unprecedented, heroic position. By the same token, our leaders must support our friends, such as the Kurds, and must oppose, in equal measure, those such as Saudi Arabia, who are fueling Muslim hatred with the financial wherewithal to promote it.

In our generations, Nazism, and Communism, both lethal threats to world peace, have been defeated. Out of their ashes has arisen a new monstrous threat to the peace of the World and to Western Civilization. The threat, which has already engulfed much of Europe, now laps at our shores. The source of the motivation of our adversary is hatred, which can and must be expunged by the Muslim community in the United States. Failure to face and defeat this hatred will surely bring about isolation and contempt for American Muslims, and shame for all Americans.

This article originally appeared in the Jewish Journal and is reprinted with permission.

Robert I. Lappin is the founder of the Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation.