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Tulsa Muslim who condemns terrorism is kicked out of mosque

Ever wonder why more Muslims don't speak out publicly against terrorism and violence committed in the name of Islam? Ever wonder why you don't read more op-eds by Muslims like this?

Because of lack of knowledge of Islam, Muslim youth are misguided into believing by the so-called champions of the cause of Islam that the current spate of killings and barbarism, which has no equal in the recent civilized history, is jihad in the name of Islam. They are incited, in the name of Islam, to commit heinous crimes not pardonable by any religion and strictly forbidden in Islam....

Even mosques and Islamic institutions in the U.S. and around the world have become tools in [Al-Qaeda's] hands and are used for collecting funds for their criminal acts. Half of the funds collected go into the pockets of their local agents and the rest are sent to these thugs.

They are the reason for branding the peaceful religion of Islam as terrorism. The result, therefore, is in the form of Danish cartoons and remarks/reference by the Pope.

I appeal to the Muslim youth in particular and Muslims of the world in general to rise up and start jihad against the killers of humanity and help the civilized world to bring these culprits to justice and prove that Islam is not a religion of hatred and aggression.

I appeal to the Muslim clerics around the world that, rather than issuing empty fatwas condemning suicide bombing, they should issue a fatwa for the death of such scoundrels and barbarians who have taken more than 4,267 lives of innocent people in the name of Islam and have carried out more than 24 terrorist attacks on civilian installations throughout the world. This does not include the chilling number of deaths because of such activities in Iraq and Afghanistan, which is well over 250,000.

I appeal to al-Zawahri and his band of thugs to hand themselves over to justice and stop spreading evil and killing innocent humans around the world in the name of Islam. Their time is limited and Muslims of the world will soon rise against them to apprehend them and bring them to justice.

Jamal Miftah wrote those words in an October 29, 2006, Readers' Forum op-ed in the Tulsa Whirled. In "thanks" for his bold writing against Islamic terrorism, he has been expelled from the Islamic Center of Tulsa, the mosque which owns the old Stevenson Elementary School building north of 51st between Yale and Sheridan. He also says that he has been he subject of threats of violence. He has been told that he cannot come back to the mosque unless he takes back what he wrote. Oklahoma City's KWTV News 9 has the story.

In his op-ed, Miftah mentioned that he, his wife, and their four children came to the U. S. in 2003 from Pakistan, near the Afghanistan border. He lost a dear friend who chose to follow al-Qaeda and fight against the U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan. Please keep the Miftah family in your prayers for safety. The Muslim engineers that I've known and worked with in Tulsa are much more like Jamal Miftah than those who ejected him from the mosque. These Muslims love America, they love the American way of life, and they are apologetic for the terrorism done in Islam's name. To them, jihad is the inward struggle to subdue the passions, not conquering the land of the infidel.

What he says about American mosques collecting aid for terrorism may well be true. For years, Irish social clubs in America collected money which, whether the donors knew it or not, went to fund the operations of Irish nationalist terrorist groups. Certainly the opposite is true: many American mosques have received capital and operating funds from Arabic Muslim groups who hold to strict Wahhabi Islam.

(Via See Dubya, who pointed me to the story on Atlas Shrugs and Isaac Schrödinger, where you can read further comments.)

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Comments (6)

To them, jihad is the inward struggle to subdue the passions, not conquering the land of the infidel.

I'm sure Mr. Miftah and those like him are sincere in believing this. I'm also sure that the best way to evaluate the true nature of jihad in Islam is to examine it in the life of Muhammad. By that test, it certainly seems like it revolves around conquest and forced conversions, which would indicate that Mr. Miftah and others are fighting something of an uphill battle.

Nevertheless, I wish him the best.

profligatewaste:

Little Green Footballs now has a post up on this.

I like how he has been here 3 years and speaks English.....

this is very dire news indeed...if there is no such thing as "moderate" Islam in the heartland of America, it does not exist...i've linked your post at my site...

Greg Bledsoe:

Michael: After reading this post today I was concerned and contacted some friends who I thought might know about this matter. I got a quick response fron the Ex. Dir. of the Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry, Jim Mishler. It is reprinted below.

Greg:

I had the opportunity to discuss Bates' blog with Dr. Sandra Rana, who serves on the Shura (the Tulsa's mosque's governing board).

She reports the following::

  • First, the blog is incorrect in its most important statements. The mosque did not "expell" the man and he has not been told he can return only following an apology for the article.The Shura has not taken any official position on the article nor on censuring its author. In addition, the Islamic Society of Tulsa has strict rules about and is very careful in who it gives money. Only organizations on the USA approved list are given contributions from IST.
  • Then, about the incident. The man was physically removed from the mosque's prayer center by the Tulsa Police Department after a discussion about the article became an argument which ended with the author cursing, threatening to hit someone and refusing to leave when requested. The building supervisor called the police at that time. A restraining order was filed but was ended after 2-3 days by request of the mosque's leadership. He can attend prayer services at the mosque without restriction as long as he acts in an appropriate manner during prayers.
Hope this helps.

Jim Mishler

Greg, thanks for passing that along.

It is Mr. Miftah's understanding that he is not welcome at IST until he recants. Even if he has not been formally banned, it may be that fellow congregants have communicated unofficially that he is unwelcome until he recants.

Also, nowhere do I (or Miftah) write that IST has given money to terrorist groups, and I'm happy to hear that IST has strict rules about its giving. But Miftah believes that some American mosques "have become tools in [Al-Qaeda's] hands and are used for collecting funds for their criminal acts," and that seems plausible to me based on a similar situation involving Irish Republican terrorist groups.

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