[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 58 (Wednesday, March 29, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S4836]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                    A MUSLIM VOICE AGAINST TERRORISM

 Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, recently, in Tikkun, a journal that 
comments on political and religious affairs from the Jewish 
perspective, I saw a comment under the title ``A Muslim Voice Against 
Terrorism'' by Iman Plemon T. El-Amin. He is an assistant to Iman 
Warith Deen Mohammed, and the journal comments: ``While Louis Farrakhan 
tends to be portrayed in the media as the dominant voice of Islam in 
the United States, Warith Deen Mohammed represents a significantly 
large following. This statement about Islam should be read by all those 
who claim that they never hear Islamic leaders speaking out against 
Hamas violence.'' There is a tendency, in the United States, and 
particularly in our media, to identify the word Moslem with the word 
radical or fundamentalist, so you constantly read about Moslem radicals 
or Moslem fundamentalists; and there is not an awareness that most 
Moslems practice their religion in a responsible way, just as most 
Christians and Jews and people of other beliefs do.
  The United States is becoming more and more a pluralistic society 
with people of many religious beliefs contributing to enriching our 
society. Among those whose numbers have grown significantly in the last 
decade are Moslems and Buddhists.
  The statement by Imam Plemon T. El-Amin is a good antidote for those 
who see Moslem voice only in forms of extremism.
  I ask that the statement be printed in the Record.
  The statement follows:
                     [From Tikkun, Vol. 10, No. 2]

                    A Muslim Voice Against Terrorism

                         (By Plemon T. El-Amin)

       Muslim voices against terrorism have not been silent, but 
     it is the trend, perhaps even the policy of major media, to 
     downplay the voice of reason, the voice of faith, and the 
     voice of principle, in favor of the shouts of the extreme, 
     the wails of the grief-stricken, and the threats of the 
     treacherous. The voices of peace, justice, mercy, and 
     tolerance are not difficult to find among Muslims and Islamic 
     media, who consistently denounce acts of terrorism and reject 
     them as illegitimate and unacceptable Islamic strategies or 
     methods.
       Imam W. Deen Mohammed, internationally and nationally 
     recognized leader of the largest identifiable Muslim-American 
     community, explained recently that: ``Islam insists that the 
     best human behavior be demonstrated even when engaging an 
     enemy in war, Our Prophet Muhammed (prayers and peace be on 
     him) ordered that civilians not be made the victims of war. 
     He (the Prophet) cautioned the Muslims to take care not to 
     attack those who were not bearing arms against them. Islam 
     and the Prophet's life require of us that we uphold justice 
     and be a peace-seeking people.''
       Muslims are guided and obligated by the Qur'an, which 
     reveals to us that we must not wage war for self-interest, 
     material gain, or mere retaliation. Muslims are to fight or 
     wage war only when someone hinders them from the worship and 
     work of God. And when we fight, we must reject barbaric 
     methods of warfare and doing any harm to women, children, the 
     elderly, the sick or wounded, and even to animals or 
     vegetation.
       Muslims are commanded by God to do justice to all, 
     irrespective of whether they are friend or enemy, under all 
     circumstances. God says in the Qur'an, ``O you who believe! 
     Stand out firmly for justice even as against
      yourselves or your parents or your kin, and whether it be 
     (against) rich or poor.'' (4:135) ``O you who believe! 
     Stand out firmly for God as witnesses to fair-dealing, and 
     let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve to 
     wrong and depart from justice. Be just, that is next to 
     piety. And be regardful of God, for God is well-acquainted 
     with all that you do.'' (5:9)
       The definition of jihad is not Holy War, nor can it be used 
     to justify terrorism. Imam W. Deen Mohammed has stated that 
     ``Jihad means struggle in everything that God has established 
     for Muslims to do. The emphasis on jihad in the Qur'an and in 
     the life of Prophet Muhammed was not for the purpose of 
     conquering lands or overthrowing nations, it was for the 
     purpose of liberating the higher instincts, the higher 
     aspirations in man.''
       Cowardly acts of terrorism upon innocent men, women, and 
     children is not a doorway to Heaven, but a gateway to Hell. 
     Blind aggression and retaliation are sins, and as Muslims we 
     reject these practices by our selves, our kin, our foes, the 
     rich, or the poor. Past and recent acts of terrorism that 
     victimize innocent human beings, such as the World Trade 
     Center bombing, the mosque assault by Baruch Goldstein, and 
     the recent suicide bombing in Tel Aviv are deplored by our 
     community and must be condemned by all God-conscious and 
     civilized communities, both Muslim and others. We must all 
     stand up for peace and toleration. Among both the 
     Palestinians and the Israelis are those guilty and 
     responsible for the many women and children left maimed and 
     dead. Each side has produced both perpetrators of violence 
     and victims of injustice.
       In Islam, one injustice, or even many, does not justify 
     another. Man's law and rule has failed both peoples. It is 
     time to embrace the law and rule of God, especially since 
     both people identify themselves as people who hold the rule 
     of God above the law of man.
       The voice of the Muslim is not mute. Our voice is that of 
     the Qur'an, and the life of the Prophet Muhammed. Both ring 
     with clarity that peace is to be loved and sought, and 
     terrorism is to be hated and rejected.
     

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