There still are good muslims out there...

Our media for some reason has a hard time showing the outrage at times by the Muslim community...I wonder if they realize that they have a big hand in perpetuating this terrorism or are they just so far gone that they feel they are doing us some type of service...Why not have some Muslim groups who are outraged getting some more air time on the news during the evening news?

Here are some articles I have come across that touch on acts of bravery and this video clip from the below link allows a few Muslims to speak on camera around their feelings towards the shooting in France..

Euronews

On a website called the "Foreign Policy Association" there are a few stories about some Muslims who refused to help ISIS and as a result were killed.
Link to Foreign Policy Association

Many people in the west often ask why Muslims don’t take a stronger stand against terrorism in general and ISIS in particular, especially given the fact that the main victims of ISIS atrocities are non-westerners living in the Middle East, many of whom are Muslim. The U.N. reported that in the first eight months of 2014, at least 9,347 civilians were slaughtered in Iraq, mostly by ISIS. While many of the victims were Yazidis, Christians, and other minority groups, the UN in a recent report documented many instances of Muslims also being slaughtered.

According to a report in The Daily Beast, ISIS slaughtered three Sunni Muslim women for refusing to provide medical care to members of ISIS; a Sunni imam was murdered for refusing to swear allegiance to ISIS; a Muslim was abducted and beheaded for refusing to swear allegiance to ISIS; a Muslim female doctor was murdered for organizing a protest against the ISIS law that Muslim female doctors must wear face veils; Sunni mosques have been blown up because their Imams refuse to support ISIS; and the list goes on. So many in the West ponder, why don’t more Muslims do more to speak out against these atrocities?

In the video, a young man declared, “Torturing the innocent is barbarism.” Another young man states, “Our religion commands us to help one another,” while still another one stresses, “Islam is freedom and respect.” Even little boys participate, declaring, “Islam is the religion of my forefathers. Islam is good conduct and moral values.” A little girl emphasizes, “Islam means to love one another.” An old woman wearing a hijab proclaims, “Islam is a religion that requires good conduct in practice.” It concludes with a young man stating, “The youth say no to terrorism.”

There were reports of a Muslim school in France holding up signs by children that stated "Not In My Name". This is the stuff that needs to be seen not only to show solidarity but to let the Muslim terrorists see how much of minority their views are...it certainly will not change their point of view but I think it's important to those non Muslim to see that.

Here is a good site that conveys the message of condemnation against Muslim terrorist attacks..
Link


Here is an article from September 2014

Muslim protest in Germany against jihadists Two thousand mosques in Germany have been urged by Muslim leaders to use their Friday rituals to protest against injustice and hate. Their campaign aims to counter shock-image beheadings by terrorists in Syria and Iraq.

Link

I'm just so frustrated that people are using religion, race and prosperity as a Trojan Horse for crimes against humanity.

a reply to: chrismarco

A statement issued by a number of British imams says: "Following such a shocking event, the Imams of the UK voice their outrage and strongly condemn such brutality in the strongest terms. Nothing is more immoral, ugly and offensive to the Prophet Muhammad and insulting to Muslims than murder in his name."

Here is a statement from British Imams on yesterday's despicable attack.



But you're still going to get people in here who say it's not enough!

That's the way the cookie crumbles, sadly.

a reply to: chrismarco

Actions speak much louder than words. Actions are reserved for those truly committed to ideas.

I will just share what i posted the other day in response to people who refuse to believe that the Muslim community condemns attacks:

Why is it expected that the majority of Muslims have to speak up and condemn attacks by terrorists who do not represent them? Everybody expects Muslims to stand up and condemn every attack, every extreme action. They are unreasonable expectations, but they are expectations which get answered.

You want some examples of Muslim condemnation of extremists? Here you go:

This page focuses on condemnations of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and other terrorist incidents since then as well as of terrorism in general. It is not a complete listing of all condemnations written or spoken by Muslims but is intended to provide a representative sample.

It has often been claimed in the media that Muslims are "silent" and do not condemn terrorism. This page is intended to refute that claim. Muslims have not been silent. Not even close. See also How American Muslims Really Responded to September 11 for more information about the Muslim response to 9/11. And another listing is at Statements Against Terror. Also Muslim Voices Against Terrorism. Related commentary at Friedman Wrong About Muslims Again , by Juan Cole and The Myth of Muslim Condemnation of Terror by Ali Eteraz.

www.muhajabah.com...

Fatwa on Terrorism and Suicide Bombings is a 600-page (Urdu version), 512-page (English version) Islamic decree by scholar Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri which demonstrates from the Quran and Sunnah that terrorism and suicide bombings are unjust and evil, and thus un-Islamic. It was published in London as a book...This fatwa is a direct refutation of the ideology of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. It is one of the most extensive Islamic anti-terrorism rulings, an "absolute" condemnation of terrorism without "any excuses or pretexts" which goes further than ever and declares that terrorism is kufr under Islamic law.

en.wikipedia.org...

On the question of whether attacks, such as suicide bombings, on civilians are ever justified in defense of Islam, Muslims in America are strongly on the less-violent end of the global spectrum. In the US, 81 percent of Muslims say such violence is never justified, a slightly higher share than the survey’s global median of 72 percent.

www.csmonitor.com...

“The undersigned, leaders of Islamic movements, are horrified by the events of Tuesday 11 September 2001 in the United States which resulted in massive killing, destruction and attack on innocent lives. We express our deepest sympathies and sorrow. We condemn, in the strongest terms, the incidents, which are against all human and Islamic norms. This is grounded in the Noble Laws of Islam which forbid all forms of attacks on innocents. God Almighty says in the Holy Qur’an: ‘No bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another’ (Surah al-Isra 17:15).”

kurzman.unc.edu...

Terrorism cannot be born of religion. Terrorism is the product of corrupt minds, hardened hearts, and arrogant egos, and corruption, destruction, and arrogance are unknown to the heart attached to the divine.

www.themuslimtimes.org...

Muslim leaders have issued a fatwa condemning Islamic extremist group Isis, and have said that British jihadis are “betraying their own societies” by getting involved in the conflicts in Iraq and Syria.

www.independent.co.uk...

AUSTRALIA’s most senior Muslim cleric, the Grand Mufti, has joined Muslim community leaders in condemning the Sydney siege.

Professor Ibrahim Abu Mohammed called the actions of the hostage taker — who has brandished an Islamic flag adopted by jihadists known as The Black Standard — as a “criminal act”.

“(We) have been devastated by the recent news that (has) been circulated in the media agencies about the reported hostage incident unfolding in Martin Place,” he said in a statement.

www.news.com.au...

More than 40 Australian Muslim groups on Monday condemned the siege taking place at a Sydney café where hostages are being held by an assailant displaying an Islamic flag.

"We reject any attempt to take the innocent life of any human being or to instill fear and terror into their hearts," the Muslim officials said in a statement, according to AFP.

www.haaretz.com...

The Muslim Council of Britain has said it condemns the terror attack in Paris which has left 12 dead.

In a statement, a spokesman said: "Whomever the attackers are, and whatever the cause may be, nothing justifies the taking of life."

www.itv.com...

And here are some protests for you:

About 1,500 people have taken part in a rally against terrorism in Glasgow, organised by mosques and Islamic groups.

It comes a week after a car burst into flames after being driven into the terminal building at Glasgow airport.

news.bbc.co.uk...

PARIS -- In tweets, in street gatherings and in open letters, moderate Muslims around the world are insisting that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) extremists don't speak for their religion. Many are also frustrated that anyone might think they do, and a backlash has already begun.

This week's videotaped beheading of a French mountaineer by militants linked to ISIS prompted heartsick fury among Muslims in France and elsewhere in Europe, torn between anger at the atrocities committed in the name of Islam and frustration that they have to defend themselves at all.

Herve Gourdel was the fifth Western hostage decapitated in recent weeks by Islamic extremists - this time, the militants said, as revenge for France's decision to join airstrikes against ISIS.

"He was the victim of a cowardly murder," Dalil Boubakeur, rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, told hundreds of Muslims Friday, according to Reuters. "Islam demands respect of life ... The Koran tells us that to kill one man is to kill all humanity," he said.

The head of France's largest mosque called for Muslims to rally Friday in Paris to condemn Gourdel's slaying and show unity against terrorism, saying Islamic State's "deadly ideology" had nothing to do with Islam. Within hours of the call, the rector of the Bordeaux mosque, Tareq Oubrou, said French Muslims need not demonstrate in the name of Islam - but should be joined by everyone.

www.cbsnews.com...

I urge you to reconsider your position. Most Muslims are moderate and friendly people. Don't let ignorance and judgement cloud your perspectives.

a reply to: InverseLookingGlass

Tell that to Ghandi & MLK!

Vast majority of Muslims are like us,decent people with morality

To be honest I wouldn't expect any love or compassion from Muslims in countries our war machines have steamrolled through on lies spun to deceive our nations and the bigoted racists we see here and in the media who have the audacity to label these victims the bad guys

It's a crazy world we live in when the aggressive war monger nations can do as they wish and the media does it's best to reverse the rolls and paint them as the victims

The Media are to blame they are all in the pocket of the string pullers who behind the scenes manipulate them for even more financial gains

The Muslim people I know are all normal to me. They all wished me a merry Christmas, one even gave me some Christmas decorations ...
In our organisation the 'muslims' picked up extra shifts so us catholics could all be together and have a merry one.

So what do you mean with... there are good ones?

How about:
There are bad ones.

They're just like all other people.

(You know: human)

I'm sure there are "good Muslims" in the world--perhaps billions. But the fact is this last massacre was perpetuated by Muslim Terrorists who did what they did because of their extreme Muslim beliefs. These weren't Christians, Jews, or atheists. These people killed dozens PRECISELY BECAUSE they had the gall to make fun of Allah.

People make fun of Jesus all the time on these boards. In fact, it's considered cool. And nobody seeks out these people for destruction. It simply doesn't happen. But point out issues with the Muslim religion and you can expect two things:

1. Muslim fanatics will scream for your death.
2. Western apologists will insist Islam is not really involved.

Well, it IS involved, and being in denial about this is a serious "ostrich with its head in the dirt" reaction. Pretending it doesn't exist is just going to perpetuate it until "Sharia Law" is declared everywhere.

No, this doesn't condemn all Muslims. But the billion peaceful Muslims aren't doing much about it either, are they? Where are the Imams who could come out and condemn this behavior? Are they afraid to speak? Are silently supporting the issue? Who knows, but they are conspicuously absent from this discussion.

Now, didn't Christians commit similar atrocities in the past? Sure they did. The Inquisition is a good example. If you want to throw in the Crusades, by all means do so. But Christians got over it. That kind of behavior is no longer tolerated and any Christian sect that advocates that sort of thing is widely condemned and shunned--by other Christians.

But Muslim extremists, all over the world, deface and destroy cultural icons from other religions, routinely cry "Death to the Infidels," and generally run a Reign of Terror over the Muslim world.

The fact is it is the 21st century. And it's time for the Muslim Community to police their own and join it. It's not 800AD any more.

a reply to: chrismarco

What puzzles me is when I see a muslim say that these terrorists/extremists don't represent 'Islam' when it's very clear that they do.

Anjem is one of those who loves it when a terrorist strikes and all those who follow him love it too. Now when they preach in the Mosques, what do you think they are influencing young minds with?

I do feel for the Muslim community for being tarnished with the same brush as terrorist. Over a billion Muslims cannot be blamed for the actions of a few.

Unlike most other religions, anyone can be an Iman and here lay the problem. A fundamentalist with a warped view of Islam can then preach at a Mosque. Young minds are then influenced to carry out atrocities.

Perhaps Imans should only be allowed to preach with approval from a "National Muslim elders council".

Would also help if there was a media blackout of all terrorist attacks. Probably a hard pill to swallow but these tactics were used by countries in the World Wars to stop the enemy knowing if their V 2 bombs had an effect. Stop all media coverage from the Middle East and starve the PR machine for ISIS and other terrorist organisations.

I may be wrong in my opinion and that is all it is, but something has to be done as the status quo is not working.

Yeah just like there's still good Christians, Jews, atheists, gays and blacks out there but don't let common sense get in the way of popular, currently acceptable views....

Play into the media's hands and you'll all end up in a hole with no way out. Don't play into their hands and just maybe the world will end up better for everybody, but it's thin ice. Most would rather be blinded by the media, the perpetuated racist nonsense, the division. No one wants to truly unite because that means compromising and bruised egos. It would hurt to walk after for many if they had to unite.

Tough, either we unite for all of us and join eachother or we end up being more oppressed than ever.

a reply to: chrismarco

There are definitely 'some good Muslims' out there if we look at basic statistics. Arguably, Muslims represent over 1.5 billion humans on this planet; we're looking at about a quarter of the religious population of Earth. As such, they cover the spectrum of good to bad in the same way as any other multi-million population e.g. Christians, Mormons, Hindus.

If we look at the old Bell Curve, we can expect those on either side of the x axis to represent 'normal' people who are generally good with some elements of 'bad.' The percentage equates to ~68%


Some 68% of that '1.5 billion' is over a billion people.

These would be important things to see, I agree. I do not know any Muslims at this point in my life. I have worked with a few when I was in customer service a few years ago and I found them kind and considerate and not at all pushy as a lot of people try to label them.

When this type of thing happens many people are quick to judge all by the actions of a few. I worry about this, because I fear a backlash will come that could be seen as a way to rid places of not just the Muslim faith but all faiths. People are quick to anger and no matter that there is no logic in blaming someone for another's actions, we humans do it anyways. I fear the push to first rid our western countries of Muslims, then Christians, then Jews, then Buddhists, then and then &c. Whether or not this is actually feasible or not I do not know.

We all have to learn to recognize that individuals are responsible for their own actions. I look at these and similar threads and see that Christian whites as a whole are still being blamed for things they took no individual part in, because obviously no one alive today was alive then(as in, crusades, slave owners). I am not trying to change the topic I am trying to make it known that we are only responsible for the actions we ourselves take. We need to learn to place blame solely where it belongs and not allow things like this tragedy to divide us even more. This tragedy is a good thing for tptb. When divided we fall easier, our rights are theirs for the taking. I'll admit my first reaction was to blame their religion then I took a step back and realized how wrong that is to do. I do not want to be divided anymore, I want my children to grow up in a tolerant world with other children whose parents want the same thing.

It is always okay to not share in the same faith and beliefs as others but let us please not get to the point where we want to rid the world of all who have faith because a small percentage skewed the information up and are using it for their evil gains. There is evil in those of faith and there is evil in those who lack it but none of them speak for all.

The media will only put out what sells the most, if they were shown that compassion and human solidarity is more important to their audience then they would put those types of articles out more. We need to be the change before we see it in the media.

a reply to: InverseLookingGlass

They speak but nobody listens...

Yes, and did you know that there were many, many good Germans, Italians and Japanese around the world during WWII, too? I'm not being sarcastic. It's true. The problem is that it did not save them from undergoing suspicion and tough times. I fear the same will be true for the good Muslims, and I am very sorry for that.

We should all attempt to keep our perspective going forward because times are only going to get worse before they get better where this issue is concerned. Radical Islam is very much akin to Nazi Fascism in its determination to take total control if it can, possibly worse as it has religious zealotry on its side.

Sort of like the Nazi's when they purged the SA or carried out political assassinations they would then feign mock outrage and vow to get the evildoers I doubt even ten per cent of these proclamations are genuine.

a reply to: schuyler

Now, didn't Christians commit similar atrocities in the past?

Christians are committing atrocities in the present - or is the USA not a predominantly Christian nation?

You will probably see this post as me doing a little Christian bashing - but, I'm afraid I just can't let statements like that stand without some kind of rebuttal

I've heard more than a few Christians demand, in the name of Christianity, that the Muslims be bombed back into the stone age - here at ATS and everywhere - outside.

Many people in our government demand that our country be governed by Christian principles - at both the state and federal level. Our congressmen, our senators - our presidents...

We made up a story about WMDs and destroyed a country - or two...

We didn't do this as Christians then - this was a legitimate secular war? We're a Christian country sometimes - but not when it's politically inconvenient

a reply to: chrismarco

There are many - I've known a few - been very close to several. What are the chances that I would know the only truly good, peaceful Muslims on the planet?

It's ridiculous the charges that are being leveled against all Muslims by people unwilling to think

Radical Islam is an actual threat to a great many people - not the least of which are the Muslims themselves

Extremism is a destructive force - and there are extremists in ever group of people vying for power and control. We don't often call out our own people, even while we demand that the Muslims aren't doing enough to police their own

As if terrorism is something that responds to the logic or pleas that come from ordinary people in any category