When 200 British Muslim imams declared earlier this month that they would refuse to say funeral prayers for the perpetrators of the recent terrorist attack near London Bridge, their statement marked a striking and unprecedented rejection of terrorism.
“We don’t take this matter very lightly,” says Qari Asim, an imam in the northern city of Leeds who signed the declaration. “But … we believe that the terrorists should not be accepted in our community, [either] in life or in death. We are trying everything possible to deter people” from violence.
The move signaled a significant change of tack. For many years, the almost universal reaction among European Muslims to the rising tide of jihadi violence has been to disclaim any responsibility on the part of Islam and the Islamic community.
But the attacks in Manchester and London “have shaken the Muslim community [in Britain] very deeply,” says Ziauddin Sardar, a London-based scholar of Islamic history. Now, Muslim leaders are beginning to tentatively acknowledge that their communities cannot shrug off all liability for the recent spate of terrorist attacks across Western Europe.
“Our first task is to own up and acknowledge that these people emerge from the Islamic community,” says Mr. Sardar.
Those who say Moslems speaking out against Islamist jihadis imply that Islam is somehow guilty by association have it exactly wrong. Failure to speak out against thugs who claim to act on behalf of all Moslems implies at least passive approval of what the jihadis do.
If that isn't the case, why do liberals constantly demand conservative politicians "disavow" any violent act or hateful statement by anyone that liberals claim (usually wrongly) is conservative or inspired by conservatives? (Tip to Instapundit.)
(Note that liberal politicians are almost never asked that question with implied guilt by association.)
If jihadi scum think that they have the support of a silent majority that backs them despite silence, they will act as if jihadi thinking is the true form of Islam that is worth killing to achieve.
This is an Islamic civil war that the West (and others, of course) is unfortunately collateral damage in. We need to help people like those imams counter the jihadi message--and survive doing so.
UPDATE: Related.
