These vicious acts of terrorism deserve the strongest possible condemnation by all civilized people. We call for the swift apprehension and punishment of the perpetrators. Those who carry out such crimes only generate revulsion for whatever cause they espouse.
I also note, though, that while they condemned the mutilation of the four American
civilians in Falluja,
they carefully did not condemn
the killings themselves. Moreover, this is in great contrast to their condemnation of
Israel for killing the Hamas leader recently. Here is the Falluja statement.
Note how Hadith 9 says nothing about not killing innocent men (or, indeed, about
mutilating bodies-- the only reason I can see to mention it is as a code to Moslems to
indicate that the Koran says nothing about killing civilian men.)
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today condemned the mutilation of
those killed in Iraq on Wednesday. Four American civilian contractors were ambushed in
their SUV's, burned, mutilated, dragged through the streets and then hung from a bridge
spanning the Euphrates River, according to news reports.
CAIR said the mutilations violated both Islamic and international norms of conduct
during times of war and called on all parties to the conflict to respect the sanctity of
the dead and the sensitivities of their families.
The Washington-based Islamic civil rights and advocacy group cited a tradition of the
Prophet Muhammad that prohibits mutilating bodies (Hadith 654.3).
In another tradition, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "Do not kill women or
children, or an aged, infirm person. Do not cut down fruit-bearing trees. Do not destroy
an inhabited place." (Al-Muwatta, Vol. 21, Hadith 9)
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, is headquartered in
Washington, D.C., and has 25 regional offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada.
CAIR condemns mutilation of bodies in Iraq
Is CAIR really representative of Moslems in America? Well, the local Bloomington
mosque seems to think so. Here's a recent letter to the editor from Imad Rahman,
President of the Bloomington Islamic Center in reply to the April 2 "Where are the
Moderates?":
The Bloomington Islamic Center (BIC) would like to assure everyone that "moderate
Muslims" are not silent about Muslim extremism. BIC and its members have issued
condemnations of terrorist attacks by Muslim extremists. The Herald-Times has published
some of them. National Muslim organizations such as the Council on American-Islamic
Relations have issued statements condemning violent acts by Muslim extremists including
the horrific bombings in Madrid, and the mutilation of the bodies of the Americans
ambushed in Falluja. The 9-11 attacks have been condemned by every Muslim organization
in the U.S. and by Muslim heads of state, leading Muslim clerics and intellectuals, and
average Muslims in the "Islamic World" on hundreds of occasions.
Extremists not Islam
So how about it: was the killing of the four Americans in Falluja justified,
or not?
[in full at 04.05.12a.htm]
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