09/15/12: Islamic, Catholic leaders condemn anti-Muhammad film, violent reactions to film

DEARBORN HEIGHTS - While the film "Innocence of Muslims" has outraged members of the faith worldwide, a violent reaction to the film is not the answer.

That was the message that Detroit-area Islamic and Catholic leaders emphasized at a press conference Saturday morning at the Islamic House of Wisdom.

A more appropriate response, said Dawud Walid, executive director of the Southfield-based Council on American-Islamic Relations-Michigan Chapter, is "civil, intelligent discourse," adding that while the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment guarantees a right to free speech, with that right comes responsibility.

Violence tied to the film, which mocks the Prophet Muhammad, has spread to at least 23 nations in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, McClatchy Newspapers reported Saturday.

An attack at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Tuesday - the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the U.S. - killed 10 Libyans and four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens.

Walid said that U.S. government intelligence indicates that al-Qaida or a similar group was involved in the attack.

The film was made in California, the Los Angeles Times reported, and released in June. A 13-minute, 51-second trailer was on YouTube as of Saturday morning.

The filmmaker initially was identified as Sam Bacile, an Israeli-American, but later was identified as Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, of Cerritos, Calif., an Egyptian immigrant who has been convicted of bank fraud charges. The Times reported that federal probation authorities took him to a "voluntary interview" early Saturday morning.

Walid said that it's important to remember that there are 1.6 billion Muslims in the world, including 7 million in the U.S., only about 10,000 to 20,000 have been involved in the protests, none of which have been in the U.S.

A Muslim vigil condemning the violence was held Thursday night in Royal Oak.

"The Muslim community, from what I have seen, has experienced a deep, deep sadness in our community over Ambassador Stevens and the other diplomats," said Victor Ghalib Begg, senior adviser and executive board member of the Michigan Muslim Community Council in Royal Oak.

He called Stevens a "gentle soul."

Begg said that there's no justification for violent behavior or extremism, and that the Quran teaches that if anyone kills a human and it's not for a punishment, it is as though that person killed all of mankind, and if anyone saves a life, it is as though they had saved all of mankind.

"The imams do support our freedoms, but also denounce the abuse of such privileges, including the promotion of hatred via inflammatory literature, movie or speech by individuals or groups," Begg said in a prepared statement on behalf of the council. "Such actions by all extremists must not be allowed to damage the emerging freedoms in the Middle East and peaceful coexistence everywhere. We urge all Muslims to peacefully oppose any provocative or aggressive acts against their faith."

Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi of the Islamic House of Wisdom said that while he supports freedom of speech, he doesn't support when the freedom is used to espouse hatred.

"Those who made that movie not only acted against Islam, but against America," he said.

At the same time, he said he cannot support the violent reaction seen in other countries.

"Our faith teaches us to answer evil with good," Elahi said, adding that it's important to teach love, peace, unity and understanding, and to build bridges among faiths.

He said that those who made the movie are "enemies of America."

A vocal supporter of the film has been Terry Jones, a Christian pastor from Gainesville, Fla., who has protested against the Islamic faith in Dearborn in the past few years. Jones has vowed to return to protest what he called bullying by Muslim students of non-Muslim students. The protest is scheduled for 1 p.m. Oct. 10 in front of Edsel Ford High School, which has a mix of Muslim and non-Muslim students.

"I personally believe Muslims should ignore him," said Imam Hassan Quazwini of the Islamic House of Knowledge in Dearborn, adding that Jones simply wants attention.

Walid said that Jones was invited to meet in private with area Muslim leaders, but he declined because it wasn't an avenue to gain attention.

Walid said Jones is good at using social media, but social media also was the key to the Arab Spring uprising, which has brought numerous changes in the Middle East.

Elahi said that the reaction of President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to the condemning the film and the uprisings was "very logical and comprehensive."

"They managed this crisis very wisely," he said. "This is a time of unity and not a time for a hypocritical political approach."

Begg said that in response to the demonstrations and the film, it's important to ask, "What would Prophet Muhammad do?"

The answer, he said, is not to get upset and not to react.

Contact Staff Writer Joe Slezak at 1-734-246-0835 or jslezak@heritage.com.
Follow him on Twitter @ JoeSlezak1.