09/16/12: Council of Imam's Press Conference Held at the IHW to address the Islamophobic Movie that followed with Reactions from Around the World
9/16/2012
Council of Imam's Press Conference Held at the IHW
Muslim Religious leaders and interfaith partners participated in a press conference to address the new Islamophobic movie that followed with the tragic deaths of four American diplomats and many other innocent individuals.
Saturday, September 15, 2012- Statement Released by Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi
Imam Elahi welcomed participating Imams, members of interfaith clergy, community members and media representatives.
Part 1- 9/15/12 Muslim Leaders & Interfaith Condemn Anti-Islamic Video & Attacks on Innocent Civilians
We are here this morning to stand united against extremism under any name or excuse!
For some people to abuse freedom of speech in this country by demonstrating hate, intolerance, defaming another faith and dehumanizing another community, it is absolutely against all faiths and American values of respect and tolerance.
The recent Islamophobic movie is an uncivilized, irresponsible, irrational, and immoral outreach to the Muslim world. To accuse, insult and attack a leader who is holy to at least 1.5 billion of the population of this planet and is honored and remembered in prayer at least 5 times a day is absolutely wrong.
Part 2- 9/15/12 Muslim Leaders & Interfaith Condemn Anti-Islamic Video & Attacks on Innocent Civilians
Those who intentionally participated in the making of this movie are not only enemies of Islam, but enemies of American values, interests and security.
Anyone who may have any problem with the Islamic history or teachings is welcomed and encouraged to sit down and have a dialogue and dispute on this. Islam is religion of reason and love and its light can't be turned off through these hateful expressions.
At the same time we have a serious problem with some of the reactions from the Islamic world, especially from the violent response in Libya that caused the tragic death of 4 American diplomats in Benghazi.
Part 3- 9/15/12 Muslim Leaders & Interfaith Condemn Anti-Islamic Video & Attacks on Innocent Civilians
That kind of reaction was not only against America but against Islam as well. There is no justification for attacking the innocent individuals while even the US president and Secretary of State condemned the movie and called it disgusting. That is unislamic and uncivilized too.
Freedom of assembly and demonstration is their right, to be upset for the painful content of the movie is understandable, but angry attacks, violence and bloodshed is unacceptable. That is extremism and against the teachings of the holy Quran that orders the faithful to answer evil with good.
We are here to condemn extremism in any religion and culture, to condemn the deaths of individuals to show solidarity with the families of all innocent victims.
We are here to promote building bridges of understanding, education and ethics. We are here to encourage working together to remove ignorance and arrogance from this world and to provide the light of love, justice and peace for all.
Extremism is wrong. From burning the Quran and making a movie to mock people, to reacting with violence and bloodshed is extremism.
Imam Elahi ended his words by thanking the Imams, Interfaith partners and the media for coming and for showing unity and solidarity at this time of tension and confusion.
Send us your thoughts: Info@IslamicHouseofWisdom.com
For further comments from Imam Elahi, Email: ImamElahi@IslamicHouseofWisdom.com
Media Highlights....
Local Islamic leaders condemn violent response to movie Violence seen as violation of Islamic teaching
DEARBORN, Mich. -
The violent reaction to an anti-Muslim movie in some foreign countries was condemned by Detroit area Islamic leaders on Saturday
Imams gathered Saturday in Dearborn with leaders of other faith-based groups and condemned the killing of U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other embassy staffers.
The killings in Libya and other violent outbursts in other Middle East and North African nations were triggered by reports of an strongly anti-Muslim film produced in the United States.
Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi of the Islamic House of Wisdom said the film is very insulting and uncivilized, but he said those who turned to deadly violence in response to it were acting in violation of Islamic teaching.
"Our faith teaches answer evil with good, so they acted not only against America, but they acted against Islam," Imam Elahi said.
Imam Elahi added that the makers of the film were not only enemies of Islam, but also the enemies of the United States and its principles.
To view on their website: Click HERE
Religious leaders warn against Middle East unrest
Posted: 09/15/2012
DEARBORN HEIGHTS (WXYZ) - Both the internet video and the violent protests it sparked are being condemned by religious leaders of several faiths in Metro Detroit.
Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi hosted a panel of religious leaders at the Islamic House of Wisdom in Dearborn Heights Saturday morning.
"Whenever we denigrate any child of god, we are saying more about ourselves and some lack within our soul," said Father Lawrence Ventline, who is with the Archdiocese of Detroit.
The anti-Muslim movie has caused riots in several countries, and left an American ambassador and three other Americans dead.
"Our religion teaches us to answer evil with good, and there is no justification for people to attack the innocent individuals who have nothing to do with that movie," said Imam Elahi.
Elahi and Ventline agree future violence can be prevented, but they believe education must be part of the solution.
To view on their Website: Click HERE
Founding Imam of Islamic House of Wisdom, Mohammad Ali Elahi, speaks with Hussein Rahal of Dearborn after the Imam's Council of the Michigan Muslim Community Council. (Tanya Moutzalias/Special to the Detroit News)
'Answer evil with good': Metro Detroit religious leaders address Libya violence
September 15, 2012 at 2:12 pm
Dearborn Heights - Metro Detroit religious leaders on Saturday emphasized the need for a peaceful response to recent violence that resulted in the death of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans during an assault on the U.S. consulate in Libya.
"Our basic message from the community is that there is no justification for vicious behavior, no to violence, no to extremism," Victor Ghalib Begg, senior adviser of the Michigan Muslim Community Council, said at a news conference at the Islamic House of Wisdom.
"We urge all Muslims to address and peacefully oppose any provocative or aggressive acts against their faith - emphasis on peacefully."
Begg was joined by Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi, the leader of the Islamic House of Wisdom, who said the violence should be condemned as well as the abuse of freedom of speech. Elahi denounced as "irresponsible" the anti-Muslim video that sparked widespread discord in the Middle East and played a role in the Libya attacks.
"The man they insulted is a holy leader for all the Muslim world who is honored and remembered in our prayers every day at least five times a day, so we understand why the Muslim community is upset and pained and bothered with this kind of irresponsible abuse of freedom of speech," he said.
"At the same time, we have serious problems with some of their reactions from some areas in the Muslim world, especially Libya, that caused death and destruction.
"We consider that not only an act against America but Islam, because our faith teaches us to answer evil with good."
Fr. Lawrence Ventline, who works with the Archdiocese of Detroit, agreed the film was designed to provoke.
"Smut is smut, as is anything denigrating human dignity, whether it's a cartoon or a viral video," he said. "We need to press somehow to come together to be in solidary on a regular basis, to deal with the injustices people feel as their toes are being stepped on in the poverty of some of these nations."
The Obama administration has denounced the movie, aiming to pre-empt further turmoil at its embassies and consulates. The film, called "Innocence of Muslims," ridicules the Prophet Muhammad, portraying him as a fraud, a womanizer and a child molester.
Dawud Walid, the executive director of the Michigan Council on American-Islamic Relations, called the administration's response "beautiful."
"The Obama administration's response was excellent and balanced in two ways: First the U.S. government didn't sanction or support that film," Walid said. "Secondly, they came out and denounced the violent acts but recognized that it represented only a small part of the Muslim population."
Also taking part in the news conference Saturday were Imam Hassan Al-Qazwini, leader of the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn, and Imam Ishack Samoura, with the Islamic Center of as-Salaam in Detroit.
The dialogue came on the same day as al-Qaida's branch in Yemen praised the killing of the U.S. ambassador in Libya and called for more attacks to expel American embassies from Muslim nations.
The statement, posted Saturday on Islamic militant websites, suggested al-Qaida was trying to co-opt the wave of angry protests in the Muslim world over the anti-Muslim film.
Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula said the killing of Stevens was "the best example" for those attacking embassies.
It said protesters' aim should be to "expel the embassies of America from the lands of the Muslims" and called on protests to continue in Muslim nations "to set the fires blazing at these embassies."
Also on Saturday, Pope Benedict XVI appealed for religious freedom in the Middle East, calling it fundamental for stability in a region bloodied by sectarian strife.
Benedict spoke on the second day of his visit to Lebanon, a country with the largest percentage of Christians in the Middle East.
"Let us not forget that religious freedom is a fundamental right from which many other rights stem," he said, speaking in French to government officials, foreign diplomats and religious leaders at the president's palace in Mount Lebanon in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
He held up Lebanon, which is still rebuilding from a devastating 1975-90 civil war largely fought on sectarian lines, as an example of coexistence for the region.
The Associated Press contributed.
From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120915/METRO01/209150389#ixzz26bXNb2yKImam Mohammad Ali Elahi (right) of the Islamic House of Wisdom in Dearborn Heights condemned the American-made low-budget film "Innocence of Muslims," which mocks the Prophet Muhammad. "Those who made that movie not only acted against Islam, but against America," Elahi said. | Photo by Joe Slezak
Press & Guide- Dearborn Heights
DEARBORN HEIGHTS: Islamic, Catholic leaders condemn anti-Muhammad film, violent reactions to film
Saturday, September 15, 2012
By Joe Slezak
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.