February 6, 2010

"Who deliberately slays another believer, his requital shall be hell, there in to abide; and God will condemn him, and will reject him, and will prepare for him awesome suffering." Quran 4:93

The Muslim world is facing the nadir of its history as bloodletting continues without reproach in places like Karbala, Iraq and Karachi, Pakistan, where Shia pilgrims were commemorating the 40th day after the martyrdom of Imam Husayn, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad and the son of Imam Ali.  As the referenced Quranic verse is violated and glossed over by Muslims, we are sinking into an abyss of sectarian venom, with brother killing brother.

Let's face the realities of this gruesome set of massacres.  Those who recruited these suicide bombers are too cowardly to show their faces to the Muslim world.  Over 100 Muslims were killed by Muslim suicide bombers.  For the culprits of these atrocities to play the role of God in determining who is, and who is not a believer, their fate will rest with the Almighty.  The enemies of Islam are reprieved from working any more, since Muslims are doing their dirty work.

We call on the Iraqi and Pakistani governments to secure their own peoples. As their national security budgets grow, they continue to spend much of the country's wealth on weapons and defense.  We call on Sunni scholars to speak in one voice condemning this cancerous practice of suicide attacks against Shia Muslims.  Scholars and Muslim activists, especially in the Gulf, where anti-Shia rhetoric is endemic to the region, must stand up and make clear that the killing of other Muslims guarantees nothing else but misery in this life and hell in the hereafter.

Muslim leaders from around the world signed The Amman Initiative to oppose terrorism and sectarian violence.  It is now time to move beyond the rhetoric and demand action.

Muslims in America are blessed by the fact that sectarian division has not raised its ugly head in our communities and we must prevent that from ever happening in the future.  That must take place by declaring our stand now--our prayers for the deceased and their families, our demand for justice, and our declaration to maintain the unity of Muslims.

America is paying a very high price in lives and money to establish "stability in the region". We must radically review our policy that support structures that are failing to secure their own citizens.

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