The terror campaign against Paris and throughout France has been widely condemned by Islamic groups and individuals. The terror campaign also included the murder of Parisian police officer, Ahmed Merabet, who was a Muslim. He was assassinated by the terrorists, while his hands were up in surrender. Those who reject our universal human rights do support any religious ideology other than their own efforts to use force to suppress, rather unite our fellow human beings.
Ahmed Merabet, Parisian Police Officer Murdered by Terrorists on January 7, 2015 – Mr. Merabet was a Muslim. (Source: Facebook)
The French Muslim Council condemned the attack, calling it one of “exceptional violence.” It has also stated that “[t]he barbarous attack of extreme gravity is also an attack against democracy and freedom of the press. Our first thoughts are with the victims and their families for whom we have total solidarity.”
Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, stated that “Terrorism has no religion and is an affront to Islam, therefore we must confront and expose the evil ideology of these terrorists.”
The Muslim Council of Britain, stated: “Whomever the attackers are, and whatever the cause may be, nothing justifies the taking of life.”
Tehmina Kazi, of the the British Muslims for Secular Democracy (BMSD) published an exceptional article providing more than condemnation, but also calling for action to challenge such extremists. Her article in Left Foot Forward, “Charlie Hebdo: Dismantling nine mistaken assumptions about the Paris atrocities,” also urged her fellow Muslims ” sort out the problems in their own back yard,” further stating “Given that the Qu’ran takes such a strong line on humans challenging injustice wherever we find it, this shouldn’t be too difficult.” Tehmina Kazi also called for change and urged Muslims to challenge such extremists and “work hard to create change within their own circles of influence (just like Inspire did with their ‘Making a Stand’ campaign, and Manwar Ali has done with his grassroots work in Ipswich and elsewhere). As I said in my piece yesterday, the Qu’ran tells us to fight against injustice wherever we may find it, even if it means testifying against our own. In my view, this is a crystal-clear example of the need to do just that.”
The Arab League made a statement by its chief Nabil al-Arabi that it “strongly condemns the terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo newspaper in Paris.”
According to Al Arabiya News, “Al-Azhar, a thousand-year-old seat of religious learning respected by Muslims around the world, referred to the attack as a criminal act, saying that ‘Islam denounces any violence.'”
In an Al-Arabiya commentary by Abdulrahman al-Rashed, he stated:
“We don’t need to blame murderers because they are terrorists whose plans and hostility against the world are clear. However, we do blame those who justify these terrorists’ crimes and who try to mislead Muslims with lies and excuses. Some people have even written in defense of the heinous crime of murdering French journalists which shocked the world. What sort of ignorant man can think that a government conspires to kill its own citizens in order to serve a foreign plot? What nonsense and ignorance can make some of us descend to this level of justifying the murder of fellow journalists?”
“Apologists of killers provide cover and legitimacy for terrorists at a time when we are all supposed to be at the forefront of those condemning these acts. Those defending terrorists must realize the severity of the crimes which they are committing. These actions and similar ones over the years have secured for terrorism a base in our region. Their sin is no less grave than the crimes of ISIS and al-Qaeda whom they have long praised. They have misled millions of people by presenting terrorist groups as defenders of the rights and existence of the Muslim diaspora.”