Replies to post #9136 on RANT & CHAT - No Politics (RANT-NP)

[Tate202]

trkyhntr: Thats simply not true. Tate

International Security / Response to Terrorism

12 October 2001

American Muslim Leader Says Islam Cannot Justify Terrorism
Interview with CAIR Director Nehad Awad

Nehad Awad, Executive Director of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), said the American Muslim community issued prompt and clear condemnation of the September 11 terrorist attacks to affirm its legitimate place in American society.

"The message we are sending out is that we are part of the national process of healing, and our community has suffered twice. Many members of the community have been killed and injured, but also our community has been blamed for the acts of individuals that we do not know," Awad said in a recent interview with Washington File writer Mofid Deak.

Awad said the terrorists "hijacked" Islam to justify their evil acts.

"These people do not belong to our community here. The only thing they took from us was the name of our faith. They stole it from us," Awad said.

In the interview, Awad also noted the desire of non-Muslim Americans for more information on Islam and the need to clearly separate the acts of September 11 from the tenets of Islam.

Awad recalled his horror at reading the twisted use of Islam in texts associated with the perpetrators. (On September 28, the FBI released the text of identical letters in Arabic found in three different sites in the United States link together the hijackers of three of the four airliners.)

The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) is a non-profit, grassroots membership organization founded in 1994 with chapters across America to promote a positive image of Islam and Muslims in America. CAIR is recognized as one of the principle Muslim American organizations in the United States.