Washington — In the wake of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden’s death at the hands of U.S. forces in Pakistan on May 2, Muslim-American civil society groups say that terrorism’s hateful message continues to be irrelevant.
“In light of the widespread democratic protests sweeping the Middle East which have demonstrated the power and effectiveness of peaceful protests to enact political change and realize the aspirations of the people, bin Laden and al-Qaida’s pro-violence messages have been exposed as bankrupt and misguided,” said a statement from the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), a group that encourages Muslims in America to engage in civic life.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), America’s largest Muslim civil liberties organization, said bin Laden has never represented Muslims.
“As we have stated repeatedly since the 9/11 terror attacks, bin Laden never represented Muslims or Islam,” said a CAIR press release. “In fact, in addition to the killing of thousands of Americans, he and al-Qaida caused the deaths of countless Muslims worldwide.”
Salam Al-Marayati, president of MPAC, echoed CAIR’s sentiment on al-Qaida’s culture of violence and said that bin Laden’s senseless acts showed a disregard for humanity.
“His actions and those of al-Qaida have violated the sacred Islamic teachings upholding the sanctity of all human life,” Al-Marayati said. “His acts of senseless terror have been met with moral outrage by Muslims worldwide at every turn in the past decade.”
The Islamic Society of North America, one of the country’s largest Muslim organizations, praised President Obama for his anti-terrorism efforts.
“The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) joins all Americans in thanking President Obama for fulfilling his promise to bring Osama bin Laden, leader of al-Qaida and perpetrator of the 9/11 attacks, to justice,” said an ISNA press release.
Imam Mohamed Magid, president of ISNA, said Americans are standing together against terrorism and in defense of the country’s principles.
“We will turn to each other today, united, and emerge tomorrow with an even stronger resolve to take every action necessary to protect the precious ideals of our nation that bin Laden attempted to destroy on 9/11: peace, tolerance, respect and freedom for all,” Magid said.
The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, a group advocating Muslim community interests, welcomed President Obama’s statement that America is not targeting Islam during his speech that announced bin Laden’s death.
“We thank President Obama for overseeing this operation and his reiterating that ‘the United States is not — and never will be — at war with Islam,’” said Ahlam Jbara, associate director of the council.
Kiran Ansari, the council’s director of communications, said Muslims in America are optimistic that bin Laden’s death will usher in a new age of understanding.
“We hope that this moment will be the start of a new era of hope, interfaith cooperation and peace,” Ansari said. “We are united as one American family as President Obama said and we hope this is a turning point away from the dark period of the last decade.”