In an attempt to get feedback from the Muslim community on the film, which portrays Al Qaeda as radical Islamists who were on a jihad against the United States, the museum showed "The Rise of Al Qaeda" to an "interfaith advisory group of clergy members." This group included Muslim leaders.
After seeing the short film, which only lasts seven minutes, the panel universally lambasted it. At the heart of their criticisms were the portrayal of Al Qaeda as radical Islamists who believed their interpretation of their religion led them to kill civilians.
“The screening of this film in its present state would greatly offend our local Muslim believers as well as any foreign Muslim visitor to the museum,” wrote Sheikh Mostafa Elazabawy, the imam of Masjid Manhattan.
He continued, “Unsophisticated visitors who do not understand the difference between Al Qaeda and Muslims may come away with a prejudiced view of Islam, leading to antagonism and even confrontation toward Muslim believers near the site.”
Elazabawy, members of the panel, and some other scholars have denounced the film, heavily implying that the average American was not intelligent enough to know the difference between "Al Qaeda and Muslims."
Akbar Ahmed, the chairman of the Islamic studies department at American University, followed similar logic in calling for changes in the film. People are “simply going to say Islamist means Muslims, jihadist means Muslims,” he stated.
“The terrorists need to be condemned and remembered for what they did,” he continued. “But when you associate their religion with what they did, then you are automatically including, by association, one and a half billion people who had nothing to do with these actions and who ultimately the U.S. would not want to unnecessarily alienate.”
At the moment, Museum officials are standing by the film, stating that they do not believe it to be offensive.
So we can talk about the criminals, but not the single common identifying characteristic among them (not nationality, not age, not education level, not language, not even hair color), nor of the plainly stated motive behind their crimes? And when Hinduists or Buddhists or even Catholic nuns start conducting daily mass murder operations around the globe, then we will stop talking about the one religion that still believes that violence is a valid method of conversion, even among the sub-sects within the so-called "Religion of Peace". (That phrase is a gross distortion of reality. Islam doesn't mean "peace", It means "submission", and the Koran tells all Muslims to keep fighting until the whole world has submitted. Or is dead, whichever comes first.)
ReplyDeleteIslam is incompatible with civilization, PERIOD.
ReplyDeleteWhen liberal "do-gooders" talk about 'moderate muslims' they fail to recognize in order to become a 'moderate' muslim, any such individual would have to reject entire sections of the Koran. However, in so doing, they become apostates in the eyes of their Islamic brothers/sisters and are subject to death.
I will acknowledge that the vast majority of Muslims are NOT terrorists the day Muslims acknowledge the vast majority of the world's terrorists ARE Muslim.
ReplyDeleteI know, I know - when pigs fly.
Instead of demeaning the video, they should look at their own words and actions. It is not America's fault terrorists hijacked their religion, but instead, they should be shouting from the highest high that Islamic Terrorists do not represent the Muslim Religion or community. I've not heard or seen one time where the Muslim Communities have stood up to take back their religion. Don't shoot the messenger.
ReplyDeleteThe Muslim leaders can't stand the truth!
ReplyDeleteLook, only perhaps five percent of muslims worldwide would subscribe to those archaic Koranic prescripts. So, 1.6 billion x .05 gives us . . . a scant 80 million muslims who believe that they are required by their god to be ruthless to and make war on us. Nothing to worry about!
ReplyDelete