The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) has issued a statement condemning the killing of Pakistan’s Minster for Minorities. According to the ISNA statement:
Islamic Society of North America Outraged by Brutal Killing of Pakistan’s Minister for Minorities Source: ISNA (Plainfield, IN March 2, 2011) The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) is outraged by last night’s brutal killing of Pakistan’s Minster for Minorities, Shahbaz Bhatti. Bhatti was the only Christian member of Pakistan’s federal cabinet and openly spoke out against the countries’ misuse of the controversial blasphemy law. Two months ago, Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer, speaking as a member of the Muslim majority in Pakistan, was also murdered for his criticisms towards abuses of these laws. ISNA National Director of Interfaith and Community Alliances Dr. Sayyid Syeed met with Bhatti a few months ago to convey ISNA’s deepest condolences for the burning of churches and murders of Christians in Pakistan over the past few months. He made it clear that ISNA believes strongly in the responsibility of Muslims to ensure the safety of religious minorities in Muslim majority countries. In an interview with VOA earlier this month, Bhatti stated, “It is [the]time that the people of different faiths and the Pakistani nation stand united against the forces of intolerance, against the forces of violence.” “The Quran teaches Muslims to grant people freedom of religion and no law should be used to oppress that right. ‘Good and evil cannot be equal; repel evil with something which is better and verily he between whom and thyself was enmity may then become as though he had always been a close, true friend, (Quran 41:34).’ Surely murder can not be that which is better; if people disagree with another person’s view on a law, they must use peaceful means to respond and never resort to violence,” said ISNA President Imam Mohamed Magid. “We ask that the government takes every measure necessary to secure the rights of religious minorities in Pakistan, as well as their safety and those of their places of worship. We also ask Islamic scholars to stand up for the rights of those minorities in their midst as the Quran teaches. To do nothing will only play into the hands of the extremists everywhere in the world,” he added. ISNA calls on the great people of Pakistan and their government to stand for the rights of religious minorities. We know that many of them do not agree with these acts of violence and it is now time for them to speak out against them.
As documented in a Hudson Institute report, ISNA grew directly out of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood.The organization actually has a long history of fundamentalism, anti-semitism, and support for terrorism and during the recent Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing trial, ISNA was named as an unindicted co-conspirator as a result of what the government called “ISNA’s and NAIT’s intimate relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood, the Palestine Committee, and the defendants in this case.” Although it is true that recently ISNA has issued condemnations of terrorism which for the first time identify Hamas and Hezbollah by name, there is no indication that the organization has ever addressed or acknowledged its history of support for terrorism. Also, as the Hudson Institute report observes, almost all of the ISNA founders remain active in the organization and ISNA maintains close relations with all other components of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood. In addition, a previous post discussed the ties between the ISNA Secretary-General, a former leader of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) Chicago chapter, and an Illinois school with close links to the Mosque Foundation, itself tied to fundraising for Hamas.
A previous post reported that ISNA condemned the recent attempted bombing of Chicago area synagogues.