Leaders say Islam prohibits killing of innocents

By Amina El-Bishlawy
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- Reaction from local and national Muslim leaders in the United States was immediate after the killing of the American civilian Paul Johnson Jr., an electronic engineer for Lockheed Martin in Saudi Arabia who was beheaded June 18. His captors, who claimed to be Al-Qaeda members, kidnapped him days earlier in Riyadh, the Saudi capital.

Johnson was from Eaglewood in southern New Jersey. The majority of the 400,000 Muslims in the state of New Jersey live in the northern parts of the state. In that area, representatives of nine Muslim and Arab organizations, including the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations CAIR and the American Arab Anti --Discrimination Committee (ADC), endorsed a statement on June 19 expressing their outrage and condemnation of Johnson's murder and insisting the murder did not represent the tenets of Islam.

"We strongly condemn all acts of terrorism in the name of Islam. The faith of Islam prohibits the killing of innocent individuals. Muslims in general in the U.S. and around the world repudiate those who defile the reputation of Islam by committing horrendous acts in the name of our faith," Faiza Ali, director of CAIR chapter office in New Jersey told the Washington File.

Muslim leaders stood shoulder to shoulder and offered condolences to the Johnson family at a park on Main Street in Paterson, New Jersey, with Arabic letters on nearby shop awnings as a backdrop, according to the local Star-Ledger newspaper.

The main office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Washington also condemned the murder of Johnson: "We condemn this act of senseless violence and repudiate all those who believe such murderous behavior benefits the faith of Islam or Muslim people. We call for the swift apprehension and prosecution of the perpetrators."

Leaders and members of other Muslim organizations in North America also denounced the act. The Mosque Foundation of Bridgeview, Illinois, the Islamic Association of West Virginia, the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, and the Islamic Society of Toronto, Canada, were among the many Muslim organizations condemning the murder in the strongest terms.

The Islamic Society of North America, based in Indiana and considered to be the umbrella organization for the estimated 6 to 8 million Muslims in over 300 community organizations and other professional organizations in North America, condemned the beheading of Johnson with this statement: "Those who kidnapped and murdered Mr. Johnson in this most gruesome manner, have borne upon themselves the unforgivable crime of murdering an innocent person, which in Islam is akin to killing the whole of humanity."

Johnson was the second American civilian beheaded by those who claimed to be Al-Qaeda militants. His death followed the beheading of American Nicolas Berg by the same group in Iraq in May, and a South Korean civilian was beheaded in Iraq on June 22.

Those who beheaded the hostages tried to justify their actions as an Islamic practice. But the Qura'an, the teaching of Prophet Mohamad, and Islamic law (Sharia'a) state that murderers, not innocents, can be sentenced to death, but only after a fair trial including testimony from valid witnesses, according to some Muslim religious leaders and other experts.

"Beheadings are not mentioned in the Qura'an at all," said Imam Mohamad Adam El-Sheikh, co-founder and chief cleric of Dar Al Hijrah mosque in Falls Church, Virginia.

"According to Islamic penal law, killers will be sentenced to death, but the means of execution are not mentioned," the imam said. He said the most direct reference to capital punishment is in (Surat Al-Ma'idah) Chapter 5 verse 45, which includes a call for retribution similar to the Old Testament verse of "eye for an eye." It states: "We ordained therein for them: Life for life, eye for eye, nose or nose, ear for ear, tooth for tooth, and wounds equal for equal."

Two mosques, one in New Jersey, the other in Texas, were in recent days desecrated by liquor bottles and dead fish. CAIR believes the most recent incidents targeting Islamic institutions in America are examples of backlash from the beheadings in Saudi Arabia and Iraq. CAIR urged the FBI to investigate the incidents.

Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR's communication director, said that his group noted a spike in anti-Muslim hate messages following the killings. In response to attacks and threats against American Muslim individuals and communities, CAIR has published a "Muslim Community Safety Kit" to provide local Islamic leaders and activists with the knowledge necessary to protect themselves against anti-Muslim bigotry or attacks.

CAIR launched recently an online petition drive, called "Not in the name of Islam," to disassociate Islam from the violent acts of a few Muslims. Individuals and organizations representing more than 600,000 worldwide have already signed the CAIR petition, the organization said.

The group also recently launched a nationwide television and radio public service announcement campaign designed to reduce anti-Muslim discrimination and stereotyping. The campaign is called "I am an American Muslim."

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)