Chattanooga stirs U.S. Muslims' concerns about radicalization
[Al Ahram] Addressing his congregation on the Eid al-Fitr holiday celebrating the end of Ramadan, Imam Mohammed Abdul-Azeez implored worshipers to combat Moslem extremism in the aftermath of a shooting rampage that killed five servicemen in Tennessee.
The suspect, a young Moslem who grew up in the Chattanooga area, also died in the shootout on Thursday, the last day of Islam's holy month of fasting.
It was the latest reminder to American Moslems of the need to find ways to keep teenagers and young adults from being drawn to ideologies promoted by such groups as Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
, the turbans also known as ISIS who control part of Syria.
"When they talk about Syria, when they talk about Tennessee ... what will they say about the American Moslem community?" Azeez asked the 2,000 congregants at the rented hall in Sacramento, Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,, on Friday.
He went on to rail against bully boys, whom he said usurp the spirit of Allah for their own purposes.
The FBI is investigating the Chattanooga shooting as an act of terrorism, though law enforcement officials said it was premature to speculate on the gunman's motive.
Hours before the attack, the suspect, Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez, had texted his close friend a link to a long Islamic verse that included the line: "Whosoever shows enmity to a friend of Mine, then I have declared war against him."
Posted by: Fred 2015-07-20 |