Muslims Stand Against ISIS, Too

A friend told me recently that the horrific conduct of ISIS — Islamic State in Iraq and Syria — has left many people with the impression that all Muslims are like ISIS. However, a simple Google search reveals the Muslim response to ISIS.

Muslim volunteers from the humanitarian group Islamic Relief provided food parcels, 2,000 hygiene kits and about 32,000 articles of clothing to over 3,000 Christian and other families who fled the ISIS persecution.

More than 17,000 displaced people have been sheltered in the Hussainiyat — Shii congregation halls, mosques and other religious buildings. The Holy Shrines of Imam Ali and Imam Hussain and the city of Basra opened their doors to host displaced Christian and other families and serve their needs.

In solidarity with their Christian neighbours, Muslim social activists launched the “I am Nazrene (Christian)” campaigns. An Iraqi TV host broke down in tears and referred to Christians as our “own flesh and blood.” Law Professor Mahmoud Al Asali gave up his life by standing in solidarity with his Christian brothers and sisters.

Sunni and Shii clerics in Iraq jointly drafted and distributed a religious edict to over 50,000 mosques declaring ISIS as an un-Islamic terrorist organization. Sheikh Taha al Karkhi, grand preacher in Baghdad, declared that resisting and standing up against ISIS is a religious duty.

Over 80 Muslim intellectuals, activists and religious leaders in India jointly urged the United Nations to hold ISIS accountable for its brutality, which they termed as a “crime against humanity” and “religious cleansing.”

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See also:

beliefnet, Think Muslims Haven’t Condemned ISIS? Think Again

Media Matters, Muslim Leaders Have Roundly Denounced Islamic State, But Conservative Media Won’t Tell You That