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Moderate Muslims not Newsworthy ^Featured

LAST UPDATED | 02 March 2010

Written by Lena Hassan

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Whether you call it Islamophobia or just plain reporting, Muslims are in the news and except for 20-second sound-bites from a local Eid celebration, it's not good.

There's the persistent and popular debate on the hijab and Muslim women in general. There are wars waged or threatened in Muslim countries such as Iraq and Iran and, most importantly, there are stories reporting atrocities committed by nominal Muslims.

When this last happens, Muslims, like everyone else, cry for the victims, feel anger toward the ones who committed the act and pray for justice to be served.

The voice of opposition to extremism is a roar within the Muslim community yet it's oddly translated to a whisper by the media.

Because of this lack of reporting, many ask, "Where are the moderate Muslims and why aren't they denouncing these crimes?" The answer to this frequently asked question is, we're right here.

We're standing beside you at the bus stop, we're administering your flu shot, we're assisting you at the mall, we're giving you medical advice, we're eating at the table across from you in the restaurant; we're everywhere and we're living moderately.

So why must Muslims take on the task of town crier when a crime is committed in the name of Islam? To do so would be to give legitimacy to the act and the person committing it when the fact is, when someone kills in the name of Islam or Allah, Muslims, in line with the general public, think, "I don't know that person and I don't know that religion," because we don't.

We don't follow a religion that says it's OK to kill or commit suicide. We don't follow a religion that tells us to hate Christians and Jews. We don't follow a religion that is evil. We are not evil and should not be told to apologize for something we didn't do.

There are those who are looking for religious leaders to speak out, not individual Muslims. They have spoken out and continue to do so, though you have to search high and low to find this information.

Case in point If you're not reading the Taipei Times regularly you may have missed an article reporting on imams denouncing bombing attacks.

If you're not watching New York's 24-hour newscast, you may not know that a coalition of more than 200 imams has formed to confront the dangers of extremism.

And if you're not visiting CAIR-CAN (Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations) online, you may have missed the statement by 120 Canadian imams on extremism, in which they state, ". . . Any one who claims to be a Muslim and participates in any way in the taking of an innocent life is betraying the very spirit and letter of Islam. We categorically and unequivocally reject such acts. We will confront and challenge the extremist mindset that produces this perversion of our faith . . ." These imams also agreed to help CSIS and the RCMP in a collective fight against terrorism.

So where are the moderate Muslims, you ask? I'm here to challenge that question and to have us all come together and collectively ask, "Where is the moderate coverage?"