Linda Sarsour, former executive director of the Arab American Association of New York, could not bring herself to forcefully condemn this week’s terrorist attack in New York City.
Instead, she chose the occasion to defend Islam by stating, “Every believing Muslim says Allahu Akbar every day during prayers. We cannot criminalize ‘God is Great'; prosecute the criminal, not a faith.”
Her comment sparked reactions from moderate Muslims on Twitter who believe in calling out radical Islamism in all its sinister and violent forms.
In response to Sarsour’s comments, British author Maajid Nawaz promptly tweeted, “To make your priority right now the ‘image of Islam’ and not the 8 dead victims is – frankly – disgusting. You. Are. Not. The. Victim. Here.”
Meanwhile, former Wall Street Journal correspondent Asra Nomani stressed the necessity for Muslims to take ownership of such actions.
This Twitter conversation is really at the heart of the varied responses to terror attacks among the various North American Muslim communities.
Instead of showing sympathy for the terror victims, Sarsour is among many Islamists whose first thought is to rush to defend Islam. It is this blinkered and callous reaction among vocal Islamists that needs to be eradicated before any headway can be made towards marginalizing the lethal terrorist mindset.
Among those killed were five Argentinians and a Belgian woman. Two children were injured. The killer may have wanted only to kill Americans. We can only guess how he assesses the success of his barbarity.
Islam needs to look beyond itself for a blueprint for change. This week witnessed the commemoration of the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on a church door in Wittenberg five hundred years ago, seeking to decentralize church authority and thereby confer on ordinary citizens the right to practice and interpret their faith according to their own sensibilities and beliefs.
While the Reformation struggle produced terrible violence on both sides, and the vehemently anti-Semitic Luther also incited pogroms, but we should at least be grateful for the Reformation’s long-term benefits.
Many argue Islam and Muslims need a similar reformation. Of course, any parallels are limited. Luther’s rebellion was mainly against the rigid church establishment and its ritualized practices. Islam possesses no similar centralized authority. However, this does not mean its adherents are free to interpret ideas in their own way; Islam’s centrality is inherent in the theology and dogma of the faith — something possibly even harder to dislodge.
What is needed is an honest acknowledgment that terror is inherently wrong and that radical Islam is at least part of what inspires it. Warped notions of justice and skewed political narratives currently prevent this.
This is a time not to defend Islamic doctrine but to side with the victims and condemn the radicals. Sarsour has not only hedged on such issues, she has also in the past defended practices like FGM and polygamy, Saudi policies on women and even anti-Semitism.
Islam needs louder voices from people like Maajid Nawaz and Asra Nomani and, ideally, silence from Linda Sarsour.
Unfortunately, the Islamist lobby has deep pockets. The progressive movement within Islam is weak and fragmented, and we will unfortunately hear much more from apologists like Sarsour.