The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
By Dr. Syed M. Rizvi, Clifton.
Today we have great challenges because the terrorists and criminals are attacking the very essence and meaning of Islam. We have never seen such an upheaval in the world as we are witnessing today. In the name of Islam these terrorists are killing Muslims, Christians, Jews, and followers of other religions. Muslims are more fearful of these terrorists than from Christians, Jews, and other religions. There has to be a universal awaking among followers of every faith that in order too have peace and harmony on earth, we should recognize that the terrorists and criminals have no religion. There should never be any killings in the name of Islam because the Quran says, “My religion is for me and your religion is for you”.
History shows that terrorists and criminals have exploited every religion to serve their quest for greed and power. Today, the Al-Qaeda, Al-Nusra, ISIS, and more terrorist groups are recruiting potential terrorists from all over the world. Unfortunately, some of these terrorists are being supported by state governments to serve their short-term political interests without realizing that in the end they will all be losers. The chaos and anarchy that will result from this ever-expanding terrorism will affect every nation on Earth.
So we need to confront the menace of terrorism together and regardless of our religious affiliation and our nationality. We urge all the people to work together against these terrorists in whatever avenues open to us.
We have a conference on the 14th of November, 2015 at Masjid e Ali, Cedar Grove Lane, to discuss some aspects of this problem.
Dr. Rizvi is a founder of the Masjid-e-Ali Mosque.
