In her recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, atheist and anti-Islam activist Ayan Hirsi Ali finally admits, "In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing and the Woolwich murder, it was good to hear expressions of horror and sympathy from Islamic spokesmen..." She also correctly calls it "stupid and wrong" to equate all Muslims with terrorism, instead declaring that "the overwhelming majority of Muslims are not terrorists or sympathetic to terrorists."
But apparently, because enough "moderate Muslims" have finally spoken up to condemn terrorism, Hirsi then unveils a new and increasingly employed anti-Islam tactic, demanding Muslims "...acknowledg[e] that ... a link between Islam and terror is appropriate and necessary."
In other words, Hirsi moves from demanding Muslims condemn violence, to demanding Muslims condemn Islam.
Her convoluted demand contradicts itself on numerous points. But most obviously, if an "appropriate and necessary" link exists between Islam and terror, then how is it possible that the "overwhelming majority of Muslims are not terrorists or sympathetic to terrorists"? Is it possible that the exceptions (terrorists) prove the rule (not terrorists)?
Hirsi insists, "I don't blame Western leaders. They are doing their best to keep ... trust between majority populations and Muslim minority communities."
Really? Let's see what the facts tell us. And I present these facts as an American citizen, as an American lawyer sworn to uphold America's Constitution, and as an American who's brother is a United States Marine. I know my country's history and I know Hirsi's claim about Western leaders is a fabrication.
America has killed more civilians and invaded more countries than any other nation since World War II ended. America has received condemnation from the UN High Commission on Human Rights for illegal drone attacks, illegal detention of prisoners of war and illegal pre-emptive war into Iraq. America supported Dictator Zia, the brainchild of Pakistan's death for blasphemy laws. America supported, armed and funded Saddam Hussein. America trained al Qaida, something former Secretary of State Clinton openly admits. And as we speak America supports dictators in four of the world's seven least free nations (Saudi Arabia, Equatorial Guinea, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan).
Nothing justifies the horrific Woolwich attack, or any act of religious violence, but to claim "Western leaders are doing their best" is radical ignorance at its finest.
And while ignoring these facts, Hirsi continues, "But I do blame Muslim leaders. It is time they came up with more credible talking points. I wonder what would happen if Muslim leaders ... started a public and persistent campaign to discredit these Islamist advocates of mayhem and murder ... a constant, high-profile effort to show the world that the preachers of hate are illegitimate."
Hirsi needn't wonder. Unfortunately, she ignores the world's leading Muslim figure to condemn violence, champion separation of mosque and state, and demand absolute justice in all affairs: the Khalifa of Islam, His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad.
His Holiness has repeated his "talking points" on Capital Hill, European Parliament and the British House of Lords, declaring,
The key to peace is to stop cruelty and oppression wherever it occurs with justice and equality. Only when this principle is followed will global peace develop. ... Cow towing to dictators and despots has over decades led to these people seeing the west as the devil. We must begin to recreate ourselves as a just and honest broker.
Moreover, His Holiness' condemnation of religious violence and "discrediting of Islamist advocates of mayhem and murder" stretches back well over a century. The Holy Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad the Messiah, wrote in 1900,
O Muslim scholars and clerics! Listen to me. I tell you truly that this is not the time for Jihad. Do not disobey God's Holy Prophet [Muhammad]. The awaited Messiah has arrived and orders you to abstain from religious wars involving armed combat, killing, and bloodshed. Not refraining even now from spilling blood and giving such sermons is therefore not the way of Islam. The person who accepts me will not merely stop preaching in this way, rather, he will recognize the evil of this path and come to know that it invites God's anger.
This teaching is significant for two reasons. First, because countless numbers of Muslims have since acted upon it. And second, it is under this philosophy of peaceful Islam -- the Islam Prophet Muhammad taught -- that the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has spread to more than 200 nations, has tens of millions of adherents, is the world's single largest Muslim organization united under one spiritual head, has opened more than 15,000 mosques and 600 secular schools that educate children of all faiths, and runs dozens of hospitals offering free healthcare to all mankind. It is under this peaceful Islam that no Ahmadi Muslim has ever engaged, endorsed or been involved in a single act of religious violence.
Yet somehow a psychotic individual committing murder while yelling "AllahuAkbar" in the name of Islam drowns out over a century of tens of millions of Muslims who work in peaceful service to humanity in the name of Islam. As Hirsi would say, such a position is "wrong and stupid."
Hirsi concludes with her final "qualification" of peaceful Islam, "After the next zealot has killed the next victim of political Islam, claims about the 'religion of peace' would ring truer."
While hundreds of Ahmadi Muslims have been murdered only for their faith in true peaceful Islam, on May 28, 2010, the Taliban murdered 86 Ahmadi Muslims in broad daylight. The Khalifa of Islam, His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad, condemned the attack and likewise forbade any violent or uncivilized response. The world's tens of millions of Ahmadi Muslims complied without hesitation.
Why?
Because Islam is in fact a religion of peace. Ahmadi Muslims prove every day in 200 nations worldwide that the link between Islam and terror is neither necessary nor appropriate. In fact, as Hirsi admits, the vast majority of Muslims are peaceful. So while we are grateful that even ardent anti-Islam critics like Hirsi finally admit that Muslim leaders are condemning religious violence, we hope it doesn't take another generation for Hirsi and her ilk to realize that Muslim leaders exist who delegitimize those who so much as advocate for religious violence. Such Muslim leaders not only exist, they have thrived for well over a century.
Just ask the Khalifa of Islam.