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Anniversary of Bin Laden’s death should not be a political ping pong ball

American Muslim group looks for opportunity to advance real dialogue on threat to U.S.

WASHINGTON, DC (May 1, 2012) – As the U.S. marks the one year anniversary of the death of Usama Bin Laden the American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD) recognizes the valiant contributions of the brave men and women of America’s armed forces, in particular the members of Seal Team Six who made this anniversary possible. AIFD also hopes and prays that our nation uses this day to come together free of partisanship in the war against Islamist extremists. We should refrain from reflexively exploiting major national security threats as a political ping pong ball between right and left and instead use them as opportunities to foster genuine dialogue on how to advance a real bipartisan American strategy to defeat the threat of Islamist militancy both at home and abroad.

While significant to American morale and a body blow to Al Qaeda, the death of Bin Laden did little to dismantle the threat from Al Qaeda and even less to diminish the threat from Islamist extremism. The U.S. is just beginning down the road of a growing battle of ideas against the ideology of Islamism (political Islam) and the political gamesmanship around Bin Laden’s death distracts us from the very important task of actually addressing root causes. In order to counter the new heads of the Islamist hydra, the US needs to develop a coherent bipartisan domestic and foreign strategy to defeat the ideology that drove Bin Laden to his murderous rampage against the United States.

“In an election year you’ve got the administration again basically saying “Mission Accomplished” and that Al Qaeda is done which is absurd,” said M. Zuhdi Jasser, president and founder of AIFD. “With the ascent of Islamists like the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Ennhada in Tunisia and elsewhere across the Middle East, we need to recognize what the long term conflict is. At one-year since UBL’s death our government still doesn’t get the big picture and denying the reality of Islamism does not help.”

The author of “Battle for the Soul of Islam,” due out this June from Simon & Schuster, Jasser cites the growth of terror groups such as al-Shabab, Abu Sayyaf, Jemaah Islamiyah, the Haqqani network and over 35 other violent radical Islamist groups as reason for the administration to hesitate in celebrating the death of Bin Laden as an end note to our war against Islamist militants. The threat of Iran’s growing influence in the region alone should be enough to give pause and redouble our efforts against this insidious ideology that is the antithesis of American values.

According to Jasser, “Al Qaeda may be a shell of what it was at 9-11, but Islamism is a hydra that is continually reshaping itself. The death of Bin Laden and even the defeat of Al Qaeda will just give rise to many other groups unless the root causes of Islamism are addressed.”

The United States desperately needs a guiding policy doctrine in the region. AIFD has long called for the promotion of a Liberty Doctrine that is focused on bringing more than just elections to the region. Elections will only serve the Islamists. For the Middle-East to embrace genuine democratic principles, the U.S. needs to quickly get back in the business of helping stimulate the infrastructure of freedom on the ground much like we did in post-Soviet Eastern Europe, but now in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and hopefully eventually Syria. The promise of the Arab Spring can only be delivered by an America willing to engage in the ideological war on the ground. Without this commitment the brave men of Seal Team Six will unfortunately continue to be called to action to remove yet another head of the Islamist beast.

About the American Islamic Forum for Democracy

The American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization. AIFD’s mission advocates for the preservation of the founding principles of the United States Constitution, liberty and freedom, through the separation of mosque and state. For more information on AIFD, please visit our website at http://www.aifdemocracy.org/.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Gregg Edgar, Gordon C. James Public Relations, gedgar@gcjpr.com, 602-690-7977

NRO Article Link

‘Where are all the moderate Muslims?” It’s a question often posed by Americans who watch with disgust as the Council on American-Islamic Relations and other apologists for radical Islam hog all of the attention. CAIR, which was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the terror-financing Holy Land Foundation case, and which regularly denounces any effort to combat radical Islam as anti-Muslim prejudice, is routinely described in the press as a Muslim “civil rights” group.

Moderate American Muslims exist though. And it’s not that hard to find them. Just see who CAIR and MPAC (the Muslim Public Affairs Council) are denouncing.

This week, they are after Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, founder and president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy. Senator Mitch McConnell has appointed Dr. Jasser to serve on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, and this has sent the most prominent Muslim American organizations to the barricades. A dishonest character-assassination campaign has been launched against Jasser, urging Muslims to protest the appointment. CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper told The Blaze that Jasser “has long been viewed by American Muslims and the colleagues in the civil liberties community as a mere sock puppet for Islam haters and an enabler of Islamophobia.”

That gives you the flavor of CAIR’s level of discourse.

So who is Jasser? He’s the son of immigrants who fled Baathist Syria in the 1960s. Syrians, as we have seen in the streets of Homs and other cities over the past twelve months, are among the bravest and most oppressed people in the world. Zuhdi, a devout Muslim, attended the University of Wisconsin, and then joined the U.S. Navy and earned a medical degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin. His eleven-year service in the Navy included deployments to Somalia and service as the internist on call for the U.S. Congress.

Now a full-time physician and specialist in nuclear cardiology in Phoenix, Dr. Jasser also founded the American Islamic Forum for Democracy. “AIFD’s mission,” he explains, “is derived from our love of America and our devotion to Islam. We believe that Muslims can better practice Islam in a free environment that protects the rights of all individuals to practice or reject faith as they choose.”

In contrast to CAIR and some of the more frequently quoted American Muslim groups, Jasser and AIFD do see a problem with radicalization within the Muslim world. They reject the reflexive cry of discrimination in response to fears of Islamist penetration of mosques, prisons, schools, and other institutions. “Our civil rights should be protected and defended,” Jasser testified to the House Homeland Security Committee, “but the predominant message to our communities should be attachment, defense, and identification with America, not alienation and separation.”

Jasser insists upon the centrality of ideas. Most American Muslims are not radical, but the lures are plentiful. He compares himself with Colonel Nidal Hasan, the military psychiatrist who committed mass murder at Fort Hood. In so many ways, their lives were parallel, but Jasser became a profound American patriot and Hasan became a murderous traitor. The key, Jasser insists, is the poison of Islamism (political Islam) that has infiltrated the American Muslim world just as it has spread throughout the globe in the past 50 years. Supported by petro dollars, and disseminated through the North American Islamic Trust and the Assembly of Muslim Jurists of America, among other organs, Islamism alienates young American Muslims from their country by teaching that their first loyalty is as citizens of the “umma” (the Islamic community).

“Hasan did not go to sleep one night a normal, compassionate, patriotic constitutional American Muslim military psychiatrist and wake up the next day a barbaric radical wanting to viciously murder his fellow soldiers,” Jasser testified. His mind and character were distorted by Islamism.

Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes has said, “The problem is radical Islam. The solution is moderate Islam.” Most non-Muslim Americans are not in a position to affect the ideological struggle that is going on within Islam. The battle must be waged by groups like the American Islamic Forum for Democracy.

But there are things we can do. We can stop enabling the most destructive voices within the American Muslim world by pretending that they speak for American Muslims. We can stop indulging the fiction that concern about Islamic radicalism amounts to anti-Muslim discrimination. And we can do everything possible to support and honor those, like Zuhdi Jasser, who are manfully battling the forces of darkness.

– Mona Charen is a nationally syndicated columnist. © 2012 Creators Syndicate, Inc.

With the scorched earth smear campaign being waged against Dr. Jasser by American Islamist groups like CAIR and MPAC, we thought it appropriate to post a few of the testimonials submitted to AIFD during the week after Senator Mitch McConnell’s March announcement of Dr. Jasser’s nomination to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.

MUSLIM LEADERSHIP SUPPORT

1] Self-proclaimed custodians of Islam have launched a defamation campaign against Dr. Zuhdi Jasser for his appointment to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom. I hope they realize that this deformation campaign itself is against the teachings of Islam!

These politically-motivated groups stand for the establishment of Islamic Caliphate and Islamic State for which introduction of legislative sharia as Muslim Law, justification of jihad for establishing the Islamic State, support of capital punishment for blasphemy and apostasy are critical tools. I hope they realize that none of these doctrines are part of the Islamic faith. These doctrines have been engineered in the last century, after the fall of the Ottoman Caliphate and the colonization of Muslim empires (Ottoman and Mughal) at the dawn of the industrial revolution in the 18^th century. Opposing these misrepresented doctrines has earned Dr. Jasser the wrath of these hypocritical hate mongers.

Their duplicity can be gauged from the fact the same groups deny equal rights to minorities in Muslim majority countries while demanding equal and more rights in the US. Demanding equal rights for all religious minorities in countries that claim to be the bulwark of Islam (Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, etc.) can result in imprisonment.

Rather than hate and fear mongering, the American people, particularly Muslims, will welcome a public debate on the real issues (Islamic Caliphate and State, sharia, jihad, blasphemy, and apostasy) to understand the faith of Islam from the scripture and differentiate it from Islamism – the politically motivated movement for monopolizing power under the guise of Islam. Such civilized discussion on real issues will be illuminating for all Americans.

Arif Humayun, President & Co-founder, Circle of Peace, Vancouver, WA

2] I know Dr. Jasser personally. He is an extremely genuine Muslim intellectual, dedicated and exceptionally talented to lead the moderate sane Muslim voices in confronting the radical Muslim propaganda, currently engaging in hate campaign against him.

Jalal Zuberi MD, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA

3] Dear Dr. Jasser: As an American Moslem and who had a privileged of meeting you and heard your talks several times and resident of Arizona over 50 years, I extend my heartfelt congratulations to you for being appointed to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). Your devotion to Islam with right leadership in this very critical time of ours is most needed. We admire you and proud of you. We wish you all the successes in all your actions. May Almighty bless you and all your work.

Edib Kirdar, Scottsdale, AZ

4] Dr. Jasser is a devout Arab Muslim but not a fanatic which is why those who have a Muslim agenda are against him. I have heard his views and consider him to be a very balanced Muslim, a decent person and a good American citizen. In my opinion CAIR is a front organization. Dr. Jasser speaks his mind and is neither influenced nor deterred either by the Fox News Channel, the leftist Media or the Islamists. I congratulate Dr. Jasser on a well deserved appointment. Hope his message about militant Islam is widely received and embraced by the Muslim world for their own good and for world peace. Much Love.

Dr. Bahram R. Shahmardaan, Ph.d, Walnut Creek, CA

5] Muslims like Zuhdi Jasser are the ONLY hope for Islam to truly live in harmony with the world.

Tawfik Hamid, Islamic Reformer, Washington DC

6] Dr. Zuhdi Jasser has been a strong proponent of pluralistic and spiritual Islam. For the last few decades most of the Muslim organizations in USA covertly or overtly have been helping the cause of global jihad. Dr. Jasser singlehandedly had been fighting the hydra monster of global jihad.

Jamal Hasan, Council for Democracy & Tolerance, Baltimore, MD

7] I have fled to freedom from the dictatorship of the extreme Islamists who have taken my religion, my homeland and my culture hostage of politics and power. I have come to America where there is no fear mongering, no intimidation of the opposite opinions and no hateful statements that come directly from the fear of truth and facts. I have come to America to be free from the people who use uninformed people to advance the agendas that have been refused by the majority. I have come to America to live in the civilization that allows dialogue instead of illogical personal attacks.

So if you are attacking Dr. Jasser it means that you are afraid of the truth that he speaks of and represents. Otherwise let us have a dialogue, like the civilized people that we claim to be, instead of waging war!

Manda Ervin, Alliance of Iranian Women, Washington DC

8] Dr. Zuhdi Jasser is a devout Muslim, descended from a long line of prominent Sunni ulama (religious scholars) from the city of Damascus, Syria. Those who accuse him of lacking sufficient knowledge of Islam to speak publicly on the subject, display a lack of familiarity with Dr. Jasser and the traditions of Islam itself, or are simply using such baseless claims to pursue a political objective – viz., discrediting one of the most outspoken and courageous voices of moderate Islam living in the West today.

The same is true of accusations that Dr. Jasser – a specialist in internal medicine and nuclear cardiology – financially exploits his work in the field of counter-radicalization, or serves as the paid mouthpiece of an Islamophobic conspiracy.

Dr. Jasser realizes that loyalty to his faith does not supersede or displace loyalty to his nation. This puts him squarely at odds with those who hold a supremacist understanding of Islam, or a hostile view of America and the West. However, it places him directly in the mainstream of America, including the silent majority of Muslims living in the U.S., who are grateful for its blessings of freedom.

C. Holland Taylor

Chairman & CEO, LibForAll Foundation, Winston Salem, NC

INTERFAITH SUPPORT

9] I want to affirm the appointment of Dr. Jasser to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom. Dr. Jasser has been a member of the Board of Directors of the ARIZONA INTERFAITH MOVEMENT for many years and there are two things you never need to question about Dr. Jasser. 1) He is always totally Muslim. You never need to question where he stands as to his faith. He is a very committed Muslim man of faith. 2) He is totally committed to Religious Freedom for all people everywhere. Locally, he has stood with the ARIZONA INTERFAITH MOVEMENT at all times in these issues, and Internationally he has been a leader in promoting religious freedom for all people.

I am proud to support Dr. Jasser in his appointment to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Dr. Paul Eppinger, Executive Director, Arizona Interfaith Movement. Phoenix, AZ

10] We are extremely grateful for Dr. Zuhdi Jasser’s appointment to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, and cannot think of a better contributor to this Commission. Dr. Jasser is not only well informed and a clear speaker on issues of international concern, but also just a genuinely good person. I am deeply saddened about the bad press and comments he is getting. I’ve heard Dr. Jasser speak in public forums many times, as a fellow Arizona Interfaith Movement Board member, and have always appreciated his sincere and devoted sharing of his Muslim faith, and his reasonable discussions about the challenges he is facing as a Muslim. He has invited us to visit his Mosque, and to be part of the ground breaking when it was being built. While I clearly understand that not everyone within a faith tradition will agree on all the issues, matters of interpretation, standards of practice, and what even may define one’s faith to be involved with political issues, or not – I do know that Dr. Jasser is sincere and he does all he can to practice what he preaches. I feel he wants what is good and best for the greater good. I’ve heard him speak from the heart on many issues that I feel touch people’s lives around the world, regardless of what faith or no faith they may practice. He strikes me as always being thoughtful, and caring of others as he shares his perspectives. I have no reason to doubt that he is a dedicated and devout Muslim, who loves Islam deeply and wants others to understand what it is all about, while still respecting our pluralistic society. As a Christian Scientist, I have always felt comfortable in talking with Dr. Jasser about issues, and have felt that my viewpoint was always respected. At the same time, he has done so much to educate me to what the issues are at more of a root level, that I can never express enough appreciation for him. I wish him well in this new appointment, and may God bless, guide and protect him each step of the way.

Blessings and gratitude,

Anne Taylor

Christian Science Board Member of Arizona Interfaith Movement

11] Congratulations on your appointment. The ferocity of the attacks against you are just testimonials to how much Islamists fear you.
Bob

12] When the fanatics rile against you, it is proof that you are succeeding. Stand your ground bravely and firmly, the one God will be with you. May He bless you and your work.
— J M

13] The opposition confirms the rightness of your appointment. I always welcomed this criticism as proof that I was doing the right thing. Keep up the good work, people must know that one can be a devout Muslim, and a good American.
— Bill

POLITICAL SUPPORT

14] I was pleased to learn of your recent appointment to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom. As you may know, I authored the original legislation that created the commission. Since its inception, USCIRF has been envisioned as a voice for the voiceless-unconstrained by the diplomatic considerations which often paralyze the State Department. Now more than ever that voice is needed as people of faith the world over are under assault. You have a proven track record of boldly speaking truth to power-this will serve you well on the commission. (full letter)

Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA)

Co-Chair, Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission

NB: Congressman Frank Wolf also later sent this letter to Imam Mohamed Majid of ADAMS Mosque in Northern Virginia in his district on April 9, 2012. April 9, 2012.

OTHER SUPPORT

15] The groups opposing him are headlined by the Council on American Islamic Relations. So you already know how the passions will align. In danger of being lost sight of here is just what an impressive person Jasser is-and how decent and humane his message is. Here’s an opportunity not to turn every decision of government into a cable-news food fight. Americans of goodwill of all parties should be able to agree on this: Jasser belongs on that commission, and CAIR’s opposition is only another of the man’s many accolades. [LINK]

David Frum, contributing editor, Newsweek and The Daily Beast and a CNN contributor.

Two USCIRF Commissioners Appointed

March 26, 2012 | by USCIRF The U.S. Congress has appointed two individuals, Dr. Robert P. George and Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, to serve as Commissioners on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). Comprised of nine commissioners, USCIRF monitors and advocates for religious freedom abroad wherever that right is being abused. USCIRF also offers policy solutions to improve conditions at the critical juncture of foreign policy, national security, and international religious freedom standards. On March 20, the Commission issued its 2012 annual report which recommended to the Secretary of State that the Obama administration designate 16 nations as countries of particular concern under the International Religious Freedom Act. Dr. George was appointed by The Speaker of the House John Boehner. Dr. Jasser was appointed by the Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. “USCIRF welcomes the appointments of Dr. George and Dr. Jasser,” said Leonard Leo, USCIRF chair. “Along with my fellow Commissioners, Azizah al-Hibri, Rev. William Shaw, and Theodore Van Der Meid, we look forward to the many contributions they will make to the Commission’s work. USCIRF has accomplished much, but much is left to be done. The Commission will continue to work with Congress and the Executive Branch to ensure that religious freedom is upheld as a universal human right, and that policies advancing its protection are fully integrated components of U.S. foreign and national security policy.” Dr. Robert P. George is McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University. He has served on the President’s Council on Bioethics and as a presidential appointee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights. He is a former Judicial Fellow at the Supreme Court of the United States, where he received the Justice Tom C. Clark Award. A graduate of Swarthmore College and Harvard Law School, Professor George earned a doctorate in philosophy of law from Oxford University. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa at Swarthmore, and received a Knox Fellowship from Harvard for graduate study in law and philosophy at Oxford. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and is a recipient of the United States Presidential Citizens Medal and the Honorific Medal for the Defense of Human Rights of the Republic of Poland. M. Zuhdi Jasser is president and founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy which advocates for the preservation of the founding principles of the U.S. Constitution, liberty and freedom, through the separation of mosque and state. He is also a founding member of the American Islamic Leadership Coalition which represents a diverse group of reform minded American Muslim leaders. The son of Syrian immigrants, Dr. Jasser is a former Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy where he served 11 years. Dr. Jasser is a nationally recognized expert who is widely published and has spoken at hundreds of national and international events and given testimony to Congress on the value of the centrality of religious liberty in the contest of ideas within Islam. Dr. Jasser is an author and a physician currently in private practice in Phoenix Arizona specializing in internal medicine and nuclear cardiology. To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, contact Paul Liben at pliben@uscirf.gov or (703) 870-6041. USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission. USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and the leadership of both political parties in the Senate and the House of Representatives. USCIRF’s principal responsibilities are to review the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom internationally and to make policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress.