American Muslim, M. Zuhdi Jasser, M.D., calls for immediate apology from Senator Christopher Murphy after smear against AIFD from the Senate floor.

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PRESS RELEASE
American Islamic Forum for Democracy

Contact: Mischel Yosick
480 225 7473 mischel@zliberty.com

April 25, 2018

Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) commits takfir against Muslims at the American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD) calling us “anti-Muslim” and “intolerant” from the Senate floor.- April 25, 2018

Today, April 25, 2018, Senator Christopher Murphy (D-CT) took to the floor of the U.S. Senate to smear American Muslim leaders in the Muslim Reform Movement as collateral damage in the course of his scorched earth partisan attack against Secretary of State-designee Mike Pompeo. On the floor of the Senate he said,

“Mike Pompeo was deeply intertwined with this network of anti-Muslim organizations. There was a really interesting study that I hope some of you will take a look at that details this network of organizations. They have fairly innocuous sounding names, like the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, the Middle East Forum, The Investigative Project on Terrorism… Those sound like things that I might be for, but if you really take look at what they do, they preach intolerance”.

He labeled our organization among others as an “anti-Muslim” organization.

Do we need to remind Senator Murphy who obviously knows little to nothing about Islam, Muslims, or any of the dynamics within the American Muslim community, that declaring any group of organizations let alone American Muslims as being anti-Muslim is the equivalent of declaring Takfir (the declaration by radicals that a Muslim has left Islam and is an apostate, an infidel, or an enemy of Muslims)? Does Senator Murphy really think it appropriate to say the same thing about us on the floor of Senate that would be said about us by theocrats on the floor of tyrannical Islamist governments in “Islamic Republics” like Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, or Sudan? Does he not understand that such declarations are essentially declarations of apostasy or death threats?

It is a sad day in American discourse when a United States Senator motivated by partisan extremism willfully slanders and maligns an American Islamic organization. Never mind that our AIFD happens to actually be dedicated to countering Islamist radicalization and leading efforts at reform in order to defend the homeland. The sad truth Senator Murphy ignores, is that had he actually read the work we have done with former Congressman Pompeo (R-KS), he would have learned that we, for example, joined the Congressman in exposing the radical Islamist ideology of a radical imam, Sheikh Monzer Taleb, preaching in Congressman Pompeo’s backyard in Wichita. To us, there is nothing more pro-Muslim. Unfortunately, Senator Murphy prefers to read from the scripture of American Islamist talking points handed to him and his staff. (See: It’s Not Islamophobic to Protest a Pro-Hamas Speaker)

We call attention to the Senate floor video clip from today and demand an immediate apology from Senator Christopher Murphy (D-CT) and a retraction of his statement labeling AIFD and other anti-Islamist, anti-Jihadist Muslims and leaders as anti-Muslim and intolerant.

We certainly welcome any conversation with the Senator’s office and hope that in the future he would avoid using the talking points handed to him from separatist American Islamist organization.

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About AIFD
The American Islamic Forum for Democracy is a non-profit organization based in Phoenix, Ariz. dedicated to providing an American Muslim voice advocating genuine Muslim reform against Islamism and the ideologies which fuel global Muslim radicalization. AIFD’s mission is to advocate for the preservation of the founding principles of the United States Constitution, liberty and freedom, through the separation of mosque and state. In December 2015, AIFD convened and helped launch the Muslim Reform Movement, a coalition of over 12 Muslim organizations and leaders dedicated to reform for values of peace, human rights and secular governance.

About M. Zuhdi Jasser, M.D.
Dr. Jasser is the president and founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, a think tank dedicated to protecting American national security against the global threat of Islamism. AIFD promotes reform-minded Muslim voices for liberty, and is shaking the hold which Islamist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood have upon Muslim leadership. Dr. Jasser is the author of “A Battle for the Soul of Islam: An American Muslim Patriot’s Fight to Save His Faith”. He is also founder of Take Back Islam and a co-founder of the Muslim Reform Movement.

American Islamic Forum for Democracy, Founder and President, M. Zuhdi Jasser, M. D., will speak at the Oklahoma City Town Hall “Lunch with the Speaker” event on Thursday, March 15.

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PRESS RELEASE
American Islamic Forum for Democracy

Contact: Mischel Yosick
480 225 7473 mischel@zliberty.com

March 13, 2018

Do you hear from enough diverse voices from within the American Muslim community? As you cover issues regarding women’s’ rights, minority rights, religious freedom, homeland security, immigration, radicalization, Middle East policy and ISIS to name a few, if you seek real diversity in the Muslim community, it should be about ideological diversity from liberal to fundamentalist. So far the majority of voices for Muslims across small town America are the Islamist fundamentalist establishment.

Dr. Jasser speaks about the need to stop looking at American Muslims only through the lens of minority politics in America but instead calls upon media to look at the civil rights battle of our time happening inside American mosques and across Muslim majority nations and organizations across the planet.

Don’t miss this opportunity to meet and chat with Dr. Zuhdi Jasser while he visits Oklahoma City.

Dr. Jasser is the president and founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, a think tank dedicated to protecting American national security against the global threat of Islamism. AIFD promotes reform-minded Muslim voices for liberty, and is shaking the hold which Islamist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood have upon Muslim leadership. Dr. Jasser is the author of “A Battle for the Soul of Islam: An American Muslim Patriot’s Fight to Save His Faith”. He is also founder of Take Back Islam and a co-founder of the Muslim Reform Movement.

Oklahoma City Event Details:
Time: 10:30 a.m. March 15th, 2018
Where: First Baptist Church, 1201 N. Robinson, Oklahoma City
Click here for additional program details and to purchase tickets.

###

 

About AIFD
The American Islamic Forum for Democracy is a non-profit organization based in Phoenix, Ariz. dedicated to providing an American Muslim voice advocating genuine Muslim reform against Islamism and the ideologies which fuel global Muslim radicalization. AIFD’s mission is to advocate for the preservation of the founding principles of the United States Constitution, liberty and freedom, through the separation of mosque and state. In December 2015, AIFD convened and helped launch the Muslim Reform Movement, a coalition of over 12 Muslim organizations and leaders dedicated to reform for values of peace, human rights and secular governance.

About M. Zuhdi Jasser, M.D.
Dr. Jasser is the president and founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, a think tank dedicated to protecting American national security against the global threat of Islamism. AIFD promotes reform-minded Muslim voices for liberty, and is shaking the hold which Islamist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood have upon Muslim leadership. Dr. Jasser is the author of “A Battle for the Soul of Islam: An American Muslim Patriot’s Fight to Save His Faith”. He is also founder of Take Back Islam and a co-founder of the Muslim Reform Movement.

 

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12/12/2017: Press Release: NYC attack shows we must be on the offense in order to win over radical Islamist’s.

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PRESS RELEASE
American Islamic Forum for Democracy

Contact: Mischel Yosick
480 225 7473 mischel@zliberty.com

December 12, 2017
AIFD calls on the US to stop only playing defense and go on the offense against Islamism.

The American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD) reminds Americans in the wake of the suicide bombing attempt by Akayed Ullah near the Port Authority in New York City, that while we are winning the battles in Syria and Iraq against ISIS, which is on the verge of being decimated, we are losing the global battle against our real enemy – the ideology of Salafi-Jihadism.

The battle against the ideology of global jihadist and Islamic state ideas is not dependent on land mass or territory. In fact caliphism is a consciousness globally of a sharia state mentality.

Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, President & Founder of AIFD stated today, “In order to win we must begin to go on offense and this attack should remind us that we can only keep plugging the holes in the hull of the ship for so long. That offense should include advancing the ideas of secular liberal democracy into Muslim communities domestically in our cities coast-to-coast. This must be facilitated by a whole of government approach through convening a Commission on Radical Islamism for which President Trump has already called.

Individuals like Ullah are one of the many natural byproducts of the precursor ‘non-violent’ Islamist (salafi jihadi) ideology. This is not a problem that can be solved through “outlawing” the threat. We need to monitor public footprints of Islamist ideologies- conspiracy theories, anti-semitism, homophobia, misogyny, anti-Americanism along with the supremacy of an Islamic sharia state. We need to go on the offense into American Muslim communities in a public-private program advancing our world view of freedom and deconstructing Islamist theocracy.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) – New York response only hours after the attack, in which they had the temerity to lecture Americans about ‘justice’ and the ‘truth which had yet to come out’, should remind everyone about how the verbiage and attitude of American Islamist organizations are large factors in radicalizing Muslims and creating their separatist mentality”.

Albert Fox Cahn, CAIR-NY legal director said “…we are also outraged by the behavior of law enforcement officials who have held children as small as four years old out in the cold and who held a teenager out of high school classes to interrogate him without a lawyer, without his parents. These are not the sorts of actions that we expect from our justice system, and we have every confidence that our justice system will find the truth behind this attack and that we will, in the end, be able to learn what occurred today”.

As can be seen from this unbelievable commentary from a leading American Islamist organization, the non-violent precursors of Islamism like groups such as CAIR are a much bigger problem that we have yet to address in any shape or form. As we’ve said before “It’s the Islamist insurgency stupid.”
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11/16/2016 AIFD Statement on the Election of Donald J. Trump to the Presidency of the United States of America

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Phoenix, AZ, (November 16, 2016) Last week, Americans flocked to the polls to exercise our hard-won right to vote in free and fair elections. The resulting election of Donald J. Trump has resulted in a vigorous national discussion about some of the most sensitive and significant issues facing Americans today.

As a non-partisan organization and an American nonprofit organization, the American Islamic Forum for Democracy doesn’t endorse candidates. We work to educate the public about the issues important to Muslims devoted to reform, universal human rights, and individual liberty. Our staff and members include conservatives, liberals, and every group in between. Our shared values unite us – and it is in this spirit of unity that we have remained committed to advancing our mission regardless of the political climate we find ourselves in.

Throughout the presidential campaign, members of our organization were critical of both Secretary Clinton and President-elect Trump’s approaches to some of our issues of reform, liberty and the defeat of Islamism at home and abroad. Indeed, we have been critical of politicians from both sides of the aisle since our founding. As always, regardless of who or which party wins we will help our nation and our mission move forward. We will continue to speak and act in accordance with our values.

We will encourage the coming administration to engage reformist and liberty-minded Muslims rather than Islamists at home and abroad, just as we currently do. We will hold the new administration accountable just as we have with President Obama and did with President Bush. Every new administration is a possibility to engage the American public in new ways, and we will remain steadfast in our dedication to doing all we can to preserve and protect the values of liberty, freedom, and universal human rights.

As American Muslims, we are particularly sensitive to the fact that many of us have family and loved ones in places where free and fair elections are not yet a reality. We are proud and blessed to live in a country where women and men, and people of all faiths, belief systems, sexual orientations and identities can vote – and can do so without fear. We are grateful for our freedoms and for the opportunity to protect them through conducting our work with conviction and integrity.

 

About AIFD

The American Islamic Forum for Democracy is a think tank dedicated to providing an American Muslim voice advocating genuine Muslim reform against Islamism and the ideologies which fuel global Muslim radicalization. AIFD’s mission is to advocate for the preservation of the founding principles of the United States Constitution, liberty and freedom, through the separation of mosque and state. This mission is derived from a love for America and a love of our faith of Islam. AIFD believes that Muslims can better practice Islam in an environment that protects the rights of an individual to practice their faith as they choose.M Zuhdi Jasser, REFORM THIS! Podcast host for The Blaze Radio Network, President American Islamic Forum for Democracy, co-founder Muslim Reform Movement, former US Navy Lieutenant Commander, and author of “A Battle for the Soul of Islam”

 

 About Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser

Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser is the president and founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, a think tank dedicated to protecting American national security against the global threat of Islamism. AIFD promotes reform-minded Muslim voices for liberty, and is shaking the hold which Islamist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood have upon Muslim leadership. Dr. Jasser is the author of “A Battle for the Soul of Islam: An American Muslim Patriot’s Fight to Save His Faith.” He is also a Co-Founder of the Muslim Reform Movement. Dr. Zuhdi Jasser is the host of “Reform This!” on the Blaze Radio Network.

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09/25/2016 Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, Syrian American, and AIFD Express Deep Disappointment in White House Move to Obstruct Sanction Efforts Against Assad Regime

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Phoenix, AZ, (September 25, 2016) – Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, the son of Syrian immigrants who fled Baathist tyranny, today condemned the disturbing move by the White House to block a bipartisan bill aimed at imposing sanctions against the genocidal Assad regime. The Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, a bill authored primarily by Democrat Rep. Eliot Engel (N.Y.), would impose new sanctions on the Assad regime and its supporters, initiate investigations into war crimes carried out by the regime, foster negotiation to end the crisis in Syria, and force the U.S. to take action against those who do business with or finance the Syrian government or its military, intelligence, airline, telecommunications and energy services.

Dr. Jasser and AIFD learned over the weekend that White House officials sadly had staffers call leaders in both parties, pushing for them to quietly shelve the bill, despite the fact that it its supporters are mostly Democrats.

In response to the news, Dr. Jasser said: “I am stunned that a president who claimed to hold a ‘red line’ standard in the use of chemical weapons would repeatedly hand civilians over to a murderous dictator – even when there is an option on the table – sanctions – which would at least make a small dent in the regime’s finances, which it uses to murder civilians, including with chemical weapons.

It is deplorable and criminal that we have not taken these measures already. How could we refrain from punishing those who finance the murder, torture and rape the bill’s namesake presented to us with undeniable evidence? It is beyond reason or comprehension. It seems our government – at its highest level – has completely forgotten our national commitment to ‘never again’ allow the genocide of a people. I encourage the bill’s bipartisan supporters to remain steadfast, and dissent with the Obama administration at once.”

 

About AIFD

The American Islamic Forum for Democracy is a non-profit organization based in Phoenix, Ariz. dedicated to providing an American Muslim voice advocating genuine Muslim reform against Islamism and the ideologies which fuel global Muslim radicalization. AIFD’s mission is to advocate for the preservation of the founding principles of the United States Constitution, liberty and freedom, through the separation of mosque and state. In December 2015, AIFD convened and helped launch the Muslim Reform Movement, a coalition of over 12 Muslim organizations and leaders dedicated to reform for values of peace, human rights and secular governance.

 

 

About Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser

Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser is the president and founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, a think tank dedicated to protecting American national security against the global threat of Islamism. AIFD promotes reform-minded Muslim voices for liberty, and is shaking the hold which Islamist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood have upon Muslim leadership. Dr. Jasser is the author of “A Battle for the Soul of Islam: An American Muslim Patriot’s Fight to Save His Faith.” He is also a Co-Founder of the Muslim Reform Movement. Dr. Zuhdi Jasser is the host of “Reform This!” on the Blaze Radio Network.

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Zuhdi Jasser: Don’t let the Khan Family’s Sacrifice be Used as a Political Wedge

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Phoenix, AZ., (August 2, 2016) – Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, President of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, lends advice to Donald Trump, following his recent feud with the Khan Gold Star family.

Dr. Jasser states:

“Gold star families – those whose loved ones have lost their lives in the service of this great nation know no single party or faith. They are first and foremost America patriots of the highest order. If they are people of faith, their faith may guide them in healing from their loss.

It is reprehensible that any public official or candidate would see fit to attack such a family. It would be my hope that any candidate for office would lift up, support, and honor the parents of a fallen soldier, regardless of the faith he or she professed, national origin or the color of their skin. Like any person, a gold star parent has the right to be critical of a public figure – but no public figure should attack such a parent in the way that Mr. Trump has attacked the Khans. It seems that Mr. Trump’s advisers should urge him to speak only from prepared statements, leaving off-the cuff statements and 140 character comments off limits.

Attacking the Khans helps no political party and certainly doesn’t help the United States or bolster our national defense. If anything, the Khans’ sacrifice speaks to what I have been saying for decades: that American Muslim youth need to be taught that their country is worth that ultimate sacrifice, before any other identity group; and that the “Islamic State” must never be embraced, only fought – even if it is to the death. It is in fact an attention to the national spirit of those American Muslims willing to risk that ultimate sacrifice that holds within it that antidote to Islamist radicalization and allegiance to the global jihad.

The only party worthy of such venom here are those who are “jumping blindly on the bandwagon” to support the Khans here – the Islamist groups who otherwise condemn and abuse patriotic and reformist Muslims every day who have been championing the cause of heroes like Humayun Khan for years while calling for reforms against global movements that demonize his service and American exceptionalism. Also worthy of critique is the mainstream media, who ignore or even vilify American Muslim patriots.

If the media truly wants to honor the memory of Humayun Khan, they will do an immediate about-face, and support American Muslims like us at AIFD, who have always stood with our servicemen and women and have consistently championed with the exceptionalism of the American defense of liberty. Sadly most of the Muslim voices currently responding to this controversy are apologists for Islamism and its theocratic movements across the world.”

 

About AIFD

The American Islamic Forum for Democracy is a non-profit organization based in Phoenix, Ariz. dedicated to providing an American Muslim voice advocating genuine Muslim reform against Islamism and the ideologies which fuel global Muslim radicalization. AIFD’s mission is to advocate for the preservation of the founding principles of the United States Constitution, liberty and freedom, through the separation of mosque and state. In December 2015, AIFD convened and helped launch the Muslim Reform Movement, a coalition of over 12 Muslim organizations and leaders dedicated to reform for values of peace, human rights and secular governance.

 

About Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser

Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser is the president and founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, a think tank dedicated to protecting American national security against the global threat of Islamism. AIFD promotes reform-minded Muslim voices for liberty, and is shaking the hold which Islamist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood have upon Muslim leadership. Dr. Jasser is the author of “A Battle for the Soul of Islam: An American Muslim Patriot’s Fight to Save His Faith.” He is also a Co-Founder of the Muslim Reform Movement. Dr. Zuhdi Jasser is the host of “Reform This!” on the Blaze Radio Network.

 

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06/27/2016 Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser to testify before Senate Panel in Hearing on Cover-Up of Islamist Terror by Obama Administration

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Phoenix, AZ – Tuesday, June 28 at 2:30pm E.T., Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, President of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy will testify before the Subcommittee on Oversight, Agency Action, Federal Rights and Federal Courts at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington D.C. in a hearing titled “Willful Blindness: Consequences of Agency Efforts to Deemphasize Radical Islam in Combating Terrorism.”

Chairman Senator Ted Cruz explained the purpose of the hearing:

“The hearing will examine the Obama administration’s refusal to attribute the terrorist threats we face with radical Islam, hobbling our ability to combat the enemy. The hearing will specifically investigate how the federal government has not only refused to appropriately identify the specific threat of radical Islam, but has sought to undermine the people and information who have sought to highlight the threat.”

“This hearing will likely focus on which figures within the federal government worked to squelch any research connecting the dots between local Muslim Brotherhood officials, these individual terrorists, and foreign terror networks. Senators on the committee now have an opportunity to expose the Muslim Brotherhood influence within DHS and the FBI, their invidious “Countering Violent Extremism” Agenda, and their hand in covering up counter-terrorism investigations.”

Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, AIFD President, also stated, “I am honored to testify before Chairman Cruz’s subcommittee and before the American people on the importance to the U.S. government’s national security strategy in identifying Islamists and targeting the ideology of Islamism.”

About AIFD

The American Islamic Forum for Democracy is a non-profit organization based in Phoenix, Ariz. dedicated to providing an American Muslim voice advocating genuine Muslim reform against Islamism and the ideologies which fuel global Muslim radicalization. AIFD’s mission is to advocate for the preservation of the founding principles of the United States Constitution, liberty and freedom, through the separation of mosque and state. In December 2015, AIFD convened and helped launch the Muslim Reform Movement, a coalition of over 12 Muslim organizations and leaders dedicated to reform for values of peace, human rights and secular governance.

About Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser

Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser is the president and founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, a think tank dedicated to protecting American national security against the global threat of Islamism. AIFD promotes reform-minded Muslim voices for liberty, and is shaking the hold which Islamist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood have upon Muslim leadership. Dr. Jasser is the author of “A Battle for the Soul of Islam: An American Muslim Patriot’s Fight to Save His Faith.” He is also a Co-Founder of the Muslim Reform Movement. Dr. Zuhdi Jasser is the host of “Reform This!” on the Blaze Radio Network.

AIFD Keeps Victims in our Thoughts and Prayers, Condemns Pulse Attack

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We at AIFD are heartbroken to learn of the attack on the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Reports indicate that Omar Saddiqui Mateen, a U.S. citizen, carried out an attack on Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. In what is being called the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, at least fifty people are dead. Many other are still in the hospital, some in surgery as medical professionals are attempting to save their lives.

Earliest reports are naming Omar Saddique Mateen, a U.S. born Afghan-American, as the shooter who targeted the club last night.

As the investigation continues, we send our love and prayers to the families, friends and loved ones of the victims, and to the LGBTQ community. Every human being deserves to live safely, as they are, and without fear for their safety. The LGBTQ community has always been at the forefront of so many fights for human rights – including the fight against anti-Muslim bigotry. Tragically, the LGBTQ community has also long been a primary target of radical Islamist networks and governments across the planet.

We at AIFD stand unequivocally on the side of individual freedom and for the protection of LGBTQ people of all faiths and none. Make no mistake. We are again horrifically reminded that our nation and the free world are in a long war that has been declared upon us by global militant Islamists and their Salafi-Jihadi ideology. Understanding this ideology demands that we finally move beyond the false ‘lone wolf’ and ‘violent extremism’ narrative and counter the enemy’s ideology of Islamism and its jihadism.

It is said that in the month of Ramadan, the “devil is in chains,” as the Muslim community focuses on bettering itself. However, it is clear that evil was behind Mateen’s attack last night. We Muslims must triple down on acknowledging the deep reforms necessary and the responsibility of every Muslim in countering the ideologies that inspire these Islamist savages.

We will keep the Orlando community and all affected in our hearts and prayers as this investigation unfolds.

06/22/2016 TESTIMONY for Hearing before: The House Committee on Homeland Security’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Management Efficiency “Identifying the Enemy: Radical Islamist Terror” By Dr. M. ZUHDI JASSER

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Introduction: Thank you Chairman Perry and members of the House Committee on Homeland Security’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Management Efficiency for holding this very important hearing on “Identifying the Enemy: Radical Islamist Terror.” I am Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, President and founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD) based in Phoenix, Arizona. I am here today, because I could not feel more strongly that our current national and agency direction in combating Islamist inspired terrorism is deeply flawed and profoundly dangerous. As a devout Muslim who loves my faith, and loves my nation, the de-emphasis of “radical Islam” and the “Islamist” root cause of global Islamist terrorism is the greatest obstacle to both national harmony and national security. Wholesale denial of the truth by many in our government and political establishment has actually emboldened extremists on both sides of this debate: both radical Islamists and anti-Muslim fascists.

Neither Islam nor Muslims are monolithic and should not be treated as such by anyone – much less our government and media. Please understand it is as equally foolhardy in counter-terrorism and counter-radicalization work to refuse to acknowledge the role of political Islam in the threat as it is to villainize the whole of Islam and all Muslims. The majority of Americans are smart enough to understand that to say the House of “Islam has no problems” is just as problematic as declaring that “Islam, and all Muslims, are the problem”. I am here to tell you that our national security policy of refusing to say that “Islam currently has a problem” is dangerous. This surrender, which began just after 9-11, has chartered a course towards failure. It has hamstrung our homeland security heroes from addressing any of the most central Islamist precursors of militant Islamists. If the agency actually emphasized the central role of radical Islamism and its attendant theopolitical ideologies, it would shift the entire axis of our agency apparatus toward once and for all beginning to actually address, expose, and engage the root cause of the theocratic strains of Islam (or Islamism) which would begin to make us safer. So-called Violent Extremism (VE) is simply an endpoint of a common supremacist ideology that at its root is theo-political and is a radicalization process that occurs over months to years and is far easier to publicly monitor than waiting for guess work on “Violent Extremism”.

Read More

 

AIFD Keeps Victims of Islamist Radicalism in our Thoughts and Prayers, Condemns Pulse Attack

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We at AIFD are heartbroken to learn of the attack on the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Reports indicate that Omar Saddiqui Mateen, a U.S. citizen, carried out an attack on Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. In what is being called the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, at least fifty people are dead. Many other are still in the hospital, some in surgery as medical professionals are attempting to save their lives.

Earliest reports are naming Omar Saddique Mateen, a U.S. born Afghan-American, as the shooter who targeted the club last night.

As the investigation continues, we send our love and prayers to the families, friends and loved ones of the victims, and to the LGBTQ community. Every human being deserves to live safely, as they are, and without fear for their safety. The LGBTQ community has always been at the forefront of so many fights for human rights – including the fight against anti-Muslim bigotry. Tragically, the LGBTQ community has also long been a primary target of radical Islamist networks and governments across the planet.

We at AIFD stand unequivocally on the side of individual freedom and for the protection of LGBTQ people of all faiths and none. Make no mistake. We are again horrifically reminded that our nation and the free world are in a long war that has been declared upon us by global militant Islamists and their Salafi-Jihadi ideology. Understanding this ideology demands that we finally move beyond the false ‘lone wolf’ and ‘violent extremism’ narrative and counter the enemy’s ideology of Islamism and its jihadism.

It is said that in the month of Ramadan, the “devil is in chains,” as the Muslim community focuses on bettering itself. However, it is clear that evil was behind Mateen’s attack last night. We Muslims must triple down on acknowledging the deep reforms necessary and the responsibility of every Muslim in countering the ideologies that inspire these Islamist savages.

We will keep the Orlando community and all affected in our hearts and prayers as this investigation unfolds.