The Mumbai Massacres (updated)

Sheila Musaji

Posted Dec 19, 2008      •Permalink      • Printer-Friendly Version
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The Mumbai Massacres

by Sheila Musaji

There is nothing any human being can say about the despicable people who carried out this atrocity in Mumbai except that they have committed a criminal act of terrorism.  The initial reports point to a group “the Deccan Mujahidin” calling themselves Muslims as being responsible.  However, no one has heard of this group before, and there are a lot of questions.  If it turns out that this is the case, they are yet another example of individuals who understand nothing about the principles of the religion they claim to profess.  Whoever turns out to be behind these attacks they are criminals, and if they are attempting to hide behind any “religious” banner they are liars.  What is needed is a massive international law enforcement effort helped by ordinary people worldwide taking on the responsibility of being alert and turning in information to the authorities about anyone who is engaged in talk of violence or suspicious activity.  Anyone who attempts or succeeds in carrying out any act of terrorism deserves to be brought to justice and punished to the fullest extent of the law.  Every individual needs to take responsibility for doing everything in their power to stop this spreading cancer of terrorism and violence that is causing so much suffering worldwide.

I would have to agree with Abraham Foxman of the ADL when he said in a statement:  ”... The devastating assault on a number of high visibility targets known to be frequented by thousands of visitors to Mumbai and residents of the city is a tragic reminder that the world must stand up against all terrorism, because in the end no one is safe until terrorism itself is rejected and combated in all its manifestations.”

International, national, and local Muslim groups all over the world have denounced this atrocity — The Muslim Council of Britain, The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), the All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat, Muslim Matters, The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Kashmiri American Council (KAC), Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman, the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the Islamic Medical Association of North America, the Council of Indian Muslims (CIM-UK), six local mosques in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, American Muslim Alliance  — and just about every Muslim organization anywhere have all issued condemnations using words such as disgusting, inhuman, vicious, unconscionable, barbaric, etc.  Even the leader of Kashmiri militant groups, the Jihad Council of Kashmir, has denounced the Mumbai massacres.  The King of Jordan, President of Turkey, government of Malaysia, the OIC and other governments around the world have condemned these attacks.

AVAAZ in India is asking for people worldwide to sign the following petition:

The whole world is reeling from the shock of the attacks in Mumbai.  These attacks were aimed at our people, our prosperity and our peace. But their top target was something else: our unity.

If these attacks cause us to turn on each other in hatred and conflict, the terrorists will have won. They know that hatred and chaos feeds on division. They also know that as radical extremists, their only hope of disrupting society as a whole is turning the rest of us against each other.

Let’s deny them that victory. We’re launching a message to extremists on all sides, and our fellow citizens, one that will soon be published in newspapers across India and Pakistan. The message is that these tactics aren’t working and we are more united than ever. And we are determined to work together to stop violent extremism, and call our political and religous leader to so the same.

If millions of people sign it, our message will be unmistakable

.

We citizens of India, and countries around the world, from all faiths, backgrounds and walks of life, declare with one voice that the terrorist attacks in Mumbai have not divided us, will not divide us, and that we stand together, as one people, against all violent extremists who shamefully target the innocent. We call upon all our political and religious leaders to come together at this moment, and take effective action to prevent the spread of violence.

December 1, 2008 update - the Muslim Jama Masjid Trust has refused to bury the terrorists in a Muslim graveyard because their actions show that they are not true followers of Islam.  This decision has been backed by Muslim scholars across India.  Mumbai’s Muslim Council Trust has written a letter saying the attackers are criminals and do not deserve to be buried as Muslims.  “Such demons—they will not find an inch of land in any Muslim cemetery,” Maulana Sayed Moinuddin Ahsraf, secretary of the All-India Sunni Jamiat-ulema, told Reuters.

December 3, 2008 update - Lucknow, Dec 3 (PTI) Going soft on terrorism will not earn politicians any support in Muslim community, prominent Islamic clerics have said, asserting that terrorists should not be identified with any religion.  “Politicians hoping to win favours of the Muslim community by acting soft against terrorism are grossly mistaken,” Idgah’s Naib Imam Maulana Khalid Rasheed Firangi Mahali said in a statement here today.  Politicians carry a misconception that acting tough against terrorism and mercenaries will alienate them from Muslims, he said, adding, “some leaders have even started thinking that criticising Pakistan will not go well with the Muslims in India.” The Maulana said that such a policy was indicative of “the perverted mentality which labelled all Muslims as pro-Pakistani”.  The politicians must realise that terrorists do not discriminate on religious lines, he added.  Condemning the Mumbai terror attacks, head of Idraye-Sharia and Shahar, Mufti Maulana Mufti Abul Irfan Firangi Mahali said that those killing innocents deserved to be killed as per the tenets of Islam.  In a statement, he said the terrorists should not be called followers of any religion, Islam in particular, as it preaches peace and universal brotherhood.  Terrorism is an act of cowardice and anti-Islamic, he added.  He urged Muslims in particular to remain alert and united in the fight against enemies of the country. PTI

December 8, 2008 update - Muslims across India march and denounce Mumbai attackers as enemies of Islam.  On Sunday afternoon, a silent march of the Muslims started from the CST station, one of the places the terrorists had chosen to create mayhem on 26/11, winding its way through Churchgate to the sea-front near the Oberoi-Trident. Similar protest walks, condemning terrorist outfits like the Al Qaeda, Taliban, ISI, LeT and SIMI and Huji were simultaneously held in cities like Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Indore, Hyderabad and Delhi.  http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Muslims_denounce_Mumbai_attackers_as_enemy_of_Islam/articleshow/3805727.cms


“Whoever kills a person [unjustly]… it is as though he has killed all mankind. And whoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved all mankind.” (Qur’an, 5:32)

SEE ALSO:

46 Muslims killed in Mumbai terrorists attacks, Abdul Hameed Yousuf http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/paper/index.php?article=3841
Amnesty International criticizes India’s new anti-terrorism laws http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/southasia/news/article_1449393.php/Amnesty_International_criticizes_Indias_new_anti-terrorism_laws_
Beyond the line of control, Hassan Abbas http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/beyond_the_line_of_control/0017007
Carnage in Mumbai, Jeff Siddiqui http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/carnage_in_mumbai/0016971
How to prevent another Mumbai, Deepak Chopra http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1863408,00.html
India’s Muslims in Crisis, Aryn Baker http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1862650,00.html
Islamic Politics, Muslim Militancy and ‘Jihadist’ Movements, Maulana Waris Mazhari (tr. Yoginder Sikand) http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/islamic_politics_muslim_militancy_and_jihadist_movements/0016974
‘Jews Who Were Israelis’: Anti-Semitism and the Mumbai Chabad Center, Shaul Magid http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/religionandtheology/850/%E2%80%98jews_who_were_israelis%E2%80%99%3A_anti-semitism_and_the_mumbai_chabad_center
Madness in Mumbai, Hasan Zillur Rahim http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/madness_in_mumbai/0016981
The messages from Mumbai, Muqtedar Khan http://www.altmuslim.com/a/a/a/2884/
Minister in Mumbai police furore http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7791367.stm
Minister Antulay quits, he suspected Hindu involvement in Mumbai attacks http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=14050&size=A
The Monster in the Mirror, Arundhati Roy http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/12/mumbai-arundhati-roy
Mumbai and the Kashmir Tinderbox, Liaquat Ali Khan http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/mumbai_and_the_kashmir_tinderbox/0016994
Mumbai atrocities highlight need for solution in Kashmir, William Dalrymple http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/30/mumbai-terror-attacks-india1
Mumbai Carnage, Wish It Were The Last Horror!, Mirza A. Beg http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/mumbai_carnage_wish_it_were_the_last_horror/0016997
Mumbai Madness, Zahir Janmohamed http://www.altmuslim.com/a/a/b/2881/
The Mumbai Terror Attacks, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/the_mumbai_terror_attacks/0016990
Mumbai: Terror in the Name of God, Yoginder Sikand http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/mumbai_terror_in_the_name_of_god/0016983
Mumbai Massacre:  Lies of the Lashkar, Yoginder Sikand http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/mumbai_massacre_lies_of_the_lashkar/0016992
The Mumbai Massacre, Dr. Chandra Muzaffar http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/the_mumbai_massacre/0016975
Mumbai terror: truth unfolding, Pakistan Tribune Editorial http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?208871
Mumbai terrorist attacks in perspective, Muslim News editorial http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/paper/index.php?article=3836
Mumbai Under Siege, Yoginder Sikand http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/mumbai_under_siege/0016977
Mumbai Terrorist Strategy, Mohamed Sacirbey http://www.europeancourier.org/142.htm
Mumbai’s Jews remain at one with Muslims despite antisemitic attack, Rhys Blakeley http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5298367.ece
NY Jewish Leaders Asked to Repudiate Columnist’s Call to ‘Kill’ Muslims http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/ny_jewish_leaders_asked_to_repudiate_columnists_call_to_kill_muslims/0017016
Obama:  Responding to Mumbai, Rabbi Arthur Waskow http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/obama_responding_to_mumbai/0016988
Pakistan and Mumbai: A Short Politico-Religious History, Jeff Siddiqui http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/pakistan_and_mumbai_a_short_politico_religious_history/0017001
Sikh Family Reporting Burglarly is Handcuffed, References Made to Muslims and Mumbai Bombings http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/sikh1/
Tackling Terrorism: A Call to Hindu and Muslim Religious Leaders, Maulana Waris Mazhari http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/tackling_terrorism_a_call_to_hindu_and_muslim_religious_leaders/0017011
Thinking Through the Debris of Terror: After Mumbai , Shuddhabrata Sengupta http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/thinking_through_the_debris_of_terror_after_mumbai/0016996
Terrorist Attack on Mumbai - What Should Be Done, Asghar Ali Engineer http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/terrorist_attack_on_mumbai_what_should_be_done/0016991

MUSLIMS DENOUNCE TERRORISM
- Qur’an & Hadith against extremism  (see also power point presentations)
- Part I Fatwas
- Part II Statements by Organizations
- Part III Statements and Articles by Individuals (see also power point presentations)
- Part IV A Few Quotes A-K, and A Few Quotes L-Z
- Part V The Muslim Majority Who Don’t Get Publicity (see also power point presentation)
- Muslims and Arabs in the U.S. Military
- Selective Hearing of Muslim Voices Against Extremism
- Sunni Shia Unity Resource - collection of articles
- Muslim Voices Promoting Islamic Non Violent Solutions NEW 4/08


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