To the Editor:The Newtown Bee, March 10, asks: Why haven't mainstream Muslims declared Jihad against the murderous Jihadis? Huffington Post, The New York Times, CNN, and The Guardian have published articles showing condemnation by the Muslim leadership of all acts of terror and an express refutation of any justification of these from our scripture.The Guardian by Roy Greenslade. "Condoning the killing of civilians is, to me, about the most monstrous thing you can to do. And to be suspected of doing something so monstrous, simply because of your faith, seems very unfair.

A letter from Dale N. Walter, in

They do. It doesn't make the news. Bad news, such as terrorist attacks, is news. Good news is not.

Numerous sources worldwide, including the

There are many examples of condemnation of all acts of terrorism by Muslim leadership in this country and the world. Not all Muslims hold the view that a public condemnation of every act of terror is necessary by Muslims.

"I think we should take a step back and ask a different question, which is: 'Is it justified to demand that Muslims condemn terrorism?" Dalia Mogahed, director of research at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, said in an interview with MSNBC, according to a 2015 article at

"...when you look at the majority of terrorist attacks in the United States... the majority of domestic terror attacks are actually committed by white, male Christians.

"...When those things occur, we don't suspect other people who share their faith and ethnicity of condoning them. We assume that these things outrage them just as much as they do anyone else. And we have to afford this same assumption of innocence to Muslims."

Professor Jonathan Brown, associate professor at Georgetown University's Edmund Walsh School of Foreign Service, said, "People in Iraq and Syria have been reading the Quran and the Hadeeth for 1400 years and ISIS started in 2013... (ISIS) is not about the religion of Islam, it is not about the scripture of Islam because there are 1.6 billion Muslims in the world ... even if you take the largest number of the Taliban and the Boco Haram and ISIS and all of these groups and you add all their numbers and divide that by 1.6 billion the number you get 0.006 percent - absolutely statistically is insignificant."

The letter writer wondered why mainstream Muslims have not helped bring down extremist organizations. An online search would reveal that Muslims are the primary victims of ISIS and are hardly bystanders.

The Qur'an 2:256 states "Let there be no compulsion in religion; truth stands out clear from error."

The Hedaya Center maintains excellent relationships with all of our brothers and sisters in humanity across town, region, and country. Please feel free to come by our Islamic Center on Mt Pleasant Road and have coffee with us. We will be happy to review with you factual information.

Eman Beshtawii

Al Hedaya Islamic Center

115 Mt Pleasant Road, Newtown         March 10, 2017