USA: Fitchburg Ahmadi Muslim group wages awareness campaign against extremism, radicalization

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Extremism and radicalization have become associated with Islam but radicalization is not a problem that can be traced to any one religion. 

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: Telegram & Gazette
By Paula J. Owen | February 9, 2015

FITCHBURG — Members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community are waging what they call an awareness campaign against extremism and radicalization in an effort to show that radical jihadists are far removed from the true teachings of Islam.

Furqan Mehmud, regional youth leader for Ahmadiyya communities in the Fitchburg and Boston areas, Connecticut and New York, said the group is teaching kids to speak out against terrorist groups like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, known as ISIS, through the "Stop the Crisis" campaign and teaching them how to wage a "jihad of the pen."

Some American Muslims are experiencing bullying and racism, he said, because of a lack of understanding of who most Muslims and the radicalization of a small segment of Muslim youth. Many Muslim youth don't know how to respond to the prejudice, he said.

"Unfortunately, in light of recent events, there is a growing thought among some that there is something inherent within the religion of Islam which incites people to violence and extremism," he said.

As a result, he said, some believe Islam itself leads to radicalization.

"Sometimes the perspective of Islam amongst the general public in America can be based entirely on what is commonly seen on television, which often only shows the tiny handful of extremists," he said. "It's ironic though, because the very word Islam is actually derived from the Arabic root-word 'Salima,' which means peace."

Last week, Mr. Mehmud organized a "Stop the Crisis" presentation at Fitchburg State University and is planning others in the region to help spread the message, he said.

Mr. Mehmud's parents moved to the United States from Pakistan, where members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community are persecuted and imprisoned for their beliefs.

Extremism and radicalization have become associated with Islam, he said, but radicalization is not a problem that can be traced to any one religion.

"It is a problem that occurs among people of all creeds and convictions," he said. "It is a problem that we find in the twisted people of every society, from every background. … So if today, we see an extremely minute handful of Muslims deviating toward extremism and radicalization, we should know that it is not Islam that motivates them, and that what we see today in the form of various extremist groups is just another set of warped individuals who use violence to further their political goals."

In cases of people such as Justin Bourque, Timothy McVeigh, Anders Breivik and Damian Clairmont, who carried out terrorist acts, Mr. Mehmud said the common factors are age, impressionability and discontentment.

"Unstable youth, dissatisfied with society and looking for a greater purpose, want to change the world and give vent to their frustrations," he said. "These are the people most susceptible to becoming radicalized. This is the recipe for radicalization. Not religion."

Mr. Mehmud said it is important for people to have some perspective and remember that the overwhelming majority of the more than 2 million Muslims living in the United States are peaceful, law-abiding citizens who love America as their home and add to its harmony. American converts to Islam are also misrepresented, he said.

"They are not deranged or misguided," he said. "They too have been largely misrepresented. Sure, you hear about the Alton Alexander Nolens and John Walker Lindhs, but what about the many examples of Westerners who became Muslim and didn't turn to extremism, but rather felt a great and positive change within themselves, like Karim Abdul Jabbar, Muhammad Ali and others?"

Ross L. Caputi, 30, of Fitchburg, attended the presentation at FSU. He is a Catholic who said he is concerned about "Islamaphobia" in the United States. Mr. Caputi said he saw racism and bigotry toward Muslims firsthand while serving in the Marines Corps in Fallujah, Iraq, from June 2004 to January 2005. He produced and directed a documentary, "Fear Not the Path of Truth," about the issue.

"I was part of a big operation in Fallujah," the FSU English graduate student said. "There were high numbers of civilian deaths, extremely high numbers of displaced people, and the city itself that once had a population over 350,000 was destroyed and leveled to the ground. Ever since that experience I have been trying to understand better. I'm most upset about the false idea Americans have about the people we were fighting against — this widespread idea that they hated us because Islam taught them to hate Americans. That was false and nothing was done by the military to counter that false belief."

He said he sees the Stop the Crisis campaign as a way for the Muslim community to educate more Americans about what Islam is really about.

"I don't think we understand enough as a society what the teachings of Islam are," he said. "I think there is a widespread belief that the teachings of Islam inherently incite people to violence. Furqan, through scripture in the Koran, showed that it forbids the use of violence except under strict circumstances. Another theme that is really important that Furqan showed in the scripture is that it obligates Muslims to be good citizens in the nation they are living in and to be patriotic."

The average American does not have much contact with the Islamic religion, he said, and does not realize that it does not teach violence and there is no connection with terrorism. He said he believes groups like ISIS attract youth in a very similar way that gangs attract disillusioned youth in the United States. They provide an outlet to frustrated young people and steer their frustrations towards violence using religion and rhetoric that attracts people to "violent politics," he said.

"Islamaphobia is a real thing in America — it is racist, bigoted and really dangerous," Mr. Caputi said. "It really is important for the Islamic community to reach out like this and welcome the broader American public to look at the teachings of Islam. Americans should care about them (Muslims) more. They are our neighbors and fellow citizens and it is our duty as Americans to make sure this group isn't facing prejudices."


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Contact Paula Owen at powen@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @PaulaOwenTG


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