October 1, 2014

Dear Friends,

This week, we had the opportunity to set the record straight to millions of Americans by going live on C-SPAN to talk directly about Islam and the unfortunate reality that it is being tarnished by groups like ISIS.

WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW
and share your thoughts

Comments section (below)   |   Twitter (@mpac_national or @salampacker)   |   Facebook

During a 40 minute segment on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal,” MPAC President Salam Al-Marayati drew a clear contrast between Islam and ISIS. He explained how Islam is not to blame for ISIS’ crimes against humanity and that religious terminology has been misused to justify violence. He said, “Jihad, to the extremists, means holy war. In classical Islam, it means struggle. Let us not use religious terminology in fighting groups like ISIS. It plays into their hands. They want this to be a war on Islam, a war on religion.”

Salam’s latest op-ed published in The Huffington Post called “The Key to Defeating ISIS is Islam,” was cited during the interview. He further explained that:

"Islam means life, ISIS means death. Islam means mercy, ISIS means cruelty. It is very simple. Anyone that has any kind of elementary education about Islam knows the difference."

It’s imperative for the American Muslim community and the U.S. government to work together to counter violent extremism. During the interview, Salam referenced MPAC’s Safe Spaces Initiative, which was endorsed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as a community-led effort to counter violent extremism and develop healthy communities. DHS and the government have shifted their strategy. During the interview, Salam said that the U.S. government is “calling for less surveillance of Muslim communities, eliminating profiling of Muslim communities, and working on partnerships with Muslim communities.” It’s time for us to work together.

Best regards,

Riham Osman
MPAC Communications Coordinator

If you can't see the video below, watch it directly on C-SPAN.