Local Muslims worry that violence overseas taints them

Local Muslims definitely feel more vulnerable to hatred — and misunderstanding — every time there’s news of violence by Islamic terrorists or the Islamic group that is trying to create its own state in Syria and Iraq.

But there’s really “no such thing as an Islamic terrorist,” said Dr. Khalid Khan, one of the leaders of the Islamic Society of Southwest Washington, which has a mosque in Hazel Dell. “They are terrorists. They are murderers. It’s as simple as that.” The Quran, Islam’s holy book, would never sanction acts like Tuesday’s attack in Paris — which has been attributed to Islamic extremists. French police have caught one suspect and seeking two others.

Responsibility of other kinds was also on Khan’s mind as he heard the news on Wednesday morning. “I certainly am” offended by cartoons, jokes and insults directed at Muhammad, the chief prophet and holiest figure in the Islamic faith, he said. “I don’t think non-Muslims understand how we venerate” Muhammad — and the other prophets of Islam, including Jesus and Moses, he added.

Khan said the power of the press comes with a serious burden of responsibility. There are better ways of getting at uncomfortable truths and encouraging dialog than “poking fun and pulling down the pants” of prophets, he said.

But that doesn’t mean that retaliatory violence is justified, he said. Even Muhammad unconditionally forgave the people who persecuted him and his family, Khan said.

Media also has a responsibility to separate out “the lunatic fringe” from mainstream Islam, he said. He hates the way that modern America’s ideas about Islam are being shaped by the conflicts that have erupted and dominated the news since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, he said.

“If you see something in the media all the time, that’s your reality,” said Khan, who was born in India and educated in Pakistan. “It is painting us in a very bad light. It has nothing to do with the peaceful kind of Islam I was taught growing up.”