Committee to discuss
Muslim reaction to radicalization hearings
In M. Zuhdi Jasser's new book, A Battle for the Soul of Islam: An American Muslim Patriot's
Fight to Save His Faith, he offers non-Muslims a definitive comprehension
of the difference between Islam and the spiritual cancer known as Islamism, or
political Islam, and how violence and extremism run counter to Islam's true
teachings. As he persuasively argues, until we acknowledge the threat of
Islamism in all its forms, the majority of Americans will be deceived into recognizing
only the most obvious: terrorism.
The
hearing will be the fifth in a series of hearings that have examined the threat
of radicalization within the American Muslim Community. Dr. Jasser testified at
the first in the series in March 2011 where his testimony focused on the threat
that the separatist ideology of political Islam poses to the radicalization of
American Muslims and its impact on the United States. Subsequent hearings have looked at how
radicalization occurs in U.S. Prisons, the threat posed to the American Somali
community from the Al Shabab terror network and the impact that radicalization
is having on the U.S. military.
“This
series of hearings from Chairman King’s committee have been an incredible first
step towards the U.S. finally entering the ideological battle against political
Islam,” said Dr. Jasser. “Despite the
vitriol that has been leveled against the committee, at AIFD we have seen a tremendous
amount of support from American Muslims in favor of this dialogue. The hearings
have opened the door for alternative and pragmatic Muslim voices to be part of
the long overdue national conversation about radicalization and the threat.”
The
author of “A Battle for the Soul of Islam,” Jasser is a former Lieutenant
Commander in the U.S. Navy and a practicing physician in Phoenix, AZ. He founded AIFD to be a Muslim voice that
advocates for the founding principles of the U.S. Constitution and for the
separation of mosque and state. The Homeland Security Committee announced that
he will be joined by fellow American Muslims Ms. Asra Nomani and Dr. Qanta
Ahmed. Nomani is a former Wall Street
Journal reporter and current journalism lecturer at Georgetown University and
the co-director of the Pearl
Project. She authored Standing Alone: An American Woman’s
Struggle for the Soul of Islam and Milestones for a Spiritual Jihad: Toward an Islam of
Grace. Ahmed is also a practicing
physician and is a recognized expert in health issues pertaining to
the Hajj. She is author of In the Land of Invisible Women, a personal memoir of living and
working as a western Muslim woman in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The committee
will also hear from Mr. John Cohen, principal coordinator for Counterterrorism,
Department of Homeland Security.
Congressman
King stated that “Next
week’s hearing will expand on the prior hearings to examine the impact they
have had in the Muslim Community’s ability to address this issue and on U.S.
efforts to counter al-Qaeda and affiliated groups’ radicalizing of Muslims in
this country to carry out terrorist attacks on the homeland.”
American
Muslims are the primary victims of Islamist radicalization and these hearings
are giving voice to members of this community who take seriously the root
causes of radicalization and who see the freedoms guaranteed in the U.S.
Constitution as the best protection for the practice of their Islamic faith.
