Islamic House of Wisdom

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Certainly, last Saturday was a sad day for America. More than 100 people were killed or wounded by a criminal named Omar Mateen. A day before this tragedy a pop star named Christina Grimmie was killed by Kevin James. Christina had 3.2 million YouTube subscribers, yet the media soon stopped talking about Kevin James, because he was not a Muslim!

Islamic House of Wisdom was one of the first Islamic institutions that  condemned  the crime and expressed sympathy with the suffering families. Disagreement with homosexuality doesn’t justify hate attacks and bloodshed.

We must stand strongly against the violation of people’s rights, regardless of their race, religion or gender orientation.

Omar’s expression of allegiance to extremist groups must make the administration consider a rapid review of its relationships with the Saudi Royal Family and other Gulf States which have been supplying the terrorists in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon and other countries with money, media and military.

Also we ask Congress to rise to its responsibility to review the country’s gun policy. Let’s remember that those who attacked JFK, MLK and even Ronald Regan were not radical Islamists.

Since President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, more than 1.6 million people have been killed in this country by gun!

It’s more than 1.4 million Americans who were killed in all wars! It’s time to deprive killers like Omar Mateen access to that weaponry which enabled him to kill or wound more than 100 people in one single insane operation.

The Orlando tragedy calls to increase our national collective effort to develop better treatments for depression and mental illness, since the ex-wife of Orlando killer emphasized on the mental illness and abusive attitude of her ex-husband.

For us as Muslim Americans, Mohammad Ali of courage, truth and justice was a hero, not Bin-Laden and Baghdadi, al-Qaeda and Isis or other satanic symbols!

Extremism whether religious or political is an enemy of Islam, enemy of America and enemy of rationality!

Let’s stand as one nation, with one voice, calling for compassion and love, rejecting hate, prejudice, violence and war.

This is the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, month of prayer and charity. Let’s remember the victims in our prayers and their families with our support. I already scheduled to stop by at the Red Cross for a blood donation.

I would like to invite everyone to join us for a candle light vigil and prayer for the victims of recent shootings in Orlando and other victims of terrorism and oppression in the world.

–  Mohammad Ali Elahi