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7260 west 93rd St. St. 200; Bridgeview, IL 60455 -
Ph.: 708.599.3200 Fax: 708.599.3270
Contact: Kareem M. Irfan [Chairman, CIOGC - Ph.:
847.867.4304; irfank@squared.com]
PRESS
RELEASE
Chicago - Saturday, Sept. 15,
2001
CHICAGO MUSLIMS STRONGLY CONDEMN TERRORIST ATTACKS
AND APPEAL FOR MULTI-FAITH SOLIDARITY ACROSS THE U.S.
The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago
(a federation of over 40 mosques, Islamic centers, schools
and institutions representing more than 450,000 area
Muslims) joins fellow Americans and the rest of the world
in grieved shock, mourning and outrage over the senseless
and tragic loss of innocent life and the shattering of
peace brought about by the destructive attacks on the
World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Chicago-area Muslims,
in unison, unequivocally condemn these grossly inhuman and
monstrous acts and stand firm in seeking full justice
against the perpetrators of these heinous deeds.
Muslims throughout Chicago and the U.S. and all
Muslims the world over who would seek to uphold the
spirit, law, and ethics of the Holy Quran and the
teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) are
distressed at this appalling display of disregard for
human life and denounce such acts as blatantly barbarous
and profoundly against the inviolable sanctity that Islam
places on all life. In keeping with Islams strong
injunction to show compassion and concern for all fellow
beings, our heart-felt prayers and good-will go out
especially to the families and loved ones whose lives have
been so abruptly and devastatingly altered by these evil
attacks. Muslims across Chicagoland are mobilized to
conduct blood collection drives, fundraisers, prayer
vigils, and numerous inter-faith services in relief of and
solidarity with the many thousands struck by this national
tragedy.
The Council fervently appeals to Chicago-area Americans
for a calm and informed response to this tragedy. Muslims,
Christians, Jews, and all other faith-groups, endure this
tribulation together. We all feel the same sense of
violation and outrage, of empathy for the victims, and a
burning desire for justice. All fair-minded Americans will
certainly recognize that this national tragedy transcends
religious, racial and ethnic boundaries. We must all work
together to raise high the perennial values of life,
liberty, and justice for which, together, we all so
strongly stand as a symbol to the world a world with
eyes now fixed upon the testing of American virtues in the
crucible of our mutual adversity.
We are confident that all of us, as Americans, will
agree that 10 million U.S. Muslims and Arab-Americans
cannot be indicted by association. We must all ensure that
these Americans and their institutions are not unfairly
targeted for investigations or subject to retaliatory
actions by over-zealous individuals angered by recent
events or incited by incendiary comments, premature
conclusions or misplaced calls for revenge. We also must
not, as a nation, take indiscriminate retaliatory action
that jeopardizes any innocent lives in the U.S. or
anywhere in the world. The Council particularly appeals to
the media to support this cause so crucially vital to
our core national interest by cautiously and
responsibly reporting these traumatic events and by
creating an open forum for discussion of the American
response in their aftermath.
Again, the Council and the Muslims of Chicago continue
to denounce these inhuman acts of violence, to pray
sincerely for the affected victims and their families, and
to demand that the guilty be brought to scrupulous
justice. We join hands with all fellow Americans in
enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, and
in a stand of unqualified solidarity in these tragic
times. May God bless us one and all and guide us as a
people to the paths of peace!
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