PRESS RELEASE CHICAGO MUSLIMS DENOUNCE JOHNSON MURDER The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, an umbrella organization serving over 400,000 Muslims throughout Chicagoland, joins fellow Americans and national Muslim organizations in strongly condemning and sharing grief over the gruesome and inhumane murder of Paul Johnson, Jr., an innocent American employee of Lockheed Martin in Saudi Arabia. Expressing personal regrets and strong revulsion, Chairman Kareem Irfan stated: “This beheading is a horrific act of senseless brutality that no cause or twisted religious grounds may justify. It is despicable that the group committing this revolting killing actually professes to be defending, and speaking in the name of, Islam. These actions run counter to the most fundamental of Islamic ethics, religious principles and moral teachings. The Council and Chicago’s Muslim community offer deepest condolences to Mr. Johnson’s grieving wife, family, friends and all those suffering the pain of his brutal death.” Mr. Irfan cautioned against broadly attributing this grossly inhumane act to the Saudis, Arabs or Muslims in general. “We Americans must not permit these murderous acts of a misguided few to broadly tarnish our views of millions of Muslims in the U.S. and abroad who remain steadfast on Islam’s core mandates of respect, compassion, and mercy for fellow humans. These difficult times demand more than ever before that people of faith and moral conscience come together in peace to counter extremism and bloodshed by understanding and reconciliation.” ********************************************************* |
