Moral imperative to resist bigotry

The Muslim community of Masjid AlJannah and Masjid AnNur of Columbus, Georgia, categorically denounces and condemns terrorism in all its forms. We express our profound sympathies and condolences to the families of the recent atrocities any Muslim who plans, attempts or carries out a terrorist attack would be acting outside the boundaries of his or her faith and would be renounced and condemned by our community. We encourage Muslims in America and throughout the world to actively oppose and expose these un-Islamic individuals and death cults.

That's about as unambiguous and unequivocal as it gets.

Unfortunately, people disposed to suspect, reject or simply ignore such statements are going to believe what they choose.

Fortunately, leaders in Columbus are not so disposed. The same moral and civic obligation rests with the whole community as well. Is it unrealistic to believe we're equal to so modest a challenge?

The ugliness has already hit too close to home: Just last weekend, somebody scrawled graffiti, including profanities and the word "terrorist," on windows and outside walls of the Islamic Center of Macon. Worse has been reported around the country in the wake of the Paris and California terror attacks by radical Islamists.

Wednesday night, members of the Columbus Muslim community gathered at the Masjid AlJannah mosque with local leaders, including Mayor Teresa Tomlinson, City Manager Isaiah Hugley, Homeland Security Director Robert Futtrell and Rob Matthews of the FBI's Columbus office. They were gathered, in the words of Columbus Muslim lay spokesman Farhad Alifarhani, out of concern about "a surge of violent backlash that has occurred against Muslim institutions and individuals, in the wake of the recent terrorists' acts and political campaign rhetoric."

The purpose was not (as the above statement makes clear) to defend or excuse these radical "death cults," but to remind the community that American Muslims have served and died in the U.S. armed services; serve among us as in all the professions and in public safety; and have helped local and federal officials foil many "plots against our country's safety and security." Futtrell, the city's Homeland Security director, said the meeting's organizers are "Americans and citizens of Columbus, just as concerned as anyone else about what's going on, and they want to do whatever they can to help."

The mayor described the meeting as "poignant."

"We were there," said Tomlinson, "to continue this good civic relationship -- we consider this their city, and they consider us their government."

It's about, among other things, American Muslims' faith in their fellow citizens' judgment.

"With recent incidents," wrote Alifarhani, "we understand our fellow Americans' concerns and fears regarding Islam." Yet he also acknowledges that blind bigotry and indiscriminately inflammatory rhetoric have "been seen as shamelessly wrong by most Americans."

That's a statement of trust in the majority of Americans' capacity for fairness and moral discernment. Surely we owe these fellow Americans no less.

This story was originally published December 19, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Moral imperative to resist bigotry."