Declaration of the ICBR against any Crime of Attacking Human Life

We, the Islamic Center of Baton Rouge, on the behalf of Muslim residents of our beloved city, express our utmost disgust at the horrendous crime committed in Orlando, FL on June 12th, 2016. We stand along with our fellow countrymen and all residents of the United States of America in solidarity with the victims and their families, and offer our condolences to them on behalf of our community.

We further declare that any acts of violence perpetrated by criminals or extremists, whether they be done in the name of religion, or any other basis, are harmful to the peaceful state of our society, and must be condemned in the strongest terms. Such actions of violence perpetrated by individuals who take the law into their own hands, and operate outside of the judicial system, are a threat to the public order, against the laws and order of the Country, and against our peaceful religion of Islam.

Islam values every life, and states “Whosoever saved the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind” (Holy Qur’an, chapter Al-Ma’ida (5) verse 32). As such, the directives of our religion give clear direction for Muslims to stand upright on the highest moral ground for peace, as enshrined in the Islamic greeting “Salaam Alaykum” (Peace be upon you). This is the position of peace in our Religion.

The clear directives of Islam on this matter, followed by the overwhelming majority of Muslims worldwide as well as in the United States of America, unfortunately, do not prevent extremist radicals from pursuing their criminal objectives. As a matter of fact, peaceful Muslims have been the biggest target of such radicals, and the overwhelming majority of victims of terrorism worldwide, are Muslims! And so we fully understand the pain, and empathize with all victims of violent hate crimes, and their families.

We declare our full support for all Americans to stand together in condemnation of any criminal acts of violence done against any human here in the USA, as an attack on us all. In this regard, we, the ICBR Board of Directors call upon all Americans to stand against any kind of extremism, hate or discrimination-related crime. 

This world is blessed to all humanity; we must protect each other from evildoers.

ICBR Board of Directors

Baton Rouge, LA

June, 2016