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Oklahoma Muslims are facing backlash in light of recent terrorizing acts committed by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. ISIS has gained international criticism for killing hundreds of people, kidnapping and performing public executions.
Robert Carpenter, a professor of missions, said the backlash and new fear is a result from the media frenzy surrounding the subject.
“Clearing suspicion of and resentment against Muslims on the part of non-Muslims, including Christians, in Oklahoma have increased over the past couple of months since ISIS’ advances in Iraq and Syria have been dominating the world news, punctuated by multiple grisly atrocities committed by ISIS,” Carpenter said.
In Moore, Oklahoma last month, Alton Nolen, a recent convert to Islam, beheaded one of his female co-workers and stabbed a second victim with a knife. From this event some in Oklahoma have held increased fears against the religion.
On Oct. 24, Carpenter and a few of his Bible students from Oklahoma Christian University visited the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City mosque.
“[Nolen] had attended Friday prayers at the same mosque we attended yesterday,” Carpenter said. “FOX News in particular at the national level has been quick to air accusations against the OKC mosque and its leaders before fully checking the facts.”
For junior Adrianna Welch, going to the Oklahoma City mosque was an eye-opening experience into the Islamic religion.
“The experience of going to the mosque was a lot better than I thought it would be,” Welch said. “A good amount of the Muslims were very friendly to us. I think Muslims who do not support ISIS should start publicizing that all around the world.”
Although ISIS does have supporters and sympathizers from across the world, the greater international Islamic community have strongly opposed the group. Freshman Mohammed Aljishi said ISIS does not represent Islam.
“I’m against ISIS,” Aljishi said. “The first reason why I am not in favor of ISIS is because they’re making chaos in the world. [The] second reason is because they’re making Islam a bad religion, which in return makes people think that we Muslims are all terrorists.”
The Oklahoma City mosque has publicly condemned Nolen’s violence, which occurred on Sept. 25.
“The ISGOC sends our heartfelt condolences and prayers to the victims and families of yesterday’s tragedy in Moore, Oklahoma,” the ISGOC website said. “This unwarranted act does not represent Islam in any shape or form. We condemn and are 100 percent against the heartless and unnecessary act committed by the suspect. We stand for justice.”
Welch stated that many religions, including Christianity, have had extremist groups commit acts of great evil in the world in the name of religion. She said Islamic extremists are no different than other violent groups and people should not treat all Muslims as if they are all terrorists.
“In my opinion, the people behind ISIS are no different from any other group of people who were a part of the Crusades and other groups who murdered people for whatever reason they so chose to justify their actions,” Welch said. “It is very easy to misinterpret some religious beliefs so in their eyes they are not doing anything wrong.”
Aljishi said he believes that ISIS can be stopped but only if nations come together to figure out a solution.
“Unite all nations or states with each other and be one hand against ISIS,” Aljishi said. “It may get to the point though if ISIS does not stop, the world may have to take violent actions to stop them. In order for nations to come together, I think a lot of bad feelings and grudges will have to be corrected.”
Welch said she is optimistic that the rest of the world will start caring enough to fix the problem without retreating to violent actions against the terrorist group.
“With God, anything is possible,” Welch said. “So yes, I believe ISIS could be stopped without using violence. Will that happen? Most likely not. We say enough is enough when we start doing something differently. In all honesty, many people know about what’s going on, but people don’t always care to the extent we should until the problem is knocking on our front door.”
Some Christian churches from Oklahoma stood side by side with the Oklahoma City mosque after the mosque received threats from members in the community.
“We should learn not to become so fanatical about defending our particular understanding of our religious faith that we end up demonizing and dehumanizing anyone whose opinion differs from our own,” Carpenter said.
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