The Trinidad Muslim League (TML) says it does not know of any local muslims fighting with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis), as it distances itself from the international terror group. TML public relations officer Faisal Mohammed, in a telephone interview, made the statement as he responded to reports alleging that some 50 Trinis were fighting with the terror group.
Mohammed said, “There are no Trinidadians that I know of fighting with Isis. We (TML) are not affiliated with that group in any way. We do not support them and do not know of any Trini Muslim Isis fighters. The league fully supports Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s co-sponsoring the UN (United Nations) resolution on foreign terrorist fighters.”
TML president general Dr Nasser Mustapha, in a media release issued by Mohammed, said the league “strongly condemns extremism, fanaticism and intolerance.” He said, “We (TML) condemn all acts of aggression by individuals and groups against innocent people worldwide, under the guise of Islam.”
Mustapha, in the release, said TML supported “any action to eradicate such activities and restore peace to the world. People must consciously turn to God, to increase spirituality and higher ethical and moral principles. In so doing, God’s blessings will descend upon all humanity.”
The league is the third Islamic group in T&T to distance itself from Isis which has been described as a global terror threat. Last week, the Anjuman Sunnat ul Jamaat Association (Asja) and Islamic Missionaries Guild expressed their support for Persad-Bissessar in her stance on terrorism, adding that they did not support Isis in any way.
Mohammed and Mustapha’s statements come even as Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley took issue, over the weekend, with T&T’s co-sponsorship of the UN resolution, which was piloted by US President Barack Obama.
The resolution calls on member states to co-operate in “efforts to address the threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters, including preventing the radicalisation to terrorism and recruitment of foreign terrorist fighters” and seeks state co-operation to prevent the travel of foreign terrorist fighters from or through their territories. Mustapha, in the release, said “terrorism and violence are certainly not the way of God taught in the Qur’an and the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad.”
He contended that today “many Muslims have biased and distorted interpretations of the scriptures, and as such place the emphasis on peripheral issues, and neglect of human relations, a tendency that is criticised in the Qur’an in Chapter Maun.” The chapter, he said, states, “Help one another to do what is right and good; do not help one another towards sin and hostility. Be mindful of God, for His punishment is severe.”
He said to react with violence is not the approach of the Prophet since he prayed for those who did wrong. “Unfortunately, there are many who profess to be following this religion, but have abandoned the values, the guidance of God in the Qur’an and the example of the Prophet upon whom be Peace. The Prophet is innocent of what they do,” he said.
He said Muslims have enjoyed good relations with people of other faiths, but within recent times, “misguided and fanatical individuals are violating the basic principles of the religion and are certainly not following the example of the Prophet.” He said the Prophet Muhammad always “advocated religious freedom and condemned prejudice, discrimination, racism, tribalism, gender bias and the violation of human rights.
“While Islam teaches us to struggle against injustice and oppression, the use of force (by legitimately established state—not vigilante groups) is a last resort to remove violence, to eradicate injustice and oppression,” he added.