DEARBORN-About 100 people,
including community leaders and religious scholars, gathered at the Islamic
Institute of Knowledge here Saturday, April 20 to condemn the Boston Marathon
bombing and pray for victims of terrorism in the United States and everywhere in the
world.

A host of speakers took the podium to show
solidarity with Boston
and reassert that Islam is a religion of peace that prohibits all sorts of
murder, especially terrorism.

“Those who claim they are Muslim and kill
others are not Muslim,” said Grand Ayatollah Abdul Latif Berry. “Terrorism does not reflect
Islam.”

 Berry
said Islam even forbids killing others in self- defense if there are other
possible ways one could protect himself.

 “This is how much blood is valuable
in Islam,” added the Grand Ayatollah. “To kill a dog or a cat without
a rational reason is prohibited in Islam.”

Berry, like many of his fellow speakers,
brought up verse 32, chapter five of the Quran, which reads, “That who
kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption in the land, it is as if he
had killed all mankind.”

Dearborn Mayor Jack
O’Reilly, Jr., whose son goes to school in Boston and was close to the site of the
bombing, said last week’s events were “very personal for us.”

 O’Reilly said humans, unlike other
creations were given the gift of free will. And when people commit crimes, such
as the bombing of the Boston Marathon, the legal system should deal with them.

 “What we should do is pray for the
victims. As a community, we should come together and support the victims of
anywhere on earth where people are mistreated, are injured, are caused harm by
others, and pray to find a way to extinguish that harm,” said O’Reilly. “Focus
on the victims, and leave the who-did-what to the courts.”

Prior to his speech, O’Reilly told The Arab
American News that non- Muslim residents of Dearborn
can help reduce racism against Arabs and Muslims in America.

Arab and Muslim- Americans around the country
have come under scrutiny after the terrorist attacks of 9/ 11. Many hate crimes
have been committed against them because of terrorist acts carried out in the
name of Islam.

“We in Dearborn know Muslims and Arabs better,
through the schools and the community,” O’Reilly said. “And we have
to share what we know.”

Dearborn Mayor Jack O’Reilly (2nd from left) sits with religious leaders. A banner posted on the wall reads: “Islamic Institute of Knowledge Condemns Terrorism in Boston and Everywhere and From Whomever.”

The mayor said different TV stations
handled last week’s Boston Marathon bombing differently; some stations rushed
to looking into the suspects’ background and religion, whereas when other
events happen, such as school shootings, the perpetrators’ religion is not the
first issue that gets researched.

Osama Siblani, publisher of The Arab American
News, criticized American media for the way they handled the events in Boston.

 “I do not understand the rush to
tell the story,” he said, adding that news outlets must double check
information before publishing it.

 Siblani singled out CNN in his criticism.
He said the cable news network claimed in a report that one of the suspects had
become very religious recently, as he started to pray five times a day. All
Muslims are commanded to pray, and most practicing Muslims do pray five times
daily.

“If this is a potential criminal, then
we’re all criminals in here,” said Siblani. “That is not
leadership.”

Although the bombing suspects come from Chechen
origins and are Muslim, Siblani said we really do not know what happened. “They
are criminals,” he said of the perpetrators. “Whether they are
Muslim, Christian, Jewish or non- believers, they must be brought to justice.”

 Siblani said the Arab-American community
should unite and cease to live in fear.

 “What worries me is that every time
something like this happens, we have to sit tight and say I hope who did this
in not an Arab or a Muslim. We cannot continue to live in fear. We cannot
continue as if we are guilty of something we have not committed,” he
added.

 Dr. Kassem Charara, chairman of the
Islamic Institute of Knowledge, urged the Muslim- American community to remain
“united and vigilant,” following the tragedy in Boston.

 “We are proud of our heritage and
where we came from. But at the same time we should be proud to be a part of the
American dream,” he said.

Many of the speakers recited verses of the
Quran that condemn murder, and Sheikh Hassan Habhab used Islamic prayers to
wish a speedy recovery for surviving victims of terror.

Pastor Hanna Sullaka prayed
for peace after asking the audience to stand up and join him in prayer. The
pastor said men kill each other because they obey the devil and forget about
God.

President of the US- Iraqi Youth Organization
Haitham Al-Mayahi suggested proper education and cooperation between different
religious and racial communities, as the best way to combat terrorism.

Al-Mayahi said terrorists do no represent
Muslims. “The 9/11 hijackers represent Osama Bin Laden. They do not
represent me as an Arab trying to be successful,” he said.

The audience was mostly Arab
but diverse across age and gender. People stayed attentive throughout the
speeches, as many local mainstream media outlets, covered the event.