Area Muslims Condemn ISIS as 'Crazy Criminals' and 'A Bunch of Gangsters'

Area imams speaking at a rally at Dearborn City Hall Monday said ISIS, which claimed responsibility for beheading journalist James Foley, represent neither Islam nor Muslims. (Photo: Niraj Warikoo/@nwarikoo via Twitter)

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Militants aligned with ISIS in Iraq and Syria are “crazy criminals who are abusing our religion” and do not represent Islam or Muslims, a local imam said as he and other Muslim leaders gathered on the steps of Dearborn City Hall Monday.

Imam Mohammed Elahi of the Islamic House of Wisdom in Dearborn Heights also called ISIS fighters “a bunch of gangsters,” the Detroit Free Press reports.

“You’re not Islamic,” he said.

The rally was organized by the Michigan Muslim Community Council and was the third anti-ISIS rally held this summer in Dearborn, where about 40 percent of the population are Arab-Americans, according to U.S. Census figures. Many of them list Islam as their religion.

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The speakers Monday included both Shia and Sunni leaders who were clear in their message: ISIS doesn’t speak for them, the Free Press reports.

The beheading of journalist James Foley and a claim of responsibility by ISIS fanned tensions. Imam Mustapha Elturk said the political assassination was “a clear violation of the holy Qur’an and the teachings of Prophet Mohammed” and that “ISIS neither represents Islam nor Muslims.”

Elturk and Elahi are co-chairs of the Royal Oak-based Michigan Muslim Community Council, established 25 years ago, but operating as the MMCC since 2012 after a merger of the Council of the Islamic Organizations of Michigan (CIOM) and the Islamic Shura Council of Michigan (ISCOM).

“American Muslims badly need more of these sort of demonstrations.” – Twitter user

The candlelight vigil and prayer service was billed as condemning ISIS crimes and honoring all of the conflict’s victims, including Foley. About 50 people attended, according to a Tweet from Niraj Warikoo (@nwarikoo), who posted a picture of the rally on her Twitter account.

Attendance was down from the two previous rallies, which drew hundreds. That prompted some criticism on Warikoo’s Twitter feed, but others called those speaking out against radical Islam “brave.”

“American Muslims badly need more of these sort of demonstrations,” a user whose handle is @CoolCzeck Tweeted.

The rally came days after the federal government was given the go-ahead to collect by “the actions necessary” the $250,000 owed by a Dearborn cleric who developed a vast online following and is viewed as the most popular and influential Western Muslim leader among ISIS.

Speakers distanced themselves from Ahmad Jibril (also known as Ahmad Jebrel) and denounced ISIS and what Ahmad Nasser of Livonia said is “an evil agenda not witnessed since Nazi Germany.”

Also at the rally, Dearborn-based Arab American News publisher Osama Siblani said ISIS and its fighters are “enemies of humanity”; Imam Ali Ali, a religious leader a Canton mosque, called ISIS is a terrorist group; and Imam Aly Lela of Troy said ISIS policies are “not the Islam we practice.