Dearborn Islamic community leader on Flint attack: devout Muslims don't kill
DEARBORN, Mich. (WJBK) - A member of the Dearborn Muslim community is frustrated with terror attacks always being connected to the Islamic faith.
He claims a devout Muslim does not kill.
"What's Allahu akbar? (It is) 'God is great,'" said Osama Siblani. "Now how did his become to be a moving force to kill people? I have no idea."
Osama Siblani the founder of the Arab-American News will be the first to tell you Allahu Akbar is a call to worship - not a call to kill.
But as we have heard before in similar acts of terror - Amor Ftouhi, the Muslim man who is accused of stabbing a police officer in the middle of the Flint airport yelled "God is great" in Arabic as he carried out the violent attack
"No religion including Islam calls for people to kill people," Siblani said. "If you kill one person without a justifiable reason it is as if you killed the entire humanity that is what Islam says."
Although Islamic leaders here and across the nation have condemned the violent attacks including three recent incidents in Europe, many question why the Muslim religion appears at least in some cases seems to be the motivation.
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During the airport attack, Ftouhi yelled "Allah" several times.
"Just because he said Allahu akbar doesn't mean he is committing a crime because of religion," Siblani said. "I say Allahu akbar and I never commit a crime."
"The attacks we put on the front page in the beginning of the newscast and focusing on Muslims? Do we know how many crimes are committed in America every day and everywhere?"
FOX 2: "But not in the name of religion."
"It is in the name of something," Siblani said. "It is in the name of race, political ideology; it is in the name of religion."
Siblani questions the man's mental stability and believes that may be the real motivation for the heinous act. He hopes the truth comes out.
In the meantime his concern is for the victim, Lt. Jeff Neville who almost lost his life because of this horrific crime.
"I am very depressed over this," he said. "Not because he is a Muslim I don't know who he is. (But) because of the officer, because of his family, because of the suffering he has to go through."
The Flint Islamic center also reportedly calling this a tragic incident - calling for unity. The director goes on to say “We will not allow others with their own political agendas to divide us."