“If (the shooter) followed the true meaning of the religion, they would know they shouldn’t commit violence. They wouldn’t be able to. In this religion, there is no time, no space for any type of violence.”
The Islam of Imam Ahmedin Mehmedovic is apparently a hustling, bustling faith that is just too busy for any type of violence: it has “no time, no space” for that sort of thing. Apparently the Islam of Imam Ahmedin Mehmedovic has “no time, no space” for these statements of the Qur’an:
“If two men among you are guilty of lewdness, punish them both. If they repent and amend, leave them alone; for Allah is Oft-returning, Most Merciful.” (Qur’an 4:16)
“We also sent Lot. He said to his people: ‘Do you commit lewdness such as no people in creation committed before you? For you practise your lusts on men in preference to women: you are indeed a people transgressing beyond bounds.’ …And we rained down on them a shower of brimstone: Then see what was the end of those who indulged in sin and crime!” (Qur’an 7:80)
And Muhammad makes clear that Muslims should be the executors of the wrath of Allah by killing gays. A hadith depicts Muhammad saying: “If you find anyone doing as Lot’s people did, kill the one who does it, and the one to whom it is done.” (Abu Dawud 38:4447) And: “Stone the upper and the lower, stone them both.” (Ibn Majah 3:20:2562)
Maybe Imam Ahmedin Mehmedovic is just in too much of a hurry. Muslims like him have “no time, no space” for killing gays. But what if their schedule eases up, and they get a chance to move to larger quarters?
“Islam has ‘no time, no space’ for violence,” by Alissa Scott, Utica Observer-Dispatch, June 16, 2016:
UTICA – At a time when some blame Islam for the deadly shooting that rocked Orlando, and the presumptive Republican presidential nominee has called for a ban on Muslim refugees, Utica is doing things differently.
Here, the city’s Muslims, Jews, Christians and Buddhists are praying together.
At sundown Wednesday, the American Bosnia-Herzegovina Islamic Center on Kossuth Avenue invited interfaith leaders and people of all religions to share an evening of learning, prayer and food as they hosted a Ramadan Breaking Fast Gathering….
“Lately, because of the reporting about Islam, there is a misunderstanding,” said Imam Ahmedin Mehmedovic, the religious leader of the Kossuth Avenue mosque. “Islam is the religion of peace, not violence. The meaning of the word Islam is peace. That’s the main thing people should know.”
Rows of Muslim men and young boys knelt with their palms facing up, bowing, standing and whispering at times as they prayed until Wednesday’s 8:43 p.m. sunset. Women wore head scarves and prayed upstairs. Everyone was barefoot….
Alissa Scott doesn’t have the wit or critical eye to ask why the women were wearing headscarves and praying upstairs. Even if she had, it is unlikely that Imam Ahmedin Mehmedovic would have alerted her to these hadiths:
“Abu Dharr reported: The Messenger of ‘Allah (may peace be upon him) said: When any one of you stands for prayer and there is a thing before him equal to the back of the saddle that covers him and in case there is not before him (a thing) equal to the back of the saddle, his prayer would be cut off by (passing of an) ass, woman, and black dog. I said: O Abu Dharr, what feature is there in a black dog which distinguish it from the red dog and the yellow dog? He said: O, son of my brother, I asked the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) as you are asking me, and he said: The black dog is a devil.” (Sahih Muslim 1032)
“Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: A woman, an ass and a dog disrupt the prayer, but something like the back of a saddle guards against that.” (Sahih Muslim 1034)
“‘Urwa b. Zubair reported: ‘A’isha asked: What disrupts the prayer? We said: The woman and the ass. Upon this she remarked: Is the woman an ugly animal? I lay in front of the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) like the bier of a corpse and he said prayer.” (Sahih Muslim 1037)
“Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas: Qatadah said: I heard Jabir ibn Zayd who reported on the authority of Ibn Abbas; and Shu’bah reported the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) as saying: A menstruating woman and a dog cut off the prayer. (Sunan Abu Dawud 703)
“Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas: Ikrimah reported on the authority of Ibn Abbas, saying: I think the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: When one of you prays without a sutrah, a dog, an ass, a pig, a Jew, a Magian, and a woman cut off his prayer, but it will suffice if they pass in front of him at a distance of over a stone’s throw.” (Sunan Abu Dawud 704)
Those of other faiths prayed to themselves or simply watched, appearing to appreciate the expression of faith.
Mehmedovic hosted Wednesday night’s event, and is planning another at the Utica Mosque on Court Street for next Wednesday at sundown.
“We are stronger when we are together,” said Gerald Lombardo, a founding member of the Interfaith Coalition of Greater Utica. “When we have people of all faiths together, they get to know one another, they get to building relationships that are lasting. They take us into the future so that whatever happens, we can stand together.”…
Mehmedovic said people such as presidential candidate Donald Trump shouldn’t blame an entire religion for a single person’s actions – that it causes him and other Muslims in Utica to feel “strange,” when really they just want to be included.“If someone is mentally unstable, we cannot put blame on the whole religion, a whole group of people,” he said, referring to Omar Mateen, the shooter who authorities say killed 49 people and wounded 53 at Pulse nightclub in Orlando early Sunday morning. Reports indicate he was an ISIS sympathizer.
After the tragedy – the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history – Trump reintroduced his call for banning Muslim immigration to the U.S.
“People say they’re all the same, but of course they’re not,” Mehmedovic said. “If (the shooter) followed the true meaning of the religion, they would know they shouldn’t commit violence. They wouldn’t be able to. In this religion, there is no time, no space for any type of violence.”
Rabbi Cassi Kail said she was happy to attend the service Wednesday. Recently, she’s faced discrimination because of her faith.
“It’s important for me, especially as a rabbi, to develop relationships with Muslims so that we can perpetuate peace,” said Kail, who is the religious leader at Temple Emanu-El in Utica….