An example on how to counter extremism

Today, America faces an enemy that uses hate and fearmongering not only to strike at the heart of American values, but to sow mistrust among loyal Americans. Fringe extremist groups like ISIS abuse and willfully misinterpret a religion practiced and beloved by more than a billion people across the world, including more than 3 million American Muslims. They do so to sow confusion, recruit from the disenfranchised and misinformed, and above all to promote division between Muslims and the rest of the world. President Obama, in his address from the Oval Office on December 6, 2015 said, “Muslim leaders here and around the globe have to continue working with us to decisively and unequivocally reject the hateful ideology that groups like ISIS and al Qaeda promote.”

{mosads}Many American Muslims are working to reject extremism, and prove that their religious values do not run counter to American values or national security. The Ahmadiyya Muslim community has worked to promote this important narrative of Islam in the United States and abroad, offering a consistent counter-message to the hateful beliefs of ISIS and other radical ideologies. For example, on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, they launched “Muslims for Life,” a nationwide blood drive campaign with a powerful message: The only blood Muslims should shed is to save lives, not take lives. To date, they have collected over 40,000 pints of blood—including many of our own—which could save as many as 120,000 lives in an ongoing life-giving act to commemorate those we lost in 2001. After the horrific massacre in San Bernardino, they were on the frontlines of battling the scourge of extremism and earned praise from local law enforcement.

While the Ahmadiyya community has led by example, promoting peace and pluralism, they are among the most persecuted Muslim groups in the world. They face systematic state-facilitated persecution in Pakistan, Indonesia, and parts of the Middle East. In Pakistan, Ahmadi Muslims are declared non-Muslims by constitutional amendment, denied the full and free right to vote without preconditions, and face arrest, imprisonment, and prosecution under the country’s anti-blasphemy laws. Each year, we bear witness to horrifying atrocities committed against Ahmadi Muslims worldwide—from the burning of their villages in Pakistan to forced eviction from their homes in Indonesia. 

Faced with these attacks, the Ahmadiyya Muslim community has acted as a force for human rights, pluralism, gender equality, racial equality, and peace, which they believe with great conviction are core values of the Islamic faith. They have fought their persecution abroad with tolerance and persistence—and they have fought growing Islamophobia in the United States with a commitment to peace and education. Their message that these values are the antidote to violent extremism is an essential counter to the toxic rhetoric of both Islamists and anti-Muslim demagogues.

I am proud to lead a bipartisan caucus to draw awareness to their plight and the plight of other religious minorities. In a time where the world is suffering from so much anger and misinformation, the Ahmadiyya community’s positive example is an important counter to the warped ideologies that are making the world ever more dangerous. Congress must take a more active role in engaging the Muslim community—our greatest ally in the fight against extremism.

Speier represents California’s 14^th Congressional District and has served in the House since 2008. She sits on the Armed Services and the Intelligence committees.