Are Canadian Muslims obliged to denounce ISIS?

Asma Maryam Ali is a mental health counsellor and social justice activist residing in Hamilton.

Last August, a friend at my Tae Kwon Do club asked me if I support ISIS.

I wastaken aback.

This friend has known me for ten years, both in and out of the club;he knows my values, goals and interests, and they dont reflect those of ISIS. Sowhere did the question come from?

He had been reading about instances of ISISrecruiting Canadian Muslims, and because I identify as Muslim, he was fearfulthat I might have been influenced by ISIS too.

From my point of view, this fear is unwarranted. Most Canadian Muslimsdisagree with ISIS ideology and find their actions atrocious.

With regards torecruitment, ISIS and other extremist groups have recruited a very small numberof Canadian Muslims in the last decade. It makes no sense to assume that themajority of Muslims will suddenly fall under their influence.

It makes no sense to assume that themajority of Muslims will suddenly fall under their influence.- AsmaMaryamAli

The reality, however, is that ISIS has managed to truly terrorize people inCanada and other parts of the world with its heinous crimes against innocentpeople and its threats to harm those who oppose it, including Canadians.

Thethought that this gravely misguided group may be recruiting on our soil is trulyalarming. So I can see how Canadians may be very wary about the spread ofISIS in Canada.

Rather than giving ourselves over to fear and misconceptions, we should beaddressing our fears head on, and everyone has a role to play in this regard.

Dispelling Fear

The simplest thing anyone can do is resolve questions and prejudices they mayhave about the relationship between ISIS-type groups, Islam and Muslims. Find aMuslim or a Muslim organization and ask your questions. Keep asking, becauseone opinion is just that, and doesnt represent all Muslims.

• Read more:Hamilton youth reported killed as ISIS fighter 'not the son they knew'
• Read More:Hamilton Muslim community looks to understand path to ISIS

If you belong to areligious group, encourage interfaith dialogue between your centre and a Muslimcentre.

Muslim groups can speak out against ISIS in order to dispel fears. The CanadianCouncil of Imams (CCI), the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), andthe Muslim Council of Greater Hamilton (MCGH) have all released statementscondemning ISIS and any forms of extremism and violence. In late November, the Muslim Students Association (MSA) at McMaster University will be holdinga campus-wide event to present the MSAs perspective on ISISs actions.

Theseare all great ways to put fellow Canadians at ease about ISIS threats.

Need to prove innocence?

Not all Muslims agree with issuing statements and holding events in responseto ISISs actions. Some argue that doing so supports the assumption that Islamas a religion or Muslims in general are responsible for what individual Muslims do, and that Muslims must always distinguish themselves from extremist acts inorder to prove themselves innocent of those acts.

This point is of such concern to Muslims that its being widely debated on socialmedia, particularly through the Twitter campaign #NotinMyName and its parody,#MuslimApologies.

The former distinguishes ISIS and its actions from otherMuslims, and the latter insists that there is no need to defend Muslims and Islam against ISISs actions (i.e. apologize for what others are doing).

A time to speak out

I can see how problematic it would be for Muslims to continuously feel obliged todistinguish themselves from extremists. Not only would it place a responsibilityon their shoulders that is not theirs to bear, it can place Muslims in a positionof guilty until proven innocent which undermines their integrity and couldpotentially erode their rights.

At the same time, I believe that there are times when speaking out againstextremists is necessary in order to dispel unnecessary fears, promote a betterunderstanding of religions between people and protect innocent Muslims fromhate crimes perpetrated by people lashing out against extremists.

I think this isone of those times for Canada.

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