Nevada Islamic Society condemns beheadings

The Islamic Society of Nevada condemned the beheadings of American journalists by the terrorists known as ISIS.

The group’s director, Aslam Abdullah, used strong language in a letter sent to the Review-Journal Wednesday, saying the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, ISIS, “could easily put even beasts to shame.”

“They are against Christians, Jews, secularists and even Muslims. They are fighting a war they claim religious, which is overtly Satanic,” he wrote.

He said about 12,000 Muslims live in the Las Vegas area, and most of them share his strong feelings about the situation.

Abdullah continued to call for the U.S. to train Muslim Americans to help fight the terrorists.

“By beheading two innocent Americans, the ISIS has committed act of aggression against Muslim Americans as well,” he wrote. “It is now the turn of Muslim Americans to work with the Administration to eliminate this organization. Many of us are willing to be trained to assume the actual combat role in fighting the ISIS in Iraq.”

Muslim Americans take national security very seriously, he said, and Muslims should be the first line of defense of the nation against groups such as ISIS.

“Their supporters come from our community. They are not outsiders,” Abdullah wrote. “We are the ones who would be effective in tracking them and ensuring that they are identified before they could harm us.”

The abuse of the Islamic religion by terrorist groups like ISIS makes the fight against them a jihad for all Muslims, he said.

“Their scriptures are being distorted, their commitment to universal brotherhood and sisterhood is being challenged and their efforts to live a life contributing positively to humanity is being violated,” Abdullah wrote. “It is for these reasons we urge our country to provide our able bodied people to take on ISIS in their own turf.”

Contact Wesley Juhl at wjuhl@reviewjournal.com and 702-383-0381. Find him on Twitter: @WesJuhl.