Republican state Rep. John Bennett’s office distributed the questionnaire on Thursday as the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations organized its annual Muslim Day at the Capitol. The lawmaker’s office gave the list of questions to three Islamic school students who came to his office and asked to speak with him.
“(The prophet) Mohammed was a killer of pagans, Christians and Jews that did not agree with him,” read one of 18 questions on the form. “Do you agree with his example?”
The questions asked Muslims whether they would denounce terror groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah and whether they believed former Muslims should be punished for leaving Islam. One question asked Muslims if they agreed that Islamic law, known as Sharia, should rule over non-Muslims.
The questionnaire drew a swift rebuke from civil rights groups and Oklahoma’s CAIR chapter, which represents about 40,000 Oklahoma residents who are Muslims.
“Nobody should be vetted with stupid, Islamophobic, hateful, bigoted questions before they can meet with their representative,” said Adam Soltani, the executive director of CAIR-Oklahoma.
Bennett did not return a message seeking comment on the questionnaire Saturday.
The lawmaker has previously referred to Islam as “a cancer in our nation that needs to be cut out.” At an interim study Bennett convened in October to study the religion, he suggested that CAIR and a local imam were terrorists.
Recently, Bennett came under fire when he posted a news story on Facebook critical of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and added the comment, “2 words … firing squad.”
“It’s frustrating that Representative Bennett keeps pressing the issue in the way he does,” said Anna Facci, the government affairs director for CAIR-OK. “It certainly is frustrating but it’s not surprising.” Associated Press (Source: independent.co.uk 05/03/2017)
Comment:
Allah سبحانه وتعالى warns us in Surah Ali ‘Imran:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَتَّخِذُوا بِطَانَةً مِّن دُونِكُمْ لَا يَأْلُونَكُمْ خَبَالًا وَدُّوا مَا عَنِتُّمْ قَدْ بَدَتِ الْبَغْضَاءُ مِنْ أَفْوَاهِهِمْ وَمَا تُخْفِي صُدُورُهُمْ أَكْبَرُ ۚ قَدْ بَيَّنَّا لَكُمُ الْآيَاتِ ۖ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ
“O ye who believe! Take not into your intimacy those outside your ranks: They will not fail to corrupt you. They only desire your ruin: Rank hatred has already appeared from their mouths: What their hearts conceal is far worse. We have made plain to you the Signs, if ye have wisdom.”
Racism and bigotry appear when the level of thought is low. These are the basest manifestation of man’s survival instinct and animals too display this unthinking ‘pack’ response.
This ‘alt-facts’, ‘alt-reality’, ‘post-truth’ president has legitimised the very worst of values and racists like Bennett suddenly feel their views are acceptable in the thinking world.
The Nazis vilified the Jews, labeled, registered and declared them the enemy of the state. The so called ‘neo-cons’ had their ‘Pearl Habour moment’ making Muslims the enemy in their war against Islam. Trump and his acolytes like Bennett are merely re-applying the techniques of Joseph Goebbels’ ‘Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda’ replacing Muslims for the Jews.
Everyone has a right to be Muslim, even an American if he so chooses. And no amount of hatred or intimidation can stop that.
Islam has come as a Rahmah to all mankind. Islam is the enlightened way from the Creator سبحانه وتعالى, which protects the blood, honour and sanctity of all within it regardless of race or creed. Without the need to stoke up hatred and fear of ‘the other’.
Islam unites, it bonded black Bilal (ra) with the Arab Umar al Khattab, (ra) with the Persian Salman, (ra), the Muhajireen from Makkah, with the Ansar of Madinah cutting through family, social class and tribal bonds.
The Islamic Ummah is not built on bonds of benefit, or accidents of birth or geography, it is a bond built on the intellectual creed of Islam – that “There is no God but Allah سبحانه وتعالى and Muhammad ﷺ was His Messenger.”
Muhammad Hamzah