American-Muslims Dismayed by anti-Christian Violence in Gojra, Pakistan Islam calls upon Muslims to speak out against injustice

Chicago, Illinois – August 6, 2009 – The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (the Council) is dismayed by the numerous credible reports of violence against Pakistani Christians in the city of Gojra, Pakistan over the past several days. The Council condemns the killing of eight Pakistani Christians in that region as well as the burning of homes and of at least one church and calls upon American-Muslims to speak out with one voice, unequivocally, that the murders of Pakistani Christians and the destruction of property in Gojra is an injustice and that those responsible for these crimes must be brought to justice.

The Council has very strong relationships of friendship and respect with the Christian community in northern Illinois. Among the Christian communities with which the Council maintains an ongoing dialogue are the Catholic Church, the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church and various other denominations through its partnership with the Chicago Faith Coalition for Middle East Policy, United Power of Action and Justice, Faith in Place, ARISE Chicago and Protestants for the Common Good, among others.

“We speak of justice as being the foundation of our faith and rightly so, and we know that God commands mankind to speak out against injustice even when we or our family are to blame” said Junaid Afeef, executive director of the Council. “Personally, I believe this is precisely the type of situation God had in mind and that is why we say very clearly that the violence by Muslims against their Christian neighbors in Gojra, Pakistan is evil.”

The Council leadership is reaching out to its friends in the regional Christian community to convey the American-Muslim community’s grief over the loss of innocent lives, for the property damage to homes and particularly for the desecration of at least one church in Gojra, Pakistan and the for the fear and pain caused by criminals acting erroneously in the name of Islam.

Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Denounces Gojra Attacks

Archbishop condemns atrocities in Pakistan

http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/2509

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has today made the following statement regarding the violence in Pakistan:

The recent atrocities against Christians in Pakistan will sear the imaginations of countless people of all faiths throughout the world. As the minister of law in the Punjab has already said, such actions are not the work of true Muslims: they are an abuse of real faith and an injury to its reputation as well as an outrage against common humanity, and deserve forthright condemnation.

Christians in Pakistan are a small and vulnerable minority, generally with little political or economic power. They are disproportionately affected by the draconian laws against blasphemy, which in recent years have frequently been abused in order to settle local and personal grievances. They need to be assured of their dignity and liberty as citizens of a just and peaceful society. Their good, their security, is part of the good of the whole Pakistani nation. Those of us who love Pakistan and its people, whatever their faith, feel that the whole country is injured and diminished by the violence that has occurred.

I appeal to the Government of Pakistan to spare no efforts, not only in seeing that justice is done in the wake of these terrible events, but also in continuing to build a society in which all faiths are honoured and in which the most vulnerable can be assured of the protection of the law and the respect of their fellow-citizens.