Imam Aslam Abdullah is leader of a new mosque in Las Vegas, Masgid Ibrahim, and also a lecturer at UNLV.
He’s also one of the most respected Muslim clerics in the country. And while he works in Las Vegas, he also keeps a home in Fontana, California, which is about 10 miles from San Bernardino.
This week, that location is important.
Aslam Abdullah talked to KNPR's State of Nevada, just a few days after the massacre in San Bernardino, about Muslim tradition, hate in America and how we can transcend the anger.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS:
On Donald Trump's call for a 'total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the U.S."
"What he is saying is totally against the Constitution. What he is saying is totally a slap on the face of the Founding Fathers. He is insulting the intelligence agencies. He is insulting the law enforcement agencies and he is challenging all the democratic institutions. I think the Supreme Court, or if there is any authority that can control these kind of people, they should disqualify them from running for the presidency of this country. Because what he is saying is totally in violation of what this country has stood for for 200 plus years"
"What Mr. Trump has done is in fact he has become an advocate for ISIS. He is giving fuel to ISIS because ISIS propaganda is, 'look at the West they are against Islam and against Muslims and we're justified in fighting against them.' And this is exactly what Mr. Trump is saying that 'Yes! I would play into your hands by denying Muslims the right that this Constitution gives to them'"
On fears that what Trump says will spark violence toward the Muslim community:
"I doubt that there will be mass hysteria in terms of creating violence against Muslims but there would be random acts of violence as a result of what he is saying and doing. But more than that what he is saying is that he's giving rise to Nazism. He's giving rise to hatred and a day would come when other groups would say that we do not want Jews in this country. They would say we do not want Mormons in this country. Some would say that we do not want blacks in this country. They would say we don't want people who have been involved in gun violence in this country and this is the trend he's setting, which is dangerous. That is why it is important for all of us come together to give a buffeting reply to this particular person not only politically but also constitutionally"
On the interfaith meeting in San Bernardino:
"This is what we resolved there: That we would be together that no matter what is done in the name of religion by anyone that we would not divide ourselves. The terrorists wanted us to be angry, wanted us to be disunited, wanted us to hate each other but the presence of 1,000 people in the cathedral proved that we were not afraid that we would take every challenge and we would respond to them our unity and with love and peace."
Do you find what is going on personally frightening?
"It is because what is happening is when these kinds of incidents take place regardless of who is committing when innocent lives are lost then each one of us suffers. But we have the resolve that we would not bow down to those forces that we would stand up and we would fight against them."
Are you facing hatred and anger in America?
"The great majority of the people in this country do understand and do make a distinction between those who are criminals and those who are followers of the faith."
"The majority of the country does not buy those arguments, but the problem is that when some people are persistent in terms of condemning the faith and condemning the Muslim community and using that as scapegoat for their own political ambitions then there is a problem"
How do you get people who don't buy those arguments to act?
"When people of different faiths come together and people of no faith come together in solidarity with human life and in solidarity with human dignity then changes do definitely do take place."
On violence:
"A child is growing up in this environment where he sees that the violence is legitimate and justified on the part of certain people. On the part of the 'good guys' and then everyone pretends to be a good guy, thinking that the other guy is bad and from that perspective whenever he is preached hatred, whenever he is lured into hating other communities other groups on the basis of ethnicity, on the basis of religion, on the basis of culture, then whenever he finds an event that could spark his anger, he just picks up a gun and shoots the other person. That is what we have to address."
"Our churches, our synagogues, our mosques have to talk the language of peace. We have to talk about the love and the solidarity among people and the respect of human life is crucial."
When did we grow so far apart?
"One of the problems is when we start labeling criminals as people representing a religion. This is where the problem comes. It is unfortunate here in this country that some people in the media have not been very cordial with Islam. When an act is committed by a man whose name happens to be Riswan, they call it Islamic terrorism. When a similar kind of acts take place in Colombine or in Denver, no one referenced that as a religious terrorism or as a Christian terrorism or as a fundamentalist terrorism.
People have said "violence is not Islam":
"One of the cardinal points of our faith is the unity of humanity that all human beings are one because their original is one. That is what we believe in. Regardless of the debate about the creation and evolution, what we all believe is that the source is one and that is the divine. Then if the source is one, then how could we defy God by talking the life of human beings. And the cardinal point of Islam is that each and every person deserves a dignified existence."
On America's ability to embrace diversity in religion:
"This is the only country in the world that has proven to the world that it can change. In 1932, there were signs in Milwaukee and New York that said 'no Jews and no dogs allowed'"
"I think we have grown. And we have the potential to provide this kind of leadership to the world. But the stumbling blocks would be people like Trump, who would give rise to forces like ISIS and Nazism and who through their words would create the feeling of hatred."
How much has 9/11 played into what's going on now?
"9/11 is the pivotal point where everything goes back... That was the actual act of declaration of war against the West that's what many people would say. And I think this is where a mistake, is that 9/11 was an attack on everything including Islam. It was the day when Islam was attacked brutally by those who claim to be Muslims. And since then Muslims have paid a heavy price for fighting against those kinds of terrorists."
It sounds like in a world that is becoming more and more cynical. You still have hope?
"Of course! We have come after all those kinds of centuries of fight and conflicts... We have grown. I think in that respect the U.S. has become a much mature country than any other country in terms of its emphasis on a society that would respect the Constitution that would not favor one religion over another religion that would respect all of us and that is what need to strengthen and if we prove to ourselves that we can live in harmony and peace in this place, then definitely the world can look at us to emulate us."
Imam Aslam Abdullah, Masjid Ibrahim mosque
