MOSCOW – Asserting that terror has no
religion, a Russian lawmaker has
demanded a ban on the use of
expressions such as ‘Islamic terrorist’
and ‘Islamist militant’ in the mass
media, waning that they victimize
followers of Islam worldwide.
“These expressions push people
towards the conclusion that Muslim
religion and terrorism are the same
thing,” Shamsail Saraliyev, from United
Russia, told the Duma (Russian
Parliament), Izvestia daily report was
cited by Russia Today on Thursday,
December 18.
“Common people automatically begin to
associate Muslims with bandits, murderers
and terrorists,” he added.
Speaking during this week’s session at the
State Duma Committee for Information
Policy, Saraliyev said that lately the mass
media are freely and frequently using
expressions like ‘Islamic terrorists’,
‘Islamists’, ‘Jihadists’, ‘Shahid belt’, ‘Terrorist
Islamic State’ and many others of this kind.
The lawmaker warned that media was
giving people the wrong impression about
Islam and put ordinary believers at risk.
He added that Muslims, on the other hand,
prefer to use ‘Kharijites’ – Arabic for
‘dissenters’ or ‘insurgents’, to describe
radicals.
One typical example of such people are the
supporters of the so-called Islamic State (IS,
formerly ISIS/ISIL), he said.
“They call themselves the Islamic State, but
they have absolutely nothing to do with
Islam! For them Islam is just a cloak with
which they cover their evil deeds!”
Saraliyev confirmed that true Islam
promotes a message of kindness and
creation that promotes peaceful coexistence
between all peoples.
“Just as we don’t call fascists ‘Christians’, we
should stop using the term Muslims when
we describe radical militant groups who
claim to be followers of Islam,” he said.
A number of Muslim leaders around the
world have overtly condemned the Islamic
State, issuing strong-worded statements to
deny any relation between Islam and the
militant group.
Earlier, Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, the Grand
Imam of Al-Azhar, the highest seat of
religious learning in the Sunni world, has
condemned ISIL, accusing it of serving a
“Zionist” plot to “destroy the Arab World”.
Saudi Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-
Sheikh condemned Al-Qaeda and the Islamic
State jihadists as “enemy number one” of
Islam, urging urged Muslims to take up arms
against the militant group’s members as
aggressors who abuse people’s lives,
possessions and honor.
The International Union of Muslim Scholars
(IUMS) has dismissed ISIL announcement of
forming a “caliphate” in areas they control
in Iraq and Syria, saying it lacked any Islamic
or realistic aspects.
Islam is Russia's second-largest religion
representing roughly 15 percent of its 145
million predominantly Orthodox population.
The Russian Federation is home to some 23
million Muslims in the north of the Caucasus
and southern republics of Chechnya,
Ingushetia and Dagestan.