Sask. Muslims condemn attack on Paris newspaper

As the world reels from a bloody attack on a satirical newspaper in Paris, where the gunmen wore masks and shouted out praise to Allah, Muslims in Saskatchewan are condemning it.
 
“These are terrorists and fundamentalists, in the basic term, and they should not be associated with any religion,” said Naser Malik, president of the Amadiyyah Muslim Community in Saskatoon.
 
The terrorist attack left 10 French cartoonists and two police dead. Malik gave the community’s condolences to the people affected by the tragedy, then said the people who perpetrated this act are not following the true teachings of Islam.
 
Malik said it can be tiring at times to explain that terrorism is not a part of Islam.
 
“As far as the Amadiyyah community, we are doing everything in our power… to get this message across to our fellow Canadians: we are Canadians first, our values are the same.”
 
Malik explained that freedom of the press is supported by his community and by the Qu’ran, but he added a caveat.
 
“Society has some barriers on what you can and cannot, or should or should not do, these cartoons are offensive to Muslims, but we cannot, Muslims cannot, take the law into their own hands.”
 
Malik said his community wants people to know what real Islam is. One way to do just that is through the Stop the CrISIS campaign at the University of Saskatchewan. Over two weeks, there will be discussions on how to prevent youth from becoming violent and to educate the public. The campaign started in Toronto in November, its Saskatoon debut comes just a day after the Paris attack.

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