A number of Muslim organizations met in Washington, D.C., at the Heritage Foundation for a
two-day summit on combating Islamic extremism. The leaders announced the formation of a new initiative called the Muslim Reform Movement.
The Muslim Reform Movement will focus on
confronting extremist segments of the religion. According to the Washington Examiner, the group quickly released:
…a declaration of principles calling on Muslims to reject violent jihad and endorse religious freedom for all and secular government, and saying they will call out those who reject it.
During the
panel discussion, Naser Khader, a member of the Parliament in Denmark of the Conservative People’s Party addressed ISIS directly, saying: “We reject the idea of an Islamic state.” He went on to discuss how Muslims must address ISIS:
“We cannot say that the Islamic State are not Muslims. That is what they call themselves.
If we the Muslims do not face the problem of violence that links to Islam in our time, how will we ever succeed in ripping Islam out of the hands of these destructive powers and lift our religion into the 21st century?”
Khader directed criticism at those who hold on to political correctness instead of challenging jihadist threats:
“Let’s get rid of political correctness and grab this problem by the root.”
Farahnaz Ispahani, a former member of the Pakistani Parliament, made clear the aims of the summit; to provide a counterbalance to radicalization:
“We have all heard ‘Where are the Muslim voices?’… here we are, and we have others like us.”
