CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- On this Veterans Day, a group of Charlotte vets who are also Muslim sent their condolences to the victims and families of last week's shootings at Fort Hood, Texas.
The vets said they hope not all Muslims would be blamed for the actions of one man. The suspected shooter who killed 13 people is Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist who is said to be a devout Muslim.
"I'm not a terrorist. I love America," said Salahuddin Hasan, a veteran of the Vietnam War.
Hasan and the other vets gathered at the Masjid Ash-Shaheed mosque on West Sugar Creek Road in Charlotte where Khalil Akbar is the Imam.
Akbar called the Fort Hood shootings "insane." He said, "No ideology, religious or political, could ever justify or excuse such a heinous and cowardly attack."
The vets say there are many Muslims in the service who are there because they love their country. Nasiff Majeed is a veteran pilot who said, "Muslims are those that fight for right, but fight for the good cause and that's for the benefit of humanity."
Asked if there was a contradiction for a Muslim to be in the military and fight other Muslims, Salahuddin Hasan said, "You are not fighting Muslims, you are fighting evil. Muslims, Christians, and Jews all have the same enemy -- evil."
The Muslim vets all served well before the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and certainly well before Fort Hood. But Shani Rashid came to ask what she might tell her son, who is Muslim, and now serving in the Air Force and finding it more difficult than ever.
She said of her son, "You have to put your life on the line like everybody else, yet apologize for your existence or your belief in God."
The vets counseled her to tell her son that many Muslims have stood-up since 9/11 to say, "No, this is not in the name of Islam."
saintwreck said on November 11, 2009 at 5:58 PM
Of course, this is the religion of peace.... remember
wontrun said on November 11, 2009 at 7:29 PM
I dont trust ANY muslim. Thats just how I feel.
wndrbrdwspr said on November 12, 2009 at 7:11 AM
I don't trust any christian either. After all, their symbol is a cross and we know how so-called souther christians like burning those.
wndrbrdwspr said on November 12, 2009 at 7:12 AM
I don't really trust any christians either. After all, their symbol is a cross and we know how so-called southern christians like burning those.
phinney said on November 12, 2009 at 7:54 AM
I find it hard to trust anyone that thinks its ok to talk to invisible people. Isn't that a sign of insanity? LOL
wiseone123 said on November 12, 2009 at 8:20 AM
Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs... But you cant blame everyone of that same belief for what 1 person does.. That person does not repersent the entire community. And everyone should practice what they preach.. Those with out sin should be the first to cast a stone.. And as far as i can see there are very few of those..
wontrun said on November 12, 2009 at 8:32 AM
wiseone,In a fantasy world,you may be correct.However,when a group/religion promotes the murder of others(infidels),you move from ''placing blame'', to recognizing a threat.If you get bitten by the same dog twice,you are a fool.
wontrun said on November 12, 2009 at 8:49 AM
phinney,I do talk to ''invisible'' people and Im not insane. It's called a telephone.
wndrbrdwspr said on November 12, 2009 at 8:54 AM
Exactly, wontrun. Look back in history at the hate crimes that have been commited by christians and a person would be a fool to trust one.
wontrun said on November 12, 2009 at 9:05 AM
I guess you are in the wrong country Wunderbeard.But I guess you can move to Iceland.Less Christians there.Have a nice trip.
europeanamerican said on November 12, 2009 at 9:09 AM
LoafBOY......Since when do Christians go around hi-jacking planes and blowing up buildings and suicide bombings, all in the name of God? The Muslim religion teaches "Death to the Infidels". Doesn't that mean kill all those that aren't Muslim? No, it's not the whole religion, but there are quite a few extremists out there that want nothing more than ALL Americans to die, and that includes you too, LoafBOY
wndrbrdwspr said on November 12, 2009 at 9:34 AM
I guess you've never heard of Timothy McVeigh. Or maybe you're too young to remember Black churches being bombed in the 50's and 60's. And maybe you've never heard of the KKK or Christian Imperialist Movement.
wndrbrdwspr said on November 12, 2009 at 9:39 AM
All are people that claim the christian faith. Hmmm..........
europeanamerican said on November 12, 2009 at 9:40 AM
Timothy McVeigh did it because he hated the government, not religion....get your facts straight
wndrbrdwspr said on November 12, 2009 at 9:46 AM
Hated the government, not religion? (LOL)!!! Yet he represents christians. Why did so many other christians commit crimes especially against other races? Bet your answer to that question will be just as stupid.
wndrbrdwspr said on November 12, 2009 at 9:49 AM
Wasn't adolph hitler a christian too?
wndrbrdwspr said on November 12, 2009 at 10:13 AM
And what about the catholic faith which is a form of christianity. They preach that it's OK for a man to wear a dress, swear off women and live amongst little boys for the rest of his life. But God tells us to reproduce. And we ALL know what happens when that man puts on his dress and lives among nothing but men and little boys. How are those lawsuits coming along?
wndrbrdwspr said on November 12, 2009 at 10:20 AM
And is it just a fluke that few know that Nazi extermination camps in World War II were by no means the only ones in Europe at the time. In the years 1942-1943 also in Croatia existed numerous extermination camps, run by Catholic Ustasha under their dictator Ante Paveliç, a practicing Catholic and regular visitor to the pope at that time. There were even concentration camps exclusively for children! In these camps - the most notorious was Jasenovac, headed by a Franciscan friar - orthodox-Christian Serbians (and a substantial number of Jews) were murdered. Like the Nazis the Catholic Ustasha burned their victims in kilns, alive (the Nazis had victims gassed first). But most of the victims were simply stabbed, or shot to death, the number of them being estimated between 300,000 and 600,000, in a rather tiny country. Many of the killers were Franciscan friars. The atrocities were appalling enough to induce bystanders of the Nazi "Sicherheitsdienst der SS", watching, to complain about th
demarisinyamouth said on November 12, 2009 at 12:26 PM
To whomever thinks there are no Christian terrorists. Here are a few **Lambs of Christ - Centennial Olympic Park and abortion clinic bombings; **KKK - Lynching, murder, assassination and cross-burning; **Army of God - bombing abortion clinics and killing doctors **Aryan Nations (formed as an arm of Church of Jesus Christ-Christian) - LA Jewish Community Center shooting **Concerned Christians - arrested and deported from Israel for trying to blow up the al-Aqsa mosque Islamist terrorism is just one facet of the religious zealots' war on civil society. So just as some say it's unfair to catgorize ALL Christians based on what a few do, it's is also unfair to do the same to ALL Muslims based on the actions of a few.
wontrun said on November 12, 2009 at 12:52 PM
Nice diatribe. You get a C-....muslims are STILL a legitimate threat to liberty as we know it......MERRY CRISTMAS!!!
wontrun said on November 12, 2009 at 12:55 PM
CHRISTMAS. I get an F for spelling, but an A for content.
demarisinyamouth said on November 12, 2009 at 1:22 PM
I actually see whites as a bigger threat to liberty. And the reason I say this is because in the past it has more often than not been whites that have tried to deny other citizens liberty. Ex: It was whites not Muslims that wanted segregated schools even though Blacks are U.S. citizens and helped build this country. It has been whites that try to enforce their ideas and lifestyle upon every living thing on the planet. It has been whites historically that live by the saying "Freedom of Speech, just watch what you say".
daw245 said on November 14, 2009 at 9:27 AM
Haven't been on here for a while because when you write something intelligent WCNC removes it but I see they continue to allow the Radical Racists Al Sharton want to be Demarisinyamouth to continue to post his racists remarks. White people need us an Al Sharpton or a white dude that doesn't work but represents all the white people that complain about being treated unfairly. I'm not complaining or whining I'm just staying ahead of the curve. I have recently purchased some land and have started practicing picking cotton. I know that in my near future Demaris and his coalition of new racists friends are gonna have me picking their cotton so they can make up for what my great great great grandfather did to his great great great grandfather. It's simple on this discussion...if you see a Muslim putting a package in a car you take off running cause it's probably a bomb. The same way when you are at the ATM and Demarisinyamouth and his boys come up behind you and you throw your wallet at them.