Laura Ingraham Defies Reality, Suggests Muslim Leaders Haven't Condemned ISIS Violence

Written by Ellie Sandmeyer

Published

Right-wing radio host Laura Ingraham baselessly suggested that Muslims aren't condemning the violent tactics employed by the extremist group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), though in reality many prominent Muslim voices have strongly denounced the group.

Recent news reports have documented shocking acts of terror that have made ISIS the “most feared organization in the Middle East.” The group has warned Christians that they must either “convert to Islam or die,” and according to Secretary of State John Kerry, its “grotesque and targeted acts of violence bear all the warning signs and hallmarks of genocide.”

During an August 11 conversation about ISIS' threats against Iraqi Christians with the National Review's Nina Shea, Laura Ingraham claimed that few, if any, Muslims have spoken out against the group:

INGRAHAM: And it would be nice if more in the Muslim world coming out and condemning what the Islamic State is doing. You're not hearing enough of those voices, if any. I mean, where are those people?

But in reality, many Islamic leaders have strongly denounced ISIS, and thousands more Muslims have gathered to promote messages of peace.

Iyad Ameen Madani, the Secretary General for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation which represents 1.4 billion Muslims in 57 countries around the world, condemned ISIS' threats against Christians in Iraq, saying the “forced deportation under the threat of execution” is a “crime that cannot be tolerated.” In an interview with Reuters, Turkey's highest ranking cleric, Mehmet Gormez, similarly decried ISIS' threats against Christians and argued that the statements were damaging to the Muslim community: “Islamic scholars need to focus on this (because) an inability to peacefully sustain other faiths and cultures heralds the collapse of a civilization.”  

In a July 7 statement, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called ISIS' actions “un-Islamic and morally repugnant.” CAIR noted that the group's “human rights abuses on the ground are well-documented” and called on other Muslim community leaders to speak out against the violence.  The Muslim Council of Great Britain's Shuja Shafi also said: “Violence has no place in religion, violence has no religion. It is prohibited for people to present themselves for destruction.”