Safwat Morsy is an Arab American Imam of the Masjid Noor al-Islam, which was established in 2002 in San Francisco. He is also a researcher on Sharia law and served as the General Secretary of Sharia Scholar Association of North America. Morsy's mission is to promote interfaith dialogue and encourage community service. His mosque has done blood drives, provided assistance to chaplain services at various San Francisco hospitals, and he has spoken at various churches and synagogues and other community centers about promoting tolerance and understanding between people of all backgrounds. In his sermons, Morsy speaks of the importance of optimism, and the power of the youth, backed by new technologies like Facebook and Twitter, to change the world. Morsy has condemned all acts of terrorism: "As Muslims, we strongly condemn the terrorist attacks on two major cities of the United States of America on September 11, 2001, which caused the death and injury of thousands of innocent people, and we offer our condolences to the American nation." The day after the September 11 attacks, Morsy stated at his service at the Islamic Society, "I cannot imagine any religion on the face of the Earth that would support such acts." He has also mentioned in other sermons that the Quran states that terrorism and extremism is not permitted. "This book maintains that the source of the terror that we condemn is definitely not from a divine religion, and that there is no room for terrorism in Islam. This is made clear in the Qur'an and the hadith, the main sources of Islam, and in the practices of all true Muslim rulers, the Prophet Muhammad (saas)* being the foremost of them. This book reveals, in the light of the verses of the Qur'an and the practices of our Prophet Muhammad (saas) with examples from history, that terrorism is forbidden and bringing peace and security to the world is aimed in Islam."
|