Local Muslim leaders reject Iraq extremists’ call to arms

Most Muslims will “not react favorably,” said Parvez Ahmed, board member of the Islamic Center of Northeast Florida and an associate professor of finance at the University of North Florida.

“It’s a silly utopian concept devoid of intellectual logic or jurisprudence,” he said. “The vast majority of Muslims actually live in democracy and want to live in democracy.”

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic state of Iraq and the Levant, this week declared the establishment of an Islamic state, or caliphate, in the territory it controls in Iraq and Syria. He also demanded that all Muslims across the world pledge allegiance to him.

Such demands are not unusual, Ahmed said, and have been made by Christian and Hindu extremist groups as well. He linked al-Baghdadi’s current push to the Arab Spring, the movement to spread democracy in the Middle East that was “brutally crushed.”

“It is actually a sign of their failure … the failure of people’s aspirations,” he said. “Had the Arab Spring succeeded, I don’t think we would see this.”

Alex M. Sivar, a board member for the Istanbul Cultural Center in Jacksonville, agreed.

“We have always been steadfast supporters of peace in Middle East and all around the world and unwavering with our belief that current crises in that part of the world are fueled and caused by a lack of majority-supported true democratic governance,” he said.

“We believe all terrorists who are calling other Muslims to arm and fight for some foolish claim are disconnected from reality and must be condemned at the strongest means,” he said. Such terrorists may be “soldiers for money and … not represent any Muslim community.”

The Islamic state leader also called for escalated fighting in the holy month of Ramadan, which began on Sunday. But Sivar bemoaned that timing.

“When we needed to be the agents of peace, this is heartbreaking. We hope and pray to God Almighty to bring those who lost their minds and [are] asking others to kill in the name of God to their senses,” he said.

Al-Baghdadi’s group has in a few years transformed from just an al-Qaida affiliate in Iraq into a transnational military force that has conquered and held a massive chunk of territory. Al-Qaida’s al-Zawahri ejected al-Baghdadi from the terror network earlier this year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Beth Reese Cravey: (904) 359-4109