Muslims remember Holocaust victims

Muslim leaders gathered this week at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington to remember Holocaust victims from World War II.

Also joined the gathering, the opening ceremony of which took place in front of the Eternal Flame in the Hall of Remembrance at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington was Dr. Akbar Ahmad, an Islamic scholar from American University, who called the Holocaust “one of the low points in history,” condemning and calling on people to condemn anti-Semitism and to equally condemn widespread Islamophobia.

Dr. Ahmad likened anti-Semitism to Islamophobia, saying:

“To check one, we have to check the other.”

A recent conference in Iran attended by many who question whether the Holocaust, the genocide of Jews in World War II, ever took place, prompted U.S. Muslim leaders to meet at the Holocaust Museum in an effort to encourage people to draw lessons from the Holocaust incident to reaffirm a commitment to preserving human dignity for humanity at large.

Among other Muslim American leaders who attended the museum was Imam Mohamed Magid, of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) who spoke of the common ground he finds with followers of the Judaism, representatives from the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Arab-American Institute, and MPAC board member Dr. Hassan Ibrahim, who called for remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust and commemorated the pains endured by its victims.

MPAC is a public service agency working for the civil rights of U.S. Muslims, seeking the integration of Islam into American pluralism.

“I speak on behalf of American Muslims, all of us who believe that we have to learn from the lessons of history and to commit ourselves: ‘Never again,’” said Magid, who postponed a trip to Saudi Arabia for the annual Muslims' pilgrimage to Mecca, known as Hajj, in order to visit the museum.

“The lessons that should be learned are that many people have lost their lives because of hatred and bigotry and that we have to stand together committed to work for love, mercy and humanity as one family.”

"There's a verse in the Torah, Old Testament, as well as in the Holy Koran, where God Almighty says, ‘Whoever takes one life, [it is] as if [he/she has] taken life [from] all humanity. And whoever saves one life, [it is] as if [he/she has] saved life [for] all humanity.’"

Sarah Bloomfield, director of the museum, described the Muslims’ gathering at the Museum last Wednesday as an unprecedented “act of solidarity” from Muslims on the issue of Holocaust denial.

She stressed however that Muslims made several visits to the Museum in the past.

Also speaking at the event was Johanna Neumann, a Holocaust survivor, who described how Muslims in Albania, which was 85 percent Muslim at that time, saved her and her family from the Nazis.

“Everybody knew who we were, and nobody would have thought of denouncing us,” Neumann said.

Imam Magid asked for a moment of silence honoring those who suffered and those who died.