(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Praising the swift and dedicated work of law enforcement officials to identify the perpetrators of Boston marathon bombing, a leading US Muslim organization has rejected the ‘heinous’ attacks as contradicting with Islam and all faiths.
“While we do not yet know the motivation for these heinous attacks, people of all faiths know that the horrific acts committed by these perpetrators go against everything to which God calls us,” Imam Mohamed Magidb, the president of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) said in a statement on Friday, April 19.
“It is rather the loving, selfless acts of those who immediately responded on the scene that best uphold His teachings.”
“At times like this, I am reminded by a verse from the Holy Qur’an which is similar to one in the Old Testament: if anyone kills a person, it is as if he kills all humanity, while if any saves a life, it is as if he saves the lives of all humanity.”
Twin bombings rocked Boston Marathon on Monday, April 15, killing at least three people and injured scores.
Late on Thursday, the FBI has released several images of two men they were hunting in relation to the bombing.
Suspects include Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, said to be 19 and of Chechen origin, after he escaped a shootout with police in which a second suspect, named in the US media as Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was killed.
Heavily armed police started a house by house search, urging residents of Watertown and surrounding areas, including the whole of Boston, to stay indoors.
On Friday afternoon, Col Timothy Alben of the Massachusetts State Police said officers in Watertown were searching "door to door, street to street" for the suspect, but there was as yet no word on his whereabouts.
"Things change, they change quickly," the officer said, adding: "We are working on several new leads that have just developed in the last few minutes."
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick said there were "continuing developments" in the investigation, and that an order to stay indoors remained in place across the whole of Boston and surrounding suburbs.
FBI Work
As two brothers of Chechen origin were named as suspects of staging the Boston bombings, their father accused FBI of setting up his children because they are Muslims.
“In my opinion, my children were set up by the secret services because they are practicing Muslims,” Anzor Tsarnaev told the Interfax news agency from the North Caucasus Russian city of Makhachkala.
“Why did they kill Tamerlan? They should have taken him alive," said the father.
The father insisted that his sons were innocent, but said he would appeal to his son to "surrender peacefully."
"Give up. Give up. You have a bright future ahead of you. Come home to Russia," the dad said.
The father warned, however, "If they killed him, then all hell would break loose."
"If they kill my second child, I will know that it is an inside job, a hit job. The police are to blame," the father told ABC News.
"Someone, some organization is out to get them."
Friends of his younger son, Dzhokhar, confirmed that the young man was smart and studious.
"He never seemed out of the ordinary at all," high school classmate Sierra Schwartz told "Good Morning America" today.
"This is not someone who seemed troubled in high school or shy. He was just one of us. It's very weird."
Steven Owens told ABC News, "I met him when I was in seventh grade and he was just a great kid. He was fun to be around. Very studious, very smart.”
“I don't remember a time when he was ever having trouble in school. He was a great athlete. Great to be around," he added.
Though there are no official estimates, the US is home to from 7-8 million Muslims.
An earlier Gallup poll found that the majority of Americans Muslims are loyal to their country and optimistic about their future in the United States.
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