Congressman rebukes fellow Muslim for linking Islam to terrorism

Washington (AP) A Muslim congressman has lashed out against a fellow Muslim on Capitol Hill.

Congressman Keith Ellison denounced Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, President of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, for warning that political Islam has a militant strain that's used to justify terrorism.

Jasser told a congressional briefing that terrorism won't be stopped until his Islamic faith goes through its own Reformation to separate mosque and state.

Ellison responded by accusing Jasser of giving people a "license for bigotry." The Minnesota Democrat said every religion has its violent extremists, and told Jasser, "I think people who want to engage in nothing less than Muslim-hating really love you a lot, because you give them freedom to do that." But Jasser declared, "This is an Islamic problem and it needs an Islamic solution."


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