the point is, since i have met martin o'malley on the campaign trail, i have been witness to the fact that he has the voice that i think brings us together. a voice of america's future. i am proud to be here because i love this community in and i 's pain. also, because i love martin o'malley. the message that ultimately will triumph. thank you. [applause] >> for those of you who were not

at the air service, i would like to reintroduce our religious direct her. he has really represented a america and the voice of american muslims. >> thank you. this means a lot to us. i would like to say to my fellow asricans, we have many times muslims seen the violence of terrorism. it is a cult. the value of what this religious service is all about. we were taught to love our neighbors. whoever takes one life has taken the life of all humanity.

whoever saves one life has saved whole humanity. martin o'malley, i would like to thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much. thank you to all of the leaders at the adams center. thank you for your warmth and hospitality. it is a great privilege and blessing to be here. especially at this time in our country's history. i want to especially thank our veteran. thank you for what you said and what you have done for our country. [applause] said theld trump hateful things he did about wanting to seal off the borders and prevent our muslim american neighbors from traveling, i had to ask myself, will they began

with the patriotic muslim americans serving in our armed forces around the world keeping us safe? the truth of the matter is this. i want to say a couple words about san bernardino and the tragic murders. now grievingo are and our country for that tragic loss of life. those attacksthat do not represent islam any more than those mass shootings that have happened in other places in the country represent christianity, anymore that violent extremism represents judaism. violent extremism is not with the muslim american people of our country are about. i know this because they are my neighbors. [applause] we have a challenge because

democracies are most vulnerable after an attack. that is what democracies are vulnerable in turning upon themselves. if we get above the values -- give up the values, that is what gives us the freedom to worship, freedom to associate. if those are the first things we give up because of our reluctance to speak up and give voice to the truth, shame on us. donald trump and his sort of language is not what our country is about or where it is headed. enough for evil to succeed if the good men and women do not speak up. i wanted to be here today in solidarity. i have served just over the river from you and maryland for two terms. everybody always likes their

neighboring governor better, right? [laughter] this region of the country our diversity is our strength because of the work i have done with our muslim american neighbors and maryland. feeding the hungry. today with me, feeding the hungry. clothing the naked. providing help to reinforce the fabric of who we are as a people. this is our challenge. this sort of scapegoating language, this fear-driven politics, has consequences. its consequences go far beyond the flash in the pn of the polling that some of the networks put up on the news. it has consequences for our families. it can make people more honorable in our own country. we have heard of mosques being attacked, people being harassed. the incident that took place i

think in philadelphia. this is the time when we need to from many strong cultures comes one strong country. that truth is needed today. we are a great people. [applause] values are not the values of violent extremist nor are they the values of hate preachers like donald trump. our values are those of generosity, compassion, mercy. doing justice. walking humbly with god. [applause] and daughters of abraham. unitess far more that us. at this moment of challenge, we must remember we are one people. cause is one.our

wehave to help each other if are going to succeed. those words of frederick douglass still ring true today, don't they? i want to thank you very much for what you are doing in defense of our country, in defense of american values, in defense of those human universal values that all of us share. i thank you for coming out this afternoon. thank you very, very much. thank you. thank you. >> the governor will take some questions. >> sure. >> governor, this all began because of the events in san bernardino. what have you done to pray with or reach out to those are? : i have notalley gone to san bernardino since that happened. that i can tell you this, a former have as

governor and as a former mayor, i have often been at the sites of mass shootings. sadly and tragically and our country, there are far too many mass shootings that happened on a real or bases. to the mother or the father that -- to carry a child caught who has to bury a child, the motive of the one who pulled the trigger has nothing to do with changing the unfathomable laws. my heart goes all to all of mass affected by the shootings in our country. we have a terrible problem, it is the scourge of guns and gun violence. we bury more people because of gun violence they and any other developed nation on the planet. we have to do better. there are common sense things we have to be doing to keep guns

out of the hands of violent extremist of all stripes. perhaps the tragedy in san bernardino is a good opportunity for us to shake ourselves out of the indifference that sometimes attended the other 350 mass shootings that happened this year. maybe we can ask ourselves, are there not to actions we can take that her life-giving instead of shrugging our shoulders and saying there's nothing we can do about it. thank you. thank you. we are proud to welcome politicians over the last decade. we have had politicians from every state and national office here with us. we do not introduce -- and doors any candidates. we are a 501 c-three. we're glad to welcome up martin o'malley and he had one of the

most inspirational speeches we have ever heard. thank you so much for reading here. [applause] hethe members of the press, talked about governors across the river. coming governor will be at 2:00 tomorrow afternoon in fairfax. we would be happy to cover that was local news as well. governor, thank you very much and best of luck to you. [applause] >> we are in this together. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. >> you were great. >> thank you. >> thank you.

>> thank you, take care. >> thank you. >> god bless you. >> thank you, what is your name? >> absolutely. >> thank you, ma'am. >> thank you. lot.s a

we'll see you, thanks a lot. >> hope you enjoyed the break. my wife loves you. >> thank you. thanks a lot. >> thank you. murmuring]

>> thank you. >> thank you, god be with you. >> thank you, good being with you. >> thank you. [crowd murmuring] did receive it.

there should be an e-mail as well. >> thank you. murmuring] >> ok. you can e-mail it to me. laughter] murmuring] a it was an honor and pleasure. >> thank you. murmuring] >> maryland congressman and

house minority whip is our guest on this weeks news makers. we spoke with him about his efforts to pass a bill before the wednesday news deadline. watch on c-span. >> this weekend on c-span, saturday night at 9:00 eastern, executives from pandora and spotify on how technology impacts the entertainment business. >> music is actually not the only thing you want to listen to. morning commute is one hypothesis we are testing now. if you were on the subway or in your car, maybe you do not only want music. maybe you want news, weather, a clip of jimmy fallon or something like that. there are some other content you want to experience during that

time. that is kind of the hypothesis we are testing to see if people interested. 630, ohiounday at governor john kasich at the council on foreign relations on rebuilding international alliances. >> thanks to my 18 years on the house armed services committee, i knew many months ago the only way to solve this problem is to call for an international coalition to defeat isis in syria and iraq. join in egypt, jordan, the gulf states, saudi arabia, to organize a coalition to defeat isis on the ground and deny the territory they need to survive. those with long experience no that and the air campaign on its own is simply not enough. announcer: for more schedule information, go to our website at c-span.org.

discussedim academics how to counter extremism within islam and how to discourage moderate movements. this ran about one hour and a half. >> sadly, we all mail what extremism look like. we have all had enough visuals over the last year. and began with paris charlie hebdo and hopefully it will end with only paris and san bernardino. the other atrocities we have seen. we'll all know would extremism looks like. what does moderation look like? is moderation merely the absence of beheading? the absence of shooting in oh cents? s? shooting innocent

or is it something else? not just the absence but something more forward-looking. today we will take a deep dive into what could be a very sensitive topic. a topic i think resonates well beyond this room and well beyond the policymaking environment in washington into our great national debate about the role of religion in society. and expectations of welcome and participation muslim americans and our society and what we mean by moderation in the context of what we are talking about today, islam and religion more generally.

pleased to have the pairing we have today on this podium to discuss this very sensitive but extraordinarily important issue. moderate islam? what does moderation mean as -- in islam? how does one achieve moderation? we are fortunate to have two ofple who exemplify what one the our speakers is professionally associated with, the concept of moral average. the concept that courage is not just on the battlefield but it can display ine society and culture and it is about ideas and beliefs. standing for them. being about change even if there is a great personal call.

both our speakers have exemplified that ideal of moral courage within the context of islam in our society. first i am very proud to turn to her should munch a. i is not the first time -- will turn to our first speaker. the founder and director of the moral codes project at new york university. she is a prominent speaker, lecture, public figure, intellectual, author of books "ch as, allah, liberty, and love." taken this message to

the screen with a very successful and me-nominated pbs documentary, "faith without fear." i am delighted you could take the time to join us today. i do not call it a debate. i co-led a discussion and exchange of views. that is the spirit in which we will proceed. after she speaks, i am delighted to introduce my colleague, the western fellow at the washington institute. the founder of a movement of moderate islam. it is arabic for moderation. a term found in the koran itself. he is a political scientist with degrees from two american universities. he established the american university at a school in jerusalem. with moralown brush

courage not to long ago when he took a delegation of palestinian students to auschwitz's. he has suffered for that in his own work life environment to back in jerusalem. the object of death threats and car bombings. car burnings. i am very pleased, though, that he is at home here in washington so he can spread his message islam.oderation in i am intrigued as a student of , a site of politics, i am intrigued to have two people who bring so much intellectual and personal experience to the themes we are talking about today. in themes of moderation islam. how these words that differ and

can be applied. i am looking forward to their exchange. we will have time for lots of discussion. >> thank you. >> thank you. i am happy to be here. i am suggesting perhaps that heammed is not a moderate, is a reformer. that may or may not mean you will have to change the name of your movement, sir. that, i want to explain the what i mean by the difference between these two ideas. reformist.d

to do that, i will start with a very brief video. it is a video i did in london, england, for the guardian newspaper. it is only about one minute long but it will give you a good foundation for what i am about to say over the next few minutes. let's roll. video clip] ♪ the exhibit to all of the traits of orthodoxy including dogma and fear. what they are most afraid of is the fear of busting out of group identity. why do moderate reformist deny this essential fact? to ine they are steep group identity so that speaking out is selling out.

i am not a moderate muslim. i am a reformist. that means somebody who recognizes that the koran contains three times as many verses calling to muslims to engage in critical thinking following. blank it is at least as authentic as the so-called moderates. >> ok. so, things are changing. explain what i mean by that in just a moment. let me start with the concept of the moderate muslim. i mentioned in my video for the guardian that very often moderates are marked by defensiveness. , first andss foremost, about western imperialism. so much so that they are distracted from dealing with the

imperialist within islam itself. the extremists who study after target and kill muslims on far greater numbers they undo foreign and aerial powers. so, defensiveness is one the modernist muslim. another is fear. fear of what? fear of busting out of group identity. is manyt i mean by that moderate muslims are prone to calling people like me and people like the professor sellouts, traitorous, you have uncleabout it before, toms, native informants, simply for taking the risk of speaking

truth to power. of having the moral courage to do the right thing in the face of our own fears of being stigmatized. where does this fear and defensiveness come from? i think it is cultural. not religious. as a matter of fact, the koran , many progressive passages about the need to display moral courage. example,passage, for says believers, conduct yourself with justice and bear true witness before god even if it be family,yourself, your or your parents. so, speak truth to their own -- your own when there is a justice of monks your own. that is chapter four, verse 135. there is still another verse much more beautiful than this

one that states, god does not change the condition of the people until they change what is inside themselves. that is chapter 13, verse 11. i could go on but i give you just two examples of where the bravecalls on us to be within our own tribe. so, the defensiveness and to the fear of many moderate muslims is not, religious, i would suggest it is cultural. what do i mean by that? i mean that within particularly care of culture, there is a custom known as honor and in particular, it refers to group honor. primarily, are the biggest victims of this as women position of the carrying the shame in the

family. so that if a woman is accused of transgressing moral boundaries by, for example, being seen by a man whom she is not related to or perhaps dating or, god forbid, dating somebody outside of the faith, she will be, in many parts of the world, accused of dishonoring the family and will pay a very heavy price for it. but i can assure you that men honor.o victims of group in that, they too, are infantilized. mean to be children. made to be children. so much less is expected of men in terms of maturity thing and is expected of women which means umbrella men under the of group honor can get away with all manner of crimes and of mistreatment of others simply

, you family -- simply because they are not the ones who bring shame to the family. it is the women. --different ways, the sexes both sexes' choices are limited as to what they can do and dream of doing. this fear then that i talk about among moderate muslims comes from the idea that i must go along with the consensus in my , then because if i don't , i am causinghaos division, and that is among the worst cultural crimes that one can be accused of. that things are

changing. you know, in this country, the media and many policymakers continue to use the phrase "moderate muslims," "where are the moderates?" let me propose to you that moderates are not what we ought to be seeking. what we ought to be seeking and supporting our reformists -- supporting are reformists. and now let me connect these two ideas of the moderate and the reformist. rob very kindly mentioned that a few years ago pbs commissioned a documentary based on my first book. "faithumentary is without fear." pbs, in its wisdom, and i mean that quite sincerely, sent me

and the star of the documentary, my mother, to detroit to do a screening among arab-americans. my mother had no idea what was in store for her. i did. i went because i was interested to see how my mother would handle the hostility. came, and mytility mother was shocked, but she was shocked by something more that happened afterwards. during the reception, during which pbs made copies of my book available free of charge, and, boy, were they snapped up. i have to believe that there was some huge bonfire in detroit that night. [laughter] irshad: out of the corner of her eye, my mother noticed that, over the course of a two-hour

reception, a group of young muslims was forming, and it got bigger and bigger. and after all of the tv cameras and all of the microphones left, these young muslims approached me and my mother, and they said, manji, thank you so much for supporting your daughter. it is so rare to see a muslim parent stand by his or her daughter as she speaks some very, very hard truths." and my mother diplomatically, graciously, but somewhat frustrated said to them, "well, thank you, but why didn't you say that when the cameras were here and when the radio microphones were here, so that other freedom-loving muslims could see that they are not alone?" and a number of these young

people looked at each other sheepishly and one of them finally stepped forward, just a manji,bit, to say, "mrs. you don't understand. we live here. twoand irshad get to leave hours from now, but we stay in this community and we can't afford to be accused of dishonoring our families." this is america. these are children of the first amendment. pressure the cultural of group honor intimidated and silenced them from speaking their truths as budding reformist muslims. is why iy, this suggest to you that professor dajani, as i mentioned, one of

my heroes, is not a moderate. he takes risks. he takes risks that ruffle feathers within his community. he is willing to put his life on the line for reconciliation. he is not defensive -- not defensive about the backlash that comes his way. quite the opposite. he seems to be extremely, if i can use that word, calm and levelheaded and philosophical about it. and -- and what i would like to leave you with is this -- the good news is that the mohammed dajani's of the world, though they are rare, will be

more and more populous as you see the next generation of muslims grow up. notknow, not to recently -- i did an hour debate on al jazeera about whether there is need for reform in islam. and afterwards, certainly i received hate mail. sure, i got vitriol. that's to be expected whenever you take a position on anything these days. but what i also got were love bombs, more than hate mail, love from young muslims on twitter, on facebook. and here is a sign of progress, not a single death threat. kooky to suggest that is progress, but on this issue, it is.

i think what had happened was since 9/11, when many of the people who are now on twitter were about this tall are about -- are now this tall -- they have not internalized the defensiveness that their older brothers and sisters, that their parents and their antennal goals their aunts and ncles have. for them, open dialogue and honest debate are almost a given. and that's what i will go out on a limb and predict that, in my lifetime, however short or long a visible we will see movement for gay and lesbian dignity among the new generation of muslims. -- see see in months imams and not just lay muslims

arguing for the full and unconditional equality of women. and we will see audible calls for respect of religious minorities within islam. all of which are supportable within the koran. the question is not about religious reform as such. question is -- the question is about cultural reform. and as martin luther king, jr., himself came to understand, cultural reform takes a very long time. if a country like the united born of the enlightenment, of scientific rationality and individual liberty, needed more than 200 years to seriously tackle legislated segregation, surely

we can give some of that time to muslims to tackle our versions of segregation as well. thank you very much. [applause] mohammed: thank you. much, and that was very touching, irshad. thanks, robert, for actually having opened this discussion. a think of myself more as moderate rather than a reformist. thethe reason is that meaning of reform is to go back to the original, and i don't

want to go back to the original. i don't want to go back to the state of affairs that was. i want to go to the state of affairs -- i want to move on from the past to the future. and that's why i would like to call myself a moderate rather ehop reformist, and i that irshad will follow my road or my path, rather than lead me to her path. and maybe this way, we can be dialogue.ve this actually, because i believe that moderation is balance, balance is justice, and justice is

humanity. and this is my philosophy. this is my religion. while i myself believe that islam, christianity, and judaism are religions of moderation, reconciliation, and peace, and religion is an essential part of the herman -- human pursuit for felicity and security, and thus it is part of the solution, someone else may argue that religion promotes extremism, and thus it is part of the problem. who is right? who is wrong? can both be right? where you stand depends on where you sit. where i see hope, you may see despair. where i read love, you may read hate. where you find conflict, i discover peace. it is like the nine blind

people who have asked to describe an elephant, and each actually touched the elephant, then gave their own description, so they came with different answers. with the point is that they are all wrong and they are all the point is that they are all wrong and they are all right. we can be both right and wrong depending on where we are. this is the middle part, the gray zone that we have. he who knocks -- a hindu knocks on the door of his muslim neighbor and asks if he could borrow a copy of the koran. of course, said the muslim, let me get you a copy from my library. a week later, the hindu returns. "thanks so much," he said. "fascinating book. but i wonder, could you give me a copy of the other car run -- other koran?" it,"you're holding

responded the muslim. mean?"do you "the one muslims practice." similarly, i saw islam without muslims and muslims without islam. this applies to other religions that we can look to. jew and see he is a jew without judaism. and weemist christian, can see him as a christian without christianity. thatn this way, i believe the problem is in whether or we -- whether we are muslims, christians, or jews, what divides us is how we look at the text, how we read the text, what we do about the text. so, what the holy books say and

what people understand, claimret, and glean -- are often totally different things. when reading the holy books, you may discover freedoms in the same line in which another macy strictures -- another may see strictures. what you see depends on what you're looking for. as english poet william blake once wrote, "both read the bible blackht, but thou read while i read white." extremists read the holy books with a closed mind. they read it selectively, taking verses out of context or misinterpreting verses to meet their own needs, agendas, views. that's why extremists exist in all religions.

we don't see things the way they are. we see them the way we are. and in this way, this is what reflects -- differentiates between an extremist and the moderate. the question is that all religions, whether muslim, christianity, judaism, hinduism, whatever religion you seek -- all religions share the moral values of moderation, peace, love, compassion, mercy, forgiveness, kindness, tolerance, charity, justice, doing good, and forbidding evil. this is the whole idea of the golden rule, present in all religions. due to others as you want them to others as-- do you want them to do to you. when we treat others kindly, fairly, and lovingly, we are truly living torah. we seek refuge in the cross.

thereran also says that may spring from among you a community who would invite to goodness and enjoying right enjoin rightd conduct and forbidding evil. one of my favorite verses in the koran. for peace,ions call whether it is christianity, judaism, or islam. here, i believe that -- what my philosophy is is to try to seek in the interface of all religion a medium value, and this value is moderation. so this is where we would all stand. plato -- plato wrote about moderation, aristotle wrote about the golden mean, bhutto wrote about the middle way -- buddha wrote about the middle way.

covey's book about "the third alternative." the wasatia, which talks about the straight path. they are all different expressions reminding of moderation as human -- a human core virtue. we seek moderation. in judaism, in christianity. we find it also in islam. to give an example in judaism, when the torah -- the talmud says the torah may be likened to two paths -- basically, it is walking in the middle, because you are .rotected by the peripheries if you walked in the peripheries, you stand to fall into corruption and evil, whereas the middle road can help

by making that balance. so, basically, we find moderation also in christianity sm, judaism, in all religions. today i want to focus on moderation in islam, because there are those who are saying that there is no moderation in islam. i'm not here to defend islam. islam has got to defend it. islam has god to defend it. i am trying to seek this middle value that we have. some -- the court of moderation in islam lies in two verses -- the core of moderation in islam lies in two verses. one, we have created you a

temperate nation, a balanced nation. two verses. this is verse 143, and it comes exactly in the middle. "middle" means lnguistically. religiously, it means "center." this verse is preceded by another verse. foundation, built on three columns or three bricks. it's the idea that -- first, it is preceded by verse 142. wills to awhom he path to path," a deliver it was. "and thus we created you a

moderate nation," which builds on the golden rule. walk on to justice. justice is the core. the verse itself talks about being a witness. to be a witness, you have to be truthful. you have to be honest and truthful to be able to be a witness. maybe some are not, but this is the characteristics of a supposed witness. here, we have the road taking us to the middle part that will lead us to justice, and injustice we find humanity -- and in justice, we find humanity. this is the middle, the golden mean within islam, in terms of moderation. a muslim moderate adopts an islamic understanding of the

koran that is rational, progressive, and humanistic, which can only be gained through accepting the koran as the only divine authority. he combines rationality, faith, and science in order to have a better comprehension of islam. what are the characteristics of such a moderate? a moderate believes in doing what is right, because this is what the koran says, and this is what all other books say. doing what is right is the core essence of what being a moderate -- is the core essence of being a moderate. the question is what is right and how do you know you are doing what is right. the answer is found in the holy books. -- in surah,h verse 3 and 4.

so, actually, the holy books are the guiding light for a moderate. so, basically, a muslim moderate believes in diversity and pluralism, because this is what the koran says. have made youwe into various nations and tribes." multi-religious, multilanguage. lord pleased, he would have made one nation." basically, he had created us in , in tongues and colors. so, indeed, you do not guide whom you love. god will guide.

a muslim moderate believes jihad is the spiritual trouble -- struggled to rid oneself of evil and sin, and not struggle against non-muslims or a war waged to convert non-muslims, since it is god who guides. i'm not supposed to be a preacher. it is god who guides us rather than people. and so, the best jihad is the word of truth before the tyrannical despot. we tend to see that whoever is guided is guided for himself. and a moderate believes in religious freedom, because the koran says "there shall be no compulsion in religion." "this is the truth from your lord. let him who will believe in it it."im who deny deny

and god on judgment day will judge where we differ. i'm not here to judge you, whether you believe what i believe or do not believe what i believe. this is god's will. it is god on judgment day that will decide on that in which we differ. in more than one verse, we hear the echoes. "i will judge between you concerning that in which you differ." so, if a christian believes in jesus, son of god, and i believe as a muslim, jesus is a profit, it is not my place to the crowd -- to tell the christian he is wrong. god will divide between us on judgment day. that's why i seek the values that are common and reject the values in which we differ. because those other values are not the reason why i should be

in conflict with the others here on this earth. that's why a muslim moderate does not believe in death penalty for converts, for agnostics, for nonbelievers, or at best it's -- or apostates. ifause the koran says someone does not believe in god, his account is only with the lord. it is not up to me to kill him. it also believes in the equality of sexes, because god has created men and women from the same soul. is that's why it is not man preferable to woman. i do not believe women should stay at home or be uneducated. i also do not believe as a moderate -- i also believe as a moderate that women have the right and freedom to wear and

learn what they desire. a moderate does not believe feminism undermines the islamic way of life. aisha, the third wife of the profit, was a champ and -- of was a champion of women's rights. i do not believe the female gentlemen duration -- female genital mutilation is an islamic tradition. it is not mentioned in the koran. also, a moderate does not believe in stoning an adulterous woman, since there is no correct -- no mention in the corona of stoning anyone. -- no mention in stoning anyone. the guilty women to houses until death takes them or allah ordains for them another

way." there is a verse that calls for flogging, but i would like to look at this one, which does not. moderate does not believe in suicide bombing against civilian targets. condemns committing suicide or taking the lives of innocent persons. it does not believe in punishment for lesbians or homosexuals since sex preference is not a sin and there is no sanction penalty in the koran. the koran is full of verses which talk about the children of israel. "remember that i have exalted you above the nations." god'srate believes in messengers, without discrimination between any of them, because the koran says god

does not discriminate between any of them. a moderate does not believe all the ahadith are the authentic sayings of the prophet and accepts only those in harmony and consistent -- and that are consistent with the koran. he does not believe that the koran abrogates early holy scriptures. he believes in all holy books and teaches his children the wisdom contained in them. actually, i tend to find that a lot of what we are being told -- taught as children, islamic wisdom, has been taken from jewish wisdom. so, basically, that's why i think that our children should be taught christian wisdom, jewish wisdom, muslim w for othern also

religions. there is a lot of wisdom we can learn. and the wisdom of gandhi, which says religions are different roads emerging to the same point. what does it matter that we take different roads so long as we reach the same goal? notrates fight evil by remaining by standards -- remained bystanders. a standup to the extremists -- they stand up to extremists committing terror and violence in the name of god and strive to spread the values of moderation, reconciliation, tolerance, and coexistence. an open mind leads to moderation. moderation leads to reconciliation. reconciliation leads to peace. peace leads to democracy. democracy leads to stability, security, and prosperity. this is the model of moderation. so, it leads us -- we have to have an open mind to be able to be moderate, and in this way

it leads to security event you a. even a christian, now today, when he says that muslims should not be part of this community or should not come here, has a fear that is actually telling him that an extremist will not he is eradicated by waging war of hate , but by having muslim and islam out lied to conquer fear by promoting moderation and reconciliation in the midst of crisis and conflict. when moderates keep silent, extremists claim they are right. a bystander.e