The Director of the Islamic Center of Riverside, Mustafa Kuko, told CNN this morning that Islamic terrorism “has nothing to do with Islam,” and that Islam “calls for peace and peaceful coexistence among all people.” Speaking with Chris Cuomo on New Day, Kuko said Islamic terrorism is “alien to Islam” and “the dictates of Islam are completely against this.”
During a segment ostensibly dedicated towards shedding light on the circumstances leading up to last Wednesday’s Islamic terrorist attack in San Bernardino, CA, Kuko was invited to share knowledge of its perpetrators. Kuko officiated a marriage reception for Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik, the Islamic terrorist couple who carried out the mass murder attack in San Bernardino.
Despite proclaiming a desire of “trying to find answers” to the causes of Farook’s and Malik’s actions, Kuko made no acknowledgement of the overlap between Islamic terrorism, Islam, and Muslims.
Heralding what he framed as the success of Muslim communities’ high standard for their children, Kuko extolled, “That’s why our youths are in the schools, and not in jails.”
An acquaintance of Farook’s who used to encounter him during prayers at the Islamic Center of Riverside’s mosque praised last night’s speech from President Barack Obama. Nazaam Ali said, “I would like to commend the President of the United States for taking that stance. It really shows, you know, the balanced approach – compared to what other people are taking in and trying to make this, divide the nation, and say that, you know, all Muslims are bad.”
YouTube video from 2011 shows what appears to be Kuko’s office at the Islamic Center in Riverside with a black Islamist flag – upon which is written the Islamic creed known as the Shahada – adorning a wall.
Hussam Ayloush, head of CAIR’s operations in the Greater Los Angeles Area, has posted images to the Islamic Center of Riverside’s unofficial Facebook page depicting fundraising and information operations held on its premises. Ayloush recently speculated that mental illness contributed to the Islamic terrorist attacks in San Bernardino, as well as placing partial blame on American foreign policy.