Muslim communities in the US and Canada are condemning ISIS and criticizing their brutal tactics, saying that the militant group is not an accurate representation of the peaceful Islamic religion.

Ever since the attack on the Twin Towers in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001, many Muslim communities have held rallies and talks to decry the criminal acts of terror groups such as ISIS. However, their voices go largely unheard in mainstream media.

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Ordinary Muslims are equally horrified as the rest of the world at the atrocities being committed by ISIS in Syria, and they are even more devastated that the teaching of the Qur'an and the prophet Mohammed, are being used to justify criminal acts, human rights violations, and genocide.

Islamic religious leaders, such as Imam Mohamad Jebara in Canada, are faced with the challenge of dispelling the negative perceptions on Islam that ISIS has been putting on Muslims.  He wants the stereotypes of terror groups pretending to represent Islam to be erased and replaced instead with the values that true Muslims adhere to -- love, unity, and compassion.

Imam Mustapha Elturk, co-chair of the Imams Council of the Michigan Muslim Community Council, was at a rally on Monday at Dearborn City Hall to join the voices of many Muslim Americans who condemn ISIS.  The Imam said that the killings of thousands of innocent people and the murders of journalists and other hostages are violations of the teachings of Islam which is a religion of peace.

Conservative Muslim groups have also denounced ISIS as hooligans who have thrown away Islam's basic tenets of compassion and mercy.  

Even Wahhabis groups (a form of Islam practiced by Osama Bin Laden and his followers), reject ISIS as not representative of the religion.  Their own strict, intolerant interpretation of the Qur'an does not allow the criminal acts being carried out against innocent people in Iraq and Syria.

Muslim groups in North America are determined to continue their efforts to educate others on the true meaning of Islam at rallies where they hold up banners that say, "Muslims against ISIS."

They say that the teachings of Mohammed, Moses, and Jesus are the same -- "Whoever kills an innocent soul, it is like they have killed all of humankind."

TagsISIS, Islam, Iraq, Muslim, james foely, Steven Sotloff