Not all Muslims think alike. No group of people contains individuals who all think alike. Terrorists are bound to come from some group or another but the fact that they come from a particular group says nothing about the group; however, it says a lot about the individual (assuming that the Tsarnaev brothers are the ones who set the bombs). This article does not address the issue of innocence or guilt, but focuses on the issue of Muslims as individuals, rather than as Muslims as representing a monolithic mass.
The leaders of the mosque (the Muslim equivalent of the Christian church) promise that what is taught there does not encourage terrorism of any sort. The leaders are distancing themselves from Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev. The brothers, according to the mosque leaders at this Cambridge mosque, did not even attend Friday prayers that often. The brothers believed in radical Islam, but that is not the brand of Islam that is taught at the mosque.
In fact, some have stated that one of the reasons for the Tsarnaev brothers’ dissatisfaction is that Muslims were not fighting hard enough against the evil corruption of the American, Western civilization. The article offers the example of Tamerlan standing up in the midst of a talk on various holiday celebrations. Such celebrations are not a part of the Islam adhered to by the brothers. They favoured a more austere brand.
The Cambridge mosque leaders make it clear that the brand of Islam adhered to by the Tsarnaev brothers did not reflect violence, and if it had, the brothers would have been promptly reported to the FBI.
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