“ISIL does not speak for Islam.”

DEARBORN — ISIS is a death cult of thugs that does not speak for Islam, President Obama said in a rare Oval Office address on Sunday.

The speech was in response to the San Bernardino, CA shooting that left 14 people dead. The president sent a strongly worded message in defense of the Muslim community, calling Muslim Americans “our friends and our neighbors, our co-workers, our sports heroes.”

But not all in the community were full of praise for the president. In the same speech, Obama urged Muslims to fight extremism within their societies.

Critics saw this call as a generalizing statement that holds all Muslims responsible for terrorists’ violence.

Obama said extremism has spread within some Muslim communities and that Muslims have a responsibility to combat radicalization without excuse.

“Muslim leaders here and around the globe have to continue working with us to decisively and unequivocally reject the hateful ideology that groups like ISIL and al-Qaeda promote,” he said.

“Would the POTUS ask other groups, like ‘pro-lifers’ Christians, to condemn & root out extremists in their midst? #OvalOfficeAddress,” prominent activist Linda Sarsour tweeted in reaction to Obama’s speech.

Local activist Zena Ozeir said it is great that Obama tried to make it clear to the American public that attacking a group of people because of a fringe minority is not the American way.

“But the way in which he went about the speech — the way he laid it out — was not very helpful,” she added. “I think that he perpetuated a lot of narratives the right wing is using to talk about terrorism.”

Ozeir said the president made violent extremism seem like a Muslim issue, ignoring that individuals from other religious groups also commit acts of terror.

“When you turn terrorism into a Muslim thing, you’re inherently profiling, especially in light of all the gun violence we are facing and all the other mass shootings that are happening in the United States,” she said. “To only single out Muslims’ act of violence as terrorism is a very dangerous position.”

Ozeir said Obama’s holding Muslim leaders responsible for stopping extremism is “disingenuous.”

“The Muslim and Arab communities have been nothing but compliant in working with the government, especially our Arab American community in Dearborn,” she added. “I don’t know what role we can play in fighting global terrorism because that violence is happening far from us.”

Despite her criticism of the president, Ozeir said Obama has done a good job compared to Republicans in engaging the Muslim community.

However, she said some of this administration’s policies, including mass surveillance and drone attacks, have been detrimental to Arabs and Muslims here and in the Middle East.

“As an activist and a leftist, I feel like I have to be critical,” she said. “But I also understand that having Obama in office is better than the counterpart, especially now with the rampant Islamophobia in the far right rhetoric.”

Dr. Muzammil Ahmed, chairman of the Michigan Muslim Community Council, saluted the president for avoiding generalizations about Muslims and Islam when addressing the war on terror.

Ahmed said aspects of the administration’s foreign policy have been problematic, but he added that Obama does not have full control over some of the global policies.

As for Sunday’s speech, Ahmed said he is appreciative that the president understands the struggle of Muslims in America.

“The leader of our country realizes that the difficulties we are facing have to do with the First Amendment, that our troubles are simply a matter of making sure the First Amendment is upheld,” he said.

Ahmed said some Muslim Americans were concerned about the part of the speech where Obama asks Muslims to fight extremism within their communities.

“He is asking the community to police itself and cooperate more with law enforcement,” Ahmed said. “On the surface, I don’t see any harm in that because all communities need to do their part to help keep America safe.”

However, Ahmed said the issue may be in the details of the collaboration between communities and governmental agencies.

He said the conversation between Muslim Americans and the government should also focus on combating extremism by hate-mongers against the community.

Ahmed said Muslim Americans have a justified fear because of hate speech and the easy access to guns.

“We have to take security precautions,” he said. 

The MMCC is planning a security summit early next year to discuss safety measures with local mosques and law enforcement agencies.

Madihha Ahussain, staff attorney at Muslim Advocates, praised the president for “encouraging people to stay away from religious discrimination and hate and bigotry.”

“We are heartened and encouraged by President Obama’s call to all Americans that we should be coming together as a nation right now,” she said. “This is a very critical time for our country.”

Ahussain said Muslim Advocates, a national legal advocacy and educational organization based in California, wholeheartedly supports the president’s call for unity.

“President Obama’s remarks were extremely important,” she said. “The increase in hate crime and threatening behavior and bigoted rhetoric that we’re seeing now is concerning.”

Ahussain added that Muslim Americans mourn the loss of life after tragedies like the San Bernardino attacks, but their fear is heightened when the entire community is collectively blamed for the actions of two individuals.

Asked about the president’s urging Muslims to confront extremist ideologies spreading within some communities, Ahussain said the president recognized that Muslims have spoken out against extremism and was asking them to continue to do that.

“It’s clear that the overwhelming majority of Muslims in the U.S. have rejected and will continue to reject the message of extremist ideologues,” she said.

All groups have an obligation to root out intolerance within their ranks, Ahussain added.

She also applauded Muslim scholars for rejecting “deviant” interpretations of the Quran.

“The same goes to Christian leaders that continue to challenge intolerant interpretations of Christianity that often lead to hate crimes targeting, for example, African American groups, or that recently may have led to an attack on a women’s healthcare clinic,” Ahussain said, referring to the Planned Parenthood shooting in Colorado Springs.

She said all Americans should pay attention relatives, neighbors or coworkers who might display violent behavior. 

“It’s not an obligation that just American Muslims have,” she said.