Huff Post: by Kashif N. Chaudhry —

Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the Khalifa and spiritual head of the worldwideAhmadiyya Muslim Community, for instance, unequivocally condemned the Boston attack and offered his condolences, saying:

My sympathies are with the victims of the Boston bombing. We condemn that attack in its entirety.

The Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest annual marathon, and ranks as one of the largest and most popular events of its type worldwide. Tragedy struck this grand event last year when two bombs went off near the finish line, killing three and injuring around 275 others.

Condolences and condemnations poured in from all around the world. American communities joined hands in expressing their sympathies with the families of those killed or injured. Was this a terrorist plot against America or the act of crazy individuals acting on their own? Why would anyone want to attack innocent bystanders and participants at a sporting event? As questions were raised, Boston remained in deep shock.

What followed was a display of great police and intelligence work that culminated in our nation’s largest manhunt at home. Tamerlan, the younger of the two Tsarnev brothers subsequently implicated in these attacks, admitted being influenced by “radical Islam.” He reportedly stated that the bombings were undertaken as a payback for attacks on Muslim lands. He claimed to be influenced by Anwar Awlaki, the same al Qaeda cleric who inspired the Times Square bomber three years prior. Though no direct link to a foreign terrorist organization was found, it was concerning enough that the Boston tragedy was carried out by men who were suspected to have shared the same radical ideology as those behind 9/11.

Like other American communities, the Muslim-American community condemned the actions of the Tsarnev brothers right away. The actions of the two brothers were not just an attack on Americans and our values, but also on the values of the Islamic faith.

More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kashif-n-chaudhry/boston-we-bleed-boston-bombing_b_5141015.html