Muslim Leaders to Watch President's ISIS Speech, Offer Reaction

"American Muslims will evaluate the president's strategy based on his willingness to reject ISIS's misappropriation of Islamic terms and concepts, his clear support for the mainstream opposition to Syria's murderous regime, his insistence on a non-sectarian government in Iraq, and his recognition that ISIS was created and is fueled by the lack of freedom and justice in the region," said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad.

TIME magazine recently published a commentary by Awad in which he called ISIS "anti-Islamic," and wrote:

"If we want to stop ISIS, we must deny it any claim to represent Islam and starve it of the fuel of injustice. It is up to our political leaders to take the lead through a comprehensive international strategy, not in the number of bombs that can be dropped, but in the establishment of the freedom and justice that will spell the end for ISIS and its ilk."

In an Associated Press article on the president's Mideast policies, CAIR said the rise of ISIS could have been avoided if the United States had insisted on a nonsectarian Iraqi government and if mainstream opposition to Syria's brutal regime had received adequate support.