Category Archives: USA

Qaradawi’s dangerous ideas

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Abu Aardvark reveals that Yusuf al-Qaradawi has been denounced by Abu Musab al Zarqawi, al-Qaeda’s leader in Iraq, for his opposition to terrorism.

“Zarqawi’s fury with Qaradawi has received little attention because it doesn’t fit the current storyline – the whole ‘theologian of terror‘ thing – but it does suggest an important development in the real battles taking place in Arab and Muslim public opinion. Qaradawi is dangerous to the likes of Zarqawi, because he is vastly influential, he adamantly rejects his radical, violent, exclusivist vision of Islam and he instead offers a moderate, democratic, but genuinely Islamist alternative.”

See here.

‘Mired in a religious war’

Posted on by Eddie Truman

“The truth that we must finally confront is that Islam contains specific doctrines about martyrdom and jihad that directly inspire Muslim terrorism. Unless the world’s Muslims can find some way of expunging the metaphysics that is fast turning their religion into a cult of death, we will ultimately face the same perversely destructive behavior throughout much of the world. Wherever these events occur, we will find Muslims tending to side with other Muslims, no matter how sociopathic their behavior. It is time we admitted that we are not at war with ‘terrorism’. We are at war with Islam.”

Sam Harris in the Washington Times, 1 December 2004

‘The sleeping world is awakening to the dangers of Islam’

Posted on by Eddie Truman

“In France, which has the largest Muslim population in Europe, Islamic clerics openly troll the streets seeking restless young men to indoctrinate and send out to kill for Islam. They weed out the weaklings by having them view videos of the actual torture and beheadings of human beings complete with the screams of pain and all blood and gore of a nightmare. They watch Islamic ‘snuff films’. This is what will be expected of them as ‘warriors’ of Allah.”

Barbara J. Stock writing for ChronWatch, 28 November 2004

Who’s afraid of Tariq Ramadan?

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“The U.S. government is so convinced that Tariq Ramadan is dangerous, it revoked the Muslim scholar’s visa to teach at the University of Notre Dame. Some in Europe think Ramadan is an anti-Semite who preaches moderation out of one side of his mouth and hate out of the other. Others, though, think he’s the man to reconcile Islam with modernity. So, who is right?”

Interview with Tariq Ramadan in Foreign Policy, November-December 2004

Pro-US Arabs petition the UN to establish an international tribunal

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“On October 24, 2004, the liberal Arab websites www.elaph.com and www.metransparent.com published a manifesto written by Arab liberals, in which they petition the UN to establish an international tribunal which would prosecute terrorists, as well as people and institutions, primarily religious clerics, that incite terrorism.

“The idea to petition the U.N. with this request was raised by the Jordanian writer and researcher Dr. Shaker Al-Nabulsi in early September 2004, in response to the fatwa issued by Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi – one of the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood movement and one of the most important religious authorities in Islamist circles – which called for the abduction and killing of US citizens in Iraq. The idea was developed and written up by Al-Nabulsi, Tunisian intellectual Al-‘Afif Al-Akhdhar, and former Iraqi Minister of Planning Dr. Jawad Hashem.”

MEMRI reports the launch of a widely publicised petition against the “sheikhs of terror”. The report omits to mention that the accusation against Qaradawi which prompted the petition – that he “called for the abduction and killing of US citizens in Iraq” – was in fact entirely false.

For Abu Aardvark’s demolition of the charge against Dr al-Qaradawi, see here.

For MEMRI’s Special Dispatch No.812, “Arab Liberals Petition the UN to Establish an International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Terrorists”, see here.

Europe confronts racism

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“‘War is deceit’, said Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, and deception remains a potent and little-recognized weapon in the hands of international jihadists. Radical Muslims today charge ‘racism’ against anyone who dares to point out their motives and goals…. The problem is not racism, but precisely a clash of civilizations, or a clash between two radically opposing views of how society should be ordered.”

Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch in Front Page Magazine, 11 November 2004

A response to CAIR’s findings on anti-Muslim sentiment

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Council on American Islamic Relations released a poll in October, concluding that nearly one-third of Americans hold negative stereotypes of Muslims, such as: Islam encourages oppression of women; Islam teaches violence and hatred; Muslims value life less than other people, and Muslims teach their children to hate unbelievers.

Steven Stalinsky of the Middle East Media Research Institute says Americans are quite correct.

New York Sun, 3 November 2004

Study reveals prevalent anti-Muslim stereotypes

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A new study reveals one in four Americans still hold stereotypes of Muslims.

The study, sponsored by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, found many Americans still believe Muslims teach their children to hate and that they value life less than others.

“We have mixed feelings [about the poll]. On the one hand it’s disappointing to see there is such a high number of Americans holding negative views. It explains the animosity there is against Muslims both by the government and fellow Americans,” Director of the CAIR Chicago chapter Yaser Tabbara said.

Muslims number around 150 in the Bloomington-Normal area with about seven million across the United States. Since 9-11, the Muslim community has taken center stage in politics and the news.

“The media is the main source of these stereotypes. The news is sensational and a lot of people don’t have anything else to compare it to, so they are only getting that side of the story,” Tabbara said.

“Muslims are the new immigrant group and they have stereotypes against them like all other new immigrant groups did before us,” Tabbara added.

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