Mufti Abu Layth Al-Maliki from the UK, has released a video on the topic of the Sunnah and Hadith, a continuation of his popular series on Islam, “From the Mind of a Mufti”. Many persons do not understand the difference between the two, or how they are to be taught. This video serves as an excellent base for both Muslims and non-Muslims to develop a basic, yet important understanding on the distinction between the two areas of study.

Rabbi Zidni ‘Ilma – My Lord, Increase me in Knowledge.

wa Allaahu Alam.
[and God knows best.]

Antonio Santana, a disciple of James White and a fairly unpopular, lesser known Christian apologist (well, by lesser known and unpopular, I mean he has a Youtube channel where he sings to dogs and preaches Christianity), found himself in a bundle earlier tonight (24/05/2012) when he entered the Paltalk room, “Answering Christianity”. Unfortunately for Mr. Santana, there were three Arabic speakers in the room who decided to take up an issue concerning his “educational and linguistic” abilities. As it is known, Antonio Santana is currently working on a project, with the “Ministry to Muslims” group, on translating the Qur’an from Arabic to English, along with a commentary and small historical description of the Qur’an’s history.

As we can all see, he’s working on a translation of the Qur’an. So I decided to ask him two questions in Arabic. The problem is he can’t speak or read Arabic. Under my username (CallingChristians), I took the microphone and asked him:

Masmuka?

No response from him. I repeated this question several times and got no response, so I changed the question to:

Kaifa Haluk?

No response, until I translated it for him into English. Now the problem presents itself, if he can’t speak Arabic or read it, how exactly does he expect to do commentary on the Qur’an and a translation of the Qur’an. I’m a bit puzzled by that. Then I asked him to recite the Arabic alphabet for me, just Alif to Yaa. He didn’t want to do this, so I asked him to give me the three vowels in Arabic, he then remained silent.

I have a problem with such people. Your deception knows no bounds and it is humiliating to embark on such projects and not be able to even posses a child’s amount of knowledge on the area of research and study. I will love for Mr. Santana to clarify his position on why he is doing both a translation and commentary on a text he is both unable to read/ translate.

wa Allaahu Alam.
[and God knows best.]

A family in Beaverton, Oregon, has been facing tremendous public and finanical persecution by a local Church because they simply wrote a bad review of them online. The family, after being silenced in the community, turned to online media to express their concerns. However, the matter took a turn for the worse when the Pastor and his Church, sued the family for some $500,000 (USD) in damages for public defamation. How exactly was the Church being defamed? The family’s website calls them a “cult” and accuses said Church of “spiritual abuse”. See the following video for more details:

It is not uncommon for ex-members of Churches to be abused, ostracised and even forcibly silenced from speaking out. Christianity is known to be one of the most intolerant and emotionally abusive ideological groups facing modern society. Whereas in Islam, we are taught not to otracise, but to enjoin in goodness with all:

“There has to be a group of people from among you who call towards the good, and bid the Fair and forbid the Unfair. And it is these who are successful.” – Qur’an Surah 3, Ayah 104. 

wa Allaahu Alam.
[and God knows best.]

Introduction

It is almost absurd to believe that of all peoples, that Christendom has decided to become outspoken and condemn honour killings, when they are almost single handedly responsible for promoting this culture of honour killings, beliefs enshrined in their own scripture. Note, this is not a defense of honour killings as this sort of act is haram in Islam, as this is seen as murder, but this is a treatise on the issue as raised by the Answering Islam team. The Qur’an says on murder:

“Whoever kills a believer deliberately, his reward is Jahannam: he shall remain FOREVER therein, and Allah will be furious with him and will curse him, and will prepare for him a wretched torment”. – Qur’an Surah 4: Ayah 93.

The article on Answering Islam, demonstrates that this was an act common some 1075 years before Christ, credited to the Assyrian civilization, yet fails to recall, that this was an act that YHWH prescribed:

“‘If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she disgraces her father; she must be burned in the fire.” – Bible, Leviticus 21:9.

Oddly enough, this very act is defined as an honour killing according to the the definition as provided by Oskar’s article:

Honour killings regularly make media headlines. Clan or family members are brutally murdered by one or more relatives because they feel that their victims have brought shame upon them by what is perceived as unacceptable sexual behaviour, marriage partners or dress codes. In order to restore lost honour, blood has to flow.

Actually, to be a bit more explicit, the act in Leviticus, fulfils every criteria that the Answering Islam team has highlighted in their definition to label an act as an honour killing. Hold this example from Leviticus in mind, as Oskar of the Answering Islam team, completely ignores what his own scripture says in this regard and tries to pin some loosely based conjectural concept on honour killings and then tie it to Islam.

Conditions That Still Allow Honour Killings to Happen Today

Oskar then references, several ayat from the Qur’an, namely: 18:66-84, 24:2, 4:34-35, 3:110, some ahadith, such as in Sahih Bukhari, #2.413, #8.805, #814, and #819. The problem is however, that none of these ayat or hadith references permit or allow honour killings. They do however, do state that there are punishments for adultery and fornication:

“The fornicating woman and the fornicating man, flog each one of them with one hundred stripes. No pity for them should prevail upon you in the matter of Allah’s religion, if you really believe in Allah and the Last Day; and a group of believers must witness their punishment.” – Qur’an Surah 24, Ayah 2.

None of these ayat, or ahadith permit civilian justice, meaning then, that anyone can take it upon himself to carry out the injunctions as listed in them. In fact, I’d request that the Answering Islam team, demonstrate for me, one ayah or hadith from that which they have referenced in the aforementioned article where they are supposed to take the law into their own hands. The truth is, such an injunction does not exist and their evidences for trying to atleast imply so, are shoddy at best. Oskar and the Answering Islam team seem to have forgotten that Muslims have Shari’ah courts, where these laws are supposed to be applied. On one end you seem Christians condemning Shari’ah courts but on the other, in an article on the use of Islamic law, they seem to have intentionally forgotten the processes through which Islamic law is practised.

To begin with, the Shari’ah in Islam, when it comes to the Hudud (penal code) are relegated to a Mufti (legal jurist), or a Shura (judging council) or Qadhi (Islamic Judge) wherein a fatwa (legal opinion) is delivered. This is done after consultation, evidence discussion, witness reports etc. Mufti Ebrahim Desai [db], expounds upon the legal tradition/ methodology in Islam in the following excerpt:

1.       According to Shariah, Fatwa is defined as:

“Fatwa is to communicate the Law of Allah with regards to matters of Deen substantiated by validations stipulated in the Shariah to those who enquire with regards to matters of revelation in a general way and in manner that is not enforcing or compelling (Al Misbah Fi Rasmil Mufti Wamanahihil Ifta Vol.1 Page 16)”

The words “matters of Deen” has been used in the definition and not “Laws of Shariah” as sometimes a Mufti is questioned with regards to issues that do not pertain to Amal (actions) like Salah, Wudhu etc. for example issues of Tafseer, Aqeedah, Hadith, general advice etc.

Stipulated validations refers to those Masaa’il which are proven from the recognized sources of Shariah.

“In a general way” means that the Fatwa could be applied or practiced upon by more than one individual. If others are faced with the same situation of the questioner, the fatwa issued could be practiced by them as well. This draws a distinction between Iftaa and Qadhaa. A Fatwa is more general and could be practised upon by many individuals. However, a Qadhaa (decree) issued by a Qadhi (Judge) can only be practised upon by the specific person regarding whom judgement has been issued. In short, a Fatwa is more general while a Qadhaa is specific for an individual.

Another fundamental difference between Iftaa and Qadhaa is that a Fatwa is not enforceable. That is a Mufti cannot compel the Mustafti (questioner) to practice upon his Fatwa. However, a Qaadhi (Judge appointed by the Muslim Government) has the power of Infaaz (ability to enforce practice of his Decree). If a citizen does not practice upon the decree of a Qaadhi, he could be charged on violation of a Court Judgement.

2.       In former times a Mufti was regarded to be a Mujtahid (one who deduces ruling directly from the sources of Shariah). Nowadays the term Mufti has become common to those who specialize in the field of Islamic jurisprudence (Fiqh). In reality, a Mufti nowadays only makes reference to the books of our illustrious Fuqahaa (jurists) and issues rulings in their books.

This therefore, soundly refutes the claim that Muslims are to execute the commands of the Hudud by themselves without taking their issues before Islamic judges to receive punishment from an Islamic court. Muslims are never commanded to take the law into their own hands, especially when it comes to punishments were persons have to be killed.

The Biblical Origins Behind Honour Killings

Recall the verse from Leviticus:

“‘If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she disgraces her father; she must be burned in the fire.” - Bible, Leviticus 21:9.

The Old Testament, under the command of the Christian God, YHWH, commands more rulings of death, to be issued by every Tom, Dick and Harry (instead of appealing to a court for cases to be tried):

“And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.” – Bible Exodus 21:17.

“For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.” – Bible, Leviticus 20:9.

These are some of many verses, which clearly fit the exact definition as provided by the Answering Islam team. It is quite hilarious to note that they completely ignored the inspired teachings of YHWH’s violent laws, which were enforced by Him throughout the centuries. Here are a few more:

“Anyone who attacks their father or mother is to be put to death.” – Bible, Exodus 21:15.

This one, encourages YHWH’s servants to commit genocide of an entire town if they shame them by serving other Gods:

“that troublemakers have arisen among you and have led the people of their town astray, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods you have not known),  then you must inquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly. And if it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done among you, you must certainly put to the sword all who live in that town. You must destroy it completely,both its people and its livestock. You are to gather all the plunder of the town into the middle of the public square and completely burn the town and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. That town is to remain a ruin forever, never to be rebuilt, and none of the condemned things are to be found in your hands. Then the Lord will turn from his fierce anger, will show you mercy, and will have compassion on you. He will increase your numbers, as he promised on oath to your ancestors— because you obey the Lord your God by keeping all his commands that I am giving you today and doing what is right in his eyes.” – Bible, Deuteronomy 13:13-19.

One of the most popular reasons for honour killings, are due to sexual gratification or due to sexual shame. Well, the Christian Old Testament, certainly isn’t a stranger to this belief:

“But if this charge is true (that she wasn’t a virgin on her wedding night), and evidence of the girls virginity is not found, they shall bring the girl to the entrance of her fathers house and there her townsman shall stone her to death, because she committed a crime against Israel by her unchasteness in her father’s house.  Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst.” – Bible, Deuteronomy  22:20-21.

The Honourable Way Out of Honour Killings

Oskar spends a considerable amount of time telling us to go to Jesus to prevent honour killings, yet that doesn’t seem to work (see link), not even for the very people who are said to be the direct descendants of Christ and his disciples. In fact, the only logical way of dealing with honour killings is to remove this culture of self justice from among a civilian populace. Authority to punish persons should not be given to all members of society, as they may not be able to exercise just rulings in light of tribal relations, relationship statuses, and even confirmation bias. Therefore it is best to have a form of a tribunal or court where cases of family disputes can be tried before relevant authorities who are trained and well educated in such fields. This prevents any unlawful killings by family members, wherein this regulates the norms and values of the society in relation to punishing a close relative for some shameful action.

In following from further reading from Oskar’s article, I’m quite a bit puzzled as to how these verses from the Bible, as presented by Oskar will help solve the problem of persons killing each other due to crimes of passion or honour:

On the 26th of April, 2012, I received an e-mail from one, Anthony Rogers, proposing a debate between ourselves. This is the e-mail I received:

“Hello,

This is Anthony Rogers. I am writing in response to your request to receive an official e-mail concerning my challenge to you to debate the following proposition: “The Old Testament Teaches that the Angel of the Lord is a Distinct, Divine Person in the Godhead.”

The aforementioned challenge was originally issued by me in light of your claim that Christianity is an innovation upon Old Testament religion in regard to the Trinity.

Accordingly, I will be arguing that the Old Testament does in fact teach that the Angel of the Lord is a distinct divine Person. By calling Him a “Divine Person” I mean that He is nothing less than Yahweh. By saying He is a “Distinct, Divine Person inthe Godhead,” I mean that He is also distinguished from another person (or persons) who is/are also identified as Yahweh.

Since this was in response to your charge of innovation, you will accordingly take the negative position in this debate.

As far as date and time go, sometime in the evening on May the 27th (a Sunday) is good for me. I live in Nevada (USA), so let me know where you are so we can coordinate the time. “

The topic which was proposed by Anthony and agreed upon by myself and of which will be debated is,  ”The Old Testament Teaches that the Angel of the Lord is a Distinct, Divine Person in the Godhead.”

Date:
27th May, 2012.

Time:
6 PM (PST).
9 PM (-04:00 UTC).

Location:
Answering Christianity Paltalk room.

(On information on how to use Paltalk or to access the room, I will provide a brief instructional guide soon, insha Allaah, the debate however will be recorded and posted by both Anthony and myself).

Opening Statements
Affirmative: 20 minutes
Negative: 20 minutes

Cross-Examination:
Negative: 3 questions (1 minute question, 2 minute response)
Affirmative: 3 questions (1 minute question, 2 minute response)

Rebuttals:
Affirmative: 10 minutes
Negative: 10 minutes

Cross-Examination (2):
Negative: 2 questions (same time constraints as above)
Affirmative: 2 questions (ditto)

Rebuttals (2):
Affirmative: 5 minutes
Negative: 5 minutes

Closing Statements:
Negative: 10 minutes
Affirmative: 10 minutes

 

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ,

Does, “The Old Testament Teaches That the Angel of the Lord is a Distinct Divine Person in the Godhead“? Leading Christian Apologist and popular Islamophobe author, Anthony Rogers of the Answering Muslims blog and Answering Islam website, has agreed to a debate on the 27th of May. This promises to be an exciting and thrilling discourse.

Click Here for Debate Details (time, location, topic etc) >>

Radical Moderate (a pseudonymous Christian Evangelical), has sought to clarify his words from the screenshot of our conversation in this post, where he stated that one day I’d be stabbed. He’s now upped the ante and apparently, he’s found new words to describe me with. This is his “clarification” from his conversation with me on the 14/05/2012:

wa Allaahu Alam.
[and God knows best.]

Isang Udo-Akagha, is a Pastor from within Nigeria who has been continuously shunned by the Christian community for his hate tirades and violent rhetoric against Muslims. Sometime ago, several Muslim brothers, answered some of his claims here. Even though to this date, he’s still challenging for Muslims to debate him, yet when challenged, he runs and hides:

Can anyone remind the Pastor that he should really stop being deceitful. Why does he continue to challenge Muslims to debates, if he’s only going to run away from debating them? Quite the joker he is, indeed. In his latest rant, he found himself at odds with many members of the Nigerian Christian community who accept that Islam has nothing to do with the actions of Boko Haram, a group which the government of Nigeria also indicates as nothing to do with Muslims or Islam.

I thank the Christians who defended Muslims against the violent rhetoric of the Christian war-lord, Isang. This is the conversation that he himself, posted to Facebook:

wa Allaahu Alam.
[and God knows best.]

Firstly, Spencer himself claims he is a scholar of Islam, so to make such a powerful statement must be backed up with credentials. Scholar, Ivan Jablonka, stated that Spencer lacks “academic seriousness.”

This is indeed true, because once we look at Spencer’s academic achievements, biography and scholarly claims, we find that indeed, Spencer has no academic qualifications whatsoever to claim he is a scholar about Islam. His friends seem to do so and this is highlighted on his website.

Academically, Spencer has only a Master’s degree in the field of religious studies.

If he is certainly no scholar, then him and his friends are indeed lying about his claims to pass off as an intellectual individual. If he is indeed lying, how then, can he be trusted? His credentials, online presence, website and statements then carry little weight.

2. Spencer cannot understand Arabic

Spencer has written about Islam, the Quran, the hadith and other Islamic sources that have been originally compiled in the complex Arabic language. Little does he know that the Arabic language is full of meaning and interpretation. But this makes it easier for him to misinterpret passages, especially without the reader knowing.

Academically, Spencer has only a Master’s degree in religious studies and not once in his life has he completed or undertaken an Arabic course or degree.

Most Islamic scholars study Arabic, Spencer lacks this crucial understanding.

3. Spencer tries to market and seek profit from books

As we know, Spencer is an author and has written numerous books about Islam. But you can see below that Spencer has uses Twitter not only to promote his web links, but also to conjure up interaction with leading or controversial professionals to try and promote his book.

Whether he is trying to make people interested in his book can be questionable, but raising awareness about it is certainly a promotional marketing strategy.

Even Spencer’s friends have tried promoting his work, such as conspiracy promoting anti-Muslim, Bat Ye’or, who wrote a surprisingly great review of Spencer’s book on Amazon.

Pamela Geller, Spencer’s close friend (co-founder of Stop Islamization of America (SIOA) and the Freedom Defense Initiative) also wrote a positive review for the audience of her website trying to help promote his works.

4. Spencer uses conspiracy to sell books

Did Jesus exist? Did Moses exist? These have been famous conspiracy theories that have grasped people’s imaginations for centuries and allowed people to gain profit. Spencer recently worked on a new book titled “Did Muhammad Exist?: An Inquiry into Islam’s Obscure Origins”. And it seems to have sold.

Forgetting the fact that Muhammad’s life has been narrated by countless people, being recorded and recounted to hundreds if not thousands of people recollected in hadith, Spencer makes things very complex and shifts to small holes in which he regards as proof that Muhammad didn’t exist.

As an example, Spencer asks as to why the early Islamic coins fail to acknowledge Muhammad or the Muslim faith. The simple answer would be that it doesn’t matter and people didn’t have to do it. Nevertheless, these little irrelevant things show that Spencer has cherry picked certain ideas and made them into a big issue. Once all the small ideas are combined, they can be made into a controversial book that sells.

5. Spencer was named by Norwegian terrorist Anders Breivik in manifesto

Spencer was named a total of 64 times by name in the manifesto created by Norwegian terrorist Anders Breivik shortly before he killed more than 70 people.

Breivik was influenced by Spencer and even recommended Spencer’s blog posts in his manifesto. He even went on to say, ‘About Islam I recommend essentially everything written by Robert Spencer’

6. Spencer is closely linked to Pamela Geller who received an extremist email

Spencer himself co-founded hate-group Stop Islamization of America (SIOA) and the Freedom Defense Initiative with fellow friend and blogger Pamela Geller.

In 2007, Pamela Geller received a dangerous email from an anonymous Norwegian, who claimed he/she/or they, were “stockpiling weapons” on her blog AtlasShrugs. The email clearly read “We are stockpiling and caching weapons, ammunition and equipment. This is going to happen fast.” Bloggers quickly reacted, printscreened and Geller issued an article afterwards (because she most likely had to).

If this person was indeed Breivik, then Geller is to be investigated. If the person was not affiliated to Geller, then Geller is still to be investigated because this could be a potential terrorist case.

As we know, Spencer is very closely linked to this woman and ignoring this may result in devastating consequences.

Breivik even recommended Geller’s blog posts in his manifesto.

7. Spencer fear-mongers

Spencer and Geller together, have long been active in spreading the idea that the U.S. is going to ‘Islamized’, a conspiracy ideology that is also remnant in far-right groups such as the Netherlands Party for Freedom and the English Defence League. Together they founded Stop the Islamization of America group, who constantly preach about how the U.S. is being ‘Islamized’.

With his blog JihadWatch, Spencer aids his group and propagates the concept that Islam is slowly ‘creeping’ into the West, whilst also making people hateful of Islam and Muslims too. Here, we see how Spencer funds the association of honour killings and relating them directly to Islam.

This campaign was funded by the Stop the Islamization of America group around the U.S. Islam is clearly attacked and linked to honour killings even though mainstream Islamic scholars have condemned honour killings and have stated they have no place in Islam.

It must be understood that Spencer has less credibility than the majority of Islamic scholars who have studied Islam, the Quran, hadith, traditions and the language of Arabic. Spencer only has a Master’s in religious studies.

8. Spencer picks and chooses to support claims

Conservative scholar, pundit and author, Dinesh D’Souza, stated that “Spencer’s historical argument is dubious. Itemphasizes violent passages in the Koran, while downplaying the passages that urge peace and goodwill.”

As we know, the Quran, as well as speaking of violence also speaks about peace, justice and tolerance. It is blatantly obvious, that Spencer hardly mentions these. He seems to simply reject them, without understanding the verses and passages are there. It’s like he deliberately picks and chooses to suit fit. He has done this technique in his books too, like how he omits the details of the Nakhla raid (further highlighted in LoonWatch’s Understanding Jihad Series).

In his works, he tends to pick out what ‘Islamists’ and extremists say, but fails to recognise the words and actions of mainstream Islamic scholars. He even admits this on his website.

Clearly, Spencer omits out important elements in his works (such as the concept of the inner Jihad and peace treaties during Muhammad’s time), hence giving readers the one side of the coin. By doing this, he can manipulate the reader.

Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) correctly stated that “by selectively ignoring inconvenient Islamic texts and commentaries, Spencer concludes that Islam is innately extremist and violent”.

So if he continues to pick and choose facts and omit details that misleads the reader, then his credibility and bias is to be held into account. Ex-Nixon Aide and author, Robert Crane, correctly highlighted that “Spencer’s readers are carefully steered away from all contact with the Islamic interpretative tradition”.

9. Blatant anti-Islamic views

Charles Johnson, a former ally, friend of Robert Spencer stated that “Robert Spencer is an anti-Muslim blogger…And yes, I do mean ‘anti-Muslim’ — Spencer long ago crossed the line from simply criticizing radical Islamists to relentlessly demonizing all Muslims. And the bigoted, hateful comments he allows at his website are beyond disgusting.”

Spencer has also referred the Quran to the ‘Mein Kampf’, similar to hate-preacher Pamela Geller, who seems to be Spencer’s partner in crime. Comparing a religious book to Nazism is downright inaccurate and also hateful.

That being said, Spencer aims to highlight Jihad on his website, but with stances opposing Islam and referring the Quran as the ‘Mein Kampf’, it is an attack on Muslims themselves (like how Charles Johnson described earlier). So despite trying to highlight Jihad, it seems clear that Spencer is merely trying to demonize Islam and Muslim themselves(also see section 7).

M. Cherif Bassiouni, law professor, scholar and humanitarian, found the same rhetoric when he viewed Spencer’s website, stating, “After looking at your website, I was quite surprised to see how much hate, venom and misunderstanding you are fostering.”

Even in his book, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades), Spencer states that ‘Islam’s only overarching moral principle is “if it’s good for Islam, it’s right”…’ But what about the Islamic pillar of giving charity (zakat)? Clearly, Spencer forgets this and misleads the reader to believe nothing good ever comes out of Islam.

As a self-confessed scholar of Islam, we would expect he would know about this. But it seems his bias shines straight through his work too.

10. Blatant anti-Islamic views even in his works

The first chapter of ‘The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades)’ is “Muhammad: Prophet of War”. We know that Muhammad was indeed part of many battles, but he was also part of peace treaties, social justice, welfare and community work too. This is hidden from view in this book.

Muhammad is again attacked in Spencer’s book “The Truth About Muhammad: Founder of the World’s Most Intolerant Religion”. Again, Spencer hides facts about peace treaties, social justice, welfare and community work and focussing more on war and violence through omit and omission (highlighted in section 8).

11. Spencer preaches about Quranic violence and forgets Biblical violence

What’s strange is that Spencer is very enthusiastic to comment and write about violence mentioned in the Quran (perhaps its his job to do so, highlighted in section 12). But Spencer skips his own faith.

As mentioned earlier, Spencer has a Master’s degree in religious studies. So surely, he would know of all the violence mentioned in the Bible? Nevertheless, Philip Jenkins studied violence in the Bible and in the Quran, and found that the Bible is ‘far more violent.’

Spencer is quick to critic Islam, but doesn’t seem to critic his own faith. He’s even created a book named “Religion of Peace?: Why Christianity Is and Islam Isn’t”.

This further shows he has bias (highlighted in sections 7, 8, 9, 10).

12. Spencer is funded

In 2011, the Center for American Progress released a report (called Fear Inc: ‘The Roots Of the Islamophobia Network In America’) showing that almost $43 million from seven charitable groups since 2001 served as a main driver of anti-Islamic campaigns and works.

The report stated that money had flowed into the hands of five key “experts” and “scholars”. These “experts” and “scholars” were Frank Gaffney, David Yerushalmi, Daniel Pipes, Robert Spencer and Steven Emerson. It is said that these key players (with others working alongside them) have been helping spread the anti-Muslim rhetoric and propaganda. Page 7 of the report shows us the main network.

The report was even covered by Fox News.

Spencer and his close friend Geller simply reject the detailed report, with no proof provided as to why it might be fake. It is brushed off their shoulders.

Additionally, in October 2010, an investigative report by The Tennessean found that IRS filings from 2008 showed that Robert Spencer earned $132,537 from the David Horowitz Freedom Center (who help Spencer with his website), and Horowitz himself gained over $400,000 for himself in just one year.

Conclusion.

As this article highlights, Spencer cannot be trusted.

Islamic scholar, Carl Ernst, correctly stated that “the publications of Spencer belong to the class of Islamophobic extremism that is promoted and supported by right-wing organizations, who are perpetuating a type of bigotry similar to anti-Semitism and racial prejudice. They are to be viewed with great suspicion by anyone who wishes to find reliable and scholarly information on the subject of Islam.”

Upon analysis, we have seen that Spencer indeed, picks and chooses his words in his works (highlighted in section 8). He deliberately misses out key concepts of Islamic history and even relies on what ‘Islamic jihadists’ (section 8) say, and not even what other mainstream scholars have to say. Another example of representing one side of the coin is how Spencer highlights quotes of violence in the Quran and seems to forget the ones that urge peace and justice. This reflects a serious case of bias.

Spencer has a close association with hate-groups such as Stop Islamization of America (SIOA) and has even links to key figures (surprisingly also connected to the Islamophobia network). Pamela Geller, a prominent hate-blogger, received an email from a terrorist (highlighted in section 6). Even if the email at hand (section 6) is not indeed the Norwegian terrorist Anders Breivik, then it is indeed a potential terrorist case that needs to be investigated by the main authorities.

What we do know for certain, is that Anders Breivik was deeply influenced by the likes of Spencer (highlighted in section 5) and people are constantly being influenced by him, which can possibly lead to catastrophic consequences, as we’ve seen. With the use of fear mongering, Spencer and his group Stop Islamization of America (SIOA) are manipulating the minds of the public. Breivik was one of these individuals.

As this article has highlighted using two well-researched reports (section 12), Spencer shows to have been funded by individuals or groups who have been closely linked together. Studies and research would suggest that Spencer is merely paid to do what he does. That is, to spread hate and criticize Islam and Muslims by any means necessary, whether it be to market his own books and even make close friends support his scholarly claims (i.e. reviewing his books to promote them for him).

But as for Spencer’s scholarly claims, they are clearly over-exaggerated by what seems to be the majority of his close friends and allies. This makes him pass off as an intellectual, when in fact, all he has is a Master’s in religious studies. He has not studied Islamic history, the Quran, or the hadith, whilst mainstream Islamic scholars such as Dr. Tahir ul-Qadri have dedicated their whole lives to studying the religion of Islam. They have more credential, expertise and reliability than Spencer.

In conclusion, there is more to Robert Spencer and his ‘scholarly’ claims than what meets the eye.

Written by Mr. F.

Radical Moderate (a pseudonym) is a radical Evangelical Christian who has had a history of hate for myself. Today he completely crossed the boundary. He asked why I would refuse to show my face on ABN TV for a yet unannounced debate with a popular Christian  apologist. I let it be known to him that I did not want my identity to be known because of any harm or vindictive behaviour from Christians for speaking out on their religion that could risk myself or my family’s safety. This was his response:

He’s finally showing his true colours. Wishing death and suffering for me, because I disagree with his religion of Christianity. A more than 30 year old man, living in an entirely different country to me, wishing death on a 20 year old because I disagree with him on his religion.

It’s because of people like this, that I refuse to let my face be shown. I’ve saved the chat and am willing to send it to anyone who requests it.

wa Allaahu Alam.
[and God knows best.]