Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Robert Spencer, the director of Jihad Watch, a program of the
FP: Robert Spencer, welcome to Frontpage Interview.
Spencer: Thanks, Jamie. It is always an honor to chat with a perceptive and honest thinker like you.
FP: Well thank you.
So how is this new book different from your previous ones?
Spencer: While in my other books I’ve quoted from the Qur’an in explaining various aspects of the jihad doctrine and Islamic supremacism, this book is unique among my books in being an in-depth examination of the Qur’an itself. In this book, and in none of my other books, I discuss how the Qur’an was compiled; alternate versions of the Qur’an; alleged miracles of the Qur’an; how the Qur’an adapts and alters Biblical stories such as those of Adam, Noah, Moses, Solomon, Mary and Jesus; the Qur’anic appropriation of Jewish, Christian and even pagan figures; the foundations of Islamic mysticism in the Qur’an; the ways in which seemingly innocuous passages of the Qur’an actually convey meanings quite different from what may appear to non-Muslim Westerners; how the Qur’an’s stories of the Biblical prophets are all told in a way meant to support Muhammad’s prophetic claim; why Muslims regard the Jews as their worst enemies; how and why the New Testament accounts of Christ are altered in the Qur’an; the Qur’an’s moral code and what it is conspicuously lacking; and much more.
FP: How come there is so much ignorance about the Qur’an, not only among non-Muslims but also Muslims themselves?
Spencer: Large numbers of Muslims have no firm idea of what is really in the Qur’an. This is in large part because, as central as it is to Islamic faith and culture, the Qur’an is an Arabic book: its Arabic character is part of its essence. This notion comes from the book itself: “We have revealed the Qur’an in the Arabic tongue so that you may grow in understanding” (12:1). The Qur’an describes itself repeatedly as essentially and inherently an “Arabic Qur’an” (12:2; 20:113; 39:28; 41:3; 41:44; 42:7; and 43:3).
Indeed, with an eye apparently only on the local situation in Muhammad’s time and not on the long-term picture, Allah says that it would not have made any sense to send down the Qur’an to Muhammad in any language other than Arabic, and to have done so would have incited the scorn of Infidels: “Had We sent this as a Qur’an (in the language) other than Arabic, they would have said: ‘Why are not its verses explained in detail? What! (a Book) not in Arabic and (a Messenger) an Arab?’” (41:44).
All Muslims, whether or not they speak Arabic (and most Muslims today are not Arabs), are obligated to recite the Qur’an in Arabic. This means most Muslims worldwide recite their prayers from rote memory. Translations of the Qur’an occupy a curious position in the Islamic world. Muslims do not consider any translation of the Qur’an to be the Qur’an at all; it is only Allah’s word when it is transmitted in Arabic. In Arabic, says English Muslim convert Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall, the Qur’an is an “inimitable symphony, the very sounds of which move men to tears and ecstasy.” But that quality allegedly doesn’t carry over to other languages – something essential is lost in translation.
Still, translations of the Qur’an are tolerated for the sake of spreading Islam to non-Arabic speakers. Muslim groups worldwide work energetically to convert non-Muslims, offering Islamic materials such as translated Qur’ans that are produced by Muslims themselves, despite the alleged impossibility of understanding the Qur’an except in Arabic. And yet Muslim scholars and apologists often dodge tough questions about the allegedly peaceful nature of Islam by dismissing all translations of the Qur’an and claiming that the book can only be truly understood in Arabic. Why they bother translating it and distributing these translations among non-Muslims remains unexplained.
The religious superiority of Arabic in Islam has led to an Arabic cultural hegemony in the non-Arabic Muslim world. Great non-Arab civilizations in lands that are now Muslim — most notably
The implications of this for contemporary debates about Islamic terrorism are profound. The point here is not that peaceful Muslims misunderstand their own religion and would become radicalized if they knew it better. But when the Qur’an is not immediately understood – and its seventh-century Arabic can be difficult even for native Arabic speakers – those who believe in it understand it by means of how it is preached and presented in the local mosque. If the imams there do not preach hatred of Infidels and the necessity to fight and subjugate them, then these probably won’t be live ideas in the minds of the devout – and such has long been the case in many areas of the world.
At the same time, however, the Qur’an says what it says, and so jihadist movements do point to chapter and verse to attempt to recruit peaceful Muslims to their cause, and to justify their actions within the Islamic community.
Many non-Muslims, meanwhile, simply assume without examination that the Qur’an, since it is a religious book, must teach peace, love, brotherhood, and compassion.
FP: What does the Qur’an think of infidels and what does it teach for Muslims to do to them? Why?
Spencer: In the Qur’an the Infidels (kuffar) are, simply, those who reject Islam. They are those who do not believe in Muhammad’s message: they “treat it as a falsehood that they must meet Allah” (6:31) and “believe not in the Hereafter” (16:60). They “have bartered guidance for error” (2:16). They even dare to mock Muhammad in his proclamation of Islam. Allah tells his prophet, “When ye proclaim your call to prayer they take it (but) as mockery and sport; that is because they are a people without understanding” (5:58).
The Infidels are those who have made themselves enemies “to Allah, and His angels and His messengers, and Gabriel and Michael.” Allah himself, in turn, “is an enemy to the disbelievers” (2:98). And Satan and his minions are their friends: “Lo! We have made the devils protecting friends for those who believe not” (7:27). They are also, naturally enough, the enemies of the Muslims. Allah gives permission to the believers to shorten their prayers while traveling “for fear the unbelievers may attack you: for the unbelievers are unto you open enemies” (4:101).
Who specifically are Infidels? First there are polytheists (mushrikun), whom Allah particularly disdains for committing the cardinal sin of shirk – associating partners with Allah (2:105, 3:95, and many other passages identify the polytheists as apart from and opposed to Islam’s central monotheism).
There are also People of the Book – mostly Jews and Christians. Islamic apologists argue that Islam does not consider them Infidels, since the Qur’an never specifically identifies them as such. The Qur’an, they further note, speaks of the “unbelievers among the People of the Book” (59:2), implying that at least some People of the Book were believers, and therefore were not Infidels.
But who comprised this group among the People of the Book that the Qur’an identifies as believers? They were Jews and Christians who distinguished themselves by “believing” in one thing: that the Biblical prophets, as well as Jesus, preached Islam and anticipated Muhammad’s arrival — and thus they became Muslims when they heard about Islam. In other words, they were proto-Muslims who recognized that the true teachings of Moses and Jesus were identical to Muhammad’s teachings. Any Jews and Christians who rejected this idea and stayed true to their own religions were “unbelievers among the People of the Book” – and therefore Infidels.
The Qur’an consistently assumes that the Infidels are not people who have come to a good faith decision that Islam is false – neither the Qur’an nor Islamic tradition allows for the existence of such people. The Qur’an declares that “the Religion before Allah is Islam,” and that the People of the Book reject it only because of “envy of each other” (3:19). The Jews and Christians, says Maulana Bulandshahri, a twentieth-century Islamic scholar, recognized Muhammad “to be the final Prophet but their obstinate nature prevented them from accepting.”
Thus, in the Qur’an the unbelievers know that Muhammad is a prophet, and yet, purely out of bad faith, they refuse to become Muslim and follow him. The Qur’an repeatedly emphasizes the oneness of Allah, and claims that “those to whom We have given the Book” – that is, the Jews and Christians – “know this” – that is, the truth of Muhammad’s message – “as they know their own sons” (6:20). This is because, says Ibn Kathir, “they received good news from the previous Messengers and Prophets about the coming of Muhammad, his attributes, homeland, his migration, and the description of his Ummah.” In other words, their unbelief in Islam is not a sincere rejection based on honest conviction, but sheer perversity: they “lie against their own souls” (6:24). For “in their hearts is a disease; and Allah has increased their disease. And grievous is the penalty they (incur), because they are false (to themselves)” (2:10).
Muslims have the responsibility to fight the Infidels (4:89, 2:191, 9:5) and subjugate the People of the Book under the rule of Islamic law (9:29).
FP: Why do Muslims regard the Jews as their worst enemies? Why such targeting of Jews?
Spencer: The Qur’an says that the Jews will be the Muslims’ worst enemies, along with the pagans (5:82). This comes from the Qur’anic presentation of Muhammad as the last and greatest in the line of Biblical prophets, preaching a message identical to theirs. The authentic Torah supposedly commands Jews to follow Muhammad and recognize his prophecy – those who refuse to accept Muhammad as a prophet are, in the Muslim view, rejecting both Moses and the prophecies of the Torah. It is no surprise, then, that in the Qur’an both David and Jesus curse the disbelieving Jews for their disobedience (5:78).
Yet of course, Torah-observant Jews did not and do not accept Muhammad as a prophet, and this enraged the prophet of Islam during his lifetime. Muhammad initially appealed energetically to the Jews, hoping they would accept his prophetic status. He even had the Muslims imitate the Jews by facing Jerusalem for prayers, and he adopted for the Muslims the Jews’ prohibition of pork. But he was infuriated when the Jews rejected him, and Allah shared his fury in Qur’anic revelation: they had the Torah, and the Qur’an confirmed it, and yet they refused to accept the Qur’an! “And when there came to them a messenger from Allah, confirming what was with them, a party of the people of the Book threw away the Book of Allah behind their backs, as if (it had been something) they did not know!” (2:101).
Another Jewish leader noted that “no covenant was ever made with us about Muhammad.” Allah again responded through his Prophet: “Is it ever so that when they make a covenant a party of them set it aside? The truth is, most of them believe not” (2:100).
FP: Muslims say they believe in Jesus and respect him, but what they say about him is quite different from what the New Testament says about him. How does the Qur’an alter the New Testament’s accounts about Jesus? Why?
Spencer: Jesus has a prominent place in the Qur’an. The Islamic holy book refers to Jesus frequently, usually either as “Jesus Christ” or as “Jesus the Son of Mary” (although it uses a form of the name Jesus, Isa, that is not used by Arabic-speaking Christians, and which in reality is closer to “Esau” than to “Jesus.”) The references to the “Son of Mary” reflect the Qur’an’s acceptance of the Virgin Birth – everyone in antiquity was referred to as the son of his father, not of his mother, unless his father was unknown. And the Qur’an also affirms the Virgin Birth directly (3:47). Besides “Son of Mary,” Jesus is called Christ (3:45; 4:157; 4:171-2; 5:17; 5:72; 5:75; 9:30-1) and the “Word” of Allah (3:45; 4:171), recalling the Gospel of John, which also identifies Jesus as God’s Word in a striking passage that also says that “the Word was God” (John 1:1, 1:14).
But the Qur’an and the New Testament also disagree, quite profoundly, about Jesus Christ. Yes, Jesus is the Word of Allah in the Qur’an, but the Word is not Allah. Allah explains, “The similitude of Jesus before Allah is as that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him: ‘Be.’ And he was” (3:59).
Similarly, in the Qur’an, “Christ” (al-Masih) is essentially a proper name, not a title; Jesus is not the “anointed one” promised to the Jews or to anyone else. Islamic scholars explain that the name is derived from the Arabic verb Massaha, which means to anoint someone with oil for healing. So then is Jesus the Messiah, the anointed one? Not in the Christian sense — they say he bears this name solely because he healed others.
Instead of the Messiah and the Savior of the world, Jesus in the Qur’an is only one among many prophets — even if he is favored above his fellow prophets, for Allah has given him “clear (signs), and strengthened him with the holy spirit” (2:253). In fact, another passage says that Jesus is himself a “spirit proceeding from” Allah (4:171).
The spirit of a being is, of course, its very life, but Muslim theologians have never considered the implications of this title, any more than they have considered the implications of calling Jesus Allah’s “word.” The Qur’an repeats twelve times that Allah has no son, saying that to claim that he does would impugn his transcendent majesty (2:116; 10:68; 17:111; 18:4; 19:35; 19:88; 19:91; 19:92; 21:26; 23:91; 39:04; 43:81). It also specifically rejects the Christian idea that Jesus is the Son of God (4:171; 9:30), at one point implying, remarkably, that Muhammad thought of the question in purely physical terms: “How can [Allah] have a Son when He has no consort?” (6:101).
Ultimately, the Qur’an concludes that Christians have departed from the truth by teaching the Trinity and the Divinity of Christ: “So believe in Allah and His messengers, and say not ‘Three.’ Cease! (It is) better for you! Allah is only One Allah. Far is it removed from His Transcendent Majesty that He should have a son” (4:171).
The most significant Qur’anic departure from Christianity is its denial of the reality of the crucifixion of Christ: “They did not kill him, nor crucify him, but they thought they did [or literally, it appeared so to them].” The Jews boast that they killed Jesus—but they only think they did (4:157). In fact, Jesus escaped crucifixion, though how he did so is the source of some dispute. The traditional Islamic scholar Ibn Kathir argues that “when Allah sent ‘Isa [Jesus] with proofs and guidance, the Jews, may Allah’s curses, anger, torment and punishment be upon them, envied him because of his prophethood and obvious miracles. . .” Consumed by this envy, Ibn Kathir continues, the Jews stirred up “the king of Damascus at that time, a Greek polytheist who worshipped the stars” to order his deputy in
The Qur’an emphasizes that Jesus was a prophet of Allah, who did all his mighty works by order of Allah – and is thus not himself divine. Interestingly, unlike Muhammad, Jesus is depicted performing various miracles. But after these miracle stories, Allah again stresses that Jesus is not divine, asking him point blank: “O Jesus, son of Mary! Didst thou say unto mankind: Take me and my mother for two gods beside Allah?” (5:116)
The Qur’an here seems to be criticizing the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, which it apparently envisions as consisting of Allah along with a deified Jesus and Mary. Ibn Kathir says the same thing, claiming the Christians elevated Jesus “and his mother to be gods with Allah.” The actual Christian Trinity of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is not envisioned in the Qur’an.
In any case, Jesus denies having told his followers to worship him and his mother, and the passage concludes by repeating that those who believe otherwise will, of course, be punished (5:116).
The Qur’an even asserts that those who believe that Jesus is divine are themselves Infidels, and hell-bound to boot: “They surely disbelieve who say: Lo! Allah is the Messiah, son of Mary. The Messiah (himself) said: O Children of Israel, worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord. Lo! Whoso ascribeth partners unto Allah, for him Allah hath forbidden paradise. His abode is the Fire. For evil-doers there will be no helpers.” (5:72).
Jesus is, far from being divine, a “slave of Allah” (Abdullah: 4:172; 19:30; 43:59). Calling Jesus a slave of Allah, of course, puts him on the same level as all created beings – for the master–slave relationship is the primary paradigm in Islam for human relations with the divine. Despite his Virgin Birth, despite his miracles, despite his being favored above the other prophets, Jesus is, in the final analysis, simply another created being, a slave of Allah. Those who assert otherwise, identifying Jesus with God, are Infidels: “They indeed have disbelieved who say: Lo! Allah is the Messiah, son of Mary” (5:17).
In case the point is not clear, Allah directs Muhammad to say that Allah could destroy Jesus, his mother, and the entire earth if he so wished (5:17) – thereby vividly reasserting Allah’s absolute sovereignty, which the Qur’an appears to regard as threatened by the idea of the divinity of Christ.
The Qur’an declares that, just as Muhammad’s message confirmed that of the Gospel before it, Jesus told the Jews that his message confirmed that of the Torah. Jesus also said, according to the Qur’an, that he was the precursor of a messenger who would come after him, whose name would be Ahmad. But the people would dismiss Jesus’s miracles as “sorcery” (61:6) – recalling their dismissal of Moses (28:36) and Muhammad (28:48).
“Ahmad” means “the Most Praised One,” and it is etymologically related to Muhammad, which means “Praised One.” Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall, a British Islamic scholar and convert to Islam, drove the connection home by translating “Ahmad” simply as “Praised One.” And Muslims universally understand the verse as depicting Jesus predicting the coming of Muhammad.
Muslims contend that this prophecy is the uncorrupted version of the words of Jesus that survive in corrupted form in John 14:16-17, where Jesus says, “And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you.”
“Counselor” here is parakletos, or Paraclete. Some Islamic apologists have claimed this is a corruption of periklytos, which means “famous” or “renowned,” i.e., “Praised One.” However, there is no textual evidence whatsoever for this: no manuscripts of the New Testament exist that use the word periklytos in this place. Nor is it likely that the two words might have been confused. That kind of confusion may be theoretically possible in Arabic, which does not write vowels and hence would present two words with identical consonant structures. But Greek does write vowels, so the words would never in Greek have appeared as even close to identical.
In light of all this, it is clear that when the Qur’an refers to Jesus, it has in mind a figure who is strikingly different from the one in the New Testament. And the Qur’an is presented as the corrective to these New Testament “corruptions.” The idea that Christianity is a “distorted, deformed religion” created by people who were bent on rejecting the prophet Muhammad fuels a great deal of Muslim hatred for Christianity, Christians, and the West to this day.
FP: What are some strange things found in the Qur’an?
Spencer: The Qur’an tells of the strange journey of Moses and Khidr (18:60-82) — one of the all-time great road-trip stories. Moses, traveling with his servant, forgets the fish they had carried along for their meal. Returning to retrieve it, they encounter “one of Our servants, on whom We had bestowed Mercy from Ourselves and whom We had taught knowledge from Our own Presence” (18:65). In Islamic tradition this man is identified as Al-Khadir or Al-Khidr, or, more commonly, Khidr, “the Green Man.” Some identify him as one of the prophets, others as a wali, a Muslim saint.
Moses asks Khidr, “May I follow thee,” so that “thou teach me something of the (Higher) Truth which thou hast been taught?” (18:66). Leery, Khidr finally consents provided Moses asks him no questions, and Moses agrees. Khidr and Moses then get on a boat, which Khidr immediately scuttles – whereupon Moses breaks his promise and upbraids Khidr; Khidr reminds him of his promise. Shortly thereafter, Khidr murders a young man in an apparently random act, and Moses criticizes him again, and Khidr reminds him once again that Moses had promised not to ask him any questions and to have patience when Khidr did something that Moses did not understand. Finally, Khidr rebuilds a wall in a town that had refused the two hospitality, and Moses scolds him yet again, telling Khidr that he could have gotten money for his work, which the two could have used to buy food and lodging.
Informing Moses that their journey is over, Khidr finally explains his strange actions. (Even Muhammad wanted to hear more, commenting, “We wished that Moses could have remained patient by virtue of which Allah might have told us more about their story.”) Khidr damaged the ship because a king is seizing “every boat by force” (18:79), but not ones that are unserviceable – presumably the poor owners of the boat could repair it once the king passed by. Khidr killed the young man because he would grieve his pious parents with his “rebellion and ingratitude” (18:80), and Allah will give them a better son. And there was buried treasure beneath the wall that belonged to boys too young to inherit it yet — so repairing it gave them time to reach maturity while protecting the treasure from theft.
The Qur’an translator Abdullah Yusuf Ali derives the lesson from the story that “even as the whole stock of the knowledge of the present day, the sciences and the arts, and in literature, (if it could be supposed to be gathered in one individual), does not include all knowledge. Divine knowledge, as far as man is concerned, is unlimited.” Furthermore, “There are paradoxes in life: apparent loss may be real gain; apparent cruelty may be real mercy; returning good for evil may really be justice and not generosity (18:79-82). Allah’s wisdom transcends all human calculation.”
Perhaps understandably in light of the strangeness of the story and the mystery embedded within it, Khidr looms large in Islamic mystical tradition. The eighth-century Sufi mystic Ibrahim Bin Adham (Abou Ben Adhem) once claimed, “In that wilderness I lived for four years. God gave me my eating without any toil of mine. Khidr the Green Ancient was my companion during that time — he taught me the Great Name of God.”
Another strange and pregnant passage in the Qur’an is this cryptic verse: “Above it are nineteen” (74:30).
That’s it. “Above it are nineteen.”
Above what? Nineteen what? The Qur’an doesn’t say, and that is where the fun begins. There are innumerable theories regarding this verse, including that of the Qur’anic scholar Günther Lüling, who suggests a slight alteration of the text to make it a simple reference to the gates of hell – which works in context.
However, Islamic scholars don’t generally take kindly to suggestions that the Qur’anic text should be changed – it is supposed to have been delivered by the angel Gabriel to Muhammad in perfect form, and preserved in that perfect form ever after. Thus believers must make do with the existing cryptic verse – and they have. It has become the foundation for numerous elaborate flights of Islamic numerology, attempting to show that this verse contains a hidden, number-based key that demonstrates the Qur’an’s miraculous character. The verse has also led to the development of mysticism surrounding the number nineteen — such that some have opined, despite the many nominees for the role of “twentieth hijacker,” that there is no such person, and that precisely nineteen hijackers were chosen for the September 11 jihad missions because of the mystical significance of that number.
FP: Tell us how and why political correctness has made it almost impossible to discuss what is really in the Qur’an and in other Islamic texts.
Spencer: Political correctness would have us believe that the Qur’an is a book of peace, and that anyone who says otherwise is “bigoted,” “hateful,” and “Islamophobic.” But is it, really? What the Qur’an really says can easily be verified. If the Qur’an really curses Jews and Christians (9:30) and calls for warfare against them in order to bring about their subjugation (9:29), it is not “Islamophobic” to forewarn Infidels by pointing this out. It is simply a fact. And it should go without saying that it is not a fact that should move any reader of my book to hate anyone. The fact that the Qur’an counsels warfare against unbelievers should move readers to act in defense of freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the legal equality of all people, before it is too late.
FP: How does the misinterpretation of what the Qur’an and other Muslim texts teach endanger our security?
Spencer: Most Western analysts dogmatically deny that the Qur’an teaches violence and supremacism. Yet Muslims who believe this comprise a global movement, active from
In March 2009, five Muslims accused of helping plot the September 11 attacks, including the notorious Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, wrote an “Islamic Response to the Government’s Nine Accusations.” In it they quote the Qur’an to justify their jihad war against the American Infidels. “In God’s book,” asserts the letter, “he ordered us to fight you everywhere we find you, even if you were inside the holiest of all holy cities, The Mosque in Mecca, and the holy city of Mecca, and even during sacred months. In God’s book, verse 9 [actually verse 5], Al-Tawbah [the Qur’an’s 9th chapter]: Then fight and slay the pagans wherever you find them, and seize them, and besiege them and lie in wait for them in each and every ambush.”
Osama bin Laden’s communiqués have also quoted the Qur’an copiously. In his 1996 “Declaration of War against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places,” he quotes seven Qur’an verses: 3:145; 47:4-6; 2:154; 9:14; 47:19; 8:72; and the notorious “Verse of the Sword,” 9:5.[i] [2] Bin Laden began his October 6, 2002, letter to the American people with two Qur’an quotations, both of a martial bent: “Permission to fight (against disbelievers) is given to those (believers) who are fought against, because they have been wronged and surely, Allah is Able to give them (believers) victory” (22:39) and “Those who believe, fight in the Cause of Allah, and those who disbelieve, fight in the cause of Taghut (anything worshipped other than Allah e.g. Satan). So fight you against the friends of Satan; ever feeble is indeed the plot of Satan” (4:76).”
In a sermon broadcast in 2003, bin Laden rejoiced in a Qur’anic exhortation to violence as being a means to establish the truth: “Praise be to Allah who revealed the verse of the Sword to his servant and messenger [the Islamic Prophet Muhammad], in order to establish truth and abolish falsehood.” The “Verse of the Sword” is Qur’an 9:5: “Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, and take them (captive), and besiege them, and prepare for them each ambush. But if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor-due, then leave their way free. Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.”
The idea that the Qur’an commands them to do violence to unbelievers runs from the very top of the international jihadist movement – Osama bin Laden – down to the rank and file. Overall, it is extremely rare – if not impossible – to find a jihadist who does not cite the Qur’an to justify his actions. Britain-based jihadist preacher, Abu Yahya, asserts simply, “It says in the Qur’an that we must try as much as we can to terrorise the enemy.” And Pakistani jihad leader Beitullah Mehsud claims that “Allah on 480 occasions in the Holy Qur’an extols Muslims to wage jihad. We only fulfill God’s orders. Only jihad can bring peace to the world.” He specified that his jihad –struggle in Arabic – was an offensive military operation: “We will continue our struggle until foreign troops are thrown out. Then we will attack them in the
One pro-Osama website put it this way: “The truth is that a Muslim who reads the Qur’an with devotion is determined to reach the battlefield in order to attain the reality of Jihad. It is solely for this reason that the Kufaar [unbelievers] conspire to keep the Muslims far away from understanding the Qur’an, knowing that Muslims who understand the Qur’an will not distance themselves from Jihad.”
Yet a huge number of policy decisions are predicated upon the assumption that the Qur’an teaches peace, and that those who brandish Qur’ans and commit violence are misunderstanding their own religion and perverting the teachings of their own holy book. These include U.S. government postures toward Pakistan and Egypt; immigration matters; airport security procedures; military strategies in Iraq and Afghanistan; domestic anti-terror policies; and our acquiescence to Saudi Arabia’s Islamic proselytizing campaign in America and many other countries.
But most government and media analysts dare not even question the assumption that the Qur’an is peaceful, for they believe that any insinuation to the contrary is racist, bigoted, and effectively brands all Muslims as terrorists. In other words, they think the implications of the possibility that the Qur’an teaches warfare against unbelievers are too terrible to even contemplate. Thus, many policymakers simply assume the Qur’an teaches peace without bothering to study the text. They do this to their own peril – and ours.
FP: What, in your view, is the Qur’an?
Spencer: It is the primary religious text of one of the world’s most prominent and influential religions. For more than a billion Muslims, the Qur’an is the unadulterated, pure word of Allah, eternal and perfect, delivered though the angel Gabriel to the prophet Muhammad. For Infidels, it is a threat, a call for their destruction or subjugation. Consequently, every Infidel needs to know what is in it, and plan accordingly to defend himself.
[i] [3] Osama Bin Laden, “Declaration of War against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places,” 1996. http://www.mideastweb.org/osamabinladen1.htm .
Source: http://frontpagemag.com/2009/10/07/the-complete-infidels-guide-to-the-Qur’an-by-jamie-glazov/
URLs in this post:
[1] The Complete Infidel’s Guide to the Qur’an: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/1596981040/ref=dp_proddesc_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books
[2] [i]:#_edn1
[3] [i]: #_ednref1
[4] Image: http://www.addtoany.com/share_save?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Ffrontpagemag.com%2F2009%2F10%2F07%2Fthe-complete-infidels-guide-to-the-Qur’an-by-jamie-glazov%2F&linkname=The%20Complete%20Infidel%26%238217%3Bs%20Guide%20to%20the%20Qur’an%20%26%238211%3B%20by%20Jamie%20Glazov
IHS
Wednesday, 13 February 2013
The Complete Infidel’s Guide to the Qur’an – by Jamie Glazov
Monday, 11 February 2013
Islam and the Dark Age of Byzantium
by John J. O’Neill
In his 1936 book, Mohammed et Charlemagne, Belgian historian Henri Pirenne argued in great detail that the Dark Ages of Europe began rather suddenly in the middle of the seventh century; and that this sudden and catastrophic decline in civilization was due to Islam’s blockade of the Mediterranean. Up to that time, Pirenne showed, there was no evidence of a decline in Classical culture. True, the Western Roman Empire as a political entity had disappeared in 476, but the literate, prosperous and urban civilization which we call “Classical” continued virtually uninterrupted. The Goths and other “Barbarian” peoples who ruled the provinces of the West after 467 did not try to destroy Roman civilization and civil society. Indeed, as Pirenne showed in great detail, they did everything in their power to preserve it. They adopted the Latin language, accepted Imperial titles from the Emperor in Constantinople, and minted gold coins with the image of the Eastern Emperor emblazoned upon them.
Yet this thriving Late Classical culture came to a rather sudden end in the seventh century: city life declined, as did trade; a barter economy replaced the earlier monetary system, and what coins were issued were minted in silver rather than gold; literacy declined as papyrus from Egypt disappeared and expensive parchment took its place; and the power of kings waned, as local strongmen or “barons” seized the reigns of power in the provinces. The Middle Ages had begun.
Pirenne’s great book, which was published posthumously, received a mixed reception. On the whole, it was conceded that he seemed to be on to sometime of great importance. Yet there was criticism, and this criticism only increased over the years.
One of the most telling arguments against Pirenne was the question of Byzantium. Historians were quick to point out that, whilst the regions of the West may have experienced a Dark Age between the seventh and tenth centuries, those of the East did not. There was no decline, they said, in Byzantium. If the Arab blockade of the Mediterranean had strangled classical urban civilization in the West, why did it not have the same effect in the East? This was a question to which there seemed no easy answer. Even Pirenne believed that Byzantium had somehow coped better with the Arabs than the West. In his time it was generally assumed that Classical Civilization survived in the East, and that the region was less “medievalised” than the West. We are, or have been until recently, informed by historians that the eighth, ninth and tenth centuries in Byzantium were, in the words of Sidnay Painter, “three centuries of glory,” and that during this time “The Byzantine Empire was the richest state in Europe, the strongest military power, and by far the most cultivated.”(Sidney Painter, A History of the Middle Ages, 284-1500) We are further informed that, “During these three centuries while Western Europe was a land of partly tamed barbarians, the Byzantine Empire was a highly civilized state where a most felicitous merger of Christianity and Hellenism produced a fascinating culture.”(Ibid.)
The above opinions, common till the latter half of the twentieth century, were partly prompted by Byzantine propaganda, which always sought to portray Constantinople as the “New Rome” and the successor, in an unbroken line of authority, of the first Christian Emperor, Constantine. Yet over the past half century the science of archaeology has proved that picture to be a fabrication.
As a matter of fact, we now know that the once-proudEastern Rome was devastated by the Arab assaults. The same poverty and illiteracy that we find in the West we now find also in the East. Cities decline and the science and philosophy of the Greeks and Romans disappear. Indeed, just as in the West, a “dark age” descends. In the words of Cyril Mango;
“One can hardly overestimate the catastrophic break that occurred in the seventh century. Anyone who reads the narrative of events will not fail to be struck by the calamities that befell the Empire, starting with the Persian invasion at the very beginning of the century and going on to the Arab expansion some thirty years later - a series of reverses that deprived the Empire of some of its most prosperous provinces, namely, Syria, Palestine, Egypt and, later, North Africa - and so reduced it to less than half its former size both in area and in population. But a reading of the narrative sources gives only a faint idea of the profound transformation that accompanied these events. … It marked for the Byzantine lands the end of a way of life - the urban civilization of Antiquity - and the beginning of a very different and distinctly medieval world.”(Cyril Mango, Byzantium, the Empire of New Rome, p. 4)
Mango remarked on the virtual abandonment of the Byzantine cities after the mid-seventh century, and the archaeology of these settlements usually reveals “a dramatic rupture in the seventh century, sometimes in the form of virtual abandonment.”(Ibid. p. 8) With the cities and with the papyrus supply fromEgypt
Constantinople herself, the mighty million-strong capital of the East, was reduced, by the middle of the eighth century, to a veritable ruin. Mango quotes a document of the period which evokes a picture of “abandonment and ruination. Time and again we are told that various monuments - statues, palaces, baths - had once existed but were destroyed. What is more, the remaining monuments, many of which must have dated from the fourth and fifth centuries, were no longer understood for what they were. They had acquired a magical and generally ominous connotation.”(Ibid. p. 80)
So great was the destruction that even bronze coinage, the everyday lubricant of commercial life, disappeared. According to Mango, “In sites that have been systematically excavated, such as Athens, Corinth, Sardis and others, it has been ascertained that bronze coinage, the small change used for everyday transactions, was plentiful throughout the sixth century and (depending on local circumstances) until some time in the seventh, after which it almost disappeared, then showed a slight increase in the ninth, and did not become abundant again until the latter part of the tenth.”(Ibid. pp. 72-3). Yet even the statement that some coins appeared in the ninth century has to be treated with caution. Mango notes that atSardis 9.” (Ibid. p. 73) And, “similar results have been obtained from nearly all provincial Byzantine cities.” Even such paltry samples as have survived from the eighth and ninth centuries (nine) are usually of questionable provenance, a fact noted by Mango himself, who remarked that often, upon closer inspection, these turn out to originate either from before the dark age, or after it.
When archaeology again appears, in the middle of the tenth century, the civilization it reveals has been radically altered: The old Byzantium of Late Antiquity is gone, and we find an impoverished and semi-literate rump; a Medieval Byzantium strikingly like the Medieval France, Germany and Italy with which it was contemporary. Here we find too a barter or semi-barter economy; a decline in population and literacy; and an intolerant and theocratic state. And the break-off point inByzantium
Archaeology has thus come dramatically to the support of Pirenne, long after his death, and answered for him a question he could not. The impact of Islam was devastating for all of Christendom, both East and West. It was the event that terminated Classical civilization. The destruction of Classical culture in Europe was due to largely, though not completely, to the economic blockade of theMediterranean by Muslim piracy. Yet the termination of that culture in regions such as Egypt and Syria Egypt Egypt , Syria , and Babylonia , were packed with the works of these authors. Their disappearance and the disappearance of the knowledge they contained can only mean, as Christian polemicists argued for centuries, that the Muslims had deliberately destroyed a great quantity of Classical literature.
In the West of Europe and in the East, in North Africa and theMiddle East , Classical civilization came to an end in the mid-seventh century; and the reason for its demise can be summed up in one word: Islam.
Holy Warriors: Islam and the Demise of Classical Civilization, by John J. O'Neill, is published by Felibri Publications.
Source: http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2009/10/islam-and-dark-age-of-byzantium.html
IHS
In his 1936 book, Mohammed et Charlemagne, Belgian historian Henri Pirenne argued in great detail that the Dark Ages of Europe began rather suddenly in the middle of the seventh century; and that this sudden and catastrophic decline in civilization was due to Islam’s blockade of the Mediterranean. Up to that time, Pirenne showed, there was no evidence of a decline in Classical culture. True, the Western Roman Empire as a political entity had disappeared in 476, but the literate, prosperous and urban civilization which we call “Classical” continued virtually uninterrupted. The Goths and other “Barbarian” peoples who ruled the provinces of the West after 467 did not try to destroy Roman civilization and civil society. Indeed, as Pirenne showed in great detail, they did everything in their power to preserve it. They adopted the Latin language, accepted Imperial titles from the Emperor in Constantinople, and minted gold coins with the image of the Eastern Emperor emblazoned upon them.
Yet this thriving Late Classical culture came to a rather sudden end in the seventh century: city life declined, as did trade; a barter economy replaced the earlier monetary system, and what coins were issued were minted in silver rather than gold; literacy declined as papyrus from Egypt disappeared and expensive parchment took its place; and the power of kings waned, as local strongmen or “barons” seized the reigns of power in the provinces. The Middle Ages had begun.
Pirenne’s great book, which was published posthumously, received a mixed reception. On the whole, it was conceded that he seemed to be on to sometime of great importance. Yet there was criticism, and this criticism only increased over the years.
One of the most telling arguments against Pirenne was the question of Byzantium. Historians were quick to point out that, whilst the regions of the West may have experienced a Dark Age between the seventh and tenth centuries, those of the East did not. There was no decline, they said, in Byzantium. If the Arab blockade of the Mediterranean had strangled classical urban civilization in the West, why did it not have the same effect in the East? This was a question to which there seemed no easy answer. Even Pirenne believed that Byzantium had somehow coped better with the Arabs than the West. In his time it was generally assumed that Classical Civilization survived in the East, and that the region was less “medievalised” than the West. We are, or have been until recently, informed by historians that the eighth, ninth and tenth centuries in Byzantium were, in the words of Sidnay Painter, “three centuries of glory,” and that during this time “The Byzantine Empire was the richest state in Europe, the strongest military power, and by far the most cultivated.”(Sidney Painter, A History of the Middle Ages, 284-1500) We are further informed that, “During these three centuries while Western Europe was a land of partly tamed barbarians, the Byzantine Empire was a highly civilized state where a most felicitous merger of Christianity and Hellenism produced a fascinating culture.”(Ibid.)
The above opinions, common till the latter half of the twentieth century, were partly prompted by Byzantine propaganda, which always sought to portray Constantinople as the “New Rome” and the successor, in an unbroken line of authority, of the first Christian Emperor, Constantine. Yet over the past half century the science of archaeology has proved that picture to be a fabrication.
As a matter of fact, we now know that the once-proud
“One can hardly overestimate the catastrophic break that occurred in the seventh century. Anyone who reads the narrative of events will not fail to be struck by the calamities that befell the Empire, starting with the Persian invasion at the very beginning of the century and going on to the Arab expansion some thirty years later - a series of reverses that deprived the Empire of some of its most prosperous provinces, namely, Syria, Palestine, Egypt and, later, North Africa - and so reduced it to less than half its former size both in area and in population. But a reading of the narrative sources gives only a faint idea of the profound transformation that accompanied these events. … It marked for the Byzantine lands the end of a way of life - the urban civilization of Antiquity - and the beginning of a very different and distinctly medieval world.”(Cyril Mango, Byzantium, the Empire of New Rome, p. 4)
Mango remarked on the virtual abandonment of the Byzantine cities after the mid-seventh century, and the archaeology of these settlements usually reveals “a dramatic rupture in the seventh century, sometimes in the form of virtual abandonment.”(Ibid. p. 8) With the cities and with the papyrus supply from
Constantinople herself, the mighty million-strong capital of the East, was reduced, by the middle of the eighth century, to a veritable ruin. Mango quotes a document of the period which evokes a picture of “abandonment and ruination. Time and again we are told that various monuments - statues, palaces, baths - had once existed but were destroyed. What is more, the remaining monuments, many of which must have dated from the fourth and fifth centuries, were no longer understood for what they were. They had acquired a magical and generally ominous connotation.”(Ibid. p. 80)
So great was the destruction that even bronze coinage, the everyday lubricant of commercial life, disappeared. According to Mango, “In sites that have been systematically excavated, such as Athens, Corinth, Sardis and others, it has been ascertained that bronze coinage, the small change used for everyday transactions, was plentiful throughout the sixth century and (depending on local circumstances) until some time in the seventh, after which it almost disappeared, then showed a slight increase in the ninth, and did not become abundant again until the latter part of the tenth.”(Ibid. pp. 72-3). Yet even the statement that some coins appeared in the ninth century has to be treated with caution. Mango notes that at
When archaeology again appears, in the middle of the tenth century, the civilization it reveals has been radically altered: The old Byzantium of Late Antiquity is gone, and we find an impoverished and semi-literate rump; a Medieval Byzantium strikingly like the Medieval France, Germany and Italy with which it was contemporary. Here we find too a barter or semi-barter economy; a decline in population and literacy; and an intolerant and theocratic state. And the break-off point in
Archaeology has thus come dramatically to the support of Pirenne, long after his death, and answered for him a question he could not. The impact of Islam was devastating for all of Christendom, both East and West. It was the event that terminated Classical civilization. The destruction of Classical culture in Europe was due to largely, though not completely, to the economic blockade of the
In the West of Europe and in the East, in North Africa and the
Holy Warriors: Islam and the Demise of Classical Civilization, by John J. O'Neill, is published by Felibri Publications.
Source: http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2009/10/islam-and-dark-age-of-byzantium.html
IHS
Sunday, 10 February 2013
Al-Azhar Scholar in Debate on Sex Ed in Arab Schools: Sex Ed is 'Implementation of the Protocols [of the Elders of Zion]'
Following are excerpts from a television debate on sex education in schools in the Arab world. The debate aired on Al-Jazeera TV on August 11, 2009.
To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/2232.htm.
"When You Incorporate the 'Colonialist, Crusader Invasion' Into Our Discussion, It's Like Saying That Teaching About the Digestive or Respiratory Systems Constitutes Colonialist Invasion"
Egyptian author Dr. Khaled Muntaser: "Dr. Faysal, let us begin by defining the kind of sex education that needs to be taught at school. When you incorporate the 'colonialist, Crusader invasion' into our discussion, it's like saying that teaching about the digestive or respiratory systems constitutes colonialist invasion. How can we say that sex education and teaching the reproductive system amounts to a colonialist invasion?
"I would like to share with the viewers a personal story. When I was at high school inEgypt
[...]
"Some Books of Jurisprudence Say That Pregnancy Lasts Four Years"
Al-Azhar university scholar Ibrahim Al-Khouli: "What [the imam] Malik and [the imam] Al-Shafi'i said about the minimum and maximum terms of pregnancy is based on life experience. They set the principles according to the norm."
Khaled Muntaser: "What, in the past pregnancy lasted four years and now only nine months?"
Ibrahim Al-Khouli: "I didn't say that."
Khaled Muntaser: "So what life experience are you talking about?"
Ibrahim Al-Khouli: "You're not listening to me."
Khaled Muntaser: "This is about science."
[...]
Ibrahim Al-Khouli: "Some books of jurisprudence say that pregnancy lasts four years, while others - like Ibn Hazm and Averroes, who are among the greatest jurisprudents - say the norm for people is nine months.
[...]
"A fetus can spend more than nine months [in the womb]. This happens in cattle. A cow can become pregnant and give birth..."
Khaled Muntaser: "Are we talking about cattle now?!"
Ibrahim Al-Khouli: "Allow me!"
Khaled Muntaser: "Next thing you'll bring us the elephant. What cattle are you talking about?"
Ibrahim Al-Khouli: "You people turn human into cattle.
"Cows are pregnant for nine months. Sometimes it lasts for 10 months. That's the truth. It's very normal, but rare." [...]
"It Was the Qur’an That Taught the World to Respect Science"
"It was the Qur’an that taught the world to respect science, man. Before that, Europe had not heard about science and knew nothing about it. We are the ones who taught it about science."
Khaled Muntaser: "And where have we gone since then?
[...]
"When a gym teacher forbids girls from participating in gymnastics, claiming that their hymen might be torn, he is committing a sex crime. When a kindergarten teacher separates boys from girls at the age of four, and forces four-year-old girls to wear the hijab, she is perpetrating a crime in sex education."
[...]
Ibrahim Al-Khouli: "I have visitedLondon
Khaled Muntaser: "What are you talking about? We are talking about sex education at school." [...]
"Sex Was Given Moral Values and an Existential Role in the Life of Mankind Only In Islam"
Ibrahim Al-Khouli: "Sex was given moral values and an existential role in the life of mankind only in Islam. The ancient Greeks degenerated to the point that they worshipped the sexual organs, and others despised them, like inIndia
"Everything That Is Happening is the Implementation of The Protocols [of the Elders of Zion]"
"Don't you realize that everything that is happening is the implementation of The Protocols?"
Interviewer: "The Protocols of the Elders ofZion
Ibrahim Al-Khouli: "Yes."
Interviewer: "You mean that sex education is a conspiracy?"
Ibrahim Al-Khouli: "Let me finish."
Interviewer: "Go ahead."
Ibrahim Al-Khouli: "When Freud says that man lives for the sake of his sex organ, and when Marx says that man lives for the sake of his belly - they are not really talking about humans, but about herds of cattle."
Khaled Muntaser: "Are you talking about the Freud we know?"
Ibrahim Al-Khouli: "They are trying to apply this to humans. People are not like that!"
[...]
Khaled Muntaser: "Sex, according to Dr. Ibrahim Al-Khouli, is only about child bearing."
Ibrahim Al-Khouli: "Not true!"
Khaled Muntaser: "For him, sex is a factory for children..."
Ibrahim Al-Khouli: "Not true!"
Khaled Muntaser: "If they invent a machine, maybe we should get it. Just like a machine makes ice-cream, it will be able to produce children." [...]
"When a Child Is Exposed to Such Information... He Will Do It With His Sister"
Ibrahim Al-Khouli: "According to scientific reason, the idea leads to action. When you get an idea, you start thinking about how to implement it. When a child is exposed to such information, he tries to imitate it. He will do it with his sister. That is one of the most catastrophic problems."
Source: http://www.memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD258009
IHS
To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/2232.htm.
"When You Incorporate the 'Colonialist, Crusader Invasion' Into Our Discussion, It's Like Saying That Teaching About the Digestive or Respiratory Systems Constitutes Colonialist Invasion"
Egyptian author Dr. Khaled Muntaser: "Dr. Faysal, let us begin by defining the kind of sex education that needs to be taught at school. When you incorporate the 'colonialist, Crusader invasion' into our discussion, it's like saying that teaching about the digestive or respiratory systems constitutes colonialist invasion. How can we say that sex education and teaching the reproductive system amounts to a colonialist invasion?
"I would like to share with the viewers a personal story. When I was at high school in
[...]
"Some Books of Jurisprudence Say That Pregnancy Lasts Four Years"
Al-Azhar university scholar Ibrahim Al-Khouli: "What [the imam] Malik and [the imam] Al-Shafi'i said about the minimum and maximum terms of pregnancy is based on life experience. They set the principles according to the norm."
Khaled Muntaser: "What, in the past pregnancy lasted four years and now only nine months?"
Ibrahim Al-Khouli: "I didn't say that."
Khaled Muntaser: "So what life experience are you talking about?"
Ibrahim Al-Khouli: "You're not listening to me."
Khaled Muntaser: "This is about science."
[...]
Ibrahim Al-Khouli: "Some books of jurisprudence say that pregnancy lasts four years, while others - like Ibn Hazm and Averroes, who are among the greatest jurisprudents - say the norm for people is nine months.
[...]
"A fetus can spend more than nine months [in the womb]. This happens in cattle. A cow can become pregnant and give birth..."
Khaled Muntaser: "Are we talking about cattle now?!"
Ibrahim Al-Khouli: "Allow me!"
Khaled Muntaser: "Next thing you'll bring us the elephant. What cattle are you talking about?"
Ibrahim Al-Khouli: "You people turn human into cattle.
"Cows are pregnant for nine months. Sometimes it lasts for 10 months. That's the truth. It's very normal, but rare." [...]
"It Was the Qur’an That Taught the World to Respect Science"
"It was the Qur’an that taught the world to respect science, man. Before that, Europe had not heard about science and knew nothing about it. We are the ones who taught it about science."
Khaled Muntaser: "And where have we gone since then?
[...]
"When a gym teacher forbids girls from participating in gymnastics, claiming that their hymen might be torn, he is committing a sex crime. When a kindergarten teacher separates boys from girls at the age of four, and forces four-year-old girls to wear the hijab, she is perpetrating a crime in sex education."
[...]
Ibrahim Al-Khouli: "I have visited
Khaled Muntaser: "What are you talking about? We are talking about sex education at school." [...]
"Sex Was Given Moral Values and an Existential Role in the Life of Mankind Only In Islam"
Ibrahim Al-Khouli: "Sex was given moral values and an existential role in the life of mankind only in Islam. The ancient Greeks degenerated to the point that they worshipped the sexual organs, and others despised them, like in
"Everything That Is Happening is the Implementation of The Protocols [of the Elders of Zion]"
"Don't you realize that everything that is happening is the implementation of The Protocols?"
Interviewer: "The Protocols of the Elders of
Ibrahim Al-Khouli: "Yes."
Interviewer: "You mean that sex education is a conspiracy?"
Ibrahim Al-Khouli: "Let me finish."
Interviewer: "Go ahead."
Ibrahim Al-Khouli: "When Freud says that man lives for the sake of his sex organ, and when Marx says that man lives for the sake of his belly - they are not really talking about humans, but about herds of cattle."
Khaled Muntaser: "Are you talking about the Freud we know?"
Ibrahim Al-Khouli: "They are trying to apply this to humans. People are not like that!"
[...]
Khaled Muntaser: "Sex, according to Dr. Ibrahim Al-Khouli, is only about child bearing."
Ibrahim Al-Khouli: "Not true!"
Khaled Muntaser: "For him, sex is a factory for children..."
Ibrahim Al-Khouli: "Not true!"
Khaled Muntaser: "If they invent a machine, maybe we should get it. Just like a machine makes ice-cream, it will be able to produce children." [...]
"When a Child Is Exposed to Such Information... He Will Do It With His Sister"
Ibrahim Al-Khouli: "According to scientific reason, the idea leads to action. When you get an idea, you start thinking about how to implement it. When a child is exposed to such information, he tries to imitate it. He will do it with his sister. That is one of the most catastrophic problems."
Source: http://www.memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD258009
IHS
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