In "Melting ice with Westerners" in the Chicago Tribune (thanks to Daniel), the Egyptian Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa puts into practice the Muslim Prophet Muhammad's dictum that "war is deceit" (Sahih Bukhari, IV:52:268-270), and Michael Tackett, the Trib's associate managing editor in Washington, willingly plays along.
Note how carefully Ali Gomaa spins his webs, and how Tackett never challenges him.
CAIRO -- Ali Gomaa, the grand mufti of Egypt, was holding forth in a rare interview with American journalists on the campus of Al-Azhar University, a 1,000-year-old college of Islamic learning.Lean and more than 6 feet tall, with a serious and authoritative mien, he is one of the most important religious figures in Egypt, one with the power to issue edicts, and his views are respected throughout the Muslim world.
The session was part lecture, part interview and always a dexterous display of rhetorical skills that show a command of politics in addition to religion.
That's an understatement.
Whether the issue was terrorism, church and state separation, suicide bombings, female circumcision or the Bush administration's policies in the Middle East, his answers flowed in a manner that was both imperious and compassionate."As a mufti I am used to answering people's questions," he said through an Egyptian interpreter. "We live in a global world."
His responses had the sound-bite-tested quality of a man who knew well how to craft a message. "We are totally against terrorism," he said. "Now the term is ... Islamic terrorists. Why don't you say a Catholic terrorist or a Protestant terrorist?"
Um, maybe because there is no global network of Catholic or Protestant terrorists committing violent acts as part of a larger effort to establish the supremacy of their religion throughout the world, and justifying those acts by appealing to the teachings of their religion?
Some fear that he and others would like to see Egypt become an Islamic state. What of that prospect?"Democracy doesn't tell you, `Do not be a religious person,'" he said. "I think Mr. Bush is very religious."
Logged and noted. Now: would you like to see Egypt become an Islamic state or not? Obviously the answer is yes, and Ali Gomaa knows that Tackett may be wary of such an open show of support for Sharia, so he sets up the false equation between George Bush and a Sharia state. The overheated paranoid rhetoric of the American Left aside, Bush is not trying to institute a system in which adulterers will be stoned to death and apostates likewise executed. There is simply no equivalence between his religiosity and that of Ali Gomaa. But Ali Gomaa would prefer that you didn't think that through.
Like seemingly everyone Egyptian, he opposes the war in Iraq. "This is a big problem," he said. "I don't know what the solution is. We can't tell where the truth is. The blood is up to the knees. My heart is breaking. I hope the American youth go home and that is the end of the problem."The mufti has been in the news most recently for his fatwa that was reported in some Egyptian news media as a possible call for the destruction of statues, a potentially crippling edict in a nation that derives much of its income from the tourism generated by its antiquities.
The mufti firmly said he was misquoted. The fatwa related to statues, he said, was merely among the 7,000 a month he issues on matters that range from whether a woman should consider herself divorced to the nature of jihad. A staff of 10 helps him handle the volume.
And they exploit technology to reach his followers. "We deliver fatwas by all means--oral, fax, e-mail or Web site," he said. His sermons are available on tape and CD.
He clearly saw some value in granting time for a group that is a prime source of news in the United States. He allowed himself to be filmed and his audio recorded. He emphasized that Islam is a religion of peace and that words so common to Islam, such as fatwa and mujahedeen, have been wrongly demonized.
Yes, of course. Wicked Islamophobes have been out there, all over the world, setting off bombs and beheading people in order to demonize Islam.
Islam, he said, has certain immutable tenets, such as abstinence from alcohol. "We cannot change that," he said. But on other matters, such as the statues, there is room for nuance."We would not destroy our Pharaonic monuments," he said. "We find it really funny that the media now focus attention on a fatwa that has been there for 14 centuries. And why are you so concerned about this issue? When the Taliban destroyed statutes, we were the first to speak out against them.
"When people open a museum and put statues in them, I respect that. But why would you not respect me if I were to think in another way?"...
Rewind that and look at it closely. He says that the prohibition of alcohol is immutable, which it is. He never says, however, that the prohibition of statues isn't immutable. In fact, he says that it is 14 centuries old, which means that it dates from the earliest days of Islam, and suggests that it is also likely immutable. It is true that Al-Azhar condemned the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas, saying that no Muslim scholar thought they impinged upon the Islamic faith; but Ali Gomaa is not so forthright. He says that he respects museums, so why shouldn't people respect his opinion? And that is that representational art offends Islam and must be destroyed. But how open-minded, how generous it all seems. He is only asking for tolerance of his views. What fair-minded person could refuse?
He called suicide bombings a "crime.""There is a difference between fighting for a specific right and just going to blow yourself up, and that must be punished," he said.
OK, but what if someone blows himself up in order to fight for a specific right? What if someone is taking seriously the Qur'an's promise of Paradise to those who "kill and are killed" for Allah (9:111)? No clarification on this from the Mufti.
And he said female circumcision is not required by Islamic law. "We should fight it," he said.Not all of his colleagues at Al-Azhar agree. What is he doing to convince them? And why do we get no hint of this disagreement from the Tribune?
The lessons of public relations have not fallen on deaf ears in Egypt. If anyone is responsible for the American public's uncritical acceptance of Taqiyya such as this, not to mention the Bush "religion of peace" canard, it is our own political establishment and press, which have stultified the language with corporate speak to the point where it is easy to say nothing, or the very opposite of what the audience expects and wants, and yet not be noticed. We are reduced to accepting atmospherics and diversion in place of substantive discussion.
War is deceit indeed. But deceit can be countered with confusion. For instance, this mufty, this Ali Gomer, can be taken to the spot on the globe that is the exact polar opposite of the Kaaba, and asked - "which way's Mecca?"
Fight them with Zen
CONFUSE THEM
The circumcision makes my blood boil.
I'm sure the tenets which are immutable are the ones that say kill Jews and infidels. Beat your women. Cover your women. Jihad. .........
If my memory serves me right, the koran doesn't say anything about love your wife and children.
But it says kill kill kill!!! allah is not very nice.
"There is a difference between fighting for a specific right and just going to blow yourself up, and that must be punished," he said.
+++++++++++++
Terroristic murder is still murder regardless of what it is called even if the MSM labels it "suicide bombings" so not to upset mos.....
Rhetoric, nothing more. I say rhetoric, but of course it's not difficult to see the areas where he says one thing but means another. Let's not lose sight of the fact that it's just outright lies. After all there is no such thing as a lie when conducting jihad.
"Rewind that and look at it closely."
-- from Robert's commentary
A line to take to heart, whenever a Defender of the Faith (Islamic version) is appearing before Infidels.
"There is simply no equivalence between [Bush's] religiosity and that of Ali Gomaa. But Ali Gomaa would prefer that you didn't think that through."
And so would millions of non-Muslim Leftists in the West, including the USA, prefer not to think that through.
I see, so the fatwa calling for the destruction of statues was just a clunker that somehow slipped into the 7,000 he issued last month? Any other "accidental" fatwas in there, maybe calling for smiting at the neck of infidels? If so, not to worry, it's only one of 7,000, so what's the big deal?
Smooth. Like buttah. If only I could talk as smoothly, I'd be CEO, or a Senator, or a lobbyist, or something that pays well and doesn't allow for blunt talk.
Goodness, where to begin.
Perhaps, it would be wise to question the very notion of 1 or even 10 people having that much control in peoples lives.
There is also the evasivness when it comes to Iraq.
The best he can do is to wish the Americans out?
Is there anyone out there who falls for that?
Micheal Moore or Cindy Sheehan perhaps.
It is clear that he and his jihadist allies want the U.S. out so that he and his fellow Muftis can come sweeping in, Koran in one hand and Klashnikov in the other to impose their tyranny.
The fate of Egyptian relics should be the least of our worries.
Slippery and slimey sounds ooze
and melt and morph into half truths,
half lies, his words weaving webs for our minds,
his fingers pointing in an imperious manner,
for he wears the cloak and mantle of the prophet,
he is a master of deceit. Swords are on his banner.
The good news is
he thinks in a box,
an unchanging form
that is finite and found
in three books. Look in the koran,
the hadiths of Bukhari, Ibn Ishaq's
Sira. It's all there, the foundation
of mohammedanism.
The good news is
his thoughts can never be original.
In war, this is their Achilles heel.
"He is only asking for tolerance of his views. What fair-minded person could refuse?"
Umm...how about fair-minded people who really ARE fair-minded, as opposed to what quite cynically passes for "fair-minded" (among both Islamists and leftists) these days?
We must end this travel down the road of madness now. Who will make it clear? Who will lead us? Wo is willing to stand up to the threats before us?
The session was part lecture, part interview and always a dexterous display of rhetorical skills that show a command of politics in addition to religion.
Perhaps the mufti should work under contract with some of the more liberal Christians -- he would fit right in with their apparent line of reasoning about Jesus and allah being the same entity.
I can't see the logic -- since Jesus and allah seem to be 180 degrees out from what I can ascertain from their respective teachings.
Oh well, not matter.
I hate this keyboard!
The MSM and the Muslim Da'wa are doing a fancier fandango than Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
(Although not making near as fine a pair.)
Softshoe With The Koran.
Skipping around all of the salient points like a pair of dialectical tapdancers.
Never touching flatfooted reality.
'Religious' figures are expected to be master apologists.
What is the reporter here apologizing for?
(I can think of a few reasons why he should:
Lack of research. Failure to ask incisive questions. Historical lightness.)
We need a scalpel, we get a butter knife.
"Like seemingly everyone Egyptian, he opposes the war in Iraq."
Not correct. President Murbarak said he hoped the coalition forces will remain in Iraq for some time to prevent an all-engulfing civil war which would unavoidably draw in the surounding states (SBS Television news, two or three weeks ago).
"President Murbarak said he hoped the coalition forces will remain in Iraq for some time to prevent an all-engulfing civil war which would unavoidably draw in the surounding states.."
-- from a posting above
Yes, he did. The Sunni Arabs now want the Americans to remain to ensure that Iraq does not split up, or that there is an "all-engulfing civil war which would unavoidably draw in the surrounding states."
I'm trying to figure out how this would harm Infidels, and I can't. The oil would flow; it flowed, after a very short initial interruption, through eight years of the Iran-Iraq war, involving millions. Why would it not continue to flow now? They all nedd money, and desperately. And if there were really some possibility of, say, sabotage of the large oilfields in the Eastern, Shi'a-inhabited Province of Saudi Arabia, which is most unlikely (most likely would be the Saudis calling in Western troops to guard the oil -- just as the French were called in in November 1979 to take back the Grand Mosque in Mecca). Those who keep telling us we have to stay to ensure "stability" are the old fake-realists who are simply counsellors of the old appeasement of Muslim states, horrified that Infidels might actually wish to divide and demoralize and unsettle and render "unstable" Muslim states (but if they understood the origin and scope and nature of the threat of Jihad, sensible Infidels would) rather than to return to the out-and-out appeasement that has worked so terribly in the past three decades. See Brent Scowcroft, see Lawrence Wilkerson (who claims thatif we "leave Iraq" we will "have to return in a few years with 5 million soldiers" -- an indication of his craziness), see the comical Zbigniew Brzezinski, who did so much to make the world safe for Khomeini and the Islamic Republic of Iran, see all those phony "realists" who would put on looks of horror if anyone suggested leaving Iraq for the right reasons -- the reasons offered here, steadily, for more than two years.
What Mubarak and the Saudis and other Sunni Arabs fear -- an American pull-out -- and what the Islamic Republic of Iran fears -- an American pull-out -- is just what the doctor ordered, and his prescribed remedy, if taken without further delay, will help long-suffering Uncle Sam pull through.
Hasan Salami wrote
for instance, this mufty, this Ali Gomer, can be taken to the spot on the globe that is the exact polar opposite of the Kaaba, and asked - "which way's Mecca".
Ya know what he will do ? He will dig a hole and put his head in it 5 times a day.
They all know what they are saying and what they are doing. Who is deceiving who?
To show that it is not that some folks are corrupting islam but that islam is just an corrupted mess, it corrupts the people who are in it; how can an educated man like Mufti be giving such incomplete answers to questions?
Why dont you condemn terrorrism outrightly? Why dont you come out and say that you didnt say such a thing?
Islam is indeed full of deceit and infact established by deceit and thrives in deceit.
They all know what they are doing because islam has corrupted them.