I’m working now on my report on my speech at East Tennessee State University Wednesday night, and thought this deserved a separate post. The tone for the evening was set by a folder that Muslim students were handing out at the door to everyone who entered the hall. A sticker on the front read “ISLAM: Religion of Peace” — the topic for the evening was “Is Islam a Religion of Peace?”
Inside the folder was a piece libeling me; a flier, “30 Facts About Islam,” laden with taqiyya and detours; and two handsomely printed cards headed “Find Your…Bridge to Faith,” and breathlessly announcing, “THIS IS WHAT YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR: Find Out The Truth About The Fastest Growing Religion From An Ex-Preacher!” These cards announced six appearances between November 6 and 9 of Sheikh Yusuf Estes, a convert from Christianity to Islam, in Johnson City and Knoxville. “Sheik Yusuf,” it read in part, “helps many new people to Islam using straight talk & funny jokes, while answering harsh attacks against Islam & the Muslims. He makes it fun & easy for all of us to understand.”
I am sure that at these events Yusuf Estes will present a sugar-coated version of Islam, shorn of jihad violence and supremacism, in line with the directives of the book Methodology of Dawah by Shamim A. Siddiqi. This is a guide written by a Muslim for a Muslim audience on how to make American (particularly black American) converts, and it specifically tells Muslim proselytizers not to tell prospective converts the whole truth about Islam. On pages 48 and 49 of that book (corresponding to pages 70 and 71 of the pdf here) you will find this:
Through their Dawah activities, these communities approach the Afro- American people, who are already depressed and deprived, and are in quest of their true ‘identity’. Islam is presented to them. The concept of Tawheed (Oneness of God) is explained to them in an academic fashion without telling what this Kalimah [declaration of faith] demands from a Muslim. Aqidah [Islamic belief] is explained without giving the details of the impact of Iman Billah [faith in Allah] and Iman Bil- Akhirah [faith in the afterlife], and without telling what revolution it must bring in the life of an individual and the society in which he lives.
Some rituals of religion and traditions of the Muslim Community are explained. A short account of the Prophet’s (S) life is presented, without the revolutionary aspect. When Islam is acceptable to the new entrants in this concocted or abbreviated form, the ceremony of Shahadah [the profession of Islamic faith] is performed with great reverence. A non-Muslim thus becomes a Muslim, obedient to Allah (SWT) alone. The revolutionary aspect of Islam is rarely brought before the new converts, himself is not conversant with it. [Emphasis added.]
Yet while Estes is certain to present, in line with this, a “concocted or abbreviated” form of Islam, shorn of its “revolutionary aspect,” he is clearly quite conversant with the “revolution” that Islam “must bring in the life of an individual and the society in which he lives.” Sure, Yusuf Estes is always laughin’, havin’ fun, and here he is making the Islamic death penalty for apostasy fun and easy for all of us to understand:
[…] Yet another example that occurred at the time of our blessed prophet, peace be upon him, was that of some who pretended they wanted to be Muslims only to take advantage of the believers, gain some worldly benefits and then abused and slaughtered an entire group of shepherds that memorized the entire Quran, who were caring for them.
They killed them in cold blood and took everything for themselves. The prophet, peace be upon him, was very disturbed over this and ordered them to be severely punished and left to die without any food or water.
3. The proper punishment
From this example we learn how to deal with traitors and terrorists who have no intention of doing anything except evil and spreading fitnah (evil and terror) throughout the land.
Qur’an 5:33 mandates crucifixion or amputation of a hand and a foot on opposite sides for those guilty of fasad, which is similar to fitnah.
Over the centuries since the inception of Islam, we can find cases of people leaving Islam and what was their example and what the prevailing jurists decided in their particular situation.
Most all of these were not punished except in the cases of treason, other acts of violence or for propagating corruption, dissention and promoting evil along with their apostasy. […]
Now let us consider the realities of balance in Islam in light of today’s world.
There is no existing Islamic state with a khilafah. This means the hudud (punishment according to Islam) of the Shar’iah (Islamic Law) cannot be appropriately applied.
Additionally, anyone not being a citizen living in an Islamic state could hardly be tried and convicted by the state in a proper manner.
In other words, of course Islam has a death penalty for apostasy, but it can only be fully enforced within the caliphate, and the caliphate doesn’t exist today, so the punishment cannot be applied.
[…] To conclude, Islam comes from Allah, the actual Creator and Sustainer of the universe. […]
If a person wants to accept this belief and way of life, then they should be free to do so. If another person would reject this even though the evidence is clearly in favor of Islam, they are free to make this choice but would live in the society still receiving the benefits and services available, such as food, shelter, clothing, protection and charity.
However, they would pay a larger tax on their wealth due to their not being conscripted to serve in the military and so on.
In other words, they would be made to “pay the jizya [poll tax] with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued” (Qur’an 9:29).
Conditions are really what bring about the different rulings on dealing with those who enter Islam and then leave it, with the clear intention of bringing about dissention and unrest amongst the people.
Also, those who seek to convert people away from Islam into other faiths or to destroy the Islamic government would naturally be considered as traitors and then dealt with as such.
So in other words, Yusuf Estes teaches that missionaries should be killed, in line with Muhammad’s example in brutally killing people he considered to be traitors.
What a fun guy!