Reuters touts Muslim Brotherhood operative as "the kind of moderate Islamic leader Congressman Peter King said the country needs"

Is Wendell Marsh of Reuters clueless, or complicit?

"Islam is all-American for one U.S. Muslim leader," by Wendell Marsh for Reuters, March 20:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - - Al Azhar, the centuries-old center of Islamic learning in Cairo, is a world away from Oklahoma City where William Suhaib Webb grew up.
But it was not until the American Muslim leader immersed himself in Islamic studies at Al Azhar that he realized just how American he was, regardless of his religion.

"I didn't really have enough comfort as a young convert to really be who I was ... I adopted different cultural constructs that I had not grown up with," he told Reuters in a telephone interview from Santa Clara, California, where he is an imam at a mosque and runs a website aimed at Muslim youth.

Named in 2010 by an Islamic think-tank as one of the 500 "Most Influential Muslims in the World" for his work with youth over the last decade, Webb is now arguably the kind of moderate Islamic leader Congressman Peter King said the country needs when he chaired hearings on Muslim militancy this month.

Webb's positions on issues such as women's rights and religious community involvement are near the American mainstream. He denounces violence in the name of Islam, and encourages U.S. Muslim youth to be comfortable with their American roots....

The Reuters story never mentions it, but Suhaib Webb is actually affiliated with the Muslim American Society.

And what is the Muslim American Society? The Muslim Brotherhood. "In recent years, the U.S. Brotherhood operated under the name Muslim American Society, according to documents and interviews. One of the nation's major Islamic groups, it was incorporated in Illinois in 1993 after a contentious debate among Brotherhood members." -- Chicago Tribune, 2004, via the Muslim Brotherhood's English-language website, Ikhwanweb.

The Muslim Brothers "must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and "sabotaging" its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God's religion is made victorious over all other religions." -- "An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Brotherhood in North America," by Mohamed Akram, May 19, 1991.

Imagine if a Jewish or Christian leader was affiliated with a group that was, according to one of its own documents, dedicated to "eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and 'sabotaging' its miserable house" so that Jewish or Christian law would replace the U.S. Constitution. Would Wendell Marsh of Reuters be writing a glowing puff piece about the moderation and wisdom of such a leader?

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5 Comments

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duh_swami | March 20, 2011 1:51 PM | Reply

I read that article earlier...I was going to comment, but didn't want to sign up to do it...It was a fluff peace, no where in the article is the Quran nor Mahound mentioned, or what Webb really believes...Pure taqiyya sunshine...

gravenimage | March 20, 2011 2:09 PM | Reply

Is Wendell Marsh of Reuters clueless, or complicit?
...................................

Probably the former. Here are his recent stories for Reuters, two of which were *about the weather*. Most of his stories appear to very prosaic. He appears to know nothing about Islam at all.

http://blogs.reuters.com/wendell-marsh/

Here's a guest author at Suhaib Webb's website, criticizing law enforcement efforts against Jihad terrorism:

"For the past five years I have had the opportunity to watch law enforcement develop counter terrorism strategies, specifically in how it affects the Muslim community. While I do not consider myself an expert, I firmly believe after having watched the trial and error approach to counter terrorism strategies, that the civil liberties and rights of Muslims have been undermined. But far worse is the collateral damage our community has faced with broken trust and disunity..."

Here he slams anti-Jihadists:

"Since 9/11 there has been a vacuum in understanding the American Muslim community, as well as Islam’s philosophy. In this vacuum there has developed a literal “virtual industry” of “Islamic experts” on terrorism, radicalization, Islam and Muslims. These experts include the infamous Daniel Pipes, Steven Emerson and the likes of Bridgett Gabriel. Fear and ignorance further fuel the bigotry and Islamophobia of these online experts, actually giving their ideas stature and influence in law enforcement circles via policy papers."

For him to describe the stalwart Dr. Pipes as "infamous" is grotesque. I'm surprised he didn't go after Robert Spencer, as well.

"To understand the implications of these efforts one only needs to look toward the shift in draconian measures post-9/11 America. Law enforcement, policy experts and politicians faced by the immensity of terrorism, along with the fear and ignorance that swept the intelligence collapse in preventing the 9/11 terrorists, enacted the Patriot Act I and II. Essentially the law shifted police efforts toward preventive efforts – or counter-terrorism. Simply put, they want to catch a terrorist before an act of terrorism takes place, rather than apprehend a terrorist or associate after an attack."

Well, yes. Suhaib Webb apparently has problems with the idea of *saving lives*. I suppose law enforcement should wait until sufficient numbers of Infidels have been murdered before they act.

http://www.suhaibwebb.com/society/domestic-affairs/the-rand-report-and-counter-terrorism-strategy-in-the-us/

In December on Webb's "virtual mosque" a guest author praised a book on jihad written by Sheikh Yusef Qaradawi—who is often called the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood.

William "Suhaib" Webb was raised a Christian in Oklahoma, and came to Islam via violent gangsta rap and Malcolm X. This white guy claims to have been a member of the Bloods. I have no idea if this is true. He still talks like a rapper. What a moron.

He's now Imam at the Muslim Community Association in Santa Clara, California. This is, unfortunately, right in my neck of the woods in the San Francisco Bay Area.

SeifulKaffir | March 20, 2011 3:05 PM | Reply

Excuses, Excuses.

This comment taken from Suhaib Webb's site is a perfect example of the taqqiya used by so many apologists. Don't miss the hadith at the end of the comment, it is pure Islamic Supremacy. Let me be clear, this was not Suhaib Webb's own words, but that of a commentor. It looks like someone let the cat out of the bag on the taqqiya tip.

"Sis says:
November 9, 2009 at 5:31 pm
What I find to be disturbing is how few people are defending or giving excuses to Shaykh Anwar. I sincerely highly DOUBT that he wrote all those things. Anyone can take over/hack an online account and write blasphemy in order to get people to hate on a personality. I am so sad that we as an Ummah are so gullible to believe this blog was written by Shaykh Anwar, that too, knowing how easy it is to hack an account.

We don’t even know the truth behind the blog, I will not believe he wrote the blog until I see proof. ANYONE can ay PRophet Muhammad (sws) said such-and-such…WE SHOULD KNOW BETTER then to just believe the garbage and denounce the RPophet sws.

Do not forget the well known hadith:

“Help your brother whether he is the oppressor or the oppressed.”

Conclusion: Remember the story of Aisha and IFK from Surah Nur and give your brother 70 excuses."

http://www.suhaibwebb.com/society/international/short-open-letter-to-anwar-al-awlaki-by-omar-muzaffar/

نحن الكفار، ونحن فخورون! ونحن نعلم اللعبة ونحن هو بلين لا!

RonaldB replied to comment from SeifulKaffir | March 20, 2011 4:28 PM | Reply

Seiful,

I don't understand your point. In the blog entry to linked to, Suhaib Webb went out of his way, and unambiguously, to condemn any praise of the murderer Major Nidal Hassan as a hero.

In fact, I listened to Webb's interview at

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6377106136760500431&q=suhaib+webb&total=87&start=10&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=9#

and I think perhaps you've picked the wrong guy as an example of a hidden danger.

He's totally enthusiastic about Islam, and consequently believes in a lifestyle totally dominated by Islamic law. He also claims to believe that Islam forbids violence against innocents, and I take him at his word. If you accused him of being subversive, he would say that he does not advocate any action that is not in accordance with US law. And, again, I take him at his word.

But here is the problem, and why I think that all Muslim immigration ought to be stopped completely and immediately. Most Muslims believe that Quoranic law (Sharia) should be the basis of a country's legal system. This belief is fundamentally opposed to US law, which mandates total separation between government and the establishment of (enforcement of) any religious beliefs or laws.

Now, the Muslim would say that any change would take place through a constitutional convention and amendment process, which is legal under our constitution.

Exactly. Even in a republic, the form of government is subject to the approval of the people. So, since Muslims have a concept of law that is diametrically opposed to ours, it makes sense to not allow them into a republic devoted to separation of religion and the state. It doesn't mean we demonize them or wish them harm. It simply means that in a republic, we don't allow entry to people whose concept of government is diametrically opposed to the basis of our government. It doesn't make sense.

If Suhaib Webb were applying for immigration, I would advocate keeping him out. However, I certainly don't believe he supports violence or terrorism in any way. Since he's an American convert to Islam, we have to fight him in the arena of ideas, which is not entirely bad. But, it is important to note that unless stated very clearly otherwise, a Muslim will support the enforcement of Islamic law by the American government.

Mary | March 21, 2011 8:54 PM | Reply

"Muslims in America are going to have to somehow engage American culture in order to offer the answers to American culture, the problems of American culture," he (Mr. Webb) said. What he means is that Islam will be offered as the "answer" to the "problems" with America. The Muslim world calls the United States the "great satan" because the freedoms enjoyed by Americans lures Muslims away from total "submission" to Islam, which is enforced by Sharia law. In Islam, "peace" is referring to the submission of the world to Islam, to the "order" of Muslim supremacy, non-Muslim subjugation, and the complete domination and control ("legalizing" abuse) of women. That is not extreme Islam, that is Mohammad's example in the Sunnah/Haddith and Mohammad's doctrines found in the Quaran. Read it for yourselves, keeping in mind that Mohammad's doctrine of abrogation provides the earlier, peaceful-sounding suras are superseded by the older, jihad suras.

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