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The Mufti of Australia and New Zealand, Taj Al-Din Hamed Abdallah Al-Hilali (the one who claimed Australia was originally Muslim), has come under fire for his remarks praising jihad and suicide bombing. His defense? His remarks were "taken out of context."
I couldn't begin to count the times that Muslim spokesmen have told me I am taking Qur'an quotes, or Hadith quotes, or the words of radical Muslims, out of context. It is an all-purpose defense, but it's a lazy and ultimately ineffective one. What possible context could justify or mitigate incitements to mass murder? And even if the Qur'an's injunction to "slay unbelievers wherever you find them" (Sura 9:5) really does only apply to some of the Prophet Muhammad's opponents, it is not being wrenched out of this context by "venomous Orientalists" like me, but by radical Muslims around the world who seem unimpressed by arguments that this behavior was restricted to Muhammad's day. And why are they unimpressed? Because the entire context of the Qur'an and the way it is traditionally interpreted by Muslims does not teach that this verse cannot be applied to contemporary situations. Moreover, if the Prophet behaved that way, his actions in this as in everything else are exemplary -- so even the argument used by the "out-of-context" folks doesn't blunt the force of this verse or keep it from being used by radicals.
What is needed is thoroughgoing reform that will rule out radical Muslim exegesis of the Qur'an as an option for Muslims. Shallow, tiresome bleats of "out of context" and "religion of peace" don't quite accomplish this.
From The Australian, with thanks to Kevin:
A SENIOR Liberal MP today urged the Federal Government to consider action against the leader of Australia's Muslims for praising Islamic suicide bombers and calling for a holy war against Israel. . . .Christopher Pyne, parliamentary secretary to the Minister for Family and Community Services, said he was appalled and horrified by Sheik Alhilali's alleged support for violence.
But a spokesman for the Sydney-based Mufti said he had been taken out of context. . . .
The Mufti's spokesman in Sydney, Keysar Trad, said MEMRI had taken the Muslim leader out of context.
"The Mufti is a proponent of peace and peaceful solutions to any conflict," he told ABC radio.
"I spoke to him today and he assured me that the context in which he made his message was not in the way that it was reported by these people."
Mr Trad said the Mufti believed Muslim resistance fighters may target occupying military forces, but not civilians.
He said the Mufti was not urging people to carry out suicide bombings.
"He is saying, let's not condemn them because these people are making a major sacrifice to protect their country," said Mr Trad, of the Lebanese Muslim Association.
Nor was the Mufti calling for a war against Israel.
"He was not so much calling for a jihad in the nature of war, but in the nature of what will get that country to respect the United Nations resolutions."
Hmm. A peaceful jihad to force respect for UN resolutions. That's a new one.
Posted by Robert at February 18, 2004 8:41 AM
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Out of context? I think not. As we are now studying the Koran for ourselves, we see that the statements and quotes that are made by these people are, indeed, threats, and exhoratations to commit violence. Nothing is taken out of context because, as Robert has so reminded us, what the "…if the Prophet behaved that way, his actions in this as in everything else are exemplary…" Every Muslim is duty bound to emulate the actions of the Prophet.
As as Betty Davis said in one of her lines, and I'm paraphrasing, "It's going to be a bumpy ride."
The correct quote is "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night."
Posted by: Susan at February 18, 2004 4:01 PMSusan-Thanks, I needed that! I just couldn't remember the whole quote.
Posted by: epg at February 18, 2004 4:44 PMI've noticed that the 4 most common responses that muslims enjoy quoting when it comes to deflecting any attacks or criticisms of their religion are:(1)"Out of context" (2)"Islam is a religion of peace" (3)"This is not true islam" (4)"They are not true Muslims".I always hear those lines over & over again.It seems to me not only do they lack originality in their thinking but also in what they say.Do all muslims think the same exact way?.
Posted by: anonymous at February 18, 2004 7:50 PMOf course. They are coached. Remember that no criticism is allowed. That means you can't ask questions. You must SUBMIT and accept unconditionally.
Posted by: epg at February 18, 2004 8:57 PMTo think there is one supreme authority that issues edicts from above that are accepted by the global Dar al-Islam would be wrong. There are, and have always been, a multiplicity of doctrinal expositions and exegesis within Islam.
So a Muslim may not be entirely disingenuous when she/he says that something is "out of context" or "not true Islam", based on their religious upbringing.
We do not have the luxury of being able to condemn the entire global Islamic community in one fell sweep like critics of the Catholic Church do.
Posted by: fabs at February 19, 2004 5:52 PMMr. Fabs,
I would invite you to read my books for a fuller discussion of the fact that there is no central authority in Islam. However, this fact actually bears little, if at all, on claims that something is taken "out of context." Context is a generally immutable thing; it doesn't shift between various sects. I also never have condemned and am not interested in condemning "the global Islamic community."
Cheers
RS
RS,
I defer to your decades of scholarship and study. I merely speak from the position of an interested non-Muslim concerned about the "clash of civilisations".
Born and raised in an Islamic country in South East Asia, my family and I are no strangers to persecution by Muslim authorities.
But at the same time, I understand how Muslim-to-non-Muslim relationships can work at the personal level, in the face of hostile Islamic officialdom.
It terrifies me that less learned persons than yourself will cherry-pick suras, hadiths etc to help them justify a wholesale antagonism to Muslims. What can we do to avoid such outcomes?
Fabs
Posted by: Fabs at February 19, 2004 7:01 PMSir,
The only thing we can do to avoid justifying wholesale antagonism against Muslims is to avoid justifying wholesale antagonism against Muslims. I devote a chapter of "Onward Muslim Soldiers" to the radical Muslim exegesis of the Qur'an and Hadith, showing that it is not based on cherry-picked passages, but on a coherent and comprehensive exegetical framework. It is not an interpretation I created, but one I merely report on, and I believe that to do so is important, because this interpretation is influential around the world. This is, I think, a key distinction: I don't think anyone should be interested in what some non-Muslim says the Qur'an means. But everyone should be very interested in what Muslims say the Qur'an means, and that is an ongoing focus of my work. Accordingly, by its very nature it doesn't partake of cherry-picking to force a point, and those who charge otherwise are either uninformed or actively defamatory.
But do all Muslims hold the interpretations about which I report? They do not, and I have never said otherwise. Should all Muslims be hated? Of course not. I am only interested in defending against the global jihad. Those who are (in all senses) not fighting it or who oppose it are not any of my concern.
Yrs
RS
The only time we ever hear about texts being taken out of context from the Quran and the Hadiths is when the meanings are made clear - and are not whitewashed. The true meanings shoe that Islam is a death cult and hates both men and women.
jihan
Posted by: jihan at February 20, 2004 1:14 PMThe four common responses...
There's also a fifth one that you occasionally see, especially in the Arab News in the regular page "Islam in Perspective". It goes something like this:
"But Islam was at war then."
jay
Posted by: Jay Stevens at February 21, 2004 7:33 AM
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