Then he mentions several examples of figurative art found on Islamic artifacts. First, a “centuries-long collection of tiles and jugs and other objects shows us that figurative art was normal in the Islamic world.” How does he know that figurative art was “normal” in the Islamic world? Where are these tiles and jugs from? He […]
Hugh Fitzgerald: Ed Husain on the British Museum and “The True Face of Islam” (Part Three)
What Ed Husain wants his readers to believe is that Muslim opposition to music is only to be found among the “Islamic State, the Taliban, and other hardliners.” That’s not true. He leaves out any mention of the belief, among many Muslims, that Muhammad himself condemned musical instruments when he said: “There will be among […]
Hugh Fitzgerald: Ed Husain on the British Museum and “The True Face of Islam” (Part Two)
Coexistence was the hallmark of Muslim civilisations, from China to the Philippines, from Malaysia to Africa and the Middle East. It was not isolated to Muslim Spain. Jewish, Christian and Muslim bread stamps, a practice from Roman times, thrived in Muslim-controlled Egypt. The gallery has a sample of remarkable stone stamps from between 1000 and […]
Hugh Fitzgerald: Ed Husain on the British Museum and “The True Face of Islam” (Part One)
Ed Husain, a self-described former Muslim extremist who once headed the Quilliam Foundation, which is ostensibly dedicated to turning Muslims away from Jihadist activities, is ecstatic about the exhibit of artifacts of Islamic civilization at the British Museum that opened last November. In Britain today, Islam in its original essence is not to be found […]
Tony Blair: The “perversion of Islam is the source of a lot of the problems in the Middle East”
“It found the Salafi-jihadist groups shared nearly identical ideologies and said challenging their interpretation of Islam was critical to defeating them.” I couldn’t agree more that their ideology has to be challenged. But challenging it on spurious grounds will prove futile. Pretending that they’re misunderstanding the Book of Peace and the peaceful teachings of Muhammad […]