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CAIR rep Omer Subhani exposes Robert Spencer! Part II

May 15, 2008 5:37 am By Robert Spencer

Omer Subhani of CAIR is one of the only people who have even attempted to show that what I’ve written about Islam is inaccurate, so despite the ineptness, mean-spiritedness, and dishonesty of his attempt, I’ve thought it only sporting to post replies. The thing is elephantine, however, in eleven parts, so it is going to take some time. Here is Subhani’s Part II, and you can find my response to his Part I here. This one is mostly about things Greg Davis and Hugh Fitzgerald have said, and they are welcome to join in, but I will sketch out a few responses here myself.

Robert Spencer is either a terrible scholar or a terrible person.

Or a Caped Crusader.

The reason being is that on his web site (http://www.jihadwatch.org/islam101/) Spencer has a section called “Islam 101” where the author, Gregory M. Davis, claims that he outlines the basics of the Islamic faith. By having this section featured prominently on his web site there can be little doubt that Spencer agrees with and supports Davis’ shoddy scholarship. Besides the many errors and outright lies he has placed in this section (yes Robert, I will be more than happy to list all of Davis’ errors just like I did about the Pact of Umar argument you made, just send me an email) Davis elaborates on a concept called taqiyya.

Taqiyya is a Shia concept that essentially allows Shias to keep their true beliefs secret while they live among Sunnis. Davis claims that the term also applies to Sunni Muslims who are living in “Dar al-Harb” or as Davis implies, the West, and thus he claims that Muslim organizations who are claiming that Islam is a religion of peace are actually lying. Individual Muslims, Davis asserts, may actually believe that their religion is a religion of peace, but Muslim organizations (he never specifies which ones, but from common right wing commentary he probably intends to imply ISNA, ICNA, CAIR, MAS, et al.) are really jihadi propaganda fronts.

Why, horror of horrors! What sort of dastardly fellow would imply that ISNA, ICNA, CAIR and MAS are not as pure as the driven snow?

Let’s see. There’s a great deal that can be said about those groups, but let’s take just one. In “An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Brotherhood in North America,” a 1991 Muslim Brotherhood document that came to light last year, Brotherhood operative Mohamed Akram explains that the Brotherhood’s 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.”

The memorandum concludes with “a list of our organizations and the organizations of our friends.” Among these organizations are the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA); the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA); and the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), from which came in 1994 the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR). The Muslim American Society (MAS), meanwhile, is the name under which the Brotherhood operates in the U.S.

So what is Davis really saying and what is Spencer really endorsing?

I’m saying I’m against that “grand jihad,” Mr. Subhani. Are you? What do you have to say about Akram’s memorandum — and about the other evidence that the groups you name are not as moderate as you would have us believe?

When Spencer is on television he claims that he is providing a voice for moderate Muslims, giving them an intellectual foundation to stand upon to speak out against the radicals and extremists.

Hogwash. I am not a voice for moderate Muslims, and have never claimed to be.

He says that moderate and peaceful Muslims need to speak out against the elements within their religious doctrine that jihadis use to justify violence and “reform” those elements.

Yep.

But based upon Davis’ definition of taqiyya how could a person ever know who a sincerely peaceful Muslim is? How would we know such a person isn’t deceiving us into thinking that they are a peaceful Muslim when in reality they are just hiding their true jihadi beliefs?

Good questions!

Hugh Fitzgerald, the other ideologue at Jihad Watch, attempts to summarize what taqiyya means. He argues that Sunnis also practice taqiyya (his source is a work by Mervyn Hiskett, a British scholar of Islam – he does not cite a single Islamic source stating that Sunni Muslims must deceive non-Muslims [but why would Muslim scholars actually say this? It’s a secret, right Hugh?] although he could find texts from Shia scholars allowing for such a thing in Sunni dominated states).

Here you go, Subhani — here are two Sunni sources on taqiyya, commenting on Qur’an 3:28:

“Let not the believers take disbelievers for their friends in preference to believers. Whoso doeth that hath no connection with Allah unless (it be) that ye but guard yourselves against them, taking (as it were) security.” — Qur’an 3:28

“Allah said next, ‘unless you indeed fear a danger from them,’ [or as above, ‘unless it be that ye but guard yourselves against them’] meaning, except those believers who in some areas or times fear for their safety from the disbelievers. In this case, such believers are allowed to show friendship to the disbelievers outwardly, but never inwardly. For instance, Al-Bukhari recorded that Abu Ad-Darda’ said, ‘We smile in the face of some people although our hearts curse them.’ Al-Bukhari said that Al-Hasan said, ‘The Tuqyah [taqiyya, or religious deception] is allowed until the Day of Resurrection.'” — Ibn Kathir’s commentary on Qur’an 3:28

“Let not the believers take the disbelievers as patrons, rather than, that is, instead of, the believers – for whoever does that, that is, [whoever] takes them as patrons, does not belong to, the religion of, God in anyway – unless you protect yourselves against them, as a safeguard (tuqātan, ‘as a safeguard’, is the verbal noun from taqiyyatan), that is to say, [unless] you fear something, in which case you may show patronage to them through words, but not in your hearts: this was before the hegemony of Islam and [the dispensation] applies to any individual residing in a land with no say in it.” — the Tafsir al-Jalalayn on Qur’an 3:28

He points out some evidence to support his claims:

1. He says that Muslims will cite verses like 2:256 that say “There is no compulsion in religion,” without making mention that this verse was abrogated. But was it really? If we turn to the Tafsir of Imam al-Qurtabi, the great Malikite scholar of Andalusia, he says one of the interpretations of this verse is that it was not abrogated and he cites among others, Hasan al-Basri, one of the greatest scholars of the Salaf, as holding the opinion that the verse was not abrogated by Surah al-Tawba. In fact, the verse serves as evidence, in al-Basri’s opinion, that the meaning of the verse is intended for People of the Book, Jews and Christians, who live in the Islamic state. Qurtabi cites a hadith of Umar where he confronts an old Christian woman and asks her to become Muslim, but she turns down his offer. Umar proceeds to recite the relevant verse and asks God to be his witness to the affair.

I don’t think that the majority of Islamic sources say 2:256 was abrogated, and have never hung an argument on its having been abrogated. In my Qur’an Blog on 2:256, I point out that one early authority, Mujahid ibn Jabr, does say that this verse was abrogated by Qur’an 9:29, in which the Muslims are commanded to fight against the People of the Book. I also note there that Tabari (whom Subhani claims I haven’t read) says that 2:256 was never abrogated, but was revealed precisely in reference to the People of the Book. They are not to be forced to accept Islam, but may practice their religions as long as they pay the jizya (poll-tax) and “feel themselves subdued” (9:29). And the fact that I take note of this disagreement among Muslim interpreters of the Qur’an makes Subhani’s subsequent assertion look silly:

What Spencer, Davis, and Fitzgerald do not understand is that there is no one interpretation of the verses of the Qur’an that is above all the others.

What Omer Subhani doesn’t understand is that before criticizing someone’s work, it is somewhat helpful actually to read it. The Q-Blog on 2:256 was posted on July 15, 2007; Subhani’s post I’m discussing here was posted on January 8, 2008. That means he had nearly six months to discover, from this example as well as others, that I don’t think that there is “one interpretation of the verses of the Qur’an that is above all the others.” Unless, of course, all he is interested in is demonization, not accuracy.

You can find an opinion to support your assertions if you look around (like the jihadis do). There are plenty of Muslim scholars who say that 2:256 was abrogated, but there are just as many who say that it was not – and Hasan al-Basri is not just a someone, he was arguably the most pious and knowledgeable Tabi’i, being the student of Ali, may God ennoble his face.

2. Fitzgerald says that when Muslims say jihad is really a spiritual struggle they are not telling the truth. He asserts that the hadith that states that the struggle against the ego is the greater jihad has weak chains of transmission and he also states that this interpretation is a “recent one in Islam.” He is wrong on both counts (honestly, this is like talking to a Salafi).

First, how could the interpretation of jihad being a spiritual struggle be a “recent one” when the hadith is mentioned in so many ancient Islamic texts that it couldn’t possibly be limited to the last hundred years? The fact is, it is not a “recent” interpretation. The Muhaddithun, as Fitzgerald is wont to cite, and which ones he does not mention, have mentioned this hadith in many works, including by notable hadith shcolars like: al-Bayhaqi, al-Khatib, and ibn Hajr al-Asqalani. These scholars have criticized the chain of narrators, but none of them have said the hadith was forged, only that the chain was weak, which Fitzgerald is correct in noting.

Subhani is trying to blame Hugh for saying that the “greater jihad/lesser jihad” hadith, the primary foundation for the idea that jihad is principally a spiritual struggle, is weak — as if Hugh made up that idea. In fact, the 14th-century Islamic scholar Ibn Taymiyya wrote: “This hadith has no source and nobody whomsoever in the field of Islamic knowledge has narrated it. Jihad against the disbelievers is the most noble of actions and moreover it is the most important action for the sake of mankind.”

Yeah, Hugh made that up. Sure, Subhani.

But what does Fitzgerald know about hadith? Obviously nothing because if he knew anything then he would know that just because a hadith has a weak chain that it’s meaning can still be sound. In the case of this hadith, many of the scholars of Islam, all before a hundred years ago, confirm the authenticity of the statement concerning the greater jihad being that of the struggle against the ego. In fact, some of the scholars say that the jihad against the ego is a precondition before a military jihad can be waged.

But the military jihad can then be waged. I feel so much better!

Even ibn Taymiyya is of such an opinion, where he is reported to have said by his student, ibn al-Qayyam: “The jihad of nafs (ego) and hawa (desires) is the foundation of jihad of the disbelievers and hypocrites; one cannot do jihad of them before he first does jihad of his nafs and hawa, then he goes out and fights them.”

Ibn Taymiyya died in 1328 CE. Hopefully that’s old enough.

Sure is, Subhani. Oh, and by the way, don’t forget Ibn Taymiyya’s statement I quoted just above: “Jihad against the disbelievers is the most noble of actions and moreover it is the most important action for the sake of mankind.”

In any case, and refutation of shoddy scholarship not withstanding, Davis’ concept of taqiyya puts Muslims living in the West in an extremely dangerous position. The reason being is that if enough Westerners were to believe Davis’ argument about taqiyya then many Westerners could become extremely worried about their Muslim neighbors even if their Muslim neighbors speak out vociferously against terrorism in the name of their religion. Every Muslim organization looks suspect, even Jihad Watch’s buddies, Muslims Against Shariah. How do we know they are really telling the truth? The danger of saying that Muslims hide their true beliefs is that it portrays Muslims, all Muslims, no matter their track record, as suspect. No Muslim can be trusted because no matter what issues from their mouth they could be deceiving the Western public.

Yes, indeed, it puts you in a difficult position. But it is not one that I made for you, Omer Subhani, or that Greg Davis or Hugh Fitzgerald made for you. It is one that you have made for yourself, not least by your disingenuousness here about CAIR, ISNA, ICNA, and MAS, and about the Sunni foundations of taqiyya itself, as I laid out with the quotes from Ibn Kathir and the Tafsir al-Jalalayn. If you had discussed all that honestly, maybe people would be inclined to trust you. But you didn’t, did you? Now, why is that?

This is flat out racism […]

What race is Islam again?

[…] and deception and serves no other purpose than to marginalize those Muslims who do speak out and to cast doubt upon the positive efforts Western Muslims are undertaking. It’s xenophobia, it’s racist, it’s disgusting.

Yeah, yeah. I’ll tell you what, Subhani: post something about the Islamic supremacist statements, the terror arrests, and the unindicted co-conspirator status of CAIR, and about the traditional Sunni view of Qur’an 3:28, and maybe I will grant you are making some “positive efforts.” Until then, your own words are what casts your position into doubt.

Robert Spencer, Hugh Fitzgerald – you guys are bigots. Your “scholarship” is pathetic. It’s always great to hear Spencer sitting back in a chair during an interview claiming that no Muslim can really argue with him regarding his accusations because he’s studied traditional Islamic sources and he knows the real truth.

All right. Next time I’ll say it standing up.

The fact is, Spencer uses the same pathetic methodology employed by jihadis to justify their murder and mayhem. They both claim that what they present is the true Islam. Spencer does nothing to help “moderate” Muslims. He paints Islam as a religion of destruction and then tells Muslims to go fix it, but then he says that traditional Islam justifies terrorism, rape, wife beating, etc. So what is a Muslim to fix?

Uh, the justifications for terrorism, rape, wife beating, etc.

Spencer, the problem with you is that you want it both ways. You want Muslims to open up a dialog with the West and reform their religion, but then you want to show that the Islam the jihadis associate with is the real Islam, the Islam that has always been practiced and enforced throughout Islamic history.

I’ve never said that the jihadis’ Islam is the real Islam. There is no central authority in Islam that can rule that one Islam is the real Islam and some other Islam isn’t. But the agreement of the schools of jurisprudence on jihad violence and Sharia supremacism makes it hard for peaceful Muslims to rebut the jihadists’ claim to represent the real Islam. The only way genuine and sincere reformers might ever possibly rebut this claim will be by confronting the violent and supremacist elements of the Qur’an and Sunnah, and reinterpreting or rejecting them — not by pretending they don’t exist.

As I have shown above, Surah al-Tawba is not the defining verse dictating relations between Muslims and non-Muslims.

I wonder sometimes if Omer Subhani even pays attention to what he is writing. He has shown “above”? This is his first mention of Surah al-Tawba (sura 9 of the Qur’an) in this post.

Muslim scholars for all of Islamic history have noted that the jihad against the ego always comes before the jihad against Islam’s enemies, this being based upon the teachings of the Prophet himself, peace and prayers be upon him.

Great. Now if he could come up with some Muslim scholars who say there should not be warfare at all based on religious supremacism, we might be getting somewhere. But don’t hold your breath.

The idea that Iran, Saudi Arabia, a-Qaeda are practicing things incorrectly is never even considered a possibility by Spencer. He just goes along with them, attempting to demonstrate how they’re right, how their Islam is the right one.

I’m not in the least interested in demonstrating that they’re “right.” I have noted, and will continue to note, that they base their entire appeal to Muslims on the claim that they are “right,” and that instead of even trying to counter them, Omer Subhani and his ilk spend all their time demonizing me.

You’re no friend of Muslims, Spencer. You’re a jihadi yourself.

Yeah, watch for my next beheading video, Omer!

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