Last November I was interviewed by Egyptian reporter Sherif Awad. The interview appeared in several Egyptian magazines and websites, as well as American ones, such as the Westchester Guardian, under the title “Egyptian-American Author Raymond Ibrahim Analyzes Fundamentalism.” The interview follows:
Awad: Can you tell us about your family and their profession and how and why they decided to migrate to the US? Tell us about your childhood and the intercultural elements that shaped it until you decided to select your profession.
Ibrahim: My father and mother, both Copts, one from Cairo the other Alexandria, left Egypt in the late 1960s for America, where I was born. They left Egypt for a better life. I grew up speaking both Arabic and English and visited Egypt with my parents often when I was young. It was natural, then, for me formally to study the region, its languages (primarily Arabic, which I already spoke), its history and conflicts, in college. Growing up in Egypt in the 1940s-1960s, my parents experienced little by way of direct persecution, but they did experience religious discrimination, and that was one of the reasons they came to America, for better opportunities.
Awad: In regards to your MA thesis and book about the Battle of Yarmuk, can you compare its events to the happenings that led to the ending of Islamic rule in Andalusia? Do you consider researching the Islamic empire in Andalusia? About the Crusades?
Ibrahim: Yes, I am very interested in early and medieval Islamic history, especially military history vis-à-vis Christendom. Not only are there parallels between those various battles and encounters, but indeed, the patterns continue to this very day. Most in the West are wholly unaware that to Islamist groups like al-Qaeda, they see the conflict as a continuum of history—as jihadis (mujahidin) fighting infidel “crusaders.” This is precisely why I have an interest in the long history of the conflict—most of which is concealed from people in the West by the forces of “political correctness,” which predominate in the classrooms, the government, and the media.
Awad: You researched al-Qaeda’s early history but I want to ask about 9/11 and how far al-Qaeda was involved, because many conspiracy theorists claim that certain US entities have something to do with those events… keep reading

boakai ngombu says
“… Most in the West are wholly unaware that to Islamist groups like al-Qaeda, they see the conflict as a continuum of history—as jihadis (mujahidin) fighting infidel “crusaders.” This is precisely why I have an interest in the long history of the conflict—most of which is concealed from people in the West by the forces of “political correctness,” which predominate in the classrooms, the government, and the media…”
thank you and Robert and a few others for pulling back the curtain
by that curtain, it seems that our “keepers” have determined to keep us uninformed and enslaved to ignorance.
it seems that those aligned with fundamentalists desire that WE be further enslaved by the marvelous SHARIA (enslavement tool of greedy, immoral humans.
the pain and bloodshed those aligned with the fundamentalists have and do seek to bring about shall be joined with the millions already enslaved by this continuing assault on all cultures and peoples.
the Singular and Unique God, trusted by Abraham, shall execute His justice. were that it were sooner than later. those aligned with the fundamentalists and the fundamentalists themselves – especially those who do not abide in faith, like Abraham – will know they deserve condemnation.
Salah says
From the article:
Ibrahim: This is a good, important, and ultimately complicated question. To be brief: I always distinguish between Muslims, the humans, and Islam, the religion.
Thank you Raymond.
Indeed, Muslims can be tolerant or they can be intolerant, they can be decent or they choose to be indecent, they can follow the examples of Muhammad or they can decide not to follow the examples of Muhammad.
Thank God, many are too decent to imitate their filthy “prophet”. They are captives, they are victims, they need to be liberated.
Dear Muslims, you are too decent to follow this man:
http://crossmuslims.blogspot.com/2010/12/perfect-man-of-islam.html
mortimer says
Agree with Salah: “many are too decent to imitate their filthy prophet”.
But they are also in denial about how filthy he is! They pretend they don’t see and carry on. The constant lying about Mohammed is a bad habit that leads to Muslims lying about almost everything. A SICK, dysfunctional culture.
Salah says
“But they are also in denial about how filthy he is!”
You’re absolutely right. I think this denial is due to ignorance and/or fear. This is slowly changing.
http://crossmuslims.blogspot.ca/2014/01/egyptian-muslims-tear-up-quran.html