“Abbyasov said that the militants had taken elements of the Koran out of context.” We hear this endlessly; yet when have you ever heard a Muslim explain the proper context that renders the Qur’an’s violent verses benign? The most they say in the West is that these verses apply to long bygone days — a manifestly inadequate explanation, since it contradicts the express teachings of Muslim scholars beginning with Muhammad’s first biographer, Ibn Ishaq, who argue that the violent verses actually supersede and take precedence over the peaceful ones.
Abbyasov also “recalled that a group of over 120 Muslim scholars had released an open letter to IS militants and followers recently.” Indeed. It was a skillful piece, but ultimately deceptive, not dealing with the real justifications Islamic jihadists use to make recruits among peaceful Muslims — as I explained here and here.
So essentially Abbyasov is, like so many other Muslim spokesmen, demanding that non-Muslims not note the Islamic character of the Islamic State — which will make it all the harder to counter it. He is not saying anything that will actually make any Muslims who support the Islamic State change their minds.
“Don’t Refer To IS As ‘Islamic,’ Urges Russian Council Of Muftis,” by Joanna Paraszczuk, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, March 3, 2015:
The international community should not use the word “Islamic” when referring to the militant group Islamic State, according to the first deputy chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia, Rushan Abbyasov.
Abbyasov said that leaders of the Council of Muftis of Russia had joined representatives of several Arab countries in calling for the use of the word “Islamic” to be dropped when referring to IS in the media and elsewhere in public discourse.
Abbyasov made his comments in a live interview with Russia’s Vesti FM radio station ahead of a meeting in Moscow with diplomatic representatives of Yemen, Iraq, Palestine, Kuwait, Algeria, Jordan, and Sudan, pro-Moscow Russian news site RIA Novosti reported on March 3.
“We have arrived at this idea, that today we can try to neutralize these groups ideologically. At the minimum, we should remove the prefix ‘Islamic’ [from Islamic State],” Abbyasov was quoted as saying.
The Russian Council of Muftis deputy chairman said that the media and others should refer to thIS “just as [the militants] are positioning themselves — as terrorists, bandits, and radicals, but we should try to remove the prefix [of “Islamic”] that they have given themselves and which they are trying to play with,” Abbyasov told Vesti FM.
Abbyasov said he believed that dropping the term “Islamic” from the name of the militant group would have a significant impact.
“If the international community would not call them ‘Islamic’ then believe me, they can be destroyed ideologically,” he said.
Abbyasov recalled that a group of over 120 Muslim scholars had released an open letter to IS militants and followers recently.
The letter declared that the militant group’s ideology was “completely contrary to the essence of Islam,” Abbyasov said.
The letter, released in September 2014, used Koranic sources to refute the militants’ ideology.
Abbyasov said that the militants had taken elements of the Koran out of context.
“You can pull out any [Koran] quote out of context. To deal with the Koran, you don’t only need knowledge of Arabic, but of the many sciences that make it possible to reveal the full meaning of the verses and all the meanings that are inherent in the Holy Koran,” he concluded.
Abbyasov’s comments come amid increasing concerns in Russia about the threat posed by IS to the country’s security. Russia is not only concerned that Russian nationals who fight in Syria could return and commit terrorist acts on Russian soil, but also that the group’s ideology could prove a pervasive source of radicalization for Russian Muslims or Muslim foreign laborers from Central Asian countries.
Recent attempts to combat the threats Russia believes are posed by IS include a December 2014 ruling by the Supreme Court that deemed IS a terrorist group. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) included the IS group on a “unified list” of 22 terrorist groups published on its website last week.
Joe Shmo says
All you Islamic academic apologists, who think we don’t register your tacit approval of what the Islamic State is doing. You can only go to the well so many times.
mortimer says
Joe Shmo is right. More than half of Americans now believe that jihad threatens the US. Politicians cannot count on soothing platitudes about Islam anymore. The red majority in Senate and House of Representatives reflect that rapidly growing awareness of the jihad threat. Muslims know this already by the stares they are getting all across America.
M S case says
Hey council of MUFFITS or MUFFINS or whatever you call yourselves words won’t get it………….Get some fighters out there to cut down isis and all the other radical groups if you think islam has been hijacked. “Words fall of deaf ears when action doesn’t follow”.
mortimer says
Islamic clergy are masters of taqiyya and verbal jihad…i.e. whitewashing jihad and concealing its central position in all Islamic doctrines and rituals.
Western politicians will continue to be deceived unless they READ Islam’s source texts and Sharia law manuals to learn what actually teach.
These expertly devious mullahs know how to phrase Islamic doctrines so that Muslims realize they are using taqiyya while soothing Western politicians into a false sense of security.
Charli Main says
As others have posted many times in the past—-Islam has nothing to do with Islam and Muslims don´t believe in the Koran and its tenets.
By gad, Sir !!!! I think I have got it—-Muslims are not Muslims !!!!!!!
Mirren10 says
”By gad, Sir !!!! I think I have got it—-Muslims are not Muslims !!!!!!!”
🙂 🙂
Nice one, Charli !
mariam rove says
It is a good thing that this idiot lives in Russia. Unlike our government, the Russians are PC. If he gets out of line they will just snuff him. M
mortimer says
Russians need a translation of Graeme Wood’s Atlantic article which conclusively proves ISIS is profoundly and meticulously Islamic.
Aardvark says
The BBC needs a copy of that, too!
The BBC so-called news service has obviously issued instructions to its so-called reporters and so-called news-readers to prefix the name ‘Islamic State’ with the word ‘so-called’.
When I heard the first references to the ‘so-called Islamic State’ I thought it was just the one reporter. But after a couple of days I realised that they were ALL doing it, so it must be because of a ruling by some high-up in the BBC. Perhaps they are trying to avoid offending some of the so-called British mohammedans.
Michael Copeland says
“To deal with the Koran, you don’t only need knowledge of Arabic, but of the many sciences that make it possible to reveal the full meaning of the verses….” and so on.
The Mufti is contradicting Allah:
“We have indeed made the Koran easy to understand” (54:17).
As Ahmad Saad of North London Central Mosque assures us:
“The Koran is …true, universal and trans-time”.
Angemon says
It seems that muslim clerics everywhere are eager to convince non-muslims that the islamic state is not islamic, despite all the evidence to the contrary – evidence that they never bother to confront, they just hope the average kafir is ignorant and/or gullible enough to buy into their taqqyia.
Who said that islam was not a monolith?
Dan says
When I see “moderate” Muslims frogmarching their violent members to our jails and testifying in court to keep such bozos incarcerated for a really really long time, then I’ll listen.
Right now, Moderate’s words carry the weight of pot users claiming they can clean up the Colombian cartels. .
Ricky Black says
I think muslims like the idea that everybody is scared of them and hide behind the idea that ” O IS isn’t really Islam”. Why do we have to give a helping hand but we need a gun in the other? Until we understand that Allah is anti-Jesus, and all muslims know this, I don’t care what those lying so n so’s say
bad bob says
all he need say is Mohammed was wrong about the Jihad stuff…waiting………………………..
Ricky Black says
If I wrote a book that had 60% hate speech in it, it would be band. The Koran should be band on the same principle. The Koran has no place in a civilized world. Who gives a shit about some pagan moon god and worshiping a meteorite? it’s absurd. It all started because somebody wanted to make money on the haji. I’m a hillbilly from the sticks, and even I can see right threw this. If your a muslim, and read this , just look up moon god on the net
Jaladhi says
The whole Quran is “out of context” so no matter what you pick it will be always out of context for Muslims. Whereas we know very well what “murder” means – it doesn’t turn into love when you quote Quran – any context will convert murder into love. The Ruski imam is only using the tired age old out of context reply of Muslims. These Muslims don’t think that we know their Quran better than them!!
Jeff says
They’re just ticked off that ISIS jumped the gun a tad early and exposed to the world what Islam really means for the rest of us. Sorry, cat’s outta the bag.
Peggy says
What these muftis need to do is go and tell ISIS to drop Islamic from the name and see how well they listen. Why tell us not to use the word Islamic when we are not the ones who came up with the name?
Lia Wissing says
Rhetorical question: Pakistanis, Vietnamese, Russians, Somalis, naturalised French, Dutch, Belgians, Brits, Americans who plant & detonate bombs, who kill innocent people, who thirst for blood, who whine about their poor status, of different languages, cultures & ethnicities, share one thing: islam. Why may we not say this word?
Jan Aage Jeppersen says
“Russian Council of Muftis: Don’t refer to Islamic State as Islamic”
Right!
The un-Islamic part is the word “state”, a concept not found in orthodox Islam, where Islam is the community of all Muslims, called The Ummah. A truer Islamic name is Caliphate, also adopted by the Islamist movement after its large conquests of territory in Syria and Iraq. I think the name “Islamic State” shows Western influence on the movement. They should abolish the name “Islamic State” and just call it The Caliphate, the one and only in the Muslim world. What could be more Islamic than that?