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Exposing the role that Islamic jihad theology and ideology play in the modern global conflicts

MPAC top dog in CNN: Just ignore ISIS and see Islam as “breath of fresh air”

Sep 2, 2015 7:17 am By Robert Spencer

Salam Al-Marayati is the executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council. Here he laments “our collective failure as humanity to respond appropriately to extremism.” How are we supposed to “respond appropriately to extremism”? We have to “stop giving ISIS so much attention” so that it will be “shunned into irrelevancy.”

How likely is it that the Islamic State will become “irrelevant,” or disappear, if we ignore it? What would really happen if we took Salam Al-Marayati’s advice? There would be no further discussion of whether the Islamic State’s practices were Islamic or not; it would simply be taken for granted that they weren’t, even while the Islamic State continued to make recruits among peaceful Muslims by pointing to the Qur’an and Sunnah to justify their actions. In other words, non-Muslims would be ignorant and complacent while the jihadis continued to advance. That’s the objective of Salam Al-Marayati.

More below the photo of Al-Marayati and friend.

Salam-al-Marayati

“No, ISIS doesn’t represent Islam,” by Salam Al-Marayati, CNN, September 2, 2015 (thanks to David):

…The list of horrors is a long one. Sadly, it also exposes our collective failure as humanity to respond appropriately to extremism. ISIS is setting the agenda — and highlighting our ineptness in the process.

Take, for example, how ISIS has been forcing ethnic Yazidi women into sexual slavery, a practice it says is rooted in historic precedence. Such a claim is absurd and false; yet the revelation has spurred a debate on sex slavery in Islam, as if the practice deserves any consideration at all, and as if ISIS deserves the kind of religious legitimacy conferred upon it by discussion of its proclamations.

Note how disingenuous Al-Marayati’s presentation is. He claims that the Islamic State says that sex slavery is “rooted in historic precedence,” which he says is “absurd and false.” In reality, the Islamic State says that sex slavery is rooted in the Qur’an and Muhammad’s example — a much stronger claim for Muslims than Al-Marayati represents it to be. Al-Marayati doesn’t confront or refute any of the Islamic State’s Islamic justifications for sex slavery; he just pretends they don’t exist, relying on the ignorance of his CNN readers.

The truth is that from a doctrinal, Islamic perspective, slavery is as an affront to the natural state of the freedom in which God created human beings that is tied to the first pillar of Islam (declaration of faith). All humans are equal before God and are distinguished only by their own good actions.

“All humans are equal before God,” says Salam Al-Marayati. Has he converted to Christianity? The Qur’an says Muslims are the “best of people” (3:110), while unbelievers are “the most vile of created beings” (98:6) and “the worst of living creatures” (8:55).

Indeed, the Quran advocated for a departure from this age-old practice of human bondage, calling for the just and humane treatment of slaves as human beings and not property. It also encouraged the act of freeing slaves as an act of worship; slavery is outlawed throughout the world and should never be reconsidered if we accept liberation as the most important value Islam [sic].

More dishonesty. The Qur’an contains no advocacy for abolition of slavery. It does call for the freeing of a slave as an act of charity (90:13), but never for the ending of slavery as such. And as for sex slavery, it says that Muslim men can take “captives of the right hand” (Qur’an 4:3, 4:24, 33:50). The Qur’an says: “O Prophet! We have made lawful to you your wives to whom you have paid their dowries, and those whom your right hand possesses of those whom Allah has given you as spoils of war” (33:50). Qur’an 4:3 and 4:24 extend this privilege to Muslim men in general. The Qur’an says that a man may have sex with his wives and with these slave girls: “The believers must win through, those who humble themselves in their prayers; who avoid vain talk; who are active in deeds of charity; who abstain from sex, except with those joined to them in the marriage bond, or those whom their right hands possess, for they are free from blame.” (Qur’an 23:1-6).

These are the passages on which the Islamic State bases its practices. For Al-Marayati to ignore them, not even bothering to offer an alternative interpretation of them, exposes him as a deceiver, rather than a reformer.

So why is it that groups such as ISIS can use outdated dogma to rationalize murder and rape and create a facade of religious legitimacy?

The trouble comes from the fact that organizations such as ISIS and Boko Haram cherry pick tribal customs and then apply an Islamic veneer to rationalize them. And it is this deliberate muddying of reality that lies at the heart of the struggle of ideas within the Muslim world today.

If this were true, it shouldn’t be so hard for Muslim opponents of the Islamic State and Boko Haram to show how these groups are misusing their “Islamic veneer.” But Al-Marayati, as we have seen, doesn’t even address it.

Groups like ISIS try to exploit misunderstandings of doctrine to further their own agendas. Yet while some Muslim scholars have spoken out against ISIS’s false claims, others are either silent on the issue of abolishing such outrageous practices, or worse, they suggest that Muslims are committing a sin by demanding we abandon practices that should be consigned to history. Modern forms of slavery, such as concubinage and human trafficking, is an abomination.

Why are some Muslim scholars “silent on the issue of abolishing such outrageous practices, or worse, they suggest that Muslims are committing a sin by demanding we abandon practices that should be consigned to history”? The obvious answer is that they agree that the Islamic State has an Islamic case for its practices — the very point that Salam Al-Marayati is working so hard to make sure you don’t think.

…For a start, American Muslims must consistently do more to define Islam to the broader public, rather than simply responding to each outrage by an extremist group. ISIS should be treated with no more credibility than any other group of fanatics.

In other words, he wants to see more deceptive articles like this one, explaining to non-Muslims that what they see with their own eyes is not really what they’re seeing at all — as if there weren’t an avalanche of such pieces in the mainstream media already.

Second, Muslim scholars (including, I hope, more women scholars) need to connect with communities in order to produce scholarship that reflects the realities of today, separating tribal customs of the past that Islam phased out, such as slavery, from the real essence of Islam, which is based on the principles of justice, liberation and compassion.

Islam never phased out slavery. It was abolished in Muslim countries under Western pressure. There was never a Muslim Wilberforce, a Muslim Garrison, a Muslim abolitionist movement fighting slavery on Islamic grounds. In fact, slavery is still widely practiced in North Africa, Saudi Arabia, and elsewhere, despite official bans, precisely because it is sanctioned in the Qur’an and Sunnah.

Contrary to what many believe, Islamic jurisprudence is not a rigid and immutable law based on unchanging rules written centuries ago. Instead, it is a flexible, dynamic jurisprudence that is fully compatible with the modern human rights framework.

In reality, Muslims claim that Islamic law is the law of Allah, immutable because perfect and eternal. This is why we don’t see it being “flexible” or “dynamic” anywhere in the world, except in deceptive CNN articles written by sly Islamic supremacists. (And CNN, along with other mainstream media outlets, keeps running such pieces incessantly. When, on the other hand, have you ever seen anything from CNN or anywhere else in the mainstream media explaining how jihadists use the texts and teachings of Islam to justify violence and supremacism, and calling for genuine reform?)

Indeed, Islam as a religion developed as a religion for reforming society and to elevate its norms and cultural practices closer to the Quranic ideals of freedom and equality. So to go back to the original essence of Islam is to bring dignity to humanity, to bring mercy to the world, and to establish justice in the lands within which we reside. Anything violating those tenets should be met with stiff opposition by Muslims.

This is Clintonesque: it all depends on what your definitions of dignity, mercy and justice are. In Sharia, they mean the subjugation of women and the oppression of non-Muslims.

With that in mind, Muslims must do everything they can to break away from misogynist, maniacal and maddening practices that are dressed up as Islamic by pointing to a tribal custom of the past. This is something we should be explicit about: anyone who tries to justify and rationalize slavery and/or sexual abuse does not belong to us and we do not belong with him.

The Islamic State is not “pointing to a tribal custom of the past.” It points to the Qur’an and Sunnah. Unless and until people like Al-Marayati confront that, it will continue.

We don’t need fatwas to understand that rape and murder and corruption and tyranny are wrong — Islam is about free thinking, and anything that runs counter to such freedom of thought runs counter to the will of God. As the Quran states, “God commands justice and goodness and generosity, and he forbids all that is shameful and what runs counter to reason.”

Islam should be seen as a breath of fresh air, a refuge from war and persecution, whether at the hands of religious or secular rulers.

Islam will be seen as a “breath of fresh air, a refuge from war and persecution” as soon as it acts that way anywhere in the world. We have never seen this, do not see it now, and almost certainly will not see it.

Unless pundits and politicians stop giving ISIS so much attention, then efforts to share this message will be undermined.

Ignore the Islamic State, and it will go away? Sorry. Won’t happen. The only result that could come from ignoring the Islamic State would be that the Islamic State would continue to advance without any opposition at all. Is that what Salam Al-Marayati wants? A case can certainly be made for it.

Mainstream understandings of Islam must be seen as the standard-bearer of the faith, and on the side of anyone who is oppressed and suffering. Extremists, along with their distorted view of the faith, should be shunned into irrelevancy.

Shunning them is not refuting them. Only refuting them and opposing them will really make them irrelevant. I expect that Salam Al-Marayati is well aware of that.

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Filed Under: Featured, Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, Daesh), journalistic bias, Sharia, slavery, Taqiyya, War is deceit Tagged With: CNN, Salam Al-Marayati


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Comments

  1. Angemon says

    Sep 2, 2015 at 7:45 am

    Indeed, Islam as a religion developed as a religion for reforming society and to elevate its norms and cultural practices closer to the Quranic ideals of freedom and equality. So to go back to the original essence of Islam is to bring dignity to humanity, to bring mercy to the world, and to establish justice in the lands within which we reside…

    (…)

    With that in mind, Muslims must do everything they can to break away from misogynist, maniacal and maddening practices that are dressed up as Islamic by pointing to a tribal custom of the past. This is something we should be explicit about: anyone who tries to justify and rationalize slavery and/or sexual abuse does not belong to us and we do not belong with him.

    Let’s see if I follow: islam came to “reform society” and do away with pre-islamic practices like slavery and sexual abuse, but those practices endured from before islam into nowadays in lands that have been under islamic rule for over a thousand years because they’re “dressed up as islamic”, even though islam came to do away with them.

    My head hurts from seeing those mental contortions – I can’t even begin to imagine how it would feel to actually come up with and rationalize them.

    • Michael says

      Sep 2, 2015 at 11:07 am

      BULL………….All these people need to be deported back to their part of the world and all Christians be brought here for a while. After we turn all the desserts into glass at 10,000 degrees then we can talk about repopulating them.

    • gravenimage says

      Sep 2, 2015 at 1:39 pm

      Angemon, it is especially puzzling that so many Infidel societies–without benefit of guidance from Allah, the Qur’an, and the “Prophet”–have been so efficacious in eradicating these horrors.

      But of course Salam Al-Marayati does not believe his own bs–he just hopes that the “filthy Infidels” will.

  2. Linde Barrera says

    Sep 2, 2015 at 7:47 am

    Thank you for showing every reader about the doublespeak of Islam, the greatest propaganda-generating ideology in the world. A frequent, highly intelligent commenter on JW, mortimer, had written a comment from another article stating something like IS is a distraction and diversion that Obama is ignoring so that Saudi Arabia can build a pipeline to Turkey. I wish he would have elaborated.

    • Shane says

      Sep 2, 2015 at 4:17 pm

      Islam would not be so successful with their propaganda if it were not for their allies in the news and entertainment media and most Western politicians hellping them. ISIS is Islamic and so is every other Muslim terrorist group.

  3. BenDavid says

    Sep 2, 2015 at 8:08 am

    Conclusive. Eloquent. Reasonable. Striking. Robert Spencer.

    • Georg says

      Sep 2, 2015 at 2:39 pm

      This is a knockout for “Salam”.

  4. Lee says

    Sep 2, 2015 at 8:12 am

    “My head hurts from seeing those mental contortions” – you summarized the Islamist’s manipulation well! Naturally they don’t believe a word they say. They’re at war. The same war Muhammad declared on humanity, until we are conquered. Muslims need us to let Islam grow in power and influence, and to that end must divert our attention from Islam in practice.

    The Nazis lied about their ideology and intentions before killing people and invading other countries. Muslims have worse morals than Nazis, and have a similar ideology of conquest. Naturally, any lie, any manipulation, will do.

    Is it conceivable Muslim spokespeople have never read the Koran – e.g. 33.50 where Muhammad explicitly claims Allah gave him captive women as “spoils of war”? That they haven’t read the various other hadiths and verses Mr. Spencer quotes so well?

    No, it’s not conceivable. Muslim spokespeople who claim Islamic State’s rapes and enslavements have nothing to do with Muhammad are simply prosecuting Islam’s war of conquest the best they can while they’re militarily weak.

  5. ECAW says

    Sep 2, 2015 at 8:19 am

    Beautifully done by Robert Spencer, as always.

    The final thing which convinced me of Islam’s evil intent towards us was the deception routinely used by Muslim spokesmen to bamboozle us. They rely on our ignorance and laziness and our eagerness to be told everything’s fine.

  6. jayell says

    Sep 2, 2015 at 8:19 am

    Do you have laws about corporate/commercial misrepresentation in the US? Because if you do, there’s so much misleading garbage here it’s a wonder no-one is not suuing them already! And what is the title of this ‘Fount of Wisdom’ quoted here? “Executive Director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council”. Why do these imbeciles continually try to impress us with their pseudo-professional or pseudo-Democratic ‘Councils’ and ‘Parliaments’, when any intellectually-challenged baboon can tell you that (a) the muslim world is about as professionally-organised as a crowd of third-rate UK football hooligans and (b) Islam possesses just about the same authority on ‘Democracy’ as the Central Committee of the People’s Republic of North Korea – or whatever!

    • jihad3tracker says

      Sep 2, 2015 at 9:08 am

      THE SEWAGE COMING OUT OF THIS GUY’S MOUTH IS NOT FULLY HIS OWN SCRIPT..

      As I have written at least once before here in comments, there is a 24/7 huddle among “organizations” like CAIR and its pals, coming up with new ways to repackage the same bucket of turds.

      No matter if what ends up as statements we hear in media are buffoonish nonsense — the operating principle is “Taqiyya in abundance. If not, under-the-radar money from Saudi sources, paid secretly into your hand, dries up. Got that?”.

  7. Rev g says

    Sep 2, 2015 at 8:25 am

    Freedom, liberty, submission.
    One of these things is not like the others.

    • Georg says

      Sep 2, 2015 at 3:02 pm

      Ha!

  8. Beagle says

    Sep 2, 2015 at 9:35 am

    “…So to go back to the original essence of Islam…”
    — —
    Good grief, this is exactly what Salafists like IS say they are doing. Why don’t all you Muslims go settle this at twenty paces in some desert? Leave us out of it from now on.

  9. mortimer says

    Sep 2, 2015 at 9:47 am

    What? BREATH OF FRESH AIR?

    1 No Golden Rule 2 No free speech 3 No democracy 4 Jihad – holy war of world conquest 5 Honour killings 6 Taqiyya – sacred lying 7 Taqlid – group think 8 Misogyny – repression of women 9 Rape of kafirs as jihad prizes 10 Genocide 11 Ethnic cleansing 12 Anti-Semitism 13 Al-Walaa wal-Baraa – Islamic apartheid 14 Torture 15 Plundering 16 Cruel and unusual punishments 17 Backwardness – stagnation 18 Violence against women 19 Slavery 20 Discriminatory Sharia law 21 Hatred of the arts 22 Pedophilia disguised as child marriage 23 Fifty generations of cousin marriage and genetic defects 24 Cruelty to animals 25 Extortion tax to humiliate disbelievers 26 No historic basis 27 Anti-intellectual obscurantism 28 FGM 29 Arab racism 30 Theocratic totalitarianism 31 Vigilantism 32 Supremacism

    That’s ‘fresh air’?

    • Paul says

      Sep 2, 2015 at 10:14 am

      I just thought I’d share this video in which Dennis Prager and
      Christopher Hitchens (in particular Hitchens, he comes in at
      4:46 minutes) take apart the nauseating Ibrahim Hooper of CAIR.
      Hooper, in his brain damaged tone, moans about this site and about
      some koran that was apparently vandalised (brings a tear to my eye)
      and blah, blah, blah.
      Hitchens was on top form here :

  10. Paul says

    Sep 2, 2015 at 9:53 am

    See “islam as breath of fresh air”. What arrogant and insulting crap.
    Doesn’t surprise me at all that the guy who knowingly spoke such
    insensitive nonsense was pictured with Obama.
    Muhammadanism has been depriving people of “fresh air” for 1,400 years
    by killing them. Not a day goes by without sickening news of cruelty being
    inflicted upon poor souls in its name.
    It was inevitable really that there was going to be a desperate onslaught of
    taqiyya by such people and obfuscation by their leftist comrades, just as
    the Islamic State is revealing the true face of this evil cult to us.
    I just thought I’d again post a good article by a brave ex-muslim – “behold
    the face of islam” :

    https://sonofhamas.wordpress.com

  11. Dan says

    Sep 2, 2015 at 9:59 am

    This is insane.

    I learned in school that, while SOME bullies went away if you ignored them…

    The vast majority needed a bloody nose to stop.

    • RG says

      Sep 2, 2015 at 12:33 pm

      @Dan. Very well said!!!!! You can’t exterminate roaches and rats by providing them with ice cream and cake!!!

  12. mortimer says

    Sep 2, 2015 at 10:00 am

    Salam Al-Marayati said: “ISIS doesn’t represent Islam”

    According to Salam Al-Marayati, Caliph Al Baghdad (PhD), who is the Isis chief and the caliph of the Islamic State, is the first Islamic Studies PhD from a Muslim background who has no idea about Islam.

    What do the teachers of Caliph Al Baghdadi say?

    Al-Baghdadi who has obtained BA, MA and PhD degrees in Islamic studies from the Islamic University in Baghdad has been sanctioned as a person who knows nothing about Islam, and the head of an organisation that has got nothing to do with Islam.

    “If a person who has a PhD in Islamic studies and does nothing but study the Islamic scriptures knows nothing about Islam, then who does?” questioned al-Baghdadi’s professor from the Islamic University, preferring to remain anonymous since the fatwa against Isis and its chief puts his reputation into jeopardy.

    “The wine sipping Muslims, those hedonistic adulterers will tell the world what true Islam is? Obama and Cameron know more about Islam than the faculty of Islamic studies at the Islamic University in Baghdad?” the professor bellowed with rage, while talking to Khabaristan Times.

    Another professor who had taught al-Baghdadi in BA told Khabaristan Times off the record that the Isis caliph was an ardent student.

    “He had this obsession with Islamic studies. I used to tell him to go out and have some fun sometimes. But his idea of fun wasn’t too human friendly,” the professor said. “In any case he was a top student. One of the best I’ve ever had. Had the entire syllabus on his finger tips – to be honest, he knew more about Islamic studies than most of the professors.”

    Is there no journalist out there who is KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT ISLAM and who is able to ask probing, ADVERSARIAL questions when such nonsense and disinformation is flaunted by a taqiyya artist like Salam Al-Marayati ??

    An executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council would NEVER LIE, would he ?? An executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council wouldn’t be trying to put a smiley face on bad news, would he ??

  13. mortimer says

    Sep 2, 2015 at 10:06 am

    The executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council wants us to believe Islam is benign towards kafirs, when it isn’t.

    The executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council wants us to ignore that the Koran commands Muslims 14 times not to be true friends of Christians or Jews.

    The executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council wants us to think that a NON-FRIEND is our friend, when it is only a pretense of friendship. (Abu Darda, a close friend of Mohammed said, “We smile at certain people while in our heart we despise them.”)

    A used car salesman is ‘friendly’, but he is not your friend.

  14. somehistory says

    Sep 2, 2015 at 10:21 am

    There will be a whole world of fresh air when the stinky breath from the beast of islam is no more, no longer breathing murder, rape, lies, etc. into the world of mankind. When lies like this from devotees to satan’s beast are no longer uttered or sputtered, spewed or stewed and ladled out for those ignorant and unwilling to see how polluted it truly is.

  15. Westman says

    Sep 2, 2015 at 11:21 am

    “..Islam is about free thinking, and anything that runs counter to such freedom of thought runs counter to the will of God.”

    That statement borders on near-blasphemy and in the ME would likely be considered as such. Innovation, Bid’ah Say’iah, in Islamic religion is considered to be a grevious sin.

    “This day I have perfected your religion for you, completed my favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion” (Quran 5:4) Allah’s Quran and religion are perfect – as he says.

    Al-Marayati is likely to be reminded by some fellow Muslims that, as a slave of Allah, he’s not entitled to free think new Islamic doctrine. He probably thinks that, in time, even Muslims will ignore or never read the offensive texts justifying killing, enslaving, and extorting infidels. Allah’s perfect book always awaits, behind the curtain, to spoil the Oz image of peace, respect for infidels, and free thinking.

    Where are those free-thinking Muslim Nobel Prize Winners in anything?

    How Islam robs the minds of its slave believers is so obvious that Al-Marayati appears to be writing material for his act as a standup comedian.

  16. Jay Boo says

    Sep 2, 2015 at 11:36 am

    Obama please help us Muslims.
    That Global Warming is destroying — Islam’s good image.

  17. RG says

    Sep 2, 2015 at 12:27 pm

    Back in ’07, when BHO was campaigning for office for the first time, lots of people questioned whether or not he was the actual ANTI-CHRIST. Well, one thing is for sure, everything he has done, since being elected, has ADVANCED the cause of EVIL INCARNATE and weakened the cause of LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL! So is he the anti-Christ? I don’t know, but looking at this picture of him with Al-Marayati, sends a literal CHILL up my spine! YEAH….THE MAN IS EVIL!!!!!

  18. jesusfchristf says

    Sep 2, 2015 at 12:45 pm

    Just ignore the knife on your throat and enjoy the warmth of your own blood flooding your mouth

  19. Joseph says

    Sep 2, 2015 at 1:16 pm

    Breath of fresh air?

    I’ll stick with the breath of life JESUS CHRIST has given me by dying on the cross and rising from the dead on the third day.
    I pray that the stink of Islam will never cross my or my loved ones lips.

  20. VOX POPULI says

    Sep 2, 2015 at 1:31 pm

    I find the statements of this al-marayati very, very islamophobic, and a clear example of “hate speech”.

    1) he calls the quran an “outdated dogma”
    2) he reduces core islamic behaviours to “tribal customs”
    3) he reduces islam core framework and teachings to a “rationalizing veneer” or to “mud”
    4) if most muslim scholars are silent on rape and slavery, I read this silence simply as that same scholars are NOT considering those practices as un-islamic, or “to be consigned to history”. So, by considering such practices as un-islamic, marayati denigrates also intelligence of majority of islamic scholars.
    5) he wants to adapt the “perfection” of islam to “modern human rights framework”, which his a clear negation of the fundamental islamic framework about superiority of sharia above man-made law
    6) he promotes ideas like that all human being are “equal”, which is in strong contradiction with teachings of the quran on women, jews and “people of the book”.

    All above is very insulting, as a muslim I would feel extremely offended.

    I’m now eagerly waiting for CAIR to express vigorous denial of above stances, and about such clear denigratory and clearly islamophobic / hate speech. Unless obviously CAIR agrees with all above points.

    • Westman says

      Sep 2, 2015 at 4:39 pm

      Excellent VOX.

      It looks like, like….. blashphemy! He’s denied teachings of the Quran and substituted his own Bid’ah Say’iah(a new thing opposes the Qur’an and/or Sunnah). Wait till Al-Azhar scholars hear about this.

  21. gravenimage says

    Sep 2, 2015 at 1:33 pm

    MPAC top dog in CNN: Just ignore ISIS and see Islam as “breath of fresh air”
    …………………………………..

    Just ignore Nazism and see Fascism as a ‘breath of fresh air’…

    More:

    Take, for example, how ISIS has been forcing ethnic Yazidi women into sexual slavery, a practice it says is rooted in historic precedence. Such a claim is absurd and false; yet the revelation has spurred a debate on sex slavery in Islam, as if the practice deserves any consideration at all, and as if ISIS deserves the kind of religious legitimacy conferred upon it by discussion of its proclamations.
    …………………………………..

    Of course, Islamic sex slavery *is* rooted in historic precedence–centuries’ worth, and over a quarter of the globe. But, as noted, it is worse than this–it is rooted in the texts and tenets of Islam itself, and in the model of the “Prophet”.

    More:

    These are the passages on which the Islamic State bases its practices. For Al-Marayati to ignore them, not even bothering to offer an alternative interpretation of them, exposes him as a deceiver, rather than a reformer.
    …………………………………..

    This is *exactly* what he is.

    More:

    Groups like ISIS try to exploit misunderstandings of doctrine to further their own agendas. Yet while some Muslim scholars have spoken out against ISIS’s false claims, others are either silent on the issue of abolishing such outrageous practices, or worse, they suggest that Muslims are committing a sin by demanding we abandon practices that should be consigned to history. Modern forms of slavery, such as concubinage and human trafficking, is an abomination.
    …………………………………..

    Here, he obliquely concedes that many Muslim *scholars* openly acknowledge such barbarism as perfectly Islamic.

    More:

    …For a start, American Muslims must consistently do more to define Islam to the broader public, rather than simply responding to each outrage by an extremist group. ISIS should be treated with no more credibility than any other group of fanatics.
    …………………………………..

    More:

    Indeed, Islam as a religion developed as a religion for reforming society and to elevate its norms and cultural practices closer to the Quranic ideals of freedom and equality. So to go back to the original essence of Islam is to bring dignity to humanity, to bring mercy to the world, and to establish justice in the lands within which we reside. Anything violating those tenets should be met with stiff opposition by Muslims.
    …………………………………..

    As noted, these words mean something *very* different in Islam–“dignity” is only to be accorded to pious Muslims, and “mercy” includes enslaving Infidels and waging violent JIhad. Indeed, abusing Infidels is a “mercy” because it makes them more likely to embrace their tormentors’ vicious creed.

    More:

    We don’t need fatwas to understand that rape and murder and corruption and tyranny are wrong — Islam is about free thinking, and anything that runs counter to such freedom of thought runs counter to the will of God. As the Quran states, “God commands justice and goodness and generosity, and he forbids all that is shameful and what runs counter to reason.”
    …………………………………..

    What he is actually saying here is that Muslim scholars are unlikely to issue clear fatwas against the very Islamic actions of ISIS.

    And this last is Qur’an 16:90, which actually reads a bit differently:

    “Indeed, Allah orders justice and good conduct and giving to relatives and forbids immorality and bad conduct and oppression. He admonishes you that perhaps you will be reminded.”

    This is from Qur’an.com, the most widely-read English translation of that vicious text.

    And who is this justice and good conduct *for*? The previous Ayat makes this clear. Qur’an 16:89:

    “And [mention] the Day when We will resurrect among every nation a witness over them from themselves. And We will bring you, [O Muhammad], as a witness over your nation. And We have sent down to you the Book as clarification for all things and as guidance and mercy and good tidings for the Muslims.”

    As is clear, such mercy only applies to other Muslims.

    Even clearer is the verse before that, Qur’an 16:88:

    “Those who disbelieved and averted [others] from the way of Allah – We will increase them in punishment over [their] punishment for what corruption they were causing.”

    None of this “mercy” is to be extended to anyone who has refused to embrace Islam.

    More:

    Islam should be seen as a breath of fresh air, a refuge from war and persecution, whether at the hands of religious or secular rulers
    ……………………………………

    “Persecution” means Muslims being prevented from fully practicing their religion–and that *doesn’t* mean what it would to a Christian or a Jew or a Hindu. Being prevented from imposing Shari’ah law, abusing Infidels, and keeping sex slaves is also “persecution”.

    Not exactly “a breath of fresh air” for the victims…

    • Joseph says

      Sep 2, 2015 at 2:50 pm

      gravenimage ,
      Outstanding!!!!!!
      But try and explain this to a bleeding heart, closed minded leftist liberal. Can’t be done! However if you try I have found that if you take 1000mg Tylenol before you start and 1000mg ibuprofen around 1/2 way thru, the headache won’t be that bad. If you think that you might drink afterwards stay away from all the meds. Tylenol is hard on your liver + alcohol is a NO-NO, the other is hard on your kidneys and aspirin thins your blood and so does alcohol.

      • gravenimage says

        Sep 2, 2015 at 5:07 pm

        Thanks, Joseph. And you are certainly right about trying to explain the threat of Islam to a liberal deep in denial as being profoundly headache-inducing.

  22. R says

    Sep 2, 2015 at 2:05 pm

    Should’ve addressed this absurd statement:

    “Islam is about free thinking, and anything that runs counter to such freedom of thought runs counter to the will of God.”

    This couldn’t be more opposed to reality and the teaching of Islam. The entire book, The Closing of the Muslim Mind, deals with exactly this.

  23. DRHazard says

    Sep 2, 2015 at 4:49 pm

    Ignoring reality usually does’t have any effect on reality. If the opposite was true then we could solve the problem of gang related crime by ignoring it. I’ve heard that serial killers like the attention they get in the media so we can just ignore them and eventually they will stop killing, right?

    I wish it was true. Then we could all stop paying attention to Islam and it would go away.

  24. Badbob says

    Sep 2, 2015 at 7:18 pm

    Shunning well that will work with children.
    But not with blood thirsty murderous monsters..

  25. Edward says

    Sep 2, 2015 at 9:40 pm

    “Just ignore ISIS and see Islam as “breathe of fresh air”

    The Muslim world has a huge problem with their own kind……they are trying to hide ISIS’ crap, but the stink still permeates the air that we all occupy.

    Salam Al-Marayati is an accomplice to Islam’s crimes no matter how he paints or tries to distance responsibilities of their barbarian tribal relative’s wrong behaviors from him.

    What can we expect from Salam …….a innate deceiver who mimics his pseudo god an affirmed deceiver.

    According to the Qur’an, Allah is the “best of deceivers” (3:54; 8:30).

    • Edward says

      Sep 2, 2015 at 9:57 pm

      Psalm 26:26-27

      “Their malice may be concealed by deception, but their wickedness will be exposed in the public.”

      “He who digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone, it will come back on him.”

  26. gravenimage says

    Sep 3, 2015 at 12:31 am

    Here’s more on Salam Al-Marayati. He is–surprise, surprise–virulently anti-Israel. He implies that they are responsible for the Jihad against themselves.

    A decade ago, he minimized the threat from Al Qaida.

    He is a “Truther”, and implies that the Jooooooos were responsible for 9/11.

    He has minimized JIhad terror in general, claiming that Jihadists are are suffering
    from depression and despair, and then they resort to violence as a result.” *No* mention that they are acting on the texts and tenets of Islam–or why Muslims should be so much more prone to “depression” than every other group on earth.

    And this was the infamous tool who compared Hizballah’s 1983 bombing of the American
    Marine barracks in Beirut to the American revolution.

    He is, unsurprisingly, opposed to Muslims aiding the war on terror in any way.

    Lots more ugliness here:

    http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/715.pdf

  27. Alarmed Pig Farmer says

    Sep 3, 2015 at 6:02 am

    The list of horrors is a long one. Sadly, it also exposes our collectivefailure as humanity to respond appropriately to extremism. ISIS is setting the agenda — and highlighting our ineptness in the process.

    Reading these words hit me like a bucket of ice water in the face. It’s true; it’s all of us. We’re all in this together, but we’ve been hornswaggled into putting all the blame on the Moslems. I’m stunned, and feel major Catholic guilt on this, and realize as a Roman Catholic that the Pope is infallible and now understand why he’s been what until now I considered pro-Moslem.

    But I’m not gonna blame myself. There’s plenty of blame to go around. First, let’s start with Spencer, who’s gotten rich and famous misunderstanding Moslems and making them look bad. And his friend the rich New Yorker Geller, too. Not to mention Dr. Andrew Bostom, M.D., another elite East Coaster, Hugh Fitzgerald, Raymond Ibrahim. And there are others to bring up: Mortimer, Graven Image, Wellington, ECAW, Angemon, J3, Jay Boo, WildJew, JewDog, Westman, DC Watson, the awful Duh Swami… the whole lot of them. Sickening. These people are blame layers with no sense and less conscience. These are the ones to put into the failed collective. Me, I was just upset about losing my line of business, so my now former bigmouth atrocities were understandable. There should be a trial. Not a Stanlinesque show trial, but a fair trial on TV with a collective docket, presided over by Judge Judy, Bill O’Reilly, Geraldo or maybe Dr. Phil. I should not be put on trial, I should not be charged, for I have recanted.

    But I’d be willing to testify against them, as an expert witness.

    • ECAW says

      Sep 3, 2015 at 6:42 am

      Honoured, and yet humbled, to find myself on the charge sheet amongst such august company. I will be happy to testify against myself and the rest of you.

      • Alarmed Pig Farmer says

        Sep 3, 2015 at 7:32 am

        I will be happy to testify against myself and the rest of you.

        Whaddya mean you, Kemosabe? I already said, I should not be charged, I’ve recanted. Anybody who watched Hill Street Blues or Law and Order knows that the first guy to flip gets off. Studying Marx I learned that the word “collective” means a sinking ship, so hold your breath. Laura Ingraham will be the prosecutor, and she went to Yale Law Tool, so watch your tongue. She staked her claim after Garland and, as was implicitly stated during her infamous appearance with Bill on The Spin Zone, somebody has got to take the fall.

        At the table with Laura will be the great Sam Waterston, so it’s gonna be a rough ride.

  28. Baucent says

    Sep 3, 2015 at 7:50 am

    A “breath of fresh air”?…more like the smell of death.

  29. Ralph Statum says

    Sep 3, 2015 at 10:50 am

    In a fit of rage, Obama snaps at U.S. military brass: “Don’t you dare try and paint all of Islam with the same brush.”
    Showing his Muslim stripes, Obama threw a fit and stomped out of a Pentagon meeting about the proposed bombing campaign against ISIS, his actions resulting over remarks allegedly tying the Islamic State (ISIS) to Islam.
    His tantrum reportedly took place on an afternoon last week, just prior to the president’s departure to Camp David. It was during an informal briefing on the expanded bombing campaigns to take place in both Syria and Iraq.
    Halfway through the already very short briefing, President Obama stood up, clearly agitated, and stomped out of the room.
    The casually dressed Obama returned to the briefing moments later with a senior adviser beside him, though the president’s mood continued to indicate he was still very upset.
    The senior adviser made a couple of pointed remarks to the Pentagon representatives, reminding them the president had already had a very busy day, and then both she and the president once again left the room. Within seconds, Barack Obama returned again to the just concluded briefing, pointing at the still seated Pentagon staff and indicating how inappropriate it was to try and paint all of Islam with the same brush.
    The president repeated similar of his remarks, with his mood going from agitation to outrage. His elevated voice carried to several other West Wing offices.
    The senior adviser, who did not originally return with the president to the briefing room, suddenly reappeared beside him along with the president’s personal aide.
    The senior advisor was smiling, and telling everyone, “We’re done here”, which she repeated several times, then led the president back out into the hallway.
    When you read this, you will understand why Obama refuses to say the words “Radical Islam.”
    I didn’t originate this, but it was checked out with Snopes…
    Also did you know that we now have a Muslim government?
    John Brennan, current head of the CIA converted to Islam while stationed in Saudi Arabia.
    Obama’s top advisor, Valerie Jarrett, is a Muslim born in Iran, where her parents still live.
    Hillary Clinton’s top advisor, Huma Abedin, is a Muslim whose mother and brother are involved in the now outlawed Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.
    Assistant Secretary for Policy Development for Homeland Security, Arif Aikhan, is a Muslim.
    Homeland Security Advisor, Mohammed Elibiary, is a Muslim.
    Obama advisor and founder of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, Salam al-Marayati, is a Muslim.
    Obama’s Sharia Czar, Imam Mohamed Magid, of the Islamic Society of North America is a Muslim.
    Advisory Council on Faith-Based Neighborhood Partnerships, Eboo Patel, is a Muslim.
    And last but not least, our Closet Muslim himself, Barack Hussein Obama, whose Father and Step Father were both Muslims.
    It is questionable if Obama ever officially took the oath of office when he was sworn in. He didn’t repeat the oath properly to defend our nation and our Constitution. Later, the Democrats claimed he was given the oath again in private. Really?
    CIA director John Brennan took his oath on a copy of the Constitution, not a Bible.
    Congressman, Keith Ellison took his oath on a copy of the Qur’an.
    Congresswoman Michele Bachman was vilified and almost tarred and feathered by Democrats when she voiced her concern about Muslims taking over our government.
    Considering all of Obama’s own appointments, it would explain why Obama and his minions are systematically destroying our nation. This includes supporting radical Muslim groups worldwide, funneling millions of taxpayer dollars into Hamas, a known terrorist organization, and keeping open our southern border. Additionally, they are turning a blind eye to the genocide being perpetrated on Christians all over Africa and the Middle East, and even refusing to label Islamic Muslim terrorists as what they are; real terrorists.
    Did you ever wonder why all of Obama’s past records were sealed before he even ran for president?
    And most recently, with his actions giving Iran a sure path to nuclear weapons in the near future, did you know Obama deliberately mislabeled the recent deal with Iran as an agreement and not as a treaty? That’s because a treaty can be stopped by Congress with a simple majority vote, whereas an agreement needs two-thirds of Congress to vote to stop it.
    The more damage Obama does to our country, the more arrogant he has become!
    He openly says he will veto any legislation he does not completely agree with.
    Our nation and our government have been infiltrated by people who want to destroy the United States. It can only get worse!

    • Edward says

      Sep 3, 2015 at 1:10 pm

      Thanks Ralph Statum for your work in compiling the long list of Muslim notable operatives. Without a doubt Muslim sentiment runs high in the present government administration.

      We the People, as birthright owners of this Nations of ours, have the right to know what ideology leanings of the current managers that are running our country’s business!

      This information should be distributed nationwide so the American voters can vote their respective conscious to improve our country now and for the future.

    • quotha raven says

      Sep 3, 2015 at 8:22 pm

      to Ralph Statum – Excellent and chilling compilation, sir, and I’ve taken the liberty of forwarding it to some people whose thinking I hope it will inform!))) How much of a pretzel can I turn a sentence into? LOL.
      Thank you. Cheers! quotha r

  30. CGW says

    Sep 3, 2015 at 12:42 pm

    “. . . Islam is about free thinking . . .

    WTF ! ! !

    I literally did a physical double-take when reading those words.

  31. Davegreybeard says

    Sep 3, 2015 at 2:43 pm

    @Ralph Statum
    “Our nation and our government have been infiltrated by people who want to destroy the United States. It can only get worse!”

    Yeah Ralph, quite a fix we’re in.

    Speak the truth to every Infidel you meet who will listen, at every opportunity. If we manage to survive, it will be because enough of us came to understand our Islamic enemy.

    If you do not have a firearm, then buy one and train with it. This will help with your mental focus – and may come in handy if things really do get worse…

  32. Western Canadian says

    Sep 5, 2015 at 11:22 am

    Anyone who can refer to the stench of death that surrounds islam (RTC) as ‘a breath of fresh air’, has told us all we need to know about himself. And any and all who are capable of tolerating his presence.

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