This Foreign Policy piece by Reza Aslan, never a formidable intellect, is total nonsense from beginning to end, but after all, Foreign Policy is the publication that thinks tweeting photos of gay marriage supporters will defeat the Islamic State, so we are not talking about a very high intellectual level here.
Every assertion Aslan makes in this piece is false, and easily shown to be false — unless, of course, you’re a Foreign Policy editor. Details below.
“Reza Aslan Argues: There Is No Divide Between Islam and American Culture,” by Reza Aslan, Foreign Policy, July 24, 2017:
Religion comes in countless forms, depending either on the soil from which that religion arose or the soil in which it was planted. What we call Christianity in America is not what Guatemalans call Christianity. It’s not what Iraqis call Christianity. What we call Islam in the United States is vastly different from Islam in Iran or Saudi Arabia or Nigeria or Indonesia.
In reality, Christianity is different along sectarian lines more than along national ones. Roman Catholics believe much the same things, and have much the same concerns, divisions and factions, in America, Guatemala, and Iraq. Those concerns, divisions and factions often differ from those of Evangelical Christians; Evangelicals in the U.S. have more in common regarding their faith with Evangelicals in Guatemala than with Roman Catholics of the U.S. In the same way, what we call Shia Islam in the U.S. is remarkably similar to Shia Islam in Iran, and Sunni Islam in the U.S. is much like Sunni Islam in Saudi Arabia. Both Christianity and Islam are religions based on certain beliefs, and while emphases may differ, those beliefs change more across sectarian than across national lines.
The notion that religion clashes with a culture is a misunderstanding of what religion is, but, more specifically, the idea that Islam clashes with American culture is just foolishness, naiveté, and lies. There is no clash between Islam and American culture. In fact, there is no clash between any religion and any culture because religions are inextricably linked to culture.
This would mean that there was no clash between Christianity and the Roman Empire while the Romans were feeding Christians to the lions, because Christianity was inextricably linked to Roman culture. This would render nonsensical the conflicts between Muslims and Hindus that led to the partition of India, since they shared a common culture. Buddhism should never have been extinguished from Afghanistan or Zoroastrianism almost completely from Persia; after all, was not each inextricable from the national culture? If there is no clash between any religion and culture, then there could never have been any of the many conflicts between the two that have taken place throughout history.
Think of it this way: Culture is like a vessel, and religion is like water — it simply takes the shape of whatever vessel you pour it into. And this is why the prosperity gospel — the notion that what Jesus really wants for you is to drive a Bentley — can exist in the United States, and why the liberation gospel — the notion that Jesus was a warrior who fought oppression and poverty — exists in El Salvador. Both versions of Christianity are equally valid. They’re just dependent on the culture of the community to which they belong.
Religion does not take the shape of whatever cultural vessel you pour it into. If it did, Islam and Christianity and all other religions in the U.S. would be essentially the same, since they all share the milieu of American culture. Yet Muslims are disproportionately responsible for terror attacks in the U.S., far more than people of other religions and far out of proportion to their numbers. The prosperity gospel doesn’t just exist in the U.S., but among some Evangelicals the world over, even in El Salvador. And the liberation gospel certainly exists not just in El Salvador, but in the U.S.
When you look at Islam in the United States what you see is an overwhelmingly moderate version of Islam, but more interestingly what you see is a highly individualistic form of the religion. Islam is a religion that often advantages the community over the individual, but in the United States, where the culture is rooted in radical individualism, you see a radically individualistic Islam forming. An Islam that, in America, is not beholden to traditions or to the consensus of Muslim scholars and Islamic trains of thought that came before — it is an Islam that is innovative. You have a version of Islam that is vibrantly feminist. You have a version of Islam that promotes gay and lesbian spirituality. You have versions of Islam that are quite pluralistic and democratic. And in every one of these cases, what you see is a religion that has married itself fully into culture…
Reza Aslan may be feminist, and promote gay and lesbian spirituality, and believe in pluralism and democracy. But can he point to any examples to support his claims that Islam in the U.S. is all those things? When Asra Nomani began a campaign against misogyny and intolerance at her mosque in West Virginia, members of the mosque started a petition to expel her. And Reza Aslan himself has crudely mocked and vilified Nomani. So apparently Aslan’s commitment to this modern, American Islam is not all that deep — not nearly as deep as his confidence in the credulity of Foreign Policy readers.
Ren says
If islam in US is feminist and pro-gay then that must not be islam.
Angel Gabriel says
Aslan is a self-admitted cannibal. So what kind of brains could he have? More human brains have probably gone in his mouth than he has in his head, and what he says here is clearly evidence of that.
He should stick to cannibal spectacles on cable shows, for which he appears better suited intellectually.
john spielman says
I was happy when he was turfed from CNN ( though I never watch that vile network)
I wish he would just crawl back under a rock
mortimer says
He will crawl under a rock. His cred began to plummet after the publication of his book that slammed Christianity and tried to make it look like a copy of the Islamic DEATH CULT. It only worked on people with no knowledge of Christianity or interest in it per se. Those people don’t read books, so the book was pointless. NT scholars nicely denounced the discredited theory of the book (discredited long, long ago). After that, the only way was down. Aslan will be known to posterity as a writer and teacher of fiction who MAKES STUFF UP and presents it as ‘fact’… More like FACTOIDS. Aslan’s non-factual, spurious creations are presented as plausible in the same way magic tricks are presented as plausible. Those who already know the ‘trick’ behind Aslan’s sleight of hand will not be hoodwinked or deceived by Aslan’s obvious flummery. Watch him degrade himself as he gradually fades away, discredited by his own fakery. Farewell.
Jen says
Oh wow! This guy is really super irritating. Trouble is there actually are people out there that believe his nonsense.
Minutes1234 says
Yes.
David M says
Surely he is a heretic to pious Muslims, & should be a target to them for declaring Islam to be something it’s not. Unless they know he’s lying to advance its cause like we do.
Westman says
There will always be men, carrying a name that is some derivative of Muhammad, who will conclusively demonstrate that Aslan’s vision of a peaceful American Islam is a wishful pipe dream that fades away like whisps of smoke.
The violence of the Quran and Sunnah is an open invitation to the pious and, as long as they exist, the violent books and the pious, aggression against infidels will continue as well as aggression against the supposed apostates and gays.
The only correct part of Aslan’s assertion of a chameleon Islam, is that it eats its young, its innovators, and wars among itself over minor variations of ideology. Aslan may soon find himself in danger from his own writing by “fellow” Muslims. He certainly won’t get any invitations from Turkey’s Erdogan(Islam is Islam) or Iran’s Khamenei(There is no humor in Islam. So stop dancing and eating brains, takfir).
Frustrated an Citizen says
and Sharia doesn’t exist!
Jaladhi says
Ha, ha, ha,… this moron makes everybody laugh whenever he opens his mouth!! Delusional minds work wonders to deceive themselves and others! Nobody else is buying his crap!
Charlie Ross says
Liberals believe him.
mortimer says
Charlie, anyone who believes Aslan has no excuse for not going online and seeking the facts which are freely available.
“True ignorance is not the absence of knowledge, but the refusal to acquire it.” – Karl Popper
Jaladhi says
And what if he knows it what real Islam is like and is lying as all Muslims do???
gravenimage says
Jaladhi, that is *exactly* it. The egregious Reza Aslan is not ignorant of what Islam is; he is lying about it.
Minutes1234 says
Indeed.
John Forbes says
One of the core issues is the WESTERN inability to call out blatant LIARS in relation to this IDEOLOGY of ISLAM !
Despite there being many PUBLISHED texts & admissions that the Followers of ISLAM are encouraged to LIE in the advancement of ISLAM in relation to dealing with the non believers ( KUFAR) the west simply REFUSES to call this out because it is VERY EMBARASSING & confrontational !
Until this STUPID RELUCTANCE is overcome this will be gleefully used by the followers & apologists of ISLAM !
LINDA SARSOUR – as an example – should be challenged at every SPEECH & shown publically to be a BLATANT LIAR – which she is !!
BlueRaven says
The US culture has evolved around the American Constitution. Islam is totally based on Mo’s vision of the world specified in Kuran. Now, which part of the American Constitution you are going to equate with any of the Kuranic verses Moron Reza?
Let us start with the First Amendment – now you are stuck right there…
The only thing Kuran helps to produce is a demented generation after a generation of people like Reza.
Good look with trying to integrate in the American culture – you can’t.
Bsrat says
He is a lying Muslim trying to make islam appealing the western audience. There is only one islam where ever you go his version must be for dum dum dihmies who refuse to see islam for what it’s.
mortimer says
Bsrat wrote: “One islam”.
That is not completely true, but there is substantial agreement about 90% or more of the doctrines of the various sects.
I think 90% agreement among Muslims is very substantial indeed. They have more in common than they do with the DIRTY KUFAAR.
Even Aslan who is Shi’ite knows that to touch a dirty KAFIR requires a Shi’ite to wash.
Bsrat says
Thanks mortimer
Your replay states 90% of Muslims agree on the doctrine. Whilst I may agree with your response I still think the remaining 10% are irrelevant and insignificant. However if 10% Muslims belive in jihad or terrorism, this 10% alone can shape the view of the Kuffar about islam.
Good day
DENNIS ALLEN DURKOP says
Sharia being the main component of political Islam as there is no changing it as a pagan murder rape cult per the official English version of Sunni Sharia Law supported by the radical Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) 57 Islamic member states of the United Nations to legalize high crimes by Muslim men against unbelievers along with the destruction of Israel and the West: http://www.islamic-laws.com/download/Islaamic_Sharia_Law_sunni.pdf
AzB says
Hmm…isn’t this exactly what Sayyid Qutb feared happening when he visited America. The spreading of Jahiliyyah aka pre-islamic ignorance and licentiousness due to the vanity of materialism idolatry and devil worship and the like. And that such radical innovations, individualisms, and forbidden itjihads and bid’ahs risked plunging islamic world into a state of moral chaos and decline.
This is a threat to all those guys. It’s a clear and obvious threat, as direct and blunt as the very same threat from the middle age periods as more and more people innovated against christianity and spoke up about their views.
Progress was fitful and not without purges of heretics. Indeed it pretty much took two entire world wars to so finally batter the moral of christian europe that it would give up on the idea and create more of the human rights world we have now. Two world wars were needed. Europe was intensely religious before that.
That was the price for pluralism. World war.
To imagien you can just repeat the same deal with another ancient abrahamic religion and expect them to just “catch up” without the war to decimate the religious fervour.
And all the while most of the trends of the previous 40 years in islamic world have run in the OPPOSITE direction. Fundamentalism is enjoying a REVIVAL not a drop. Saudi spent £80 billion in a few decades to spread more orthodoxy. Surging of islamic intensity along the whole muslim-christian frontier in north africa, in multiple countries (nigeria, sudan, ghana, mali, ethiopia, somalia). Its all actively happening. Its a living thing. a real process.
Turkey shifts towards more religiosity. Of course they do. They’re trying to stop this whole process of the “pluralisation of islamic religion”. Just like the christians wanted to stop it. And christian religiosity was undiminished even up to World War II We needed an actual nuclear war and holocaust to knock the faith there. Understandably, it did take a knock.
So now they think Islam is some kind of post-summer of love Church of England deal? lol
Where do they get these idiots from?
gravenimage says
Yes, AzB–where would the Muslim world be without such “moral” bulwarks as “marrying” children, keeping sex slaves, and stoning rape victims to death?
But Sayyid Qutb was scandalized by the “licentiousness” of a church dance in 1948–in a “dry” county (no liquor allowed) in a sleepy little college town in Colorado.
AzB says
I’m setting out the perspective of your typical salafi religious scholar, not endorsing it.
Without the destruction of the wars there would be no such “radical identities” as “christian LGBT spiritualism” never mind a muslim one.
So its particular to 20th C european and western culture more generally that we have these “radical individualist” lifestyle options.
But that’s exactly and all the rest of the world will see it as.
As for extreme punishments, i’m in UK, there’s no corporal punishment at all now. USA though, has executions too – electric chair, lethal injection. Hangings and guillotine and firing squad are all quite recent history too
And a majoriy in britain if asked would bring them back, aswell.
I’m not defending stoning by any means its horrific and totally primitive . but how often across the entire muslim world do they actually do it. ? I heard it happens in somalia sometimes. But you know there are christians in places like Ghana who still burn witches from time to time.
Sometimes its more about the overall state of development of the country rather than the theoretical punishment written in a haddith .
So yeah i’m not sure the “appeal to shock” is the best way to go here. I’m more bothered about terrorism really and the spread of Saudi ideology to “curse all impure things”> Puritanism. Extreme puritanism. Plus radicalism.
those are my concerns.
Michele Coatta says
reza is a POS muslim and like all muslims he’s a liar a fraud anti American pro shit-re-ah Anti Constitution anti Christian anyone that believes any muslim about anything is just a useful idiot there is no co-exsisting with them europa-stan can tell u all about the POS faux treligion and the peadophile prophet mohammad it never ends well for any unbelievers or people of the book because as the muslims say first comes Saturday then comes sunday
utis says
Aslan is sad. Americans who believe him are sadder.
Dave says
Thanking the living loving most merciful God that November 2016 America stood at the gates of Islamist hell not as the great communicator Ronald Wilson Regan deemed a beacon of hope shining on a hill rather a despondent victim of sedition treason and vast left wing conspiracies conflated by inequality willful indulgence and subjugation to the oligopoly plantation or usurped emperor Obama caliphate now more than ever the prophetic sort words of late Richard Nixon ring true and empowering as the peacemaker opined Donald Trump would make a superlative president altering the political landscape selflessly sacrificing personal profit pleasure and comfort and driving from defeat the second greatest comeback peace with honor victory of both fortitude winning a wars against foreign and domestic atrocities yes we can America appeasement moral relativism and apologetics won’t be sufficient this particular place in time total unconditional defeat of Islamic terrorism malfeasance and misfeasance at home and abroad again the Nixon doctrine is perfectly clear” you don’t run for office or positions to be something rather to do something never be petty others may hate you but when you hate them you distory yourself ‘ God bless the souls of the faithfully departed champions of life liberality and pursuit of happiness through the beatitudes’ for blessed are the peacemakers such as Donald Trump citizen soldiers both on the battlefields existential non declared militarized zones Spencer Geller Gaffney Claire Lopez and the unknown and God bless America
Patti says
Pro gay? Sure. They are SO pro gay that they slaughtered 49 gay people in Orlando. Feminist? Then why do we hear about islamic honor violence and FGM right here in the U.S.? Its one thing to be stupid, quite another to just be a liar, go home Reza, you are drunk.
gravenimage says
+1
mohamonator says
How reassuring it is that mohamedanism in the US is “pro-gay” and “vibrantly feminist”. No doubt Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan, Chechnya, etc are only a couple of years behind.
gravenimage says
Ha ha
gravenimage says
Reza Aslan: No divide between Islam and American culture, Islam in US is feminist and pro-gay
………………….
He just lies like a rug.
Meanwhile, his puppet masters in the Islamic Republic of Iran are forcing women to wear the Chador and are hanging gay people from cranes.
john spielman says
yup Reza has been drinking too much Tequila- now he is full of TAQIYYA!
Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi says
The essentialist reading of Islam is that it cannot change, but that reading may be incorrect. Religions can and do change all the time — even Islam. See this interesting article by a vocal critic of Islam, Daniel Pipes, to understand: http://www.danielpipes.org/13033/can-islam-be-reformed
He concludes by saying that “non-Muslims should support moderate and Westernizing anti-Islamists. Such figures are weak and fractured today and face a daunting task, but they do exist, and they represent the only hope for defeating the menace of global jihad and Islamic supremacism, then replacing it with an Islam that does not threaten civilization.”
It seems to me that Reza Aslan is trying to reform Islam, but in doing so he runs up against several obstacles: 1) violent Muslims who don’t want it reformed; 2) anti-Islamists who view Islam in essentialist terms, and 3) perhaps not least himself — the limitations of his own perspective on these issues.
If he is saying that Islam in the U.S. is entirely tolerant, etc, then clearly he is wrong, but if he is saying that it should become that way, then his statement to that effect should be supported. There is a fine line between being an apologist for Islam and efforts to reform it. The latter — efforts to reform — must always carry with them a strong criticism of violent Islam.
Pipes begins his article with these words:
“Islam currently represents a backward, aggressive, and violent force. Must it remain this way, or can it be reformed and become moderate, modern, and good-neighborly? Can Islamic authorities formulate an understanding of their religion that grants full rights to women and non-Muslims as well as freedom of conscience to Muslims, that accepts the basic principles of modern finance and jurisprudence, and that does not seek to impose Sharia law or establish a caliphate?
“A growing body of analysts believe that no, the Muslim faith cannot do these things, that these features are inherent to Islam and immutably part of its makeup. Asked if she agrees with my formulation that “radical Islam is the problem, but moderate Islam is the solution,” the writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali replied, “He’s wrong. Sorry about that.” She and I stand in the same trench, fighting for the same goals and against the same opponents, but we disagree on this vital point.
“My argument has two parts. First, the essentialist position of many analysts is wrong; and second, a reformed Islam can emerge.”
I would encourage you to read this interesting and informative article and think about it. Pipes is a very strong critic of Islam, so I think he should be taken seriously when he says that we should support reformation efforts.
Eur says
Positive reinforcement to bring about changes of attitude …. uhmmmm with Islam I think it will happen as in the film schindler’s list, where the Nazi concentration camp manager at the end realizes that what he really likes .. is kill and stop ignoring schindler who manipulates him saying that he must be magnanimous to prove that he is almighty.
Muslims will always ban, always censure … have you ever seen happy Muslims? They never celebrate anything … they are sad. Muslims will continue to kill homosexuals.
Karen says
I believe this technique was being used when the decision was made to give Yassar Arafat a Nobel Peace Prize. The intention was likely to bring him into the fold of respectability and accountability. Not being a man of peace, it made little difference, and perhaps made things worse by providing a certain amount of cover. Interesting thought though, and I’ll read the article with interest.
Karen says
Yes, the Daniel Pipes article is well worth the read. Two thoughts emerge: 1) can one support the reformers without allowing the radicals a bigger foothold? 2) the reformers have their work cut out for them, while the Islamists task is easy – all their justification is scriptural. And the biggest sticking point of all; as long as the well documented life of the Prophet is venerated as the most excellent example for all mankind, Islam cannot change. Simply saying that he was a champion of civil rights, despite much evidence to the contrary, to build a new century “synthesis” is building a house of cards.
J_not_a says
The only way I’d support the “reformers” is in leaving islam. There is no “reforming” the death cult. Could you “reform” nazism? Or satanism? Or the mafia? Come on, now.
Karen says
My fear is the reformers are not very effective, but make us relax and forget about cultural jihad.
gravenimage says
Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi wrote:
It seems to me that Reza Aslan is trying to reform Islam
……………………….
Is this along the lines of your claim of the other day that Omid Safi–who condoned his pious coreligionists on the Charlie Hebdo massacre–was also trying to reform Islam?
Here are just a couple of articles about him:
“Islamic supremacist Reza Aslan spreads deceptions about Sharia”
https://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/11/islamic-supremacist-reza-aslan-spreads-deceptions-about-sharia
“Reza Aslan: Trump “piece of s**t” for calling for travel ban in wake of London jihad attacks”
https://www.jihadwatch.org/2017/06/reza-aslan-trump-piece-of-st-for-calling-for-travel-ban-in-wake-of-london-jihad-attacks
How is trying to stop America from blocking the horrors of Shari’ah law or the untrammeled flood of Jihadists into the US “reforming Islam”? How is condoning Jihad terror groups like Hamas “reforming Islam”?
john spielman says
Al Reza – it will NEVER happen! To reform islam would be to make islam’s “perfect man” muhammed a LIAR( which we all know he was, plus a murderer thief and pedophile pervert!) which would be the death knell for islam – though we can only wish!
john spielman says
plus I would NEVER believe a muslim reformer because islam sanctifies( makes holy) – LYING!!! especially to unbelievers!
Wellington says
Daniel Pipes is a good man and highly well educated (Harvard PhD in medieval Islamic history) and speaks Arabic fluently, but I think he is dead wrong that Islam can be reformed. Yes, some Muslims, perhaps a great many, cannot or will not enforce all of Islam’s totalitarian dictates and hatreds, but this is something very different from reforming Islam. Ditto for many Nazis back in the 1930’s and 40’s and Communists during the Cold War. Many of these people also were not prepared or didn’t want to enforce all that their respective totalitarian ideology put forth but this never meant that Nazism or Marxism could be reformed.
Can’t reform a totalitarian ideology. Islam is a totalitarian ideology and is the only major religion which is. Reforming a religion like Christianity merely has meant getting back to its original theological blueprint which is no threat to liberty but which often had been badly implemented by some. Islam’s original theological blueprint is itself bad and a mortal threat to freedom. Big difference. Couldn’t be any bigger.
Donald R Laster Jr says
Wellington, what you point out in that 2nd paragraph is what the anti-Christian people don’t like to admit about Christianity. But then they don’t like having their behavior challenged.
eduardo odraude says
I wonder if Daniel Pipes knows Islam cannot be reformed but for strategic reasons pretends it can. It’s true that Muslim societies can be more and less liberal, though on the whole, the Islamic world has the worst human rights record of any subculture on the planet. Those that follow Islam closely are the most totalitarian, as one can confirm by reading the core Islamic texts, for example here:
http://www.quotingislam.blogspot.com.
Benedict says
Islam is built on a rotten foundation and any attempt to reform it is doomed to fail. Islam is also a cold-blooded religion that only has the warmth you confer to it, and when it curls around you it is not in order to cuddle you, but ultimately to squeeze the life of of you.
Hindu American says
is this liar reading the same koran and hadiths which the rest of the islamic world reads? I wonder what color the sky is in this loser’s world? And that water and vessel analogy, that’s pure Hindu Vedic belief. Now this guy is a plagiarist, too!
Westman says
Wouldn’t it be great if Aslan, an Iranian, could go back to the soil of Iran for a while to see if his ridiculous assertions are acceptable in his “native soil”?
Guy Jones says
Imam Reza Aslan:
“It is a blatant, hideous and bald-faced lie that Islam manifests intolerance towards whores, sodomites and infidels! Uh, I mean women, gays and non-Muslims.”
gravenimage says
*Brilliant*, Guy!
Westman says
Throwing gays off high buildings is just a misunderstanding like FGM, 2nd class women, etc. Reza could travel the ME explaining this in Pakistan, Egypt, Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, etc. I would be happy to contribute to his GoFundMe for the trip, but I would like a partial refund if he never returns.
Brendan Cleary says
The likelihood that Aslan is delusional is low. It is much more likely that he merely tells the lies the Left and its fellow travellers in ignominy want to hear. The latter group will noddingly approve of Aslan’s rhetoric until the last nod….just before their heads it the plastic sheet!
Westman says
True. If you want a full professorship, you must publish and convince your prospective peers that you are one of them. Telling the truth about Islam is not politically correct among university administrators and the soft disciplines.
Karen says
Aslan makes some very bold statements about an emergent modern Muslim, rooted in American individualism, but offers no proof or examples. How did he develop this concept? From talking to his friends? Truely, I hope he’s right, but when I read surveys about how 40% of young American Muslims want Sharia law, I highly doubt he is.
History has shown Many times that when Islam shows up in numbers, it becomes the vessel and the culture the water.
gravenimage says
He is from Iran, and still has strong ties to the regime there. He has lauded Ahmadinejad and the Mullahs. He has *no* interest in a moderate “American Islam”.
Karen says
Yes, he’s quite the poser, and certainly no reformer. He’s an Islamist who wants us to relax and shut up. What fascinated me about this article is it’s the first time I’ve noticed one of the usual suspects, the usual cheerleading apologists, treat Islam as practiced in the US as different, a kind of admission that Islam as practiced around the world might have issues. (I always tell people that they have to look around the world to see the truth about Islam, and the future of the West if we do not oppose the Islamists.) So, perhaps the script has changed, and the Islamists are pivoting again in their relentless propaganda.
Sam says
WOW!!!
Sad part is people are so lazy that THEY CAN NOT DO A LITTLE RESEARCH BY THEMSELVES AN BELIEVE THIS FOOL.
Donald R Laster Jr says
Those who promote deviance never pay attention to reality. All one has to do is to actual read what Islam instructs its citizens/followers to do to take over a country or area and one will see the deception and violence of Islam. Then there is the 1400 years of history of Islamics following what Islam instructs them to do to the non-Islamics.
Lydia says
There is one Christianity and it is found in the Bible.
There is one islam and it is found in the quran.
Period.
Jayell says
If this is the best that Aslan can do to promote Islam, it’s ample proof that he should never consider a career as an advertising executive because he’d land his company in court in no time. This is blatant gross misrepresentation, the sort of thing you’d expect from a dodgy door-to-door salesman who’d spout any old garbage to try to flog his very dubious product. The man’s a complete con-merchant, a joke. Why doesn’t he use his intelligence to try to understand that you can fool some people some of the time but you’ll end up making a bigger fool of yourself? Or does Islam reduce people to such a state of blabbering idiocy that they”‘re unable to comprehend that simple fact?
gravenimage says
Jayell, all too many people *want* to believe this blatant Taqiyya.
mortimer says
Jayell asks wisely, “IS THIS THE BEST ASLAN CAN DO TO PROMOTE ISLAM?”
That is the question everyone should ask. Stop being so dam polite about everything Muslims say and CHALLENGE THEIR BS and TAQIYYA !
Muslims will lay off when Western people CALL THEIR BLUFFING. And Muslims are bluffing.
Islam has no moral argument, historical argument or logical argument with which to defend it. Islam can EASILY be defeated if Western people apply facts and logic. Islam is neither logical nor factual.
Donald R Laster Jr says
Islam uses indoctrination so they don’t think or reason well. And then add the lying, deception, and other deviant behaviors Islam promotes, and common sense is out the door as well.
More Ham Ed says
He is a member if the taqiyya/clown branch of islam (lowercase be upon it).
David says
http://i67.tinypic.com/2zrdmaf.jpg
ItsReallyQuiteClear says
Reza Aslan, a human hyaena, said that culture is like a vessel and religion is like water. Linda Sarsour, who would have to be reincarnated several times to achieve the lofty status of a hyaena-like life form, said that a Muslim’s job is not to assimilate.
In this case, the cockroach was being honest and the hyaena was laughing at us.
davej says
Aslan is simply a PR and advance man for Islam.
His job is to disarm you.
Tim TYlor says
This clown is either the dumbest SOB on the planet or an undercover terrorist…
bardhi says
“When you look at Islam in the United States what you see is an overwhelmingly moderate version of Islam” let us suppose that in sunni tradition exist also “moderate version of Islam”, but the question is this moderation of Islam in the USA is due to an intrinsic quality of Islam or because the pressure of a liberal and secular culture over muslim comunity, how it is possible that Islam becomes “moderate” only when the muslim comunities are a minority in a democratic, liberal and secularized countries but it is extremly strict and pure in milenary Islamic countries, so the question si which is the true islam, will remain always “moderate version of Islam” when in USA the muslim comunity become bigger or majority?!
Donald R Laster Jr says
Once enough Islamics get into an area they work force Islam on the area. No Islamics can ever be trusted to be loyal to a non-Islamic country. Their theocracy requires them to take over.
demuslim says
what if one of the culture believe that Muhammad was gay and he was a false prophet ?
duh swami says
“Everyone knows more about religion than you do…all you have to do is give them an opportunity and they will tell you all about it’…Rev Hensely 1960 something…
“Religion’ is a human mental construct, sometimes known as a opinion…To be ‘religious’ is to worship your own opinions…
“Religion is the birthplace of religious, supremacist bigotry…
That’s Reza and a lot of other humans…Rev Hensely was right…
Frustrated an Citizen says
Sharia doesn’t coincide with the freedom our constitution offers.
mohamonator says
Aslan’s puff piece has just been posted to the Foreign Policy Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/foreign.policy.magazine
Comments encouraged!
Keith Jordan says
I’m trying to understand why Reza Aslan should be important to me. Has anybody other than Robert Spencer ever heard of him? Is he more famous than my neighbors?
eduardo odraude says
He wrote a bestseller in which he lies at critical moments. For example, he pretends that Muhammad’s consummation of his marriage to Aisha (when she was 9 and he in his 50s), did not happen, despite all the canonical Islamic texts that say it did happen. But Aslan never mentions those numerous canonical Islamic texts. He just makes the bald assertion that Muhammad did not consummate the marriage till Aisha reached puberty.
He also describes Muhammad’s early caravan raids as a harmless affair, but he doesn’t tell his readers that the earliest Muslim biography of Muhammad says the Muslims killed people on the first or an early raid and indeed were the first to draw blood — not the alleged persecutors of the Muslims.
Donald R Laster Jr says
Islamics lie all the time. Mohammad was one of the most depraved people to live. He was a thief, murderer, liar, and rapist. And he probably engaged in sodomy as well. All one has to do is to read the Qur’an and available history. And we have 1400 years of what Islam teaches and follows.
Mike says
Reza Aslan , the trojan horse that was sent to us in America from Iran. Thanks for your greek gift !
eduardo odraude says
Wow, this guy is not shy about espousing not just relativism, but the most extreme form of relativism. He practically turns relativism into an absolute, which is a contradiction in terms.
The main question about Aslan: is this guy just a superficial moron? Or a total liar? Is his job to confirm confused people in their nonsensical notion that there is no truth, so that they don’t resist Islam because, after all, what’s the difference? Or is this professor really one of the confused himself?
moeped says
Asslan is wickedly gay.
Sarah says
Great article Robert – your first paragraph made me chuckle. Withering, indeed.
As an Australian, I have little understanding of this Reza Aslan character other than hearing of him being mentioned quite frequently on international websites and in YouTube clips.
He doesn’t have a large presence or footprint here in Australia, yet. Unless I’ve managed to miss every single article, show or opinion piece that the media has published or shown, involving him- here.
What I have seen or read of him online doesn’t remotely encourage me to seek out further information about him and his views.
Just yet another liar, promoting his lies about Islam. There’s plenty of liars like him to pick from. None are worth listening to, in my opinion.
Denis MacLellan says
Anything written or spoken by Reza Aslam is pure lies and bullshit. Here is a man, born a Muslim, converted to Christianity and reconverted back to Islam and lectures and writes at some left wing university in California. He is a phony shill for Islam who constantly pooh-poohs the horror of Islam, that advocates beheading, death for apostasy, the beating of wives, and every other atrocity that is common In Islam. He knows when he speaks that “Islam is not like that” he is lying. he is one contemptuous SOB.
Donald R Laster Jr says
And he obviously never actually became a Christian based upon what you described. Mohammad lied to people on a regular basis and taught his followers to do the same, which they do. Depravity is the norm for Islam.