From a report this July at the Huffington Post:
A Muslim photographer is working on an ambitious project that he hopes will tackle stereotypes about American Muslims and showcase the community’s rich diversity.
Since the fall of 2015, Carlos Khalil Guzman has been using his free time and his own funds to travel across the country to interview an array of Muslims. In the series, titled “Muslims of America,” Guzman is attempting to capture portraits of Muslims from all 50 states in the country. The series includes people of different sects of Islam, ethnicities and backgrounds ― from Native American Muslims to Syrian refugees to queer Muslims.”
Frustrated by a lack of diversity and representation of Muslims in the mainstream media, Guzman said he decided to create a project that would help people learn about the many ways American Muslims practice their faith.
“I wanted to be proactive about it,” Guzman told HuffPost. “We need to find our own ways to educate people.”
Guzman, a 28-year-old photographer of mixed ancestry from Brooklyn, New York, is an activist and a revert to Islam. He started exploring the religion in college, after getting to know Muslim activists through different networks on his campus. He found in Prophet Muhammad an example of what it means to be tolerant, charitable and compassionate ― and realized that Islam reinforced his own beliefs about social justice.
Prophet Muhammad is an example of what it “means to be tolerant, charitable, compassionate”? May we beg to differ? Are we allowed to mention Abu ‘Afak, a 120-year-old Jewish poet, who mocked Muhammad in verse and was, as a consequence, assassinated by one of Muhammad’s loyal followers? Or to mention Asma bint Marwan, who protested Muhammad’s killing of Abu ‘Afak and was herself then killed? Or Ka’b bin al-Ashraf, another poet insufficiently respectful of Muhammad, who was also killed? For those were just three of the people who criticized, or mocked in verse, Muhammad; he then expressed aloud his wish that they be killed, and his loyal followers obliged. That doesn’t strike one as “tolerance.” What about Saafiya, the Jewish girl from Khaybar whom Muhammad took for his own pleasure, and first used her as a sex slave on the evening of the same day that he had her father, husband, and brother killed? What kind of charity, what kind of compassion is that? What about Kinana of Khaybar, the man whom Muhammad ordered to be tortured until he revealed where some valuables were hidden, and further ordered that he was not to be freed, but killed? What about Muhammad’s taking part in the killing of 600-900 bound prisoners of the Banu Qurayza, killings that went on from bloody dawn to bloody dusk? Was that ruthless treatment of an enemy that was no longer any threat “compassionate”? Was it “compassionate” of Muhammad to sleep with nine-year-old Aisha, or does another adjective come to mind?
One would like to ask Carlos Khalil Guzman if any of these revealing episodes in Muhammad’s life will be part of his project, or if he will carefully leave out all mention of Aisha, the killing of the Banu Qurayza, the rape of Saafiya, the torture and murder of Kinana, the assassinations of Asma bint Marwan, Abu ‘Afak, and Ka’b ibn al-Ashraf. None of these stories, to which many more might be added, suggest an exemplar of “what it means to be tolerant, charitable, and compassionate.” And the Muslims he selects to show in all their diversity — a purely outward and etiolated diversity, for inwardly they all read the same texts, and believe in the same teachings, of Islam, which purports to regulate every area of life — will, no doubt, also steer clear of such episodes in Muhammad’s life, and stick to the safely anodyne.
Or perhaps Carlos Khalil Guzman thinks it unfair to mention these episodes because many of them are not in the Qur’an, but in the Hadith, those stories about the words and deeds of Muhammad, as they were passed down through an isnad-chain of narrators, or from the Sira, the biography of Muhammad by Ibn Ishaq. But the Hadith and Sira, which together make up the Sunnah, are also sources of authority for Muslims, and especially those Hadith in the collections deemed most authoritative, that is, those by Al-Bukhari and Muslim.
But for now, let’s stick to the Qur’an. Can Carlos Khalil Guzman explain to us how the following verses support the notion of a Muhammad who is, as he puts it, ‘“tolerant, charitable, and compassionate” — or does he think that quoting the 109 “Jihad verses” in the Qur’an, where Jihad through violence, including terrorism, is commanded by Allah to Muhammad, is somehow illegitimate? Why? These verses constitute, after all, Muhammad’s marching orders from Allah; he is not free to reject or modify them.
Here are just a handful of the best known Qur’anic verses commanding violent Jihad, through both qitaal (combat) and, as in 8:12, through terrorism:
9:5 (The Verse of the Sword): And when the sacred months have passed, then kill the polytheists wherever you find them and capture them and besiege them and sit in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they should repent, establish prayer, and give zakah, let them [go] on their way. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.
9:29: Fight those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth from those who were given the Scripture – [fight] until they give the jizyah willingly while they are humbled.
8:12 (A famous strike terror verse featuring dismemberment and beheading): [Remember] when your Lord inspired to the angels, “I am with you, so strengthen those who have believed. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieved, so strike [them] upon the necks and strike from them every fingertip.”
47:4: So when you meet those who disbelieve [in battle], strike [their] necks until, when you have inflicted slaughter upon them, then secure their bonds, and either [confer] favor afterwards or ransom [them] until the war lays down its burdens. That [is the command]. And if Allah had willed, He could have taken vengeance upon them [Himself], but [He ordered armed struggle] to test some of you by means of others. And those who are killed in the cause of Allah – never will He waste their deeds.
Instead, Carlos Khalil Guzman has asked all of the sweet-faced, gentle young American Muslims he has carefully selected to photograph to choose their favorite Qur’anic verse, and discuss why it is their favorite. The results are all perfectly predictable, and as innocuous as all get out. No one is going to choose 9:5 or 9:29 or 8:12, or 47:4,or 2:191-193, or 5:33. No one is going to choose even one of the more than 100 Jihad verses. And Carlos Khalil Guzman certainly hopes you are impressed by the message he hopes to convey with his photographs of the smiling Believers, not a single scowl among them, engaged in all the harmless activities — studying, working, playing — that we all share in time-honored Family-of-Man fashion, and that imply that Muslims are just like the rest of us, and what’s more, regard us in the friendliest possible fashion, which will come as a surprise to those who remember Qur’an 5:51, which commands Muslims not to take Christians and Jews as friends, “for they are friends only with each other.” Qur’an 3:28 is another of the many verses that tell Muslims not to take Unbelievers as their friends: “Let not the believers take disbelievers for their friends in preference to believers. Whoso doeth that hath no connection with Allah unless (it be) that ye but guard yourselves against them, taking (as it were) security. Allah biddeth you beware (only) of Himself. Unto Allah is the journeying.” Ibn Kathir, the leading Qur’anic commentator, explains 3:28 this way: you can’t be friends with those Christians and Jews “unless (it be) that ye but guard yourselves against them” means that you may show false friendship towards them if you think they may otherwise do you harm, but that “We smile in the face of some people although our hearts curse them.”
That statement, approving such deception of the Unbelievers, was undoubtedly taken by Ibn Kathir from the most canonical collection of Hadith, compiled by Al-Bukhari, who recorded that Abu Ad-Darda (a companion and pupil of Muhammad) said, “We smile in the face of some people although our hearts curse them.” Furthermore, the deception never ends. Al-Bukhari said that Al-Hasan said, “The Tuqyah [taqqiyah, deception on behalf of Islam] is allowed until the Day of Resurrection.”
What this means is that the friendly smiles on the faces of those Carlos Khalil Guzman photographs as typical Muslims should not be taken at face value, for they may be meant for fellow Muslims only, while for Unbelievers, despite those outward smiles, “our hearts curse them.”
Five years after his conversion in 2012, Guzman is putting that passion for social justice into practice with his project.
Social justice? How does his project of misrepresenting Islam at one remove — that is, by having each one of those friendly young Muslims he photographs choose the Qur’anic verse that means the most to him or her, which verses will of course be as inoffensive and touching and heartwarming as all get out, washed down with a dose of taqiyya — promote “social justice”? It only promotes an unwariness among gullible infidels. As for the “passion for social justice,” Guzman thinks he derives from Islam and wishes to spread, perhaps he ought to take a closer look at those Muslim countries that, being the most Islamic of all, must surely exhibit “social justice.” What about that “social justice” in Muslim countries? In the oil-and-gas rich Muslim Arab countries (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates), where there are millions of domestic workers, mostly female, from Asia, especially the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, how are these workers treated by their Muslim Arab masters? Do we not hear horrific tales of their mistreatment, their long workdays, their pitiful wages, the use of female domestic workers as sex slaves? Haven’t we heard of the cruelty of their Muslim masters and mistresses, who keep them as virtual prisoners under the Kafala system, whereby the employer holds these workers as virtual slaves, for they cannot leave their employ without their master’s permission, nor leave the country without express permission of their employers, who hold on to their passports? Haven’t we read about the Filipino and Thai and Indonesian domestic workers, about the sexual abuse, the beatings, the harassment, the 21-hour days for many thousands of domestic workers employed in Arab states, where being a maid doesn’t just mean mopping the floors? The Saudi prince who was recently accused of sexually assaulting a maid and threatening to kill all those who refused his advances is hardly unique. When asked to stop, the prince allegedly screamed, “I am a prince and I do what I want.” And that’s what happens, not only with the millions of domestic workers in Saudi Arabia, where the problem is undoubtedly most severe, with those in Kuwait, Qatar and the U.A.E. who find they must comply with such demands or lose their employment, and the remittances they send home to keep their families afloat.
Then there are the Infidels who still live in Dar al-Islam. Think of what the Copts must endure in Egypt at the hands of hostile Muslims — the explosions in their churches, the murderous attacks on worshippers and pilgrims. Think of what the Assyrians and Chaldeans have had to endure in Iraq, including being murdered not by the state but by Muslim fanatics punishing the Infidels for being Infidels. As a consequence of this murderous behavior, the Christian population of Iraq has sunk from 1.4 million in 2003 to 250,000 today, because Saddam Hussein, though in all other respects a moral monster, for his own reasons of Realpolitik protected the Christians (they were never a threat to his rule, and he could count on their grateful support because he protected them), and when he was toppled, the Christians lost that protection. Christians have been under attack from Muslims all over Dar al-Islam — in Syria, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia.
But none of these attacks by Muslims will be alluded to in Guzman’s book, which apparently will mention how Muhammad was a model for Muslims of “charity, tolerance, and compassion.” One wonders if Carlos Khalil Guzman’s book of photographs will refer, even obliquely, to the “social justice” to be found in most of the Muslim lands, where Unbelievers are persecuted and sometimes killed. And even members of other Muslim sects can be regarded as, and treated as, Infidels. We have seen the mass killings of Shia in the Islamic State; we know that in Pakistan, a Sunni terrorist group, Sipah-e-Sahaba, specializes in attacks on Shi’a professionals; we also know that in Saudi Arabia the Shi’a in the Eastern Province are treated with deep suspicion, subject to constant harassment and kept under tight control. This does not sound like a religion that stresses “charity, tolerance, and compassion.”
Let’s go back to the portfolio of photos, all Sweetness and Light, taken by Señor Guzman:
Kenneth, a college student from California, is one of the people featured in Guzman’s series.
Along with the photos, Guzman is also asking each of his subjects to tell him their favorite saying of the prophet, or a verse from the Quran. The subjects are then asked to explain why that piece of scripture is important to them.
Some told him about verses (or ayat) that reassured them of God’s providence during a time of trouble. Others highlighted verses that helped them feel protected and loved, or verses that reminded them to care for their parents.
For Guzman, these reflections on scripture are an important way for people who are not Muslim to connect with the project. He’s convinced that there would be less misunderstanding about Islam if people were reminded of how the religion functions in the lives of American Muslims ― how it promotes charity, gives people a sense of purpose during suffering, and inspires its followers to work toward justice for all.
“Islam is against all types of oppression, literally all of it,” Guzman said. “It’s against racism, homophobia, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, you name it. I want people to see that in this project.”
Islam is “against racism, homophobia, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism”? We’ll need another article to look into that remarkable claim by Guzman, who believes in an Islam that is very much a product of his hopeful imagination.
mortimer says
Guzman believes “He found in Prophet Muhammad an example of what it means to be tolerant, charitable and compassionate.”
Let us quote the primary Islamic texts to see if that is literally the case:
TOLERANCE? : Sahih Muslim (1:33): The Messenger of Allah said: “I have been commanded to fight against people till they testify that there is no god but Allah, that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, and they establish prayer and pay zakat.” Thus, INTOLERANCE, BIGOTRY, PERSECUTION and VIOLENCE are sanctioned by Mohammed until his victims embrace his religion and become obedient, humiliated and finally practicing Muslims. This is complete intolerance.
Charitable ? : Ishaq:594: “The Apostle gave gifts (bribery) to those whose hearts were to be won over, notably the chiefs of the army, to win them and through them the people.” Tabari IX:37/Ishaq:596: “Do you hold a grudge against me and are you mentally disturbed because of the worldly things by which I conciliate a people and win them over so that they will embrace Islam and become Muslims?”
Compassionate ? : Tabari IX:42: “We have been dealt a situation from which there is no escape. You have seen what Muhammad has done. Arabs have submitted to him and we do not have the strength to fight. You know that no herd is safe from him. And no one even dares go outside for fear of being terrorized.” Ishaq:327: “Allah said, ‘A prophet must slaughter before collecting captives. A slaughtered enemy is driven from the land. Muhammad, you craved the desires of this world, its goods and the ransom captives would bring. But Allah desires killing them to manifest the religion.'” Tabari VIII: 40: Aisha said, “His eye wept for no one.” –
Mockingjay says
“But Allah desires killing them to manifest the religion’”
– Wow.
Here’s the essence of islam in just 9 words.
– What else would one ever need to know about this FRAUD of a “religion” than that the deity it worships “desires” killng?
t. says
“Prophet Muhammad is an example of what it “means to be tolerant, charitable, compassionate”?”
Seriously, my initial reaction, for a split second, upon reading the above quote was feeling an urge to vomit!
mortimer says
Hugh Fitzgerald ILLUSTRATES in this article that MOST Muslims are not practicing ALL OF ISLAM. They pick-and-choose the easy parts of Islam and leave out the ESSENTIAL, COMPULSORY doctrines of HATRED DIRECTED TOWARDS DIRTY KAFIRS and JIHAD WARFARED OF ISLAMIC SUPREMACISM.
Just because ‘moderate’ Muslims do not practice ALL of Muslims does NOT qualify them as normative Muslims… in fact the REVERSE is true. Muslims who avoid OBLIGATORY, ‘ESSENTIAL DOCTRINES’ (usul ud-deen) are in fact HYPOCRITES from Islam and not ‘GOOD’ Muslims, but ‘DISOBEDIENT’ or ‘NON-PRACTICING’ Muslims.
Guzman is holding up NON-PRACTICING MUSLIMS as normative Muslims, when the reverse is true. The subjects of Guzman’s photo-study are HYPOCRITICAL MUSLIMS IN NAME ONLY.
mgoldberg says
Where was any ‘mosque’ in america denouncing the mass homicidisms that occured in the multiple serial killiings the last few years, say in Orlando, or Fort Hood, or the California one- the one where the workers threw a lovely party for their muslim coworkers on the celebration for their child for which they the workers were repaid with serial homcidism by the two, and the help they got from their muslim family members who hid their evil intensions. What about that and all the other events that should have had muslims pleading on their knees for forgivemenss for the horrendous evil done by muslims.
Never happened. Only the idiot msm and left and libs mooing about the fear of islamophobia because of the dreadful events, and never, the words of shame or contrition by muslims. Only, the faux fake interfaith calls and mind numbing victimhood claimed by muslims. Rubbish- evil deranged, hateful rubbish.
PRCS says
To feign public denunciation/renunciation of the violence they full well know is being carried out by fellow Muslims–per Islam’s texts–they use diversionary euphemisms like “radicalism” and “extremism”.
You don’t generally–if ever–hear them admit what’s really driving the violence.
JAR says
As usual, Hugh Fitzgerald has opened a can of whoop asslam.
Thank you, sir, may I have another? Well done!
Jack Diamond says
This book is da’wa. It doesn’t mean they are non-practicing Muslims at all (though some may be). This is da’wa propaganda for the benefit of kaffirs, and the author is purposefully dishonest and so may be the participants. Lying is their mother’s milk.
Yes, there is such diversity in what it means to be Muslim in the Qur’an and sunnah….
Jack Diamond says
How about a book of photos of the dead in America from Islam? Call it “Muslims of America II” or “Muslim Contributions to America (the cemetery edition)”.
t. says
Good information, mortimer, for those infidels who still have brains and honestly want to know about what is seemingly confusing for many of them, regarding Islam!
mortimer says
GUZMAN insists that Islam is against oppression. But Islam’s TOP and MOST AUTHORITATIVE scholars say the opposite. Islam’s top sheikhs insist that Islam MUST OPPRESS DIRTY KUFAAR:
-from Sufi scholar Ahmad Sirhindi (1564-1624): “The honour of Islam lies in INSULTING kufr and kafirs. One who respects the kafirs dishonours the Muslims… The real purpose of levying jiziya on them is to HUMILIATE them to such an extent that they may not be able to dress well and to live in grandeur. They should constantly remain TERRIFIED and TREMBLING. It is intended to hold them under CONTEMPT and to uphold the honour and might of Islam.”
-from ibn Taymiyya, “Book of Emaan”: “… true believers show ANIMOSITY and HATRED towards disbelievers and NEVER support them.”
-from Umar Sulayman ‘Abd-Allaah al-Ashqar, “Belief in Allah”: “The Muslim should regard the Kuffaar as ENEMIES and HATE them because of their kufr, just as he hates their kufr (disbelief) itself.”
-from [Chap.iv] “The Islaamic Concept of al-Walaa’ wal-Baraa’” by Khalid El-Gharib: “… to SHOW ENMITY to those who show enmity to Allaah and His Messenger”.
(Note: Muslims are to visibly demonstrate their ENMITY or HATRED towards the kufaar)
-from a lecture given by Sheikh Abdullah al-Faisal (H.A.): “The implication of al-Baraa is that one HATES for the sake of Allah (SWT)…Al-Baraa means to recognize who your enemies are and to HATE them and EXTERMINATE them in their Endeavour to get rid of your Deen, al-Islam…Al-Baraa is to HATE the people who propagate Baatil (falsehood)—the Muslim should HATE them and (at least desire to) KILL them when the time comes.”
mortimer says
WHAT DOES IT PROVE IF MUSLIMS SMILE?
For comparison with GUZMAN’S SMILING MUSLIMS, view these SMILING, HAPPY NAZIS from AUSCHWITZ:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUvcmGbtHWA
Shmooviyet says
Thank you for posting.
Spot-on comparison.
Jack Diamond says
There are a few who embrace evil in itself, for most:
to do evil you must believe you are doing good.
t says
Most, if not all, of the horrible and evil acts, commited throughout human history, were so by men and women with the best of intentions!
Vajapeya says
Good visual one. What nice nazis with affectionate hearts!!
fbijihadidefender says
Take a photo from IS, show it to the world how Islamic Terrorists and Muslim do to kafirs.
Shmooviyet says
It’s vital for HuffPo to right off include “of mixed ancestry” in their description of Guzman. How boring.
This fellow needs a dose of eye-opening regarding islam’s ‘literal’ oppression, which Mr. Fitzgerald’s articles could give him– if his mind wasn’t closed tight up.
Hope for his sake that he knows not to include images of the prophet in his book.
Jaladhi says
Guzman has been reading fake Qurans written by Westerners to portray Muhammad in good light – and that’s why he is out to portray Muslims as a regular day to day Americans which is just a fabrication. He cannot succeed as the truth aha abad habit of coming out all the time!
Benedict says
No collection of pictures from “Muslims of America” can rectify or beautify the ugly face of Islam amply demonstrated from other parts of the world where Islam dominates culture and mentality. And it is this mr. Hyde face of Islam that ultimately will surface – also in the West – when the acid test: “What did you do to one of the least of these my brothers”, is applied.
Jenan IE says
If we had an;y sense we’d round up the Muslims in America and ship them back to the Middle East. They do not enrich our culture, they add nothing positive and they bring only trouble. If we don’t stop allowing them int hey will destroy our country like they have Sweden, England and everywhere they go. They are a violent bunch of people, yes even than quiet one that lives next door and seems so nice. It’s their culture, it’s their training and fooling yourself into thinking they are going to change is deadly. We could start with the Muslim Brotherhood that has infiltrated our politics like Ellison.
Mark Breza says
Charitable Christians do not Tolerate Moslems or Jews
There is only the True and Apostolic Roman Catholic Church; all others are heretics.
Matamoros says
Carlos Khalil Guzman!?!?!
All you need to know about the deep and rotten sickness inside his Brain, is displayed by his name.
Krazy Kafir says
He is nothing more than a ‘carrier” of the violent and virulent strain of Islam since he whitewashes the horrible truth. The most dangerous type of Muslim.
PRCS says
A simple test of “American Muslim'” diversity:
In Qur’an 5:33, Allah provides–from among several punishments–for the amputation of a human being’s hand and foot on opposite sides.
As a Muslim, where on the planet is that morally acceptable to you?
a. If it IS morally acceptable to you–anywhere–well…
b. If it is is NOT morally acceptable to you–anywhere–is Allah wrong?
HugoHackenbush says
I suggest a free (permanent) trip to Pakistan or Saudi Arabia. Anyone for a betting pool as to how long he will last in an intact body? Maybe he should look up the interview with the Saudi executioner on the MEMRI website and his statements regarding “Allah’s” punishments.
don vito says
Moslems are just like everyone else? Except their hair-trigger emotion of being offended, and their aggression, when they are offended. How can a true-blue moslem be like everyone else by imitating kufr? What self respecting moslems imitates kufr? Only hypocrites and apostates. Zuhdi Jasser, comes to mind, telling us about islam, when no moslem follows his lede. Moslems are poor victims until their numbers increase to the point they assert their aggression to gain power, for alla. Only foolish progressives believe moslems, but we do have a country full of them. And writting about foolish progressive, has anyone read about George Clooney moving his family back to Studio City Ca., for their safety? From Italy. to Briton, to Trump governing USA for safety.
don vito says
Briton = Britain.
Guy Macher says
It’s not what they look like, what they work at (or not work at), or where they live–it’s what they believe.
bumi non malay says
No Islam Bias nation or Administration is ANY GOOD in this world…. Make no mistake about it and we do not need to be Romantics to the EVIL and condoning of Terrorism by Radical ISLAM…. Take Malaysia a coming Failed state and If people are smart, they will withdraw all their MONEY from Malaysia and Let the Nation Crumble so that NEW Nation of Sabah, Sarawak, Penang, Selangor, Johor, Perak can Emerge to be the NEW Singapore … Right now in malaysia, its the Taliban IS Radical Islam UMNO-PAS with 100% approval from Corrupted Sultan-agong-Govenor across malaysia…while attempting genocide on the Natives Orang Asli in Kelantan, Sabah, sarawak!! Avoid Malaysia and Boycott Malaysian Goods and halal goods if you can!! Lets Try to Eliminate, Obliterate Radical Islamic Ideology, End the EVIL first…then understand the EVIL!!…note the priorities…..Its like LBGTQ Global warming…you either accept it or you are branded a loser..>GO to HELL!!
carpediadem says
I am not demanding.
The only diversity I need in Muslims is that, however much of an a-hole they may be, they not try to kill me.
Jacinte Lamothe says
What a bunch of crock. i will simplify for all those who are not sure what Islam is or are learning and in agreement with my friends who have posted the truth. ISLAM = OPPRESSION
unbeliever 1 says
Has anyone sent this article to Carlos’s Facebook or Instagram pages?
eduardo odraude says
Excellent review by Mr. Fitzgerald.