The story is here:
Frederick [Maryland] Interfaith representatives are hoping a set of classes will help shine a positive light on Islam and the Muslim community.
Of course. The Interfaithers of Frederick, Maryland are not in the business of dispassionately studying the texts and teachings of Islam, but rather of “shining a positive light” on Islam and Muslims. Only an “islamophobe” or “racist” could find that worrisome.
Yahya Hendi, a Muslim imam and chaplain at Georgetown University, is leading a four-class series called “Learning About Islam.” The first class is set for Oct. 30 at Frederick Community College, with the remaining three set for other times throughout this year and next. The class is free, but contributions are welcome.
Todd Fineberg, a member of Frederick Interfaith, is part of what he called an “unofficial committee to improve relations with the Muslim community.” The committee includes Fineberg, who is Jewish; Asma Cheema, a Muslim; and Joey Hoffman, a Christian scientist.
“The three of us are working together to bring about the education program,” Fineburg said.
He added that the group hopes the classes will “improve understanding and knowledge and better relations.
Will these interfaithers be discussing the contents of the Qur’an and Hadith that are most disturbing, and most in need of examination, or will they, rather, be guided by Yahya Hendi to look only at those Qur’anic verses that he has selected, as is so often the case in these interfaith affairs where Muslims are in charge? We know the answer to that. I suspect that neither Fineburg nor Hoffman, nor the non-Muslims attending Hendi’s talks, will know about any of the more than one hundred Qur’anic verses that command Muslims to engage in violent Jihad. And Yahya Hendi is not about to bring them up.
What will they learn? These interfaith events inevitably follow the same script. First, Hendi will tell these trusting Infidels all about the Five Pillars of Islam: the Shehada (the Profession of Faith), Salat (the five daily prayers), Zakat (the obligatory charitable giving to other Muslims), Sawm (the fasting at Ramadan), and Hajj (the pilgrimage to Mecca that is required of all Muslims who can afford it, at least once in their lives). And what fun it is for those Interfaith Christians and Jews to learn those exotic words: Shehada, Salat, Zakat, Sawm, Hajj. Already you think you are learning something of value. And then you will be told by Hendi that the very word “Islam” means “peace.” He’ll ask a series of rhetorical questions: “Was Pope Francis wrong when he proclaimed that “authentic Islam and the proper reading of the Quran are opposed to every form of violence”? Was President Bush wrong when he said that “the face of terrorism is not the true face of Islam. That’s not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace”? Was President Obama wrong when he said that “For more than a thousand years, people have been drawn to Islam’s message of peace…Islam is rooted in a commitment to compassion and mercy and justice and charity?” That should impress the doubters.
Yahya Hendi will be sure to tell everyone that Jesus is “a revered prophet in Islam.” He won’t explain that the divinity of Jesus is denied. He’ll mention that one of the books of the Qur’an is named after “Mary” who is also “revered” in Islam but, he will leave out, not as the mother of the Son of God. Then he will bring up, as is de rigueur. In these interfaith events, Qur’an 2:256 – “There is no compulsion in religion.” Sounds good, and no one in the audience is likely to know enough to bring up the fact that apostates from Islam can be executed, which clearly constitutes “compulsion in religion.” A death penalty is the most convincing of compulsions. 2:256 sounds straightforward, and non-Muslims will be expected to take it at face value. But a little thought about the matter will lead to quite a different conclusion. Non-Muslims are not strictly “compelled” — this is the Muslim view – to give up their religions and convert to Islam. They have a “choice” — so supposedly no “compulsion” — either to convert to Islam, to be killed, or to live as dhimmis under Muslim rule. As dhimmis, they must pay the Jizyah (a capitation tax on non-Muslims) to the Muslim state, in order to prevent attacks on them by the Muslims themselves. They were also subject to a host of lesser disabilities, including: displaying identifying marks on both their dress and dwelling; riding donkeys rather than horses; stepping aside on footpaths so as always to yield the right of way to Muslims. Isn’t this seeming “choice” really a form of “compulsion”? In order to avoid either death, or being forced to pay the Jizyah and observe other conditions imposed on dhimmis, all of which were daily reminders of their well-deserved humiliation, the only way out was to convert to Islam. While some Christians and Jews paid the Jizyah, others, over time, in order to free themselves of this onerous tax, and all the other conditions, did indeed convert to Islam. Any fair-minded person would describe that as “compulsion.”
The other Qur’anic verse always quoted at these interfaith events is Qur’an 5:32, but in a carefully truncated version. Hendi will no doubt offer it as “If any one slew a person… it would be as if he slew a whole people; and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of a whole people…” “See – we Muslims are against killing.” But the full verse actually reads quite differently: “if any one slew a person – unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land – it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people.” In other words, 5:32 is not against killing. It sets out the reasons when killing is justified – “for murder or for spreading mischief (fitna) in the land.” “Spreading mischief in the land” has been taken by Islamic scholars to mean among other things, “encouraging disbelief.” So 5:32 gives license to kill the Unbelievers. And the verse that immediately follows, 5:33, provides a description of the ways to inflict that punishment. How many, in that audience, will check up on the actual wording of 5:32, and how many are likely to uncritically take the version offered by the amiable Mr. Hendi?
If 2:256 and 5:32 are the verses Yahya Hendi will surely bring up, there are other verses that just as surely he will avoid. He will not mention Qur’an 4:34, which gives Muslim husbands the right to “beat” their wives if they even suspect them of disobedience. Nor will he mention that in Islam men must “manage the affairs of women” because they are “superior to them in status.” He won’t discuss polygyny, unless someone brings it up, and then he will offer the usual justification: It was “a way for the many widows, in those days of constant warfare in 7th century Arabia, to not be left alone, but to acquire a husband to protect them and manage their affairs.” Few will ask “well, then, why is there a need for polygyny today?” He won’t explain that a Muslim husband can get a divorce merely by uttering the triple talaq, while for a woman to obtain a divorce much more is required. He won’t mention that a Muslim daughter inherits only half that of a Muslim son. Nor will he explain that a woman’s testimony is worth half that of a man’s, and that the reason for that is given by Muhammad himself in a famous hadith: it is “because of the deficiency of woman’s intelligence.”
Hendi, who is a former member of Frederick Interfaith, said “the class idea is the sound of freedom.”
“The sound of freedom”? His classes will not offer the mental freedom necessary to truly learn about Islam but, rather, will be under his control, that is, the mendacious guidance offered by a well-prepared Defender of the Faith, Yahya Hendi.
“In our society, in America, in our beautiful country, we are always talking about or discussing what makes America great is diversity,” he said.
“Conversations he hopes will happen during “Learning About Islam” will help with better conversations.
“For more of America to be a better America, America needs to know about all of its citizens,” Hendi said. “It makes people much better when they talk about one another. We are empowered, we are strengthened as a nation, as a society, as a country, as a human family when we know about one another.”
And knowing more about your neighbors and their faith and beliefs means being able “to interact with them more, work with them more and understand them more,” he said.
Hendi’s belief is that “the more you know, the more you know that you need to know more” when it comes to Islam.
“Because the more you learn about Islam, you are ‘wait a minute I didn’t know this.’ People will discover that they have been shaped by their misunderstandings, by some media outlets that don’t convey a true message of Islam or Muslims, so, therefore, people are shaped by ignorance,” he said. “And ignorance is our worst enemy. Ignorance is what divides us.”
Yes, everything bad you hear about Islam is only a misunderstanding, spread by media outlets – “ignorant” and “islamophobic” – whose effect, Yahya Hendi charges, is to “divide us.” It’s our “ignorance” of Islam that must be combated. But curiously, so many verses will need to be avoided if our “ignorance” is to be corrected in the right, non-misleading, Muslim-approved way. Such verses as 2:191-194, 3:151, 4:89, 8:12, 8:60, 9:5, 9:29, 47:4, and 98:6 won’t be brought up at all, nor will another 100 verses that command violent Jihad. Such verses would only upset and confuse people, at a time when we all have a duty – that’s what interfaith gatherings are for – to make people more aware of “authentic, peaceful Islam.” Trust Yahya Hendi. He wouldn’t deceive you, would he?
For all the Muslim variation on the Christian theme of bomfoggery – “brotherhood of man, fatherhood of God” – Hendi has no intention of letting his attendees know “more about [their Muslim] neighbors and their faith and beliefs.” He will necessarily offer a sanitized version of the faith, stressing the Five Pillars, the complimentary things prominent Westerners (the Pope and assorted Presidents) have said about Islam, and offering, along with 2:256 and 5:32, the handful of milder Qur’anic verses that seem to suggest the possibilities of co-existence but which, his attendees will not realize, have all been abrogated by the later, harsher verses of the Medinan period.
Michael Copeland says
“It is unbelief (kufr) to hold that the remnant cults now bearing the names of formerly valid religions such as Christianity and Judaism are acceptable to Allah….”
Manual of Islamic Law, “Reliance of the Traveller”, w4
They will not be hearing about that.
FYI says
They will not be hearing about this either..
“Oh ye who believe!take not the Jews and christians for friends.They are friends to one another.He among you who taketh them for friends is one of them.Lo!allah guideth not wrongdoing folk”
koran 5:51
Any muslim who makes friends with the infidel is an infidel…
“Lo!those who disbelieve,among the people of the scripture and the idolators
will abide in hell fire.They are the worst of created beings”
koran 98:6
That is Jews and Christians
{Jews and christians}”allah’s CURSE be upon them”
koran 9:30
islamic “interfaith” is thus just an excuse to promote their Cult of muhammed
“ignorance is what divides us”:yes,islamic ignorance..the koran teaches it.
No Golden Rule exists in islam and “love thy neighbor” is impossible since the koran classifies humanity into the superior muslims k3:110 and the inferior non-muslims.
DiploNerd says
I met Imam Hendi. He lied to my face about the wife-beating verse in the Quran. When I went home and looked it up and discovered that he had lied to me, I tried to contact him but suddenly he was no longer available to me.
gravenimage says
No surprise there, DiploNerd.
Jule Bacal says
They must set up classes in Mosques to shine a light of positive understanding of Christianity, Judaism. Hindu, Buddhists, Jains, Copts, Atheists, Agnositics, Humanists, Gays, Western ideas, etc. This is what is most needed.
gravenimage says
Good luck with that, Jule–Islam teaches the hatred, oppression, and murder of all Infidels.
Michael Copeland says
Imam, what does “break the cross” mean?
Islam says that when Jesus returns, he will “break the cross”.
mortimer says
– “Taqiyya permeates almost all the activities and dealings of Muslims with non-Muslim societies…” – a former sheikh Sam Solomon
Yahya Hendi is not inventing his own version of Islam, because Islam was codified definitively and irrevocably in the year 1111AD with the famous Closing of the Doors of Ijtihad. Yahya Hendi knows this perfectly well. So he is lying to the faces of his class.
Yahya Hendi is using four types of lies sacralized by Sharia law … so he lies to kafirs with a clear conscience … his lies are approved by Islam :
1•Taqiyya or Muda’rat (Sunni): bald-faced lies for the purposes of spreading Islam.
2•Kitman: lies by omission of important, qualifying details.
3•Tawriya: lies by deliberate ambiguity.
4•Taysir: lies through ‘facilitation’ (not observing ALL the tenets of Sharia by ‘making things easier’).
Lying to kafirs is standard practice in Islam. It must give these mullahs a thrill of satisfaction not to have anyone challenge their crafty lying.
The world’s greatest Islamologist, the late Dr. Hans Jansen, pointed out the duplicity of apologists at such interfaith events.
If you quote ancient sources of Islamic authority, the Muslim apologist will say, “‘Oh, well, this is an old book, not relevant any longer, no normal average Muslim knows of this book’. When we quote modern contemporary sources of a similar nature, they will say: ‘Well, this is a recent innovation that has no meaning for the general picture of Islam’. If we quote both old and new sources, they will say that we bore them by repeating multiple irrelevancies. A STRONG STOMACH is an absolute requisite for anyone who joins such debates.”
Egorgozlow says
Actually when it comes to deceit you can broaden it even more under Islam.
Equally, everybody has to be aware of Islamic deceit. It has got to the stage with me, where I do not believe anything that comes out of their mouths. This is because they are either very ignorant or they are being deceitful. For all you infidels, kafirs etc etc there are a number of words in the Islamic text you should be aware of. These words all refer to deceit in various forms in Islam. They are (1)taqiyya (Shia) and (2)Muda’rat (Sunni) which are the tactical forms of deceit for spreading Islam. This is going on all of the time. Then we have (3) tawriya, which is deceit by ambiguity. (4) Kitman which is deceit by omission. (5)Taysir which is deceit through facilitation. (6)Darura is deceit through necessity (doing something haram). (7)Maruna is the temporary suspension of the Sharia by Muslims in the West to make them look moderate. (8)Hudna is the temporary truce which the Muslim might make but which can be broken at a moment’s notice. (9) Hijrah which is Muslim immigration to peacefully occupy and then take over a kafir country. My advice is look up the meaning of these words and that will give you a better idea of what you are dealing with. I have only given you a brief overview.. To give you an example of “kitman”. How often do we hear Islamic apologists telling us that jihad is nothing but an internal struggle while the rest of the world sees what these so called people immersed in “inner struggle” are actually doing around the world. We even have these naive politicians that tell us it is an inner struggle and that terrorism is not indicative of the true Islam. Bullshit Theresa May. In the Quran it uses jihad and its derivatives 59 times. Of these, only 16 or 27% could be considered “internal” with no object as target of the struggle based on the context of the surah. So you know what to say the next time a Muslim tells you the “true meaning” of jihad. A good example of maruna is the pilots who flew in 9/11. They allegedly went to a strip club the night before their mission to obliterate the Twin Towers. They were blending in by doing something real Muslims would not do under the Sharia. An example of Hudna might be Yasser Arafat and his peace with Israel (for which the Left awarded this terrorist scumbag a Nobel Peace Prize). When he was making his speech in a Johannesburg mosque in 1994 he let his supporters know that it was only Hudna by referring to exactly the same thing that Muhammad did to the Quaraish. I listed below Surah from the Quran, Siunnah and Hadiths which supports this use of deceit.
Quran
Quran (16:106) – Establishes that there are circumstances that can “compel” a Muslim to tell a lie.
Quran (3:28) – This verse tells Muslims not to take those outside the faith as friends, unless it is to “guard themselves” against danger, meaning that there are times when a Muslim may appear friendly to non-Muslims, even though they should not feel friendly. Quran (9:3) – “…Allah and His Messenger are free from liability to the idolaters…” The dissolution of oaths is with pagans who remained at Mecca following its capture. They did nothing wrong, but were evicted anyway. (The next verse refers only to those who have a personal agreement with Muhammad as individuals – see Ibn Kathir vol 4, p 49) Quran (66:2) – “Allah has already ordained for you the dissolution of your oaths…”
Quran (40:28) – A man is introduced as a believer, but one who had to “hide his faith” among those who are not believers.
Quran (2:225) – “Allah will not call you to account for thoughtlessness in your oaths, but for the intention in your hearts”
Quran (3:54) – “And they (the disbelievers) schemed, and Allah schemed (against them): and Allah is the best of schemers.” The Arabic word used here for scheme (or plot) is makara, which literally means ‘deceit’. If Allah is supremely deceitful toward unbelievers, then there is little basis for denying that Muslims are allowed to do the same. (See also 8:30 and 10:21) Taken collectively these verses are interpreted to mean that there are circumstances when a Muslim may be “compelled” to deceive others for a greater purpose.
Sunnah and Hadith
Sahih Bukhari (52:269) – “The Prophet said, ‘War is deceit.'” The context of this is thought to be the murder of Usayr ibn Zarim and his thirty unarmed companions by Muhammad’s men after they were “guaranteed” safe passage
Sahih Bukhari (49:857) – “He who makes peace between the people by inventing good information or saying good things, is not a liar.” Lying is permitted when the end justifies the means.
Sahih Bukhari (84:64-65) – Speaking from a position of power at the time, Ali confirms that lying is permitted in order to deceive an “enemy.” The Quran defines the ‘enemy’ as “disbelievers” (4:101).
Sahih Muslim (32:6303) – “…he did not hear that exemption was granted in anything what the people speak as lie but in three cases: in battle, for bringing reconciliation amongst persons and the narration of the words of the husband to his wife, and the narration of the words of a wife to her husband (in a twisted form in order to bring reconciliation between them).”
Sahih Bukhari (50:369) – Recounts the murder of a poet, Ka’b bin al-Ashraf, at Muhammad’s insistence. The men who volunteered for the assassination used dishonesty to gain Ka’b’s trust, pretending that they had turned against Muhammad. This drew the victim out of his fortress, whereupon he was brutally slaughtered.
So there you have it, the “Religion O Peace” in all its glory and honesty for people to see. So my advice when listening to a Muslim being interviewed, rather than simply believing what he or she is saying I would suggest you see what form of deceit they are actually using.
gravenimage says
Good posts.
GAF says
Yes, a good post. I have saved it to my personal learning notes
mortimer says
Dr. Hans Jansen pointed out a very real chink in the armor of the mullahs, namely, how Sharia law purports to know more about Islam than Mohammed or even the angel Jibreel !!!
Quote: “There is, however, one point of entry into the Islamic armor that sounds as pious and as Islamic as these things go. It may even be effective. The Koran unequivocally states that it is written in clear Arabic language, lisaan ‘arabii mubiin. ‘Well’, one is bound to ask, ‘Why, if this is true, do we need Koran COMMENTARIES that run into THOUSANDS of pages?
This question is awkward already, but we have to pose an even more embarrassing one concerning the authority of the ancient founding fathers of the Sharia: the four giants al-Shaafi’, Abu Haniifa, Malik and Ahmad ibn Hanbal, all close to 800 AD; all, except Malik, geographically connected to Iraq: ‘Why do we need these four Sharia scholars to inform us which acts Islam forbids and prescribes?’. ‘If the Koran is clear, why do we need these luminaries? What did they know MORE than the prophet Muhammad? What did they know that is not in the CLEAR VERSES of the Koran?’” – Johannes Jansen, PhD, Islamologist
I point out the following to Muslims: ‘Mohammed thought that the sun revolved around the earth and that the earth was flat … you know this is false, so YOU KNOW MORE THAN MOHAMMED. Since you know MORE than Mohammed, then you CAN LEARN NOTHING IMPORTANT FROM HIM and you may abandon Islam with confidence.’
David says
The last point is absurd, as you know perfectly well. Having more knowledge than someone in one specific area (cosmology or even science in general) does not mean can’t learn from them in other topics like ethics.
Terry Gain says
Cleaning up Islam is as easy as pie.
https://youtu.be/RJAL6xgViqg
mortimer says
To TG: Funny video by Sy Ten. However, your facetious plan, it seems, is to introduce the game of ‘More-Muslim-than-thou’ and let Muslims fight one another. Sadly, it won’t work. The only problem with this is that fanatical Muslims cooperate rather well when they have a common enemy, such as NATO, and then when they attain political power, they persecute the other Muslims as they are doing in Pakistan and Iran to a large degree.
Islam is duplicitous and slippery, so it will always be a mess and the fanatics will slither out of the noose most of the time. Every time one side attacks the other a retaliation will occur. There are a billion fanatical Muslims who must be killed by other Muslims before it will stop. That’s going to take a long time for Muslims to fight it out with each other.
Terry Gain says
Mortimer
As a rule of thumb, it is never wise to assume facts not in evidence. I was simply pointing out that those who defend Islam must ultimately resort to lies.
James Lincoln says
Terry Gain says,
“… those who defend Islam must ultimately resort to lies.”
Absolutely true, thanks for pointing this out so succinctly.
Islam is absolutely indefensible against clear thinking, factual, evidence-based logic.
FYI says
@Terry Gain
See “The Sound of Muslims” from the same site…and “Vikings:a mythology of peace”
gravenimage says
Yes, FYI–funny stuff from Sye Ten.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pi6nppmm2JY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvd15Nj_Pzg
gravenimage says
Sye Ten Atheist is brilliant! Thanks for posting this cartoon, Terry. I hadn’t seen this one.
Wellington says
I can’t remember the last time anything good came out of Georgetown University. It is Catholic in name only, highly politically correct with extra gooey multiculturalism, and has been significantly bribed by the Islamic world to put forth a happy face view of Islam.
Georgetown a while ago betrayed its original purpose and now is a front for all kinds of stupid and terrible things. It is no longer an institution of higher learning but a factory mill for indoctrination. Friends do their best to dissuade their friends from having their children attend this joke of a school.
mortimer says
Well expressed by Wellington … Georgetown is indeed being bribed by trainloads of Arabian cash. Shameful.
James Lincoln says
Wellington,
You are correct. Back in the day, Georgetown University was a very prestigious school.
No longer. No way would I send my son or daughter there.
gravenimage says
Yes–very depressing.
Carol the 1st says
“Esposito and CMCU have given Georgetown an unappealing image as a nest of Saudi-financed Wahhabis and other extremists. Esposito has published books promoting almost every form of radical Islam”:
Georgetown and the Islamist Money Changers
https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/19214/georgetown-and-the-islamist-money-changers
Angemon says
I suspect this is a Craig Considine-esque idea of freedom – toe the line, or your comment is zapped before it is even published…
FYI says
Craig Considine’s tweets iIhave to say are always good for a laugh;These pro-islam apologists work so hard to sugarcoat the lie they are keen to promote.
For example,there is absolutely no way that muhammed, a man who according to islamic teachings was a MASS-MURDERER of Jews{Abu Dawud 4390}and the seller of black African slaves{Sahih muslim 3901} could be considered to have been a morally good person.
Yet these “academics” will promote this nonsense of muhammed being a man of peace despite the fact that islamic sources show he was no such thing.
“Follow the money..”:just see who funds these academics and colleges..
No Muzzies Here says
Why do they feel the need to “shine a positive light on Islam and the Muslim community”? Is it because Islam and the Muslim community have convinced people that they are violent and intolerant?
Rather than say sweet things about them that aren’t true, just stop being violent and intolerant.
gravenimage says
Yep.
Carol the 1st says
It’s so kind and understanding of them to hope to get the stupid, shallow kafir audience “up to speed” (particularly those who’ve likely absorbed only about a dozen hours of MSM whitewash).
Edna says
Do you not know that the muslims own DC? obama gave them full rein and they have certainly used it. Saudi helps by funding the mega mosques and muslims come out of the woodwork. Where were there before?
Light cannot penetrate the darkness of islam; similar to a black hole.
The catholics have lost their way for sure. If they think ‘multiculturism’ will work, they are delusional.
gravenimage says
Yahya Hendi, Or, Interfaith Healing with a Georgetown Imam (Part 1)
………………….
A steaming pile of Taqiyya, aided by clueless useful idiots.
Mark Spahn (West Seneca, NY) says
What is the origin of the claim that “the testimony of a woman is worth half that of a man”? Nothing in the Quran or hadiths says this. What does it even mean to say this? Indeed, this seems to be a “category error” based on the belief that credibility is a function of a witness’s sex, so that three women can agree to contradict the testimony of one man, and the qadi (sharia judge) must believe them even though they are lying and the male witness is telling the truth; the judge must believe the women, because 3x(0.5) = 1.5 > 1. Do they really teach this principle in qadi training institutes in Qom or Riyadh? If anybody knows, please report.
Muhammad (pbuh), in a hadith, speaks of the deficiency in women’s intelligence, but what does this have to do with credibility? An inability to learn long division may be proof of low intelligence, but it is not proof of the inability to convey correctly what one has witnessed. Similar remarks apply to Quran 2:282 (“And call to witness, from among your men, two witnesses. And if two men be not found then a man and two women.”). Credibility is not a function of a witness’s sex or IQ, despite what Muhammad or the crazed author of the Quran (or even Hugh Fitzgerald) might say.
revereridesagain says
Speaking of “useful idiot”: Any Western man who writes “pbuh” after the name of the mad child-raping “prophet” Muhammad.
Mark Spahn (West Seneca, NY) says
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony
OLD GUY says
Maybe he should be required to attend a bible study class. I think all muslims should take a bible study class at university. Oh wait they would be offended by that. They think I should be required to learn about their religion, I do know about their religion of HATE, MURDER, RAPE and WIFE BEATING, I do not want to know anything more.