“…Chowdhury was also consuming a considerable degree of right-wing literature presenting Islam as inherently violent, from anti-immigrant activist Tommy Robinson, Robert Spencer’s website Jihad Watch, and the American anti-Islam preacher David Wood. Chowdhury relied on these sources, it was revealed during the trial, to reinforce in his mind the religious necessity of jihad. Spencer has pushed back on the characterization that his writings helped inspire Chowdhury, arguing that a Muslim doesn’t need non-Muslim voices to justify jihadism. Fair enough — and questions of inspiration can be complicated. But evidence shows how seriously Chowdhury took these figures’ views. He saved numerous articles from Jihad Watch, including a list of Quranic passages extolling violence, and he shared Woods’ videos on jihadist attacks with the undercover agents, describing them as potential options….”
Does Nathan Spannaus, who identifies himself on Twitter as a “Middle East and Islamic Studies Ph.D” and author of a book called Preserving Islamic Tradition, actually think that Mohiusunnath Chowdhury would not have had access to the Qur’an if not for Jihad Watch? Does Spannaus actually believe that Islamic jihadis don’t read the Qur’an themselves, and that if “Islamophobes” would just shut up about what’s in it, no Muslims would know its contents, and there would be no jihad terrorism? Spannaus mentions that Chowdhury had been reading jihad manuals and material from al-Awlaki and other jihad preachers, but he still joins the relentlessly biased Lizzie Dearden of the Independent in claiming that Tommy Robinson, David Wood and I are really the ones who set the poor, peaceful lad on the path to perdition.
“That Islam requires violent jihad and that mainstream Muslims are deluded about their faith is a common refrain in anti-Islam circles,” says Nathan Spannaus, as if “anti-Islam circles” made up the idea that Islam requires violent jihad. The problem for Spannaus and Dearden, and for their hapless readers, is that the Qur’an says what it says whether Tommy and David and I quote it or not. And Muslims read it whether we quote it or not. And some Muslims act upon its violent passages, whether or not we mention their existence.
Does Nathan Spannaus, “Middle East and Islamic Studies Ph.D,” really not know this? Or is his article in Just Security all simply part of the Left-fascists’ ongoing attempt to shut down all dissent from their agenda? Certainly when Dearden’s article came out, there were numerous calls for this site to be shut down and my books withdrawn from circulation, because they supposedly inspired Mohiusunnath Chowdhury. That would be like saying that an anti-Nazi writer in the 1930s, who quoted Mein Kampf and explained Nazi motives and goals, had to be shut down because he was inspiring Nazism. It’s insane, and that’s the world we live in today, where the likes of Nathan Spannaus are respected academics.
“The Toxic Confluence Online of Anti-Muslim Literature and Jihadist Messaging,” by Nathan Spannaus, Just Security, April 1, 2020:
An unusual and concerning detail emerged in a counterterrorism trial in the United Kingdom last month. A British Muslim, Mohiussunnath Chowdhury, was convicted in February of planning terror attacks. The contours of his case are not surprising: An isolated and angry young man, Chowdhury was befriended by undercover agents posing as fellow jihadists, to whom he divulged, over several months, various plans to attack tourist spots around London. He was eventually arrested and, on the strength of the agents’ recordings of his statements and online communications, convicted.
The trial focused on Chowdhury’s state of mind and motivation. He had previously been arrested and charged for attacking the guards outside Buckingham Palace with a sword in December 2017, but was acquitted after claiming he had been trying to commit suicide by police. While his defense in the new trial argued that he was merely seeking attention through idle talk, the prosecution presented him as obsessed with martyrdom and killing non-Muslims and actively trying to do so.
Chowdhury had been consuming jihadist sources and propaganda since his release from prison in late 2018, including speeches by ideologues Anwar al-Awlaki and Sheikh Abdallah al-Faisal; manuals for jihad; and ISIS videos, publications and social media posts.
However, as reported by Lizzie Dearden in the Independent, Chowdhury was also consuming a considerable degree of right-wing literature presenting Islam as inherently violent, from anti-immigrant activist Tommy Robinson, Robert Spencer’s website Jihad Watch, and the American anti-Islam preacher David Wood. Chowdhury relied on these sources, it was revealed during the trial, to reinforce in his mind the religious necessity of jihad.
Spencer has pushed back on the characterization that his writings helped inspire Chowdhury, arguing that a Muslim doesn’t need non-Muslim voices to justify jihadism. Fair enough — and questions of inspiration can be complicated. But evidence shows how seriously Chowdhury took these figures’ views. He saved numerous articles from Jihad Watch, including a list of Quranic passages extolling violence, and he shared Woods’ videos on jihadist attacks with the undercover agents, describing them as potential options….
That Islam requires violent jihad and that mainstream Muslims are deluded about their faith is a common refrain in anti-Islam circles; Spencer in particular likes to sarcastically invoke Islam as “the religion of peace.”…
The circulation and interaction of these discourses mean that they cannot be kept separate, particularly on social media. Whatever his motivations, Chowdhury found something in these anti-Islam sources that fit with his worldview — enough to share them with the undercover agents, who he believed to be like-minded extremists open to this message. Even if his case is more of an outlier than the start of a trend, jihadists making use of far-right and Islamophobic sources adds a new dimension to the toxic stew that drives extremism and further complicates efforts to stop it.
Steve says
These quisling dhimmi stooges are the Jihadist’s best ally in the west.
mortimer says
Yes, a Quisling and perhaps a paid one. A forensic audit of Nathan Spannaus should be done to find his boss.
revereridesagain says
Meanwhile — and I usually reserve this for female anti-“islamophobes” but Nathan looks like a sensitive boy — it would probably further his education in the realities of Islamic belief to be stripped to his skivvies and gently lowered into a remote village in Pakistan just as the mosque winds up prayers. He needs a bit of practical education. He might want to bring along a goat as an ice-breaker.
How many people do any of us know who turn violent because someone opposed to their religious or philosophical beliefs accuses them of being violent? If Nathan had a sense of humor he’d have a future as a stand-up comedian.
revereridesagain says
Unless that’s actually Chowdhury and not Nathan, in which my suggestion still stands but he might consider taking Nathan along for the ride.
gravenimage says
Given that Nathan Spannaus writes for so many Islamic publications, I doubt he is a useful dhimmi. More likely he is a Muslim convert who has kept his Infidel name for professional use.
mortimer says
Agree. He is a convert and he uses slander and name-calling, rather than facts and logic to make his points. Spannaus is selling the snakeoil of REFORMED ISLAM, which all of us know is an impossibility. What is ‘perfect, eternal and complete’ can never be ‘reformed’ or else it never was perfect, eternal or complete.
Islam is flawed … even Spannaus can see that … and he lies about knowing that. If Spannaus thought Islam was perfect, then he would not try to reform it.
He’s an obvious liar and slanderer. He’s a coward too … you won’t see him debating anyone who knows the stuff.
mortimer says
To GI: I found a line on his old website that says he likes a certain HALAL takeout near his workplace. He is definitely a convert. That is key to understanding his propaganda efforts. His boss must be someone in an Islamic government.
Lydia Church says
The logical conclusion of this is the following:
According to his claim, the replication of the koran lead to the spread and igniting of jihad violence….
therefore on the contrary, the burning of the koran will quench jihad violence!
I concur!!!!
: D
mortimer says
His conclusion is actually that we shouldn’t tell Muslims what their religion actually teaches in the Koran, Sira and hadiths.
Spannaus spends his life teaching that Islam DOES NOT SAY what it actually says.
Spannaus is a professional contortionist. He explains that Mohammed and Allah did not actually say what they said.
Roger Woodhouse says
without ‘jihad’ there would be no Islam.It was spread by the sword.Will it have to die by it.?
mortimer says
Roger, Islam dies when Muslims realize that the Koran and hadiths are fabrications of human origin.
Im4truth4all says
I think the term “useful idiots” was coined by the communists but it is certainly appropos here.
Wellington says
Beyond idiotic because Islam and its many hateful tenets (e.g., Sura 4:89 which REQUIRES death for a Muslim who leaves Islam AND as still taught by every major school of Islamic theology, Sunni or Shiite, to this very day) existed long, long, long before Tommy Robinson, Robert Spencer and David Wood came along (and so glad they did I might add).
And yes, might as well blame Winston Churchill here for causing Nazi atrocities because he dared to point out in the 1930’s, when he was in his “political wilderness,” what was actually in Mein Kampf.
You know, a certain portion of mankind remains permanently foolish. Most dangerously influential among these fools are the well educated ones. A proper study of history teaches many lessons, none more accurate and damning than this one.
Jaydam says
Well said Wellington +1
commonsense says
Well said.
gravenimage says
Good post.
mortimer says
Good analogy from Wellington: Winston Churchill actually read Mein Kampf and Hitler’s beer hall speeches and WARNED PEOPLE about Hitler. Most Britons called Churchill names rather than analyze Hitler’s message themselves. Spannaus is doing the same thing … AD HOMINEM ATTACKS that AVOID addressing the main points Jihad Watch raises about the JIHAD DOCTRINE.
Spannaus is using slippery FALLACIES to avoid addressing Islam authentic teachings of WARFARE and HATRED directed by Muslims against the kufaar.
Spannaus is making a living WHITEWASHING the jihad doctrine and WHITEWASHING “Al Walaa wal Baraa” (Islamic apartheid).
Spannaus is a professional dissembler. Take a shower, Spannaus, you will wake up with fleas.
mortimer says
DO NOT BELIEVE OR PRACTICE THE FOLLOWING VICIOUS FALSE TEACHINGS IN THE KORAN !!!
The Koran’s 164 Jihad Verses: K 2:178-179, 190-191, 193-194, 216-218, 244; 3:121-126, 140-143, 146, 152-158, 165-167,169, 172-173, 195; 4:71-72, 74-077, 84, 89-91, 94-95,100-104; 5:33, 35, 82; 8:1, 5, 7, 9-10, 12, 15-17, 39-48, 57-60, 65-75; 9:5, 12-14, 16, 19-20, 24-26, 29, 36, 38-39, 41, 44, 52, 73, 81, 83, 86, 88, 92, 111, 120, 122-123; 16:110; 22:39, 58, 78; 24:53, 55; 25:52; 29:6, 69; 33:15, 18, 20, 23, 25-27, 50; 42:39; 47:4, 20, 35; 48:15-24; 49:15; 59:2, 5-8, 14; 60:9; 61:4, 11, 13; 63:4; 64:14; 66:9; 73:20; 76:8.
The Koran teaches crimes against humanity. LEAVE ISLAM NOW.
JeffS says
You shouldn’t post these verses because they inspire Muslims to commit jihad. If you didn’t post them, jihad would cease to exist. /sarc
mortimer says
Jeff, the problem with Muslims is that they believe the violent verses in the Koran are literally the ipsissima verba of Allah.
The problem disappears when Muslims become convinced that the Koran is of human origin. They then drop out of Islam instantly.
gravenimage says
Darkly, funny, Jeff.
Rufolino says
Thanks for staying that “the Koran teaches crimes against humanity.”
Very pithy, tragically true, and I’ve never heard it said before Mortimer. Thank you.
mortimer says
QUOTE: “Does Nathan Spannaus, who identifies himself on Twitter as a “Middle East and Islamic Studies Ph.D” and author of a book called Preserving Islamic Tradition, actually think that Mohiusunnath Chowdhury would not have had access to the Qur’an if not for Jihad Watch? Does Spannaus actually believe that Islamic jihadis don’t read the Qur’an themselves, and that if “Islamophobes” would just shut up about what’s in it, no Muslims would know its contents, and there would be no jihad terrorism?”
…………………………………………………………………………..
Nathan Spannaus obviously hasn’t an awareness of the literature that jihadists read or the videos they share with one another … usually, Qutb, Maududi, Awlaki, Faraj, Bridadier Khan … all names known to the jihad insiders.
Nathan Spannaus isn’t much of a scholar. Muslims don’t want to learn from the dirty kufaar.
commonsense says
Yes…Spannaus, the “Middle East and Islamic studies Ph.D., clearly knows nothing about Islamic studies. I would be curious to know where he earned his doctorate, but notice his self-description does not actually state that his Ph.D. is actually IN either Middle East studies OR Islamic Studies. For all we know, his degree is in hotel management. Sly SOB.
mortimer says
Did these students read QUTB, MAUDUDI, FARAJ, AWLAKI ? If not, what use is their course?
Middle East and Islamic Studies
George Mason’s program in Middle East and Islamic Studies (MEIS) equips students with the tools and analytical skills for understanding major issues and debates in the study of the Middle East, Islam, and Muslim societies. Students study historical and contemporary aspects of society, economy, politics, and culture from both regional and global perspectives—with a strong emphasis on theory and methodology.
Students develop an understanding of the diverse dynamics and complex forces that shape modern Middle East realities. Going beyond security concerns, the program emphasizes the need for an understanding of the region’s history as a foundation for further in-depth inquiry.
gravenimage says
Spannause is no naif–he has advanced degrees in Islamic Studies from Harvard and McGill, and writes for a string of Islamic publications.
This is more Taqiyya than ignorance.
commonsense says
I stand corrected. I was too lazy to do a bit of googling. Thanks, GI.
Giacomo Latta says
Harvard and McGill are the home of Islamic scholars? Something to send us all to the porcelain bowl. Spannause borrows his ideas from Monty Python: make arson illegal and it acquires a mystique.
mortimer says
GI wrote: “Spannaus is no naïf”. A PhD is aware of the textual, grammatical, historical, ethical problems contained in the Islamic texts … in spite of his knowledge of the horrifying history of jihad, he defends this DEATH CULT and whitewashes it.
Spannaus is similar to the scientists who prostituted themselves to defend Hitler’s bogus racial theories.
Spannaus defends Arab racist supremacism.
MS MADELEINE DUNN says
Intellectual perversity is the norm for those who defend Islam. The same denial and projection of the personality disordered personalities, like Mohammad.
mortimer says
Well said.
gary fouse says
So where does this guy, Spannaus, tend bar? I am reminded of when Norman Finkelstein came to speak for the Muslim Student Union at UC Irvine, and was advertised as “independent scholar with a phd from Princeton”. LOL
gravenimage says
Sadly, this thug has taught at Princeton and Oxford.
Westman says
Shades of Tariq Ramadan. Every major university seems to need a token, “Islamic Scholar”. They will, of course, be designing spaceships and discovering the cure for Covid-19 in their spare time.
tim gallagher says
This is disgusting garbage. So now a person such as Robert Spencer, who is trying to get the very unpalatable truth about Islam’s vicious nature out to people, to wake the sleepwalkers out there up from their slumber, should not be allowed to tell that truth because it might actually inspire some vile Muslim maggot (as if such a maggot wouldn’t already learn the vicious content of Islam from other Muslims anyway – I believe most Muslims learn their bad attitude and hatred for non-Muslims from their earliest days) to decide to carry out Islamic type violence. Wouldn’t all the sell out merchants and traitors, who spend all their time sucking up to the Muslim enemy, just love to shut down the truth tellers like Robert Spencer? People like Robert Spencer have woken up large numbers of the slow learners to the truth about Islam’s vile nature and this is the only way that enough people in our societies are going wake the hell up and deal properly with islam. Wouldn’t the sell out merchants and the Muslims love to tarnish the reputations of the people who tell the truth about Islam? It would make the Muslim take over so much easier to achieve if the truth telling opposition could be somehow shut down.
Anjuli Pandavar says
“People like Robert Spencer have woken up large numbers of the slow learners to the truth about Islam’s vile nature and this is the only way that enough people in our societies are going wake the hell up and deal properly with islam.”
—
This is the silver lining on the Spannaus-Dearden cloud. Publicity. Distressing, unfair and untrue, but publicity nonetheless. Readers can male up their own minds, about the “Islamophobes” here accused, about the Qur’an (that they’ve so far managed to avoid reading, preferring to believe it says what Muslims and Islamic apologists tell them it says) and about the Spannaus-Dearden crowd.
tim gallagher says
That’s a good point, Anjuli, and one I hadn’t considered. Yes, the publicity might get a few more of the sleepwalkers to wake up by actually looking at the Koran and the powerful writings of Robert Spencer and other writers who tell the truth about Islam’s vile nature. It definitely could have a positive effect on some of the slow learners in the community.
OTTER says
Muslims have committed Jihad long before Robert Spencer was born and will do so long after he is not here. The root cause of Jihad is Islam, not those who assiduously study it. What they are doing is similar to a doctor being accused of spreading disease if he were to point out that, say, Corona virus is dangerous. We live in a topsy turvy world of sick enabling academics, who have got an economic axe to grind.
mortimer says
Jihad is both a communal duty and an individual duty in Islam, but Spannaus is pretending he doesn’t know it.
Tony Stark says
Please, Mr. Spencer, please, please, please, do a live stream with Dr. Wood about this very topic! It will be so interesting! And fun too!
Ray Jarman says
Robert Spencer questions: “Does Nathan Spannaus, “Middle East and Islamic Studies Ph.D,” really not know this? Or is his article in Just Security all simply part of the Left-fascists’ ongoing attempt to shut down all dissent from their agenda?” The answer is obviously rhetorical but I am amazed that someone as stupid as Spannaus would have been awarded a Ph. D. It appears that the studies and courses in which these clowns were enrolled must have been on par with Underwater Basket Weaving 101 through 402 and further.
Also, Spannaus’ statement: “However, as reported by Lizzie Dearden in the Independent, Chowdhury was also consuming a considerable degree of right-wing literature presenting Islam as inherently violent, from anti-immigrant activist Tommy Robinson, Robert Spencer’s website Jihad Watch, and the American anti-Islam preacher David Wood. Chowdhury relied on these sources,” leads me to ponder as to how groups like IS, Boko Haram and the Fulani sub-humans obtain their ideas concerning the teachings of jihad? Mr. Spencer and David Wood must be far more influential than they imagined.
Anjuli Pandavar says
‘I am amazed that someone as stupid as Spannaus would have been awarded a Ph. D.”
—
Have you been to England since John Major’s great university reform?
Jayell says
There was probably a large cheque from the Saudi or Qatari authorities left in Spannau’s dissertation ‘by mistake’. Know what I mean?
Jake says
Satan is very clever, and Spannus, “PhD”, is not very wise. Clever, but not wise.
ntesdorf says
Whenever anything bad happens as a result of Muslims reading , believing in and carrying out Islamic Jihad texts it is the fault of Robert Spencer because he drew your attention to the danger which soon occurred. You know it makes sense??
mortimer says
Spannaus is obviously wrong. Jihadists don’t want a kafir as their teacher. Spannaus is fantasizing.
A counterjihad forum like this one is the WORST POSSIBLE THING for a jihadist to read. It will weaken his faith in jihad, rather than strengthen it.
I believe that many Muslims who read Robert Spencer over a period of time will have LOST MUCH or ALL of their Islamic faith. How can Muslims not be depressed by the facts that JW presents every single day?? The supply of Islamic barbarity is never-ending.
Thoughtful Muslims can only be appalled to read the daily digest of jihad-terrorist atrocities, stupidities and cruelties showcased by JW.
Muslims who read this website regularly will either DENY that this is true Islam or they will be ashamed of Islam and consider leaving it.
A number of Muslims have written in this space, actually defending jihadism. They often use fallacies of thought … mostly the tu quoque. They never actually succeed in proving that it is acceptable to commit crimes against humanity … as the Koran decrees.
Isaac Marshall says
This story is scarcely believable.
Charlie in NY says
The illogic is startling: a believer reads articles by infidels about his religion and is more influenced by the kuffar’s interpretation of Islam than that of his own imam or self-styled Islamic scholars. That’s like saying a Jew would take the word of an antisemite over that of his Rabbi when it comes to understanding Judaism. Or of a Christian accepting on faith a Muslim’s statement that Jesus didn’t die on the cross and was resurrected as a correct view.
The only article of faith seems to be that when it comes to Muslims, guilt ridden apologists in the West will believe anything no matter how absurd rather than face the cold facts regarding Islam. If Turkey’s President Erdogan says there is no such thing as moderate Islam, there’s only Islam, who am I to contradict a devout Muslim? At least I won’t be wasting my time for an Islamic Reformation that will never happen.
jacksonl03 says
” . . . Chowdhury was also consuming a considerable degree of right-wing literature presenting Islam as inherently violent,”
I often wonder why quotes from Islamic literature are almost always labeled “right-wing literature”. And how is it that accurate Qur’an quotes demanding violence against non-believers are described as “inherently violent”? They seem pretty damn direct to me. ‘Course I don’t have a PhD.
gravenimage says
Yes–how is objecting to things like the rape of women, censorship of art, and throwing gay people off tall buildings “right wing”?
Gork says
What this shows is that he doesn’t think his audience actually has the guts to read anything. That they’ll just accept his word as factual evidence and move on with their rage.
James Lincoln says
According to McGill’s webpage, Nathan Spannaus is an alumnus (Ph.D. 2013) of the “Institute of Islamic Studies”.
Somewhere along the line, he never learned the value of using factual, evidence-based logic.
Most blue-collar plumbers, electricians, and sheet metal workers would see through this stupidity immediately.
As of said before, unless you have a STEM / business / finance, etc., major in college, you are literally throwing your money – as well as your brain – away.
https://mcgill.ca/islamicstudies/news-events
Mural says
+1.
Tricia Stuercke says
Well, Damn You, Robert Spencer, you Trouble-Maker! I had no idea it was YOU who “triggered” Muslims clear back to 622AD when Muhammed 1st picked up The Sword in Medina & slaughtered the very Jews he’d 1st befriended & admired! It was YOU all along, aided by the equally-nefarious Tommy Robinson & David Wood?! You time-traveling Infidels!
So now that we know “the truth”, should we consider you equally-iconic to “The 3 Amigos”, “The 3 Musketeers” or a modern-day Peter, James & John? I’d personally Knight you a 21st Century Peter, with David a John, & Tommy the James. I SALUTE all 3 of you, but especially YOU, Robert! I beg you, please “Trigger” On, & continue to expose the vile Truth of Islam! You are 1 of this country’s Most-Vital Voices & Most-Valued Patriots… I’m GRATEFUL for you & your Jihad Watch Crew! 💜
DHazard says
“The Toxic Confluence Online of Anti-Muslim Literature and Jihadist Messaging”
“The toxic confluence of anti-conservative “writers” and Jihadi emigration.”
“The toxic confluence of Western Muslim apologists and victimhood as a jihadi strategy”.
“The toxic effluence of Western Muslim apologists.”
“The toxic abuse of the word toxic by obnoxious, arrogant people.”
mortimer says
Spannaus made the following misleading and erroneous claims about the counterjihad’s messages:
1) “That Islam requires violent jihad and 2) that mainstream Muslims are deluded about their faith is 3) a common refrain in anti-Islam circles.”
Reply: 1) This claim is true but misleading …. Spannaus is lying about the fact the Sharia law requires Muslims to conduct jihad every year. The duty of jihad is well established by MAINSTREAM Islam. Sharia law manuals insist that the duty to conduct jihad is both FARD AL-AYN (individual duty) and FARD AL-KIFAYA (communal duty).
“Fighting is prescribed for you, and ye dislike it. But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you, and that ye love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knoweth, and ye know not.” – Quran 2:216
“The duty of the jihad exists as long as the universal domination of Islam has not been attained. Peace with non-Muslim nations is, therefore, a provisional state of affairs only; the chance of circumstances alone can justify it temporarily.” – Encyclopaedia of Islam Online
“Whoever dies but neither fought (i.e., in Allah’s cause), nor sincerely considered fighting, will die a death of Jahiliyyah (pre-Islamic era of ignorance.” from “Jihad is made Obligatory”; Sahih hadith, Tafsir of Ibn Kathir
Reply: 2) NO COUNTERJIHADIST to my knowledge has said that MAINSTREAM MUSLIMS DO NOT KNOW about the duty of jihad. Counterjihadists say the opposite, namely, that MAINSTREAM MUSLIMS are PERFECTLY AWARE of the DUTY of jihad, and hide jihad as much as possiblefrom the dirty kufar to keep them unprepared and in the dark. Taqiyya is the most common feature of exchanges between Muslims and kafirs.
Reply: 3) Is it a ‘common refrain’ to say Muslims are unaware of jihad? Hardly. Counterjihadists are aware that MAINSTREAM Muslim leaders (such as the leaders of Al Azhar) have been caught saying one thing to a Western audience and another more jihadist message in Arabic to an all Muslim audience.
Spannaus’s FALLACY is the STRAW-MAN ARGUMENT … Spannaus makes specious claims and then knocks down his counterjihadists STRAW-MAN, while declaring victory.
Spannaus is actually a CRAVEN COWARD who wouldn’t last five minutes in a scheduled debate with Robert Spencer.
Spannaus’s TAQIYYA won’t work in a fair debate.
FYI says
Knowledge may get somebody the PhD in “islamic studies” but it is Wisdom that gives the ability to see the limitations of such knowledge.
Knowledge and wisdom are not the same:You can have great knowledge that qualifies one for a PhD and yet have little or no Wisdom and it requires wisdom to look at islam,not mere knowledge of it.
The wisdom that comes from God{the Actual Biblical God},the “Helper” of Isaiah 42 {or Holy Spirit} gives one an even greater source of wisdom.Christians surely know that this source of wisdom complements anyTheology they have studied and enhances understanding.
And allah MISSED it…allah missed the concept of the Helper.
The fact that allah MISSED the Golden Rule,the 2nd chief commandment{impossible due to al walaa wal baraa},the Holy Spirit{=the source of prophecy and authentic scripture}gets Theology wrong{koran 5;116:Mary is NOT part of the Trinity}would surely indicate that islam and its allah are clearly false{the fact that allah CONFIRMS the Bible as TRUE in koran 3:3 and yet in the koran denies everything in the Bible speaks for itself}
Authentic scholars are fine:but many of these charlatans are so obviously paid to promote islam.
gravenimage says
Islamic Studies academic claims jihadi was inspired by Robert Spencer because of Qur’an verses list at Jihad Watch
Chowdhury had been consuming jihadist sources and propaganda since his release from prison in late 2018, including speeches by ideologues Anwar al-Awlaki and Sheikh Abdallah al-Faisal; manuals for jihad; and ISIS videos, publications and social media posts.
……………………….
Right–yet this is somehow the fault of those *opposed* to Jihad terror?
This is like saying that Hitler became a Fascist because he was listening to Winston Churchill…
It is impossible that an Islamic Studies academic like Nathan Spannaus–likely Muslim himself–knows nothing of the texts and tenets of Islam.
So what this is is an attempt to shut down any criticism of Islam, including Jihad terror–because the criticism of Jihad terror is–supposedly–what causes Jihad terror. The mendacious Nathan Spannaus is not the first to use this kind of Taqiyya to try to shut down the critics of Islam, and he likely will not be the last.
commonsense says
“…likely Muslim himself…” Good bet.
rubiconcrest says
Islamic logic turns reason on it’s head.
A Gnostic Agnostic says
The pathology of Islam is to religiously scapegoat/blame their own crimes against humanity onto others. They are attempting to do the same to Mr. Robert Spencer: commit a crime, blame it on him.
Islam does this religiously: scapegoat their own crimes onto others. It is the same as the Canaanite practice of sacrificing others for the sake of the (sins of the) tribe. Islam is the tribe, whoever they hate is their sacrifice.
The Islamic shahada is the Mark of the Beast.
Chand says
Non-Muslim: What are you doing?
Muslim: Ironing a shirt/selling vegetables/fixing some wires/building a house……..
Non-Muslim (NM): Why are you not engaging in Jihad?
Muslim(M): What? But I am a laundry man/shopkeeper/electrician/carpenter………..
NM: But do you not believe in Islam?
M: I do.
NM: Have you read the Koran?
M: No, not really.
NM: Why the hell not?
M: I don’t have the time/
I don’t want to/
My parents never told me to/
I don’t have a copy/
The copy at home is in Arabic and I don’t know that language/
I tried but it is too difficult/
I tried to but it is very boring/
I read a few lines and it is quite horrible/
I am not interested……………….
NM: You mean you have never opened the book?
M: Yeah, I did once flip through it but haven’t studied it thoroughly.
NM: So you know what it says?
M: Yes, I think it basically says that Allah, i.e. God, the creator and sustainer of the universe, is compassionate and merciful and Muhammad is his prophet. And that is what my parents taught me.
NM: Did you not read that a Muslim’s greatest duty is to wage Jihad and kill the infidels?
M: No, I thought Jihad is only for self defense, if attacked. I thought the greatest duties are: be moral person, care for your parents, feed the hungry, protect the weak, embrace the orphans and prepare for Judgement Day when all your actions will be judged.
NM: No you fool! Jihad is a religious duty for Muslims to wage constant war on infidels until they are subdued and converted. Your prophet waged constant Jihad.
M: But that was during those days, fourteen centuries ago in Arabia. He proclaimed the one God of Abraham, Moses and Jesus and was consequently violently attacked by the pagan priests and so had to defend himself. Those who attacked him were called the Kaffirs (infidels who went against God).
NM: A holy book is a holy book and whatever is in it is divine revelation and true for all time.
M: But I am not really into killing and violence. I am not a soldier. I prefer peace and tranquility.
NM: You bad Muslim! You must learn to hate the infidels, fight and kill for Allah.
M: But I thought Allah wants peace and Islam means peace.
NM: No! It is taqiyya (deception) by your prophet. He was a warlord, a bandit, a pedophile, an oppressor of women and a mass murderer. Since you are his follower you must read his book properly, especially chapters so and so……….; verses so and so……….; and the footnotes by so and so………..and the commentaries by so and so………
Then you will realize how deluded you are and what a bad Muslim you are and it will set you on the right path and you will gain glory in Paradise.
You are not supposed to stop until the flag of the Caliphate flies high over the whole world.
M: Hmmmm…………………sorry, okay……………………….let me think about it. Now which were the verses you mentioned? (“What a great guy! I was so deluded and he set me back on the right path of my religion.”)
Mural says
I was waiting for your post, you deluded moron.
Chand says
Gaali kahe de raha hai, chutiya saala? Tameez se baat kar, Kutta! Suyar!
Mural says
See, you proved my point. -) Moron.
Mural says
Have you started licking notes and fruits yet? Do post the link on tik-tok like other followers of religion of peace.
Boromir's Horn says
Chand,
I understand more about Islam from your 5 minute post than 3 semesters with “professor” Spannaus. Dhanyavaad!
Westman says
It’s not really about Muslims, Chan. The problem is the Islamic ideology which does include violent jihad; an unexpungible content of the Quran and Sunnah that might someday threaten your life through the embodiment of another group like ISIS or even a singular devotee.
No one here doubts the majority of Muslims are peaceful and desire a famly-centered. It is Muhammad’s manual for life, which contains justification for and prescription of violence against other humans for their existence as unbelievers.
Christianity would have the same problem if the proscriptions of the Old Testament had not been modified by Isa (Jesus) from attitude of “a eye for an eye” to “love thy neighbor”.
Unfortunately, the Quran is like a fault line; containing the potential for an earthquake of violence, at any time. It is no accident that more Mulims have suffered death at the hands of other Muslims, in the name of Allah, than any other source. This fact, alone, is ample evidence that Islamic ideology contains proscriptions for violence.
Wellington says
Seconded, Westman, about the ideology being key. The fact that there are some nice Muslims who don’t fully implement heinous Islamic dictates like death for apostasy, harming one who dares criticize Islam, the Koran or Mohammed or raping non-Muslim women as permitted in Suras 4, 23, 33 and 70 of the Koran (“the captives of the right hand” iniquity) does not make Islam OK. One could have found some nice Marxists during the Cold War (I met more than a few myself since I functioned in academia for decades; indeed, nice Marxists are still around in academia) and some nice Nazis when the Third Reich existed who themselves did not want to violently get rid of the upper and middle classes or put Jews in gas ovens but this is irrelevant. Marxism and Nazism are malevolent ideologies and nice people who adhere to a malevolent ideology means diddly-squat. Such people may not themselves be evil (though all are at least confused human beings) but their ideology of choice is.
Amazing the stupendous illogic of so many people who, because they know a few nice Muslims, conclude that Islam has to be all right. I have no doubt one could meet some nice KKK members who would go out of their way to help you (assuming you were white) if, say, your car broke down or if you needed some food or money, but this would never make the KKK something good. And so on.
As for Jesus modifying some Old Testament dictates, yes this certainly occurred (e.g., on divorce and stoning an adulteress) but so many of the dictates of the Old Testament would have fallen to the way side anyway because the OT is descriptive while the Koran is prescriptive. For example, devout, Orthodox Jews no longer stone an adulteress to death and this is not because of what Jesus said or did. Also, the Old Testament directive for Jews to use force to take land was to sequester a small piece of earth’s real estate about the size of Maryland, contra the Islamic directive to eventually put all the real estate of earth under Islamic control. The difference in scale here is enormous and I think should be noted.
Hope you are doing well in an unwell time. Some things just suck, like Islam, the thugs who run China, the coronavirus and bad beer. Take care.
Anjuli Pandavar says
There is another serious point here. If you’re not already doing so, it’d be a good idea to download and archive on an isolated drive all the JW articles that are important to you, buy and download all Robert’s and Tommy Robinson’s books and download David’s videos as soon as they appear.
Linde Barrera says
I think British Muslim Mohiusunnath Chowdhury is a SPIN doctor. I could use a less polite word also beginning with “S” but I won’t. He needs to get medication and counseling for his mental aberrations.
Columnist Lizzie should use the moniker “Dizzy Lizzie” because that is appropriate for her level of thinking and writing. She is another “SPIN” doctor.
And Nathan Spannaus has clearly never been on the receiving end of a violent jihad attack. I wonder how and what he would write if he had been a victim of Islamic jihad. He should go to Nigeria and talk with people who lost non-violent, unarmed loved ones murdered by Boko Haram.
No one has any right to blame Robert Spencer or his staff, David Wood, or Tommy Robinson for educating people about what is in the Quran. The foremost Islamic university in the world, Al-Hazr, in Cairo, Egypt also educates people about what is in the Quran. And let us not forget that in 2014 this academic organization said that ISIS was “the best of Muslim peoples for their strict interpretation and adherence to the Quran.”
In my opinion, Islam is the religion of Satan the devil because in addition to commanding Muslims to kill people who are not Muslims, the Quran also states in 4:157 that Jesus was not crucified but does not state how Jesus died. Yet it is historical fact that Jesus died on the cross a very cruel death; a Roman scribe called Josephus who was Jewish and not a follower of Jesus, wrote about it.
Phil Copson says
“If it weren’t for all those signs saying “30” / “40” / “60” etc, I would never have dreamt of speeding, m’lud…”
jewdog says
Right, and Hitler invaded Poland because Winston Churchill kept criticizing him in mean speeches.
The main thing I really dislike about academia is that we taxpayers are asked to shell out billions per year to finance student loans to help support people who teach people drivel. The private sector would do a much better job of figuring out if the money was going to waste.
Mural says
This seems to be s worldwide trend. Most of the research in Non-quantative subjects seem to be hog-wash. Case in point : The othering of Palestine women by IDF as they are not raping these women. Written by an Israeli woman!!
FYI says
nathan spannaus appears to have been infected by the Koranovirus:the lying,the taqqiya infected tongue…
There is a difference between mere Knowledge and Wisdom:spannaus may have his
Ph D and think he is some kind of gifted academic but he is a fool of an islamic apologist, most probably a convert,an obvious liar and clearly lacks the necessary wisdom to see the folly of what he is saying.
You may as well say a Jihadist was inspired by watching “the Itchy and scratchy show”
FYI says
And here is another islamic apologist..craig considine:
“What has the coronovirus taught us?”
Prophet muhammed had sound advice to fight diseases”
dr craig considine tweet 2 apr
Spoken like a convert..”the prophet this..the prophet that”
In case considine or spannaus missed it..in their academic “studies”
The “prophet” muhamed was a mass murderer of Jews{ABU DAWUD 4390}
the owner,buyer and seller of black African slaves{SAHIH MUSLIM 3901}
a self-confessed LIAR{al TABARI 6:111}and a Terrorist{SAHIH BUKHARI 4:52:220}
islamic apologists willfully ignore the truth about muhammed and promote lies to justify islam.
The question is:Who is paying these liars?
Only converts to islam gush about the “prophet” or “academics” paid by the Arabs to peddle these ferocious lies.
The Buffster says
Robert said: “That would be like saying that an anti-Nazi writer in the 1930s, who quoted Mein Kampf and explained Nazi motives and goals, had to be shut down because he was inspiring Nazism. It’s insane, and that’s the world we live in today, where the likes of Nathan Spannaus are respected academics.”
Exactly!
Spannaus said: “Chowdhury was also consuming a considerable degree of right-wing literature presenting Islam as inherently violent, from anti-immigrant activist Tommy Robinson, Robert Spencer’s website Jihad Watch, and the American anti-Islam preacher David Wood. Chowdhury relied on these sources, it was revealed during the trial, to reinforce in his mind the religious necessity of jihad.”
“…relied…” I roll my eyes.
And yet…
“Chowdhury had been consuming jihadist sources and propaganda since his release from prison in late 2018, including speeches by ideologues Anwar al-Awlaki and Sheikh Abdallah al-Faisal; manuals for jihad; and ISIS videos, publications and social media posts.”
No, Spannaus wants to use the fact that Chowdhury had noted the work of Robinson, Spencer, and Wood in order to smear and discredit them as dangerous critics of Islam. But they’re CRITICS of Islam, and many more Muslims have been disturbed enough by what these men present to go to the Islamic texts and try to prove them wrong – and wind up leaving Islam as a consequence.
Would a Muslim believe a kafir rather than the texts of Islam? Would Islam critics, Robert Spencer or the sardonic David Wood, be someone a Muslim would trust to tell him the truth about his religion? Would he RELY on people who reject his religion instead of his religion’s texts and believing experts?
That’s ridiculous.
A Muslim would never *rely* on unbelievers claims about his religion. Clearly this Muslim relied on “…Anwar al-Awlaki and Sheikh Abdallah al-Faisal; manuals for jihad; and ISIS videos…” The unbelievers’ work wouldn’t be anything more than a bit of frosting and would be of no persuasive value. It’s the Koran, the Hadith and the believing experts that persuade. Those are the sources that persuaded me that the critics of Islam were telling the truth. Always go to the primary source.
Now it could be that once in a rare while a Muslim who isn’t fully familiar with his texts might go to those texts in order to see whether these critics are correct, find that they are, and decide to follow Muhammad as written. But it wont be because of the critics who – after all – give strong arguments as to what’s wrong with Islam. It will be because of Islam’s content and the Muslim’s own personal predilection for religious submission and/or violence.
We should tell the truth to the best of our understanding. If some screwed up soul takes that truth and does evil with it, that’s on him and those who *intentionally* urge him on to destruction, not on those who criticise those who urge him on to destruction.
Also: “anti-immigrant activist Tommy Robinson”.
He’s not “anti-immigrant”.
Boromir's Horn says
I’ve read some of his work. The word that comes to mind: Hoarding.
I’m not talking about toilet paper and disinfectants here, but rather the hoarding of words. This academic’s attempt to woo his audience by elegantly weaving adjectives, verbs and pronouns with adverbs and appositives in an endless fashion, filling pages and pages of …..nothing.
But he sure sounds good.
Michael Copeland says
“right-wing literature presenting Islam as inherently violent”
“Violence is the heart of Islam” _ Ayatollah Yazdi
Samuel Lowekey says
I thought that Chowdhury made a good point. I was inspired to go out and kill muslims by the media who told me that white people are inherently racist, intolerant and bigoted.
Nelson Taylor Sol says
I doubt this linkage to be accidental. Its ill will is clearly disguised with subtleties such as the last sentence: “Even if his case is more of an outlier than the start of a trend, jihadists making use of far-right and Islamophobic sources adds a new dimension to the toxic stew that drives extremism and further complicates efforts to stop it.”
wouldn’t it be nice to hit him with a defamation charge?