Jefferson did not, despite Spellberg’s claim, demonstrate a “marked interest” in the faith. As a 22-year-old law student in Williamsburg, Virginia, he bought a Qur’an, just as he bought many books on many subjects, ultimately leaving a library of 6,487 books. There is no evidence that Jefferson ever read his Qur’an. There are no notes […]
Hugh Fitzgerald: Denise Spellberg on Jefferson’s “Marked Interest” In Islam (Part One)
Whenever there is the swearing-in of a Muslim on Jefferson’s Qur’an, or whenever there is an Iftar Dinner held at the White House, Denise Spellberg uses the occasion to trot out the same article she’s been republishing for the last five years, as here or here, the one entitled “Jefferson’s Quran” or “Jefferson’s Iftar Dinner,” […]
Hugh Fitzgerald: Rashida Tlaib and Jefferson’s Qur’an
Rashida Tlaib, the newly-elected Democratic congresswoman from Michigan, was sworn in yesterday on the Qur’an once owned by Thomas Jefferson. She claims this Qur’an shows that “Muslims were there at the beginning.” The only thing that Jefferson’s Qur’an shows is that he was curious about all sorts of things, and that, among those things, was […]
Muslim Rep. Rashida Tlaib to be sworn in on Jefferson’s Qur’an: “Muslims were there at the beginning”
Tlaib’s statement here is part of the ongoing effort to rewrite early American history to put Muslims in it, and to recast Thomas Jefferson as an Islamophilic multiculturalist. Reality was different. Jefferson owned a Qur’an because he understood that one must know one’s enemy in order to know how to defeat him. In 1786, Jefferson […]
Brian Kilmeade: Barbary pirates who fought US in Jefferson era had “bastardized the Qur’an”
Kilmeade says that “before we had an Army, before we had a president, we had our first enemy, and it was Islamic extremists, people that bastardized the Koran in order to use it as a weapon to absolutely blackmail the west, the Spanish, the French, the British.” Later, he adds: “In fact, here’s the quote […]
If I let Islam be, Islam doesn’t let me be
Once I left Iran, my battle with this dogma of hate and violence began. I decided to raise the clarion call about the imminent and present danger of expansionist, theocratic Islam throughout the civilized world. Having witnessed firsthand the horrors and indignity that Islamic doctrine visits on people it subjugates, I was determined to take […]
Hugh Fitzgerald: No, Thomas Jefferson did not host the first Ramadan iftar dinner at the White House
“America’s First Ramadan Break-Fast Was Hosted by Thomas Jefferson,” says Atlas Obscura, a site that says “our mission is to inspire wonder and curiosity about the incredible world we all share.” The article yesterday by Natasha Frost attempts to suggest that the “tradition” of the Iftar Dinner goes all the way back to Thomas Jefferson […]
Hugh Fitzgerald: No Room at the Inn for an Iftar Dinner
The Washington Post has reported — drop a ready tear — that there will be no Iftar Dinner this year in the White House: For the first time in nearly two decades, Ramadan has come and gone without the White House recognizing it with an iftar or Eid celebration, as had taken place each year […]
Hugh Fitzgerald: Obama, Islam, and History
“‘Thomas Jefferson’s opponents tried to stir things up by suggesting he was a Muslim. So I was not the first,’ Obama said, sparking laughter. ‘No, it’s true. Look it up. I’m in good company.’” — From USA Today on Barack Obama’s visit to the Islamic Society of Baltimore, February 3, 2016 Barack Obama paid a visit […]