[ April 20, 2024 ]
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The Clarion Project has always dissembled about the ideological roots of the phenomena it covers. Its “Honor Diaries” video falsely claimed that honor killing was un-Islamic. Its “Third Jihad” video went out its way to assure us that the vast majority of Muslims not only didn’t participate in jihad activity, but rejected and abhorred it (while numerous international surveys show otherwise). The Grand Mufti of the Stealth Jihad, Zuhdi Jasser, is on its advisory board, so it’s no surprise that Clarion would rush to his aid in our recent controversy. (See my response to Jasser’s libels here.) But Robert Spencer thoroughly eviscerates their claims and shows them to be the ignorant, easily-led naifs they are.
“Clarion Project tries to show that Islamic reform is possible, instead only shows how easy it is to be fooled,” by Robert Spencer, Jihad Watch, March 15, 2017:
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The Clarion Project, of which moderate Muslim Zuhdi Jasser is an advisory board member, has rushed to his aid in our recent controversy, claiming to demonstrate in this piece that reform of Islam is not only possible, but happening now in all sorts of ways I am not acknowledging. Now, I have never said Islamic reform is not possible, but this Clarion article unfortunately only confirms several points I have made many times before: that much of what is touted as reform of Islam is really nothing of the kind, as the central doctrines of Islam are left untouched; and also that much of what is touted as reform of Islam is actually cynical deception designed to keep Infidels complacent. Both are on abundant display in this Clarion piece. More below.
“Is Muslim Reform Even Possible?,” by Elliot Friedland, Clarion Project, March 15, 2017:
Clarion advisory board member Dr. Zudhi Jasser has hit out of critics who claim that Muslim reform movements are bound to fail because they are not accepted within the Muslim community….
Spencer later adds, “I’d love to see Islamic reform succeed. I’m just not willing to kid myself or others about its prospects, or pretend that it has a greater standing in Islamic doctrine or tradition than it does.”These are important questions that must be addressed honestly.
But Spencer misses the point in three key ways:
Firstly, Spencer’s arguments belie the fact that Islam has already changed many times throughout the centuries. It has seen intellectual flourishing, such as in the Abbasid House of Wisdom, and iconoclastic destruction, such as that meted out against Hindu India by the Ghaznavid Empire, or, of course, the contemporary Islamic State (who cited the exploits of Mahmud of Ghazni in the latest issue of their propaganda magazine Rumiyah). Just like Christianity has gone from the charity of St Francis of Assisi to the torture chambers of the Inquisition to fighting for both the abolition of and the maintenance of slavery in the 19th century.
This bespeaks a confusion about what reform of Islam actually is, or would be. Of course Islam, like all other religions and belief systems, has been expressed in different ways by its various adherents. But that is not the same thing as it undergoing an actual change of doctrine, such as, say, a rejection of the violent jihad imperative or the necessity to subjugate the “People of the Book” (i.e., Jews, Christians, and a few other groups) under the hegemony of Islamic law as dhimmis. There has never been such a rejection. The Abbasid House of Wisdom, for example, was flourishing amidst Islamic oppression that will sound familiar to people who have been reading about the atrocities of the Islamic State. Raymond Ibrahim reports this about the Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid: “In the West [he] is depicted as a colorful and fun-loving prankster in the Arabian Nights. Though renowned for his secular pursuits — including riotous living, strong drink and harems of concubines, to the point that a modern day female Kuwaiti activist referred to him as a model to justify the institution of sex-slavery — Harun al-Rashid was still pious enough ‘to force Christians to distinguish themselves by dress, to expel them from their positions, and to destroy their churches through the use of fatwas by the imams.’”
To take but two recent examples: In 2016, the Marrakesh Declaration saw more than 250 scholars from around the Muslim world convene at the request of the King of Morocco (a direct descendant of Muhammed himself and hardly a marginal figure) to “AFFIRM that it is unconscionable to employ religion for the purpose of aggressing upon the rights of religious minorities in Muslim countries.”
The Marrakesh Declaration does indeed say that. This does not, however, constitute any reform of Islam in the slightest degree. A hadith has Muhammad saying, “He who hurts a dhimmi hurts me, and he who hurts me annoys Allah” (At-Tabarani). Muhammad didn’t by saying this cancel the Qur’anic imperative to make sure that the dhimmis “pay the jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued” (9:29). He didn’t want the dhimmis hurt because their jizya tax money was an important source of revenue for the Muslim community: the caliph Umar is quoted in a hadith saying that the jizya is the “source of the livelihood of your dependents” (Bukhari 4.53.388). One shouldn’t harm the goose that is laying the golden eggs. But this doesn’t mean that the dhimmis were any less subjugated. When the Marrakesh Declaration says that “it is unconscionable to employ religion for the purpose of aggressing upon the rights of religious minorities in Muslim countries,” it is not reforming or rejecting the Qur’anic imperative to subjugate those minorities as dhimmis. In Islamic law, the dhimmis have rights; they just don’t have all the rights that Muslims have.
Closer to America, since 2013 the Muslim Leadership Initiative has seen Muslim leaders from America come to Israel to learn about Jews and Zionism, abandoning the decades long opposition to any interaction at all with the Jewish state within the establishment leadership in the Muslim community. Although this provoked a massive backlash, the fact that it happened at all is monumental in showing that it is possible to have a dialogue and move towards solutions to some of the seemingly intractable inter-communal problems that we face.
This one is really embarrassing for Clarion. Listed as an “MLI Facilitator” is none other than Haroon Moghul, a name that will be familiar to longtime Jihad Watch readers. Moghul is one of the most ridiculous exponents of the “Islamophobia” victimhood propaganda industry, and he has shown himself to be many times. Obsessed with furthering claims of Muslim victimhood, Moghul traffics in malicious defamation (likening Pamela Geller and me to jihad mass murder mastermind Anwar al-Awlaki) and dishonesty (discounting the reality of jihad terror while magnifying the fiction of “Islamophobia”) and taking advantage of his audience’s ignorance about Islam to invert reality, portraying Muslims as victims of a cruel “Islamophobic” machine, instead of non-Muslims threatened by the global jihad. He is the very model of a cynical pseudo-moderate taking advantage of the ignorance of his non-Muslim interlocutors in order to lull them into complacency regarding the jihad threat.
Secondly, Spencer does not acknowledge the damage done by rejecting Muslims like Jasser. When Muslims like Jasser are not seen as authentic by non-Muslims, it makes it that much harder for him to pitch to Muslims that his path will lead to acceptance. Fear is an incredibly powerful factor in politics. If Muslim communities fear they will be excluded no matter what, that non-Muslims have no interest in protecting them or their rights and are only interested in them as opponents of jihad, they have little incentive to speak out.
As I explained yesterday, Muslims actually don’t care what non-Muslims think about Islam, any more than Christians care about whether the Ayatollah Khamenei or caliph al-Baghdadi think they’re Christian or not. As influential as it is, this argument doesn’t get any less absurd by constant repetition. Until some Muslim appears who can honestly say, “I was going to join ISIS until I heard Pope Francis say that the Qur’an rejects violence,” I will continue to think it absurd.
Thirdly, Spencer does not recognize that these things take a long time. Even within living memory, the West has seen monumental cultural shifts, on women’s rights, on gay rights, on race relations. These changes have pushed the contemporary West further in the direction of upholding human freedoms than any other civilization in the history of the world….
Muslim Reform is happening. Just slower and more quietly than Robert Spencer would like.
Great. How slow is too slow? Is there a timetable? How long do we have to wait? How many people have to get killed by jihadists before we realize that waiting for this reform to happen is pointless?
The Clarion Project tried in this article to show that Islamic reform is possible and happening now. Instead, it only showed the perils of ignorance and how easy it is to be fooled by cynical sharpies such as Haroon Moghul.
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30 Comments
7 years ago
Great article. Great topic.
I think it blew up Warsclerotic.com.
7 years ago
There are plenty of muslim countries. If anyone wants to visit or move there please do so.
7 years ago
Reply to
Wayne Ville ... a Deplorable
Yes, 57 muslum misery theme parks complete w/enforcement of islamic blasphemy and heresy laws.
7 years ago
Unless you put him in a cage you can not prevent a lion from hunting and killing.
7 years ago
islam cannot be reformed, it has criminally insane violence in absolutely everything it says and practices. What can be removed from islam without destroying the whole concept? How many muslims would accept any change when they are indoctrinated their entire lives, and have been for generations that the the qur’an is the unchangeable word of some demon or other.
7 years ago
Such arrogance in those last two paragraphs. The writer just doesn’t seem to get it. They can take as long as they bloody well please as long as the whole thing is confined to Muslim countries. But it’s not. Why should we in western countries have to put up with any of it? We’ve already been through all that crap. Yet here we are bending over backwards to give all sorts of accomodations and appeasements that should never be given, and accepting things that should never be accepted. It’s quite simply not our problem. Whatever problems exist within Islam need to be worked out in Muslim countries. In western countries, Islam does not have any time to get its act together, it needs to happen NOW, it should have happened already, and there’s absolutely no reason why we should tolerate anything less.
7 years ago
Islam cannot be changed, people mistake some of the first parts of the Quaran as peaceful, when actually those parts were abrogated (canceled out) later on by Mohamad himself in his later teachings. And according to the Quaran, one has to always follow the later teaching when there is a conflict in the teachings, and there are a lot of conflicts of teachings in the Quaran. Those peaceful passages are used to falsely claim Islam is a peaceful religion, when they actually have no real standing in Islam.
7 years ago
Reply to
Baine Sumpin
I always love how they object to the suggestion that foundational documents don’t prove Islam’s nature because we need “reliable hadiths”. The funny thing is, that the most widely accepted Hadiths from those closest to Mohammed the molester are precisely the ones that most clearly exhibit his demented moral teachings.
7 years ago
Reply to
infidelijtihad
Robert Spencer wrote a book that suggests MuhamMAD may have never existed at all.
7 years ago
Reply to
IzlamIsTyranny
IzlamIsTyranny, Well be that as it may, (and I really am curious about the case Robert Spencer Makes, given he is a very serious observer) I was merely drawing upon the order of doctrinal authority within Islam. As you know, they have to be taken at their word, because as Islamic conclaves form within western countries, they will revert to their theological essentials, which of course demand holy war. Hence will sooner or later, I hate to say it, be expelled from the west.
7 years ago
Reply to
infidelijtihad
The entire book is available online:
http://www.schnellmann.org/Robert_Spencer_The_Truth_About_Muhammad.pdf
In it Spencer states that there is no historicity to the existence of muhammad.
D
7 years ago
The only good thing about the Koran is it is like a diary of a psychopathic madman and his exploits of raping, pillaging, and enslaving people along the way. How a diary of a clearly mad man can be considered a religion instead of the death, rape, slavery cvlt it truly is, is what amazes, and how people do not take the writings more seriously.
For every good thing Mohamed lifted from Judaism and Christianity for the Koran, there are 10 things about ways to kill, enslave, pillage, or rape the dhimmis/khaffirs.
7 years ago
I posted this response to Clarion and on Robert Spencer’s Jihad Watch.. Here is my take on the issue:
Whether Dr. Jasser is right that reform is possible in Islam or not…the fact remains that the oppression sought by the current style and doctrines of Islam will not wait for the 200 to 300 years (or more) that Dr. Jasser refers to in this article. Total domination of the West. including the USA, is estimated by Islamists to be complete by 2050.
It is unreasonable to expect Westerners to sit idly by, waiting for the highly unlikely idea of reform in Islam, while devout Muslims continue their assault on our countries, our lifestyles, our cultures, our religions, and our very lives.
If Dr Jasser is truly sincere in wanting to see Islam reformed and modernized (something I am now skeptical about after his attacks on Americans informed about the true doctrines of current Islam [geller, et al]), then why has he not been able to garner support from the very people who could help to implement those changes…Muslims themselves?
Because Muslims DO NOT WANT to see Islam reformed or modernized. Why should they? The current system has been working toward total Islamic domination for 1400 years so far…and even more importantly, their pseudo religion tells them they are vastly superior to everyone else in the world. In fact, everyone who does not accept Islam and Allah as they do is simply dirt beneath their feet, and worthy of subjugation and/or death. Why would they want to change their illusion of superiority?
To quote Dr. Jasser, “Saudi women now have the right to vote in municipal elections. Prince Alwaleed said they should be permitted to drive. Baby steps yes. But steps nonetheless.”
“Baby steps” in a country that continues to allow slavery and continues with numerous executions DAILY of persons who don’t abide STRICTLY to the sharia law that Dr. Jasser tries to downplay.
Muslim reform could conceivably take many years. In the meantime, the entire world can collapse under the weight of worldwide Islamic domination, subjecting every non-Muslim (kafir) to forced conversion or death.
I have no desire to wear a hijab, or be subjected to legal rape, beatings,or any other of the myriad degradation forced on women under sharia. And I certainly don’t want it for my progeny. Islam is currently a cult of death that will continue to spread it’s malicious web of death and destruction if left unchecked.
Even if Dr. Jasser IS sincere, that’s not a risk any correct-thinking person would wish to take.
7 years ago
Reply to
Brennan Kingsland
What’s the point of voting in Soddy Barbaria again? Because it is in NO WAY a democracy. It’s a totalitarian theocracy run by a king.
7 years ago
Reply to
IzlamIsTyranny
Agree 100%…What’s the point other than to throw them a figurative bone?
7 years ago
Remember, a leopard never changes its spots.
7 years ago
There are a great many (thousands I hear) who are coming to the love of Jesus Christ. Son of Hamas is only one example. God is giving dreams of Jesus Christ to Muslims who never were even exposed to the Gospel, and they are seeking out Christians to hear about him.
Christians in areas close to concentrations of Muslims should seize the opportunity to give them a chance to hear about the love of God. “Son of Hamas” writes that the love he read about in the New Testament he was given changed his heart, alongside seeing how other Muslim prisoners treated fellow Muslims, seeing the contrast moved him.
No peace without the Prince of Peace.
7 years ago
Reply to
Trutherator
Trutherator, I rejoice in every VALID conversion from Islam to Christianity.
Unfortunately, too many of those conversions have been prompted by Muslim Imams telling their followers to PRETEND to convert to Christianity in order to fool and then overpower the filthy kafirs (infidels). These alleged converts are told exactly what to say and do, in order to deceive.
I have no doubt that the Savior is able to touch the hearts of any person (through dreams or whatever method he chooses) and it is truly a miracle when any person turns from a path of evil to the good. Sincere converts deserve our respect and support, since they are under a death sentence for leaving Islam.
But, we must never forget about taqiyya, the command in Islam to LIE to the “unbelievers” (that’s us) in order to protect and expand Islam.
It just seems too coincidental to me that Imams tell their followers to PRETEND to be Christian…then suddenly we have mass conversions. It’s certainly something to think about and pray about.
7 years ago
Reply to
Brennan Kingsland
By their fruits yet shall know them. “IF ANY of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God” and He will give most abundantly. Discernment is one of the gifts of the Spirit.
We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against the Spirit of wickedness and the rule of Satan in the earth.
Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
Do not pass up the chance to win one for Christ, at least give them a chance, be they Muslim or Jew or Hindu or Buddha. It may be dangerous but what else is New?
But also, stop multiplying the violent jihadists with drone kills that take out five times the number of civilians as targets. Or like the recent raid in Yemen that somebody telegraphed to the already Qaeda was coming, and killed some dozen or two bystanders.
7 years ago
I read through the Declaration for the “Muslim Reform Movement” (MRM) that Zuhdi Jasser is promoting, http://www.muslimreformmovement.org/MRMDeclaration.pdf
however, while the document preamble states the desire to “…defeat the ideology of Islamism, or politicized Islam…” there is no actual solution of how that is going to happen.
The preamble cites support for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) but makes no mention that by doing so this would replace and supersede fundamental teachings from the Qur’an and Ahadith that call for the violent actions and social/political control as “revealed” to Muhammad.
I wonder if Mr. Jasser and others on the MRM document would be willing to admit that a new version of the Qur’an needs to be published for Muslims to read from and that the Ahadith would also need to be revised, thereby totally abrogating all the “Islamist,” “Extremist,” and “Radical” teachings that are being acted upon today by those who sincerely believe they are carrying out Muhammad’s orders as “revealed” by Allah. Negating (abrogating) any part of the present-day Qur’an would then completely discredit Muhammad as being a “prophet” of Allah since he claimed that his teachings constituted the “perfected religion” for all mankind.
Another point, Mr. Jasser has previously stated is that Islam needs to go through a “reformation” like Christianity and Judaism. Problem is, the Christian reform movement did not change any of the Biblical writings and doctrinal tenets; they remained intact. The Christian Reformation actually called out for correcting the abuse of clerical control over the masses (no pun intended) and abuse of power by religious leaders as noted in Luther’s 95 thesis that he posted on the church door in Rome. And then, this brings up another problematic situation where the Catechism states that Catholics and Muslims “adore” the same God….well, that’s a totally different story because, as we know, Allah is definitely not Yahweh.
7 years ago
Reply to
Mike Ramirez
Please note that the Catholic Catechism NEVER stated that Catholics and muzlims (sic – on purpose) worship the same God before that abomination known as Vatican II. Earlier popes knew – and remembered – the deadly danger of izlam for what it was.
7 years ago
Reply to
SFTOBEY
Yes, your point is well taken, however, therein lies the dichotomy of parishioners in present-day Catholicism. Whom to believe and is Catechism 841, thus, a grave error on the part of the Vatican? Islamic groups, such as CAIR, have paired up with various denominations belonging to the World Council of Churches and hold “Interfaith” meetings where the claim is made by the clergy and imams that they all worship the same God. Are parishioners not allowed to protest that claim?
7 years ago
Reply to
Mike Ramirez
Yes, parishioners are (or should be) free to protest that claim. However, it has been proven that you do so at your own peril.
7 years ago
Reply to
SFTOBEY
Yes, thanks for the link; I see what you mean.
Related story here: I actually attended one of the “Interfaith Dialogue” meetings that was open to the public and held at a Catholic Church in Texas. CAIR reps were there with an imam and the crowd was overflowing to where another meeting room needed to be opened to accommodate the attendees. After a video was shown, claiming that Muslims and Catholics worship the same “God”, I raised my hand and stood up to read what the Qur’an states, per the following: ————————————————————-
“…the Christians call Christ the son of Allah. That is a saying from their mouth; (in this) they but imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say. Allah’s curse be on them: how they are deluded away from the Truth! (Qur’an 009:0030)——————————-
I then asked the moderator (Sister) “If Allah curses the Christians for calling Jesus the Son of God, then how is it possible that we worship the same “God”?
The room was silent, and then the Sister immediately turned to the crowd and said, “With that, we are all dismissed. Thank you for coming.”
No response was given to the question that I asked from either the church clergy or imam! And, that is what people need to know. Allah is definitely NOT Yahweh.
7 years ago
Reply to
Mike Ramirez
Kudos to you for your courage – and your faith – for standing up and daring to “speak truth to power”. After the “sister” cleared the room, I probably would have approached her privately and asked her for her opinion on the matter.
That said, since – by her NON-response to your question – she is probably one of the “new left” in the Catholic Church, she probably would not have answered your question. Or she might have said: “It’s not up to me to make Church policy. That is decided by the Vatican.”
That reminds me of an episode of “Yes Minister” w/regard to “government policy”. See link:
7 years ago
Takiyya in full view.
7 years ago
Did you you know that Muhammad’s nick name is Manny? Allah’s nick name is Pancho…wtf
7 years ago
“Is Islamic reform possible?” The answer to that is a resounding YES! But, only if imposed from without! Changes from within the Muslim community is not possible. Considering that the 28 countries that have a Muslim population of 90% or greater has an average IQ of 80.5, expecting change from within the Muslim community is close to a situation where the inmates of an insane asylum get to vote, from among themselves, who is going to be their doctor.
7 years ago
The basic problem with Islam is that it has no central authority as do the mainstream Christian churches. What it has, is many authorities commanding the allegiance of different groups of people. This is how a ‘leader’ in Iran for example can issue a ‘fatwa’ calling for the death of Salman Rushdie. Many Muslims will attempt to obey him (and collect the huge reward) but no other leader will speak against him. Even those of an opposing branch ie. Sunni v Shi’ite.
This is because the central authority in Islam is Mohammad or ‘allah’. That is what collectivises Muslims. Every Muslim has to obey ‘allah’ as he/she sees
‘him’. When a Muslim murders his child for being ‘unIslamic’ in other words becoming too Westernised, he/she is following the sharia law on apostasy. What Islamic leader is going to come out and say the Sharia laws (or some of them) are not acceptable? It would be like asking for somebody to murder him.
Another illustration of this is the fatwah issued by a large group of Muslim clerics yesterday, against a singer for singing songs against the IS. The fatwah tells her to cease performing (as it is against sharia) but it does not take much imagination to foresee some fanatic trying to kill her.
This BTW indicates what the clerics think about IS! Religion of peace in which the clerics support IS? I do not think so.
