Rod Dreher: This Islamic group tends to extremes

Dallas Morning News ^ | 10/23/2003 | Rod Dreher

[TrebleRebel]

Nazi? Moi?

All I had done was ask a simple question of Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed, the general secretary of the Islamic Society of North America, who recently met with The Dallas Morning News' editorial board.

Dr. Syeed's revealing reaction – he said that my query reminded him of "Nazism" and that I would have to "repent" – tells us a great deal about American Islam's extremist problem ... and ours.

ISNA is the largest Islamic organization in the country, serving as an umbrella group for 300 or so mosques, cultural centers and affiliated groups.

The North American Islamic Trust, a sister organization set up for what its Web site calls the "protection and safeguarding" of the finances of ISNA and other groups, owns between 20 percent and 27 percent of this country's mosques.

ISNA is heavily funded by Saudi contributions and has been described in congressional testimony by terrorism expert (and Muslim convert) Stephen Schwartz as one of the chief conduits through which the radical Saudi form of Islam passes into the United States.

Though ISNA portrays itself as mainstream, Islamic scholar Ali Asani of Harvard calls it "ultra-orthodox [and] ultra-conservative."

Echoing similar reports from across the country, Dr. Khalid Duran, a moderate Muslim, and unnamed others like him told the St. Petersburg Times that extremists try to take over American mosques and hand the titles over to NAIT.

Jamaluddin Hoffman, a Sufi and moderate, characterizes what's going on as "a war for the heart and soul of our religion."

ISNA's advisory board (see www.isna.net) is thick with men who have espoused extremist opinions and have troubling associations.

There's Siraj Wahhaj, a Brooklyn imam named by U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White as one of the "unindicted persons who may be alleged as co-conspirators" in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. He also testified as a character witness for convicted terror mastermind Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman. Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes has documented at least two occasions in which Mr. Wahhaj has urged followers to overturn the U.S. system of government and set up an Islamic dictatorship.

There's Muzammil Siddiqui, a former ISNA president who spoke at an Oct. 28, 2000, "Jerusalem Day" rally in Washington, an event that degenerated into a hatefest in which the crowd chanted, "Death to the Jews!" Columnist Debbie Schlussel, citing a Pakistani news Web site, quoted Dr. Siddiqui as saying that Islamic rule has to be global and that "all our efforts should lead to that direction."

ISNA board member Bassam Osman is the president of NAIT, which owns the Islamic Academy of Florida. That school was described as a criminal enterprise in the federal indictment handed down in February against school founder Sami al-Arian and others alleged to be Palestinian Islamic Jihad fund-raisers.

ISNA sponsored a big conference this past summer in Dallas (www.dfwisna.com). Mr. Wahhaj, Dr. Syeed and Dr. Siddiqui spoke there, as did Imam Zaid Shakir, who said in a 1992 educational video that Muslims can't accept the American political system because "it is against the orders and ordainments of Allah."

None of these people has been charged with any criminal wrongdoing. But they all have been affiliated with a brand of Islam that most Americans would, and should, find frightening. We are entitled to ask why.

Given ISNA's leadership, it is no wonder Dr. Syeed wouldn't give a straight answer when a Morning News colleague of mine asked him three times what his organization was doing to fight Islamic extremism.

When I asked the man how he squared his profession of tolerance and moderation with having radicals on the ISNA board, Dr. Syeed became hostile, sputtering that my question reminded him of Hitlerian persecution. That is blustering nonsense, of course, and an attempt to silence legitimate questions about ISNA's agenda through intimidation and misdirection.

They must not get away with it. As benign as they sometimes sound, Dr. Syeed and his ilk are no friends of moderation and tolerance.

As the late Seif Ashmawi, a moderate Muslim-American newspaper publisher, once put it, "Radical Islamic groups have now taken over leadership of the 'mainstream' Islamic institutions in the United States, and anyone who pretends otherwise is deliberately engaging in self-deception."

Silence and a lack of curiosity, however well meaning or unwitting, are allowing a malignant ideology to grow unchecked in this country.

American Muslims who want no part of Islamofascist ideology are its first victims. They won't be its last.

Rod Dreher is an editorial writer and occasional columnist for The Dallas Morning News. His e-mail address is rdreher@dallasnews.com

[ImpBill]

Never meant to infer you nor he (GW) was bad. Mistaken, especially about Islam ... YES!

You see I view Islam as much more than a "religion". I have tried to point that out in every post. But it will take study of the "total philosophy of Islam as lain down by and practiced by the followers of Mohammed" in both historical and current contexts to find out what the "real Islam is".

At is's core Islam IS TERROR! Again I agree with and identify with the author of this articles statement, "Silence and a lack of curiosity, however well meaning or unwitting, are allowing a malignant ideology to grow unchecked in this country. American Muslims who want no part of Islamofascist ideology are its first victims. They won't be its last."

By the way I too supported GW in the last election, support him in the bottom line now and will vote for him in the next election more than likely. But I disagree with much of his agenda and statements. This certainly is one of them that I for the life of me don't understand nor particularily appreciate. He doesn't need to be as outspoken as I am concerning Islam, but I tire of him snuggling up to it.

[nuconvert]

But those are the radicals. The "5%", as KennyBunk puts it.

[thoughtomator]

Even if it's just 5% (I personally believe it's 2-4 times that figure), we're still talking 60+ million people. Do you really think there is an equivalent 50 million or so Christians who would like to similarly cleanse the world of nonbelievers? And what do we do about those 60 million? Simply let them pursue their plans in plain sight?

I think you have to face the reality that Islam is a unique religion in its tendency towards murder. Nobody worries about radical Bhuddists, or radical Hindus, or radical Confucians. The "worst" you'll get from a radical Christian is a daily vigil at an abortion clinic. And from a radical Jew? The insistence on the right to pray at the West Wall without being murdered, maybe?

I'm afraid that your moral equivalence scale is unbalanced. Religions of peace and religions of genocide are not equally worthwhile. The problem is not that the Islamic fundamentalists are wrong in their interpretation of Islam... the problem is that they are right.

[lawdude]

" Not all Germans were Nazis, however all Muslims are ... well .... Muslims,..."

And all Nazis were Nazis. THAT is the important point!

[nuconvert]

I view Islam as much more than a "religion". I have tried to point that out in every post. But it will take study of the "total philosophy of Islam as lain down by and practiced by the followers of Mohammed" in both historical and current contexts to find out what the "real Islam is".

And here, perhaps, is the crux. The radicals, too, view Islam as much more than a religion. It is a total life philosophy for them. You're right.
But for others, it is no different than being say, Kosher.
And for others still, no difference than being an average methodist or Lutheran.
Some pray 5 times/day, some once or twice/day, some once or twice /week. It's a matter of degrees.

[VOA]

bump

[nuconvert]

My posts #3 and # 11 will tell you that I want terrorists "rounded up and gotten rid of" and "wiped out".

As for radicals in other religions, they tend to act alone or in smaller groups. And yes, they do kill; Christians, Jews, Hindus. They are included. Doing a little research will show you.

Islamic fundamentalists are included in and are the supporters of, the 5%.

[thoughtomator]

Acting alone or in smaller groups hardly qualifies as sponsorship by the religion. Sure there are handfuls of radicals in every quarter. But in Islam, there are a LOT more than mere handfuls, and in addition, their violence is fully supported by their religious institutions. You cannot find a Christian, Jewish, or Hindu equivalent large enough to imply that a significant percentage of the adherents of these religions support violence against non-adherents, the way you can with regards to Islam.

Is there even one Christian or Jewish or Hindu preacher who tells his congregation to "kill the infidels"? For Islam, this is standard boilerplate.

[nightdriver]

"Those "lapsed" Muslims can and are helping us, all over the world. And we absolutely, positively need their help to win."

Do you supposed that those were "lapsed" moslems that were caught on camera going into ecstasy when they heard the news of 9/11?

[VOA]

bump for exposure...especially for the Dallas-Ft. Worth crowd

[tubavil]

Jihad in America bump

[tubavil]

Don't start the all "Islamists are terrorists" mantra.

What US based muslim groups fight muslim terror? What have they done? What division of islam do they follow? Who are their religious leaders? How many muslims do they speak for?

[TrebleRebel]

They were celebrating in the street in Dallas, just outside the building that housed the Holy Land Foundation. They cared not one iota who saw them, and not a single Muslim publicly decried their actions.

[tubavil]

Same thing in Seattle.

[Kenny Bunk]

YAbut it ain't gonna be easy.
It took a long time for us to wipe out the Nazis, who numbered a great deal less than 100 million. And the Nazis did not have a wealthy, world-wide support group backing it up. The Muslims do.Christendom, or such as it is, has a long hard row to hoe before we are done with the Religion of Peace, and its warriors.

[Kenny Bunk]

..... there are radicals in every religion; Christians, Jews, Muslims, etc. They're all dangerous. But they aren't the mainstream. Some Christians believe in the bible, word for word, in its entirety. Others pick and choose what parts of the Bible to live by, what parts are most important to them, which pertain to their lives and which don't, which stories are real and which are parables. Why would you think it's any different for the Koran?

Yes my o-so-politically-correct-relativist friend, there are fanatics in every religion. However, no other religion on this planet is so actively supporting its fanatics in killing, forcibly converting and mutilating, and enslaving those who do not agree. For example in 19th C America, many Christians kept slaves. But Christian Abolitionists made them give it up. Where are your Muslim abolitionists? Why should we be forced to hunt for al-qaida murders? Why don't the "good" Muslims give them up? Where in our Bible does it say to slay and enslave non-believers, as it does in the Koran? Sure, Christians have committed many an atrocity in the name of religion. And those who committed them were stopped. Muslkims have not stopped for 1500 years.

I tell you what, nuconvert. When a lady cab driver takes me to an anti-slavery, anti-female circumcision, anti-suicide bombing meeting in the Church Hall of Our Lady of Riyadh RC Church, I shall tend to believe more of your pious protestations about the Religion of Peace. Yes, 80% of Muslims mean us no harm. But that's hardly a comforting thought, since that leaves 150,000,000 people who wish our destruction. You Muslims want to be mainstream? YOU stop the ones you claim are not.

Plenty of well-meaning Americans will always believe that Islam is just another religion, believing the entirely fatuous remarks of our C-in-C. I believe he is sayoing these ridiculous things to try and keep the "lid on" Americans' natural feelings. Let another atrocity take place on our shores and that "lid" is going to blow off. Right now, Muslims are being given a window of opportunity to "clean house" especially in America. Do it, or it will get done to you. If you don't want to straighten your religion up, take it, your Koran, and your demonic customs and leave the country.

[nightdriver]

"Those "lapsed" Muslims can and are helping us, all over the world. And we absolutely, positively need their help to win."

Islam is the enemy of civilization. Get used to it.

[nuconvert]

"Luckily for us, however, not every Muslim follows every jot and tittle of their murderous and psychotic doctrine. Those "lapsed" Muslims can and are helping us, all over the world."

"No, dingbat." LOL!!! Wish I'd thought to say that.

Thank you. You are apparently the only one who understands what I'm trying to say. Though it doesn't seem that difficult.