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O'REILLY, FALWELL, AND THE SAUDI FIASCO
(Or why O'Reilly seems to have lost it.)
October 6, 2002
By Nix Two

O'Reilly recently did a talking points memo on his show decrying Jerry Falwell for calling Muhammad a terrorist. He was wrong to beat up on Falwell, and Falwell is right. Ever since he screwed up his arrogant ploy with the Saudis, who manipulated him beyond anything he was capable of undoing, and set back literally years of work and preparation to help some of these American girls held captive in Saudi Arabia, he sounds like someone who has been turned upside down and had his head bounced off the floor.

When he realized that all was not going to be what he thought he had trapped the Saudis into on public television, he began backing off immediately. Instead of doing the honest thing, the right thing, and appearing on his own show to tell the public that the Saudi conditions placed on him were intolerable, he did everything in his power to destroy any credibility of this woeful effort.

O'Reilly is not a stupid man, but he was in the middle of an adrenalin rush after having forced Pepsi to drop the commercials of a rapper whom he considered anathema to the children which these commercials were aimed at. He had won almost every battle in which he had joined or thrown down the gauntlet. On THIS night, the Saudi Financial Minister appeared on his show. He was so full of himself he thought he had yet another *gotcha* moment. But the Saudis are masters at this game.

At this point, I ask you to stop and think what happened therafter. Finding that he would NOT be in charge as he had evidently thought, his first response was to assign a FEMALE producer to deal with the Saudis who have absolutely no use and no respect for females in general. O'Reilly HAD to know that was an egregious error, so I can only assume it was done on purpose to take the heat off himself for a real catastrophe...not only for Pat Rausch and her daughters, (who had not the slightest chance to even ask a question on their own since they were accompanied by a media *advisor*, whose husbands were a room away, and whose children were still back in Saudi Arabia,) but for every single American woman or girl who had made contact with people who were trying desperately to facillitate their escapes from what can only be called virtual imprisonment.

What O'Reilly did for ratings, probably cost lives, definitely tightened Saudi security around these woman and young girls for years to come, and his treatment of Pat Rausch was unforgivable.

Now he has gone on the attack against Jerry Falwell for telling the truth about Muhammad. Someone needs to sit him down and remind him that he is just a man after all.
Here is a small part of the proof needed to prove that Muhammad was, indeed, a terrorist.

Special Dispatch - Islam
July 24, 2001
No. 246

The Prophet Muhammad as a Jihad Model

Al-Jazeera's weekly religious program dedicated a special
for the Prophet Muhammad, as a model of a Jihad warrior,
and discussed the modern implications of this image.(1)
The guest in the studio was the head of the Islamic law
faculty at Qatar University, Sheik Yussef Al-Qaradhawi, who
is a leading authority in the Muslim world today, and a
spiritual leader of the 'Muslim Brotherhood' movement.
Following are excerpts from the discussion:

The Unique Characteristics of the Prophet Muhammed

Sheik Al-Qaradhawi began his discussion describing the
unique characteristics of the Prophet Muhammad when
compared to the prophets that preceded him: ..."The
prophets that Allah sent prior to Muhammad were sent for a
limited time ...and to a specific people." ... Allah
established in the life of the Prophet Muhammad general,
eternal, and all inclusive characteristics, and he gave
every human being the possibility to imitate him and take
his life as a model."

"The Christian is incapable of imitating Jesus regarding
war and conciliation since Jesus never fought or made
peace. He is incapable of imitating him regarding
marriage, divorce, parenthood, and family, since [Jesus]
never had a family, never had a wife, a father, or a
grandfather."

"On the other hand, Allah wanted Muhammad's life to be a
model. For instance, if we examine the question of
marriage, he who has one wife can follow the Prophet
Muhammed since most of the time Muhammad lived with one
woman; whoever has more than one wife can also [follow
Muhammad's example]; He who marries a virgin, he who
marries a non-virgin... He who marries a young woman, he
who marries an old woman [all can follow Muhammad's
example]."

"Similarly, Allah has also made the prophet Muhammad into
an epitome for religious warriors (Mujahideen) since he
ordered Muhammed to fight for religion ..."

The Urgency of Jihad Against Israel

Sheik Al-Qaradhawi explained that several types of Jihad
exist and the prophet Muhammad launched an armed Jihad only
when he arrived at Al-Medina. During the years he spent in
Mecca, he supported unarmed Jihad, contrary to what his
companions were demanding.

The interviewer, Maher Abdallah, asked how this relates to
the lives of Muslims today, whether they should restrain
themselves while preparing for Jihad, or launch an
immediate armed Jihad. Sheik Al-Qaradhawi replied: "The
youth who wish to hurry to establish an Islamic state with
an Islamic rule seek clashes with the existing regimes in
the Arab states despite the fact that they don't have
sufficient strength; they don't have military strength and
not even the mental strength to establish an Islamic rule."

He also mentioned that during the period of the Prophet
Muhammad in Mecca, his friends pressured the Prophet to
shatter idols displayed in Mecca. However, the Prophet
ruled that the time was yet to come, and he even signed the
Al-Hudaybiya agreement with [his adversary] the Qureish
tribe. Only two years later, the Prophet Muhammad decided
that the time had come to conquer Mecca, and he "picked up
a lance" and hit the idols.

Sheik Al-Qaradhawi added, "On the other hand, there are
some things that cannot wait; for instance, when the land
of the Muslims is being invaded. When that happens, we do
not say 'let's wait, we will surrender to them and only
then [we shall see]'...no! In that case, Islam requires
that the people of the invaded land will fight the
invaders... and following them, their neighbors. And if
this is not enough, all the Muslims [must enlist for this
purpose]. Hence, a problem like the current Intifada and
the Palestinian problem is one that cannot wait; the nation
must fight and defend itself and not allow the invader to
ruin the land..."

The interviewer argued that some Islamic law experts
believe the Palestinians are like prisoners, and thus, not
required to fulfill the duty of Jihad. Sheik Al-Qaradhawi
however rejected this notion and argued that the only law
expert raising this claim was the Albanian Mufti, and he
referred only to the Palestinians who are residents of
Israel. "Wise law experts say that if a woman is taken as
a prisoner in the East and the people of the East are
unable to free her, the people of the West must fight a
holy war until she is freed."

"[If such an order is given] regarding a woman, it is
obvious that when it is the homeland that was captured, the
land of the The Prophet's Ascension to Heaven (Jerusalem),
the land of the prophets and holy places, and the first
direction of prayer (Qibla) - the Muslims around the world
must make every effort to save the Al-Aqsa Mosque and to
help the residents [of Palestine], since the Al-Aqsa Mosque
is not the property of the Palestinian people only, but of
each and every Muslim..."

Preparation For Jihad

Sheik Al-Qaradhawi argued that there are two types of
Jihad: "A Jihad which you seek, and a Jihad in which you
repulse an attack." In the Jihad which you are seeking,
you look for the enemy and invade him. This type of Jihad
takes place only when the Islamic state is invading other
[countries] in order to spread the word of Islam and to
remove obstacles standing in its way. The repulsing Jihad
takes place when your land is being invaded and
conquered... [in that case you must] repulse [the invader]
to the best of your ability; if you kill him he will end up
in hell, and if he kills you, you become a martyr
[Shahid]..."

"There are various ways to prepare for Jihad: there is
mental preparation, there is physical preparation, and
there is material preparation, meaning the preparation of
the weapons. The messenger [Muhammad] prepared all his
friends first mentally since equipment and weapons cannot
fight by themselves, but rather need hands to operate them,
and those hands must also have a purpose.

"Why were we defeated in 1967? Officers stated that we had
vast amounts of weapons but we did not provide the warrior
with mental preparation. We did not prepare him to fight
for religious belief and for defending religious
sanctuaries. We are the oppressed, and the duty is on us.
He who got killed is a [Shahid] in heaven... the first
assignment is to prepare the hero who is willing to put his
life in his own hands for Allah's sake, and he who does not
care whether he encounters death or death encounters him..."

Suicide Bombings

Sheik Al-Qaradhawi - who throughout his recent appearances
has declared that Palestinian suicide attacks are
considered "self-sacrifice" and not suicide, and thus are
permitted and even welcome from a religious standpoint -
was again asked about this issue. He argued that the
person who commits that act "is not a suicide [bomber]. He
kills the enemy while taking self-risk, similarly to what
Muslims did in the past... He wants to scare his enemies,
and the religious authorities have permitted this. They
said that if he causes the enemy both sorrow and fear of
Muslims... he is permitted to risk himself and even get
killed."

Jihad and the Arab Regimes

Sheik Al-Qaradhawi, who usually calls for coexistence with
Arab regimes, had reservations about allegations that they
prevent Jihad against Israel: "The matter is not as simple
as it is presented [to the general public]. It is not true
that if one ruler [or another] was to be replaced
everything would change. There are great forces within the
[Arab] society that support the regime... especially among
the intellectuals who are described, unfortunately, as the
elites. These elites have westernized, and the
westernization of their thought and culture corrupted the
Arab regimes. The cultural invasion, the cultural
colonialism, the westernization - call it what you want -
reshaped the way these elites are thinking, and turned them
into foreign elements amongst their own people. We must
change them, and this is why the campaign continues and it
must continue on different levels - on cultural,
educational, social, traditional, and political levels, on
the level of constitutional reforms, political reforms, and
the granting of freedoms to peoples, including freedom for
Jihad..."

"It is incumbent upon us to maintain some kind of contact
with the present rulers so we can act. How could we
strengthen the Intifada? We are unable to do anything
[without those rulers]. At the very least, the Intifada
must go on, intensify, become more sophisticated, and
broaden its base. And we must take whatever we can from
the current rulers who are incapable of fighting... we must
act within the parameters of the current restrictions..."

Endnote:

(1) Al-Jazeera Television [Qatar], June 19, 2001.