United Church of Christ and the Muslim American Society

When UCC President John Thomas's letter to the Hartford Courant appeared last week, I barely noticed that Imam Mahdi Bray of the Muslim American Society had co-signed the letter. I had never heard of the guy until a post on Solomonia appeared later in the day. A quick search on the internet turned up this Chicago Tribune article about the Muslim American Society (MAS) and their link to the Muslim Brotherhood (a claim MAS denies). My curiosity turned into concern: What are we doing with this group?

To the uninformed, this would appear to be nothing more than an interfaith effort to promote economic justice, but those who have paid any attention to Mahdi Bray's career have reason to wonder if John Thomas and the Christian denomination he leads are being used in an effort to legitimize and mainstream someone who has exhibited an indifference bordering on outright contempt for Jews.

An affidavit available here describes two troubling episodes in which Bray was involved. (Note that the plaintiffs' attorney is none other than the indomitable Debbie Schlussel.) These events have been widely reported.

"In October, 1998, Bray coordinated and led a Washington rally of 2,000 people, during which he played the tambourine as the crowd repeated, “[L]et’s all go into jihad, and throw stones at the face of the Jews.”

And:

"On December 22, 2000, Bray organized and spoke at a rally outside the White House, at which the emcee and crowd chanted responsively in Arabic, 'oh Jews, the Army of Muhammad is coming for you!'"

This Dec. 22, 2000 instance is reported in Steven Emerson's important book, American Jihad. The full quote in the book is "Khaybar, Khaybar oh Jews, the Army of Muhammad is coming for you!"

Khaybar was a city in Arabia of the Banu Nadir -- a Jewish tribe. The Muslim Prophet Muhammad attacked and conquered it in 628. The Jews there were massacred, enslaved, or made to pay heavy taxes (jizya) for the privilege of remaining in the area -- as I will detail in my book The Truth About Muhammad (coming this fall from Regnery Publishing). How Muhammad treated the Banu Nadir -- conquest and subjugation -- became a foundation of the dhimmi laws imposed on non-Muslims by Islamic law ever after. To play the tambourine while Khaybar is invoked in a laudatory manner is thus troublesome to say the least.

Just as troubling was another instance in which Bray raised his fist in support of laudatory statements of Hamas and Hezbollah. Details of this event, which took place in 2000 are available here.

Dhimmi Watch blogger Robert Spencer suggests that if Thomas knew more about Bray he would be more reticent about working with him on projects such as this letter.

I suggest the opposite: it is their mutual contempt for freedom that unites them, and that as always that correlates to a contempt for Jews. Thomas does not work with Bray because he is ignorant of Bray's sentiments, but because he shares them. The title of the post at Dhimmi Watch is "Does John Thomas really want to stand with Mahdi Bray?" I think the answer is "yes."

I'm in an unusual position defending Thomas on this... but it's not like Mahdi Bray is a household name for UCC'ers. There is no reason to believe that Thomas knows who Bray is and this type of criticism crosses a line.

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