Educating the world about political Islam, its founder Mohammed, his political doctrine and his god, Allah.
July
Chief of the Dhimmis
Sun Tsu speaks of two kinds of enemies in The Art of War. There is the "far enemy" and the "near enemy". Islam defines itself to be the far enemy of all kafirs (unbelievers). The near enemy is the dhimmi. A dhimmi is a kafir who serves Islam. In the beginning of the jihad against our kafir civilization, most of the actual work of attacking our civilization is being done by the near enemy, the dhimmi.
When the State department starts controlling the language of memos and forbids the use of the word "jihad", that is an action by non-Muslims, dhimmis. It was not a Muslim who issued the directive. The dhimmi is the puppet of Islam. It is not that Islam is so strong, but that kafirs are so weak and ignorant that they become dhimmis.
There is a hierarchy of dhimmis. At the top of the dhimmi-chain are names such as Bernard Lewis, a Jewish scholar of Islam, and Karen Armstrong, a biographer of Mohammed. But none can top John Esposito in dhimmitude.
In this newsletter we are fortunate to have Dr. David Bukay give us a detailed analysis of Esposito's betrayal of kafir culture. [We are also unfortunate in that the superscripts that go with the endnotes did not move into the HTML editor. If you want the specific references, contact me and I will send you the Word version that has the superscripts and endnotes.]
The Esposito School: Islamic Apologists in Action, or Who is
the "Near Enemy"?
David Bukay - School of Political Science
The University of Haifa, Israel
John Esposito is one of the foremost apologists of radical Islam in the academia.
The term apologist means denying or even justifying events and activities, while
blaming others. It is characterized by whitewashing reality and omitting facts
unintentionally (selective perception and cognitive biases) or intentionally
(for political or economic or other objectives). According to Esposito's own
words, The Prince Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding is concerned
with Islam and the West and Islam in the West, addressing stereotypes of Islam
and Muslims. However, we shall prove to him and his school that, in fact, stereotypes,
misconceptions and perhaps deceptions are theirs.
It is typical that John O. Voll, claims in his article found in Center's homepage:
"The Impossibility of the Clash of Civilizations in a Globalized World,"
that someone who speaks about sounds is like a person who does not read the
news. Yet, it is typical to the Esposito School to accuse others of not reading
the news, while all evidence shows that they themselves do not watch TV to see
the horrors of Islamic fanaticism; they do not read newspapers to understand
Islamic terrorism; and they do not listen to the radio to experience Islamic
"tolerance." The world is filled with clashes and significant conflicts,
Voll says, but he ignores the fact that at least 70 percent of them are by and
among the Arabs and Muslims.
A vivid example of the blindness of the Esposito School can be found in Natana
Delong-Bas, who teaches at Boston College. Her best and perhaps not surprising
declarations are found in an interview with the London al-Sharq al-Awsat, where
she declared, Wahhabism is not extremism, and the Muslim Brotherhood and Sayyid
Qutb have nothing to do with jihadism. She further stated that there may be
a Western conspiracy against the Arab and Islamic world, and said that she knows
of no evidence that Osama bin Laden was behind the 9/11 attacks. Her response
to criticism of her declarations was that she was misquoted: she does not deny
that Bin Laden was behind the attacks, but only that he had no role in the logistics
or the planning of the attacks themselves.
It is not surprising that her doctoral dissertation, Wahhabi Islam: From
Revival and Reform to Global Jihad, a total defense of Wahhabism, has been
highly recommended by the Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C., since her book
was partially funded by Saudi sources. In her book she claims that Wahhabism
is not a radical movement, and Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab was the one who was
the most correct in faith, the easiest to reconcile with the teachings of the
Qur'an and hadith, and the most capable in matters of interpretation. Jihad
as holy war was not the primary purpose of the Wahhabi movement, and Ibn Abd
al-Wahhab did not promote martyrdom or call for jihad. By no means had he promoted
violence against those who did not follow his teachings.
But history tells us clearly that the Wahhabis conquered the Arabian Peninsula
by Jihad wars, eliminating others. Delong-Bas says that Ibn Abd al-Wahhab believed
in the need for ijtihad (innovation). But academic research concludes that Wahhabism
is the most puritan sect in contemporary Sunni Islamic Jurisprudence. According
to Delong-Bas, women were not presented as inferior human beings in Ibn Abd
al-Wahhab's writings, which are evidence of his high respect for women and how
they were granted absolute rights. But Wahhabism is perhaps the most extreme
and intolerant religious ideology concerning the inferiority of women. The book
does not introduce or analyze Wahhabi teachings and practices but rather, defends
them. In fact, it is not a critical account of Wahhabism at all, but a response
to Western criticism mounted in the post-9/11 era. Above all, the controversial
teachings and practices of Ibn Abd al-Wahhab have been glossed over throughout
the book.
Along the same line, one finds Noah Feldman, a Jewish law professor at Harvard
University, whose book, After Jihad: America and the Struggle for Islamic
Democracy, explores the prospects for democracy in the Islamic world, using
the same arguments as Esposito's School. Even after the 9-11 terrorist attacks,
Feldman argues that the age of violent jihad is past, and Islamism is evolving
in new, more peaceful and democratic directions; The Islamists are the best
hope for democracy. They never got a chance to govern, although they are committed
democrats and that Islam and democracy are deeply compatible. The experiment
of Islamic democracy deserves to be run. Islamic democrats are the best hope
for the future of the Muslim world-and they deserve our admiration and our support.
Islamist parties in power mean much improvement over the situation today. The
Islamists are not inevitably or unalterably opposed to the United States, which
by allying itself with autocratic regimes in the Middle East is not only mistaken
by choosing the wrong rulers but by betraying its own values too. No comment
is the best comment to these vanities, just because reality shows the almost
totally opposite.
Perhaps the best way to properly evaluate and estimate John Esposito's attitudes
and views is to quote his assertions from his book, What Everybody Needs
to Know about Islam; which represents one of the best propaganda sources
of how to show a sweet, synthetic and detached view of the reality of Islam.
As to the question "is Islam intolerant to other religions?" (pp.
70-73) Esposito claims that theologically and historically, Islam has a long
record of tolerance. Muslims did not try to impose their religion on others
or force them to convert. All that remains is to tell this story to the original
peoples of the Middle East and North Africa, mainly Christians, who were Arabized
and Islamized by force; to the peoples of the Balkans and Eastern Europe who
were exterminated, depressed and humiliated; and to the tens of millions of
Africans who became slaves, tortured and deported from their lands.
In our generation, Esposito should tell this to the Armenians, the Christians
of Iraq (Assyrians), the Christians of Lebanon, the Christians of Palestine,
and especially the peoples of Southern Sudan who suffer a policy of extermination
and genocide. These indeed prove Islamic tolerance.
Esposito ends his "refreshing" analysis by claiming that the Constitution
of Medina accepted the co-existence of Muslims, Jews and Christians. Muhammad
granted freedom of religious thought and practice to the Jews and Christians,
setting a precedent for peaceful and cooperative interreligious relations. By
that, Esposito probably refers to the Jewish tribes in Arabia, who during Muhammad's
lifetime, were deported and massacred; their children were taken as slaves,
their women as concubines, and their property was expropriated. Today, Esposito
narrated, Muslims mainstream and extremist, conservative and progressive, struggle
to balance the affirmation of the truths of their faith with the cultivation
of a pluralism and tolerance rooted in mutual respect and understanding. Indeed,
we can witness these highly esteemed words in today's Saudi-Arabia, Iran and
Sudan; three Islamic regimes, and the Muslim behavior in the West.
As to the question "why do Muslims persecute Christians in Muslim countries"?
(pp. 76-79), perhaps Esposito has forgotten his words on Islamic tolerance before,
where he states: Muslim-Christian relations have deteriorated over time under
the influence of conflicts and grievances, from the Crusades and European colonialism
to contemporary politics. Indigenous Christians were favored by and benefited
from the colonial rule. The product of European missionaries that converted
local Muslims� the creation of the state of Israel has contributed to the
deterioration of relations and Christian fundamentalists like Robertson, Graham
and Falwell have been the source of intolerance, persecution, violence and terrorism.
It is very easy - Christians are to blame for all Islamic behavior. Had they
continued to be massacred, enslaved and converted to Islam, like in Egypt and
in Spain (in the Seventh-Eighth centuries), and the Balkans during the Ottoman
Rule, as only few examples, harmony would have continue to exist in the Muslim-Christian
relationship. Indeed, one should wonder, what do the Christian expect? To create
the State of Israel and not to be exterminated by Muslims? To live on Islamic
lands and not to be massacred? And, when asking Esposito about the genocide
in The Sudan, his reaction is that there is no problem, actually the majority
of the South is animist and the struggle has been political and economic as
much as religious. They are not Christians, and this sums up the whole issue.
As to the question: whether Jews and Christians have always been enemies of
Islam (pp. 79-86), Esposito refreshes our memory: the Jews of Medina had political
ties to the Qureish tribe of Mecca, so they resisted Muhammad's overtures. The
Jewish population was granted the right to internal religious and cultural autonomy
in exchange for their political loyalty and allegiance to the Muslims. The Jews
backed Muhammad's Meccan rivals, judged as traitors for the support of his enemies,
many were attacked and killed.
Again, the historical facts are different compared to Esposito's analysis; Muhammad
massacred the Jews of Arabia immediately after his military successes. As for
the Jews of Haybar, they were massacred and persecuted and their fertile lands
were taken after the Hudaybiah agreement with the Meccans, without any "provocations."
The Palestinians today sing: "Haybar, Haybar ya-Yahud, sayf Muhammad sa-ya`ud"
(Haybar Haybar, ho Jews, the sword of Muhammad will be back), but is it possible
that Esposito has not studied this chapter in Islamic history?
He continues: other Jews became Dhimmis and thrived under the protection of
Islam. {However} the establishment of the State of Israel was a turning point
in relations between Muslims and Jews, and severely strained their relations
in Muslim countries. As for the Christians, the Muslim conquerors proved to
be far more tolerant than Imperial Christianity had been, granting religious
freedoms to the indigenous Christian Churches. Pluralism is the essence of Islam
as revealed in the Qur'an and practiced by Muhammad and the early caliphs, rather
than a purely Western invention or ideology. How nice, now one can understand
why the Christians are a rare species and under extinction in the Middle East.
The irony is that Esposito brings John of Damascus who held a position of prominence
in the royal court, as proof of the integration of Christians, but John of Damascus
had written perhaps the most devastating book of the massacre of Christians
under Islam as a first-hand witness.
Esposito then clings to the Golden Age in Spain from 756 to approximately 1000
as a period of interfaith harmony. The only problem is that this was a myth
invented by the Jews in the 19th century, as Bernard Lewis and others hve proved.
Even the great Jewish exegete, physician and philosopher, Maimonides, described
Islam as the worst enemy of Judaism, and he had to escape from Spain taking
refuge in Morroco and Egypt.
Yet, the best of Esposito, is his declaration that, The Ottoman Empire is a
prime example of the positive treatment of religious minorities in a Muslim-majority
context. It seems there were two Ottoman Empires: The original Ottoman Empire
was the worst in treating minorities in the Balkans and Eastern Europe; kidnapping
millions of children and converting them to Islam (Devshirme system); bringing
millions of slaves and concubines from Eastern Europe, mainly Ukraine and Hungary;
massacring Christians, like the Armenian holocaust, to mention only a salient
example. The Balkan Wars in the 20th century and the deep hatred and the reciprocal
massacres are due to the Ottoman Empire past policies and behavior. But perhaps
there was another Ottoman Empire according to Esposito, coming directly from
the lands of the fairytales.
Esposito is at his best when analyzing "violence and terrorism" (pp.
117-138). Jihad is struggling against the evil in oneself and to be virtuous
and moral. It also includes the right, indeed the obligation, to defend Islam
and the community from aggression. Western governments are propping up oppressive
regimes and exploiting the region's human and natural resources, robbing Muslims
of their culture and to live in a more just society. This is the reason for
the use of Jihad. The Qur'an does not advocate or condone terrorism. Muslims
are merciful and just. Islam does permit Muslims only to defend themselves and
their families, religion and community from aggression. To prove this, Esposito
brings verses from the Qur'an (22:39-40; 48:17; 9:91; 2:192; 47:4; 8:61; 4:90).
There is only one tiny problem with this: all the verses Esposito has quoted
have different meanings and objectives. Qur'an 22:39-40 was revealed in year
624, and it gave the believers permission to fight against their enemies for
the first time. It opened the second stage of Muhammad's career of defensive
fighting against his Quraysh enemy. But this verse was abrogated by 9:5, at
Muhammad's third stage, the age of Messianism, the era of total fight against
all the idolaters started after year 626. Qur'an 48:17 and 9:91 give permission
to those among the believers not to go to war, since Muhammad promised those
who fight to enter the gardens of Eden. These verses have nothing to do with
peace with the unbelievers. Qur'an 2:192 is connected to 2:190-191, that give
permission to those who fight the believers (2:190 - conditional), and fight
all the unbelievers whenever they are found (2:191 - unconditional). Then 2:192
states that if the unbelievers desist (meaning, accept Islam or submit to Islam)
then Allah is forgiving and kind. As for Qur'an 47:4, one can only be amazed
by Esposito's distorted misuse, by declaring that it deals with how to treat
prisoners. It is one of the most horrible verses in the Qur'an. It says: "when
you clash with the unbelievers smite their necks until you overpower them, then
(the rest who submit) hold them in bondage. Then either free them graciously
or, after taking a ransom, until war shall come to an end (there will be no
more unbelievers, or they will submit to Islamic rule). Qur'an 8:61 is again
mistakenly quoted, for it is tightly connected to verses 8:59-60 which deal
with the infidels and the command is to strike terror in the enemies of Allah
and fight them ceaselessly. Indeed, this is the Islamic tolerance. Only then
comes 8:61: if they are inclined to peace (after submitting to Islam), make
peace with them. Qur'an 4:90 is connected and conditional to 4:89, which commands
the Muslims to "seize the unbelievers wherever they are and do away with
them." Only then comes 4:90: "accept those who take refuge� or
those who weary of fighting you or their people, come over to you�"
It is for you in the West to evaluate how Esposito distorts the verses to suit
his political views. But Esposito's propaganda industry reaches to the highest
level when he deals with Qur'an 9:5 and 9:29, the vicious and murderers' verses.
He declares, in fact however, the full intent of "When the sacred months
have passed, slay the idolaters whenever you find them" is missed or distorted
when quoted in isolation. For it is followed and qualified by: "but if
they repent and fulfill their devotional obligation and pay the Zakat, then
let them go their way, for God is forgiving and kind" (9:5). The same is
true for another quoted verse (9:29), which is often cited without the line
that follows: "until they pay the tax with willing submission, and feel
themselves subdued."
Indeed, as nice as it sounds, so is the reality horrible. The true definition
of 9:5 is, they have the conditional option: either to convert to Islam ("but
if they repent and fulfill their devotional obligation and pay the Zakat, then
let them go their way") or be slayed. The clause thus becomes more coercive
than conditional. It suggests than a non-Muslim must convert to Islam or be
slain. In 9:29, (to pay the tax with willing submission, and feel themselves
subdued), means submission to Islamic rule, losing independence, and paying
the tax with humiliation. Can we assume that Esposito believes this is peaceful
and tolerant Islam? Can we assume that perhaps he does not know all this?
If Esposito does not know the Qur'an commandments to the believers, here is
the up-to-date list: fighting is prescribed upon the believers (2:216). It is
jihad in the cause of Allah (2:244 and many other verses) against the powers
of Satan (4:76), the unbelievers and the hypocrites (9:5; 9:73; 66:9), and the
People of the Book (9:29). The order for the believers is to smite their necks
(47:4; 8:12) and to strike terror in their hearts (3:151; 8:60), including the
People of the Book (59:2) for the hereafter world (4:74). For this the Jihadi
believers will earn paradise (3:195: 9:72: 13:22-23; 47:4-6), and their reward
will be black-eyed virgins (44:51-54; 52:17-20; 56:22-24), and the utmost tiding
is that they are not dead, but alive, staying and living beside Allah (2:154;
3:169-171). The Islamic "tolerance" is also practiced by Hadiths,
attributed to Muhammad: "Whosoever disputes a single verse of the Qur'an,
strike off his head" (Sunan Ibn Majah); "The Prophet said, whosoever
changes his religion, kill him" (Sahih al-Bukhari); and "There is
no community from which you cannot bring me Muslims from them, and the best
I like is, that you kill the men and bring me the women and children" (al-Tirmidhi).
Regarding the question "why do they hate us?" which so disturbs the
West, Esposito's answer is very clear and concise: the establishment and the
support of the State of Israel. America's record of overwhelming support of
Israel - witnessed in its level of aid to Israel, the US voting record in the
United Nations, and official statements by the administration and the State
Department - have proved to be a powerful lightning rod for Muslim anger over
injustice. You see, it is so simple: remove Israel from the Middle East and
there will be no Islamic anger and hatred to the West, and peace will prevail
upon the whole area. Moreover, if Israel disappears, all the malaise found in
the Middle East would have been prevented: The Islamic revolution in Iran; its
nuclear program; its hatred of the Big Satan (US); the authoritarian regimes
and the despotic patrimonial leaders; the inter-Arab rivalries; the conflicts
and wars between and among the Arabs; the millions of Arabs and Muslims being
killed by Arabs and Muslims; the Shiite-Sunni historical rift that threatens
to erupt to an apocalypse; the emergence of al-Qaeda and all Islamic barbaric
atrocities around the world. All these and many others would have not come to
the world if only the State of Israel was denied. Is this what you mean, Professor
Esposito?
A concise summary of Esposito's views concerning his book, Unholy War: Terror
in the Name of Islam, can be found in his interview with Joanne Myers, on
May 7, 2002:
In his own words, he tried in his book to contextualize and ask: Where does
extremism come from; where does this notion of engaging in a holy war Ã
la Osama bin Laden come from; how widespread is it; what are the possibilities
with regard to the future; and to what extent is this an unholy war rather than
a holy war; to what extent is this a hijacking of Islam?
His answers are clear and really horrifying. To the question, what is the world
situation concerning the threat of fanatical Islam? Esposito's answer is simple.
Osama bin Laden was raised with the Wahabi interpretation of Islam. Being very
pro-Palestinian, his motivations include: his concern about the Arab-Israeli
conflict; -his opposition to the West coming in, not only to the Holy lands
of Islam; but he hates the involvement of the United States because it has inherited
England and France as a neo-colonial power; and for its oil interests.
Not a word on Islam. Everything is so simple - Israel and the US are to blame,
and if only the US would withdraw from the Middle East and Israel would perhaps
disappear, there would not be a problem with radical Islam in the West at large.
However, Bin Ladin utters his totally different objectives very clearly, in
three stratified stages: a) to topple the Jahili Arab and Islamic regimes and
establish Islamic rule according to the Shari`ah; b) to bring back the regions
which once belonged to Dar al-Islam, from India to Spain; Andalusia (Spain),
being the diamond in the Islamic crown; c) to commence the apocalypse of the
clash of civilizations: Dar al-Islam against Dar al-Harb.
In response to the question concerning Islamic terrorism by Jihad around the
world, Esposito's answer is simple: Jihad means to be a good Muslim. It means
to strive, the effort that it takes to be virtuous, to be a good believer. Jihad
also means that in being a good Muslim you have the right and, indeed, the obligation
to defend Islam and yourself if you are under siege, the struggle against an
unjust government. This is a "just war."
But Jihad has proven time and again clearly in the Qur'an and Hadith: it is
the holy war against the infidels. Jihad is rooted in the Islamic religion and
culture. It is pervasive, conclusive, and operative. Again Esposito rushes to
clarify: from the early days of Islam, you have always had a minority of extremists
that the mainstream body has rejected, extremists who have used or hijacked
their religion to justify their actions, just as in other faiths. This is precisely
what happened. So you have the globalization of jihad within mainstream Islam
as well as among the extremists.
Where does the Wahhabi ideology and threat come in? Again Esposito is clear:
it is an exclusivist worldview, but it does not mean that it is violence. Wahhabi
Islam, as a puritanical theology, is very conservative and can be seen as extremist
but not necessarily violent. The Saudis use their oil money to promote Islam,
to build mosques, to pay the salaries of preachers all over the world, but it
does not promote terrorism.
How and why is the US to blame? Esposito clarifies and simplifies: What sets
up a problem for us is that when we went in, the Secretary of State said, "We
are only going after Osama and Al-Qaeda; we are not going to take Afghanistan
down." Then we developed a rationale for it. But then we began to talk
about "second frontiers," and an "Axis of Evil." We have
also gone into the southern Philippines. We have talked about going into Indonesia.
You want to see anti-Americanism? You will see it in spades. And it is not just
going to be there; it will be all over the world.
Another issue is that we must have a parity of rhetoric and policy. We do not
have that in the Arab-Israeli conflict. We do not have it on the whole issue
of the promotion of self-determination, democratization, and human rights. In
the Muslim world we have been very slow to promote democratization and human
rights. Muslim countries must get the message. They must start opening up that
system. Unless there is more political participation, unless there is the development
of a strong civil society, and freedom of the press, you will see a perpetuation
of the culture of authoritarianism and violence.
If you have that kind of society, it will feed anti-Semitism and extremist thought,
because the society creates an extreme condition or situation. The more repression
that is used, the more they radicalize. This would happen if you had only secular
opposition, let alone religious opposition. Esposito clearly states that the
United States should not in principle object to implementation of Islamic law
or involvement of Islamic activists in government. Of course, the result of
accepting Esposito's misleading recommendations would be the example of Iran
and the Sudan.
Anti-Americanism is very broad-based because of these issues and it is rooted
deeply in grievances of the Islamic opposition against their government. They
also blame us because we are seen as supporting their government, as providing
arms for their government. People within Egypt or Saudi Arabia who want to bring
down their governments blame us because we provide massive support for it. If
you look at most Arab governments now, most Central Asian governments, post-9/11
they have become more oppressive. Post-9/11 they are looking for aid and support
with no strings attached, and they want us to look the other way when they deal
with their opposition, whether mainstream or extremist. We cannot give a green
light.
Everything in Washington now gets framed in terms of terrorism. You have a meeting
on food, and you add the term "terrorism" to the title of any conference.
The danger is that if you frame not only the question but the way you approach
it in too heavy-handed and overt a way, you will have a problem.
So you see, according to Esposito, Islamic terrorism is not a problem, and instead
of dealing with the real issues, Washington bothers itself with nonsense. But
it is much worse: Esposito actually blames the US for all the evils: a) the
rise of Islamic radicalism in the West; b) acting impartially and supporting
Israeli existence in the Middle East; c) the lack of self-determination, democratization,
and human rights in the Middle East; d) supporting Arab and Islamic regimes
to oppress the radical Islamic democratic opposition; and e) the worsening situation
in the Arab and Islamic lands in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.
However, Esposito's comments to his criticism appear in an interview with Al-Ahram
Weekly. He acknowledges that he is an "apologist for Islam and soft on
Muslims," and that he is accused of having misinformed the US administration
about the true dangers of Islamist groups. He dismisses these charges as "ideologically-inspired".
After 9/11, there were growing fears that people would talk about the root causes
and that they would focus on the Arab-Israeli crisis and if they focused on
it some Americans would want to address this imbalanced approach. He believes
that he represents an alternative school of thought within American academia
-- what America is truly about, free speech, open dialogue, and a multiplicity
of views. Indeed, if we take the Soviet Union analogy, these highly treasured
values of "free speech, open dialogue, and a multiplicity of views"
come exactly under the title of Pravda.
Summary
According to Stanley Kurtz, there is reason to believe that the academy's multiculturalist
and post-colonial blinders represent more than a sad and silly waste of intellectual
energy - more, even, than the spiritual corruption of a generation of America's
youth. Moreover, there is reason to believe that the reigning multiculturalist
foolishness of the American academy may be directly connected to the intelligence
failure that led to September 11. Of the scholars who dominate Middle Eastern
Studies - most of them are deeply hostile to American foreign policy and Israeli
existence - having long stigmatized and ostracized academicians who work with
the American government and they are ideologically biased against the US foreign
policy.
The analogy to the 1930s is obvious. There is much evidence that Chamberlain
was encouraged in his appeasement policy by the academia of Oxford and Cambridge,
and the communication media headed by The Times of London - both warmly supported
the Munich Agreement. Today, the American government's branches are facing a
misleading onslaught by these multiculturalist and post-colonial blinders toward
a policy of appeasement, and in fact subordination to the forces of evil.
The problem is not the Esposito School as such, but the views they proliferate
under the cover of academic expertise; the spread of multiculturalist and post-colonial
vanities, intertwined with false moral relativism, and the huge misquotations
and the mere propaganda in their publications.
More dangerous is the multiplication of new generations of academia members
with the same misconceptions and the march of stupidity. It is one thing to
be wrong in the classroom, but it can be far more dangerous when such wrong-headed
theories begin to affect policy. As long as the academia continues to be the
main source of spreading such ideas, it will continue to deteriorate intellectually;
it will stop being relevant to reality; and above all it will continue to mislead
political leaders and policies, and by doing so, will contribute to national
disasters. The worst danger is the growing irrelevance of academia to the day-to-day
life, to improving political values and norms, rather than being a reliable
source of knowledge to public opinion and people at large.
--------------------------------------------------
Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), December 21, 2006. See Also: http://www.saudi-american-forum.org/Newsletters2004/SAF_Item_Of_Interest_WahhabiIslam1.htm
http://media.www.thejusticeonline.com/media/storage/paper573/news/2007/01/23/Features/Culture.And.Controversy-2668582.shtml?sourcedomain=www.thejusticeonline.com&MIIHost=media.collegepublisher.com
Natana Delong-Bas, Wahhabi Islam: From Revival and Reform to Global Jihad, New
York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
http://www.saudiembassy.net/2006News/Statements/SpeechDetail.asp?cIndex=595.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,245384,00.html
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/779/bo6.htm. See also her interview: http://www.saudi-american-forum.org/Newsletters2004/SAF_Item_Of_Interest_WahhabiIslam1.htm.
See also:
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2004/08/08/the_real_wahhab?pg=full
Noah Feldman, After Jihad: America and the Struggle for Islamic Democracy, New
York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2003. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/11/international/worldspecial/11FELD.html
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0508/p18s01-bogn.htm. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2976993.stm
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/truth/stake/feldman.html
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
http://www.cceia.org/resources/transcripts/137.html
See also his: "Jihad: The Struggle for Islam." In Jacob Neusner and
William Scott Green, (eds.) Introduction To Religion: What Religions Do. Westminster:
John Knox Press, 1995. See: Jihad not necessarily a call to religious war -
http://world.std.com/~camera/docs/oncamera/ocmm.html
See also his: "Globalization of Jihad." In Barbara Segaert (ed.) Christianity,
Islam and Judaism: How to Conquer the barriers to Intercultural Dialogue? Brussels;
Peter Lang Publishers, 2004.
See also his: "Islam and the West: Muslim Voices of Dialogue," (with John Voll). In Fabio Petito and Pavlos Hatzopoulos (eds.), Religion in International Relations: The Return from Exile. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.
See also for section e his: "Post 9/11: Civilizational Dialogue or Conflict?"
In Stanley D'Souza, S.J. (ed.) Ethical Approaches to Population, Poverty and
Conflict: With Special Reference to Islam. New Delhi: Indian Social Institute,
2004. And the same: "Islam and the West after Sept. 11: Civilizational
Dialogue or Conflict?" In Malik Aftab (ed.) The Empire and the Crescent:
Global Implications for a New American Century. Bristol, UK: Amal Press, 2003.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/645/intrvw.htm
http://www.nationalreview.com/contributors/kurtz120301.shtml
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Bill Warner
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