Radical Islam is a Vocal Minority in America

John R. Houk
August 17, 2010

I am posting a lot of email alerts from ACT for America these days. The most that I received this morning (Read at the end of this essay) is an example of an acceptable Islam that is transformative rather than reformative.

What is the difference between “transformation” and “reformation” as it relates to Islam?

Transformation of Islam would be a path that takes the theopolitical aspects of the Quran, Hadith and Sira and transform those aspects into theological aspects that explore the relationship between God (in Islam’s case – Allah) and man.

Reform in Islam would (and is) be a path that hearkens back to the original teachings of Islam as delivered from Mohammed to those who listened or were forced to listen. This is what I would call “purist Islam”. The reform movement in Islam today is evidenced by what Westerners would call radical Islam.

Radical Islam is represented today by the Wahhabist and Salafist teachings that are prevalent among Muslims that call for Jihad to reestablish a global Caliphate to reinstitute that which must be viewed as the good old days of Islamic Supremacism.

The most famous Islamic Supremacist group known to Americans is the al Qaeda of Osama bin Laden (SA HERE) and his immediate lieutenantAyman al-Zawahiri (SA HERE). Americans that remember the bitterness of the Islamic sneak attack that occurred on September 11, 2001 will have bin Laden’s name on their tongue like those who remember what they were doing President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The visual imprint of live TV showing the flaming collision of a hijacked jet airliner carrying Americans smashing into one of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center is indelibly embedded into the in American minds who watching a News Alert on TV or told to watch it by friends and family. Why did we watch that next plane burst into flames on TV? Simple the News Alert was speculating what it was that slammed into the World Trade Center not much earlier. As the Newscasters were searching for verification it came live for all to see.

The next speculation was the “who” of the cause of this catastrophe that had not quite sunk in that it was Islamic terrorists yet. The FBI determined the perpetrator of course to be Islamist fiend Osama bin Laden.

Americans knew little about Islam (and most only know what the media tells them) in 2001 so the imagery of a Muslim immediately received the ire of Americans who undoubted felt the same way Americans did on December 7, 1941 when the Japanese came out of nowhere to bomb Pearl Harbor. In many respects the 911 atrocity was more heinous than the Pearl Harbor attack because was mostly civilian rather than military. The only military target murdered a little less than 200 (for Conspiracy Theorists See Jim Hoffman analysis) as opposed to roughly 3000 civilians killed at the World Trade Center and a Pennsylvania field.

The Bush Administration and the Mainstream Media (MSM) correctly feared American retribution of Muslims (citizens and resident aliens) and that fit the image of Muslims. The Bush Administration and the MSM were correct to get on the bus that Islam was a religion of peace to stave off senseless acts of retribution by non-Muslim Americans. Because of the fear factor of retribution the Bush Administration and the MSM have done an extremely poor job on reporting about the Mosques in America that either receive financial support or written material from Wahhabist/Salafist Islam from Saudi Arabia.

This is an important point because statistically a majority of Muslims do not subscribe to the theopolitical ideology Wahhabist/Salafist Islam. This failure has enabled American-Muslim organizations that primarily receive their ideology from the Wahhabi-Salafi-Muslim Brotherhood radical Islam represent themselves as representing the majority of Islam that reject radical Islam. And for reasons that I am still unaware of, the majority of Muslims who would assume the appellation of Moderate Islam have done little to denounce the radical Islamic ideology espoused by the most powerful American-Muslim organizations (at least power backed by money) that deceive Americans about their so-called affiliation to moderate Islam.

ACT for America has this email alert which includes an article by Muslim Tawfik Hamid shows Muslims how to tell if their Mosque is Moderate or Radical. That ACT for America alert is below.

JRH 8/17/10
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Is Your Local Mosque “Moderate”?

Sent by: ACT for America
Sent: 8/16/2010 10:13 AM

The Ground Zero Mosque controversy has stirred up a lot of discussion and debate about what is a “moderate” Muslim and whether or not the Ground Zero Mosque imam is a “moderate.” We are convinced he is not, and in the next few days we will email an extensive dossier on Imam Rauf.


Below, our friend and colleague Dr. Tawfik Hamid, himself a Muslim, has provided us answers to the question, “what is a moderate Muslim?”

Ground Zero Mosque update: Last Saturday we sent out a special email reporting on New York City’s transit authority censoring ads opposing the Ground Zero Mosque. After being threatened with a lawsuit, we’re pleased to report the transit authority has reversed its decision. To read more, click here. To sign our petition opposing the Ground Zero Mosque, click here.

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Is Your Local Mosque 'Moderate' or 'Radical'?
(Please circulate)

Ask the Imams of Mosques, the Muslim leaders, and the Islamic organizations in the US and worldwide to sign this declaration (See below)

by Tawfik Hamid

http://www.tawfikhamid.com/


After the problem of Ground Zero Mosque has escalated it becomes an urgent necessity to distinguish 'Moderate' from 'Radical' Islam. Without making such a distinction the US and the rest of the world will remain divided regarding this issue. Debates about the issue can be endless unless we define the words 'radical' and 'moderate'.


Mosque leaders, Islamic scholars, and organizations who want to be considered Moderates MUST clearly and unambiguously declare the following declaration in their media outlets and on their websites.


I suggest that you send this declaration to Mosque leaders and the Islamic organizations inside the US and worldwide to see if they are ready to accept such a declaration or not.


Please feel free to circulate this newsletter so that we can start a process that allows us to distinguish radical from moderate Islam.


Declaration of Beliefs of Muslim Moderates –


I (We) are Muslims who want contemporary understandings of Islam to replace currently predominant harsh and radical (Salafi/Wahabbi) interpretations of our religion. We therefore declare that:


1- Redda Law, the Sharia Law that allows the killing of Muslims who convert to other faiths, must be banned in Islamic teachings and in Sharia legal doctrine. Islamic countries that practice Sharia must stop the practice of this law and must admit that Freedom of belief and the right to convert to other faith or believe is a basic right that must be given to all Muslims.


2- Current mainstream Sharia doctrines justify the use of violence against women. They encourage men to beat their wives to discipline them. They allow women accused of adultery to be stoned to death. These doctrines are barbarically inhumane, non-egalitarian, and teach Muslim children to be violent. These teachings must be ended by reinterpreting the Islamic text that justifies such violence.


3- Traditional Sharia doctrines teach Muslims that they must engage in war so that Islam will dominate the world. When Islam becomes dominant, Non-Muslims are offered three options: to convert to Islam, to pay Jizzia (a humiliating tax), or to be killed. These doctrines run contrary to modern respect for diversity and for personal freedom of speech and belief. This understanding of Jihad that seeks domination of Islam over other peoples must no longer be regarded as an Islamic value and its teaching as a duty for Muslims must end.


The early Islamic wars known as "Futohaat Islameia" were fought to implement this doctrine of Jihad. These wars therefore should now be regarded as un-Islamic and un-justifiable.


4- Jews are individuals who deserve the same respect accorded to all individuals. They should not be called "pigs and monkeys." The Islamic teaching that Muslims must fight and kill all Jews before the end of days is totally incorrect and unacceptable as it does not exist in the Quran. All teachings that encourage anti-Semitic attitudes, violence or disrespect toward Jews must be declared un-Islamic.


5- Slavery is a crime against humanity. All Sharia laws that justify slavery in our modern times must not be taught any more. Muslim scholars must have a clear and loud voice against slavery.


6- Islamic Sharia laws currently permit the killing homosexuals. These laws also are advocating a crime against our fellow human beings. They must be declared un-Islamic and their implementation must be considered criminal.

Signed,

Dr. Tawfik Hamid


Comment:


The above violent teachings, which currently are taught in mainstream Islamic books in America, are implemented in countries that allow governance according to Sharia Law. Future Muslim generations must be protected from these destructive doctrines, interpretations and customs.


These violent Sharia doctrines must be replaced with clear and unconditional explanations of why they no longer are valid.


Anything short of a fully clear and unequivocal stand against these doctrines indicates passive approval. Therefore, all Islamic leaders who genuinely consider themselves to be Muslim moderates must post these principles in English and in Arabic in full public view on their websites and declare them in their media outlets.


Failure to publically post and support these principles should be interpreted as clear evidence that a leader's mosque or Islamic organization must be considered radical.
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Radical Islam is the Vocal Minority in America
John R. Houk
© August 16, 2010
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Is Your Local Mosque “Moderate”?

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