Islam vs John Q Public

Well, another knowledgable Islamic expert decides to challenge my fearmongering and blatant falsehoods.  Known as Mr. John Q. Public he believes he has all the answers.  I'll let you decide.  His letter is first, followed by my reply.

Have fun, but watch out for the deep stuff.

Here's just one quick example from his blog in which he makes an unquestionably false claim about what Thomas Jefferson said about religion and Islam: 

He said of the Qur’an and Muslims “"Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because, if there be one, he must approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear". So he thought the Qur’an, and Islam was a religion of “blindfolded fear” after studying the relevant texts.

There is no possible way one could conclude that Jefferson was talking about the Qur'an or about Muslims from this quote, because the context (a letter to a young relative) makes it obvious Jefferson was talking about religion in general, and Christianity in specific:

Religion. your reason is now mature enough to examine this object. in the first place divest yourself of all bias in favour of novelty & singularity of opinion. indulge them in any other subject rather than that of religion. it is too important, and the consequences of error may be too serious. on the other hand shake off all the fears and servile prejudices under which weak minds are servilely crouched. fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. question with boldness even the existence of a god; because, if there be one, he must more approve the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear. you will naturally examine first the religion of your own country. read the bible first then, as you would read Livy or Tacitus. the facts which are within the ordinary course of nature you will believe on the authority of the writer, as you do those of the same kind in Livy & Tactius. the testimony of the writer weights in their favor in one scale, and their not being against the laws of nature does not weigh against them. but those facts in the bible which contradict the laws of nature, must be examined with more care, and under a variety of faces.

I defy Sommer to produce even a shred of proof that Jefferson was speaking about the Qur'an here.  I'd even be willing to hear an explanation as to how Sommer might have "accidentally" gotten the impression that Jefferson was referring specifically to Muslims.

There are more false claims on his blog.  It's telling that he provides no citations whatsoever for his claims about Islam; for example, in the article he appended to the email he sent you, he says:

Ali Gom’a, the grand mufti of Egypt, the highest Muslim religious authority in the world, supports murdering non-Muslims.

I would likewise be very interested to see any evidence for Sommer's claim that the grand mufti of Egypt is the "highest Muslim religious authority in the world," because no such evidence exists; it's a blatantly false claim among many others.

Likewise, he claims:

However, if one understands that Islam says one thing to the west and another to the Arab/Muslim world, it then becomes easy to see the reality, and the true reasoning behind these attacks.

Unless there's some proof that Sommer can provide to back up this claim, this is simply a meaningless smear, designed to fool the reader into discounting any counter-argument as "well, they just lie all the time about everything."  In the age of the Internet, there's simply no way for any group -- much less a 1.6 billion-person religion -- to keep a secret from one half of the world while widely disseminating it to the other half.  Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof, and this claim is very extraordinary indeed.

It appears, from what I've seen so far, that the vast majority of what Sommer claims about Islam is untrue and unsupportable.  It's going to take a ludicrously long time to address all of the wildly false claims on his site (after all, it only takes him a moment to dash off a claim like the one above, whereas I would have to do research and provide sources to thoroughly debunk it).  Whether he's deliberately lying or just uncritically regurgitating what someone else has told him, he can simply not be relied upon as a factual source.

Barry Sommer claims to be "educating the public," but so far all I've seen is a propaganda campaign of groundless smears and malicious fearmongering.

 

My reply...

 

Dear Mr. Public, as always I relish those who have questions, and who will point out problems with what I write.  I welcome criticisms, yours is especially appealing, and I thank you.  Let me respond…

  As to Jefferson’s quote, I admit I did not research that particular quote accurately.  You are correct that my assessment that this quote reflected a direct study of Islam and Muslims is incorrect.  The quote, from Aug 10, 1787 was written before Jefferson had any direct contact with Islam and was in regards to Christianity.  His explanations in the letter, and his specific recommendations in the form of numbered segments did reflect a general knowledge of Muslims and Islam, as related by Voltaire who, as we know was one of Jefferson’s favorite writers.  Voltaire was quite critical of Muhammad, and in his play “Fanaticism” or “Mahomet” he was quite opposed to Muhammad and Muslims, saying the play was “written in opposition to the founder of a false and barbaric sect”.  Voltaire also referred to Muhammad as a “false prophet”.  He also said “The legislator of the Muslims(Muhammad), a terrible and powerful man, established his dogmas with his valor and arms; yet, his religion became benign and tolerant."  This is typical irrational behavior from the Enlightenment and Humanist groups: no matter how barbaric and intolerant Islam may have become, ignore it while diverting attention to another victim group (Jews and Christians).  Jefferson, while studying Voltaire was obviously influenced by his writings, and this influence was present in a small way in the letter of 1787.

The leaders of Islam are many.  There is no Pope or similar talking head who represents the worlds 1.6B Muslims.  The recognized seat of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence is Al-Azhar University in Cairo.  As you see fit to merely claim that this is blatantly false, yet provide no proof this is so, I can only say that you need to actually do the research on the University and you will find that indeed it is from where Sunni fatwas flow, as well as legal rulings based in sharia law.  Yes, many Muslims pay no attention to what Al-Azhar says, just as many do not follow the Pope.  That does not make it invalid, or less important to those who listen to, and follow the words from Al-Azhar.  The four schools of sunni jurisprudence(Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i and Hanbali) are upheld, and promulgated by Al-Azhar University, of which Ali Gom’a is a high-ranking member.  Even Dinesh D’Souza refers to Ali Gom’a as “the second highest ranking cleric in the Arab world”.  Does his name not ring a bell?  The Grand Sheik of Al-Azhar, Mohamed Sayed Tantawi is recognized by sunni orthodoxy as the leading cleric for sunni jurisprudence.  If you choose to ignore what the Muslim world, and middle east sunnis in particular adhere to in regards to the main doctrinal voice of Islam, you have not done your homework.

  Shia theology, and shia jurisprudence flows from Iran.  Appx 15% of Muslims are Shia, and the leader of the Shias is the Ayatollah al-Sistani.  He is a leading member of the Islamic World Fatwa Council and from his perch he dictates Shia sharia law, as well as Muslim behaviors under Shia rule.  Again, if you do no study on Shia and Sunni doctrine you have no position to speak on who speaks for them.

  There are other minor players, but the main thrust of Islamic interpretation, law, family, business and politics flows from the aforementioned two voices.

  So we are to assume, from your point that because of the internet nothing can be hidden or obfuscated.  Well, that may be true, but it is up to the individual to do the work and find the information for themselves, we know the MSM will not provide accurate or truthful news.  Here are a few examples of what is called “taqiyya” or “kitman” (look them up).

  Here is one example.  Yasser Arafat, at the same time he was talking about "peace" to Westerners which, as we know now was a game of deception which earned him a share in the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994, was also talking to Arabic-speaking audiences, and he said that the Oslo peace negotiations with Israelis were merely temporary measures similar to the Treaty of Hudaybiyya between Muhammad's followers and the non-Muslim Qurayshi tribe of Mecca, which was promptly broken as soon as the Muslims felt strong enough to get away with it. 

   Another example.  The ground zero mosque imam, Abdul Rauf said that interfaith dialogue was of utmost import between faiths, thus the “community center”.  He said that the way to mend fences was to talk openly and truthfully with those who oppose.  Yet, in an interview with Rights4All, the media arm of Cairo University the imam said this about interfaith dialogue “Religious dialogue as customarily understood is a set of events with discussions in large hotels that result in nothing. Religions do not dialogue and dialogue is not present in the attitudes of the followers, regardless of being Muslim or Christian. The image of Muslims in the West is complex which needs to be remedied."  There are many, many more examples of this kind of duplicity but this email would run too long if I listed more.  As long as the western media refuses to present both sides, the public will be stuck in thinking they know everything they need to, and to hell with any other research.

   You accusations of my writings being mostly “untrue and unsupportable” bear no weight.  Show where I am wrong, don’t just throw out ad hominum attacks, prove what I say is wrong.  If I do indeed just “dash off a claim…” then show where, in any Islamic school of jurisprudence where I have it wrong.  Show through the words of accepted and reliable Islamic clerics, scholars or any other reputable Islamic source how Islam is not what it’s leaders claim it is.  If the time warrants what it takes for you to actually come up with the facts you believe reduce my words to so much fluff, spend it.  My studies started in 1984 and have continued to this day.    

  Let me ask you, how many copies of the Qur’an do you have?  Which one have you recently read?  Do you have any of the hadiths in print?  Any fatwas? 

  Show where I lie.  You cannot, as there is no substance behind your accusations.  If my groundless smears and malicious fearmongering are just that, then it should be no problem to prove these accusations.  Please do.  If there is a shred of truth in your claims, then it is incumbent upon you to show me where I mislead people.  I also would offer this invitation to appear on my TV show “Islam Today” where you can have an audience for 30 minutes to debunk what I say.

  I never accuse without proof.  I do not make up information, nor have I ever claimed to be an expert or scholar on Islam.  25 years of study(12 in-depth) leads me to certain conclusions, most of which are based on the words spoken by those who say, without reservation that their goal is to see me, you and the rest of the non-Muslims dead.  If standing up for democracy, human rights, freedom of speech and the rights of man by speaking about an ideology critically and unfettered is fearmongering, there will never be change for the better. 

   Islam has the capacity to reform and become that vaunted “religion of peace” so ardently claimed by Muslims.  The stifling of speech regarding Islam, the deliberate mis-direction by Islamic spokesmen and the blind acceptance of criticism as anti-Muslim rhetoric prohibits any movement towards the light of change.  It is those such as yourself who perpetuate the mis-information on Islam and Muslims by reducing the dialogue to name-calling and empty accusations.  If we work together, there can be real reform.  I have yet to see any acceptance of this.

Barry Sommer

PS, please call me Barry instead of Sommer.  I appreciate it, thanks.