Farhana Qazi recently wrote a book titled Invisible Martyrs: Inside the World of Female Islamic Radicals.[1] The focus of this book was on identifying the forces that drove women to become terrorists willing to strap on a bomb and kill themselves along with others. It was based on information Qazi learned during her years as an analyst with the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center.
In the Preface Qazi wrote that in October 2000 she became the first American Muslim to work as a counterterrorism analyst at the Counterterrorism Center. At the Center some had labeled her “the Islam expert,” and analysts and managers had asked her questions about Islamic Doctrine. She was involved in piecing together intelligence assessments for the President’s Daily Briefing and in reporting to other senior government officials. And she was involved in training the military and others in our government about Islam.
On its website the CIA talks about the high quality of its analysts, and points out that “what truly makes their contributions outstanding is the integrity and objectivity [my emphasis] they bring to it.”[2]
With this in mind, here is what Qazi wrote on p. xix:
While serving my country, I had a more personal reason for staying in the center: I wanted to prove that Islam is a religion of peace, mercy, and compassion…
And her feelings about Islam have not changed. On p. 157 of Invisible Martyrs, Qazi wrote:
After nearly twenty years of teaching Islam, I have discovered that Islam is a simple, practical, and peaceful religion.
Qazi’s understanding of Islam has apparently not changed since her time as a counterterrorism analyst when she was intent on proving that Islam was a religion of peace. So let’s examine some of what Qazi wrote about Islam in Invisible Martyrs.
2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks
We’ll start off with a curious omission, especially for a former analyst whose position would have required accurate, thorough reporting.
On p. 36 Qazi mentioned the November 2008 Muslim terrorist attacks on various locations in Mumbai, India. She wrote: “The reign of terror killed more than 150 Indians.”
Actually 166 people were killed in the three-day assault by the terrorists. And of those 166, six were non-Indian Jews who were tortured and killed at the Chabad House: Rabbi Gabriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivky, who was five months pregnant; Rabbi Aryeh Leibush Teitelbaum, Rabbi Benzion Korman, Norma Shvartzblat Rabinovich and Yocheved Orpaz.[3]
It is curious that Qazi wrote that only “Indians” were killed and left out the fact that six non-Indian Jews were also killed.
Islam means peace
On p. 115 Qazi wrote that “Islam is the Arabic word for “peace”.” But that is simplistic and not accurate. Qazi might want to look at the definition of Islam on the website for The Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Washington, DC:
The Arabic word ‘Islam’ simply means ‘submission’, and derives from a word meaning ‘peace’. In a religious context it means complete submission to the will of God.[4]
Allahu Akbar
On p. 33 Qazi noted that Allahu Akbar meant “God is great.” One might expect such a mistranslation from a non-Muslim who knows little about Islam, but as a Muslim who taught government officials about Islam, Qadi should have known that Allahu Akbar means Allah, the god of Islam, is the greatest and is above all else.[5]
Islam is built on the tenets of Judaism and Christianity
On p. 22 Qazi wrote:
In my lectures, I say that Muslims believe that Islam completes the circle of all monotheistic religions, and therefore Islam is not a new but a “borrowed” religion, building on the tenets of Judaism and Christianity…
Here we have Qazi claiming that the doctrines of Islam are built on the doctrines of Judaism and Christianity. So let’s look at some of what Islam teaches about Judaism and Christianity.
Just by looking at the Koran we find that Allah: 1) curses the Jews and Christians (9:30); 2) states that the Jews are among the worst enemies of Muslims (5:82); 3) states that the Jews and Christians are among the worst of creatures who “will abide in the fire of Hell” (98:6); 4) forbids Muslims from being friends with Jews and Christians (5:51); 5) commands Muslims to fight the Jews and Christians (9:29); and 6) undermines the basis of Christianity by stating that it was an impostor, not Jesus, who was crucified (4:157-158) and states that those who believe that Jesus was the Son of God commit the one unforgiveable sin in Islam, Shirk (4:48 and 4:116), and are specifically cursed for that belief (9:30).
And Muhammad, who spoke for Allah, said that Jews and Christians who did not believe in Islam would go to Hell:
It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: By Him in whose hand is the life of Muhammad, he who amongst the community of Jews or Christians hears about me but does not affirm his belief in that with which I have been sent and dies in this state (of disbelief), he shall be but one of the denizens of Hell-Fire.[6]
For Qazi to claim that Islam is built on the tenets of Judaism and Christianity is theological nonsense.
“Suicide Bombers”
Qazi regularly referred to the female terrorists she had dealt with or learned about as “suicide bombers” (e.g. pp. 49, 56, 58, 143) and repeatedly stated that suicide was prohibited in Islam (e.g. pp. 11, 25, 133). But what she and many others fail to understand is that these “suicide bombers” are not committing suicide.
It is true that Islamic Doctrine prohibits suicide, and Muhammad said that those who commit suicide would go to Hell. However, Muhammad also talked about the importance of intentions and said that a person would be rewarded according to what he had last intended. Muhammad stated that if a person intended to fight in the Cause of Allah (to make Islam superior) and died with that intention, that person died as a martyr and would be rewarded with Paradise.
So if Qazi had wanted to gain a deeper understanding about the motives for terrorists blowing themselves up, she should have been asking the following two questions:
Were such attackers seeking to die because they were uncomfortable or in pain, and therefore committing suicide? Or were they following the commands of the Koran and the teachings of Muhammad, and seeking death in order to become martyrs in Allah’s Cause?
For a more in-depth look at this issue, see my article Suicide or Paradise.[7]
Muhammad preached peace, love and mercy
On p. 9, Qazi wrote that female terrorists had chosen “a perverted version of Islam” that “dilutes the principles of peace, love and mercy preached by the Prophet of Islam.”
I’m not sure what “Prophet of Islam” Qazi was writing about. For the record, the 7th Century Muhammad bin ‘Abdullah was the “Prophet of Islam,” and this Muhammad: 1) ordered and allowed the torture and killing of non-Muslims;[8] 2) supervised the beheading of 600-900 captured Jewish post-pubescent males (including combatants and non-combatants);[9] 3) bought and sold slaves;[10] 4) allowed captured non-Muslim females to become the sex slaves of their Muslim captors;[11] and 5) forced the tribes on the Arabian Peninsula to convert to Islam at the point of the sword.[12]
And here are some interesting hadiths about this Muhammad’s “peace love, and mercy”:
Narrated Abu Hurairah: Allah’s Messenger said, “I have been sent with the shortest expressions bearing the widest meanings, and I have been made victorious with terror (cast in the hearts of the enemy), and while I was sleeping, the keys of the treasures of the world were brought to me and put in my hand.”[13]
Narrated Abu Qilaba: Anas said, “Some people of ‘Ukl or ‘Uraina tribe came to Al-Madina and its climate did not suit them. So the Prophet ordered them to go to the herd of (milch) camels and to drink their milk and urine (as a medicine). So they went as directed and after they became healthy, they killed the shepherd of the Prophet and drove away all the camels. The news reached the Prophet early in the morning and he sent (men) in their pursuit and they were captured and brought at noon. He then ordered to cut [off] their hands and feet (and it was done), and their eyes were branded with heated pieces of iron. They were put in Al-Harra [a place of stony ground in Medina] and when they asked for water, no water was given them.” Abu Qilaba added, “Those people committed theft, murder, became disbelievers after embracing Islam (Murtadin) and fought against Allah and His Messenger.”[14]
It was reported from Al-Hasan, from Samurah bin Jundab who said: “The Messenger of Allah said: ‘Kill the old polytheist men, but spare their children.’”[15]
Ibn ‘Abbas said that the Messenger of Allah said, “Whoever you catch committing the act of the people of Lut (homosexuality), then kill both parties to the act.”[16]
This is the 7th Century Muhammad bin ‘Abdullah, the “Prophet of Islam,” and there is no peace, love and mercy here. One can only wonder who Qazi’s “Prophet of Islam” is.
Burning alive the Jordanian Air Force Pilot
On p. 46 Qazi wrote that the burning to death of a captured Jordanian Air Force pilot by ISIS (the Islamic State) in 2015 was a “barbaric act” that “had never been tried before.” What Qazi apparently was not aware of was the fact that this “barbaric act” was supported by Islam Doctrine and that the idea of burning people alive was not uncommon during Muhammad’s lifetime and during the Wars of Apostasy immediately after he died.
In my February 2015 article “Islam and Burning People Alive” I went into detail about the Islamic Doctrinal and historical support for burning people alive.[17] It is interesting to note that the February 2015 edition of Dabiq, the Islamic State’s online magazine, later came out with an article about this incident in which they also showed the Islamic Doctrinal and historical support for their action against the “Jordanian crusader pilot.”[18]
There is certainly nothing un-Islamic about burning people alive.
72 virgins not in the Koran
On p. 40 Qazi wrote dismissively about the “concept of male and female virgin martyrs in Heaven” and stated: “The number seventy-two is not mentioned in the Koran…”
She is correct that the idea of 72 virgins waiting in Paradise for a martyr is not in the Koran, but by leaving it at this she implied that the “number seventy-two” has nothing to do with Islam. In reality, Muhammad talked about that exact number in terms of one of the rewards for martyrs in this authoritative hadith:
Al-Miqdam bin Ma’diykarib narrated that the Messenger of Allah said: “There are six things with Allah for the martyr…he is married to seventy-two wives among Al-Huril-‘Ayn of Paradise, and he may intercede for seventy of his close relatives.”[19]
Is Qazi not aware of this hadith?
Women are equal to men in the eyes of Allah
On p. 167, Qazi wrote: “…women are equal to men in the eyes of God.”
But what did Allah himself have to say about that? In 2:282 of the Koran, Allah stated that when it came testifying to property matters in court it was preferable to find two men; but if you could not find two men, then find one man and two women:
…And get two witnesses out of your own men. And if there are not two men (available), then a man and two women, such as you agree for witnesses, so that if one of them (two women) errs, the other can remind her…
So Allah stated that two women were needed in case “one of them errs.” In other words, because they are both women it is highly likely that one will forget and need to be reminded/corrected by the other.
Allah’s attitude toward women was emphasized by what Muhammad, who spoke for Allah, told a group of Muslim women:
“…I have not seen anyone more deficient in intelligence and religion than you. A cautious sensible man could be led astray by some of you.” The women asked, “O Allah’s Messenger! What is deficient in our intelligence and religion?” He said, “Is not the witness (evidence) of two women equal to the witness of one man?” They replied in the affirmative. He said, “This is the deficiency in her intelligence”…[20]
Muhammad even said that it required the freeing of two female slaves to equal the virtue of freeing one male slave:
Abu Umamah, and other than him from the Companions of the Prophet, narrated that the Prophet said: “Any Muslim man who frees a Muslim man, then it is his salvation from the Fire [of Hell] – each of his limbs suffices for a limb of himself. And any Muslim man that frees two Muslim women, they are his salvation from the Fire – each of their limbs suffices for a limb of himself.”[21]
In terms of inheritance, a female would receive only half of what a male would get (Koran 4:11-12). Along that line, according to the four major Sunni schools of Sharia Law, the indemnity for the death or injury of a woman is one-half of that paid for a man.[22]
According to 2:221 of the Koran, Muslim women are prohibited from marrying non-Muslim men; however, 5:5 allows a Muslim man to marry Jewish and Christian women, and 4:3 allows him to have up to four wives; Muslim women can have only one husband.
And here are a couple of interesting comments by Muhammad:
A man should not be asked why he beats his wife…[23]
If I were to command anyone to prostrate before anyone, I would have commanded the wife to prostrate before her husband, because of the enormity of his right upon her.[24]
In spite of Qazi’s claim, it would appear that Allah and the prophet who spoke for Allah did not see any equality between men and women.
Distorting other teachings of Muhammad
Qazi had no problem in providing her own interpretation of Muhammad’s teachings:
The first oral tradition
In the beginning of her book Qazi has the following quote from Muhammad as an epigraph:
“Those who are merciful will be shown mercy by the Most Merciful. Be merciful to those on the earth and the One above the heavens will have mercy upon you.”
Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam
She quoted this teaching again on p. 4 and wrote: “…the majority of Muslims believe in and live by the Prophet’s earlier hadith.” She later wrote on p. 104 that this was “the first oral tradition recorded by the Prophet of Islam.”
For the record, here is that hadith:
‘Abdullah bin ‘Amr narrated that the Messenger of Allah said: “The merciful are shown mercy by Ar-Rahman [the All Merciful]. Be merciful on the earth, and you will be shown mercy from Who is above the heavens.”[25]
Qazi not only claimed that this was the first recorded hadith, but she also claimed that the majority of Muslims believe in and live by this hadith. However, Qazi provided no support for either one of her claims, and she also ignored the Doctrine of Abrogation. This doctrine is normally thought about in relationship to Koran verses and is based on 2:106 of the Koran. This doctrine states that if there is an irreconcilable contradiction between the messages of two “revelations” in the Koran, then the most recent “revelation” would abrogate (supersede) the earlier one and would now be the one to be followed because it had the doctrinal authority.
But the Doctrine of Abrogation also applied to the teachings of Muhammad.[26] So if there was an irreconcilable contradiction between the messages of two teachings of Muhammad, then the more recent teaching would abrogate the earlier one and would now have the doctrinal authority.
Muhammad started teaching about Islam in 610 in Mecca. So if Qazi’s claim is accurate, that would indicate that the hadith about mercy was reported around 610-611. However, this hadith was repeatedly abrogated even before the Muslims emigrated to Medina in 622.
In 614, Muhammad was already talking about non-Muslims submitting to Muslims:
Abu Talib [Muhammad’s uncle] said to him, “Nephew, how is it that your tribe are complaining of you and claiming that you are reviling their gods and saying this, that, and the other?”…the Messenger of God spoke and said, “Uncle, I want them to utter one saying. If they say it, the Arabs will submit to them and the non-Arabs will pay the jizyah to them”…”There is no deity but God.”[27]
During the last few years in Mecca, Muhammad had made it a regular practice to approach the members of Arab tribes coming to Mecca during the pilgrimage season, or for fairs. Here is how Muhammad would appeal to them to convert to Islam:
…he approached each tribe in its halting place saying: O people! say there is no god but Allah; you will prosper and become masters of Arabia, and the Persians will surrender before you in humiliation, and if you believe you will become kings in paradise.[28]
So during the latter part of the Meccan period, Qazi’s hadith about being merciful to all had already been abrogated by Muhammad’s teachings about non-Muslims submitting and surrendering in humiliation to their Muslim masters.
And if there was any doubt, the doctrinal authority of Qazi’s hadith was completely laid to rest during the last four years of Muhammad’s life. Abu Hurairah converted to Islam in 628 and was a close companion of Muhammad until Muhammad’s death in 632. Abu Hurairah was also renowned for the number of hadiths he reported from that time period. Here are two:
Narrated Abu Hurairah: Allah’s Messenger said, “I have been ordered (by Allah) to fight against the people till they say La ilaha illallah (none has the right to be worshipped but Allah), and whoever said La ilaha illallah, he saved his life and property from me except for Islamic law, and his accounts will be with Allah (either to punish him or to forgive him).”[29]
Narrated Abu Hurairah: Allah’s Messenger said, “The Hour will not be established until you fight against the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say, ‘O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him.’”[30]
There is no mercy here, so Qazi is claiming, without evidence, that Muslims are following a teaching of Muhammad that has no doctrinal authority because it has been repeatedly abrogated.
Heaven lies at the feet of mothers
On p. 22, Qazi had written the following:
Mama taught me to memorize a few verses in Arabic from the holy book, the Quran, and recited a popular oral tradition: “Paradise lies at the feet of mothers.” Early on, I knew I couldn’t talk back to the woman who determined if I entered Heaven or Hell.
Qazi appeared to be claiming that it was her mother, and not Allah, who would determine if she went to Heaven or Hell.
But she is also taking out of context the hadith about Paradise at the feet of mothers. Here is an authoritative hadith about this statement in “The Book of Jihad” in Sunan An-Nasa’i:
It was narrated from Mu’awiyah bin Jahimah As-Sulami, that Jahimah came to the Prophet and said: “O Messenger of Allah! I want to go out and fight (in Jihad) and I have come to ask your advice.” He said: “Do you have a mother?” He said: “Yes.” He said: “Then stay with her, for Paradise is beneath her feet.”[31]
A longer version of this hadith is reported in “The Chapters on Jihad” in Sunan Ibn Majah;[32] the comments for this hadith explain its context, and it was not meant to be a general statement:
In normal cases, Jihad is a collective compulsory duty. So, some people may remain behind. If there is no other son who can take care of the parents, then serving them is more important than going out for Jihad. Just as one gets the reward of Paradise for Jihad, similarly one gets the reward of Paradise for serving them.[33]
So the actual context of the statement by Muhammad revolves around fighting in the Cause of Allah and explains that if one is the only son available to care for his mother, then one is excused from this jihad in order to care for her; and there is the reward of Paradise for doing so. The mother has no role to play in determining that reward.
Muhammad’s last sermon: equality and inclusion
On p. 104, Qazi wrote that the “last sermon by the Prophet to his tribe emphasized equality and inclusion.”
Muhammad’s last sermon took place during his Farewell Pilgrimage to Mecca in early 632. There are various reports about what Muhammad said, but here are some details:
1. Muhammad said that he had been commanded to fight non-Muslims until they submitted:
Indeed I was commanded to fight people until they say there is but one God, and when they say it, their blood and their property is protected and they are answerable to God.[34]
2. Muhammad said that men could beat their wives.[35] Muhammad said this about how to treat women:
Treat women well, for they are [like] domestic animals with you and do not possess anything for themselves.[36]
3. Muhammad said that adulterers should be stoned.[37]
There is not much “equality and inclusion” here.
Conclusion
So after almost twenty years of teaching about Islam, and advising government officials on that subject, Qazi still prefers to ignore the body of established Islamic Doctrine and history that counters her claims about the peace, mercy and love promoted by Islam. This is shown by what she wrote on pp. 12-13:
…there is a growing body of literature found in online lectures and videos on radical Islam posted by non-Muslims, who are engaged in an open tug-of-war against peaceful, practicing Muslims that is contaminating the water of truth.
According to Qazi, the “water of truth” about Islam is apparently being contaminated by non-Muslims who use established Islamic Doctrine and historical events in Islam to understand that religion, as opposed to the individual peaceful, practicing Muslims who have selectively picked out preferred aspects of Islamic Doctrine (providing their own interpretations), and selectively ignored historical events in order to create their own personal versions of Islam that they find comforting; and that sound appealing to non-Muslims who know little about Islam.
There are two things Qazi and such others need to keep in mind. First is a comment I have made for years:
How can you use the term radical without first identifying the norm? Normative Islam is based on the unabrogated commands of Allah in the Koran, and the examples and teachings of Muhammad (the Sunnah). If the Koran and the Sunnah support a Muslim’s actions, that Muslim is not radical, he is devout.
Secondly, Qazi should keep in mind what Muhammad said:
The most truthful speech is Allah’s Speech, and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad. The worst matters are the newly invented (in religion), every newly invented matter is an innovation, and every innovation is a heresy, and every heresy is in the Fire.[38]
Dr. Stephen M. Kirby is the author of five books about Islam. His latest book is The Lure of Fantasy Islam: Exposing the Myths and Myth Makers.
[1] Farhana Qazi, Invisible Martyrs: Inside the World of Female Islamic Radicals (Oakland, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2018).
[2] https://www.cia.gov/careers/opportunities/analytical
[3] AFP and Gil Ronen, “India Marks 5 Years since Mumbai Massacre,” Arutz Sheva 7/Israel National News, November 26, 2013; accessible at http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/174487.
[4] https://www.saudiembassy.net/islam#What%20Does%20’Islam’%20Mean
[5] E.g., Robert Spencer, “‘Allahu Akbar’: It Means Almost Everything — Except What The Establishment Media Says,” Breitbart, December 25, 2015; accessible at https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2015/12/25/allahu-akbar-means-almost-everything-except-establishment-media-says/; and Yigal Carmon, “‘Allahu Akbar’ – ‘Allah Is The Greatest’ – A Jihadi Battle Cry,” MEMRI Daily Brief No. 140, November 1, 2017; accessible at https://www.memri.org/reports/allahu-akbar-%E2%80%93-allah-greatest-%E2%80%93-jihadi-battle-cry-0.
[6] Abu’l Hussain ‘Asakir-ud-Din Muslim bin Hajjaj al-Qushayri al-Naisaburi, Sahih Muslim, trans. ‘Abdul Hamid Siddiqi (New Delhi, India: Adam Publishers and Distributors, 2008), Vol. 1, p. 103, No. 153.
[7] Stephen M. Kirby, “Suicide or Paradise,” Arutz Sheva 7/Israel National News, June 7, 2017; accessible at http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/20604
[8] http://perfectmantruth.com/torture.php
[9] http://perfectmantruth.com/beheaded.php
[10] http://perfectmantruth.com/slaves.php
[11] http://perfectmantruth.com/rapist.php. It is interesting that on p. 158 Qazi claimed that the “right to enslave innocent women” was an “illegitimate” ruling used by “extremists.
[12] Stephen M. Kirby, Islam’s Militant Prophet: Muhammad and Forced Conversions to Islam (CreateSpace: Charleston, SC, 2016).
[13] Muhammad bin Ismail bin Al-Mughirah al-Bukhari, Sahih Al-Bukhari, trans. Muhammad Muhsin Khan (Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Darussalam, 1997), Vol. 4, Book 56, No. 2977, p. 140.
[14] Ibid., Vol. 1, Book 4, No. 233, pp. 178-179.
[15] Abu Dawud Sulaiman bin al-Ash’ath bin Ishaq, Sunan Abu Dawud, trans. Yaser Qadhi (Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Darussalam, 2008), Vol. 3, No. 2670, p. 296.
[16] Abu al-Fida’ ‘Imad Ad-Din Isma’il bin ‘Umar bin Kathir al-Qurashi Al-Busrawi, Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Abridged), abr. Shaykh Safiur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri, trans. Jalal Abualrub, et al. (Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Darussalam, 2000), Vol. 2, p. 402.
[17] Stephen M. Kirby, “Islam and Burning People Alive,” FrontPage Mag, February 5, 2015; accessible at https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/250834/islam-and-burning-people-alive-dr-stephen-m-kirby.
[18] “The Burning of the Murtadd Pilot,” Dabiq, No. 7; accessible at https://jihadology.net/2015/02/12/al-%E1%B8%A5ayat-media-center-presents-a-new-issue-of-the-islamic-states-magazine-dabiq-7/.
[19] Abu ‘Eisa Mohammad ibn ‘Eisa at-Tirmidhi, Jami’ At-Tirmidhi, trans. Abu Khaliyl (Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Darussalam, 2007), Vol. 3, No. 1663, p. 410.
[20] Sahih Al-Bukhari, Vol. 1, Book 6, No. 304, p. 210.
[21] Jami’ At-Tirmidhi, Vol. 3, No. 1547, pp. 318-319. At-Tirmidhi stated: In this Hadith is the proof that freeing males is more virtuous for a man than freeing females…
Ibid., p. 319.
[22] 1) Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri, Reliance of the Traveller (Umdat al-Salik), A Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law, edited and translated by Nuh Ha Mim Keller (Revised Edition 1994; rpt. Beltsville, Maryland: Amana Publications, 2008), o4.9; 2) Imam Muwaffaq ad-Din Abdu’llah ibn Ahmad ibn Qudama al-Maqdisi, The Mainstay Concerning Jurisprudence (Al-Umda fi ‘l-Fiqh), trans. Muhtar Holland (Ft. Lauderdale, FL: Al-Baz Publishing, Inc., 2009), p. 287; 3) Malik ibn Anas ibn Malik ibn Abi ‘Amir al-Asbahi, Al-Muwatta of Imam Malik ibn Anas: The First Formulation of Islamic Law, trans. Aisha Abdurrahman Bewley (Inverness, Scotland: Madinah Press, 2004), 43.6; and 4) Abu Hanifah Nu’man ibn Thabit ibn Nu’man ibn al-Marzuban ibn Zuta ibn Mah, The Kitab al-Athar of Imam Abu Hanifah: The Narration of Imam Muhammad Ibn Al-Hasan Ash-Shaybani, trans. ‘Abdassamad Clarke (London: Turath Publishing, 2007), 182.579 and 209.650.
[23] Muhammad bin Yazeed ibn Majah Al-Qazwini, Sunan Ibn Majah, trans. Nasiruddin al-Khattab (Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Darussalam, 2007), Vol. 3, No. 1986, p. 135.
[24] Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Vol. 2, p. 444.
[25] Jami’ At-Tirmidhi, Vol. 4, No. 1924, p. 40.
[26] Abu Ammaar Yasir Qadhi, An Introduction to the Sciences of the Qur’aan (Birmingham, UK: Al-Hidaayah Publishing, 1999), pp. 239-240; and Ahmad Von Denffer, ‘Ulum al-Qur’an: An Introduction to the Sciences of the Qur’an (Leicestershire, UK: The Islamic Foundation, 1994), p. 82.
[27] Abu Ja’far Muhammad b. Jarir al-Tabari, The History of al-Tabari: Muhammad at Mecca, Vol. VI, trans. and annotated W. Montgomery Watt and M. V. McDonald (Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, 1988), p. 96.
[28] Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Sa’d ibn Mani’ al-Zuhri al-Basri, Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir, trans. S. Moinul Haq (New Delhi, India: Kitab Bhavan, 2009), Vol. 1, p. 250.
[29] Sahih Al-Bukhari, Vol. 4, Book 56, No. 2946, p. 126.
[30] Sahih Al-Bukhari, Vol. 4, Book 56, No. 2926, p. 113.
[31] Abu ‘Abdur-Rahman Ahmad bin Shu’aib bin ‘Ali bin Sinan bin Bahr An-Nasa’i, Sunan An-Nasa’i, trans. Nasiruddin al-Khattab (Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Darussalam, 2007), Vol. 4, No. 3106, p. 27.
[32] Sunan Ibn Majah, Vol. 4, No. 2781, p. 57.
[33] Ibid., p. 58.
[34] Muhammad b. ‘Umar al-Waqidi, The Life of Muhammad: Al-Waqidi’s Kitab al-Maghazi, trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail, and AbdulKader Tayob, ed. Rizwi Faizer (London and New York: Routledge, 2013), p. 544.
[35] Muhammad ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad (Sirat Rasul Allah), trans. Alfred Guillaume (Karachi, Pakistan: Oxford University Press, 2007), p. 651; and Abu Ja’far Muhammad b. Jarir al-Tabari, The History of al-Tabari: The Last Years of the Prophet, Vol. IX, trans. and annotated Ismail K. Poonawala (Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, 1990), p. 113.
[36] The History of al-Tabari: The Last Years of the Prophet, p. 113.
[37] The Life of Muhammad (Sirat Rasul Allah), p. 652; Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir, Vol. 2, p. 227; and ‘Imaduddeen Isma’eel ibn Katheer al-Qurashi, Winning the Hearts and Souls: Expeditions and Delegations in the Lifetime of Prophet Muhammad, trans. Research Department of Darussalam (Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Darussalam, 2010), p. 312.
[38] Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Vol. 2, p. 588.
Mike says
sorry cupcake it’s the 80/20 rule. For those who don’t know 80% of the problems are from 20% of the people. How may Muslims are there? 1.0 Billion? well that 200 million problems. Great most Muslims are peaceful. 80% We can take this same adage to Germany in WWII and WWI, Russia, Japan before WWII, China, that rule killed what 200 million people since 1910. Peaceful BULL SHIT
Cheryl says
100% in agreement with you. They are taught to hate Christian’s and Jews, anyone not Muslim are to be killed or enslaved and if converted treated as 3rd class citizens and all their property can be taken over by the Muslims. Hateful, evil group of people. Descendants of Abraham and Tamar. (ISHMAEL)
BC says
MIKE That dose not make any sense. Maybe you have expressed it clumsily as it does not make sense linguistically either
J D S says
It appears Robert put this Muslim woman and her book in the proper place…THE TRASH CAN..
.and if others like here were and still are teaching our government about Islam then one can finally understand why our government is still confused about islam and is allowing it to run rampant. Not quite like Europe but still ……not right.
Havoc says
?Muslims
?Mosques
?Accommodations
?Apologies
?Exceptions
Easy to explain.
Works every time.
Jaladhi says
Oh, I will repeat that I always say – Muslims are liars and can never be trusted! Why would this pious Muslim be any different?? When Muslim children from the age of six or so grow up with practice of taqiyya to defend and lie about their religion, it is no surprise what any Muslim practices any time. He/she has to defend Islam no matter what and lying is soooooo easy for them!! Morons!
Charlie says
If we were incapable of reading for ourselves then her words would be very compelling. But a quick read of the earliest literature makes her seem dishonest. Perhaps she very much wants Islam to be aligned with her views. But then her apologetics are more a reflection of her ideals rather than what is written in the Quran and Hadith. Another great source of early Islamic behavior is the “Histories” by Al Tabari.
Tabari IX:69 “Arabs are the most noble people in lineage, the most prominent, and the best in deeds. We were the first to respond to the call of the Prophet. We are Allah’s helpers and the viziers of His Messenger. We fight people until they believe in Allah. He who believes in Allah and His Messenger has protected his life and possessions from us. As for one who disbelieves, we will fight him forever in the Cause of Allah. Killing him is a small matter to us.”
Michael Copeland says
“On account of their savage nature, the Bedouins are people who plunder and cause damage. They plunder whatever they are able to lay their hands on without having to fight or to expose themselves to danger. ……Flat territory …. falls victim to their looting …… they raid, plunder, and attack that territory repeatedly, because it is easily (accessible) to them.”
Ibn Khaldun
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ibn_Khaldun
mgoldberg says
It is seemingly impossible to ever have a society that can balance critical thinking regarding itself that is Islamic. There is too much of the forbidden calls within all of Islam to never indicate how Mohammed, and his Qu’ran and the hadiths and sira command Jihad, and forbid discussin with not only non believers but even amongst themselves these dreadful rages and commands to slaughter against others.
Here you have an analyst who has but one voice, the voice of rathionalization, and denial, and that is not from some ordinary uneducated muslim but a western one, one who is amongst those who prove… that Islam cannot allow critical thinking about itself- ever. It is too dangerous for them, for it, and the tyranny, the power thereof will never allow for such analysis.
We should however, never accept this, nor allow it to become accepted without vigorously, as the author has done here, shown that it is indeed false, without merit and needs to be seen as it is, for what it is.
J Gram says
I believe it’s clear to anyone who has even taken a cursory look at the evidence, that the CIA, DOD, DOJ, Obama’s administration, and in fact the entire upper echelon of the U.S. Government has been infiltrated by the Muslim Brotherhood (I.E. Islamic Jihadists) greatly assisted by 8 years of a Presidential Jihadist.
Mark Swan says
Yes indeed J Gram, and for that eight years these infiltrators
have been precisely placed—this is a real disaster for our Nation
and if not addressed correctly, our National security is hamstrung
in any effort against the reality of Islam‘s Jihad.
What President Obama has done was to give the Muslim Jihad insight
and contacts within our National security—how can anyone see this
as any thing but harmful.
So many of His placements must be reviewed and the reasoning
behind them being put in place questioned—the existing government
is chalked full of these subversive placements.
Of course we have all hoped that President Trump would somehow
unravel this and actually assign some real experts on Islam and its intent.
Terry Gain says
There is no doubt that Obama was more interested in spreading Islam than in protecting America but this Taqiyya Artist was hired by Clinton’s CIA. The situation has gotten much worse over the last 18 years. Nothing was learned from 9/11.
Project Trojan Horse is continuing.
……..
” In the Preface Qazi wrote that in October 2000 she became the first American Muslim to work as a counterterrorism analyst at the Counterterrorism Center.”
Mark Swan says
Thank you Terry Gain, I agree, J Gram was commenting on how President
Obama’s infiltrators were Muslim Brotherhood (Jihadist), which is plausible —
I view the entire 24 years of the Clinton, Bush and Obama Administrations
as enablers of Islam in this country.
Lookmann says
An ‘Islam-Expert’ in a counter-terror role?
What has happened to US ?
Pathetic !
Alexios Comnenos says
All these guys are just a bunch of morons paid to mislead people who are naive and who never read history. This conference shows explicit what islam is without framing the muslims.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INH9tKrhh4w&index=42&list=PL6ZloCqMDqLNJkd32Jfsgefqb2ekXkp3D&t=2s
Norger says
I think Andrew McCarthy’s approach should be followed by military and law enforcement for dealing with terrorists who self-identify as devout Muslims. This woman is entitled to her opinion (or her own private Islam) but military and law enforcement need not concern themselves with whether the jihadists follow a version of Islam that is “true” Islam. The issue is that the jihadists themselves say that they act in accordance with Islamic theology and often cite to specific authoritative Islamic sources. It is undeniable that tens if not hundreds of millions of Muslims all over the world adhere to certain violent, regressive Islamic dogma; just look at the Asia Bibi case for one recent example of this. The CIA need to take an unflinching look at the ugly ideology that the jihadists profess to follow, in order to protect this country from its self-avowed enemies; the military and law enforcement need not weigh in on whether the jihadists are following “true” Islam. The ONLY issue for law enforcement should be what threat doctrine our enemies follow; in the case of jihadists, it’s a certain body of Islamic theology, full stop.
At this point I’ve learned enough about Islam to form my own opinion, which is that Islam is the most dangerous ideology on the planet. If this woman sincerely believes that “true Islam” is like Quaker pacifism she should spend her time convincing her co-religionists, and end the daily carnage we see perpetrated in the name of Islam all over the world, on a daily basis. Good luck with that.
In the meantime, she should understand that we kafirs who know more about Islam than we’re supposed to just view her as yet another dishonest shill for the Religion of Peace.
Terry Gain says
She should be asked if she would be willing to go to Pakistan to secure the release of Asia Bibi from members of her peaceful religion. If she agrees, she should of course get her affairs in order before she undertakes this mission.
gravenimage says
While serving my country, I had a more personal reason for staying in the center: I wanted to prove that Islam is a religion of peace, mercy, and compassion…
……………….
How could Farhana Qazi do that, working on Jihad terror–including Muslim women blowing themselves up for Islam?
What she means is that she wanted to sling a lot of Taqiyya at the Infidels.
Vicky says
The CIA, FBI, IRS, ATF, BLM, DOE, CPS, DCF, HUD, EPA ect, are unconstitutional federal alphabet agencies. They violate law all the time as they have been given enough power and taxpayer resources to operate independent of oversight.
They do not exist to serve the interests of American citizens, but are in the service of themselves, occasionally the federal government and international entities.
dan christensen says
The Arabic word ‘Islam’ simply means ‘submission’, and derives from a word meaning ‘peace’. In a religious context it means complete submission to the will of God.
The problem is that physical existence of gods never have been proven or demonstrated. How can a non-existing entity possess a will. Furthermore there is a multitude of gods to choose from. How can an almighty being tolerate so many dangerous competitors, who also claim to be all powerful.
It seems that no religion accepts the existence of any other god(s) and disbelievers are generally despised and persecuted, even to death.
So keep away from any religion if you wish to stay alive and healthy. They are out to eat you or kill you, which is pretty much the same.
Mark Swan says
Of course, dan Christensen, we have noticed that atheistic communism
in China and Russia also brought about mass murder, humiliating social
conditions, starvation, mass incarceration, poor education, economic
catastrophe and so much more human suffering.
Why have nations of the West dominated the globe for the last five hundred years, when for centuries they lagged behind great civilizations in India, China and the Moslem world? Why were a few small countries on the western fringe of the great Eurasian continent able to spread their culture all around the world when other cultures did not? Why did a group of daring navigators from Western Europe—Columbus in 1492, Vasco de Gama in 1499, Ferdinand Magellan in the 1520s and others—launch the Age of Discovery with globe-girdling voyages in tiny ships, instead of men such as the great Chinese Admiral Zheng He, who sailed thousands of miles across the Indian Ocean in huge treasure ships nearly a century earlier?
Questions like these have puzzled scholars for centuries. However, the deliberate removal of courses in Western Civilization from schools and universities and a failure to discuss the role of religion or the Bible have obscured key elements in the remarkable rise of the West. As a result, many today are largely ignorant of one of the most dramatic turning points in the history of the world—a transformation of global proportions that has been termed by some as “the miracle of the West.”
What led to the rise of Western Civilization? How did it happen, and what does this pivotal event reveal about God’s hand in history?
Numerous scholars have proposed ideas to explain the remarkable rise of the West. In his book, Historians Debate the Rise of the West, Jonathan Daly chronicles many of their theories. For instance, some believe that geography and climate favored Europe. The acquisition and use of navigational instruments and advanced ship design, as well as the development of more powerful armaments made important contributions. Other scholars have pointed out that more efficient economic systems and methods of production and the growth of global trading networks aided the West. Others cited the respect for law and private property, the free exchange of ideas that fostered innovation, and competition that fed the growth in science, technology and capitalism.
In contrast to thinking in the East that glorified the past and sought to maintain the status quo and harmony in the present, the West focused on progress and by learning to harness the forces of nature for the betterment of mankind—and for profit (Louis Rougier, The Genius of the West, pp. 89–91).
Taken together, these and other factors operating in Europe, “transformed the balance of the world within an amazingly brief period of time… The magnitude of European cultural achievements in the sixteenth-seventeenth centuries…arouses a sense of wonder and amazement” (William H. McNeill, The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community, pp. 574, 598). Yet, as historian Christopher Dawson has pointed out, “none of these causes seems adequate to explain the magnitude of the European achievement” (Religion and the Rise of Western Culture, p. 15).
Dawson also notes that the British historian Lord Acton once commented, “Religion is the key of history.” While modern secular scholars tend to dismiss the influence of religion in history, biblical principles did play a critical role in the rise of the West.
Max Weber, a prominent German sociologist, “emphasized a constellation of historical features he considered unique to Europe.” especially the “radical change in religious outlook—from Catholicism to Protestantism.” Such factors “brought the West to materialistic prominence in the modern world” (Historians Debate the Rise of the West, pp. 8–9).
The Protestant Reformation shows detail of massive change in Europe’s religious landscape, as well as the many doctrines, teachings, and practices that infected
European “Christianity.”
However, buried amid the distortions, remained some surviving biblical values and principles that did make a mark on European culture in a powerful way.
Jonathan Daly has noted that some scholars, such as Dr. David Landes, credit the presence of such biblical principles for instilling an appreciation of hard work, widespread literacy (for both men and women), thrift, diligence, and other ethics into European civilization.
Rodney Stark, a professor of sociology and comparative religion, writes that modern scholarship is “far too reluctant to acknowledge the positive effects” that such religious influence had on the culture of the West. He goes on to explain that science as we know it flourished in Europe instead of elsewhere “because Europeans believed in God as the Intelligent Designer of a rational universe” that operated on laws that could be discovered and put to practical use (How the West Won, pp. 5, 13, 315–317).
In contrast, in Islam, the universe did not operate on laws but according to the will of Allah—which was not conducive to the development of science—thus the innovations in the Islamic world were driven by Jews and Christian sects.
While the Chinese developed printing, mechanical clocks and gunpowder, they never exploited the potential of these innovations because they threatened to disrupt the stability of their society. Islamic caliphs outlawed mechanical printing for religious reasons (ibid., pp. 12–13, 33–45).
Yet even these insights are not sufficient to explain the rise of the West.
Above all else, Europe’s rise to prominence was enabled by Christian Values.
It is not a coincidence that the rise of the West occurred just as Asian societies turned inward and “suddenly became immobile… [They cut themselves off from a changing external world just when European expansion was beginning” (Geoffrey Barraclough, Turning Points in World History, p. 24). Once the West started to rise in the sixteenth century, “it seemed that nothing could hold it back” (Historians Debate the Rise of the West, p. 23). But why did one civilization rise and the others decline—almost at the same time?
These values did help us and we could be an example and a help to all the peoples of the world.
Though we cast aside many of those ways and concepts as the centuries passed, some of those ways, concepts and ideas survived to become a part of the foundation of Western civilization that has transformed the world over the last five hundred years. The dramatic rise of the West—one of the most important turning points in the history of the world—illustrates the effectiveness of those ways.
Terry Gain says
Imperfect proof that God exists does not prove that He does not exist. The Christian God gave us free will. You can believe in Him or not. No Christian is going to kill you because you do not believe.
Despite your name you have a poor understanding of Christianity. Islam is the only major religion that mandates killing unbelievers.
somehistory says
She stayed in to mislead those other employees she was “teaching” about islam.
She wrote the book in order to mislead any who read it.
She is “misleading and being misled” (The Apostle Paul 1 Timothy 3:13).