Mr. Robert Spencer replied to my article published in the Huffington Post. Below is a response to his comments. His comments are in bold.
Why is it only being reprinted now? Is the Islamic propaganda machine running short of new material? Well it’s a timely reminder because clearly it didn’t reach some people back then. It’s interesting Spencer thinks there is a ‘Islamic propaganda machine’ considering the fact Islamophobes are the ones not only spending but being paid thousands to carry out their own anti-Islamic propaganda. Well, we all have to earn a living don’t we? Anyway, this is a particularly risible farrago of assorted nonsense. You’d think even the Huffington Post would be embarrassed to publish something like this, but such is the state of the public discourse these days. We’re now supposed to believe that Islam is the mother lode of good ideas, the wellspring of freedom and democratic values. The Huffington Post realises the sanctity and value of all faiths including Islam, one of the major world religions. Rather than make it their life effort to mock, defame and ridicule religion, they appreciate the good all religions bring to the table. Such is the state of public discourse these days that even the layman can come to more logical conclusions about Islam than a self-professed ‘expert’ on Islam. And yes, as I proved in my article, Islam does put forth strong values of freedom, democracy and good to the extent where it says ‘Allah loves those who do good’ - Holy Qur’an 2:195. Did Spencer miss this and countless such verses when ‘studying’ Islam? I’ve often mocked government spokesmen and the mainstream media for insisting the jihad terror has nothing to do with Islam while jihad terrorists routinely invoke the Qur’an and Sunnah to justify their actions and make recruits among peaceful Muslims. Now Atif Rashid has taken this idea that massive numbers of Muslims misunderstand their own religion a step farther: apparently we are now to buy the notion that every Islamic state that has ever existed and that exists now has misunderstood Islam. If “Islam from its very outset advocated for complete freedom, justice and democratic values,” it is extraordinary that there has never been a single state that has governed according to Islamic law that has ever allowed for “complete freedom, justice and democratic values.” Every Islamic state, from the Umayyad, Abbasid and Ottoman caliphates to contemporary Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan and the rest, has misunderstood Islam, and missed the principles that Atif Rashid is here presenting as self-evident. Actually Mr. Spencer, terrorists citing of Qur’an and Sunnah is mere deceptive bravado to mislead the masses by cherry-picking and distorting verses much like Islamophobes do - to suit their own agenda. It’s been repeatedly proven that such terrorists or extremists have neither knowledge or understanding of the basic principles of their faith. ISIS don’t even possess a copy of the Qur’an let alone read it! Mr. Spencer then misses the facts of history:
How can the claims made in the article be false when clear evidence and links to the religious texts which substantiate them were provided? Ask most Muslims in the world, they would also agree (however Spencer will see fit to ask only the extremists with whom he agrees). But if Spencer wishes only to listen to the extremists, then that makes him part and parcel of their nefarious activities. Such fear-mongering, suspicion and unfounded accusation is what is wrong with the world today. In reality, the only arguably democratic state in the history of Islam has been Kemalist Turkey, now in its last days. Secular Turkey was founded upon an explicit rejection of political Islam, not upon a development within Islam that allowed for democratic government. There never has been an Islamic humanist democracy in the 1,400-year history of the religion.
All right. It’s farfetched enough to claim that every last Islamic state in the world today fails to follow Islamic injunctions faithfully, but every last one throughout history would also have had to have done so if what Rashid says is true. Even if there were “great advancements made during the Islamic Gold Age from the 8th to the 13th century,” and that claim in itself is wildly exaggerated, they never resulted in democratic rule. As I’ve mentioned above, the Caliphs were elected = democratic rule. And democracy is only in full play when the needs of the people are met and their concerns listened to. Today, not many modern democracies can claim this to be true for them. Plutocracy would be more accurate. What Islam strongly advocated from the beginning was absolute justice in governance. So if there is no democracy and the rights of the people aren’t protected, how can there be justice? The 2nd Caliph, Umar is renowned for setting up a welfare state in the Islamic world and personally seeing to the complaints and needs of the citizens. Leaders today speak of themselves as being in ‘power’, early Muslim leaders considered their rule as a huge responsibility for which they were answerable to God directly, let alone the people. This means that not only did Islam teach democracy and justice, those immediately after the Prophet carried out such forms of governance. When? Where? Notice that Rashid offers no examples, because every last Islamic state throughout history has been an authoritarian state. Perhaps try Malaysia for a start. Indonesia also. And Morocco next. Don’t forget the first Islamic state - Medina or the ones during the first 4 Caliphs. Rashid goes on to offer an exposition of the Qur’an that purports to establish “Islam’s support for a democratic government.” The obvious response to his exegesis is this: why is he apparently the first to have discovered it? Why has no Islamic state ever applied it? Lest we continue to go around in circles, I’ll refer Spencer to my answers above. And why does the Huffington Post so assiduously engage in Islamic apologetics? Why is it so intent on making sure that Westerners think Islam is benign in every aspect? What is the endgame here? I’ll leave that for HuffPost to answer but I suspect Arianna Huffington is a sagacious and open-minded woman who likes to give a platform for like-minded individuals. The end-game is to transform suspicious and one-track minded individuals into positive, accepting and informed citizens which I hope and pray Spencer one day becomes, rather than dedicating his life to attack a religion of peace which has millions of devout, harmonious and contributive followers.
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AuthorAtif Rashid writes about faith, extremism & mental health. Categories
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