LOCAL IMAM MISLEADS INTRFAITH GROUPS

Posted By on March 8th, 2010

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.5678/pub_detail.asp

March 8, 2010

Exclusive: Local Imam Misleads Interfaith Groups

Laura L. Rubenfeld

Recently, a Southern California Imam by the name of Jihad Turk (pictured above), spoke at a Pepperdine University interfaith conference entitled “Common Ground: Reconciliation among the Children of Abraham, and at Sinai Temple,” for a Los Angeles Jewish Synagogue event called “What About God and the Children of Abraham,” where he represented and interpreted the moderate Islamic tradition to the respective interfaith communities.
 
Jihad Turk is an American native, born to a Muslim Palestinian immigrant father and a Christian American mother. He is the Director of Religious Affairs at the Islamic Center of Southern California has degrees in History, Arabic, and Islamic Law and studied in both Saudi Arabia and Iran. He currently teaches Arabic and Islamic religion and culture at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Extension Program.
 
Jihad Turk actively engages in interfaith dialogue with Jewish and Christian communities works alongside them on many programs and has served on many interfaith boards including the Interreligious Council of Southern California, the University of Southern California, and the Christian-Muslim Consultative Group. Both interfaith events were instances where authorities from the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic faith traditions met to discuss commonalities between their faiths.
 
In both cases, he made a number of statements that require correction.
 
His statements are contradicted in Islamic Theology – doctrines Turk claims to be an authority.
 
Background on Koran and Hadith
  
translations used in this commentary are the Holy Books of Islam: Koran, Hadith and Sira. These comprise the foundational sources of Islam and Islamic Law.
 
Islamic doctrine encompasses all social, political and religious aspects of a Muslim’s life. Islamic religious doctrine is also the foundation of Sharia, or Islamic law. A British Authority on Islam and Professor of Islamic Studies, Dr. Malise Ruthven, in a BBC telegraph editorial entitled Sharia Law, Customs, Rituals and Manners wrote “…Sharia is considered to be a timeless manifestation of the will of God, subject neither to history nor circumstance…and… allows no ultimate distinction between religion and morality, law and ethics… ”
 
At Pepperdine University, Jihad Turk said, “Muslims believe the Koran is the word of god,” and that “all Muslims interpret the Koran literally.” He further explained how it is “rare to find a Muslim who is not fundamentalist, who doesn’t believe that the Koran is the literal spoken word of Allah.”
 
Five Principles of Islamic Law
  
At Pepperdine University, in front of three-hundred students, university faculty members, Jewish and Christian Clergy and other invited guests, Jihad Turk made reference to the “five principles of Islamic law” as evidence of these precepts:  1) Preservation of life, 2) Family, 3) Intellect, 4) Property, and 5) Freedom of Religion ”
 
Turk provided no examples for such principles, and simply listed them in chronological order, creating the impression that the formulation “five principles of Islamic law” was widely recognized in Islamic doctrine.
 
By use of this formulation, Turk conveyed that Islamic thought affirms western religious, economic and cultural pluralism. This is a significant departure from the facts. To begin with, there is no formulation established in Islamic jurisprudence such as, “the five principles of Islamic Law.” A simple Google search for “five principles of Islamic law,” reveals there are no references anywhere to such a formulation.
 
Preservation of Life
  
Preservation of Life has no place in Islamic law since a common theme, consistent in both Islamic jurisprudence and theological doctrine, is to die for the sake of Allah. In fact, authoritative Ahadith and the Koran are replete with narratives extolling the virtues of a believer’s death for the sake of Allah. For example, believers make an enduring covenant with Allah – to die fighting against disbelievers.   According to Koran 33:23-24, this Islamic covenant is timeless and includes all believers from the time of Mohammed, to present day and the future Judgment Day.
 
“Among the believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah [i.e. they have gone out for Jihad (holy fighting), and showed not their backs to the disbelievers], of them some have fulfilled their obligations (i.e. have been martyred), and some of them are still waiting, but they have never changed [i.e. they never proved treacherous to their covenant which they concluded with Allah] in the least.”
 
The prophet said, “No one who dies and finds blessings for him with Allah, will wish to return to the earth even if he is given the earth and what it contains. But the martyr…because of the honour he sees will love to return to the world and be killed once more.”  Descriptions of the virtue of death in jihad are pervasive in the pages of Islamic doctrine. Death for Allah is a sure path to paradise.
 
Family
 
Turk’s claim that Islam esteems the “family” and mirrors Judeo-Christian principles is not in keeping with many Koranic and authoritative Ahadith verses pertaining to marriage. For example, the prophet said, “A man will not be asked as to why he beat his wife.”  It is important to understand that Islam reveres the Prophet Mohammed and considers him the perfect example of behavior for Muslims and their families.
 
Note also the Book on “Marriage or Wedlock,” includes the proper number of wives to marry, the number of wives to have sex with in one night, if the wife does not sleep with her husband, the angels will curse her, and some verses in the Koran also discuss legal issues such as how women are given twice the punishment of a man for adultery.
 
Intellect
  
Turk stated that Islam affirms belief in the “Intellect.” However, in the Koran, the prophet said, “Allah has forbidden the Muslim to ask too many questions.” The Prophet also said, “Allah has forbidden you to be undutiful to your mothers, to withhold (what you should give) or demand (what you do not deserve), and to bury your daughters alive. And Allah has disliked that you talk too much about others, ask too many questions (in religion), or waste your property.”
 
Property
  
Further, Turk suggested that Islam believes in the American principle of “Property.” However, the Islamic concept of property contradicts the modern western view. In a Hadith, slaves are considered property and other narratives explain how women are viewed as property.
 
Islamic law is replete with narratives about property. For example, in the matter of inheritance, contrary to practice in modern western democracies, religious dogma, not the trustee, decides how property is divided. The book titled ‘Wills and Testaments’ states that Allah’s inheritance laws (property) give the Muslim male twice that of the Muslim female, while a non-Muslim, wife or children receive nothing.
 
Freedom of Religion
  
Jihad Turk spoke of Allah’s belief in “Freedom of Religion,” Turk’s alleged “Fifth Principle of Islamic law”, and he argued similarly at the Jewish interfaith gathering. At Sinai Temple, Turk cited Surah Koran 2:62, first in flawless Arabic and then in English:  “Those who believe the Jews, Christians and Sabians, anyone who believes in god and the Day of Judgment and does good deeds, has nothing to fear for their soul nor shall they grieve.”
 
Turk than explains that the verse “is clearly stated, that salvation is not only for “quote unquote” Muslims, it’s forever, for anyone who believes and does good deeds.” He then said that Koran 2:62 “takes away the burden for the Muslims of judging who’s going to go where. That’s God’s realm and it’s not for us to determine that…” However … However! Turk omitted the verses preceding Koran 2:62, which proclaim: “Christians and Jews who refuse to convert to Islam, will be cast into Hell.” Many Koranic verses describe hell as the domain of the unbeliever.
 
“And if you (Arab pagans, Jews, and Christians) are in doubt concerning that which We have sent down (i.e. the Koran) to Our slave (Muhammad Peace be upon him), then produce a Surah (chapter) of the like thereof and call your witnesses (supporters and helpers) besides Allah, if you are truthful.” (2:24)“But if you do it not, and you can never do it, then fear the Fire (Hell) whose fuel is men and stones, prepared for the disbelievers.”
 
Jihad Turk explained to the audience that salvation is for everyone. However, disbelief or unbelief in Allah, the Prophet Mohammed and the Last Day are not tolerated in Islam. In fact, belief in Allah, the Prophet Mohammed and the Last Day are so essential to salvation in Islam that it is a central theme in the Islamic faith: For example, Koran 58:20-22 declares:
 
“Those who oppose Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad SAW), they will be among the lowest (most humiliated). Allah has decreed: “Verily! It is I and My Messengers who shall be the victorious.” Verily, Allah is All-Powerful, All-Mighty. You will not find any people who believe in Allah and the Last Day, making friendship with those who oppose Allah and His Messenger, even though they were their fathers, or their sons, or their brothers, or their kindred (people). For such He has written Faith in their hearts, and strengthened them with Ruh (proofs, light and true guidance) from Himself. And We will admit them to Gardens (Paradise) under which rivers flow, to dwell therein (forever)…”
 
Additional Misrepresentations – “The Religion of Peace”
  
Following his misrepresentation of “Five Principles of Islamic Law,” Turk told the Pepperdine audience: “that all tensions within Islam and other faiths, are historical, cultural and tribal, and not divinely inspired.”
 
However, tensions between Islam and other religions are undeniably faith based. Multiple passages in the Koran illustrate this:
 
“O Prophet)! Urge the believers to fight. If there are twenty steadfast persons amongst you, they will overcome two hundred, and if there be a hundred steadfast persons they will overcome a thousand of those who disbelieve, because they (the disbelievers) are people who do not understand.”
 
At Sinai Temple, Turk stated that Jihad is analogous to the “Catholic notion of a just war.” He expressed that Jihad has “many limitations on what Jihad is, and when it can be waged militarily.” and historically it was “financial crises at home” that led the Sultan or Emperor “to turn and wage war on others.” However, verses in the Koran incite religious war to spread the Islamic faith.
 
Islamic doctrine calls for war against the unbeliever, not because of greed or ego, or financial reasons, but for the sole purpose of converting or killing unbelievers. Countless verses prove that Jihad is central to Islam; that Jihad is the means to an end – a means of converting all unbelievers or forcing them to live as oppressed second-class citizens in an Islamic state. For example:
 
“And fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief and polytheism: i.e. worshipping others besides Allah) and the religion (worship) will all be for Allah Alone [in the whole of the world]. But if they cease (worshipping others besides Allah), then certainly, Allah is All-Seer of what they do.”
 
Moreover, hatred towards Jews and Christians is expressed unremittingly throughout the holy books of Islam.
 
“O people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians)! Do you criticize us for no other reason than that we believe in Allah, and in (the revelation) which has been sent down to us and in that which has been sent down before (us), and that most of you are Fasiqun [rebellious and disobedient (to Allah)]?” Say, “Shall I inform you of something worse than that, regarding the recompense from Allah: those (Jews) who incurred the Curse of Allah and His Wrath, those of whom (some) He transformed into monkeys and swines, …such are worse in rank (on the Day of Resurrection in the Hell-fire), When they come to you, they say: ‘We believe.’ But in fact they enter with (an intention of) disbelief and they go out with the same. And Allah knows all what they were hiding. Evil indeed is that which they have been doing. And thou seest many of them vying one with another in sin and transgression and their devouring of illicit gain. Verily evil is what they do. Evil indeed is that which they have been performing. We have put enmity and hatred amongst them till the Day of Resurrection. Every time they kindled the fire of war, Allah extinguished it; and they (ever) strive to make mischief on earth. And Allah does not like the Mufsidun (mischief-makers).”
 
Conversion
  
At Sinai Temple, Turk stated, “You have no other duty than to simply clarify what the message of Islam is, although many Muslims might be very eager, or might be zealous about preaching Islam or even converting, and yes, Islam could be included along with Christianity as an evangelical tradition in some sense, the ultimate responsibility is simply to convey the message. Converting, what exactly does that mean? It means compelling someone to believe? Or just to talk a lot about it? Go door-to-door knocking? I mean, people have different approaches, but the obligation to convert anyone is definitely not the message…”
 
Contrary to Turk’s assertions, countless verses in Islamic doctrine call for forceful conversion, death or second-class citizen status (dhimmitude) of Jews, Christians, or anyone including Muslims, who having been born into the faith, become disbelievers. This precept is well established in Islamic theology:
 
“Fight against those who believe not in Allah, nor in the Last Day, nor forbid that which has been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger and those who acknowledge not the religion of truth (i.e. Islam) among the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians), until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.”
 
People of the Book – Jews and Christians
 
Jews
 
According to Turk, “there are some verses in the Koran that are very critical of [Jews], not Jews as a religion, but as the Israelites, and in particular how they responded to Moses,” and, “the Jews are mentioned in the Koran as being preferred.” At Sinai Temple, Jihad Turk recited surah Koran 2:47:
 
“Children of Israel! call to mind the (special) favor which I bestowed upon you, and that I preferred you to all other (for My Message).”
 
However, Koran 2:48, the verse immediately following 2:47, says:
 
“And fear a Day (of Judgement) when a person shall not avail another, nor will intercession be accepted from him nor will compensation be taken from him nor will they be helped.”
 
Turk addressed an audience member’s question and said “If you find a Jew hiding behind a rock, slay him,” is a “misquote,” and is not in the Koran. He stated, “in eschatological literature, a hadith is attributed to Mohammed and end of days, but it is highly suspect in terms of authenticity… It is [not] an authentic tradition, [and] not in the Koran, considered the heart and soul of Islamic theology. ”
 
However, the verse can easily be found in several authoritative collections.
 
Ibn ‘Umar reported Allah’s Messenger as saying:  “You will fight against the Jews and you will kill them until even a stone would say: Come here, Muslim, there is a Jew (hiding himself behind me); kill him.”
 
Christians
 
At Pepperdine University , Turk described Islamic doctrine as having much in common with Christianity. Yet, Islam rejects Jesus as the son of God. In Islam, Jesus is a prophet, not the son of God. Islamic doctrine contains statements about Jesus, which are quite pejorative. One example says:
 
“The Prophet said, “I met Moses on the night of my Ascension to heaven.” The Prophet then described him saying, as I think, “He was a tall person with lank hair as if he belonged to the people of the tribe of Shanu’s.’ The Prophet further said, “I met Jesus.” The Prophet described him saying, “He was one of moderate height and was red-faced as if he had just come out of a bathroom…”
 
Women in Islam
 
According to Turk, “Islam is a feminist movement.”   However, the Book titled Wedlock, Marriage (Nikaah) says that the majority of residents in Hell are women. “The Prophet said, “I looked at Paradise and saw that the majority of its residents were the poor; and I looked at the (Hell) Fire and saw that the majority of its residents were women.”
 
In the Koran, women are a man’s property according to Allah.
 
“Your wives are a tilth for you, so go to your tilth (have sexual relations with your wives in any manner as long as it is in the vagina and not in the anus), when or how you will, and send (good deeds, or ask Allah to bestow upon you pious offspring) before you for your ownselves. And fear Allah, and know that you are to meet Him (in the Hereafter), and give good tidings to the believers.”
 
Turk then told the audience at Sinai Temple, “Islam is against violence to women.” Yet Koran: 4.34, clearly states:
 
“Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one more (strength) than the other, and because they support them from their means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient, and guard in (the husband’s) absence what Allah would have them guard. As to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them (first), (Next), refuse to share their beds, (And last) beat them (lightly); but if they return to obedience, seek not against them Means (of annoyance): For Allah is Most High, great (above you all).”
 
The book on marriages declares that a woman who complains about being beaten is not a good Muslim.“Women have become emboldened towards their husbands, he (the Prophet) gave permission to beat them. Then many women came round the family of the Apostle of Allah complaining against their husbands. So the Apostle of Allah said, “Many women have gone round Muhammad’s family complaining against their husbands.They are not the best among you.”
 
The Doctrine of Taqiyyah or Kitman– Lying
 
Turk told the Jewish audience that Taqiyyah means to “to save one’s life.”
 
He further explained that the term “Taqiyyah” is Shiite in origin, and Sunnis have no clue what the word means, and “no one in [his] congregation invokes and discusses it.”
 
However, the concept of Taqiyyah or Kitman is mentioned throughout Islamic doctrine and has a much more universal understanding in Islam than Turk suggested. Taqiyyah refers to the conditions under which lying is permissible. Taqiyyah is used in many aspects of Islamic society. References to Taqqiyyah are found in the Koran, which mentions how Allah does not judge the believer by the number of false oaths, and the book titled ‘Peacemaking’ and the book titled ‘Dealing with Apostates’ describe how lying is permitted. According to The Book of Virtue, Good Manners and Joining of the Ties of Relationship:
 
“…she heard Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: A liar is not one who tries to bring reconciliation amongst people and speaks good (in order to avert dispute), or he conveys good. Ibn Shihab said he did not hear that exemption was granted in anything what the people speak as lie but in three cases: in battle, for bringing reconciliation amongst persons and the narration of the words of the husband to his wife, and the narration of the words of a wife to her husband (in a twisted form in order to bring reconciliation between them).”
 
Another verse in ‘ Peacemaking’ advises,  “He who makes peace between the people by inventing good information or saying good things, is not a liar.” According to Koran 3:54, Allah as the best and greatest deceiver.
 
Islam, Paradise and 72 Virgins
 
A Sinai Temple audience member questioned the Islamic concept of seventy-two virgins in the afterlife. Turk confidently announced, “It’s not something that is part of my theology.”
 
However, black-eyed virgins are chronicled in both the Koran and the Hadith. To begin with, the   narrative describes what the believer will experience in paradise.
 
“But for him who [the true believer of Islamic Monotheism who performs all the duties ordained by Allah and His Messenger Muhammad, and keeps away (abstain) from all kinds of sin and evil deeds prohibited in Islam and] fears the standing before his Lord, there will be two Gardens (i.e. in Paradise)”
 
Verses mentioning the black-eyed virgins are also mentioned in the book titled ‘The Book Pertaining to Paradise, Its Description, Its Bounties and Its Intimates.’
 
Turk’s intent on concealing the truth from interfaith dialogue cannot be overlooked. His misrepresentation of Islam at these two conferences provides insight into what he teaches elsewhere at Universities, and at other interfaith events. September 11, 2001 and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict brought many Jewish and Christian groups to work with Muslim organizations towards true meaningful dialogue. Jihad Turk’s misrepresentation of the facts, damage the prospects for true understanding among the three faith traditions.
 
Let’s hope that Jihad Turk will be forthright with the public about Islam the next time he is invited to speak at a university or interfaith event.
 
Family Security Matters Contributing EditorLaura Rubenfeld was born in the U.S., grew up in Alberta, Canada, South Florida and Southern California. As a teenager, she traveled to the Soviet Union, where she saw Russia under communism. She later returned to Russia to study during her college years. Laura has degrees in International Relations and the Russian Language from the University of Southern California. She has studied Islam extensively, and attends Islamic events in order to report on them.

 

R

Categorized under: ANTI-SEMITISM.
Tagged with: no tags.

Comments are closed.