A Day in the Life of Teaching “Islamic Radicals & Terrorism” on Campus – Jamie Glazov Interviews Courageous Teacher Ford Campbell
http://www.frontpagemag.com/2015/jamie-glazov/a-day-in-the-life-of-teaching-islamic-radicals-terrorism-on-campus/print/
Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Ford Campbell, a teacher who has, for the past eight years, been teaching a graduate class, “Islamic Radicals & Terrorism,” at the Intermediate Unit 1 in California, PA, that appears to be the only one of its kind in the United States. He also teaches another graduate course called “Israel & Middle East Issues.” He has taught social studies for over 30 years and has a master’s degree in Biblical & Theological Studies from Luther Rice Seminary.
Frontpage: Ford Campbell, welcome to Frontpage Interview.
Let’s begin by you telling us about the two graduate courses you are teaching.
Ford: Thanks Jamie.
The two classes are for school teachers to take so that they can further their certification with ACT 48 credits and continue to teach in PA. Both classes have been approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Education and I am thankful for the foresight and courage that the Department of Education has shown in approving it, especially with the rise in Islamic terrorism around the world.
FP: Tell us about your Islamic Radicals & Terrorism class. What are some of the readings you assign?
Campbell: My Islamic Radicals class has “Now They Call Me Infidel” by Nonie Darwish as mandatory reading with questions for the chapters. But let me say at the start that I will not be speaking today of those Muslims in the USA and around the world that are opposed to violence against non-Muslims, opposed to Sharia law and world domination by Islam. I will be addressing those Muslims who are called radicals and extremists and favor world domination by Islam and violence against non-Muslims. There are many good law-abiding Muslims in America that oppose Islamic radicals and will even call the authorities and report bomb threats or terrorist plans. I salute those Muslims and appreciate their love for our country and our constitution.
What is unique about my class is that I use the sacred writings of Islam: the Qur’an, Hadith, and Sira collectively called the Sunnah, to prove my points. I have read the Qur’an several times and have done research in the Hadith and Sira and have come across some 70 verses in the Sunnah that are used by Islamic terrorists today to justify their beheadings, killing non-Muslims, abuse of women, lying, betrayal, child marriage, slavery, torture, hatred of Jews, and conquering the world in the name of Islam to create an Islamic Caliphate.
When I start my class, most of the adults are somewhat shocked as I begin to present the evidence from the Sunnah. This is because most people in America get their information from our media and much of our media and academia are very uninformed and very misinformed when it comes to Islam and its history.
A very common misunderstanding that I hear from some of the media, politicians, and government is that Islam is being high-jacked by a few radicals or extremists.
This is not anywhere near being accurate. The main problem in the Islamic world today with all the killing, violence, etc, is found in the sacred writings of Islam and make up some of the political ideology of the Sunnah.
FP: Can you provide us with some evidence on this matter.
Ford: Sure.
The Qur’an teaches that Adam and Eve were Muslims and that Abraham, Moses, and Jesus (called Isa) were Muslims. It is hard to understand how these amazing Jewish characters were Muslims when history tell us that Mohammad was the very first Muslim in existence in 610 A.D./C.E. In fact, Mohammad himself is called the first Muslim in the Qur’an (6:14, 6:162-163).
The Sunnah teaches that all babies born around the world are born Muslims and when their parents raise them in a Christian, Jewish, Hindu, or Buddhist home, they are converting them away from Islam (Sahih Muslim, Book 033, Number 6426).
Mohammad himself personally fought in nine military campaigns against non-Muslims. (Sira 659, 660). Allah was so upset with some of the Jewish people that he changed some of them into apes and swines (Sura 5:60). This is why some Muslims refer to Jews as apes and pigs in videos and on Middle East news.
It seems that Mohammad may have had a deeper hatred for the Jewish people than other faiths. It really upset Mohammad that most Jews in Arabia would not convert to Islam or believe that Abraham was a Muslim. Thus, Mohammad beheaded the male Jews of the Banu Qurayza tribe in Medina (Sira pp. 463-464). There are more verses in the Sunnah endorsing beheadings and Jewish hatred (Sura 8:12, 47:4, Sira p.515, Bukhari Vol.4, Book 52, Number 176).
According to Sira p.515, Mohammad was trying to find out where one Jewish man hid his valuables and ordered Muslims to torture him. So they kindled a fire on his chest and then beheaded him after he gave up the information. In Sura 9:29, Mohammad instructed his followers to fight against those to whom the Scriptures were given (Jews & Christians). Sura 5:51 tells the Umma or Muslim community to not take Jews or Christians as friends. Sura 9:5 tells us “When Ramadan is over, slay the idolaters wherever you find them.” Remember that Mohammad is considered the ideal role model for Muslims.
The world calls Muslims who take these verses literally, extremists or radicals. I am thankful for the many Muslims who ignore the 70 some verses I found in the Sunnah that encourage violence, capturing and plundering enemy land (8:69, 4:94,) and taking captured women as slaves or booty (4:24, Al-Bukhari 1:367), hating Jews (9:29,5:64), killing non-Muslims with rewards in paradise (Sahih Muslim 1731, H 9:4, Bukhari Vol 1, 2, 35), etc, and encouraging Jihad (2:190,191, 9:29).
FP: Tell us about your “Israel & Middle East Issues” class. What are some of the readings you assign?
Campbell: I use the book “The Case For Israel,” by Alan Dershowitz. Some of the major points that I bring out in my Israel class are the following:
Abraham entered the Promised Land around 2,000 B.C. God said to Abraham in Genesis 17:8 “I’ll give to you and to your descendants the land to which you have traveled, all the land of Canaan, as an eternal possession and I will be their God.”
The Jewish nation returned from Egypt around 1,400 B.C. and has lived in Israel continuously ever since. In 135 A.D. the Emperor Hadrian, out of hatred of the Jews, changed the name of Judea and Samaria to Syria Palestina. So who were the original Palestinians then? The Jewish people were and they remained the only Palestinians for another 500 years until the Muslim Arabs invaded Jewish Israel and occupied the land. That’s right, it was the Muslim Arabs who invaded and occupied Jewish land.
In fact, the Jewish people had lived in Israel for over 2,000 years when the Muslim Arabs invaded Israel in 638 A.D.
In the 1800’s much of Israel was barren and with very few inhabitants. Although there were always Jews living in Israel, large numbers of Jews began arriving in Israel (aliyahs) and began draining the swamps, irrigating the desert, planting trees, gardens, building towns and creating jobs.
Although there were Muslim Arabs in Israel, more began arriving for the jobs in masses. “So much so that in 1939 President Franklin D. Roosevelt was moved to observe that, Arab immigration into Palestine since 1921 has vastly exceeded the total Jewish immigration during this whole period.” (A Place Among The Nations, B. Netanyahu. p.36.)
FP: So what has been your experience in teaching these classes? And share with us the reaction from the teachers who take them.
Campbell: At first there is some skepticism, but after hours of more documented verses from the Sunnah and more historical evidence, they realize that much of the media’s coverage of these issues related to Islam and Israel is slanted.
FP: What is the state of registration for your courses?
Campbell: Sadly there is not much interest in my classes in the last two or three years, and not enough teachers register for me to even have a class. I know many teachers would prefer to take classes on-line and mine is done in person in a class. But I also feel that, like the general public, there are teachers who don’t have much interest in Jewish Israel or the Islamic Radical topics.
FP: How about your attempts to share your classes with other college and university campuses?
Campbell: I have sent resumes to many colleges and universities and their organizations in our area and I get very little response back from them.
FP: Why this fear of the teachers and the academic institutions to deal with the topics of your two courses?
Campbell: Unfortunately Jewish Israel is not a popular topic on many campuses today. And just the words “Islamic Radicals” scares many administrators and student organizations. The Palestinian Muslim Arabs have a lot of support on some campuses. I find it interesting that last year Gallup & Meridian International took a poll to find out which countries in the world hated the USA the most. In 1st place were the Palestinian Muslim Arabs with a disapproval rate of 80%.
FP: So what does your experience say about the state of academia in the context of teaching the truth about Islam, terrorism, anti-Semitism and the threat to Israel’s security?
Campbell: As you know Jamie, much of our media have roots in leftist-based thinking. Day after day I hear excuses in the media on why so many Muslims around the world are involved in terrorism. I don’t hear them blaming Islam or on the Sunnah. It’s England’s fault, or USA’s fault, or the favorite catch-all, Jewish Israel’s fault, but not Islam’s. Contrary to what the President says, those Muslims who follow the political ideology found in the Sunnah have declared war against much of the non-Muslim world. 25,000 separate Islamic terrorist attacks around the world since 9-11-01 are just some of the symptoms of that war.
Concerning anti-Semitism, I am amazed when I read newspaper and magazines articles or hear TV or radio hosts alluding to the moral equivalence of the Palestinian Muslim Arabs and the Jewish Israelis. P.M. Netanyahu has been warning the world of Iran’s intent to nuke Israel. Do you hear college and university campuses demonstrating against this threat?
I hear of demonstrations on campuses against Jewish Israelis building on 3,000 year-old Jewish land in Jerusalem. I hear students wanting their colleges and universities to Boycott, Divest, and Sanction Jewish Israel. I hear chants on campuses of “From the river to the Sea, Palestine will be free” which means the goal, is 100% of Jewish Israel, will someday be Palestinian Muslim Arabs.
FP: Any particular plans in terms of your courses? What are your goals? How do you see the future in terms of your teaching of these themes and the obstacles you face?
Campbell: I didn’t sign up to teach my classes for the spring. I’m not sure there would be enough interest. I may try the summer term. But fortunately, I do get calls from churches in the surrounding counties to share my “Israel” class and my “Islamic Radicals” class. We also need to spend more time praying for these Islamic radicals.
Frontpage: Ford Campbell, we wish you the best in your efforts. Thank you for joining Frontpage Interview.
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