RACHEL LIPSKY: A WARNING TO THE PROPONENTS OF INTERFAITH DIALOGUE
http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.9097/pub_detail.asp
All over the U.S in countless churches as well as Jewish temples, interfaith dialogues with Muslim leaders thrive. The typical formula for these gatherings is as follows: pastors and rabbis invite a Muslim speaker, at times a member of an affiliate Muslim Brotherhood organization. The Muslim speaker tells them what he/she would like them to hear, contrary to the real truth. The ill-informed attendees ask questions which provide fodder for the Muslim presenter to further his/her deception. The result: most everyone leaves the event feeling enlightened about Islam, despite being cast further in the dark.
Case in point: recently a disguised “moderate” Muslim named Hassan Shibly, a law student at the University of Buffalo, was invited as a speaker at a Presbyterian church in the Buffalo vicinity. Shibly is not a newcomer to the stage. He already has quite a reputation as an imposter with articles written that outline his dubious presentations on Islam.
For instance, in 2005during the last Israeli / Hezbollah war, Shibly was interviewed for the University of Buffalo students’ newspaper where he stated that Hezbollah is “absolutely not a terrorist organization; their targets have always been military targets…” “Hezbollah did not target Israeli citizens, and did what they could to minimize innocent lives lost.”
That was then. Now, Shibly has spent a few years developing his expertise at deceiving his listeners. Thus, at his last presentation he changed his tune saying that … “of course we condemn every single act of violence directed by Hamas and by Hezbollah against civilians.”
Except, Shibly declined to define who the “civilians” are. This is an important factor in the rule of engagement for Muslims since Infidels (non Muslims) civilians are never considered equal to Muslim civilians.
Additionally, Shibly now advocates dialogue with so called “moderate” elements in terror organizations stating that “the trick we fall into is when we want to condemn them (Hamas and Hezbollah) as a whole, we completely cut off any chances for having a peace process.”
Shibly, the past vocal endorser of terrorist organizations, now supposedly is engaging the “moderate” elements of those still associated with terror organizations. This indeed qualifies him now as a “peaceful” Muslim Brotherhood advisor to the US state department.
As for his last presentation at the Presbyterian Church, for an hour and a half Shibly kept discharging deceptions, half truth or outright lies on which at least one more article could have been written. Knowing his uninformed audience, Shibly playfully repeated the nonviolent nature of Islam to prove that Islam condemns terrorism. For example, he evoked Koran 5:32
“whoever kills an innocent life it’s as if he has killed all of mankind. And whoever saves an innocent life it’s as if he has saved all mankind.”
However, Shibly failed to mention the next verse which is directed against the Jews in an offensive way warning them to “behave or else”. Here is the complete quote:
Koran 5:32 “For this cause we have prescribed to Jews “whoever kills an innocent life it’s as if he has killed all of mankind. And whoever saves an innocent life it’s as if he has saved all mankind.”
To compound the lie, Shibly refrained from quoting the following verse
Koran 5:33. “This is the recompense of those who fight against God and His Messenger, and hasten about the earth, to do corruption there: they shall be slaughtered, or crucified, or their hands and feet shall alternately be struck off; or they shall be banished from the land. That is degradation for them in this world; and in the world to come awaits them a mighty chastisement.”
Far from renouncing violence, these verses aggressively point out that anyone opposing the Prophet will be killed, crucified, mutilated, and banished.
To validate his arguments, Shibly reminded his audience that “the Koran says all believers bear witness to truth even against your own selves and against your own parents….always stand up for truth and speak the truth.”
What is wrong with quoting this verse? First, when Koran mentions “believers” it refers to Muslims only. In that case, lying to non-Muslims is permissible. Secondly, one of the most frequently used deceptions by Muslims to non Muslims is an important concept in Islam known as the rule of abrogation. Essentially, this traditional Islamic teaching states that later Koranic verses (from Mohammed’s period in Medina) abrogate earlier verses on similar issues (when Mohammed resided in Mecca). For example: there are over 124 verses in the Koran that promote peaceful sentiments and tolerance. One of them is used frequently by apologists of Islam. It is verse 2:256. “There is no compulsion in religion.”
Butas the respected scholar of Islam Dr. Andrew Bostom states: “The Koran’s verses of peace… were all abrogated by the so-called verses of the sword. These abrogating verses of the sword recommend beheading or otherwise murdering and mutilating non-Muslims, and Muslim apostates.”
The simple fact is that there are no jihad verses in Mecca (Mohammed’s early period), but the Koran written in Medina (where Mohammed moved later in his life) devotes 24 percent of its text to jihad.
On women, Shibly argues that the “Islamic state was the first state to give woman independence, the right to choose a spouse, the right to inherit, to work, to own property and to be equal before God.” This is another one of those falsehoods presented by apologists of Islam like Shibly.
Throughout his presentation, Shibly used dubious statistics on various issues. In contrast, here is a scientifically based statistic taken from the website www.politicalIslam.com related to the treatment of women according to the Koran and Hadith. (The words or deeds of Muhammad deemed most authentic).
Each sentence was judged as to whether the woman was superior to men, equal to men or inferior. All of the superior sentences were about women as mothers. The equality sentences were about being judged equally on Judgment Day. One of the things a woman is judged on is how well she pleases her husband.
This ominous statistic certainly does not sit well with Shibly’s upbeat portrayal of women in Islam.
Oh, by the way, Shibly’s father, Dr. Othman Shibly, – a dental associate professor at the University of Buffalo, who advocates strongly interfaith dialogues, was found to have close ties to Syrian clerics anti-Semitic and supporters of terror.
Furthermore, in 2005 Dr. Shibly was one of the sponsors to the notorious Norman Finkelstein speaker at the University of Buffalo. Now, Thawab Shibly, the sister of Hassan, the founder of Students for Justice in Palestine, (which according to ADL is one of the top ten anti-Semitic groups in the US,) is sponsoring Finkelstein together with the Muslim Student Association, yet again to speak at UB on April 6th.
Here is what Ms. Noa Bursie who attended Finkelstein’s first lecture wrote to Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME) in 2005:
Attending this lecture, one would easily understand not only how the Holocaust happened, but how it could happen again. As an African-American and a woman, I must say of that evening, had I closed my eyes and translated Finkelstein’s words to German, I could easily have imagined myself transported back to 1938 and a lecture by Josef Gobbels, Hitler’s propaganda minister, or could just have easily found myself on a campground in the heart of Dixie amongst white supremacists.
But what do you know?! The Shibly family “enterprise” is all for peace and love… Just ask them!
Why does Shibly deceive us? Because Muslims are allowed to do so when dealing with non Muslims, as Nonie Darwish, the founder of former Muslims United and the author of Cruel and Usual Punishment: the Terrifying Global Implications ofIslam writes:
“…Indeed, according to sharia, lying and deception are obligatory at times when dealing with the enemies of Islam. This is part of the overall jihad being waged against infidels.”
Plainly put, Shibly epitomizes the finest illustration of a Muslim who applies to the infidels the Islamic doctrine of disinformation, called Taqqiya. And those who congregate to listen to him and his ilk, in their naïve foolishness flock to the lies and leave us all further in danger.
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Rachel Lipsky is a faculty member at the University of Buffalo and a certified Yoga teacher.
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