Raymond Ibrahim's Blog, page 26

Offensive Jihad

A recent MEMRI report titled "Arab Columnists: Stop Talking About Offensive Jihad," alludes to the ultimate problem between Islam and the non-Muslim world: offensive jihad, or jihad al-talab — the Islamic imperative to subjugate the world. The report...

Islamists Accuse Egypt's Christians of Behaving Like…Islamists?

The persecution of Egypt's Coptic minority is taking an ironic, and dangerous, turn: Islamist leaders are now projecting the worst traits of radical Islam onto Egypt's Christians. A psychological phenomenon first described by Sigmund Freud, "projection"...

Egypt Cuts a Deal: Christians Fed to Muslim 'Lions'

For centuries, the Copts — Egypt's Christian, indigenous inhabitants — have been subject to persecution, discrimination, humiliation, and over all subjugation in their homeland (etymologically, "Copt" simply means "Egyptian"). In the medieval era, such...

The Ultimate Lesson of Egypt's Fake Photo

One of the most widely circulated newspapers in the world, Egypt's Al Ahram, recently ran a fake picture depicting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak walking in front of U.S. President Barack Obama and a pack of other Mideast leaders. In fact, based on the...

The Specter of Muslim Disloyalty in America

Islamist enmity for infidels, regularly manifested in the jihad, is by now moderately well known. Lesser known, however, but of equal concern, is the mandate for Muslims to be loyal to fellow Muslims and Islam — a loyalty that all too often translates...

Is Newt Gingrich Wrong to Talk About Sharia?

In a recent article appearing in Tablet, Lee Smith takes former House speaker Newt Gingrich to task for the latter's focus on sharia (i.e., Islamic law). The thrust of Smith's argument is that sharia is a "hopelessly abstract concept" and "a highly...

Top Muslims Condemn Ground Zero Mosque as a 'Zionist Conspiracy'

In a recent article, I argued that the Ground Zero mosque is counterproductive to Islam. The following day, on August 5th, the Egyptian newspaper Al Masry Al Youm reported that none other than Al Azhar — one of Sunni Islam's most authoritative...

Review of The Crisis of Islamic Civilization

Allawi, who at various times was Iraqi minister of trade, minister of defense, and minister of finance following Saddam Hussein's overthrow, ends his book with a plausible conclusion—that, by nature, Islamic civilization must either subsume or be...

Why the Ground Zero Mosque is Counterproductive to the Islamist Cause

While vexing to many, the mega mosque set to be built two blocks from Ground Zero has produced one unintended consequence: like the 9/11 strikes a decade before it, the "9/11 mosque" is also creating a stir, is making people think and talk — about Islam....

Top Muslim Cleric Qaradawi Urges Western Muslims to 'Liberalize'

A recent episode of the popular Arabic show al-Sharia wa al-Haya (Law and Life), which airs weekly on Al Jazeera and features renowned Muslim scholar Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, addressed the important yet little known Muslim concept of taysir (pronounced...