Another War-on-Terror Blog: Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics

Showing posts with label Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics. Show all posts

Sunday, October 21, 2007

A Film Not Approved by PBS,
Nation of Islam, or the
Islamic Society in Denmark

I spent a hectic ninety minutes last night, writing and posting a quick synopsis with a few comments, while watching "Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics,."

The result isn't even close to a transcript, but sketches out the film's content.

PBS spent quite a bit of money on "Inside Islam..." before they saw what the producers and directors were doing. It was called "Islam vs. Islamists" at that point. The PBS bosses involved tried sending a Nation of Islam representative to shadow and guide the crew, but somehow the filmmakers got it 'wrong,' anyway.

Since "Islam vs. Islamists" was "alarmist" and "overreaching" (PBS version), or insufficiently liberal and non-pc (filmmakers' version), PBS cut the film from their "America at a Crossroads" series. They've cautiously released it to single television stations, well outside the major markets, but carefully kept this "alarming" film from national view.

Until last night, when it ran on FOX News Channel with the title "Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics" and with FOX News interviews and commentary between segments.

I hope you saw it. If not, I tried to catch the high points of "Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics" on this series of posts.

Better yet, get a DVD of the complete "Islam v. Islamist" DVD at www.islamdocumentary.com.

Posts about "Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics:"

"Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics" - This blogger's introduction (last section of "Muslims, Terrorism, Islam, PBS, and 'Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics'")

Saturday, October 20, 2007

"Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics:" France

French filmmaker Mohammed Sifaoui decided to infiltrate an Islamic group in France.

Sifaoui claimed to be a journalist who would make a propaganda film for them.

He is under a death sentence, and had 24/7 French police protection: a fatwa was issued against him when the nature of his undercover work became known.

He was soon joined by a Danish lawmaker.

Remember the Danish cartoon scandal?

A small group of imams, particularly Abu Laban, decided to make the 'anti-Islam' cartoons a global issue.

Sifaoui found out that the Danish cartoons weren't good - or bad - enough, so Abu Laban added a few drawings and an offensive photograph when he went to the Middle East to get support.

In the Middle East, Muslims rioted.

Back in Europe, Naser Khader, Danish politician, became the target of a bomb threat. By Abu Laban's group. Naser Khader had a medical incident involving his heart, was rushed to hospital.

Abu Laban was brought in for questioning, and explained that the death threats were a joke. Then he was released.

FOX News Commentary: PBS big bosses got wind of the allegations of liberal bias being behind the axing of "Islam v. Islamist" - and the U.S. Inspector General is now investigating.

Posts about "Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics:"

"Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics" - This blogger's introduction (last section of "Muslims, Terrorism, Islam, PBS, and 'Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics'")

"Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics:" Arizona

Ahmed al Shakira, imam of a big mosque in Arizona, says that Muslims would like to live under sharia law in America - and that it would be perfectly okay here.

(After all, look how will it worked in Afghanistan)

Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, another Muslim, doesn't agree. He tried to organize a Muslim rally against terrorism. According to Ahmed al Shakira, Dr. Jasser is an extremist.

An anti-terrorism rally by Muslims - an extremist move?

(more at American-Islamic Forum for Democracy)

One of the 9/11 hijackers learned to fly in Arizona. Could be a coincidence.

Posts about "Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics:"

"Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics" - This blogger's introduction (last section of "Muslims, Terrorism, Islam, PBS, and 'Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics'")

"Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics:" Michigan

Sheikh Kabbani, an imam of Flint, Michigan, tried to warn the U.S. government of an impending attack by Osama bin Laden - three years before 9/11.

Sheikh Kabbani is a Suffi Muslim - a sort of Islam on the Wahhabi 'not approved' list.

He was ignored by the American government, accused of being an alarmist by the State Department. Then he went to Wahhabi leaders in America. They considered him a threat, sent him death threats. Soon he was shunned by at least many Muslims in America.

It seems that the "no snitching" code isn't limited to inner cities - or that Muslims are inclined to accept the word of a large number of loud leaders, rather than do their own investigations. That really is a very human way to act.

Posts about "Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics:"

"Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics" - This blogger's introduction (last section of "Muslims, Terrorism, Islam, PBS, and 'Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics'")

"Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics:" Chicago

(FOX News interview - one of the filmmakers said PBS asked: Don't you check into the politics of the people you work with? The filmmaker didn't, which explained why he had a conservative on his staff.)

In Chicago, Edmond Abdul Hafeez used to be with the Nation of Islam (NI). In the 1980s, when the son of the NI's founder had taken over and allied with Wahhabi Muslims, Khalil al Khalil of Saudi Arabia came to visit. He wanted the Nation of Islam to help establish Islam in America.

Khalil al Khalil was with the Wahhabi leaders. "Dawa in America" - "the conversion of America to (Wahhabi) Islam was the goal of Khalil al Khalil and the Nation of Islam. The Nation of Islam got a great deal of money: particularly for 20 acres on the outskirts of Chicago for a mosque, a school and an information center.

Edmond Abdul Hafeez realized that NI was involved in Wahhabi Islam, left the Nation of Islam, and joined another, less radical, Muslim group.

FOX News interview with filmmaker: Saudi Arabian funding of Wahhabi Islam in Chicago being investigated? PBS insisted that a Nation of Islam representative be put on site, to make sure that the investigation was done correctly.

Posts about "Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics:"

"Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics" - This blogger's introduction (last section of "Muslims, Terrorism, Islam, PBS, and 'Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics'")

"Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics:" Canada - Women

Okay - what about women and Islam? Adultery should be punished by stoning or lashing. That's perfectly okay, the imam said: After all, he went on, Jesus said "let him who is without sin cast the first stone." (I know: but that's what the imam said.)

Remember - November 1979, gunmen in Mecca stormed the stone that's Islam's holiest shrine. They were dislodged, but the Saudi government had made a deal with the Wahhabi leaders, agreeing to finance their projects, as long as they did their work outside Saudi Arabia.

That's when a boom of mosque-building started, worldwide.

Posts about "Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics:"

"Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics" - This blogger's introduction (last section of "Muslims, Terrorism, Islam, PBS, and 'Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics'")

"Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics:" Canada

17 young Muslims had bought explosives, and planned to blow up the stock exchange, another building, and parliament. They also planned to behead at least one of the members of parliament, if I caught it right.

They were arrested. They were members of the Saladin Mosque in Toronto, run by Ali Hindi.

A talk show host, Tarek Fatah, said that blowing up parliament wasn't a good idea. So, now he's been identified as an "enemy of Islam," and accused of besmirching The Prophet and Islam.

Tarek Fatah has been physically attacked for his views: understandable, since he claims that sharia law is more of a cultural creation than something in the Quran.

For this, he's called an extremist.

Ali Hindi says that jihad is Muslims defending Muslims - in expanding circles around the original 'attack' - and that armed force is quite justified.

Ali Hindi also doesn't like the idea of women being independent. Tarek Fatah thinks women are people, and can make decisions. So, Fatah is an extremist.

I'm no expert, but Tarek doesn't sound all that far off-base.

Posts about "Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics:"

"Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics" - This blogger's introduction (last section of "Muslims, Terrorism, Islam, PBS, and 'Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics'")

Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics: Denmark

This is the first post I'm making, while watching "Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics." My intention is to give a more-or-less real-time description and review of the film, which is interspersed with FOX News interviews.

In Denmark, not so long ago, one young man killed another, they're both Muslims. A local imam wanted to try the case under sharia law. He decided that one family should pay the other a certain amount of money: and that the Danish authorities fussed simply because they didn't understand Islam.

The imam is still working for sharia law in Denmark - and Europe.

Naser Khader, an elected member of the Danish parliament and a Muslim, thinks this is a bad idea. For this, he's been called a "traitor" to Islam.

According to Said Mansour, the minute member of parliament Khader stopped being a Muslim when he entered parliament. On a positive note, Said Mansour says he wants an Islamic society in Europe, a parallel society to the local European society.

PBS didn't like this segment. Since one of the Islamists said that he wanted a Caliphate in Europe, and the film implied this was a good idea, PBS said that the film was biased.

Posts about "Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics:"

"Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics" - This blogger's introduction (last section of "Muslims, Terrorism, Islam, PBS, and 'Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics'")

Muslims, Terrorism, Islam, PBS, and
"Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics"

I keep telling myself that, as the current president of the United States said, "Islam is a peaceful religion." Several times:

"President's Ramadan Message " (October 24, 2003)
"BACKGROUNDER: THE PRESIDENT'S QUOTES ON ISLAM / In the President’s Words: Respecting Islam " (2001-2002)

"Peaceful" and "Islam" are words that don't seem to fit well together, with the daily car bomb scores echoing on the news, Iran's leaders commending Chancellor Hitler's Jewish policy and talking about obliterating Israel, and a high probability that Bhutto's convoy was bombed by at least one suicide bomber from a nut-case Islamic group.

I'll admit I'm biased. I want to believe that

Osama bin Laden and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are not the best that Islam has to offer
Islam is not a bizarre, dangerous remnant from the days of the Frankish Kingdom, Beowulf, Prince Shôtoku and the Tang Dynasty.

I found three more outfits, and a film, that let me keep believing that Islam and the Information Age can get along.

Three Outfits

The Free Muslims Coalition has a statement about terrorism which is refreshingly straightforward: "The Free Muslims Coalition believes that there can NEVER be a justification for terrorism." (from "Issues / Terrorism") They also have a remarkably perceptive view of the place of democracy in the Middle East: "The Free Muslims Coalition strongly supports the promotion of democracy in the Middle East. However, the Coalition cautions that imposing democracy on the Middle East without first promoting secularism and destroying terrorism may lead to the creation of Islamic extremist states that will ultimately reject the democracy that brings them to power." (from "Issues / Democracy")

Muslims Against Terrorism (M-A-T) claims to be the "First Anti-Terrorism NGO in the World for Global Peace and Justice / (Founded in Calgary on January 11, 1998) puts its Mission Statement right under the home page titles: "To be the leading Muslim organization in the world for creating awareness about the dangers of terrorism and it's various causes such as oppression, exploitation and injustice, and unite people to stop terrorism."

Sounds good. And, since M-A-T says "We Muslims strongly condemn the American aggression and cruelty in Iraq and elsewhere...." I'm a little surprised that we haven't heard more about this very socially-conscious organization.

M-A-T also should do its homework, though, when it makes statements about other religions. On the same FAQ page cited above, they say: "The difference between Islam and other religions is that the Islam provides complete and specific guidance to its followers in all possible aspects of life, while the other religions provide guidelines only in a few aspects of life."

start digression

I'm a devout Catholic, and have some familiarity with Church teachings. The Church doesn't cover details like how often to floss your teeth or whether cars are moral or not. On the other hand, there are rules for how to run your business and how to be an employer or an employee (2426-2436, a husband (1610, 1615, 1659), a wife (1605, 1659), a parent (2221-26), a child (2214-20). We're even told how to get ready for death (1014). The Catechism (official English edition) is a good starting point. Those four-digit numbers are paragraph references in the Catechism. Here are some more aspects of life that the Church spells out:

Government of nations and other communities (1877-1927, 2213)
Marriage (1601-1666)
Family (1655-58, 1625-1666, 1914, 2201-2233, 2436, 2685)
Education 1906, 2221-24, 2228-30

In each case, those references are just a start.

end digression

Islam for Today's "Muslims against Terrorism" makes the position of Islam for Today very clear.

Islam for Today uses quotes from the Quran and the Prophet Mohammed ("By God, he is not a true believer, from whose mischief his neighbors do not feel secure" and "Hurt no one so that no one may hurt you. Remember that you will indeed meet your Lord, and that He will indeed reckon your deeds.") and a link to "Insights from Imam Tamman Adi of the Islamic Cultural Center of Eugene, Oregon."

There's more on that page, but what jumped out at me was a "memo to Usama bin Laden:" "'I would rather live in America under Ashcroft and Bush at their worst, than in any "Islamic state" established by ignorant, intolerant and murderous punks like you and Mullah Omar at their best.'" ("A thought-provoking, controversial, pre-war article by Muqtedar Khan, Ph.D., February 12, 2003")

One Film

Finally, "Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics," "follows moderate Muslims who have challenged the "Islamists" who espouse a more radical view of their religion. The film shows the Islamists advocating, among other things, the imposition of Sharia law on Muslims in the West, the stoning of women who commit adultery, and even violence and terrorism."

The Public Broadcasting System bankrolled the film. When they viewed it, it was taken out of their "America at a Crossroads" series. The PBS chiefs running "America at a Crossroads" told the filmmakers that the film, called "Islam vs. Islamists" at that point, was "alarmist" and "overreaching." PBS wouldn't run it.

I do see PBS's point. The film's producers, Martyn Burke, Frank Gaffney, and Islamism expert Alex Alexiev, tracked moderate Muslims in key positions:

Denmark - Politician Naser Khader
France - Filmmaker Mohammed Sifaoui
Canada - Talk-show host Tarek Fatah
Chicago, Illinois - Former Nation of Islam member Edmond Abdul Hafeez
Flint, Michigan - Sheikh Kabbani, the imam
who warned State Department officials of Osama bin Laden's terrorism influence three years before the Sept. 11 attacks

I suppose the Flint imam was "alarming:" he was trying to raise the alarm in Washington.

A Wisconsin-born Muslim living in Arizona, Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, says, "The cancer that is within our community is I don't believe the majority," in the film "I think it's a minority, it's a minor, minor, minor, minority that are radicalized or violent but the majority I believe look at the lens of politics through an Islamist lens.

"If we give them and let them handle the mantle of religion that they seek to exploit for their own geo-political issues all over the globe, then we are really going to lose this war."

Maybe the film is alarmist, after all. But there are times and places for alarm, and one of them is now.

I'm going to be watching "Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics" in a little less than two hours. It's airing at 9 p.m. ET today, on the FOX News Channel.

A DVD of the complete "Islam v. Islamist" DVD is available at www.islamdocumentary.com.Posts about "Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics:"

"Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics" - This blogger's introduction (last section of "Muslims, Terrorism, Islam, PBS, and 'Inside Islam: Faith vs. Fanatics'")

Blogroll

Note! Although I believe that these websites and blogs are useful resources for understanding the War on Terror, I do not necessarily agree with their opinions. ¹

American Islamic Congress
American-Islamic Forum for Democracy
Americas Interests.blog an Australian's perspective (on January 29, 2009 the author announced the end of new posts, and explained his reasons for doing so. He is, however, keeping the 21 months of accumulated posts on line, because of "the role that it plays in a larger ecosystem of information" - I recommend AI as an archival resource. )
Blog 4 Human Rights: Human Rights in Georgia (the nation) News, Opinions, Videos and Photos (Why blogroll this? Georgia is about 10% Muslim, very near the Middle East: and human rights is a critical part of the War on Terror.)
CAIR Council on American-Islamic Relations
The Capitol Tribune "A Journal by a Citizen and Servant of the Republic."
The Conservative Hawk An articulate conservative blog: definitely political, opinionated, informed, and intelligent
Defenders Council of Vermont "...our mission is to educate the citizens of Vermont about the nature, reality and threat of radical Islam, deepen Vermonters' understanding of America's heritage, honor the men and women of the armed services and their families, and support the efforts of others to help our armed forces work with local populations in foreign lands."
DefenseLink Blogger's Roundtable provides source material for stories in the blogosphere concerning the Department of Defense (DoD) by bloggers and online journalists.
FactCheck.org "aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics". It's "a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania". From what I've seen, this non-partisan website must be quite annoying to all sides
Fiqh Council of North America "...a body of qualified Islamic scholars who live in the United States or Canada."
Foreign Policy Watch "Diplomatic strategy, international news, and thoughtful political analysis"
www.free-minds.org Another flavor of True Islam: one more articulate than many
Free Muslims Coalition "American Muslims and Arabs of all backgrounds who feel that religious violence and terrorism have not been fully rejected by the Muslim community in the post 9-11 era."
GlobalSecurity.org "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts. We try to bring you the facts, to help you form your opinion."
Hudson Institute: Center on Islam, Democracy, and the Future of the Muslim World
IntelCenter "Our focus as a company is on studying terrorist groups and other threat actors and disseminating that information in a timely manner to those who can act on it."
Iraq the Model "New points of view about the future of Iraq."
Islam.com "...an information portal site on the internet that is pure, clean and 'worthy of its name', InshaAllah."
islamispeace.org.uk "...invites you to challenge your ideas of Islam and Muslims."
Islamic Circle of North America "... to seek the pleasure of Allah (SWT) through the struggle of Iqamat-ud-Deen (establishment of the Islamic system of life) as spelled out in the Qur'an and the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)"
Islamic Republic News Agency Iran's official news agency
Islamic Society of Central Florida (ISCF) "...an organization which strives to serve the greater Central Florida community by catering to the social, religious, and educational needs of its Muslim inhabitants."
Islamic Society of North America "...playing a pivotal role in extending those bridges to include all people of faith within North America...."
(but note another view) )
Islamic World News أخبار العالم الاسلا
Michael J. Totten's Middle East Journal The War on Terror, as observed on the ground
Muir S. Fairchild Research Information Center A research resource for United States Air Force Air University students, "provided as a public service by Muir S. Fairchild Research Information Center and the Maxwell Support Division."
Muslamics Affad Shaikh and "A Writing Collaborative" This American Muslim Affad Shaikh, a very west-coast Muslim Los Angelano
Muslims Against Sharia An organization of Muslims, presumably dedicated "...to educate non-Muslims about the differences between moderate Muslims and Islamists..." - with a curious way of practicing Peace, Love Light, (words in their website's logo).
National Interest, and as a corollary, Primacy "These are indeed my personal pontifications on the vicissitudes of International Affairs." (Be prepared for big words, long sentences: and unexpected insights.)
PM’S World
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty "disseminating factual information and ideas"
The Straits Times (Singapore) "...strives to be an authoritative provider of news and views, with special focus on Singapore and the Asian region...."
Urban Conservative "Conservative 2.0 - A New Breed of Conservative
Why Islam? "... articles, books etc on Islam and comparative religion. ... initiated by volunteers from ICNA (Islamic Circle of North America). ..."

¹ Given a recent misunderstanding of the phrase "useful resources," a clarification: I do not limit my reading to resources which support my views, or even to those which appear to be accurate. Reading opinions contrary to what I believed has been very useful at times: sometimes verifying my previous assumptions, sometimes encouraging me to change them.

Even resources which, in my opinion, are simply inaccurate are sometimes useful: these can give valuable insights into why some people or groups believe what they do.

In short, It is my opinion that some of the resources in this blogroll are neither accurate, nor unbiased. I do, however, believe that they are useful in understanding the War on Terror, the many versions of Islam, terrorism, and related topics.

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