The troubling persistence of Islamic misunderstanding of Islam

Robert Spencer at Jihad Watch has discovered yet another Muslim who doesn’t understand Islam. He is Sheikh Ali Dhere of the Somali insurgent group al Shabaab, who has said:

The jihad is for the liberation of all Muslims around the world. When we succeed in this part, we will to move to other parts until we ensure only Allah is worshipped in this world.

For reasons we cannot comprehend, this Muslim individual, like other confused Muslim individuals throughout the ages, ranging from Muhammad and his follower the Caliph Omar in the seventh century to Sayyid Qutb and the Ayatollah Khomeni in the twentieth, subscribes to the false and discredited notion that Islam commands aggressive holy war until all of humanity has been brought under the power of Islam. How is the West, especially the elite media and political class who have the correct understanding of Islam as a religion of peace and tolerance, to combat the Islamic world’s rampant ignorance of their own religion? We would submit that the solution to the problem, as to most problems, is education. The West, led by the United States, must set up throughout the Islamic countries a network of radio and TV stations, schools, diplomatic missions, and other institutions aimed at instructing Muslims about the true teachings of their faith. This is the most important challenge facing our civilization today; considering the stakes, it is nothing less than the moral equivalent of war.

But who might have the vision and the ability, as well as the available time, to organize and lead such a vast enterprise? Fortunately, the perfect candidate comes immediately to mind: Mitt Romney. First of all, Romney is (or will soon be) available, since his signing of an Obamacare-type measure in Massachusetts in 2006 precludes his nomination as the leader of a party which is devoted to the repeal of Obamacare. Second, Romney is a man of proven organizational abilities, as shown by his leadership of a very successful business consulting firm and his widely admired stewardship of the Olympics some years ago. Third, and most importantly, Romney has a singularly incisive grasp of the true meaning of Islam and of the relationship (or rather the non-relationship) between Islam and jihad. As reported at VFR in June 2009:

Asked by Dan Gilgoff of U.S. News & World Report if his repeated references to “jihad” in a speech at the Heritage Foundation this week characterized Islam in sinister terms, Mitt Romney surprised Gilgoff with this reply:

I didn’t refer to Islam at all, or to any other religion for that matter. I spoke about three major threats America faces on a long term basis. Jihadism is one of them, and that is not Islam. If you want my views on Islam, it’s quite straightforward. Islam is one of the world’s great religions and the great majority of people in Islam want peace for themselves and peace with their maker. They want to raise families and have a bright future.

There is, however, a movement in the world known as jihadism. They call themselves jihadists and I use the same term. And this jihadist movement is intent on causing the collapse of moderate Muslim states and the assassination of moderate Muslim leaders. It is also intent on causing collapse of other nations in the world. It’s by no means a branch of Islam. It is instead an entirely different entity. In no way do I suggest it is a part of Islam.

It is a mark of his high intelligence that Romney has gone beyond the conventional conservative view, that jihad is a perverted form of Islam, to the more profound insight that jihad has absolutely nothing to do with Islam. Here, then, is a man uniquely equipped to instruct Muslims about the nature of their religion, and thus save the world from the Islam misunderstanders, such as Sheikh Ali Dhere.

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Brandon M. writes:

I like your sly humor….

Mark P. writes:

Is that a joke?

LA replies:

Is your e-mail a joke?

Mark replies:

No, I am asking if your interpretation of Mitt Romey is a spoof or if it is a serious comment. I thought it was a spoof, but, if it is not, then I am not understanding the point.

LA replies:

Of course my interpretation is a spoof. The quote of him is a real quote.

Mark replies:

Whew …

Need to warn me when you are in “The Onion” mode.

LA replies:

When I’m praising someone for saying that Islam is a religion of peace and has nothing to do with jihad, and proposing that this person lead a program to educate the Muslims of the world as to the true Islam which the Muslims themselves don’t understand, isn’t that “warning” enough? What do you want? A flashing red sign saying “SATIRE ALERT”?

Mark replies:

I am humbled and chastised by your logic. ;)

Daniel S. writes:

Mitt Romney’s comments about Islam are as idiotic and dangerous as those muttered by Eric Holder and other Obama administration officials. One cannot separate jihad from Islam anymore than one could separate political correctness from liberalism. Romney’s comments are akin to suggesting that political correctness is the problem and that it has nothing to do with liberalism, which is of course hogwash. Political correctness is merely the enforcement of liberalism as has no existence apart from liberalism. Likewise, jihad is nothing more then the enforcement of Islam upon the infidels. Jihad doesn’t exist for its own sake. Jihad is the means to attain an end, which is the theo-political dominance of Islam.

Second, Romney never explains why these “jihadists” want to kill “moderate” Muslim leaders and overthrow “moderate” Muslim regimes in the Middle East. Nor does he explain why these said jihadists seem to think that their ideology is based on authentic Islamic teachings. For a group that is allegedly so alien to Islam, how is it that they cite the Quran and the sirah of Muhammad for so many of their actions and have such widespread support from among the Muslim world? How is it that they find so many classical Muslim jurists in favor of jihad warfare against the Christians and other infidels? The crass ignorance and base pandering of Romney’s statement should forever disqualify him from being considered a leader of the conservative movement. He is a dhimmi, plan and simple.

Paul K. writes:

You have been consistently honing your satirical edge. This post has at least six “laugh out louds.”

A loud guffaw was also elicited by the preceding post, with its green-tinged photo of Obama, identified as the Lizard King and looking like the quintessential white-man-trying-to-dance-like-a-black-man, beside the First Lady, whose dress looks like it was made from one of those blue plastic tarps sold at Home Depot.

LA replies:

At first I didn’t recognize her or her dress, we which had discussed earlier; everything about her in that photo is so flamboyant and colorful I thought she was the wife of an African ambassador.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at May 23, 2010 12:12 AM | Send