by Raymond Ibrahim<\/p>\n
PJ Media<\/em><\/p>\n Soon after\u00a0reporting<\/a>\u00a0that Egypt’s Grand Mufti, Sheikh Ali Gomaa, had pronounced all Christians “infidels,” I received several emails forwarding what looked like a response from Gomaa. Some websites \u2014 such as the ever-hysterical “American Muslim<\/a>” \u2014 published it, providing the following additional information:<\/p>\n Prof. Faroque Ahmad Khan took it on himself to investigate [the claims of my article]. Dr. Khan requested Dr Ibrahim Negm \u2014 a senior advisor to the Grand Mufti [and an Al Azhar professor] to provide a clarification of the remarks attributed to Sheikh Ali Gomaa. Here is the response that was received [followed by the same text others had emailed me].<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Though he makes several points, including the need for “dialogue” and “mutual respect,” Gomaa’s grand point, the crux of the issue \u2014 what\u00a0kafir<\/em>which I routinely translate as “infidel” means \u2014 unfortunately exposes dishonesty on his part (the other option, ignorance, being inapplicable). He writes:<\/p>\n Mr. Ibrahim’s choice of wording is regrettable. The English word “infidel” carries with it strong connotations of exclusion and violence, inherited from the European experience of Christianity during the wars of religion which devastated that continent for decades.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In fact, from its inception, Islam has been\u00a0the<\/em>\u00a0quintessential religion \u2014 historically and doctrinally \u2014 to enforce and institutionalize “exclusion and violence” for the “other,” to the point of\u00a0influencing medieval Christianity<\/a>. Gomaa therefore takes the\u00a0standard way<\/a>\u00a0out \u2014 blame Christianity and its “wars of religion” (code for “Crusades”) \u2014 without alluding to what prompted these wars in the first place: five centuries of unprovoked Islamic aggression, land-grabbing, subjugation and persecution of Christians, which continues to this very day.<\/p>\n Gomaa’s sophistry continues:<\/p>\n The Arabic “kafir” is a legal term which denotes very precisely and simply those outside the Muslim community, those who do not believe in the particular message and worldview of Islam. The much less charged translation “non-believer” is appropriate here.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Yes, the word\u00a0kafir<\/em>\u00a0is a “legal term” denoting non-Muslims; and yes, most modern English Qurans translate it as “non-believer.”\u00a0However<\/em>, and as Gomaa knows full well, the word\u00a0kafir<\/em>\u00a0(plural,\u00a0kafirin<\/em>) is heavy laden with negative associations, or, as I originally wrote, it “connotes ‘enemies,’ ‘evil-doers,’ and every bad thing to Muslim ears.”<\/p>\n Accordingly, Sharia mandates hostility for\u00a0kafirin\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 war and subjugation when they are weak,\u00a0deception and smooth-talk<\/a>\u00a0when they are strong. Quran 2:98 simply declares that “Allah is the enemy of\u00a0kafirin<\/em>” \u2014 regardless of whether we translate that word as “infidels” or “non-believers.”<\/p>\n In fact, doctrine aside, consider how the Quran alone portrays “non-believers”: they are “guilty” and “unjust” (10:17, 45:31, 68:35); terror is to be cast in their hearts for their injustice (3:151); they are “disliked” and “accursed” by Allah (2:89, 3:32, 33:64); they are the “vilest of beasts” (8:55, 98:6), like “cattle” and “devoid of understanding” (47:12, 8:65); and “enemies” to Muslims (4:101).<\/p>\n And why are “non-believers” described thus? Simply because they\u00a0are<\/em>\u00a0non-believers \u2014 because they are\u00a0infidels<\/em>.<\/p>\n So much for the Grand Mufti’s assertion that the “much less charged translation ‘non-believer’ is appropriate” for the word\u00a0kafir<\/em>. Perhaps he is operating under Quran 3:28: “Let believers not take\u00a0kafirin<\/em>\u00a0[infidels, non-believers, whatever] for friends and allies \u2026 unless you but guard yourselves against them, taking precautions.” Not only is this yet another verse depicting non-Muslims as enemies, but, according to Muslim jurisprudence, it\u00a0justifies deceiving them<\/a>.<\/p>\n There is also much peripheral evidence that “non-believers” are seen negatively: when Gomaa’s colleagues, the Muslim Brotherhood, recently declared that only “drunks, druggies, and adulterers<\/a>” reject Sharia \u2014 and considering that non-Muslims by nature reject Sharia \u2014 were they not in essence asserting that all non-believers are junkies and faithless perverts?<\/p>\n Aside from distorting the word\u00a0kafir<\/em>, Gomaa made the following points which require remark:<\/p>\n Raymond Ibrahim absurdly tries to link my commentary on Muslim theological doctrine, delivered within the context of a mosque study circle, to the regrettable Maspero events in Cairo last month. My comments at the mosque that day were intended exclusively as a pedagogical explanation of the Qur’anic view on the Christian doctrine of the Trinity\u2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n As for his words being “delivered within the context of a mosque study circle,” that is no excuse: as Grand Mufti of a nation of some 70 million Muslims, Gomaa is responsible for every doctrine-related utterance he makes \u2014 whether he knows he is being videotaped or not. Likewise, even if his comments “were intended exclusively as a pedagogical explanation of the Qur’anic view on the Christian doctrine of the Trinity,” they still culminated in categorizing all Christians as infidels, which is the point here.<\/p>\n Accordingly, his comments are, in fact, related to the Maspero massacre. Consider: when the Grand Mufti of Egypt himself categorizes Christians as “infidels” \u2014 a word that, as we have seen, conveys to the Muslim mind images of guilty, oppressive, accursed, bestial-like enemies \u2014 is it surprising when Muslims, including the\u00a0Egyptian military<\/a>, attack and kill Christians \u2014 all whilecalling them “infidels”<\/a>?<\/p>\n A personal note to Sheikh Gomaa: the time for sophistry, apologetics, euphemisms, and projections is past. We live in an age where the historic, doctrinal, and contemporary facts of Islam are increasingly exposed for the world to see, in part thanks to the Internet and satellite, which defy censorship. Operating according to this fact \u2014 that is, respecting people’s intelligence \u2014 is the first step to meaningful dialogue.<\/p>\n \u00a92011 Raymond Ibrahim<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Raymond Ibrahim PJ Media Soon after\u00a0reporting\u00a0that Egypt’s Grand Mufti, Sheikh Ali Gomaa, had pronounced all Christians “infidels,” I received several emails forwarding what looked like a response from Gomaa. Some websites \u2014 such as the ever-hysterical “American Muslim” \u2014 published it, providing the following additional information:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[118,227],"tags":[192,1035,568,1017,431,30,1060,551],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-mT","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1664,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/top-muslim-declares-all-christians-infidels\/","url_meta":{"origin":1419,"position":0},"title":"Top Muslim Declares All Christians ‘Infidels’","author":"victorhanson","date":"November 2, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim PJ Media To what extent was Egypt's\u00a0Maspero massacre, wherein the military\u00a0literally mowed down\u00a0Christian Copts protesting the ongoing destruction of their churches, a product of anti-Christian sentiment? A video of Egypt's Grand Mufti,\u00a0Sheikh Ali Gomaa\u00a0(or Gom'a), which began circulating weeks before the massacre, helps elucidate. While holding that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Egypt"","block_context":{"text":"Egypt","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/egypt\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":910,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/saudi-grand-mufti-calls-for-destruction-of-all-churches-in-region\/","url_meta":{"origin":1419,"position":1},"title":"Saudi Grand Mufti Calls for “Destruction of All Churches in Region”","author":"victorhanson","date":"March 15, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim Jihad Watch According to several\u00a0Arabic\u00a0news\u00a0sources, last Monday, Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, declared that it is \"necessary to destroy all the churches of the region.\" The Grand Mufti made his assertion in response to a question posed by a delegation from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Religion"","block_context":{"text":"Religion","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/religion\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":775,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/islamic-hate-for-a-dead-pope\/","url_meta":{"origin":1419,"position":2},"title":"Islamic Hate for a Dead Pope","author":"victorhanson","date":"May 20, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim FrontPage Magazine Inasmuch as the recent death of Coptic Pope Shenouda III exposed the humanity of some Muslims, it also exposed the inhumanity of Islamic teachings. Consider some examples of Muslim sympathy following his death: Egypt\u2019s\u00a0Al Akhbar\u00a0newspaper called the Pope\u2019s burial \u201cthe funeral of the century,\u201d reporting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Islam"","block_context":{"text":"Islam","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/islam\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":675,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-evils-of-the-muslim-brotherhood\/","url_meta":{"origin":1419,"position":3},"title":"The Evils of the Muslim Brotherhood","author":"victorhanson","date":"July 1, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim Investigative Project on Terrorism Egypt's longtime banned Muslim Brotherhood \u2014 the parent organization of nearly every subsequent Islamist movement, including al Qaeda \u2014 has just won the nation's presidency, in the name of its candidate, Muhammad Morsi. That apathy reigns in the international community, when once such\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Egypt"","block_context":{"text":"Egypt","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/egypt\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2431,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/mubarak-deceived-israel-as-muhammad-deceived-infidels\/","url_meta":{"origin":1419,"position":4},"title":"Mubarak Deceived Israel as Muhammad Deceived Infidels?","author":"victorhanson","date":"August 19, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim Hudson New York In light of ousted president Hosni Mubarak's ongoing trial, Western readers may be surprised to learn who some of Mubarak's staunchest defenders are: Salafi Muslims, that is, those Muslims who practice the 7th-century Islam of Muhammad, often referred to as \"radicals.\" Sheikh Mahmoud Amer,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Egypt"","block_context":{"text":"Egypt","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/egypt\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6840,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/muslim-cleric-incites-children-to-slaughter-christians-and-alawites-in-syria\/","url_meta":{"origin":1419,"position":5},"title":"Muslim Cleric Incites Children to ‘Slaughter’ Christians and Alawites in Syria","author":"victorhanson","date":"December 16, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/\u00a0RaymondIbrahim.com\u00a0 A video recently appeared of an Islamic Sunni cleric in Syria inciting Muslim schoolboys, most of whom appear \u00a0to be between the ages of five-twelve, to hate and kill Christians and others. According to a\u00a0reportin Arabic (scroll down for video), among other things, the sheikh calls\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Syria"","block_context":{"text":"Syria","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/syria\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1419"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1419"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1419\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1420,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1419\/revisions\/1420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}