URL: http://www.rb.org.il/Islam-Israel/commentary/islam18.htm
ROME, Italy, Yom Rishon (Day One -- "Sunday"), 9 Tishri, 5760 (September 19, 1999), Root & Branch:
KARIMA ASKS:
Usually, I agree with your positions, but if I'm not mistaken , and I could be...so if I am please forgive me, you recently wrote very positive things about Daniel Pipes and his analysis of Islam in America. I must tell you that I was more than a little bit distressed with your opinions.
SHAYKH PROF. PALAZZI ANSWERS:
I wrote, and I am ready to confirm it, that I appreciate what Dr. Pipes -- as a journalist -- is doing to expose "Islamism" (I would rather say "pseudo-Islamic radicalism") and the danger it presents to American society and to the Western world. This does not mean that I agree with everything which Dr. Pipes writes about Islam.
Dr. Pipes is a secular American Jew. I am a believing Muslim. What Dr. Pipes writes about Islam (and about other subjects, too) reflects his secular American perspective. I by no means agree with what Dr. Pipes says about the Prophet Muhammad (S), the Holy Qur'an, the history of Islam, etc. However, insofar as Dr. Pipes is working to unmask the hidden face of "Islamism", I welcome his contribution.
"Islamism" is NOT a spontaneous mass movement, but a worldwide front fueled by certain political and economic interests. Dr. Pipes and Steven Emerson are two of the very few American journalists working to reveal the truth about the "Islamists". In this regard, I appreciate the work of Mr. Emerson and Dr. Pipes, although I do not agree with their attitude towards Islam in particular and with their secular worldview in general.
Muslims are the main victims of the "Islamists". Thanks to the "Islamists", Western public opinion has acquired a very bad impression of Islam. Thanks to Ahmad Yasin, the "Muslim Brotherhood", Osama Bin Laden, CAIR and their ilk, millions of people throughout the world are convinced that Islam is based on intolerance, violence and fanaticism.
Muslims should be in the forefront of efforts to refute the "Islamists" and to counter their abuse of Islam. Unfortunately, either from fear or for other reasons, Muslims are doing virtually nothing to distinguish authentic Islam from the counterfeit image presented by the "Islamists". This task is being carried out by a few brave non-Muslims such as Dr. Pipes and Mr. Emerson.
We must learn from Dr. Pipes and Mr. Emerson, though not in the field of religion. The same is true of Hisham Kabbani. He is a false shaykh and leader of a non-Muslim cult, and I am personally attempting to refute his incorrect ideas about Islam.
Nevertheless, when Mr. Kabbani met with U.S. State Department officials and denounced the dangers of extremism in the United States and the plan by which extremists are taking control of most U.S. Islamic Centers and Mosques, I stated categorically that I agree with his detailed analysis and that I admire his courage.
Hisham Kabbani correctly identifies the origin of contemporary radicalism in Wahhabism. Kabbani correctly divides contemporary radicals into two groups: "militants" (those who directly engage in terrorism) and "non-militants" (those who indirectly support terrorism while maintaining a false respectability so that they can get invited to receptions at the White House -- i.e., the wolves in sheep's clothing). I agree with Mr. Kabbani 100% on this issue.
I would also add that the center of worldwide radicalism is a sect called the "Muslim Brotherhood". This sect has sections engaged in direct terrorism such as Hamas and sections not directly engaged in terrorism such as CAIR.
Although their links to Hamas are clear, CAIR is permitted to act freely in the United States. CAIR claims to "represent" the Muslim Community and launches hate campaigns against journalists, senators and others who interfere with their true terrorist agenda.
Let us look at CAIR's carryings-on during the past few years. I receive all of their press releases. Their main activity seems to be launching savage hate campaigns against Mr. Emerson and Dr. Pipes. CAIR & Co. openly slander Mr. Emerson and Dr. Pipes as "enemies of Islam" and as "Islamophobes".
CAIR slanders Mr. Emerson and Dr. Pipes for a very simple reason. What is it? Does CAIR's slander against Mr. Emerson and Dr. Pipes flow from the fact that Emerson and Pipes are non-Muslims who write about Islam from a secular perspective?
Muslims are a minority in the Western world. Most Westerners come from either Christian or secular backgrounds. In commenting on Islam, most Westerners, whether they be Christian missionaries and ministers or secular professors, orientalists and journalists, recycle the same ideas first generated by Goldziher.
Every day, "experts" in America and Europe, in the academia, government circles and the media, comment about Islam from their non-Muslim perspectives. Usually these "experts" make the same kind of comments about the Muslim religion that we read in the writings of Mr. Emerson and Dr. Pipes, or make comments that to our Muslim ears sound even worse.
So is this the reason why CAIR attacks Mr. Emerson and Dr. Pipes? Is the ignorance of authentic Islam reflected in the writings of these two gentlemen the reason why CAIR labels them as "Islamophobes"?
No.
According to the con artists at CAIR, anyone who denounces radicalism is "Islamophobic". CAIR cares to attack Mr. Emerson and Dr. Pipes BECAUSE THEY ARE REVEALING THE TRUE RADICAL AGENDA, AS WELL AS REVEALING THE CONNECTION BETWEEN CAIR AND THOSE ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE CLASSIFIED AS TERRORIST BY UNITED STATES LAW.
Muslims must NOT be fooled by the carpetbaggers at CAIR who claim to defend "the honor of Islam". All CAIR wants to to destroy the reputations of brave men such as Mr. Emerson and Dr. Pipes who reveal the terrorist, criminal nature of their organization.
Hoping - insha Allah Ta'ala - that this explanation clarifies my point of view, and waiting to hear from you, wa-s-salamu 'alaykum wa rahmat-Ullahi wa barakatuH.
Shalom from Rome,
Shaykh Prof. Abdul Hadi Palazzi [islam.inst@flashnet.it]
ABOUT SHAYKH PROF. ABDUL HADI PALAZZI:
Shaykh Prof. Palazzi is Secretary General of the Italian Muslim Association (AMI), an Imam of the Italian Islamic Community (ICCII) and Director of the Community's Cultural Institute. Prof. Palazzi holds a Ph.D in Islamic Sciences by decree of the Grand Mufti of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Shaykh Prof. Abdul Hadi Palazzi
is a Member of the International Council of the Root & Branch Association.