On August 29, I published a column by Afsun Qureshi, a woman born into a Canadian Muslim family who now lives in London, England. She provided a nuanced (that word alone will get me hate mail) meditation on the shahadah, an Islamic prayer testifying to belief in the identity of Allah as the one true God. That prayer, Qureshi noted, was uttered by her dying uncle in a Toronto hospital room many years ago, as she watched as a confused child — but also by terrified Kenyan shoppers during the 2013 Westgate Mall terrorist attacks, presenting their attackers with proof that they were true Muslims. Ms. Qureshi mused as to whether the rest of us should learn the prayer — and other elements of Islam — as a form of intellectual self-defence against Islamist fanatics. It was an interesting point to make, and I was happy to publish it, especially because I get so few contributions from Muslim authors.
But enraged right-wing bloggers — even intelligent ones — blew a gasket. One prominent writer even declared that Ms. Qureshi was endorsing “universal prostration before Islam,” a view that the blogger’s fans parroted on their own blogs (it’s unclear how many actually read Qureshi’s article) until I began receiving complaints in my own inbox about my apparently horrifying Islamist tendencies. (Some of the more sensible letters can be found on our web site.)I guess that puts me in the "less sensible letters" camp, since I wrote that Ms. Qureshi's suggestion re the shahada was, in a word, ridiculous. (I suppose we should be thankful that at least Kay didn't refer to us "enraged/hysterical" types as "bully bloggers.")
I think I'll give "enraged right-wing blogger" Kathy Shaidle the final word on the subject:
I would die before I would repeat those words under any circumstances.
And yes, there is a "peaceful verse for every violent one."
However, Muslims use abrogation to decide which verses are more authoritative. The later violent ("sword") verses cancel out the earlier, peaceful ones.
"The odds are that if you are assailed by a radical Islamist in the
streets of London or Toronto, it will be with words not bullets."
You forgot to mention knives. Just ask Lee Rigby. Oh wait... you can't...
Everything I needed to know about Islam, I learned on September 11, 2001.
Take your talk of tolerance and understanding to a Muslim majority country and see how you fare.
2 comments:
Jonathan Kay:
1) Said that CAIR Canada, doing business under their new name, the NCCM, to avoid doing business under their old name, the Muslim Brotherhood (not to be confused with the Muslim Brotherhood) was right to claim that they were defamed by the PM's spokesman who accused them of being associated with the same organization doing business in Gaza and the West Bank as Hamas.
2) compared the horrific anti-semitic teachings in textbooks found in Islamic schools using TSD property with some sort of arcane, minimal, exaggerated nonsense he blamed Jews for (sorry, it's too nice a day for me to look that one up).
3) attends and speaks at conferences hosted by Islamic supremacist organizations.
4) wrote a book about conspiracy thinking and now thinks he can stencil criticism of Islam with that same template even though it doesn't fit at all.
5) has developed a voice of haughty condescension that belies his earlier, better self.
6) writes in this article that there are no actual victims of Islamic terrorism in Canada (yet?). What about that off-duty firefighter who was beheaded in the beaches?
Kay hasn't been the same since writing that book. Ever since he's been trying to position himself as a calm, cool and collected middle-of-the-road conservative so as to distinguish himself from those "hysterical" knuckle-dragging types on the right who are so rude and un-genteel. He's become an "Annex" conservative--a non-conservative conservative, like David Frum. The kind of conservative that lefists feel comfortable enough to invite to their cocktail parties.
Post a Comment