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Related Articles Is Grover Norquist an Islamist?
by Daniel Pipes http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2005/04/is-grover-norquist-an-islamist
Indeed, Norquist married Samah Alrayyes, a Palestinian Muslim, on November 27, 2004. On the one hand, Islamic law limits a Muslim woman to marrying a man who is Muslim; this is not an abstract dictum but a very serious imperative, with many "honor" killings having resulted from a woman ignoring her family's wishes. On the other hand, they were married in a church by the Rev. Stephen T. Melius of Weston United Methodist Church in Weston, Massachusetts.
Grover Norquist has for some years now been promoting Islamist organizations, including even the Council on American-Islamic Relations; for example, he spoke at CAIR's conference, "A Better America in a Better World" on October 5, 2004. Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. has researched Norquist's ties to Islamists in his exhaustive, careful, and convincing 2003 study, "A Troubling Influence," and concludes that he is enabling "a political influence operation to advance the causes of radical Islamists, and targeted most particularly at the Bush Administration." But if Grover Norquist is indeed a convert to Islam, it could be that he is not just enabling the Islamist causes but is himself an Islamist. (April 14, 2005) Sep. 30, 2005 update: A biography of Samah Norquist gives a more complete explanation of her U.S. government job. She is
Also, in an earlier job, "she was cultural affairs assistant at the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan, where she was responsible for cultural exchange programs between the United States and Jordan." Jan. 19, 2006 update: Of possibly related interest: President Bush two days ago announced his intent to nominate David Norquist, Grover's younger brother, to a top position at the Department of Homeland Security. Here is the White House announcement.
As a UPI report on this news observes, "The elder Norquist has been a trenchant critic of some of the department's policies, such as its "No-Fly" list, which he sees as an infringement on personal privacy and liberty." June 12, 2006 update: The Senate confirmed David Norquist as CFO of DHS. Nov 11, 2008 update: Grover and Samah have adopted an 8-month-old baby girl from Bethlehem and named her Grace. Huma Abedin and Anthony Weiner June 9, 2011 update: Speaking of non-Muslim men prominent in American politics who marry Muslim women, did Anthony Weiner, born Jewish, convert to Islam to marry Huma Abedin, a Muslim of South Asian origins? According to one account, he has accommodated his pious wife by "giving up drinking and even occasionally fasting in Ramadan." Ben Barrack marshalls evidence to suggest that he did at "Did Weiner Secretly Convert to Islam to Marry a Muslim?" June 21, 2011 update: For an extended analysis of this topic, see this interview of Robert Spencer, "Abedin/Weiner: A Marriage Made by Hillary Clinton and the Muslim Brotherhood?" June 11, 2011 update: Gary H. Johnson. Jr. follows up on Gaffney's study with "The Norquist Cell: Operation GroverKhan." His two conclusions:
Mar. 4, 2014 update: Ryan Mauro finds today that the evidence "suggests that Norquist's passion [for Islamist causes] was triggered by a personal conversion to Islam. His wife, Samah, is a devout Muslim. In 2008, they adopted a Palestinian baby from Bethlehem." Related Topics: Muslims in the United States receive the latest by email: subscribe to daniel pipes' free mailing list This text may be reposted or forwarded so long as it is presented as an integral whole with complete and accurate information provided about its author, date, place of publication, and original URL. Reader comments (23) on this item
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All materials by Daniel Pipes on this site: © 1968-2014 Daniel Pipes. daniel.pipes@gmail.com and @DanielPipes Support Daniel Pipes' work with a tax-deductible donation to the Middle East Forum. Daniel J. Pipes |
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