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Stick to breakfast cereal; it's more nutritious

Reader comment on item: Hamza Yusuf Fails My "Test"
in response to reader comment: Interesting.

Submitted by Archimedes2 (Canada), Apr 22, 2007 at 23:37

Hi Anoy ( = Subriah, I infer) You say, "I refuse to be called "moderate muslim" I am just a Muslim."

Very well, I have no problem with that on the face of it. But if you refuse distinctions between evil men (such as adherents of Al Qaeda, Hizbullah and Hamas) who act in the name of Islam, and ostensibly peace-loving muslims like yourself, then you cease to be what we generally call a moderate, and it matters no longer what you call yourself.

For you cannot align yourself with them and express solidarity with them without being an enabler their evil, and without sharing moral responsibiliy for their acts -- you become what we might call a "passive jihadi". There are many who have never strapped on a suicide belt and killed innocent teenagers, but they have knowingly allowed their Zakat to be sent to finance those who do. And, by doing so, such men are just as guilty and will be judged just as severely by God (perhaps more so). Perhaps more of immediate interest: such men automatically, and rightfully, become the objects of our suspicion.

The two terms "extremist" and "moderate", abused and ineffectual though they may be, are there for your protection. The purpose of these categories is to clarify whom the enemy is. The enemy is not all muslims -- it is only those who kill innocents or struggly by means violence, politics or kitman, to replace free society and democratic government with shariah law and "Khilafat-i-Rashida".

If muslims refuse to allow this distinction to be made -- indeed instead of exposing and assisting in the fight against the radicals who would drag you to the dark side, fight the distinction and oppose those who stand up against this evil -- by doing so they (wittingly or unwittingly) drag all of Islam to that side. Pipes says "radical islam is the problem and moderate islam is the solution" (a formulation which has been largely accepted in antijihadist circles in the west). If the only response of the Ummah is "there is no distinction!"

Then, guess what? The formulation becomes "...then, unfortunately, all of Islam is, after all, the problem". If painting all muslims with the brush of extremism is "islamophobia", then it is not scholars like Pipes who are "islamophobes". Rather it is the muslims who refuse to allow such a distinction. You cannot be neutral: you are either part of the problem or you are part of the solution. You must decide your allegiance. Until he clarifies his statements, along the lines I have suggested, Hamza Yusuf has apparently made his allegiance perfectly clear. It's too bad, because I, too, would have placed him in the "moderate" category -- but apparently he disagrees.

I could not help but note the following toss-out comment you made: "I read anything i can get my hands on from the back of cereal boxes to the gospel of barnabas or whatever." It is good for you to read widely. I do the same. It is good not only to keep an open mind but also to understand when there is an attempt to deceive. Cereal boxes, although full of commercial fluff, generally contain factual information. The so-called Gospel of Barnabas, I hope you understand, is a 14th century fabrication formulated specifically as piece of pro-Islamic and anti-christianity agenda; it has no factual basis. Though it is a far more subtle piece of writing it is just as false, and just as hate-motivated, as the Protocol of the Elders of Zion. If you must read poison, be sure you understand its nature. Or stick to cereal boxes.

Submitting....

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

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Reader comments (33) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
1Passing Daniel Pipes' test should be mandatory to be called a decent modern person [87 words]PrashantJan 24, 2017 04:28235748
What "failed" means [136 words]FwazApr 21, 2013 09:49205368
1You must fail...or you aren't a Muslim [55 words]MarcusAug 21, 2010 09:12177043
I failed the test as well...Al Hamdulillah [6 words]Islam Will PrevailAug 5, 2010 01:09176357
I failed :D [40 words]JasmineMay 7, 2009 09:18155068
1how can I take the test, I wanna fail it too! [11 words]murhafJan 16, 2010 16:23155068
Hamza Yusuf a patsy? [46 words]graemeJul 25, 2010 07:43155068
Defining Islam [29 words]JCSep 9, 2008 10:54138177
4I like Hamza Yusuf, from an Orthodox Christian [75 words]EliasJun 28, 2008 11:33133689
I Failed, Yessss!!!! [26 words]SaqibJun 1, 2009 17:48133689
my high model [23 words]adnanJan 24, 2008 19:50118917
brother hamza i think you are doing a great job out there. [79 words]amal hassanDec 29, 2007 21:03117094
Hi Hamza, I have some further questions [650 words]ArchimedesApr 16, 2007 13:2189401
Takfir is not the solution [206 words]JohanNov 19, 2011 11:5289401
2zaytuna.org [275 words]SubriahOct 25, 2006 23:0364509
Hamza [162 words]DavidOct 26, 2006 22:3164509
Read this. [755 words]SubriahOct 27, 2006 21:5064509
1Thanks for your comments Subriah [1365 words]Archimedes2Apr 17, 2007 11:0064509
Interesting. [351 words]Anoy.Apr 21, 2007 07:3264509
Stick to breakfast cereal; it's more nutritious [608 words]Archimedes2Apr 22, 2007 23:3764509
Shorter response [141 words]Archimedes2Apr 23, 2007 09:4464509
2Hamza is not Islam [221 words]NisreinApr 26, 2007 20:5764509
there's only one Islam [930 words]KhalilSep 14, 2006 10:0755920
Hamza Yusuf in NPR glowpiece [43 words]Charlie QuidnuncSep 11, 2006 15:1555564
unfair test [9 words]randyAug 21, 2006 19:5453648
test..proves what??so hamza yusuf didnt pass daniels test...big deal he is not a perfect person.. [133 words]aliAug 9, 2006 00:2352150
Failed the test! [84 words]Harald Yahya KöppingApr 20, 2006 03:1243634
may God bless your efforts [60 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
EimadApr 18, 2006 22:2343534
What Exactly Does This Test Measure? [38 words]UC Berkeley Political ScientistMar 10, 2006 19:2139679
1Reply from a fellow Professor with PhD [470 words]archimedes2Apr 16, 2007 13:4839679
Not getting it [141 words]Khuram HussainJan 5, 2006 18:1631141
l love you Hamza Yusuf one [51 words]khalooApr 15, 2007 06:0131141
respect note [29 words]leen al_masriJun 2, 2009 08:2931141

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Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

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