Obama's Fictitious "Moderate Muslim Majority"

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August 30, 2010

Joel Gilbert

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Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “story” as ‘an imaginary account of real people and events’ and ‘a yarn’. President Barack Obama has long dispensed the following fiction to Americans: the Muslim world is divided between “radicals” and “moderates.” Unfortunately, this narrative is at the forefront of US foreign policy, and its lack of basis in reality is leading to the failure of US efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, while raising a false sense of security at home.

President Obama’s “story”goes like this: adherents of Islam are comprised of two groups, "radical Muslims" and "moderate Muslims.” The "radical Muslims" believe in the use of violence, because they are “against freedom.” Fortunately, "radical Muslims" represent a very small minority, while the “vast majority” of Islam’s one billion Believers are "moderate Muslims.” According to President Obama, "moderate Muslims" and Americans have “shared values and common aspirations.” Obama also preaches that “moderate Muslims” wish to join America’s fight against “radical Muslims.” The President assures America that its human and material sacrifices in Iraq and Afghanistan will succeed due to the partnership with "moderate Muslims" in those countries. Meanwhile at home, "moderate Muslims" should make Americans feel safer, as “moderates” will report “radicals” to local authorities.

Television news provides daily graphic depictions of "radical Muslims." However, if they really exist, where are the "moderate Muslims" that President Obama speaks of so often? Americans are left to imagine what "moderate Muslims" look like, where they might be located, and whether they have organizations with websites they can visit. And, if there are "radical Muslims" and "moderate Muslims,” mustn’t there also be "liberal Muslims? Why doesn’t CNN cover those “liberal Muslim” pro-Israel street demonstrations?

In fact, there are no such groups as “radical Muslims” or “moderate Muslims.” These designations do not exist in the Islamic world. These terms were invented in recent times only because Islamic goals and values are not understood or shared by the West. From the very inception of Islam, the Christian West has had difficulty understanding Islam as a different religious phenomenon than Christianity. When Muslims conquered the Iberian Peninsula in the 8th century, Christians referred to Muslims arriving from North Africa as “Moors.” Over the centuries, Spaniards continued to refer to Muslims as Moors, even if they were from India or Indonesia. In the rest of Europe, Muslims were referred to as “Turks,” after the group of central Asian nomadic invaders who converted to Islam and governed the Islamic Empire in the Middle Ages. In Asia minor, Christians referred to Muslims as “Tartars,” an ethnic name. When Europeans finally understood that Islam was not an ethnic group, they mistakenly perceived it in terms of a Western religious group. In the early 1900's, Europeans began referring to Islam as “Muhammadism,” and Muslims as “Muhammadans,” incorrectly assuming the Prophet Muhammad had the same role in Islam that Jesus did in Christianity. To this day, misunderstandings continue: Westerners describe the mosque as a “Muslim church,” equate the Muslim Friday to the Christian Sunday, refer to the Koran as the “Muslim Bible,” and believe sheiks to be “Muslim priests.”

Westerners also incorrectly group Muslims politically, using Western terms such as “moderate,” “conservative,” and “radical.” So different are Western and Muslim world views, that identical words can have two different meanings. In the West, “freedom” is the right of individuals to participate in the formation, conduct, and lawful removal of governments from power - the basis of constitutionalism and parliamentary government. For the Islamic world, “freedom” means “independence”from foreign rule, which they equate with “tyranny.” In the West, the opposite of tyranny is “freedom.” In Islam, the opposite of tyranny is “justice.” For Muslim thinkers, “justice” is the ideal, and justice distinguishes good leaders from bad leaders. For the majority of Muslims, bad leaders are those who have Western values and are allied with the West. The rise to power of Islamist political parties everywhere free elections are held in the Middle East speaks volumes.

Because the West considers its development of “separation of church and state” and "secularism" as the highest evolution of humanity, those not sharing Western values are dismissed as “radical,” or essentially “nuts.” Though lacking a shred of evidence, President Obama insists there exists a “vast majority” of “moderate Muslims” who do share Western values. After all, part of the “story” is that "radical Muslims" are just a small group of former "moderate Muslims" who have been "radicalized," as one can become a "radical Muslim" only through brainwashing.

A more accurate description of political loyalties in the Islamic world is that the majority of Muslims are either active or passive supporters of the movement of Islamism. The movement for Islamic Revival or “Islamism,” is an indigenous, grass-roots movement championed by both poor and educated Muslims throughout the Muslim world. "Islam is the solution!" is the Islamist call to action against Westernization and secular governments in the Muslim world, which provide the masses with little hope or future. Islamists do not consider themselves to be revolutionaries, in the sense of revolution changing society in a new way. Rather, Islamists strive to rebuild internally by applying traditional principles to reestablish the past strength and glory of Islam. A return to success necessitates the purification of Islamic society from secular government systems, legislation, and institutions borrowed from or imposed by the West. For Islamists, political upheaval, if needed by the sword, is a necessary part of the purification of their society, hundreds of years in the making. Islamism advocates the implementation of Shari’ah (Islamic law) and the restoration of the Koran as the sole authority for government in Muslim countries. Meanwhile, Western military presence in Muslim countries constitutes an affront to Islamists. Islamists believe that dominance by unbelievers is blasphemous, as it can lead to abasement of faith, immorality, and violations of Holy Law. Islamists view Israel as the center of a worldwide Jewish conspiracy, whose purpose is to infiltrate Muslim countries, destroy Islamic values, and instill the germ of Westernization, with the ultimate goal of eradicating Islam. Despite wishful thinking in the West, Islamism is the only serious alternative to secular forms of government in the Middle East, and does represent the aspirations of the majority of Muslims across the Islamic world.

Discarding President Obama’s fictitious “story” of “moderate Muslims” and “radical Muslims,” the true reality emerges with regard to Iraq and Afghanistan: America has no real allies in these countries, and there is little or no support for secular, Western democracy. Following a US withdrawal, its only a matter of time before the US backed governments collapse and Islamist forces seize power, leaving the American public to ask “what happened to our allies, the moderate Muslim majority?” The answer is that this was only a “story,” a yarn composed by politicians due to their lack of understanding. This misunderstanding has been the basis of US foreign policy failures for years. Jimmy Carter was guilty of it when he withdrew support from America’s ally, The Shah of Iran, believing Western secular democracy would break out in Iran. Its the very same misunderstanding that led President Bush to believe that once the Taliban and later Saddam Hussein were toppled, that “moderate Muslims” in those countries would establish Western democracies. Yet the “story” continues with President Obama, that a “vast majority” of Muslims are “moderate Muslims,” and are America’s allies. Absent any evidence, this “story” should be relegated to Saturday morning cartoons where such imagination is not fatal.

Joel Gilbert is an Islamic history scholar and writer/director of two recent documentary feature films on the Middle East. His newest release is the award winning ATOMIC JIHAD: Ahmadinejad's Coming War for Islamic Revival and Obama's Politics of Defeat.

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The word "radical" actually has two, almost opposite meanings -- 1) rooted in fundamentals and 2) fringe or extreme. An examination of the "radical" views of leading terrorist organizations and leaders can be found at:
http://www.annaqed.com/en/content/show.aspx?aid=16330

posted by: Chris
Monday, August 30, 2010 at 09:49 AM

Like the former "Cat Stevens", now Yusuf Islam, said in his song "I'm being followed by a "Moon shadow".

The moon cult followers are out to get us through the stuipidity of leaders like Obama who simply doesn't understand "the religion is not a religion like many think it is. It is a cult of conquest and "booty".

posted by: Kim Bruce
Monday, August 30, 2010 at 09:50 AM

For liberals and radicals, befriending and supporting Muslims and fighting "Islamophobia" must be the closest thing to being a terrorist without breaking the law, even appearing to be a law enforcer. What a rush :)

The power of the Historyscoper to scope recent and faraway history and concentrate knowledge is yours for free:
http://tinyurl.com/islamwatch

posted by: TL Winslow
Monday, August 30, 2010 at 11:23 AM

Having lived and worked in Iran and Egypt and read extensively about Islam I have concluded that Islam is nothing more than a socio-political movement that has been embellished with religious symbolism and called a religion. A recent article on FSM also stated: "...Islam is a totalitarian ideology tricked out in elaborate bu disingenuous religious garb." As for "moderate" Islam, there is no such thing. There are only active terrorists and passive terrorists. At the end of the day they are all Muslim and will be satisfied if all the world is Muslim.

posted by: Harry Solomon
Monday, August 30, 2010 at 01:32 PM

In India when islam inveded they were defeated by King Chauhan by 16-17 times and as per Hindu traditions muslim invedor Gajnabi was pardoned. But on 18 th time when king chauhan got defeated Islamic invedor killed him no hesitation. Islam means killing of infidel. For Islam west is infidel They will lie cheat till they have many more 09/11 and destroy the west .We have still time to realise the islam main agenda .So USA wake up and depot islam from west back to middle east.

posted by: arish sahani
Monday, August 30, 2010 at 08:49 PM

JOEL failed to mention that
moderate islam does not exist
and that all muslims are
commanded by the unholy
q'uran to lie to non muslims
and hate them. The true plan
of islam is total control &
domination of AMERICA and
the world. Watch videos:
www.youtube.com/MAKAHAYAN

posted by: CARL TAPP
Tuesday, August 31, 2010 at 07:38 AM

Try explaining this to liberals in the west and you are immediately labeled a "bigot" and "islamophobe". They simply will not accept that islam itself is an evil ideology. It's extremely frustrating.

posted by: Laura
Tuesday, August 31, 2010 at 03:30 PM

This article was funny, but the comments were hilarious! Satire that would make even P.J. O'Rourke giggle like a schoolgirl. I'll pass this site along to all my Muslim friends, they'll get a huge kick out of it!

posted by: Casey
Wednesday, September 1, 2010 at 02:01 AM

oel is clearly not speaking out of his mouth.

The article in question speaks on Islam in an extremely basic, one-sided manner, and it is written to those of whom have little personal encounters with the Islamic faith and the Muslim population. He also offers no understanding to the Muslim and their personal encounter with Allah and the Islamic faith. Rather, creates broad strokes over a region, the people, the faith, history, culture, and governance as though it could ever truly be concluded in such a short article. Due to it being posted on this site, with a man who speaks at CPAC conventions and appears to preside a level of influence upon like-minded, it truly is designed to enlarge convictions that people have already personally made.

To keep this rather simple than create a 50 page essay necessary to demonstrate every necessary in means of displaying a proper picture, simply look at the population of muslims within our own country - and they aren't too far from certain cultural aspects of Judaism. In NYC, for example, they have their own neighborhoods (rather spread out, unlike truly enclosed neighborhoods as Orthodox Judaism), culture, businesses, and people who they talk to and meet. However, due to a secular government, they are also allowed to do so without any question, with the sake of enjoying the fruits of a government that places capitalism and good nature to fellow human beings rather than absolute rigidity placed by religious governance.

The fathers of daughters will not hear about dating a Christian or Athiest. However, our laws also allow the freedom of that daughter to decide her own fate, and whether she will follow only positive aspects of the Koran and Allah's message - similarly to how Christians selectively choose passages and stories that have worked and been positive for their believers, and ignoring those designed for a much more primitive world.

They will work next to us, get clean drinking water in their homes, and pay their taxes. Understand that their view on an "Imperial America" is similarly to how many from South America once viewed the USA when we extended arms of our government to their own - as though we have the freedom to establish the government we want, where we want. It is beset upon the individual, and if collectively, they wish to deal with their own problems, even if it is fundamentalists or a totalitarian government, every culture wants their own means of dealing with it; it is, after all, how the U.S. was established, with freedom from a British King to decide our own fate.

Quite frankly, we should never be involved in the middle east or any other region that is not our own unless in face of a direct enemy, and the only reason we ever would is that, is our pet projects in societal movement, or due to stakes in the markets and other capitalist ventures. That is the decision that falls upon those in power, and whether we should protect trade regions (Qatar, United Arab Empirates, Kuwait, Pakistan/India), or attempt to direct a state and its people (which has failed everywhere from the South Pacific to Middle/South America and now the Middle East).

Those who manage to flee these areas of religious power do not rid themselves of their culture unless by choice, and while it does happen on case by case scenario, many do not. They aren't simply terrorists, as one individual replied beneath the article - this article is, unfortunately, influencing such negative thought.

posted by: Anonymous
Wednesday, September 1, 2010 at 10:26 AM

If you serve as lookout for a bank robbery, you are a bank robber. If someone is murdered during that bank robbery, you are a murderer. There is no such thing as a moderate bank robber and no such thing as a moderate Muslim.
As for Obama's actions, he said Islam is a beautiful religion. No true Christian could make that statement. It is a "religion" that denies the Son of God and that He was crucified. Those are two basic teachings of Christianity.

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Obama's Fictitious "Moderate Muslim Majority"