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The Blasphemy of ISIS: A 7-Point Pro-Guide to Islam(ism)

…lam or even to the individual terms, but should be read in the context of recent debates. — eds. 1. Jesus The Messiah, the Word and Spirit of God, born to the Virgin Mary, Islam’s penultimate Prophet, who did not die on the cross but only appeared to; in the Muslim belief, he will return before the end of time to defeat the anti-Christ and rally the faithful. Jesus is not however perceived as divine: God is wholly One, indivisible and unique. Jesu…

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Why it (Still) Makes Little Sense to Call ISIS Islamic

…n God. Muhammad’s closest companions, including his dearest companion, Abu Bakr—who became the first Caliph after his death—became famous for their commitment to manumission. Abu Bakr would pay as much as he could, no matter how high the price, spending down his capital, because he believed there were few greater acts to earn merit in God’s eyes. (Compare Abu Bakr’s rules of war, as delivered to his army, to ISIS’ practices. I pronounce the Prophe…

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RDBook: Is Nothing Secular? A Review of Jewel of Medina

…hammad, his family, and his companions, comes to us in the form of short anecdotes and sayings, called hadîth, that were collected by the early followers of Muhammad for pietistic reasons to enable them to emulate Muhammad’s actions, those of his close companions, and to understand the complexities of Quranic commandments, which are at times ambiguous. Similar to material found in the Rabbinic Jewish Talmud, much of the hadîth material is decontex…

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It’s Theology, Not Baseball: Misunderstanding Iraq’s Sectarian Conflicts

…But this is not the whole story — and pretending that we can explain away sectarian clashes as if this were a baseball league will not make them so. Why is it that the radical groups appeal to exclusive theologies for their legitimacy? Even a one-time “street thug,” as a Pentagon official described the earlier incarnation of the head of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, evolved into a “religious figure” who eventually claimed the title of “…

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Is ISIS Islamic? Is it a State?

…the basis of their jurisprudence, and the promise of salvation for those recruited into its ranks. In a recent essay in The New Republic, Graeme Wood described the core supporters of ISIS as an uneasy coalition of three groups: psychopaths, believers and pragmatists. The pragmatists are largely from Sunni regions of Syria and Iraq who have been disenfranchised by the Shi’a regimes of Bashir Assad in Damascus and Nouri al Maliki in Baghdad. On the…

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Protocols of the Elders of Mecca: Hints of Anti-Semitic Playbook in Glenn Beck’s Islamophobia

…Beck as a witness against himself, using a find-and-replace exercise. I selected some of Beck’s more odious passages, swapped out only the most critical words—“Muslim world” became “Israel,” and “Islamism” became “Zionism”—and the end result is, well, read for yourself: “There are, however, moderate Jews—and while I know this comes off as being overly politically correct, it’s not an exaggeration to say they are our neighbors, our coworkers, our f…

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Orlando Massacre and ISIS: The Illusion of Power

…. Although their online presence continues to be active on Twitter and on secret sites on the dark web, volunteers seem hesitant to join a losing operation. In this context ISIS needs the illusion of power. There is no doubt that this is what the Paris and Brussels terrorist attacks were meant to achieve. ISIS has also encouraged individuals to conduct their own acts of jihad against disbelievers. Such acts would give the appearance of a global te…

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The Three Qualities Marking the Capitol Assault as Terrorism

…n timing and staging are significant. And in this case the timing of the electoral vote tally was perfect and the Capitol stage set could not have been better. As soon as the reserve forces of police and the National Guard came to the Capitol with smoke bombs and strength in numbers, the drama was over. The actors—many of whom seemed appropriately costumed for militant theater—meekly left the stage. It’s a frequent characteristic of terrorist acts…

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